1954
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
Years: 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 - 1954 - 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
Events
- January 14 - The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator forming the American Motors Corporation
- January 20 - The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
- January 21 - The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut.
- February 10 - President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam
- February 23 - The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- February 25 - Gamal Abdul Nasser is made premier of Egypt.
- May 6 - Roger Bannister runs first "Miracle Mile"
- May 7 - Construction started on Michigan's Mackinac Bridge.
- May 17 - US Supreme Court hands down decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka 347 US 483 1954
- May 20 - Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of Nationalist China
- December 24 - Laos becomes independent
- First flight of a B-52 Stratofortress
- Battle of Dien Bien Phu between French and Viet Minh forces in Indochina
- Boy Scouts of America desegregates on the basis of race
Art, Culture & Fashion
- 1954 in film
- 1954 in literature
- The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis
- Lord of the Flies by William G. Golding
- 1954 in music
- "Mr. Sandman" - Chordettes
- "That's All Right" - Elvis Presley
- 1954 in sports
- 1954 in television
- January 1 - NBC broadcasts the Rose Parade in color on 21 stations.
- September - The Tonight Show begins airing on the NBC network.
Births
- January 6 - Anthony Minghella, director
- January 12 - Howard Stern, "shock-jock" radio host
- January 29 - Oprah Winfrey, actress, talk show host, producer, publisher
- February 1 - Bill Mumy, actor, musician
- February 2 - Christie Brinkley, model
- February 6 - Argusto Emfazie, occultist, author
- February 12 - Philip Zimmermann, American cryptographer
- February 15 - Matt Groening, cartoonist
- February 18 - John Travolta, actor
- February 19 - Socrates, football player
- February 20 - Patty Hearst, socialite
- February 20 - Anthony Stewart Head, actor
- February 25 - John Doe, musician
- February 26 - Michael Bolton, singer
- April 17 - Riccardo Patrese, Italian racing driver
- June 22 - Freddie Prinze, actor/comedian
- August 11 - Joe Jackson, British singer
- October 1 - Martin Strel, Slovene ultra marathon swimmer
- October 9 - Scott Bakula, American television actor
Deaths
- January 18 - Sydney Greenstreet, actor
- February 12 - Dziga Vertov, filmmaker
- May 19 - Charles Ives, American composer
- July 13 - Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter
- July 29 - Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater
- September 21 - Kokichi Mikimoto, pearl farm pioneer
- November 3 - Henri Matisse, painter
- November 29 - Enrico Fermi, physicist
- November 30 - Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor