1954

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{{About year|1954}}

{{Events by month|1954}}

{{Year nav|1954}}

{{C20 year in topic}}

{{Year article header|1954}}

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Events

=January=

{{Main|January 1954}}

  • January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.{{cite web |title=Il 1954 IN ITALIA |url=http://www.ribolla2004.it/testi02/index.php |website=Ribolla 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007200202/http://www.ribolla2004.it/testi02/index.php |archive-date=October 7, 2011 |trans-title=1954 IN ITALY |language=it |year=2004 |access-date=November 6, 2022}}
  • January 7Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head office of IBM.{{cite web |title=701 Translator |date=January 8, 1954 |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/701/701_translator.html |website=IBM Archives |department=701 Reference room |access-date=November 4, 2022}}
  • January 10BOAC Flight 781, a de Havilland Comet jet plane, disintegrates in mid-air due to metal fatigue, and crashes in the Mediterranean near Elba; all 35 people on board are killed.{{cite web |url=http://accidents-ll.faa.gov/ll_main.cfm?TabID=1&LLID=28 |date=January 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215210450/http://accidents-ll.faa.gov/ll_main.cfm?TabID=1&LLID=28 |archive-date=February 15, 2013 |title=de Havilland DH-106 Comet 1 |website=Lessons Learned From Transport Airplane Accidents |publisher=Federal Aviation Administration |access-date=November 4, 2022}}
  • January 12Avalanches in Austria kill more than 200.
  • January 15Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya.{{cite news |url=https://nation.africa/lifestyle/lifestyle/The-Mau-Mau-general-who-stopped-Amin-in-his-tracks-/1214-887822-fu8jft/index.html |title=The Mau Mau general who stopped Amin in his tracks |website=Nation |date=March 27, 2010 |publisher=Nation Media Group |access-date=November 5, 2022}}
  • January 17 – In Yugoslavia, Milovan Đilas, one of the leading members of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, is relieved of his duties.
  • January 20 – The US-based National Negro Network is established, with 46 member radio stations.
  • January 21 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the {{USS|Nautilus|SSN-571|6}}, is launched in Groton, Connecticut, by First Lady of the United States Mamie Eisenhower.{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/n/nautilus-ssn-571-iv.html |title=Nautilus IV (SSN-571) |dictionary=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |date=August 12, 2015 |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command |access-date=November 4, 2022}}
  • January 25 – The foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union meet at the Berlin Conference.{{cite book |last=van Dijk |first=Rund |title=Encyclopedia of the Cold War |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2008 |page=51 |isbn=978-0-415-97515-5}}

File:Monroe DiMaggio Wedding.jpg: Marilyn weds DiMaggio.]]

=February=

{{Main|February 1954}}

= March =

{{Main|March 1954}}

=April=

{{Main|April 1954}}

=May=

{{Main|May 1954}}

=June=

{{Main|June 1954}}

=July=

{{Main|July 1954}}

=August=

{{Main|August 1954}}

=September=

{{Main|September 1954}}

=October=

{{Main|October 1954}}

=November=

{{Main|November 1954}}

=December=

{{Main|December 1954}}

=Date unknown=

  • New Zealand engineer Sir William Hamilton develops the first pump-jet engine (the "Hamilton Jet") capable of propelling a jetboat.{{cite web|title=Sir William Hamilton OBE|url=http://www.hamiltonjet.co.nz/about_hamiltonjet/sir_william_hamilton|publisher=HamiltonJet|year=2007|access-date=November 12, 2012}}
  • The first electric drip brew coffeemaker is patented in Germany and named the Wigomat after its inventor Gottlob Widmann.{{cite web|title=Sixty years of the Federal Republic of Germany – a retrospective of everyday life|url=http://www.goethe.de/ins/gb/lp/prj/mtg/typ/bun/en4922236.htminventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/coffee.htm|access-date=December 28, 2002}}
  • The Boy Scouts of America desegregates on the basis of race.
  • Gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) are brought to the United States by Dr. Victor Schwentker.
  • The case of Lothar Malskat, who had admitted that he had painted the supposedly antique frescoes in Marienkirche himself, goes to trial.
  • The TV dinner is introduced, by American entrepreneur Gerry Thomas.
  • In South Vietnam, the Viet Minh is reorganised into the Viet Cong.
  • After the death of Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union starts releasing political prisoners and deportees from its Gulag prison camps.

Births

{{BDToC|births}}

=January=

File:Kailash Satyarthi March 2015.jpg]]

File:Howard Stern.jpg]]

File:Katey Sagal by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg]]

File:Oprah in 2014.jpg]]

=February=

File:Bill Mumy by Gage Skidmore.jpg]]

File:Andrey Karlov 2016.jpg]]

File:Matt Groening by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg]]

File:Rene Russo 1996.jpg]]

File:John Travolta Cannes 2018 (cropped).jpg]]

File:Head, Anthony Stewart (2007).jpg]]

File:Viktor Yushchenko by Tasnimnews 01 (cropped).jpg]]

File:Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 2019 (cropped).jpg]]

=March=

File:Ron Howard Cannes 2018.jpg]]

File:François Fillon 2010.jpg]]

File:CATHERINE OHARA.jpg]]

File:RobertCarradine1SecondFilm.jpg]]

File:Clive Palmer Aug15 crop.jpg]]

=April=

File:Jackie Chan July 2016.jpg]]

File:Dennis Quaid 2020 by Glenn Francis.jpg]]

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-N0620-0034, Angelika Hellmann.jpg]]

File:Jerry Seinfeld 2016 - 2.jpg]]

=May=

File:Johnny Logan - NDR Hafengeburtstag 2017 20.jpg]]

File:David Paterson 2 by David Shankbone.jpg]]

File:Townsend Coleman by Gage Skidmore.jpg]]

=June=

File:Dennis Haysbert 3 March 2015.jpg]]

File:Harvey Fierstein Shankbone Metropolitan Opera 2009.jpg]]

File:Jim Belushi Unveils Belushi Performance Hall at MAC Motown 2015.jpg]]

File:Kathleen Turner 1.jpg]]

File:Michael Anthony.jpg]]

File:Huda Zoghbi.jpg]]

File:Jean-Serge Brisson - Avec son livre.jpg]]

=July=

File:Andre Dawson 2009 CROP.jpg]]

File:Kempes en Central.png]]

File:Angela Merkel. Tallinn Digital Summit.jpg]]

File:Edward Natapei 2009.jpg]]

File:Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc.jpg]]

File:Jorge Jesus SLB.jpg]]

File:Hugo Chávez salute.jpg]]

=August=

File:Francois Hollande 2015.jpeg]]

File:James Cameron October 2012.jpg]]

File:Andrés Pastrana, 2009.jpg]]

File:Al Roker October 2014 (cropped).jpg]]

File:Republic of Singapore President Halimah Yacob witnesses the program proper during her visit to the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City on September 11, 2019 (cropped).jpg]]

File:Alexander Lukashenko crop.jpeg]]

=September=

File:Carly Fiorina 2017 CPAC by Gage Skidmore.jpg]]

File:Cherie Blair in Trento.jpg]]

File:Masoud Pezeshkian 2024 (cropped) (2).jpg]]

=October=

File:Scott Bakula by Gage Skidmore.jpg]]

File:David Lee Roth Smashbox 2008.jpg]]

File:2016 NAB Show's The Future of Cinema Conference, produced in partnership with SMPTE (26717112630) (cropped).jpg]]

File:Malcolm Turnbull at the Pentagon 2016 cropped.jpg]]

=November=

File:Kamal Haasan at Promotions of 'Vishwaroop' with Videocon (03).jpg]]

File:Jon-Taffer (cropped).jpg]]

File:Condoleezza Rice cropped.jpg]]

File:Aleksander kwasniewski konferencja (cropped).jpg]]

File:Paolo Gentiloni EP Parliament (cropped).jpg]]

=December=

File:Tony Todd July 2017.jpg]]

File:JermaineJackson2007(cropped).jpg]]

File:Uli Jon Roth (PK) - Wacken Open Air 2017 06.jpg]]

File:Denzel Washington cropped 02.jpg]]

=Date not known=

Deaths

=January=

File:EdwinHowardArmstrong.jpg]]

  • January 1José Millán-Astray, Spanish general, founder of the Spanish Legion (b. 1879)
  • January 5Lillian Rich, English actress (b. 1900){{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/161093%7C99136/Lillian-Rich/#overview |title=Lillian Rich |publisher=Turner Classic Movies, Inc. |access-date=November 5, 2022}}
  • January 8Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian artist (b. 1898){{cite book |title=The Yale University Library Gazette |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3NMaAAAAMAAJ |year=1978 |publisher=Yale University Library |page=159 }}
  • January 11
  • John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, British politician (b. 1873){{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/mr-john-simon-1/index.html |title=Mr John Simon (Hansard) |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=November 5, 2022}}
  • Oscar Straus, Austrian composer (b. 1870){{cite book |last=Randel |first=Don Michael |title=The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians |date=October 30, 2002 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-25572-2 |page=866 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HXILEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT866}}
  • January 18Sydney Greenstreet, English actor (b. 1879){{cite book |last=Donnelley |first=Paul |title=Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries |date=2003 |publisher=Music Sales Group |isbn=9780711995123 |page=295 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAhtNiAl3YsC&q=%22Sydney+Hughes+Greenstreet%22&pg=PA295 |access-date=April 1, 2017 }}
  • January 31
  • Edwin Howard Armstrong, American electrical engineer (b. 1890){{cite news |title=Armstrong, FM Inventor, Dies in Leap From East Side Suite |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=February 2, 1954 |page=1 |quote=Maj. Edwin H. Armstrong, whose inventions provided much of the basis for modern broadcasting, was found dead yesterday morning on a third-floor balcony of River House, 435 East Fifty-second Street. The 63-year-old electrical engineer had plunged from a window of his luxurious thirteenth-floor apartment, apparently late Sunday evening or during the night.}}
  • Florence Bates, American actress (b. 1888){{cite web |url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/p4525 |last=Erickson |first=Hal |author-link=Hal Erickson (author) |title=Florence Bates {{!}} Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos |publisher=AllMovie, Netaktion LLC |access-date=November 4, 2022}}

=February=

File:Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp.jpg]]

=March=

File:Otto Paul Hermann Diels.jpg]]

=April=

File:Léon Jouhaux nobel.jpg]]

=May=

File:Heinz Guderian portrait.jpg]]

=June=

File:Alan Turing (1912-1954) in 1936 at Princeton University.jpg]]

=July=

File:Frida Kahlo, by Guillermo Kahlo.jpg]]

File:Jacinto Benavente y Martinez.jpg]]

=August=

File:Alcide de Gasperi 2.jpg]]

=September=

=October=

File:Roberthjackson.jpg]]

=November=

File:Henri Matisse, 1913, photograph by Alvin Langdon Coburn.jpg]]

File:Enrico Fermi 1943-49.jpg]]

File:Wilhelm Furtwängler.jpg]]

=December=

Nobel Prizes

References

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