Editing 1954 (section)

==Events==

===January===
{{Main|January 1954}}
* [[January 3]] &ndash; The Italian broadcaster [[RAI]] officially begins transmitting.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* [[January 7]] &ndash; [[Georgetown–IBM experiment]]: The first public demonstration of a [[machine translation]] system is held in New York, at the head office of [[IBM]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* [[January 10]] &ndash; [[BOAC 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* [[January 12]] &ndash; [[1954 Blons avalanches|Avalanche]]s in Austria kill more than 200.
* [[January 15]] &ndash; [[Mau Mau rebellion|Mau Mau]] leader [[Waruhiu Itote]] is captured in [[Kenya]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* [[January 17]] &ndash; In [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], [[Milovan Đilas]], one of the leading members of the [[League of Communists of Yugoslavia]], is relieved of his duties.
* [[January 20]] &ndash; The US-based [[National Negro Network]] is established, with 46 member [[radio station]]s.
* [[January 21]] &ndash; 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]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* [[January 25]] &ndash; The foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union meet at the [[Berlin Conference (1954)|Berlin Conference]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>

[[File:Monroe DiMaggio Wedding.jpg|thumb|120px|[[January 14]]: [[Marilyn Monroe|Marilyn]] weds [[Joe DiMaggio|DiMaggio]].]]

===February===
{{Main|February 1954}}
* [[February 10]] &ndash; After authorizing $385&nbsp;million over the $400&nbsp;million already budgeted for military aid to [[Vietnam]], [[President of the United States]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] warns against his country's intervention in [[First Indochina War|Vietnam]].
* [[February 19]] &ndash; [[1954 transfer of Crimea]]: The [[Soviet Politburo]] of the [[Soviet Union]] orders the transfer of the [[Crimean Oblast]] from the [[Russian SFSR]] to the [[Ukrainian SSR]].
* [[February 23]] &ndash; The first mass [[vaccination]] of children against [[polio]] begins in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], United States.
* [[February 25]] &ndash; Lt. Col. [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] becomes premier of [[Egypt]].

=== March ===
{{Main|March 1954}}
* [[March 1]]
** U.S. officials announce that a [[Thermonuclear weapon|hydrogen bomb]] test ([[Castle Bravo]]) has been conducted, on [[Bikini Atoll]] in the Pacific Ocean.
** [[United States Capitol shooting incident (1954)|U.S. Capitol shooting incident]]: Four [[Puerto Rican independence movement|Puerto Rican nationalists]] open fire in the [[United States House of Representatives]] chamber and wound 5; they are apprehended by security guards.
* [[March 9]] &ndash; American journalists [[Edward R. Murrow]] and [[Fred W. Friendly]] produce a 30-minute ''[[See It Now]]'' documentary, entitled ''[[Joseph McCarthy|A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy]]''.
* [[March 12]] &ndash; Finland and Germany officially end their state of war.
* [[March 13]] &ndash; [[Việt Minh]] forces under General [[Võ Nguyên Giáp]] began a massive artillery bombardment on the French military, beginning the [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]], the climactic battle of the [[First Indochina War]].
* [[March 19]] &ndash; [[Joey Giardello]] knocks out Willie Tory at [[Madison Square Garden (1925)|Madison Square Garden]] in the first [[television|televised]] [[boxing]] prize fight to be shown in colour.
* [[March 23]] &ndash; In Vietnam, the [[Viet Minh]] capture the main airstrip of [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu|Dien Bien Phu]]. The remaining French Army units there are partially isolated.
* [[March 25]]
** The [[26th Academy Awards]] Ceremony is held.
** The [[Soviet Union]] recognises the [[sovereignty]] of [[East Germany]]. Soviet troops remain in the country.
* [[March 27]] &ndash; The [[Castle Romeo]] nuclear test explosion is executed at [[Bikini Atoll]], in the [[Marshall Islands]].
* [[March 28]] 
** The trial of [[A. L. Zissu]] and 12 other Zionist leaders ends with harsh sentences in [[Communist Romania]].
** Puerto Rico's first television station, ''[[WKAQ-TV]]'', commences [[broadcasting]].
* [[March 29]] &ndash; A [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain|C-47 transport]] with French nurse [[Geneviève de Galard]] on board is wrecked on the runway at [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu|Dien Bien Phu]].
* [[March 30]] &ndash; The first operational [[Line 1 Yonge–University|subway line]] in Canada opens in [[Toronto subway|Toronto]].

===April===
{{Main|April 1954}}
* [[April 1]]
** The [[U.S. Congress]] and President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] authorize the founding of the [[United States Air Force Academy]] in [[Colorado]].
** [[South Point School]] in India is founded, and becomes the largest school in the world by [[1992]].
* [[April 3]] &ndash; [[Petrov Affair]]: Diplomat [[Vladimir Mikhaylovich Petrov (diplomat)|Vladimir Petrov]] defects from the [[Soviet Union]] and asks for [[political asylum]] in Australia.
* [[April 4]] &ndash; Legendary symphony conductor [[Arturo Toscanini]] experiences a lapse of memory during a concert broadcast live from Carnegie Hall in New York City. At this concert's end, his retirement is announced, and he never conducts in public again.
* [[April 7]] &ndash; [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] gives his "[[domino theory]]" speech, during a news conference.
* [[April 8]] &ndash; A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair [[North American T-6 Texan|Harvard]] collides with a [[Trans-Canada Air Lines]] [[Canadair North Star]] over [[Moose Jaw]], [[Saskatchewan]], killing 37 people.
* [[April 11]]
** This day is denoted as the most boring day in the 20th century by [[True Knowledge]], an [[Question answering|answer engine]] developed by [[William Tunstall-Pedoe]]. No significant newsworthy events, births, or deaths are known to have happened on this day.<ref name="boring">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8160622/Computer-identifies-the-most-boring-day-in-history.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127183400/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8160622/Computer-identifies-the-most-boring-day-in-history.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 27, 2010|title=The Most Boring Day in History &ndash; April 11, 1954|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=November 25, 2010|access-date=July 19, 2014}}</ref>
** In a [[1954 Belgian general election|general election]] in Belgium, the dominant [[Christian Social Party (Belgium, 1945)|Christian Social Party]] wins 95 of the 212 seats in the [[Chamber of Representatives (Belgium)|Chamber of Representatives]], and 49 of the 106 seats in the [[Senate (Belgium)|Senate]]. The government led by [[Jean Van Houtte]] loses their majority in parliament. The two other main parties, the [[Socialist Party (Belgium)|Socialist]] and [[Liberal Party (Belgium)|Liberal Party]], subsequently form a rare "[[Purple coalition|purple]]" government, with [[Achille Van Acker]] as Prime Minister.<ref>[[Dieter Nohlen]] & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p289 {{ISBN|978-3-8329-5609-7}}</ref>
* [[April 12]] &ndash; [[Bill Haley & His Comets]] record "[[Rock Around the Clock]]" in their first session for American Decca in New York City; it is released on May 20 as a B-side, but only in [[1955]] becomes a #1 hit, helping to initiate the [[rock and roll]] craze.
* [[April 14]]
** [[Aneurin Bevan]] resigns from the [[Labour Party (UK)|British Labour Party]]'s [[Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom)|Shadow Cabinet]] in protest over his party's failure to oppose the rearmament of West Germany.
** A Soviet spy ring in Australia is unveiled.
** The world's most [[Boredom|boring]] day according to [[Research|researchers]].
* [[April 16]] &ndash; Vice President [[Richard Nixon]] announces that the United States may be "putting our own boys in Indochina regardless of Allied support".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Vietnam War Almanac: an In-Depth Guide to the Most Controversial Conflict in American History|last=Willbanks, James H.|date=2013|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing, Inc|isbn=9781626365285|location=New York|oclc=855969323}}</ref>
* [[April 22]]
** The [[1951]] [[United Nations]] [[Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees]] comes into force, defining the status of [[refugee]]s and setting out the basis for granting [[right of asylum]].
** [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Joseph McCarthy]] begins hearings investigating the [[United States Army]] for being "soft" on [[Communism]].
* [[April 26]]
** An [[Geneva Conference (1954)|international conference]] on Korea and Indo-China opens in Geneva.
** [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s ''[[Seven Samurai]]'' is released in Japan.
* [[April 28]] &ndash; U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]] accuses Communist China of sending combat troops to Indo-China to train [[Viet Minh]] guerrillas.<ref>{{cite book|last=Logevall|first=Fredrik|title=Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam|publisher=Random House|year=2012|isbn=978-0-679-64519-1}}</ref>

===May===
{{Main|May 1954}}
* [[May 1]] &ndash; The [[Unification Church]] is founded in South Korea.
* [[May 4]] &ndash; General [[Alfredo Stroessner]] deposes [[Federico Chaves]] in a [[coup d'état]] in [[Paraguay]]; from August 15 he will hold the office of [[President of Paraguay|President]] until [[1989]].
* [[May 6]] &ndash; [[Roger Bannister]] runs the first [[sub-four minute mile]], in [[Oxford]], England.
* [[May 7]] &ndash; [[Vietnam War]] (run-up): The [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]] ends in a French defeat (the battle began on [[March 13]]).
* [[May 8]] &ndash; The [[Asian Football Confederation]] (AFC) is formed in [[Manila]], [[Philippines]].
* [[May 11]] &ndash; U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]] declares that Indochina is important but not essential to the security of Southeast Asia, thus ending any prospect of American intervention on the side of France.
* [[May 14]] 
** The [[Boeing 707]] jetliner is rolled out in the United States, after about 2 years of development.
** The [[Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict]] is adopted in [[The Hague]], Netherlands. 
* [[May 15]] &ndash; The [[Latin Union]] (''Unión Latina'') is created by the Convention of [[Madrid]]. Its member countries use the five [[Romance languages]]: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. It suspended operations in [[2012]].
*[[May 16]] &ndash; Beginning of the [[Kengir uprising]] in the [[Gulag]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dunn |first1=Morgan |title=How The Prisoners Behind The Kengir Uprising Fought Back Against The Horrors of the Gulag |url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/kengir-uprising |website=allthatsinteresting.com |date=May 15, 2021 |access-date=April 1, 2024}}</ref>
* [[May 17]]
** ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' (347 US 483 1954): The [[Supreme Court of the United States]] rules unanimously that segregated schools are unconstitutional.
** The [[Royal Commission]] on the [[Petrov Affair]] in Australia begins its inquiry.
** [[Adnan Menderes]] of the [[Democrat Party (Turkey, 1946–1961)|Democrat Party]] forms the new (21st) government of [[Turkey]].
* [[May 20]] &ndash; [[Chiang Kai-shek]] is re-elected as the [[president of the Republic of China]], by the [[National Assembly of the Republic of China|National Assembly]].
* [[May 22]] &ndash; The common [[Nordic Passport Union|Nordic Labour Market]] act is signed.
* [[May 26]] &ndash; A fire on board the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier [[USS Bennington (CV-20)|USS ''Bennington'']], off [[Narragansett Bay]], [[Massachusetts]], kills 103 sailors.
* [[May 29]]
** [[1954 Australian federal election]]: [[Robert Menzies]]' [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]/[[National Party of Australia|Country]] [[Coalition (Australia)|Coalition]] [[Menzies Government (1949-66)|Government]] is re-elected with a decreased majority, defeating the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]] led by [[H.V. Evatt]]. The election has come shortly after the [[Petrov Affair]], arguably helping the Government survive what was initially predicted to be a defeat.
** Creation and first meeting of the [[Bilderberg Group]].
** [[Diane Leather]] becomes the first woman to run a sub-five minute mile, in [[Birmingham]], England.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics/great-britain/diane-leather-422/two-world-records-in-1957_a08872/|title=Diane Leather|work=Sporting Heroes|access-date=November 12, 2012}}</ref>

===June===
{{Main|June 1954}}
* [[June 6]] &ndash; The grand opening of the [[Statue of Yuriy Dolgorukiy, Moscow|sculpture of Yuriy Dolgorukiy]] takes place in Moscow (this statue is one of the main monuments of Moscow).
* [[June 7]] &ndash; English cryptanalyst, mathematician and computer scientist [[Alan Turing]], age 41, commits suicide by cyanide poisoning.
* [[June 9]] &ndash; [[McCarthyism]]: [[Joseph N. Welch]], special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Joseph McCarthy]], during hearings on whether [[Communism]] has infiltrated the Army, saying, "Have you, at long last, no decency?"<ref>Robert D. Marcus and Anthony Marcus, [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6444/ ""Have You No Sense of Decency": The Army-McCarthy Hearings"], ''History Matters''</ref> The exchange results in the decline of McCarthy’s popularity.
* [[June 14]] &ndash; The words "under God" are added to the United States [[Pledge of Allegiance (United States)|Pledge of Allegiance]].
* [[June 15]] &ndash; The [[UEFA]] (Union of European Football Associations) is formed in [[Basel]], Switzerland.
* [[June 17]] &ndash; A [[1954 Guatemalan coup d'état|CIA-engineered military coup]] occurs in [[Guatemala]].
* [[June 18]] &ndash; [[Pierre Mendès France]] becomes prime minister of France.
* [[June 22]] 
** [[Sarah Mae Flemming]] is expelled from a bus in South Carolina, for sitting in a white-only section.
** [[Parker–Hulme murder case]]: [[Pauline Parker]], 16 and her friend [[Juliet Hulme]], 15, bludgeon Parker's mother to death using a brick, at [[Victoria Park, Christchurch|Victoria Park]] in New Zealand.
* [[June 27]]
** [[Guatemala]]n President [[Jacobo Árbenz]] steps down in a [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]-sponsored [[1954 Guatemalan coup d'état|military coup]], triggering a bloody civil war that continues for more than 35 years.
** The world's first [[nuclear power|atomic power station]] opens at [[Obninsk]], near Moscow.

===July===
{{Main|July 1954}}
* [[July 1]]
** The [[Nordic Passport Union|Common Nordic Labor Market Act]] comes into effect.
** The United States officially begins using the international unit of the nautical mile, equal to 6,076.11549&nbsp;ft. or 1,852 meters.
* [[July 4]]
**[[Rationing in the United Kingdom|Food rationing in Great Britain]] ends, with the lifting of restrictions on sale and purchase of meat, 14 years after it began early in [[World War II]], and nearly a decade after the war's end.
**[[1954 FIFA World Cup Final|"Miracle of Bern"]]: [[Germany national football team|West Germany]] beats [[Hungary national football team|Hungary]] [[1954 FIFA World Cup Final|3–2]] to win the [[1954 FIFA World Cup]].
* [[July 10]] &ndash; [[Peter Thomson (golfer)|Peter Thomson]] becomes the first Australian to win the [[The Open Championship|British Open Golf Championship]].
* [[July 15]]
** The [[Boeing 367-80]] (or Dash 80), prototype of the [[Boeing 707]] series, makes its maiden flight.
** [[Juan Manuel Fangio|Juan Fangio]], [[Argentina|Argentine]] driver for German [[Grand Prix motor racing|Grand Prix]] team [[Mercedes-Benz]], makes a new fastest lap of the [[Silverstone Circuit]] in England, with an average speed of 100.35&nbsp;mph, the previous record being 100.16&nbsp;mph.
* [[July 17]] &ndash; [[First Indochina War]]: [[Viet Minh]] troops successfully ambush the armoured French column 'G.M.&nbsp;42' in the [[Battle of Chu Dreh Pass]] in the [[Central Highlands (Vietnam)|Central Highlands]]. It is the last battle of the war.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fall| first1= Bernard| title=Street Without Joy: The French Debacle in Indochina| date=2005| publisher=Stackpole Military History |author-link=Bernard Fall|page=240|isbn=9780811732369}}</ref>
* [[July 19]] &ndash; Release of [[Elvis Presley]]'s first single, a cover of "[[That's All Right]]", by [[Sun Records]] (recorded [[July 5]] in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]).
* [[July 21]] &ndash; [[First Indochina War]]: The [[Geneva Conference (1954)|Geneva Conference]] sends French forces to the south, and Vietnamese forces to the north, of a ceasefire line, and calls for elections to decide the government for all of [[Vietnam]] by July 1956. Failure to abide by the terms of the agreement leads to the establishment of the de facto regimes of [[North Vietnam]] and [[South Vietnam]], and the [[Vietnam War]].
* [[July 29]] &ndash; The construction of Yad Vashem started in Jerusalem. It is an official memorial center to commemorate the victims of the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis and their accomplices in Europe.
* [[July 29]] &ndash; ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', the first of three volumes in J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel, ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', is published in London.
* [[July 31]] &ndash; [[1954 Italian expedition to K2]]: Italian mountaineers [[Lino Lacedelli]] and [[Achille Compagnoni]] become the first to reach the summit of the second highest mountain in the world, in the [[Karakoram]] range.

===August===
{{Main|August 1954}}
* [[August 1]] &ndash; The [[First Indochina War]] ends with the [[Vietnam People's Army]] in [[North Vietnam]], the [[Vietnamese National Army]] in [[South Vietnam]], the [[Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–70)|Kingdom of Cambodia]] in [[Cambodia]], and the [[Kingdom of Laos]] in [[Laos]], emerging victorious against the French Army.
* [[August 6]] &ndash; Emilie Dionne, one of the [[Dionne quintuplets]], dies of [[asphyxia]]tion following an [[epileptic seizure]]. She is the first of the Canadian five to perish; three live into the 21st century.
* [[August 16]] &ndash; The first issue of ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' magazine is published in the United States.
* [[August 23]] &ndash; A [[United States Air Force]] [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules]] makes its first flight at [[Burbank, California]], manufactured by [[Lockheed Martin]].
* [[August 24]] &ndash; Brazilian president [[Getúlio Vargas]] commits suicide, after being accused of involvement in a conspiracy to murder his chief political opponent, [[Carlos Lacerda]].

===September===
{{Main|September 1954}}
* [[September 6]] &ndash; The [[Southeast Asia Treaty Organization]] (SEATO) treaty is signed in [[Manila]], [[Philippines]].
* [[September 8]] &ndash; SEATO is established in [[Bangkok]], [[Thailand]].
* [[September 9]] &ndash; The 6.7 {{M|w|link=y}} [[1954 Chlef earthquake|Chlef earthquake]] shakes northern [[Algeria]], with a maximum [[Mercalli intensity scale|Mercalli intensity]] of XI (''Extreme''). The shock destroys [[Orléansville]], leaving 1,243–1,409 dead, and 5,000 injured.
* [[September 11]] &ndash; The [[Miss America]] Pageant is broadcast on television for the first time.
* [[September 14]]
** The [[Soviet Union]] carries out the [[Totskoye nuclear exercise]].
** English composer [[Benjamin Britten]]'s [[chamber opera]] version of ''[[The Turn of the Screw (opera)|The Turn of the Screw]]'' receives its world premiere, at the [[Teatro La Fenice]] in [[Venice]], Italy.
* [[September 17]] &ndash; [[William Golding]]'s allegorical dystopian novel ''[[Lord of the Flies]]'' is published in London.
* [[September 18]] &ndash; Finnish president [[J. K. Paasikivi]] is the first Western head of state to be awarded the highest honor of the [[Soviet Union]], the [[Order of Lenin]].<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3001358 | jstor=3001358 | last1=Hodgson | first1=John H. | title=The Paasikivi Line | journal=American Slavic and East European Review | date=1959 | volume=18 | issue=2 | pages=145–173 | doi=10.2307/3001358 | url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Paasikivi Tukholmassa: J. K. Paasikiven toiminta Suomen lähettiläänä Tukholmassa 1936–39 | pages=155–156 | publisher=Otava | year=1978 | first=Max |last=Jakobson | location=Helsinki | isbn=951-1-05126-1 | language = fi}}</ref>
* [[September 20]] &ndash; The first ''[[Moomins]]'' [[Moomin comic strips|comic strip]] is published in the London newspaper ''[[The Evening News (London newspaper)|The Evening News]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theslingsandarrows.com/moomin-the-deluxe-anniversary-edition/|title=Slings & Arrows}}</ref>
* [[September 25]] &ndash; [[Western Bulldogs|Footscray Football Club]] wins their first [[Australian Football League]] [[AFL Grand Final|Grand Final]].
* [[September 26]] &ndash; Japanese ferry ''[[Tōya Maru]]'' sinks during a [[typhoon]] in the [[Tsugaru Strait]]. More than 1,100 people are killed, 7 other ships are [[List of shipwrecks in 1954#26 September|wrecked]], and at least nine others seriously damaged.
* [[September 27]] &ndash; ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' first airs on live television on [[NBC]] in the United States being the first late night talk show.
* [[September 30]] &ndash; The {{USS|Nautilus|SSN-571}}, the first nuclear-powered [[submarine]] in the world, is commissioned into the [[United States Navy]].

===October===
{{Main|October 1954}}
* [[October 11]]
** Pre-[[Vietnam War]]: The [[Viet Minh]] takes control of [[North Vietnam]].
** [[Hurricane Hazel]] crosses over [[Haiti]], killing 1,000.
* [[October 15]] &ndash; [[Hurricane Hazel]] makes U.S. landfall; it is the only recorded [[Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale#Category 4|Category 4 hurricane]] to strike as far north as [[North Carolina]]
* [[October 18]]
** [[Texas Instruments]] announces the development of the first commercial [[transistor radio]]. The [[Regency TR-1]] goes on sale the following month.
** The [[comic strip]] ''[[Hi and Lois]]'', by [[Mort Walker]] and [[Dik Browne]], is launched in the United States.
* [[October 23]]
** West Germany joins [[NATO]].
** [[London and Paris Conferences#Paris|Paris Agreement]] sets up the [[Western European Union]] to implement the [[Treaty of Brussels]] (1948), providing for mutual self-defence and other collaboration between Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
* [[October 25]] &ndash; [[Landslide]]s caused by heavy rains hit [[Salerno]], Italy, killing about 300.
* [[October 26]] &ndash; [[Muslim Brotherhood]] member Mahmoud Abdul Latif tries to kill [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]].
* [[October 31]] &ndash; [[Algerian War|Algerian War of Independence]]: The [[National Liberation Front (Algeria)|Algerian National Liberation Front]] begins a revolt against French rule.

===November===
{{Main|November 1954}}
* [[November 1]] &ndash; The [[National Liberation Front (Algeria)|FLN]] attacks representative and public buildings of the French colonial power.
* [[November 2]] 
** The dock workers' strike in the UK comes to an end.
** The radio program ''[[Hancock's Half Hour]]'', a pioneer in [[situation comedy]], is first broadcast on [[BBC Radio]] (a television version will follow in [[1956]]).
* [[November 3]] &ndash; The first [[Godzilla (1954 film)|''Godzilla'']] film premieres in Tokyo.
* [[November 5]] &ndash; Japan and [[Burma]] sign a peace treaty in [[Rangoon]], to end their long-extinct state of war.
* [[November 10]] &ndash; U.S. President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] dedicates the [[USMC War Memorial]] (Iwo Jima Memorial), at the Arlington National Cemetery.
* [[November 12]] &ndash; The main immigration port-of-entry in [[New York Harbor]] at [[Ellis Island]] closes permanently.
* [[November 13]] &ndash; [[Great Britain national rugby league team|Great Britain]] defeats [[France national rugby league team|France]], to capture the first ever [[Rugby League World Cup]] in Paris in front of around 30,000 spectators
* [[November 14]] &ndash; [[Egypt]]ian president [[Muhammad Naguib]] is deposed, and [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] replaces him.
* [[November 21]] &ndash; [[People's Action Party]], an eventual dominative political party in [[Singapore]], was established.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Weiqi |first1=Yan |title=In Pictures – Celebrating 70 years of the PAP |url=https://petir.sg/2024/11/21/in-pictures-celebrating-70-years-of-the-pap/ |website=Petir SG |access-date=24 November 2024 |date=21 November 2024}}</ref>
* [[November 22]] &ndash;  ''[[Berman v. Parker]]'' (348 U.S. 26): The [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] upholds the federal [[slum clearance]] and urban renewal programs.
* [[November 23]] &ndash; The [[Dow Jones Industrial Average]] rises 3.27 points, or 0.86 percent, closing at an all-time high of 382.74. More significantly, this is the first time the Dow has surpassed its peak level, reached just before the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]].
* [[November 30]] &ndash; In [[Sylacauga, Alabama]], a four-kilogram piece of the [[Sylacauga (meteorite)|Hodges Meteorite]] crashes through the roof of a house and badly bruises a napping woman, in the first documented case of an object from [[outer space]] hitting a person.

===December===
{{Main|December 1954}}
* [[December 1]] &ndash; The first [[Hyatt|Hyatt Hotel]], The Hyatt House Los Angeles, opens on the grounds of [[Los Angeles International Airport]]. It is the first hotel in the world built on an airport property.
* [[December 2]]
** [[Second Red Scare|Red Scare]]: The [[United States Senate]] votes 67–22 to censure [[Wisconsin]] [[United States Senator|Senator]] [[Joseph McCarthy]], for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."
** The Taiwan-United States Mutual Defense Treaty is signed.<ref>[[s:Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of China]]</ref>
* [[December 3]]
** A German court dismisses charges against [[Werner Naumann]], head of the [[Neo-Nazi]] [[Naumann Circle]].
** [[Väinö Linna]]'s war novel ''[[The Unknown Soldier (novel)|The Unknown Soldier]]'' (''Tuntematon sotilas'') is published.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.verkkouutiset.fi/a/eduskunnassa-juhlittiin-70-vuotiasta-tuntematonta-sotilasta/#b0cd81e5|title=Eduskunnassa juhlittiin 70-vuotiasta Tuntematonta sotilasta|trans-title=The 70-year-old 'The Unknown Soldier' was celebrated in the Finnish Parliament|first=Ville|last=Mäkilä|work=Verkkouutiset|date=4 December 2024|access-date=5 December 2024|language=fi}}</ref>
* [[December 4]] &ndash; The first [[Burger King]] opens in [[Miami|Miami, Florida]].
* [[December 15]] &ndash; The [[Netherlands Antilles]] is created out of the Dutch Caribbean nations. It is dissolved between [[1986]] and [[2010]].
* [[December 23]] &ndash; [[J. Hartwell Harrison]] and [[Joseph Murray]] perform the world's first successful [[kidney transplantation]], in [[Boston]], Massachusetts.
* [[December 24]] &ndash; [[Kingdom of Laos|Laos]] gains full independence from France.

===Date unknown===
* New Zealand engineer [[Bill Hamilton (engineer)|Sir William Hamilton]] develops the first [[pump-jet]] engine (the "Hamilton Jet") capable of propelling a [[jetboat]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* The first electric [[drip brew]] [[coffeemaker]] is patented in Germany and named the [[Wigomat]] after its inventor Gottlob Widmann.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* 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 [[fresco]]es in [[Marienkirche, Lübeck|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.