Editing 1954 (section)

===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>