Chronology of World History

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References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2023 December 20.


1954

January 1
  • Yugoslav parliament chairman and Vice President Milovan Djilas criticizes communism. [1]
January 9
  • -87 degrees F (-66 degrees C), Northice Station, Greenland (Greenland record). [1]
  • Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Louise Bogan and Leonie Adams. [1]
January 10
  • Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to W H Auden. [1]
January 11
  • Two-ton locomotive swept into ravine by avalanche - ten die (Austria). [1]
January 12
  • Austria's worst avalanche-kills 200; nine hours later second one-kills 115. [1]
  • Queen Elizabeth II opens New Zealand parliament. [1]
January 13
  • Military rule in Egypt; 318 Mohammedan Brotherhood arrested. [1]
January 18
  • Fanfani forms Italian government. [1]
January 20
  • The General Motors' Motorama show goes on display at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. Chevrolet shows the Corvette Nomad prototype, with Corvette front and station wagon back. Chevrolet also shows a cherry red Corvair prototype, a two-seat fastback coupe with a Corvette front end. The name is a combination of "Corvette" and "Bel Air". Oldsmobile shows the F-88 two-seater convertible with fiberglass body. Pontiac shows the Bonneville Special, a two-seater with fiberglass body, straight 8-cylinder engine, mostly clear roof, similar headlights to Corvette. (The Corvair idea is dropped, and the style is not related to the later production Corvair. The Nomad becomes a production car, but with styling that departs from the Corvette. The Oldsmobile F-88 is not put into production due to poor sales of the Corvette. In 2005, the Oldsmobile F-88 is sold at auction for US$3 million. In 2006, the Pontiac Bonneville is sold at auction for US$2.6 million.) [8]
January 21
  • First atomic submarine, USS Nautilus, launched on Thames River, christened by First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. [1]
  • First gas turbine automobile exhibited (New York City, New York). [1]
January 23
  • Harry van Thorn chosen chairman of Dutch KVP. [1]
January 30
  • Belgium ends trade agreement with USSR. [1]
  • Italy's Fanfani government resigns. [1]
February 2
  • US President Dwight Eisenhower reports detonation of first Hydrogen bomb (done in 1952). [1]

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February 9
  • Mario Scelba forms new government in Italy. [1]
February 10
  • US President Dwight Eisenhower warns against US intervention in Vietnam. [1]
February 15
  • First bevatron in operation-Berkeley, California, USA. [1]
February 20
  • General Zahedi wins election in Persia. [1]
February 23
  • First mass inoculation with Salk vaccine (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). [1]
  • Syrian army drives out President Adib el-Shishakli. [1]
February 25
  • Abdul Nasser is appointed Egyptian premier. [1]
February 26
  • First typesetting machine (photo engraving) is used, in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA. [1] [5]
February 28
  • US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island. [1]
March 1
  • Four Puerto Ricans open fire in US House of Representatives injuring five Representatives. [1]
  • Rebellion during visit of President Naguib in Khartoum, Sudan, 30 die. [1]
  • US explodes 15 megaton hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll. [1]
March 4
  • Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, announces the first successful kidney transplant. [5]
March 9
  • First local color TV commercial, on WNBT-TV (WNBC-TV) New York City, New York (Castro Decorators). [1]
March 13
  • Viet Minh General Giap opens assault on That Bien Phu. [1]
March 25
  • Pope Pius XII encyclical Sacra virginitas (On consecrated virginity). [1]
  • Radio Corporation of America (RCA) begins commercial production of TV sets equipped to receive programs in color (12.5-inch diagonal screen, cost US$1000). [1] [457]
March 26
  • US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island. [1]
March 31
  • USSR offers to join NATO. [1]
April 1
  • First Dutch motorway, Amsterdam-Utrecht, opens. [1]
  • First army helicopter battalion is formed, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, USA. [1]
  • Earthquake/tsunami ravages Aleutians, 200 killed. [1]
April 6
  • Frozen TV Dinner is first put on sale by Swanson and Sons. [1] [457] [457]
  • US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island. [1]
April 7
  • Federal Republic of Germany government refuses to recognize German Democratic Republic. [1]
  • US President Dwight Eisenhower fears "domino-effect" in Indo-China. [1]
April 8
  • A Comet plane disintegrates in mid-air 30 minutes after leaving Rome, Italy, airport, killing all on board. [720.130]
April 12
  • Belgian Van Houtte government resigns. [1]
April 14
  • Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov asks for political asylum in Canberra, Australia. [1]
April 18
  • Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power and becomes Prime Minister of Egypt. [1]
April 21
  • Gregori Malenkov becomes premier of USSR. [1]
  • US Air Force flies French battalion to Vietnam. [1]
  • In the Foley Square U.S. Courthouse in New York, a congressional subcommittee begins a three-day televised investigation of the causes of juvenile delinquency. The comic-book industry is vilified, leading to laws in several states restricting comic sales, and industry self-censorship. [132.124]
April 22
  • Achiel van Acker forms Belgian government. [1]
  • USSR joins UNESCO. [1]
April 24
  • First American, civilian pilot, P R Holden, wounded in Indochina. [1]
  • Australia and USSR break diplomatic relations. [1]
April 25
  • Bell labs announces first solar battery (New York City, New York). [1]
  • British raid Nairobi, Kenya (25,000 Mau Mau suspects are arrested). [1]
  • US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island. [1]
April 26
  • Far Eastern Affairs conference opens in Geneva, Switzerland. [1]
  • Polio vaccine trials begin at the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia. [1] [129]

End of 1954 January-April. Next: 1954 May.

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start-302 303-599 600-799 800-999 1000-1099 1100-1199 1200-1299 1300-1401 1402-1449 1450-1474
1475-1499 1500-1524 1525-1539 1540-1559 1560-1574 1575-1599 1600-1619 1620-1629 1630-1639 1640-1649
1650-1659 1660-1669 1670-1679 1680-1689 1690-1699 1700-1708 1709-1719 1720-1739 1740-1749 1750-1759
1760-1769 1770-1774 1775-1779 1780-1784 1785-1789 1790-1794 1795-1799 1800-1804 1805-1809 1810-1814
1815-1819 1820-1824 1825-1829 1830-1834 1835-1836 1837-1839 1840-1844 1845-1847 1848-1849 1850-1852
1853-1854 1855-1859 1860-1861 1862-1864 1865-1867 1868-1869 1870-1871 1872-1874 1875-1877 1878-1879
1880-1882 1883-1884 1885-1887 1888-1889 1890-1892 1893-1894 1895 1896-1897 1898-1899 1900-1901
1902 1903-1904 1905 1906-1907 1908-1909 1910-1911 1912 1913 1914 1915
1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925
1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935
1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945
1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975
1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985
1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022-end


A list of references to all source material is available.


Last updated: 2023 December 20.
Copyright © 2007-2024 Ken Polsson (email: ken@kpolsson.com).
URL: http://kpolsson.com/worldhis/
Link to Ken P's home page.

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