- May 6
- Roger Bannister of Great Britain becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes (3:59.04). [1] [5]
- May 7
- French surrender to Vietminh after 55-day siege at Dien Bien Phu. [1]
- US, Great Britain, and France reject Russian membership in NATO. [1]
- May 13
- Labour Party wins British municipal elections. [1]
- US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak. [1]
- May 14
- Belgium shortens military conscription from 20 to 18 months. [1]
- May 16
- Ted Williams gets eight hits in first game (designated hitter) since breaking collarbone. [1]
- May 18
- European Convention on Human Rights goes into effect. [1]
- May 20
- Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of Nationalist China. [1]
- May 24
- First rocket attains 150 mile (241 km) altitude, White Sands, New Mexico, USA. [1]
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- German airline Lufthansa forms. [1]
- IBM announces vacuum tube "electronic" brain that could perform 10 million operations an hour. [1]
- May 29
- (to May 31) First meeting of elite international leaders from Americas and Europe at Bilderberg Hotel in Oosterbeck, Holland. [916.115] [1118.164]
- Pope Pius X issues holy declaration. [1]
- May 30
- Dutch bishops forbid membership to non-catholic sporting clubs. [1]
- June 4
- Arthur Murray flies X-1A rocket plane to record 27,000m. [1]
- June 7
- First microbiology laboratory dedicated (New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA). [1]
- June 16
- Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas launches a military coup in Guatemala, authorized, planned, and supported by the American government. [1544.52]
- June 22
- US Congress passes revised organic act for Virgin Islands. [1]
- June 27
- First atomic power station, at Obinsk (55 miles from Moscow), begins producing up to 5000 kilowatts of electricity for industrial and agriculture use. [1] [5] [55.20]
- US Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored rebels overthrow elected government of Guatemala. [1]
- Guatemala President Jacobo Árbenz resigns. [1544.52]
- July 7
- T.A.N.U. party founded in Tanzania. [1]
- July 15
- First commercial jet transport plane built in US tested (Boeing 707). [1]
- July 21
- In Geneva, Switzerland, an agreement is signed to partition Viet Nam at the 17th parallel, between the (north) Democratic Republic of Viet Nam and the (south) Republic of Viet Nam. [285.987]
- July 27
- Armistice divides Vietnam into two countries. [1]
- August 3
- First VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Land) aircraft is flown. [1]
- August 11
- Formal peace takes place, ending 7+ years of fighting in Indochina between French and Communist Vietminh. [1]
- August 19
- Ralph J Bunche is named undersecretary of United Nations. [1]
- August 31
- Hurricane Carol (first major named storm) hits New England, 70 die. [1]
- September 2
- Hurricane Edna batters northeast US, killing 20. [1]
- September 3
- Pope Pius X canonized a saint. [1]
- September 4
- First passage of McClure Strait, fabled Northwest Passage completed. [1]
- September 8
- South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) formed to stop communist spread in South East Asia. [1]
- September 10
- Twelve-second earthquake kills 1,460 in Orleansville, Algeria. [1]
- September 20
- First FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation) computer program is run. [1]
- First National People's Congress adopts Chinese constitution. [1]
- September 26
- Typhoon strikes Kakodate Bay, Japan, killing over 1,600. [1]
- September 30
- The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world's first nuclear reactor powered vessel. [1] [5]
- October 1
- British colony of Nigeria becomes a federation. [1]
- October 2
- Former French possession of Chandernagore made part of West Bengal. [1]
- October 19
- Herbert Tichy, Joseph Jöchler and Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama make the first ascent of Cho Oyu, the world's 6th highest mountain. [5]
- October 22
- Federal Republic of Germany joins North Atlantic Treaty Organization. [1]
- Ford Thunderbird cars arrive in dealer showrooms in the USA. 4,000 orders are placed on the first day. [8]
- October 23
- USA, Great Britain, France, and USSR agree to end occupation of Germany. [1]
- October 31
- Algerian Revolution against French rule begins. [1]
- November 1
- India takes over administration of four French Indian settlements. [1]
- November 3
- Linus Pauling wins Nobel Chemistry Prize. [1]
- November 12
- Ellis Island, immigration station in New York Harbor, closes, after processing more than 12 million immigrants since opening in 1892. [1] [129]
- November 15
- First regularly scheduled commercial flight over North Pole begins. [1]
- November 23
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes for the first time above the peak it reached just before the 1929 crash. [5]
- November 28
- In Sylacauga, Alabama, USA a woman is struck by a 4kg meteorite that crashed through the roof of a house. [521]
- November 30
- First meteorite (8 pounds) known to strike a woman (Liz Hodges in Sylacauga, Alabama, USA). [1]
- December 1
- Nationalist China and US sign dike agreement. [1]
- December 4
- The first Burger King opens, in Miami, Florida. [5]
- December 6
- Simone de Beauvoir receives Prix Goncourt. [1]
- December 7
- Japanese government of Joshida resigns. [1]
- December 9
- Dmitri Shostakovich appointed honored guest of Swedish Royal Music Academy. [1]
- December 10
- Albert Schweitzer receives Nobel Peace Prize. [1]
- December 17
- First fully automated railroad freight yard (Gary, Indiana, USA). [1]
- December 24
- Council for the Children Protection forms in Netherlands. [1]
- Laos gains its independence. [1]
- December 29
- Kingdom of the Netherlands, with Netherlands and Netherlands Antilles as autonomous parts, comes into being. [1]
- Year
- Total government income from Lotto lottery in Italy: US$45 million. [80.235]
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