What else happened in 1954?

In the news…

*Jan. 14 – Marilyn Monroe marries Joe DiMaggio.
*Feb. 10 – Pres. Dwight Eisenhower warns against US intervention in Vietnam.
*Feb. 23 – The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh.
*Mar. 9 – Edward R. Murrow and Fred Friendly produce a See It Now special entitled “A Report on Sen. Joseph McCarthy”.
*Mar. 13 – French troops begin battle against the Vietminh in Dien Bien Phu.
*Mar. 25 – RCA manufactures the first color TV set. It cost $1,000.00 and had a twelve inch screen.
*Apr. 6 – Swanson and Sons puts the first TV Dinners on sale.
*Apr. 12 – Bill Haley & His Comets record “Rock Around the Clock” in New York City.
*May 6 – Roger Bannister runs the first four minute mile.
*May 7 – The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat.
*May 17 – The US Supreme Court hands down its decision in Brown vs. the Topeka, Kansas Board of Education.
*Jun. 9 – Joseph Welch asks Sen. Joseph McCarthy “Have you no sense of decency, sir?” during Senate-Army hearings.
*Jul. 7 – WHBQ in Memphis becomes the first radio station to air an Elvis Presley record.
*Aug. 16 – The first issue of Sports Illustrated is published.
*Nov. 3 – The first Godzilla movie is released in Japan.
*Dec. 2 – The US Senate votes 67 to 22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for “conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.”

Famous Births…

*Jan. 12 – Howard Stern, the king of all media.
*Jan. 19 – Katey Sagal, Peg Bundy on Married with Children and Leela on Futurama.
*Jan. 29 – Oprah Winfrey, talk show host.
*Feb. 15 – Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons and Futurama.
*Feb. 18 – John Travolta, occasionally cool actor. Well, he was really good in Pulp Fiction.
*Feb. 25 – John Doe, singer for X and one half of the greatest harmony in the history of rock music.
*Mar. 1 – Ron Howard, Opie Taylor, Richie Cunningham, and a pretty damn good director.
*Mar. 4 – Catherine O’Hara, SCTV alum, part of Chris Guest’s wonderful mockumentary troupe, and a very hot woman.
*Apr. 7 – Jackie Chan, kung fu movie icon.
*Apr. 9 – Dennis Quaid, very cool actor.
*Apr. 15 – Seka, porn icon.
*Apr. 17 – Roddy Piper, famous wrestler and cool actor. Check out They Live.
*Apr. 23 – Michael Moore, great documentary filmmaker.
*Apr. 29 – Jerry Seinfeld, great stand-up and sitcom star.
*Jun. 9 – George Perez, brilliant comic book artist. Check out Crisis on Infinite Earths and JLA/Avengers.
*Jul. 23 – Annie Sprinkle, porn star, performance artist, and one of the world’s coolest people.
*Aug. 11 – Joe Jackson, great British rock star.
*Aug. 16 – James Cameron, great director of awesome action movies.
*Aug. 25 – Elvis Costello, amazing rock star and one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th and probably the 21st century.
*Sep. 9 – Jeffrey Combs, very cool actor. Check out Re-Animator.
*Oct. 3 – Stevie Ray Vaughan, the second greatest guitar player who ever lived.
*Oct. 9 – Scott Bakula, very cool actor. See Quantum Leap and Star Trek: Enterprise.
*Oct. 23 – Ang Lee, brilliant filmmaker. Crouching Tiger freakin’ rocked!
*Oct. 25 – Ed Powers, amateur porn icon.
*Nov. 3 – Adam Ant, great British rock star.
*Nov. 29 – Joel Coen, incredibly talented filmmaker. I highly recommend everything he’s ever done.
*Dec. 18 – Ray Liotta, cool actor. Check out Goodfellas.
*Dec. 28 – Denzel Washington, brilliant actor.

Famous Deaths…

*Jan. 18 – Sydney Greenstreet, terrific movie bad guy. Check out The Maltese Falcon.
*Apr. 10 – Auguste Lumiere, one of the founding fathers of the art of filmmaking.
*Jul. 13 – Frida Kahlo, great Mexican artist.
*Nov. 3 – Henri Matisse, great French artist.

In the world of movies…

The Top Grossing Films of 1954

5. Rear Window
4. The Egyptian
3. The Glenn Miller Story
2. The Caine Mutiny
1. White Christmas

Oscar Winners of 1954

Best Picture – On the Waterfront
Best Actor – Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Best Actress – Grace Kelly (The Country Girl)
Best Supp. Actor – Edmond O’Brien (The Barefoot Contessa)
Best Supp. Actress – Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront)
Best Director – Elia Kazan (On the Waterfront)

Other Films released in 1954

Creature from the Black Lagoon
Dial M for Murder
Godzilla
Sabrina
The Seven Samurai (I highly recommend this magnificent adventure film directed by Akira Kurosawa, arguably the greatest filmmaker in the history of the cinema, and starring Toshiro Mifune, one of the coolest actors ever.)
La Strada
Them!

In the world of television…

Shows premiering in 1954

Face the Nation
Father Knows Best
The Tonight Show

Shows ending in 1954

Your Show of Shows

Emmy Winners of 1954

Best Actor in a Regular Series – Danny Thomas (Make Room for Daddy)
Best Actress in a Regular Series – Loretta Young (Loretta Young Show)
Best Dramatic Series – U.S. Steel Hour
Best Situation Comedy Series – Make Room for Daddy
Best Variety Series – Disneyland
Best Mystery or Intrigue Series – Dragnet

In the world of books…

Great Books published in 1954

Live and Let Die – Ian Fleming
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
The Doors of Perception – Aldous Huxley
Story of O – Pauline Reage
Horton Hears a Who! – Dr. Seuss
The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook – Alice B. Toklas
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – J.R.R. Tolkien

In the world of comics…

Fredric Wertham publishes Seduction of the Innocent.
The Comics Code Authority is created.
DC Comics publishes World’s Finest Comics #71 in July, featuring the first teaming of Superman and Batman.

In the world of sports…

*World Series – The New York Giants win 4 games to 0 over the Cleveland Indians.
*NBA Finals – The Minneapolis Lakers win 4 games to 3 over the Syracuse Nationals.
*Boxing – On Sep. 17th, Rocky Marciano retains his World Heavyweight title with an 8th round knockout of Ezzard Charles.
*NFL Championship – The Cleveland Browns win 56-10 over the Detroit Lions.
*College Football champions – The Ohio State Buckeyes.
*World Cup – The 1954 World Cup is held in Switzerland. West Germany beats Hungary 3-2.
*Stanley Cup – The Detroit Red Wings win 4 games to 3 over the Montreal Canadiens.