1954 Michigan State Normal Hurons football team
The 1954 Michigan State Normal Hurons football team represented Michigan State Normal College (renamed Eastern Michigan College in 1956 and Eastern Michigan University in 1959) in the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the 1954 college football season. In their third season under head coach Fred Trosko, the Hurons compiled an 8–1 record (5–1 against IIAC opponents), tied with Central Michigan for the IIAC championship, and outscored their opponents, 210 to 67. Nicholas Manych was the team captain.


1954 Michigan State Normal Hurons football team
The Hurons lost to Central Michigan by a 28 to 7 score in the final game of the season, resulting in the two teams sharing the conference championship. Quarterback Bob Middlekauff led the team with 934 yards of total offense. Virgil Windom led the team with 530 rushing yards and in scoring with 11 touchdowns and 66 points. Middlekauf was also named MVP of the IIAC.


1954 Michigan State Spartans baseball team
The 1954 Michigan State Spartans baseball team represented Michigan State University in the 1954 NCAA baseball season. The head coach was John Kobs, serving his 29th year. The Spartans finished the season in 3rd place in the 1954 College World Series.


1954 Michigan State Spartans football team
The 1954 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State College in the 1954 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second season in the Big Ten Conference and their first season under head coach Duffy Daugherty, the Spartans compiled a 3–6 overall record and 1–5 against Big Ten opponents.


1954 Michigan State Spartans football team
The Spartans' prospects were diminished when their best back, Leroy Bolden, was injured in the early in the 1954 season. Michigan State tackle Randy Schrecengost was selected as a first-team player on the 1954 All-Big Ten Conference football team.


1954 Michigan State Spartans football team
The 1954 Spartans won one of their three annual rivalry games. In the annual Indiana–Michigan State football rivalry game, the Spartans defeated the Hoosiers by a 21 to 14 score to give Daugherty his first victory as head coach. In the Notre Dame rivalry game, the Spartans lost by only one point, 20-19, to a Fighting Irish team that finished the season ranked #4 in the final AP Poll. And, in the annual Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry game, the Spartans lost by a 33 to 7 score.


1954 Michigan State Spartans football team
In non-conference play, the Spartans routed Washington State by a 54 to 6 score, and concluded their season with a 40-10 victory over Marquette.


1954 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1954 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1954 Big Ten Conference football season. In its seventh year under head coach Bennie Oosterbaan, Michigan compiled a 6–3 record (5–2 against conference opponents), tied for second place in the Big Ten, outscored opponents by a combined total of 139 to 87, and was ranked No. 15 in the final AP and Coaches Polls.


1954 Michigan Wolverines football team
Left guard Ted Cachey was the team captain, and fullback Fred Baer received the team's most valuable player award,


1954 Michigan Wolverines football team
Two Michigan players received All-American honors: left end Ron Kramer was selected as a first-team All-American by the Central Press Association, and left tackle Art Walker received first-team honors from the All-America Board and the Football Writers Association of America.


1954 Michigan Wolverines football team
The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Jim Maddock with 293 passing yards, Fred Baer with 439 rushing yards, and Ron Kramer with 303 receiving yards.


1954 Michigan Wolverines football team, Statistical leaders
Michigan's individual statistical leaders for the 1954 season include those listed below.


1954 Michigan Wolverines football team, Personnel, Letter winners
The following 33 players received varsity letters for their participation on the 1954 team. Players who started at least four games are shown with their names in bold.


1954 Michigan Wolverines football team, Personnel, Coaches and staff
Michigan's 1954 coaching, training, and support staff included the following persons.


1954 Michigan Wolverines football team, Awards and honors
Honors and awards for the 1954 season went to the following individuals.


1954 Michigan gubernatorial election
The 1954 Michigan gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1954, to elect the governor of Michigan.


1954 Mid-South 250
The 1954 Mid-South 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on October 10, 1954, at Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in LeHi, Arkansas.


1954 Mid-South 250
The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.


1954 Mid-South 250, Race report
One hundred and sixty seven laps were raced on a dirt track spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km). Twelve thousand people would attend this live untelevised race where Buck Baker would win in his 1954 Oldsmobile vehicle by approximately 5 laps over Dick Rathmann. Other notable competitors included Lee Petty (who led 150 laps which was considered to be the most laps), Marvin Panch, Jimmie Lewallen, Arden Mounts, and Junior Johnson. The average speed of the race was 89.013 miles per hour (143.253 km/h) and the race took two hours, forty-eight minutes, and fifty-one seconds to complete. This event was the 35th race out of 37 in the 1954 Grand National season. Even though it was advertised as a 250-mile race, the actual distance of the race was 250.5 miles (403.1 km).


1954 Mid-South 250, Race report
Buck Baker may not have dominated this race, but he got the win. Of course, Lee Petty would go on to win the championship, even though he finished 3rd in this race. This was the first NASCAR Grand National Series race to take place on a mile-and-a-half track; which would be defined in modern NASCAR standards as a generic "cookie cutter" track. Charles Merrill, a one-off driver from Mobile, Alabama drove the #90 vehicle to a 23rd-place finish; he would never race in the NASCAR Grand National Cup Series again after this race.


1954 Mid-South 250, Race report
One of the major sponsors of the race was for the gasoline brand Pure; which is now a defunct oil company that services ten Southern states as a cooperative. Vapor lock from the fuels being used in the NASCAR Cup Series back then led to the elimination of three drivers from the race (John Erickson, Bud Harless, and Charles Brinkley). Ever since NASCAR has made the use of fuel injection mandatory in all of their Cup Series vehicles, the vapor lock problem has been solved permanently.


1954 Mid-South 250, Race report
Richard Jones achieved the race's last-place finish due to a crash on the first lap of the race. Lloyd Chick, Bo Fields, Hooker Hood, Jim McLain, Dutch Munsinger, Roscoe Rann, Leland Sewell and Robert Slensby would make their NASCAR Grand National Series debut at this event. Charles Brinkley, Laird Bruner, Herschel Buchanan, and Frank Smith would depart from professional stock car racing after this event. Bud Chaddock, John Erickson, Charles Hardiman, Richard Jones, Harold Lutz, and Lucky Walters would make their NASCAR appearance at this race.


1954 Mid-South 250, Race report
Robert Foster was responsible for maintaining Junior Johnson's vehicle during the race while Lee Petty his own crew chief during the race.


1954 Milan High School basketball team
The 1954 Milan High School Indians won the Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament championship in 1954. With an enrollment of only 161, Milan was the smallest school ever to win a single-class state basketball title in Indiana, beating the team from the much larger Muncie Central High School in a classic competition known as the Milan Miracle. The team and town are the inspiration for the 1986 film Hoosiers. The team finished its regular season 19–2 and sported a 28–2 overall record.


1954 Milan High School basketball team, Background
Unlike most states, Indiana held a single-class tournament in which all schools competed for the same championship in one of America's largest and most popular high school tournaments, until the separation into enrollment classes in 1997. Indiana still possessed a large rural population well into the 1950s and rural school consolidation was still in its infancy. As a result, most Indiana high schools of the era had what today are considered extremely small enrollments. Many of these small schools had realistic expectations of advancing several rounds into the tournament in that era, but they would almost inevitably fall in the regionals to urban schools from places such as South Bend, Evansville, Gary, Terre Haute, Muncie, Bloomington, Lafayette, Fort Wayne, and Indianapolis.


1954 Milan High School basketball team, Background
Coach Marvin Wood had been hired two years earlier, at the age of 24, after a collegiate playing career at Butler University and a coaching stint in French Lick. His hiring was controversial, coming on the heels of Superintendent Willard Green's firing of coach Herman "Snort" Grinstead, who had ordered new uniforms without authorization. Wood's coaching style was the opposite of Grinstead's in many ways. He closed practice to outsiders, an act that removed one of the major forms of leisure time entertainment for the town's basketball-crazed population and angered many.


1954 Milan High School basketball team, Background
He was impressed by the unusual scope of size and talent available in such a small school among the many boys trying out for the team, talent forged by a strong junior-high program. He taught them more patience than the run-and-gun Grinstead, culminating in a four-corner ball control offense he called the "cat-and-mouse".


1954 Milan High School basketball team, Background
Expectations were higher in the 1952–1953 season. These were realized as the Indians won their first regional game in school history under questionable circumstances against Morton Memorial, an orphanage school outside of Knightstown. In that game, Morton Memorial held a nine point lead late in the game, only to lose in double-overtime as Milan's fourth quarter comeback was aided when the timekeeper delayed restarting the clock by a few seconds on one occasion.


1954 Milan High School basketball team, Background
Milan went on to shock the state by winning the 1953 regional title and sweeping the semi-state to advance to the final four, finally bowing out in a 56–37 semifinal blowout to the Bears of South Bend Central High School. The nucleus of that team returned for the 1953–54 season with expectations of tournament success unprecedented for such a small school.


1954 Milan High School basketball team, The 1953–54 season
With four starters returning from the semifinalists, Milan was considered a lock to win both the Ripley County tournament and the sectional. To prepare for the rigors of tournament play, Milan scheduled several games against larger, more prestigious schools, including a tournament at Frankfort, where they would suffer their first loss of the season, a 49–47 nail-biter against the hosts. Milan cruised through the rest of the schedule before suffering a late-season upset to Aurora, who were also coming into a successful period in their basketball history.


1954 Milan High School basketball team, 1954 IHSAA Boys Basketball Tournament
Anticipating a run deep into the later rounds of the Indiana High School Athletic Association boys basketball tournament, Milan expected to easily take the sectional before facing a tough test in the regional and a possible rematch against Aurora.


1954 Milan High School basketball team, 1954 IHSAA Boys Basketball Tournament, State Finals at Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
The Indiana High School Athletic Association broke a longstanding tradition and awarded the Trester Award for mental attitude, sportsmanship, and character to a member of the winning team, Bobby Plump.


1954 Milan High School basketball team, Aftermath
40,000 people descended on Milan (population: 1,150) the next day as the team returned home from Indianapolis, lining State Road 101 for 13 miles (21 km) to congratulate the Indians.


1954 Milan High School basketball team, Aftermath
As schools consolidated throughout Indiana, the days of small-town success gradually ended. Fewer than half of the 751 schools entered in the 1954 tournament exist today. With increased urbanization and suburbanization throughout the state, Indiana schools became much larger and the urban schools that had the most success in the tournament increased their domination of the tournament. No school with an enrollment less than five times that of Milan's ever won the tournament again under the one-class system that was replaced with a multi-class tournament in 1997. The smallest school to win the state tournament after Milan was Plymouth in 1982, led by future NBA star and coach Scott Skiles. Milan's enrollment is now over twice as large as it was in 1954.


1954 Milan High School basketball team, Aftermath
Thirty-three years later, the film Hoosiers, a fictionalized account based on Milan's 1952–54 seasons, opened to positive reviews, renewing interest in the team and its legacy. The film combined game play from both the 1952–53 and 1953–54 seasons, merging the 1953 quarter-final opponent, the South Bend Bears, with the scoring pattern from the 1954 championship win against Muncie Central.


1954 Milan High School basketball team, Aftermath
The 2010 run of Butler—a university team that to this day plays its home games in the same building that hosted Milan's historic victory—to the Final Four led to countless comparisons with both the 1954 Milan team and its cinematic alter ego of Hickory High. The Bulldogs stunned perennial power Michigan State 52–50 in the national semifinal to make it to the National Title Game, where they lost to Duke 61–59. (Butler forward Gordon Hayward narrowly missed a last-second half court shot that would have won the game, and the national championship, for Butler.) Appropriately, the Milan team, all but one of whom were alive at the time of the tournament, attended the Final Four (held just up the road at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis) as guests of Indiana governor Mitch Daniels.


1954 Milan–San Remo
The 1954 Milan–San Remo was the 45th edition of the Milan–San Remo cycle race and was held on 19 March 1954. The race started in Milan and finished in San Remo. The race was won by Rik Van Steenbergen.


1954 Mille Miglia
The 1954 Mille Miglia (officially XXI Mille Miglia ), was a motor race open to Sports Cars, GT cars and Touring Cars. It was the 21st Mille Miglia and the third race of the 1954 World Sportscar Championship. The race was held on the public roads of Italy on 2 May 1954 using a route based on a round trip between Brescia and Rome, with the start and finish in Brescia. It was won by Alberto Ascari driving a Lancia D24.


1954 Mille Miglia
As in previous year, the event is not strictly a race against each other, as is a race against the clock. The cars are released at one-minute intervals with the larger professional class cars going before the slower cars, in the Mille Miglia, however the smaller displacement slower cars started first. Each car number related to their allocated start time. For example, Giuseppe Farina’s car had the number 606, he left Brescia at 6:06 am, while the first cars had started late in the evening on the previous day.


1954 Mille Miglia
The previous August, Italian racing legend Tazio Nuvolari died. As a mark of respect, the route of this race, near it finish would pass through Mantua, where he was a resident.


1954 Mille Miglia, Report, Entry
A total of 483 cars were entered for the event, across nine classes based on engine sizes, ranging from up to 750cc to over 2.0 litre, for Grand Touring Cars, Touring Cars and Sport Cars. Of these, 378 cars started the event.


1954 Mille Miglia, Report, Entry
Fresh from their loss in Florida at the 12 Hours of Sebring, Lancia entered in force with four newly revised D24 cars, these were piloted by Piero Taruffi, Alberto Ascari, Eugenio Castellotti and Gino Valenzano. The cars were modified by race car designer Vittorio Jano. These enhancements featured an enlarge version of their V6 engine, so that could produce 265 bhp.


1954 Mille Miglia, Report, Entry
Ferrari for their part arrived with four 300 bhp 4.9 litre, Ferrari 375 Plus’s for Giuseppe Farina, Umberto Maglioli, Giannino Marzotto and his brother Paolo Marzotto. For 1954, the Mille Miglia was a round of the World Sports Car Championship; the home teams faced strong challengers. From Great Britain, came Aston Martin and Austin-Healey, and West Germany sent Porsches.


1954 Mille Miglia, Report, Entry
Also amongst the entry was the four-time winner, Clemente Biondetti, but by the time of the race, he was very sick man, fighting cancer, and only had a few months left to live.


1954 Mille Miglia, Report, Race
The race started at 21:01 on 1 May, when Domenico Stragliotto and Adolfo Montorio departed Brescia in their Iso Isetta. The faster cars would leave the following morning, when conditions were foggy mixed with little rain. After nine and half hours, all the cars were on their way to Rome.


1954 Mille Miglia, Report, Race
The Lancias took the early lead, with Taruffi's D24 controlling the pace, averaging 108.9 mph, on the opening stages into Ravenna, with a lead of 90 seconds, over Ascari and Castellotti. The Ferrari of Maglioli was back in fourth. On the run into Rome, the Lancia of Castellotti developed distributor problems, and was forced into retirement, moving Maglioli into third. Further trouble hit the Lancia of Taruffi, when his sprung an oil leak and he soon retired. Ascari had taken it easy in the early stages, now assumed the lead.


1954 Mille Miglia, Report, Race
On the run back to Brescia, Ascari's Lancia suffered a throttle spring return failure, and this was temporarily replaced by a rubber band. This and other problems started to affect the Lancia and by the time Ascari reached Florence, he had enough and wanted to retire from the event. It was only after a long stop for repairs, he was persuaded to continue. By Bologna, all the top Scuderia Ferrari cars were out, and the path was clear for Ascari to win.


1954 Mille Miglia, Report, Race
For Ferrari, they had not lost a Mille Miglia since 1947, but this they were sounded thrashed by the team from Torino, with Ascari, winning in a time of 11hr 26:10mins., averaging a speed of 72.80 mph. 33:51mins adrift in second place was Ferrari 500 Mondial of Vittorio Marzotto, who salvaged some honour for Maranello marque with second place and a class win. The third different car on the podium was the Maserati of Musso. Another Ferrari came home in fourth, driven by Biondetti, in what was to be his last Mille Miglia; he was lifted exhausted from the car at the finish.


1954 Mille Miglia, Report, Race
With the British attack failing to make it back to Brescia, it was left to the Germans to provide some opposition to the Italian teams. Encountering a lowered gate at a railway crossing, the Porsche driver, Hans Herrmann drove his low 550 Spyder under it, narrowly missing an express train. This daring act gave Porsche a first in class and an amazing sixth overall.


1954 Mille Miglia, Report, Race
The event was marred by two fatal accidents, which cost the French driver, Andre Pouschol his life and that of his co-driver F. Saisse and eight spectators injured when his Citroën 15 Six crashed into a signpost near Vicenza. The second accident cost the Italian navigator, S. Dal Cin his life when F. Mancini crashed his Maserati A6GCS.


1954 Mille Miglia, Classification, Mille Miglia
Of the 378 starters, 182 were classified as finishers. Therefore, only a selection of notably racers has been listed below.


1954 Milwaukee Braves season
The 1954 Milwaukee Braves season was the second in Milwaukee and the 84th overall season of the franchise.


1954 Milwaukee Braves season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1954 Milwaukee Braves season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1954 Milwaukee Braves season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1954 Milwaukee Braves season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1954 Milwaukee Braves season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1954 Milwaukee Braves season, Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Atlanta, Quebec, LawtonMiami Beach franchise transferred to Miami, May 20, 1954; Florida International League folded, July 27


1954 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
The 1954 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1954 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Murray Warmath, the Golden Gophers compiled a 7–2 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 195 to 127. The team finished the season ranked #20 in the final Coaches poll.


1954 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
Halfback Bob McNamara received the team's Most Valuable Player award, and was selected by the  Football Writers Association of America (for Look magazine) as a first-team player on the 1954 College Football All-America Team. He was also selected by the Associated Press as a first-team player on its 1954 All-Big Ten Conference football team. Fullback John Baumgartner was named Academic All-Big Ten.


1954 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
Total attendance for the season was 347,555, which averaged to 57,925. The season high for attendance was against Iowa.


1954 Minnesota gubernatorial election
The 1954 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1954. Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party candidate Orville Freeman defeated Republican Party of Minnesota challenger C. Elmer Anderson.


1954 Minnesota lieutenant gubernatorial election
The 1954 Minnesota lieutenant gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1954. Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party candidate Karl Rolvaag defeated Republican Party of Minnesota challenger P. Kenneth Peterson.


1954 Mississippi Southern Southerners football team
The 1954 Mississippi Southern Southerners football team was an American football team that represented Mississippi Southern College (now known as the University of Southern Mississippi) as an independent during the 1954 college football season. In their sixth year under head coach Thad Vann, the team compiled a 6–4 record.


1954 Mississippi State Maroons football team
The 1954 Mississippi State Maroons football team represented Mississippi State College during the 1954 college football season. This was the first season as head coach for Darrell Royal, who had previously served as an assistant for the Maroons. Royal would later win three national championships as head coach of Texas. Center Hal Easterwood was named to the FWAA/ Look All-America team. Halfback Art Davis was named SEC "Player of the Year" by the Nashville Banner and Atlanta Constitution.


1954 Missouri Tigers baseball team
The 1954 Missouri Tigers baseball team represented the University of Missouri in the 1954 NCAA baseball season. The Tigers played their home games at Rollins Field. The team was coached by Hi Simmons in his 16th season at Missouri.


1954 Missouri Tigers baseball team
The Tigers won the College World Series, defeating Rollins College 4-1 in the final.


1954 Missouri Tigers baseball team, Season Recap, College World Series
In the first round, Missouri defeated the Lafayette Leopards by a score of 6-3. Missouri was then knocked into the loser's bracket after a 1-4 second-round loss to Art Brophy and Rollins College. Behind lefthander Ed Cook, the Tigers then defeated the UMass Minutemen 8-1.


1954 Missouri Tigers baseball team, Season Recap, College World Series
Missouri defeated Oklahoma A&M Aggies 7-3 in the behind a strong outing from starting pitcher Norm Stewart and home runs from Jerry Schoonmaker and George Gleason. Tied 3-3 with the Michigan State Spartans heading into the ninth inning, Emil Kammer singled home Buddy Cox to propel Missouri into the championship game for a re-match against Rollins College and Art Brophy.


1954 Missouri Tigers baseball team, Season Recap, College World Series
Missouri bested Rollins 4-1 in the championship game behind a great outing from Ed Cook and a Buddy Cox home run.


1954 Missouri Tigers baseball team, Season Recap, College World Series
With seven triples, Missouri tied Holy Cross's record for triples in a College World Series.


1954 Missouri Tigers football team
The 1954 Missouri Tigers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Missouri in the Big Seven Conference (Big 7) during the 1954 college football season. The team compiled a 4–5–1 record (3–2–1 against Big 7 opponents), finished in a tie for third place in the Big 7, and was outscored by its opponents by a combined total of 261 to 198. Don Faurot was the head coach for the 17th of 19 seasons. The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri.


1954 Missouri Tigers football team
The team's statistical leaders included Robert Bauman with 293 rushing yards, Vic Eaton with 774 passing yards and 688 yards of total offense, Harold Burnine with 405 receiving yards, and Jack Fox with 47 points scored.


1954 Mongolian legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in Mongolia on 13 June 1954. At the time, the country was a one-party state under the rule of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. The MPRP won 192 of the 295 seats, with the remaining 103 seats going to non-party candidates, who had been chosen by the MPRP due to their social status. Voter turnout was reported to be 100%, with only 97 voters failing to cast a ballot.


1954 Montana Grizzlies football team
The 1954 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 1954 college football season as a member of the Skyline Conference. The Grizzlies were led by third-year head coach Ed Chinske, played their home games at Dornblaser Field and finished the season with a record of three wins and six losses (3–6, 1–5 MSC).


1954 Montana State Bobcats football team
The 1954 Montana State Bobcats football team was an American football team that represented Montana State University in the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) during the 1954 college football season. In its third season under head coach Tony Storti, the team compiled an 8–1 record (6–0 against RMC opponents) and won the Rocky Mountain Conference championship.


1954 Morpeth by-election
The 1954 Morpeth by-election was held on 4 November 1954. The by-election was brought about by the death of the incumbent Labour MP, Robert Taylor. The by-election was won by the Labour candidate Will Owen.


1954 Motherwell by-election
The 1954 Motherwell by-election was held on 14 April 1954. It was held due to the death of the incumbent Labour MP, Alexander Anderson. It was retained by the Labour candidate, George Lawson.


1954 Motherwell by-election, Background
Alexander Anderson was born in April 1888 and had represented Motherwell since the general election of 1945. According to the London correspondent for The Glasgow Herald, Anderson had visibly been in failing health during his final session in parliament. He had collapsed in the House of Commons shortly before his death, but he had insisted on remaining at Westminster so that he could participate in a session of the Scottish Grand Committee scheduled to be held on the morning of 12 February. However he died the previous day.


1954 Motherwell by-election, Background
For the by-election, Labour chose George Lawson, who was the secretary of Edinburgh Trades Council. Lawson had previously been West of Scotland organiser of Labour Colleges and was a member of the  Scottish Advisory Committee of the Labour Party. Norman Sloan, an advocate, who had been Anderson's only opponent in 1951 again stood as a Conservative and National Liberal. At his final election meeting on the eve of the poll, Sloan was supported by Lord Home.


1954 Motherwell by-election, Aftermath
Labour held the seat, with a slightly reduced share of the vote, while Sloan's vote declined by over 3%. The Communist candidate picked up just over 4% of the votes cast.


1954 Motherwell by-election, Aftermath
The victorious Lawson said that he had  fought the election on the issues of rising food prices and "the increasing threat of unemployment, particularly in Scotland and especially in this area", the "callous disregard" for pensioners and people on low incomes and "the failure of private enterprise" to enable British industry to compete with its competitors.


1954 Motocross European Championship
The 1954 Motocross European Championship was the 3rd edition of the Motocross European Championship organized by the FIM and reserved for 500cc motorcycles.


1954 Motocross European Championship
Since 1957 this championship has then become the current Motocross World Championship.


1954 Motocross European Championship
It should not be confused with the European Motocross Championship, now organized by the FIM Europe, whose first edition was held in 1988.


1954 Motocross European Championship, Final standings
From April to August 7 grand prix were held which awarded points to the first six classified, respectively: 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1. The score in the final classification of each rider was calculated on the best four results.


1954 Motocross European Championship, Final standings
Smith finished third even if on equal points with Leolup by virtue of the best result obtained in the grand prix: a victory against a second place.


1954 Mount Druitt 24 Hours Road Race
The 1954 Mount Druitt 24 Hours Road Race was an endurance race for production cars staged at the Mount Druitt circuit in New South Wales, Australia from 31 January to 1 February 1954. The race, which was organized by the Australian Racing Drivers' Club, was the first motor race of 24 hours duration to be held in Australia. Cars were required to be stock models, competing as purchased with no modifications permitted other than the removal of the silencer. All starters finished the race, with those that had retired rejoining to cross the finish line at the end of the 24 hours.


1954 Mount Druitt 24 Hours Road Race
The race was won by Geordie Anderson, Chas Swinburne and Bill Pitt driving a Jaguar XK120 Coupe.


1954 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1954 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 17th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The Southwest Missouri State University Bears were out to claim an unprecedented three straight national title. But Western Illinois handed them an upset in the National Semifinals, and the Bears had to settle for 3rd place. This left the title open for a new champion. It was the first time two new teams met in the championship game since 1947. The teams that played in the national championship game, were Western Illinois, and St. Benedict's (Kan.). St. Benedict's would defeat Western Illinois by a score of 62 to 56. It was the first time these two teams had played in tournament history.


1954 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament
Southwest Missouri State, now Missouri State, and the previous two time champion would settle for a third place victory over Arkansas Tech 75 to 61.


1954 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1954 tournament would see the beginning of one of the best players the NAIA had ever seen. Jim Spivey of Southeastern Oklahoma would begin his journey to most all time free throws made, and 4th on the all-time scoring list. It would also be the first year for the awarding of the Coach of the Year Award. This award goes to the best coach in the NAIA over the past year, which is not necessarily the tournament winning coach. The first award went to Sam Hindsman of Arkansas Tech.


1954 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament
The Georgetown Tigers make their first NAIA appearance. It would become a tournament record for most tournament appearances in 1974 with 12, and in the 1990s would start a 26 year consecutive appearance streak, a tournament record.


1954 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament, Awards and honors
Many of the records set by the 1954 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:


1954 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament, 1954 NAIA bracket, 3rd place game
The third place game featured the losing team from the national semifinalist to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series
The 1954 NASCAR Grand National season consisted of 37 races from February 1, 1954, and to November 1. Lee Petty, driving for Petty Enterprises,  won the championship, his first of three in the series.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Season recap
The 1954 season consisted of 37 events from February 7 through October 24 of the year; opening in West Palm Beach, Florida, with a Herb Thomas victory, and concluding in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, at the North Wilkesboro Speedway with a Hershel McGriff win. While Thomas captured the opening event in a Hudson, the year was witness to the increased power of GM, Ford and Chrysler as Hudson slipped in its domination of the sport from previous years. Petty came back to win the second race of the year at Daytona Beach, Florida, in his Chrysler. Petty completed the season with 32 top-10 finishes of the 34 events that he competed in. Through 1953, and up until the Southern 500 in 1954, Petty strung together a streak of 56 consecutive races where he was still running at the end of the race.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Season recap
While Petty won fewer races (7) than Herb Thomas (12), his consistency in finishing in the top 10 a total of seven times more than Thomas proved to be the deciding factor in winning the championship with a 283-point margin. Rising star Buck Baker captured the winner's purse a total of four times in 1954, and finished third after a 12th-place effort in 1953. Although several of the top stars of the sport had disagreements, and even walked away from NASCAR for a time, the sport showed itself to be larger than any of the individual stars.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Season recap
When Tim Flock was disqualified at Daytona, he quit the sport for a time. Fonty Flock, Al Keller and Hershel McGriff also resigned at various times throughout the year. Also in  1954, drivers Petty, Thomas, Baker, Dick Rathman, McGriff, Keller, Jim Paschal, Curtis Turner, Gober Sosbee, John Soares, and Dan Letner all captured at least one victory during the year.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Season highlights
Two-time champion Herb Thomas' season opening victory in February earned him $1,600, which included prize monies from both the Pure Oil Company and Champion Spark Plugs. On February 20 Cotton Owens captured a modified-sportsman victory in an event that featured 136 starting entries; the largest ever starting field in a NASCAR event. A day later, Tim Flock reached the checkered flag first, but was disqualified for using a two-way radio, and Lee Petty was awarded the victory. It was the first time that radios were used in a NASCAR event, and Flock quit after the disqualification.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Season highlights
On February 20, 136 cars took the green flag at a 100-mile event in Daytona; making the event the largest ever starting field in a NASCAR sanctioned event. The following day NASCAR ruled that Tim Flock was disqualified due to the use of a two-way radio. On March 28 Dick Rathmann won a 125-mile race at Oakland Speedway after starting the event in last place. The track was unusual in its configuration in that it consisted of dirt corners and paved straightaways.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Season highlights
On June 13, NASCAR held its first ever road course event, at the airport in Linden, New Jersey, with driver Al Keller coming away with the win in a Jaguar, as 20 of the 43 starting entries were foreign made autos. The victory was the only win for a foreign-manufactured vehicle, until Toyota captured its first victory, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, in March 2008.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Race summaries, 1954-01
The first race of the season was run at Palm Beach Raceway in West Palm Beach, Florida. Dick Rathman won the pole.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Race summaries, 1954-02
The second race of the season was run at Beach & Road Course in Daytona Beach, Florida. Lee Petty won the pole.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Race summaries, 1954-03
The third race of the season was run at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida. Curtis Turner won the pole.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Race summaries, International 100
The 1954 International 100 was a NASCAR Grand National Series race that took place on June 13, 1954, on a temporary road course at Linden Airport in Linden, New Jersey. It was the first ever road course event in NASCAR competition. Buck Baker won the pole, with a speed of 80.536 miles per hour.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Race summaries, Southern 500
The 1954 Southern 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series race that took place on September 6, 1954, at Darlington Raceway in the American community of Darlington, South Carolina.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Race summaries, Southern 500
There were 364 laps done on a paved oval track that spanned 1.375 miles (2.213 km). Van Van Wey made his NASCAR debut in this race; starting in 43rd place and ending in 20th place due to a crash on the 260th lap.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Race summaries, Southern 500
Overall, the race took five hours, sixteen minutes, and one second from the first green flag to the checkered flag. The average speed was 95.026 miles per hour (152.930 km/h) and the pole speed was 108.261 miles per hour (174.229 km/h). There were two cautions for four laps and the margin of victory was twenty-six seconds. Attendance of the race was confirmed at 28,000 people during the start of the race. Notable racers that appeared and did not finish in the top ten included Lee Petty (whose streak of 36 top-ten finishes ended at this race), Cotton Owens, Jimmie Lewallen, Ralph Liguori, Arden Mounts, Elmo Langley (in his NASCAR debut) and Buck Baker (pole winner).


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Race summaries, Mid-South 250
The 1954 Mid-South 250 was a NASCAR Grand National race that took place on October 10, 1954, at Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in the community of LeHi, Arkansas.


1954 NASCAR Grand National Series, Race summaries, Mid-South 250
One hundred and sixty-seven laps were raced on a dirt track spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km). Twelve-thousand people attended this untelevised race where Buck Baker won in his 1954 Oldsmobile. Other notable competitors included Lee Petty (who led 150 laps which was considered to be the most laps), Marvin Panch, Jimmie Lewallen, Arden Mounts, and Junior Johnson. The average speed of the race was 89.013 miles per hour (143.253 km/h) and the race took two hours, forty-eight minutes, and fifty-one seconds to complete.


1954 NBA All-Star Game
The 1954 NBA All Star Game was the fourth NBA All-Star Game. It was held on January 21, 1954, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics was the game MVP. Joe Lapchick of the New York Knicks coached the Eastern Conference and John Kundla of the Minneapolis Lakers coached the Western Conference. The attendance was 16,487.


1954 NBA All-Star Game
The Eastern Conference held an 84–82 edge with only seconds remaining in the game. Then, George Mikan of the Lakers was fouled. Mikan proceeded to make both foul shots, which sent the game into overtime.


1954 NBA All-Star Game
In the extra period, Cousy scored 10 points to secure a 98–93 victory. The Western Conference's Jim Pollard, the game's high scorer with 23 points, had been named MVP in a vote taken before regulation time had run out. But another ballot was taken and Cousy became the MVP.


1954 NBA All-Star Game
The 1954 All-Star Game, despite going into overtime,  was the last All-Star Game in which neither side reached 100 points.


1954 NBA Finals
The 1954 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1954 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1953–54 season. The Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers faced the Eastern Division champion Syracuse Nationals in a best-of-seven series with Minneapolis having home-court advantage. The Lakers won their third consecutive NBA championship and their fifth title in seven years dating from 1948, the club's final season as a member of the National Basketball League.


1954 NBA Finals
Minneapolis won game one and the teams thereafter alternated victories, with the Lakers winning the decisive game by a seven-point margin at home. The seven games were played in thirteen days, beginning Wednesday, March 31 and concluding Monday, April 12. The entire postseason tournament spanned 28 days in which both Minneapolis and Syracuse played 13 games.


1954 NBA Finals, Television
Game two was the first NBA Finals contest to be carried live on national television, with the DuMont network providing the coverage. Game five was also aired by DuMont, featuring Marty Glickman doing play-by-play and Lindsey Nelson as the color analyst.


1954 NBA draft
The 1954 NBA draft was the eight annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24, 1954, before the 1954–55 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. In each round, the teams select in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. The draft consisted of 13 rounds comprising 100 players selected.


1954 NBA draft, Draft selections and draftee career notes
Frank Selvy from Furman University was selected first overall by the Baltimore Bullets. Second pick of the draft, Bob Pettit from Louisiana State University, have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Pettit also won the Rookie of the Year Award in his first season.


1954 NBA draft, Other picks
The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.


1954 NBA playoffs
The 1954 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1953–54 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Syracuse Nationals 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.


1954 NBA playoffs
For the Lakers, it was their third straight NBA title, and fifth in the last six years.


1954 NBA playoffs
With the folding of the Indianapolis Olympians after the previous year's playoffs, leaving the NBA with nine teams, they resorted to a round-robin playoff format in 1954 for the only time in league history.


1954 NBA playoffs
Although the Minneapolis Lakers, Fort Wayne Pistons, Rochester Royals and Syracuse Nationals all play in different cities now (Los Angeles, Detroit, Sacramento and Philadelphia respectively), this is the earliest NBA playoff in which every team that participated still exists today.


1954 NBA playoffs, Bracket
Bold Series winner (Division Round Robin Semifinals: top 2 advanced)Italic Team with home-court advantage in NBA Finals


1954 NBA playoffs, Division Round Robin Semifinals
Within each division, the top three teams in the season standings played a double round robin, comprising one home game in each city for each pair of teams, in order to eliminate one of the three participants. A three-way tie with two wins each would have secured home-court advantage in the Division Finals for New York or Minneapolis, who finished first in the season standings, against an opponent to be determined by one further game played with the season runner-up as host.


1954 NBA playoffs, Division Round Robin Semifinals
In the event, neither round-robin generated even a two-way tie, so no seventh game was required in either Division. Two of three teams (shaded green) advanced to the Division Finals. The second game between Minneapolis and Rochester—the sixth and final Western Division game scheduled—was not played because both teams had qualified for the Division Final and Minneapolis had secured home-court advantage in that series. The sixth and final Eastern Division game scheduled, Boston at Syracuse, was played because home-court advantage in their subsequent Division Final hadn't been determined. Both teams had won 42 season games and Boston had won by coin flip the edge in case of a tie in the round-robin stage.


1954 NBA playoffs, Division Round Robin Semifinals, Eastern Division Round Robin Semifinals, (1) New York Knicks, (2) Boston Celtics, (3) Syracuse Nationals
This was the fourth playoff meeting between the Celtics and Knicks, with the Knicks winning two of the first three meetings.


1954 NBA playoffs, Division Round Robin Semifinals, Eastern Division Round Robin Semifinals, (1) New York Knicks, (2) Boston Celtics, (3) Syracuse Nationals
This was the second playoff meeting between the Celtics and Nationals, with the Celtics winning the first meeting.


1954 NBA playoffs, Division Round Robin Semifinals, Eastern Division Round Robin Semifinals, (1) New York Knicks, (2) Boston Celtics, (3) Syracuse Nationals
This was the fourth playoff meeting between the Knicks and Nationals, with the Knicks winning two of the first three meetings.


1954 NBA playoffs, Division Round Robin Semifinals, Western Division Round Robin Semifinals, (1) Minneapolis Lakers, (2) Rochester Royals, (3) Fort Wayne Pistons
This was the fourth playoff meeting between the Lakers and Royals, with the Lakers winning two of the first three meetings.


1954 NBA playoffs, Division Round Robin Semifinals, Western Division Round Robin Semifinals, (1) Minneapolis Lakers, (2) Rochester Royals, (3) Fort Wayne Pistons
This was the fifth playoff meeting between the Royals and Pistons, with both teams splitting the first four meetings.


1954 NBA playoffs, Division Round Robin Semifinals, Western Division Round Robin Semifinals, (1) Minneapolis Lakers, (2) Rochester Royals, (3) Fort Wayne Pistons
This was the third playoff meeting between the Pistons and Lakers, with the Lakers winning the first two meetings.


1954 NBA playoffs, Division Finals, Eastern Division Finals, (1) Syracuse Nationals vs. (2) Boston Celtics
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams following the round-robin, with both teams splitting the first two meetings.


1954 NBA playoffs, Division Finals, Western Division Finals, (1) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (2) Rochester Royals
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams following the round-robin, with the Lakers winning three of the first four meetings.


1954 NBA playoffs, NBA Finals: (W1) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (E1) Syracuse Nationals
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first meeting.


1954 NC State Wolfpack football team
The 1954 NC State Wolfpack football team represented North Carolina State University during the 1954 college football season. The Wolfpack were led by first-year head coach Earle Edwards and played their home games at Riddick Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. They competed as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference in the league's second year of existence. The Wolfpack once again failed to pick up their first ACC win, finishing winless in conference play for the second consecutive year.


1954 NCAA Baseball Tournament
The 1954 NCAA Baseball Tournament was played at the end of the 1954 NCAA baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, a double-elimination tournament in its eighth year. Eight regional districts sent representatives to the College World Series, but for the first time the preliminary tournament rounds hosted by each district were sanctioned NCAA events. These events would later become known as regionals.


1954 NCAA Baseball Tournament
Each district had its own format for selecting teams, resulting in 24 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament. The College World Series was held in Omaha, NE from June 10 to June 16. The eighth tournament's champion was Missouri, coached by John "Hi" Simmons. The Most Outstanding Player was Tom Yewcic of Michigan State.


1954 NCAA Baseball Tournament, Tournament, District 3
District 3 consisted of two separate 3-game series. The first series was played between Virginia Tech and Clemson, with the winner moving on to play Rollins in a three-game series. The winner of that series moved on to the College World Series.


1954 NCAA Baseball Tournament, Tournament, District 4
District 4 consisted of two separate 3 game series'. The first series was played between Ohio and Ashland, with the winner moving on to play Michigan St. in a three-game series. The winner of that series moved on to the College World Series.


1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament
The 1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8 and ended with the championship game on March 20 in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 28 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.


1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament
La Salle, coached by Ken Loeffler, won the national title with a 92–76 victory in the final game over Bradley, coached by Forddy Anderson. Tom Gola of La Salle was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.


1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament
Of note, Kentucky, the top-ranked team in the nation (with a record of 25–0) did not participate in any post-season tournament. Since several key players had technically graduated the year before (when Kentucky was banned from playing a competitive schedule due to the point-shaving scandal a few years earlier), those players were ruled ineligible for the NCAA tournament. Despite the wishes of the players, Adolph Rupp ultimately decided his team would not play.


1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament
LSU represented the Southeastern Conference in the tournament, its last appearance until 1979, well after the graduation of NCAA all-time leading scorer Pete Maravich. LSU made only one postseason appearance over the next 24 seasons, the 1970 National Invitation Tournament, during Maravich's senior season.


1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament, Locations
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1954 tournament:


1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament, Locations, Final Four
For the second straight year, and the fifth overall, Kansas City and the Municipal Auditorium hosted the Final Four. The tournament included five new venues. The city of Buffalo hosted games for the only time at the Aud; the tournament would not return to Western New York until 2000 when its replacement, HSBC Arena, would host. Also serving for the only time was Duke Indoor Stadium, the venerable home of the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, the second of the Tobacco Road schools to host games.


1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament, Locations, Final Four
For the first time, the tournament came to the state of Iowa, playing at the University of Iowa's Field House. The tournament also came to the city of Peoria for the only time to date, playing at Robertson Memorial Field House on the campus of Bradley University. And for the first time, the tournament came to the state of Oklahoma, playing at Gallagher Hall, home to the powerhouse teams of Hank Iba and Oklahoma A&M College.


1954 NCAA Cross Country Championships
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Paul2520 (talk | contribs) at 18:31, 17 November 2019 (Adding short description: "1954 cross-country running meet of the NCAA" (Shortdesc helper)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


1954 NCAA Cross Country Championships
The 1954 NCAA Cross Country Championships were the 16th annual cross country meet to determine the team and individual national champions of men's collegiate cross country running in the United States. Held on November 22, 1954, the meet was hosted by Michigan State College at the Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing, Michigan. The distance for the race was 4 miles (6.4 kilometers).


1954 NCAA Cross Country Championships
Since the current multi-division format for NCAA championship did not begin until 1973, all NCAA members were eligible. In total, 14 teams and 113 individual runners contested this championship.


1954 NCAA Cross Country Championships
The team national championship was won by the Oklahoma A&M Cowboys, their first. The individual championship was won by Allen Frame, from Kansas, with a time of 19:54.20.


1954 NCAA Golf Championship
The 1954 NCAA Golf Championship was the 16th annual NCAA-sanctioned golf tournament to determine the individual and team national champions of men's collegiate golf in the United States.


1954 NCAA Golf Championship
The tournament was held at the Braeburn Country Club in Houston, Texas, co-hosted by the University of Houston and Rice University.


1954 NCAA Golf Championship
SMU won the team title, the Mustangs' NCAA team national title.


1954 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
The consensus 1954 College Basketball All-American team, as determined by aggregating the results of six major All-American teams. To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors from a majority of the following teams: the Associated Press, Look Magazine, The United Press International, the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), Collier's Magazine and the International News Service.


1954 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 1954 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1953–54 NCAA men's ice hockey season, the 7th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 11 and 13, 1954, and concluded with Rensselaer defeating Minnesota 5-4 in overtime. All games were played at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in Colorado Springs, Colorado.


1954 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
This was the first championship game to go into overtime.


1954 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Rensselaer's title was the only championship won by a team from the Tri-State League. Despite its low membership the Tri-State League would send at least one representative to the tournament every year from 1952 through 1964 before being dissolved in 1972.


1954 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Minnesota's victory in the semifinal over Boston College holds two separate records: the most goals scored by one team in an NCAA tournament game (14, tied with Michigan in 1953) and the largest single-game margin of victory in an NCAA tournament (+13).


1954 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Boston College, by being outscored 3-21 in their two games, also holds the worst single-tournament goal differential (-18). (as of 2016)


1954 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Qualifying teams
Four teams qualified for the tournament, two each from the eastern and western regions. The two best WIHL teams and a Tri-State League representative received bids into the tournament as did one independent school.


1954 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The eastern team judged as better was seeded as the top eastern team while the WIHL champion was given the top western seed. The second eastern seed was slotted to play the top western seed and vice versa. All games were played at the Broadmoor Ice Palace. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game.


1954 NCAA Skiing Championships
The 1954 NCAA Skiing Championships were contested at the first annual NCAA-sanctioned ski tournament to determine the individual and team national champions of men's collegiate alpine and cross country skiing in the United States. This championships were held March 4–7 at Slide Mountain outside Reno, Nevada, hosted by the University of Nevada.


1954 NCAA Skiing Championships
Denver finished ahead of Seattle to claim the team championship; the Pioneers were coached by Willy Schaeffler. Nevada senior Pat Myers won the downhill, edging out Olympian Darrell Robison of Utah.


1954 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
The 1954 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships were contested in March 1954 at Webster Pool at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York at the 18th annual NCAA-sanctioned swim meet to determine the team and individual national champions of men's collegiate swimming and diving in the United States.


1954 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
Ohio State returned to the top of the team standings, capturing the Buckeyes' eighth national title.


1954 NCAA Tennis Championships
The 1954 NCAA Tennis Championships were the 9th annual tournaments to determine the national champions of NCAA men's singles, doubles, and team collegiate tennis in the United States.


1954 NCAA Tennis Championships
Two-time defending champions UCLA won the team championship, the Bruins' third such title. UCLA finished five points ahead of rivals USC (15–10) in the team standings.


1954 NCAA Tennis Championships, Host site
This year's tournaments were contested at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.


1954 NCAA Tennis Championships, Team scoring
Until 1977, the men's team championship was determined by points awarded based on individual performances in the singles and doubles events.


1954 NCAA Track and Field Championships
The 1954 NCAA Track and Field Championships were contested June 11−12 at the 33rd annual NCAA-sanctioned track meet to determine the individual and team national champions of men's collegiate track and field in the United States. This year's events were hosted by the University of Michigan at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor.


1954 NCAA Track and Field Championships
USC won their sixth consecutive team national championship, the Trojans' 18th title in program history.


1954 NCAA Wrestling Championships
The 1954 NCAA Wrestling Championships were the 24th NCAA Wrestling Championships to be held. The University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma hosted the tournament at McCasland Field House.


1954 NCAA Wrestling Championships
Oklahoma A&M took home the team championship with 32 points and having three individual champions.


1954 NCAA Wrestling Championships
Tommy Evans of Oklahoma was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler.


1954 NCAA baseball season
The 1954 NCAA baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in the spring of 1954. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1954 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the eighth time in 1954, consisted of one team from each of eight geographical districts and was held in Omaha, Nebraska at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium as a double-elimination tournament. Missouri claimed the championship.


1954 NCAA baseball season, Conference winners
This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1954 season. Each of the eight geographical districts chose, by various methods, the team that would represent them in the NCAA Tournament. Twelve teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship, and eleven teams earned at-large selections.


1954 NCAA baseball season, College World Series
The 1954 season marked the eighth NCAA Baseball Tournament, which consisted of the eight team College World Series. The College World Series was held in Omaha, Nebraska. The eight teams played a double-elimination format, with Missouri claiming their first championship with a 7–5 win over Texas in the final.


1954 NCAA football rankings
Two human polls comprised the 1954 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football rankings. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship, instead that title is bestowed by one or more different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll.


1954 NCAA football rankings, AP Poll
The final AP Poll was released on November 29, at the end of the 1954 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.


1954 NCAA football rankings, Final Coaches' Poll
The final UP Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, on November 29. UCLA received 21 of the 35 first-place votes; Ohio State received eleven, and one each to Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and Navy.


1954 NFL Championship Game
The 1954 National Football League championship game was the league's 22nd annual championship game, held on December 26 at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. Billed as the "1954 World Professional Football Championship Game," the turnover-plagued contest was won by the Cleveland Browns, who defeated the Detroit Lions 56–10.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Background
The Detroit Lions (9–2–1) of the Western Conference met the Cleveland Browns (9–3) of the Eastern Conference in the NFL title game for the third consecutive year. The  Lions won the previous two: 17–7 at Cleveland in 1952 and 17–16 at home in Briggs Stadium in 1953. They were attempting to become the first team to win three consecutive league titles in the championship game era (since 1933). The Browns, who  entered the league only in 1950 with the demise of the All-America Football Conference, faced a particularly daunting task in taking on the Lions, having lost all eight of the franchise's previous matches against the Detroit club.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Background
The Lions were led by quarterback Bobby Layne, running back Doak Walker, and head coach Buddy Parker. The Browns were led by head coach Paul Brown and quarterback Otto Graham. The Lions had won the regular season meeting 14–10 the week before on December 19, also at Cleveland, with a late touchdown. The game had been postponed from early October, due to the World Series, and both teams had already clinched their berths in the title game. Detroit was a slight favorite (2½ to 3 points) to three-peat as champions.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Background
The underdog Browns won the title at home in a rout, 56–10; placekicker Lou Groza made eight extra points, a new title game record, among many.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Starters, Detroit Lions
Note: Players often played both offense and defense in this period. Although free substitution existed from 1943, what are today considered defensive starters were categorized as "substitutes" in this era.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Game Summary
On its first possession, Lions' fullback Bill Bowman ran for 50 yards but lost the ball to Cleveland on a fumble. The Lions regained possession at the Cleveland 35 when Joe Schmidt intercepted an Otto Graham pass. The Browns defense held and Detroit was forced to settle for a 36-yard field goal by Doak Walker.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Game Summary
Billy Reynolds returned the subsequent kickoff 46 yards, crossing midfield to the Lions' 41 yard line. Cleveland was forced to punt but a roughing penalty gave the Browns new life and Graham hit Ray Renfro with a 35-yard pass for a touchdown. Following the Lou Groza conversion, the score stood at Cleveland 7, Detroit 3.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Game Summary
On the next possession another Layne interception by defensive back Paul was run back 33 yards, setting up Cleveland in the red zone on the Detroit 8 yard line, with Graham hitting left end Darrell Brewster for the score. Following Groza's kick the score was Browns 14, Lions 3.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Game Summary
Detroit was again stopped on their next possession and its punt was taken by Cleveland's Billy Reynolds and returned 46 yards to the Detroit 10 yard line. Grinding the ball to the 1 yard line, Graham ran a quarterback sneak and hit paydirt. Following the Groza conversion the score stood at Browns 21, Lions 3.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Game Summary
Lion running back Lewis Carpenter tore up a 52-yard run in Detroit's next possession, setting up Detroit for its only touchdown of the day when fullback Bill Bowman scored from five yards out. Following the conversion by Lions kicker Doak Walker, it was Browns 21, Lions 10.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Game Summary
Cleveland was forced to punt, but on the next Detroit possession defensive lineman McCormack ripped the ball from Layne, with the Browns recovering on the Detroit 31. Four plays later Graham ran for another touchdown, reaching the end zone standing up. With the conversion the score was Browns 28, Lions 10, and the rout was on.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Game Summary
Yet another Bobby Layne pass was intercepted by Cleveland's Michaels, who was listed as a substitute fullback and was thus probably playing the modern equivalent of the safety position. With the ball on the Lions' 31, Otto Graham launched a pass to halfback Ray Renfro, who made a great catch at the five yard line and took the ball over the score. With Groza's conversion, the halftime score was Browns 35, Lions 10.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Game Summary
The Browns opened the second half with a six play drive, highlighted by a 43-yard strike from Otto Graham to Pete Brewster, who was stopped just short of the goal line. Graham scored his third touchdown of the day with a quarterback sneak, with Groza converting to make the score Browns 42, Lions 10.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Game Summary
Kenny Konz grabbed the first of his two interceptions, running the ball back to the Detroit 13. Two plays later substitute fullback Curly Morrison scored on a 12-yard run. Following the Groza extra point, the third quarter score stood at Browns 49, Lions 10.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Game Summary
Yet another pick by Konz set up the final touchdown of the day, when substitute halfback Chet Hanulak scored from the 10. With Groza's extra point, the final score was reached: Browns 56, Lions 10.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Officials
The NFL added the fifth official, the back judge, in 1947; the line judge arrived in 1965, and the side judge in 1978.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Legacy
Detroit quarterback Layne (18 for 42, passing for 177 yards) was intercepted six times, with Len Ford and Kenny Konz pulling in two each. The Browns also recovered three Detroit fumbles, with two of the recoveries leading to scores.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Legacy
The 56–10 score was the second most lopsided in the 22-year history of the event, exceeded only by the 1940 game, in which the Chicago Bears embarrassed the Washington Redskins 73–0. The victory was the second World Professional Football Championship win for the Browns.


1954 NFL Championship Game, Legacy
The gross receipts for the game, including over $101,000 for radio and television rights, were just over $289,000. Each player on the winning Browns team received $2,478, while Lions players made $1,585 each.


1954 NFL Draft
The 1954 National Football League Draft was held on January 28, 1954, at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia.


1954 NFL season
The 1954 NFL season was the 35th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended when the Cleveland Browns defeated the Detroit Lions in the NFL Championship Game.


1954 NFL season, Draft
The 1954 NFL Draft was held on January 28, 1954 at Philadelphia's Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. With the first pick, the Cleveland Browns selected quarterback Bobby Garrett from Stanford University.


1954 NFL season, Conference races
In the Western Division, the 49ers pulled ahead in Week Five (October 24) with a 37–31 win over the Lions, but they lost four of their remaining seven games and finished 7–4–1. The Lions, on the other hand, lost only one game in their last seven, and finished 9–2–1. In the Eastern race, the Eagles got off to a 4–0 start, until dropping games to Pittsburgh (17–7) and Green Bay (37–14) to fall into a 3-way tie with the Giants and Steelers.


1954 NFL season, Conference races
The Browns, who got off to a 1–2 start, went on an 8-game winning streak, gradually catching up with a Halloween win over New York (24–14). A 6–0 win over Philadelphia on November 21 gave them the conference lead, and a 16–7 rematch win in New York the next week extended the margin. The Browns' streak was ended on December 19 with a 14–10 loss to the Lions. When the teams met in Cleveland again the next week (this time for the championship), the Browns won 56–10.


1954 NFL season, Final standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1954 NFL season, NFL Championship Game
Cleveland 56, Detroit 10 at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio, December 26, 1954


1954 NSWRFL season
The 1954 NSWRFL season was the forty-seventh season of the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership competition, based in Sydney. Ten rugby league football teams from across the city competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in the first “mandatory” Grand Final played between South Sydney and Newtown.


1954 NSWRFL season, Season summary
During the pre-season, Queensland and Australian international representative forward, Harold "Mick" Crocker signed a then record one-year deal for an Australian to move south and play for Sydney club Parramatta. 1954 marked the first season when a Grand Final was scheduled to determine the premiership winner. Prior to that the season victors were either the minor premiers or decided by a final that followed two semi-finals. A Grand Final was only played if the minor-premier was defeated in a semi-final or final and exercised their right to challenge via a Grand Final. Since 1954 a Grand Final has been played every year to determine the premiership winner.


1954 NSWRFL season, Season summary
This season, in a New South Wales versus England match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, referee Aub Oxford watched in disbelief the players fighting around him like street-brawlers before turning his back and walking from the field. Oxford never refereed again and the match remains the only top-level game ever abandoned in rugby league history.


1954 NSWRFL season, Season summary, Teams
47th seasonGround: Henson Park Coach : Col GeelanCaptain: Col Geelan, Jim Evans


1954 NSWRFL season, Season summary, Records set in 1954
In 1954 South Sydney’s Les Brennan set the standing record for the highest number of tries in a debut season with 29. Newtown winger Ray Preston’s 34 tries remains second only to Dave Brown’s 38 in 1935 in the tally of tries scored in a season. Preston and Kevin Considine combined for fifty-six tries during the season – easily a record for a pair of club wingers.


1954 NSWRFL season, Season summary, Records set in 1954
In the last round on 21 August, Western Suburbs set a record for the highest losing score when they lost to Balmain 32–37. This was to be one of only two cases before the introduction of the 10-metre ruck rule in 1993 that a team scored over thirty points and lost the match.


1954 NSWRFL season, Finals, Grand Final
In spite of Newtown finishing as minor premiers they hadn’t beaten South Sydney in either regular season encounter. Souths had also won their semi-final meeting 24-14. In this, the NSWRFL’s first Grand Final scheduled to determine the premiership winner, Souths were the victors. Legendary fullback Clive Churchill was outstanding setting up three of his side's five tries. The Bluebags stayed in the contest through the kicking boot of their Test fullback Gordon “Punchy” Clifford.


1954 NSWRFL season, Finals, Grand Final
South Sydney 23 (Tries: Cowie 2, Moir, Hawick, Dougherty. Goals: Purcell 4.)


1954 NSWRFL season, Post-season
Following the grand final, nine players from the NSWRFL were selected in a squad of eighteen to represent Australia in the 1954 Rugby League World Cup in France.


1954 National Challenge Cup
The 1954 National Challenge Cup was the 41st edition of the United States Soccer Football Association's annual open soccer championship.


1954 National Invitation Tournament
The 1954 National Invitation Tournament was the 1954 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.


1954 National Invitation Tournament, Selected teams
Below is a list of the 12 teams selected for the tournament. There were 4 seeded teams, which received a bye in the first round, (1) Duquesne, (2) Western Kentucky, (3) Holy Cross, and (4) Niagara.


1954 National Service riots
In December 1953, the British colonial government in Singapore passed the National Service Ordinance, requiring all male British subjects and Federal citizens between the ages of 18-20 to register for part-time National Service. The deadline for registration was on the 12th May 1954 and those who fail to register would either be jailed or fined. On the 12th May 1954, students from the Chinese Middle Schools still did not register themselves for National Service. In light of the impending deadline for registration and withrequests from the Chinese students, Chief Secretary William Goode would later meet representatives from the affected student body in the government house on 13 May 1954.


1954 National Service riots
On 13 May 1954, students gathered to present their petition to Chief Secretary William Goode. However, the peaceful demonstration turned into a clash between the police and students. More than 2 dozen people were injured and 48 students were arrested. The demonstration of 13 May 1954 was followed by further demonstrations and proved a key moment in galvanizing popular opposition to colonial rule.


1954 National Service riots, Background
Following the end of the Japanese Occupation in 1945, the British sought to regain political control over Singapore, what was a vital strategic centre to them. The British Military Administration was set up, focusing on the reorientation of the state in order to meet post-war crisis. The British set sights to bolster social and economic life, and to secure their footing in Singapore (Harper, 2001). Of the social programmes that the government laid out, the most far-reaching and critical was education. The British envisioned setting up "national schools", prioritizing English-medium education and undermining vernacular education. With that, Chinese schools were starved of funding, resulting in anger and resentments among the Chinese students and teachers. This led to the rise in anti-colonial sentiments.


1954 National Service riots, Background
This growing anti-colonial sentiment was further fueled by the larger anti-colonial sentiment that was also happening outside Singapore - how winning freedom for colonies in Africa and Asia played a part in instilling hope in the progressive left in Singapore – that independence may come one day. One good example was also the defeat of the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam (1954).


1954 National Service riots, Background
Moving into 1948, the outbreak of communist insurrection in the Malayan jungles, saw the declaration of emergency in Singapore. The declaration of emergency which was to last for almost a decade, saw heightened security control. Singapore was turned into a police state, progressives and anti-colonial activists were rounded up, and political repression suspended all forms of left-wing politics in Singapore (Turnbull, 2009). While organized opposition to colonial rule was difficult, nevertheless, the period was plagued with social discontent and stirrings of anti-colonial and nationalistic sentiments in view of the British's plan to consolidate and maintain rule, following the Japanese occupation (Quee, Tan, & Hong, 2011).


1954 National Service riots, 13 May 1954
In December 1953, the National Service Ordinance was passed, requiring the registration of all male British subjects and Federal citizens between the ages of 18-20 for part-time military training. After the announcement was made regarding the National Service draft, personnel involved were to register for the call-up from 8 April – 12 May 1954. By 12 May 1954, students from the Chinese Middle Schools still did not register themselves for National Service (NS).


1954 National Service riots, 13 May 1954
In light of the impending deadline for registration and with requests from the Chinese students, Chief Secretary William Goode would later meet representatives from the affected student body in the government house on 13 May 1954. This day however, resulted in a clash between Chinese Middle School students and riot squads. More than 2 dozen were reportedly injured and nearly 50 students were arrested. Of those arrested, 7 were convicted of obstructing the police. Following the riot, students re-assembled in Chung Cheng High School and only dispersed in the afternoon on 14 May 1954.


1954 National Service riots, 13 May 1954
On 18 May 1954, a delegation of students (the 55-member Chinese Middle Schools Student Delegation) met the Chinese Chamber of Commerce (CCC), requesting their (CCC) help to speak to the British government on their (the students) behalf. However, the only concrete result from this meeting was having their school holidays being pushed forward by 2 weeks to deny students the opportunity to rally together. Having their school holidays pushed forward, this action prompted a second massive sit in by the students which took place on 23 May 1954 in Chung Cheng High School.


1954 National Service riots, 13 May 1954
However, due to the prevention of food supplies from reaching these students, the group dispersed. The third massive sit in took place in the Chinese High School on 2 June 1954. This time, students requested for the postponement of call-up for National Service. Though, the lack of response from the government saw the students went on hunger strike on the 15 June. The students only dispersed on the 24 June.


1954 National Service riots, 13 May 1954
Constant negotiations were made back and forth between the students and the government in the following days. However, due to the resistance put up by the students, the attempt to recruit male youths for National Service took a back seat.


1954 National Service riots, 13 May 1954
The aftermath of 13 May 1954 resulted in the conviction of 7 students for obstructing the police during the demonstration, as well as further tightening of control over the students by the British.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954
13 May 1954 connotes different interpretations, and be characterized as a communist subversion, as an Anti- Colonial Movement, as a bottom up, spontaneous response to particular events.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Communist subversion
In the 1950s, the Chinese students were one of the largest groups involved in demonstrations and their motivations have been consistently credited to communist manipulation – through the united front strategy. The united front strategy was a political tool employed by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) with aims of regathering and rebuilding their strength which was greatly depleted in jungle fighting during the earlier years of the State of Emergency between 1948 and 1960.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Communist subversion
The strategy focuses on building relations and contacts with workers, peasants and students, emphasizing on how plans and arrangements should be made in order to gain mass. According to Singh (2008), the first step of this strategy is to engage students through the exploitation of communal issues. Singh quotes an MCP directive as saying:


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Communist subversion
The work of winning over the school children is very important and must not be overlooked. Especially in circumstances where the enemy is stronger than we are, the work of winning support from school children and organising them is more important than military activities. (Sing, 2008)


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Communist subversion
According to Lee (1996), the reason as to why the MCP chose to start the mass movement from the students can be attributed to the following reasons:


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Communist subversion
(i) the MCP recognised these Chinese students as a valuable political force and worked towards systematically absorbing them into the communist movement and


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Communist subversion
(ii) during this period of time, members of the Town Committee (a secret organisation operating underground as the executive arm of the Malayan Communist Party with its mobile headquarters on the borders of Malaya and Thailand) were arrested, leaving only the cells in charge of propaganda and cells in the Chinese Middle School, intact. The propaganda sector consisted of few people, but the student sector had many members. Thus, it was the student sector which had the manpower to launch the open united front struggle when the time came. However, in order to mobilise and arouse the students, an issue had to be capitalised upon. The National Service Ordinance was chosen to serve this purpose.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Communist subversion
In Lee's book, he also mentioned that in the eyes of the communists themselves, the agitation over the national service was a great success. Lee made this statement based on a following comment by Ng Meng Chang (a student cadre) :


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Communist subversion
…. said that the tremendous success of the May 13 incident was beyond expectation… this was the most successful student struggle ever since the emergency regulations…


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Communist subversion
Lee (1996) also concluded by saying that "13 May 1954" had seen the creation of many student leaders which should be given support to, as they become future pillars of the student movement. This statement was drawn from unpublished statements of ex-detainees.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Communist subversion
In conclusion, authors like Singh (2008) and Lee(1996) hold that the Malayan Communist Party was looking for manpower and the result of "13 May 1954" was a fulfillment of this aspiration. All in all, 13 May 1954 as Communist subversion was seen in the context of the cold war and in supporting this position, sources from scholars such as Lee (1996) and Singh (2008) are largely from colonial media.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Anti-Colonial Movement
Following the declaration of emergency in 1948, the political-left in Singapore grew vastly, both in size and power in 1954. This was attributed to the large levels of economic exploitation and social injustice felt by the people which then saw subsequent calls for self-governance and democracy. This was especially so for the Chinese when the decision was made by the British to prioritise English-medium education over vernacular education. With that, friction between the Chinese community and the British authorities resulted. Anger and anti-colonial resentments were felt within the Chinese community for English language represented colonialdomination. This was not all. In 1954, both the Chinese leadership and student activists face further pressures when the British made even more demands by making English the only language to be used in the legislative assembly.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Anti-Colonial Movement
The Chinese middle school students had however, also moved out of the parameters of strictly Chinese-focused issues by linking themselves to a larger historical context of anti-colonial movement. The Chinese students, together with the Socialist Club members of the University of Malaya, identified themselves with the students of China, India, and Indonesia who also played a role in their country's liberation. Both the English and Chinese-educated students were seen to be working together to resist colonial rule, and that the socialist club had a hand in organising "13 May 1954".


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Anti-Colonial Movement
This was in view that copies of the Fajar Publication (Issue 7) were found in the Chinese High Schools. With that, amidst the Chinese student's demonstration, the hostels of students from the socialist club were also raided by the police on 28 May 1954, and 8 members of the University socialist club were charged with sedition for articles printed in the Fajar Publication (Quee, Tan, & Hong, 2011).


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Anti-Colonial Movement
According to Loh (2013), this particular issue, dated 10 May 1954, and titled as "Aggression in Asia", was one that involved critical views on the ongoing Anglo-American Military initiative to form the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO). In addition, the issue also contained comments on the National Service Bill which was passed in Singapore earlier on. It argued that by pressing students into military service, is in no way "national" for it entailed "a colonial people to be trained to fight wars in the making of which they have no part – no choice of their foes or allies. Though we are not fit to rule ourselves, we are not unfit to die for other people's interests." (Loh, 2013). Loh bases his opinion largely from the Fajar Publication itself.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Anti-Colonial Movement
Anti -colonial sentiment was overwhelming, but the colonial authorities simply look upon them as the result of communist agitation. Common hatred (both Chinese and English students) of exploitation, British rule and the declaration of Emergency in paved the way for "13 May 1954", a resistance seen to be driven by overwhelming "leftist resentments against the British", with the rank and file on the ground taking initiative and moving without proper direction and control (Barr, & Trocki, 2008).


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Anti-Colonial Movement
In the view of scholars like and (Barr, & Trocki, 2008), "13 May 1954" represented the convergence of notions of nationalism (with help from the English-educated). The student resistance was very focused and uncompromising. It was evident that they were pushing the boundaries as far as the emergency regulations would allow, and anti-colonialism was the main engine driving their cause.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Spontaneous response to particular events
The riot can also be explained as a spontaneous response to events surrounding the National Service Ordinance. Singaporean historian, Thum Ping Tjin, said that, the National Service Ordinance was actually supported by the Chinese, with supported from the Chinese press who recalled the heroic defence of Singapore by volunteers in 1942. Community leaders also praised the ordinance and called upon the Chinese community to fulfill their task of defending the country." Thum bases his opinion largely from Chinese sources (newspapers) such as the Nanyang Siang Pao, Nanfang Evening Post and Sin Chew Jit Poh.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Spontaneous response to particular events
In Thum's view, "13th May 1954" was an event triggered by the flawed implementation of the system of putting this ordinance in place such as how


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Spontaneous response to particular events
(i) Some overage students had been forced to miss examinations or leave school as a result of a call up,


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Spontaneous response to particular events
(ii) miscommunication and translation regarding the term "National Service" that resulted in adverse sentiments among these Chinese Middle School students


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Spontaneous response to particular events
(iii) the lack of documents sent to these young men to explain the purpose of national service causing many to believe that they would be sent into the Malayan jungle to fight for the British


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Spontaneous response to particular events
(v) how the students were turned down time and again by the government when all they wanted was to "seek clarifications" regarding National Service.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Spontaneous response to particular events
In addition, miscommunication and translation regarding the term "National Service" resulted in adverse sentiments among these Chinese Middle School students for it was mistranslated as minzhong fuwu, 民众服务, which literally meant "servitude by the masses", a term with demeaning connotations implying the mass of the people acting as indentured servants of the elite.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Spontaneous response to particular events
This discontent and miscommunication was further fueled by the ineffective registration process whereby Chinese Middle School students were provoked by the disruptive and authoritative conduct of the government team, who sent teams into Chung Cheng High School (the biggest Singapore Chinese Middle School) without warning, and went from class to class to distribute registration forms, disrupting lessons. Teachers who refused to halt their lessons were also forced to leave the classrooms, leaving students outraged and thus, the refusal to register for national service. This episode was repeated again on 23 April 1954 at the Chinese High School.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Spontaneous response to particular events
On 13 May 1954 itself, representatives from the affected students made preparations to meet William Goode in government house to negotiate about the ordinance. The crowd (approximately 1000 people) that assembled in the vicinity of the government house to give their support were actually students from the Chinese inter-schools sports competition — just a 30-minute walk away at Jalan Besar Stadium via Serangoon Road and Bukit Timah Road. The students were there to await the outcome of the meeting, and it was not a planned protest.


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Spontaneous response to particular events
In the days following 13 May 1954, tensions arose due to the "difficulties posed to the students by the Governor" when all that the students wanted was a form of written assurance for the postponement of national service for all students who are still schooling. According to Thum, once again drawing his opinions from Chinese sources, the process of appeal was made difficult for the students. For instance, their first petition was returned to them unopened because it was not submitted through "proper channels".


1954 National Service riots, Interpretations of 13 May 1954, Spontaneous response to particular events
With that, the students resubmitted their petition by registered mail however, the petition was again, returned to the students with the instruction that petitions from students should be submitted through the principal and management committee of their school. This was done, but there was no reply from the government once again.


1954 National Service riots, Significance of 13 May 1954
The aftermath of 13 May 1954 saw the formation of the Singapore Chinese Middle School Students Union (SCMSSU), and it was under the banner of SCMSSU that the 1950s saw more intense left-wing activities, for example, the Hock Lee Bus riots.


1954 National Service riots, Significance of 13 May 1954
13 May 1954 also has a crucial significance in the politics in Singapore for it was through this event that enforced unity between students, labour workers and the People's Action Party (PAP) led by Lee Kuan Yew (a young lawyer back then) and leftist trade union Lim Chin Siong and Fong Swee Suan (both active in the bus worker's union). It all started with the Chinese students' decision to engage Lee Kuan Yew to defend the 7 students who were charged for obstructing the police on 13 May 1954.


1954 National Service riots, Significance of 13 May 1954
Prior to this, Lee Kuan Yew was also involved in fighting the case for the Fajar 8. Although the 7 students were eventually still sentenced to 3 months imprisonment, this episode allowed Lee Kuan Yew to build connections with the Chinese (especially the students and trade union workers), a group that was crucial in supporting his victory in the 1959 elections. The 1959 election was the first full internal self-government granted by the British authority and the People's Action Party led by Lee Kuan Yew won 43 out of 51 seats in the legislative assembly, forming the government.


1954 National Service riots, Significance of 13 May 1954
However, this landslide victory would not have been possible without the support from the Chinese community, especially that of the labour unions (as the Chinese made up the majority population in Singapore). The PAP appealed to the Chinese community by promoting workers' rights and establishing policies that aim to abolish Emergency Regulations, putting an end to colonialist exploitation. This was important for the Chinese community who have been fighting for their place throughout colonial ruling. One such example was the threat they face regarding vernacular education in light of the British's vision to prioritise English-medium education and undermining vernacular education (Trocki, 2006).


1954 National Service riots, Significance of 13 May 1954
In short, the PAP was able to draw on the concerns of the Chinese (which made up the largest population in Singapore) and garnered their support in the 1959 elections.


1954 Navy Midshipmen football team
The 1954 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) as an independent during the 1954 college football season. The team was led by fifth-year head coach Eddie Erdelatz, and they acquired the nickname "Team Named Desire" during the press conference following the 25–0 road shutout of Stanford, when Erdelatz said, "Every man on this team is full of desire."


1954 Navy Midshipmen football team
After defeating #5 Army in Philadelphia, the Midshipmen were ranked fifth in both final polls, released in late November, and played in their first bowl game in 31 years. Navy shut out #6 Ole Miss 21–0 in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year's Day.


1954 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
The 1954 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska and member of the Big 7 Conference in the 1954 college football season. The team was coached by Bill Glassford and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.


1954 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Before the season
At the conclusion of the previous season, coach Glassford's third losing season in five years, sentiment was strong for a change in leadership. However, while Glassford survived the strife, Athletic Director George Clark did resign his position. Clark had previously led the Nebraska football team, in 1945 and then again in 1948, before ascending to the position of Athletic Director. Another former Nebraska football coach, Adolph J. Lewandowski (1943–1944), was named as acting AD in his stead. Lewandowski eventually helped select Bill Orwig as the new permanent Athletic Director, a position he would hold through 1960. Glassford was kept on under Orwig, but the pressure was building for the Nebraska football program to regain its footing and build consistency going forward.


1954 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Minnesota
Opening against powerhouse rival Minnesota was a tall order to ask of the football team. Using the Split T Formation installed during the offseason, the Cornhuskers managed a single touchdown to avoid the shutout in Minneapolis, but the Golden Gophers had little trouble adding to their lead in the series, moving up to 28-5-2 against Nebraska to date.


1954 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Iowa State
The Cornhuskers bounced back from the season opener by trouncing the Cyclones in Lincoln, scoring often and allowing some reserve players to get some on-field time for experience. Nebraska didn't back off as the game progressed, and scored again with less than two minutes remaining. The victory extended the Cornhusker winning streak over Iowa State to nine games, as Nebraska improved to 39-8-1 in the series.


1954 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Kansas State
Year in and year out in recent times, Kansas State could be counted on as an automatic win for the Nebraska squad, until last year. In 1953, the Wildcats snapped their ten-game losing streak against the Cornhuskers, and so were not intimidated by the Nebraska squad upon meeting them in Lincoln. The Wildcats put on a defensive show, allowing the Cornhuskers only a field goal as the day wore on. With Nebraska clinging to a 3-0 lead and less than five minutes to play, the Cornhusker defense allowed a Wildcat touchdown, and Kansas State took away their sixth win in the 38-game series.


1954 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Oregon State
Smarting from allowing Kansas State another win, the Cornhuskers lit into underdog Oregon State, ensuring the results would come out as expected for the week. Nebraska was up by three touchdowns before the Beavers were able to even muster a single-touchdown response, and the win put the Cornhuskers up to 6-2 in the series to date.