1954 Valdostan regional election
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1954 Valdostan regional election
The Valdostan regional election of 1954 took place on 6 November 1954.


1954 Valdostan regional election
The Christian Democracy broke up with the Valdostan Union and it won this its centrist allies.


1954 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
The 1954 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1954 college football season.


1954 Venezuelan Primera División season
The 1954 season of the Venezuelan Primera División, the top category of Venezuelan football, was played by 6 teams. The national champions were Vasco.


1954 Vermont Catamounts football team
The 1954 Vermont Catamounts football team was an American football team that represented  the University of Vermont in the Yankee Conference during the 1954 college football season. In their third year under head coach J. Edward Donnelly, the team compiled a 5–1–1 record.


1954 Vermont gubernatorial election
The 1954 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1954. Incumbent Republican Lee E. Emerson did not run for re-election to a third term as Governor of Vermont. Republican candidate Joseph B. Johnson defeated Democratic candidate E. Frank Branon to succeed him.


1954 Villanova Wildcats football team
The 1954 Villanova Wildcats football team represented the Villanova University during the 1954 college football season. The head coach was Frank Reagan, coaching his first season with the Wildcats. The team played their home games at Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pennsylvania.


1954 Vincentian general election
General elections were held in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 1954. The majority of seats were won by independents. Voter turnout was 59.8%.


1954 Virginia Cavaliers football team
The 1954 Virginia Cavaliers football team represented the University of Virginia during the 1954 college football season. The Cavaliers were led by second-year head coach Ned McDonald and played their home games at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia. This was their first year competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which was in its second year of existence. Virginia failed to pick up its first ACC win, finishing 0–2 against conference opponents.


1954 Volta a Catalunya
The 1954 Volta a Catalunya was the 34th edition of the Volta a Catalunya cycle race and was held from 5 September to 12 September 1954. The race started in Montjuïc and finished in Barcelona. The race was won by Walter Serena.


1954 WANFL season
The 1954 WANFL season was the 70th season of the most prestigious Australian rules football state competition in Western Australia. Eight teams competed in the league, the same as the previous twelve seasons. The season began with the first home-and-away round played on Saturday, 24 April, and concluded with the 1954 WANFL Grand Final on Saturday, 9 October. South Fremantle defeated minor premiers East Fremantle by 78 points, marking the club's 8th premiership and third in succession.


1954 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team
The 1954 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team was an American football team that represented Wake Forest University during the 1954 college football season. In their fourth season under head coach Tom Rogers, the Demon Deacons compiled a 3–6–1 record and finished in sixth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 1–4–1 record against conference opponents.


1954 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team
End Ed Stowers and tackle Bob Bartholomew were selected by the Associated Press as first-team players on the 1954 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team. Bartholomew was the only unanimous selection by all 43 voters.


1954 Wakefield by-election
The 1954 Wakefield by-election was held on 21 October 1954 after the death of the incumbent Labour MP, Arthur Greenwood. It was retained by the Labour candidate Arthur Creech Jones.


1954 Wakefield by-election
The Conservative candidate, Maurice Macmillan, was the son of then-Minister of Defence and future Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. He would subsequently be a Cabinet Minister himself.


1954 Washington Huskies football team
The 1954 Washington Huskies football team was an American football team that represented the University of Washington during the 1954 college football season. In its second season under head coach John Cherberg, the team compiled a 2–8 record, finished in a tie for last place in the Pacific Coast Conference, and was outscored by its opponents 215 to 78. Stewart Crook was the team captain.


1954 Washington Huskies football team, NFL Draft selections
One University of Washington Husky was selected in the 1955 NFL Draft, which lasted thirty rounds with 360 selections.


1954 Washington Redskins season
The 1954 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 23rd season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 17th in Washington, D.C. The team failed to improve on their 6–5–1 record from 1953. The Redskins sent defensive back Don Paul to the Cleveland Browns. The Redskins acquired Paul from the Chicago Cardinals. Upon his arrival in Washington, he fell in displeasure with George Preston Marshall of the Redskins.


1954 Washington Redskins season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1954 Washington Senators season
The 1954 Washington Senators won 66 games, lost 88, and finished in sixth place in the American League. They were managed by Bucky Harris and played home games at Griffith Stadium.


1954 Washington Senators season, Regular season
During the season, Carlos Paula became the first black player in the history of the Senators.


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


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


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


1954 Washington State Cougars football team
The 1954 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State College during the 1954 college football season. Led by third-year head coach Al Kircher, the team was 4–6 overall and 3–4 in the Pacific Coast Conference. Three home games were played on campus in Pullman at Rogers Field, with one in Spokane in late September.


1954 Washington State Cougars football team
The Cougars defeated rival Washington for the second straight year, but were shut out at home by neighbor Idaho in the Battle of the Palouse, which was the Vandals' first win in the series in 29 years, since their three-peat in 1925.


1954 Washington State Cougars football team
The Washington rivalry game (now the Apple Cup) was held in Pullman for the first time since 1948 and was the last until 1982; all three were Cougar victories. Of the fifteen games played in Spokane from 1950 through 1980, Washington State won only three (1958, 1968, 1972), while winning five times in Seattle.


1954 Washington State Cougars football team, NFL Draft
Four Cougars were selected in the 1955 NFL Draft, which was thirty rounds (360 selections).


1954 Waterford Senior Hurling Championship
The 1954 Waterford Senior Hurling Championship was the 54th staging of the Waterford Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Waterford County Board in 1897.


1954 Waterford Senior Hurling Championship
On 31 October 1953, Mount Sion won the championship after a 3-14 to 5-02 defeat of Erin's Own in the final. This was their 10th championship title overall and their second title in succession.


1954 West Berlin state election
The election to the Berlin House of Representatives occurred on December 5, 1954, alongside elections to the twelve borough assemblies of Berlin. The SPD nominated Otto Suhr as their leading candidate the CDU nominated the incumbent mayor since October 1953, Walther Schreiber.


1954 West Berlin state election
Although the opposition SPD lost 0.1 percentage points, it narrowly increased its presence in parliament and obtaining a majority of deputies. The CDU also increased its share of the vote by 5.7 percentage point, increasing there number of deputies by 10, these gains by the CDU were offset by a collapse in support for the FDP, which lost 10.2 percentage points and 13 deputies. The German party narrowly failed to cross the 5% electoral threshold winning 4.9% of the vote, around 2,500 votes shy of making it into the parliament. For the first time since the splitting of the city administration into east and west the SED competed in West Berlin, the party was unable to make any electoral impact however, winning just 2.7% of the vote.


1954 West Berlin state election
While the SPD did win an outright majority, they agreed to enter into a coalition with the CDU because of the tense political situation in Berlin at the time. On January 11, 1955, Suhr was elected as West Berlin's new mayor.


1954 West German presidential election
An indirect presidential election (officially the 2nd Federal Convention) was held in West Germany on 17 July 1954. The government parties and the opposition SPD renominated incumbent Theodor Heuss. Against his wishes, the Communist Party of Germany nominated Alfred Weber. Heuss was reelected on the first ballot with about 85% of the vote.


1954 West German presidential election, Composition of the Federal Convention
The President is elected by the Federal Convention consisting of all the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of delegates representing the states. These are divided proportionally by population to each state, and each state's delegation is divided among the political parties represented in its parliament so as to reflect the partisan proportions in the parliament.


1954 West German presidential election, Composition of the Federal Convention
Source: Eine Dokumentation aus Anlass der Wahl des Bundespräsidenten am 18. März 2012


1954 West German presidential election, Results
Note:1. In addition to the two formally nominated candidates President of the Reich Karl Dönitz, Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, Marie Elisabeth Lüders, Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover, Franz-Josef Wuermeling, and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer received one vote each.


1954 West Virginia Mountaineers football team
The 1954 West Virginia Mountaineers football team completed the regular season with an 8–1 record.


1954 Western Michigan Broncos football team
The 1954 Western Michigan Broncos football team represented Western Michigan College of Education (later renamed Western Michigan University) in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 1954 college football season. In their second season under head coach Jack Petoskey, the Broncos compiled a 4–5 record (3–4 against MAC opponents), finished in fifth place in the MAC, and were outscored by their opponents, 186 to 136. The team played its home games at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan.


1954 Western Michigan Broncos football team
Tackle Les Koster was the team captain. Offensive tackle Jack Kelder received the team's most outstanding player award.


1954 Western Reserve Red Cats football team
The 1954 Western Reserve Red Cats football team represented the Western Reserve University in the American city of Cleveland, Ohio, now known as Case Western Reserve University, during the 1954 college football season. The Red Cats were a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC).


1954 Western Reserve Red Cats football team
The team was coached by Edward L. Finnigan and a notable player was captain fullback Gordon McCarter.


1954 Western Samoan general election
General elections were held in Western Samoa on 13 April 1954.


1954 Western Samoan general election, Electoral system
The 26-member Legislative Assembly consisted of the Administrator, six civil servants, twelve Samoans appointed by the Fono of Faipule, two Fautua (Samoan chiefs) and five members directly elected by people with European status, most of whom were part-Samoan.


1954 Western Samoan general election, Results, Samoan members
Two candidates for the Atua seat, Tuatagaloa Leutele Te'o and Fonoti Ioane received the same number of votes. It was decided that as the incumbent Te'o should remain the representative for the constituency, whilst Ioane would be made the twelfth, non-constituency member.


1954 Western Samoan general election, Aftermath
In 1956 the Executive Council was reorganised and a Member System introduced. To'omata Lilomaiava Tua was appointed Member for Agriculture, Tuatagaloa Leutele Te'o as Member for Education, Fonoti Ioane as Member for Health, Tualaulelei Mauri as Member for Lands, Peter Plowman as Member for Transport and Communications, and Harry Moors as Member for Works.


1954 Wichita Shockers football team
The 1954 Wichita Shockers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Wichita (now known as Wichita State University) as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1954 college football season. In its second and final season under head coach Jack Mitchell, the team compiled a 9–1 record (4–0 against MVC opponents), won the MVC championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 325 to 86. The team played its home games at Veterans Field, now known as Cessna Stadium.


1954 Wightman Cup
The 1954 Wightman Cup was the 26th edition of the annual competition between the United States and Great Britain. It was held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London in England in the United Kingdom.


1954 Wilkes County 160
The 1954 Wilkes County 160 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event held on April 4, 1954, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Until the 1957 running of the Wilkes 160, North Wilkesboro Speedway was a dirt oval track.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Background
North Wilkesboro carried a reputation as one of the fastest short-tracks in auto racing in the late 1940s and 1950s. In 1950, speeds reached 73 mph at the track, compared to the next fastest short-track, Charlotte Speedway, where top speeds only reached 66 mph. Most of the fans in the early years of the sport saw the track as notorious for being a great venue to watch races between the legendary racers of the time. Racing at North Wilkesboro was intense and physical.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Background
The 1950 Wilkes 200 was the second Grand National Series race held at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Twenty-six cars entered the race. Twenty-one-year-old Fireball Roberts qualified with a lap speed of 73.266 mph on the dirt track for his first ever Grand National pole, but engine problems dropped him out of the running. Fonty Flock started in the third position and led the most laps in the race with 104, but engine troubles also ended his day. Ultimately, Leon Sales led eight of the 200 laps to become the victor,  the fourth NASCAR driver to win an event in his debut race. Jack Smith finished second after leading 55 laps in the race.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Background
After hosting only one NASCAR event in 1949 and one in 1950, the track began running two Grand National Series events per year in 1951 (with the exception of 1956, when only one race was held; the track was being prepared for pavement). One race was held in the spring, normally in late March or early April, and another was held in the fall, normally in late September or early October. In 1957, owner Enoch Stanley had the 5/8-mile track paved.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Background
The Wilkes 200 in 1952 turned into a battle between brothers. Two sets of brothers competed in the race, and they took the top four spots at the finish. The Flock Brothers (Fonty Flock and Tim Flock) were strong, but the Thomas brothers (Herb Thomas and Donald Thomas) had the better outcome. Herb Thomas, driving his 1952 "Fabulous" Hudson Hornet, won the pole, led 192 of the 200 laps, and grabbed the victory. Fonty Flock led the first eight laps and finished the race second. Donald Thomas, also in a 1952 "Fabulous" Hudson Hornet, finished third, and Tim Flock finished fourth. Eleven of the 27 cars entered in the race finished. Six of the top nine positions were driving Hudson Hornets.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Background
Herb Thomas started on the pole for the 1953 Wilkes 200 with his record-setting qualifying speed of 78.424 mph on the dirt surface. Outside pole sitter Tim Flock led the first 100 laps before experiencing engine problems. Curtis Turner took the lead on Lap 101 and continued the lead until his car also succumbed to engine troubles nine laps later. Thomas in his Number 92 Hudson Hornet only lead 18 laps in the race but ended the race by taking his third consecutive win at North Wilkesboro. Starting from the third spot, Dick Rathmann led 70 laps and finished behind Herb Thomas. Fonty Flock managed to work his way up from the fourth starting position to the front and led three laps before dropping back and finishing third.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Background
Pole sitter Buck Baker ran 78.288 mph to gap the pole for the 1953 Wilkes 160. Baker ran strong and led the most laps in the race with 80 out front before falling back into the sixth-place position at the finish. Speedy Thompson led 25 laps, and Fonty Flock led 37. Curtis Turner led a total of 18 laps. At the end of the race, Thompson finished two laps ahead of second-place Flock. Thompson's win ended Herb Thomas and his Hudson Hornet's three-race winning streak at North Wilkesboro.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Race report
It took one hour and twenty-seven minutes for the race to reach its full conclusion.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Race report
Dick Rathmann would acquire a significant victory over Herb Thomas by a margin of twenty seconds in front of five thousand and five hundred people. All 24 drivers that were involved in this racing event were born in the United States; no foreigners attempted to qualify for this event. Dick Rathman had overlapped the entire field at one time; making it sufficient for the veteran speedster to wheel his 1954 Hudson around the course on the final two laps with a flat tire to beat out Herb Thomas. The weather was freezing and cloudy skies were everywhere.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Race report
Gober Sosebee lost a wheel on the 114th lap and was forced to the pits. It was a wheel from Sosebee's car that almost cost Rathman the race. After returning to the battle, Sosebee was again moving back into the contest when another wheel snapped and landed in the middle of the track. Rathman's car clipped the wheel, blowing out his left front tire and almost wrecking the leader.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Race report
Arden Mounts lost a wheel and smashed the fence in turn 1 on lap 44 and two laps later Ted Rambo, driving in eight place at the time, blew a tire and went through the fence on the Turn 1 near the same spot of Mounts. The race was held up to put out a fire in Rambo's car. The second and final caution came on 137 th lap when Bud Harless, blew a tire and flipped over the bank on the third turn. Rambo and Harless escaped without injury.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Race report
Notable speeds were: 68.454 miles per hour (110.166 km/h) as the average speed and 78.698 miles per hour (126.652 km/h) as the pole position speed. John Ditz would win his first race as an owner during this event; a diverse range of automobile manufacturers would enjoy starting positions within the relatively unregulated NASCAR atmosphere of the mid-1950s. Monetary winnings for each driver ranged from a then-incredible amount of $1,000 ($9,520.45 when considering inflation) to a meager $25 ($238.01 when considering inflation).


1954 Wilkes County 160, Race report
Total winnings for this race were $3,825 ($36,415.71 when considering inflation).


1954 Wilkes County 160, Race report
Notable crew chiefs who participated fully in the race were Stuart Nelson, Lee Petty, and John Carozza.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Race report
This race was also notable for being held the week before April 11, 1954; which has been analyzed by a computer search engine as being the least interesting day in the 20th century. Rock and Roll Music was "invented" at a New York City recording studio on April 12 (Monday) when Bill Haley & His Comets would record the incredibly famous song Rock Around the Clock.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Race report
Rock Around the Clock quickly became a number one single on both the US and UK charts and also re-entered the UK Singles Chart in the 1960s and 1970s.


1954 Wilkes County 160, Race report
No NASCAR Cup Series races were held on Sunday, April 11, 1954.


1954 William & Mary Indians football team
The 1954 William & Mary Indians football team represented William & Mary during the 1954 college football season.


1954 Wimbledon Championships
The 1954 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was held from Monday 21 June until Saturday 3 July 1954. It was the 68th staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam tennis event of 1954. Jaroslav Drobný and Maureen Connolly won the singles titles.


1954 Wimbledon Championships, Finals, Seniors, Men's Doubles
Rex Hartwig /  Mervyn Rose defeated  Vic Seixas /  Tony Trabert, 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4


1954 Wimbledon Championships, Finals, Seniors, Women's Doubles
Louise Brough /  Margaret duPont defeated  Shirley Fry /  Doris Hart, 4–6, 9–7, 6–3


1954 Wimbledon Championships, Finals, Seniors, Mixed Doubles
Vic Seixas /  Doris Hart defeated  Ken Rosewall /  Margaret duPont, 5–7, 6–4, 6–3


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Boys' Singles
Ramanathan Krishnan defeated Ashley Cooper in the final, 6–2, 7–5 to win the Boys' Singles tennis title at the 1954 Wimbledon Championships.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Girls' Singles
Valerie Pitt defeated Colette Monnot in the final, 5–7, 6–3, 6–2 to win the Girls' Singles tennis title at the 1954 Wimbledon Championships.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles
Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall were the defending champions, but lost in the semifinals to Vic Seixas and Tony Trabert.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles
Rex Hartwig and Mervyn Rose defeated Seixas and Trabert in the final, 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 to win the Gentlemen' Doubles tennis title at the 1954 Wimbledon Championship.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
In the 1954 Wimbledon Championships – Gentlemen's Singles competition, Jaroslav Drobný defeated Ken Rosewall in the final, 13–11, 4–6, 6–2, 9–7 to take the Gentlemen's Singles tennis title. It was Drobný's third singles final and second win at Wimbledon. Vic Seixas was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Budge Patty.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
It was the first of 19-year-old Rosewall's Wimbledon singles finals, all of which he lost. This resulted in Rosewall being considered by many to be the greatest player never to win Wimbledon.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles, Progress of the competition
Jaroslav Drobný, who was 32 at the time of the competition, was Czech-born but was said to play "like an Englishman". Drobný was extremely popular with British tennis fans, and no British player had made it to the 1954 quarterfinals, the longest-surviving home player in the men's singles being 18-year-old Mike Davies, who was knocked out in the fourth round by Budge Patty. The Daily Herald reported that nearly everyone wanted to see Drobný win the title. No unseeded players made it to the quarterfinals, the stage at which second-seeded Lew Hoad was knocked out in straight sets by Drobný. Top seed Tony Trabert was defeated in the semifinal by Rosewall.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed Doubles
Vic Seixas and Doris Hart successfully defended their title, defeating Ken Rosewall and Margaret duPont in the final, 5–7, 6–4, 6–3 to win the Mixed Doubles tennis title at the 1954 Wimbledon Championships.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed Doubles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Doubles
Louise Brough and Margaret duPont defeated the defending champions Shirley Fry and Doris Hart in the final, 4–6, 9–7, 6–3 to win the Ladies' Doubles tennis title at the 1954 Wimbledon Championships.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Doubles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles
Maureen Connolly successfully defended her title, defeating Louise Brough in the final, 6–2, 7–5 to win the Ladies' Singles tennis title at the 1954 Wimbledon Championships.


1954 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1954 Wisconsin Badgers football team
The 1954 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin in the 1954 Big Ten Conference football season.


1954 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Season
Senior Alan Ameche earned All-America honors, was named the Big 10 Player of the Year, and was the recipient of the 1954 Heisman Trophy, becoming the first Badger to win the award. He played linebacker on defense along with fullback on offense, since American football was single platoon during his college career. In four years as a Badger, he gained 3,212 yards, then the NCAA record, scored 25 touchdowns, and averaged 4.8 yards per carry.


1954 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
The 1954 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1954.


1954 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
Incumbent Republican Governor Walter J. Kohler Jr. defeated Democratic nominee William Proxmire in a rematch of the 1952 election with 51.45% of the vote.


1954 Wisła Kraków season
The 1954 season was Wisła Kraków's 46th year as a club. Wisła was under the name of Gwardia Kraków.


1954 Women's British Open Squash Championship
The 1954 Ladies Open Championships was held at the Lansdowne Club in London from 15–21 February 1954. Janet Morgan won her fifth consecutive title defeating Sheila Speight in the final.


1954 Women's British Open Squash Championship, Seeds
Marjorie Townsend  M E Gowthorpe  Alice Teague  Ruth Turner  Rachel Byrne  Rosemary Walsh


1954 Women's Western Open
The 1954 Women's Western Open was a golf competition held at Glen Flora Country Club in Waukegan, Illinois, which was the 25th edition of the event. Betty Jameson won the championship in match play competition by defeating Louise Suggs in the final match, 6 and 5.


1954 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 13th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Rome, the capital of Italy, on June 28 - July 1, 1954. It was the first World Championships at which the Soviet Union competed, winning 20 medals overall (more than three times the amount of any other country). Other major changes at this championships included:  1) it was the first world championships at which a Code of Points was used; and 2) it was the last world championships that would be held "in open air" (outdoors).


1954 World Fencing Championships
The 1954 World Fencing Championships were held in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg.


1954 World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion.


1954 World Figure Skating Championships
The 1954 competitions for men, ladies, pair skating, and ice dancing took place from February 16 to 19 in Oslo, Norway.


1954 World Men's Handball Championship
The 1954 World Men's Handball Championship was the second team handball World Championship. It was held in Sweden from 13–17 January 1954, and the hosts also won the championship.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship
The 1954 World Professional Match-play Championship was a professional snooker tournament 5 October 1953 to 6 March 1954. The final was held at Houldsworth Hall in Manchester, England. Fred Davis won his sixth World Snooker Championship title by defeating Walter Donaldson by 45 frames to 26 in the final after securing a winning lead at 36–15. Donaldson compiled a break of 121, the highest of the tournament, on the last day of the final.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship
There were nine entrants. Rex Williams and Harry Stokes were scheduled to play a preliminary match, with the winner joining the other seven players in the main draw, but Williams retired from the match due to illness. Defending champion Davis defeated Stokes and then John Pulman, to face Donaldson for the eighth consecutive world final. Donaldson had eliminated Kingsley Kennerley and Alec Brown to reach the final. During the final, Donaldson announced his retirement from future world championship events.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Background
The World Snooker Championship is a professional tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker. The sport was developed in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India. Professional English billiards player and billiard hall manager Joe Davis noticed the increasing popularity of snooker compared to billiards in the 1920s, and with Birmingham-based billiards equipment manager Bill Camkin, persuaded the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC) to recognise an official professional snooker championship in the 1926–27 season.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Background
In 1927, the final of the first professional snooker championship was held at Camkin's Hall; Davis won the tournament by beating Tom Dennis in the final. The annual competition was not titled the World Championship until 1935, but the 1927 tournament is now referred to as the first World Snooker Championship. Davis also won the title each year until 1940, when the contest was cancelled during World War II, and again when the championship resumed in 1946, accumulating a total of 15 titles before retiring from the event.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Background
In 1952, the World Professional Match-play Championship was created following a dispute between the Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) and the BACC.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Background
In response to player complaints that the BACC was taking too large a percentage of income from the tournament, the BACC claimed that the championship "has always been, and in theory is to be, regarded as an affair of honour and a test of merit", and that "every effort is made to arrange terms advantageous to the professionals competing in the championship, compatible with securing an equitable return for the promoters of it, the B.A.& C.C." The PBPA members established an alternative competition which became known as the World Professional Match-play Championship, now recognised as world championships. Fred Davis had won the world championship in 1948, 1949 and 1951, and the two previous editions of the World Professional Match-play Championship, in 1952 and 1953.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Background
There were nine entrants for the 1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, with Rex Williams and Harry Stokes scheduled to play a qualifying match, the winner of which would join the other seven players in the main draw. Main competition matches were over 61 frames, except the final which was over 71 frames.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary, Quarter-finals
Alec Brown and John Barrie met in the first quarter-final match at the Feathers Hotel in Ealing, London, from 9 to 12 November 1953. Brown took a 10–8 lead after the first day and led 18–12 after two days and 26–22 after three days. The highest break of the match was 83, compiled by Brown. Brown won with a final score of 35–26.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary, Quarter-finals
From 16 to 20 November, Fred Davis played Harry Stokes in the second quarter-final in Middlesbrough. Davis had a 9–3 lead after the first day, and increased this to 18–6 on the second day. He led 29–7 after three days, having compiled a break of 109 in the day's second frame. Davis took a winning 38–10 lead after four days and eventually won 45–15.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary, Quarter-finals
Walter Donaldson and Kingsley Kennerley faced each other in the third quarter-final in Jersey from 1 to 5 December. Donaldson led 30–18 after four days, needing just one more frame on the final day, and eventually won 36–25.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary, Quarter-finals
John Pulman and Jackie Rea met in Belfast from 7 to 11 December, at the RAOB hall in Belfast, in the last quarter-final. It was closest of the four quarter-finals and was level at 24 frames at the start of the final day. Rea won four of the six frames on the final afternoon but Pulman won five of the first six frames in the evening to win 31–29.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary, Semi-finals
Both semi-finals were played from 18 to 23 January 1954. Fred Davis and John Pulman met in Bolton. Pulman led 20–16 after three days but Davis won 9 of the 12 frames on the fourth day to lead 25–23. Davis won 7 of the 13 frames on the final day to win 32–29.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary, Semi-finals
Donaldson and Alec Brown played their semi-final at Carlton Barracks in Leeds. At the end of the afternoon session on the second day, Brown led 10–5. Donaldson then dominated and led 29–21 after day five, including a break of 108. The final score was 36–25.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary, Final
Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson met in their eighth successive final, which was held from 1 to 6 March at Houldsworth Hall, Manchester. Davis took a 5–1 lead in the first session, and won the second session by the same margin to finish the first day 10–2 ahead. The pair each won three frames in the third session, and Davis claimed four of the six evening frames for a ten-frame lead at 17–7., extending this to a 14 frame advantage, 25–11, the following day.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary, Final
Donaldson reduced his arrears slightly by winning four of the six frames in the early session on 4 March, but trailed 15–33 by the day's close. Davis secured the victory by winning the first three frames on the fifth day to lead 36–15. The final score was 45–26, with Donaldson making a break of 121, the highest of the tournament, on the final day.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary, Final
It was the most one-sided of their finals. Even before losing the match, Donaldson said that he would not enter the world championship again, saying he could not give enough time to the practice he felt was necessary.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Main draw
The results for the tournament are shown below. Players in bold are match winners.


1954 World Professional Match-play Championship, Qualifying
Harry Stokes and Rex Williams played a 31-frame qualifying match in Edinburgh, planned for 5 to 7 October 1953. Williams led 3–2 after the first session. He was then ill and the match was abandoned, to be rearranged for a later date. The match was, however, later cancelled and Stokes advanced to the main draw.


1954 World Series
The 1954 World Series matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion Cleveland Indians. The Giants swept the Series in four games to win their first championship since 1933, defeating the heavily favored Indians, who had won an AL-record 111 games in the 154-game regular season (a record since broken by the 1998 New York Yankees with 114 and again by the 2001 Seattle Mariners with 116, tying the 1906 Chicago Cubs for the most wins in a season).


1954 World Series
"The Catch" occurred during Game 1 of this series, when Giants center fielder Willie Mays snared a long drive by Vic Wertz near the outfield wall with his back to the infield. Utility player Dusty Rhodes had clutch hits in three of the four games, including a pinch-hit walk-off that won Game 1, barely clearing the 258-foot (79 m) right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Giants manager Leo Durocher, who had managed teams to three National League championships, won his only World Series title as a manager. The Giants, who moved west to San Francisco in 1958, did not win another World Series until 2010.


1954 World Series
This was the first time that the Indians had been swept in a World Series and the first time that the Giants had swept an opponent in four games (their 1922 sweep included a controversial tie game). Game 2 was the last World Series and playoff game at the Polo Grounds, and Game 4 was the last World Series and playoff game at Cleveland Stadium. The Indians' next World Series was in 1995, a year after Jacobs Field opened.


1954 World Series
The National Football League game between the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions, scheduled for October 3 at Cleveland Stadium, was postponed to December 19.


1954 World Series
This was the first World Series since 1948 to not feature the Yankees.


1954 World Series, Background
The Indians, by winning the American League pennant, kept the Yankees from having a chance to win their sixth straight series. The last time the Yankees had been absent from the World Series was 1948, when the Indians defeated the Boston Braves to win the championship. This was also the only World Series from 1949 to 1958 in which the Yankees did not participate.


1954 World Series, Background
The Indians easily won the 1954 pennant on the strength of the American League's top pitching staff, leading the AL in team earned run average at 2.72 and complete games with 77. Pitchers Early Wynn (23–11, 2.73 earned run average) and Bob Lemon (23–7, 2.72 earned run average) were in top form, with solid contributions from Mike Garcia (19–8, 2.64) and Art Houtterman (15–7, 3.35). Bob Feller, at age 35, could make only 19 starts, and finished at 13–3.


1954 World Series, Background
Cleveland also had potent hitting, leading the AL in home runs (156) and finishing second in runs scored (746), although the team managed just 30 stolen bases in 63 attempts. Bobby Ávila led the offense with 112 runs and a .341 batting average, while Larry Doby (.272 batting average, 32 home runs, 126 runs batted in) and Al Rosen (.300 batting average, 24 home runs, 102 runs batted in) provided the power. Catcher Jim Hegan made only four errors in 134 games and threw out 44% of would-be base stealers.


1954 World Series, Background
The Giants entered the World Series with a top-flight pitching staff as well, with Johnny Antonelli (21–7, 2.30 earned run average), Rubén Gómez (17–9, 2.88) and 37-year-old Sal "The Barber" Maglie (14–6, 3.26). The Giants relied more heavily on relief pitching with Hoyt Wilhelm (12–7, 2.10, 7 saves) and Marv Grissom (10–7, 2.35, 19 saves) rounding out a staff that led the NL in team earned run average at 3.09 and shutouts with 17. Manager Leo Durocher used a solid, consistent lineup with all of his starters, except for the catching position, playing in at least 135 games. Willie Mays (.345 batting average, 41 home runs, 110 runs batted in) led an offense that also featured Don Mueller (.342 batting average), Alvin Dark (.293 batting average, 98 runs), Hank Thompson (26 home runs, 86 runs batted in) and pinch-hitter extraordinaire Dusty Rhodes (.341 batting average).


1954 World Series, Summary
NL New York Giants (4) vs. AL Cleveland Indians (0)


1954 World Series, Matchups, Game 1
Cleveland got on the board right away against Sal Maglie. Leadoff man Al Smith was hit by a pitch, Bobby Ávila singled and Vic Wertz brought home both with a triple to right. Don Liddle and Marv Grissom held them scoreless for the rest of the game.


1954 World Series, Matchups, Game 1
Bob Lemon gave two back in the third on singles by Whitey Lockman and Alvin Dark, an run-scoring groundout by Don Mueller, a walk to Willie Mays and a Hank Thompson run-scoring single.


1954 World Series, Matchups, Game 1
Mays saved the day in the eighth after leadoff singles by Larry Doby and Al Rosen led to starting pitcher Maglie being lifted for Liddle. Wertz's drive to deep center field would have scored both if not for Mays' memorable catch.


1954 World Series, Matchups, Game 1
Wertz opened the 10th inning with another hard-hit ball in Mays’ direction, which again would have required a great defensive play by the Giants' centerfielder but landed for a double. (Wertz thus ended his afternoon having gone 4-for-5 with three extra-base hits and batting in the Indians’ two runs.) However, this potential 10th-inning rally was to no avail, as the Indians batted only 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position in the game, and went hitless (0-for-13) in such situations after Wertz’s two-run triple in the first inning.


1954 World Series, Matchups, Game 1
Lemon went all the way for Cleveland, losing it in the 10th when Dusty Rhodes, pinch-hitting for Monte Irvin with two Giants on base, hit a walk-off home run.


1954 World Series, Matchups, Game 2
Once again, the visitors started quickly but could not hold their lead. Al Smith's leadoff home run off Johnny Antonelli put Cleveland up 1–0. Early Wynn preserved that lead, pitching four perfect innings, but in the fifth inning, Willie Mays walked and Hank Thompson singled, and Dusty Rhodes, again pinch-hitting for Monte Irvin, delivered an run-scoring single. Antonelli gave himself the go-ahead run by scoring Thompson on a groundout. New York had just four hits, but Rhodes padded the Giants' lead with a home run leading off the seventh. Their other hit came in the sixth inning on an Alvin Dark leadoff single. Antonelli walked six but struck out nine, pitching a complete game to give the Giants a 2–0 series lead. This was the last postseason game at the Polo Grounds.


1954 World Series, Matchups, Game 3
A huge crowd of 71,555 hoped to see Cleveland get its first win, but things did not go well for the home team. The Indians trailed 1–0 quickly when Whitey Lockman singled, took second on a groundout and scored on a hit by Willie Mays. The run was scored as unearned because of an error by shortstop George Strickland. With the bases loaded in the third, pinch hitter Dusty Rhodes hit a two-run single. An error by pitcher Mike Garcia on Davey Williams' bunt attempt gave the Giants another run to make it 4–0.


1954 World Series, Matchups, Game 3
The Giants added to their lead on run-scoring singles by Wes Westrum off of Art Houtteman in the fifth and by Mays off of Ray Narleski in the sixth. Ruben Gomez gave up just four hits and two runs (a Vic Wertz home run in the seventh and an error by shortstop Alvin Dark on a ground ball by Al Smith), with knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm mopping up for the save.


1954 World Series, Matchups, Game 4
Cleveland's slim comeback chances took a beating as the Indians fell hopelessly behind, 7–0. The scoring started on a pair of Cleveland errors in the second inning. An run-scoring double by Mays in the third scored another run. The Giants' four-run fifth inning broke the game wide open. Starter Bob Lemon loaded the bases and was pulled for Hal Newhouser, who faced just two batters, giving up a walk to Thompson and two-run single to Irvin. The Giants added another run in the inning on Wes Westrum's sacrifice fly against Ray Narleski.


1954 World Series, Matchups, Game 4
A brief glimmer of hope for the home team came in the bottom of the fifth with a couple of Giants errors and a Hank Majeski three-run pinch-hit home run, but except for a meaningless run-scoring single by Rudy Regalado in the seventh off starter Don Liddle, the Indians got nothing more as Hoyt Wilhelm and Game 2 starter Johnny Antonelli came on in relief and the Giants completed a four-game sweep. It was the most unexpected sweep in World Series history, with the Indians having a better regular reason record by 14 games. The only other similar discrepancy in a World Series sweep was the 1990 Cincinnati Reds, who swept an Oakland A's team whose regular season record bested theirs by 12 games.


1954 World Series, Composite box
1954 World Series (4–0): New York Giants (N.L.) over Cleveland Indians (A.L.)


1954 World Sportscar Championship
The 1954 World Sportscar Championship season was the second season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured a series of six endurance races for sportscars, contested from 24 January to 23 November 1954. The championship was won by Ferrari.


1954 World Sportscar Championship, Season summary
The 1954 World Sports Car Championship was contested over a six race series. With legendary races such as the Mille Miglia and the Carrera Panamericana now part of the international race calendar, they were accompanied by the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 12 Hours of Sebring and the RAC Tourist Trophy. The championship started in January in Argentina with a new race to the calendar, the 1000 km Buenos Aires, but the 24 Hours of Spa was omitted. The 1000 km Nürburgring was originally scheduled for the 29th of August, however once it became clear that the Mercedes 300 SLRs would not be ready in time, the race was cancelled with organisers fearing another poor attendance.


1954 World Sportscar Championship, Season summary
The Championship remained as a competition for manufacturers, and works teams including Scuderia Ferrari, Lancia, Aston Martin and Jaguar lead the way. The majority of the fields were made up of amateur or gentlemen drivers in privately entered cars, often up against professional racing drivers with experience in Formula One.


1954 World Sportscar Championship, Season summary
All races included Sportscar classes defined according to engine displacement. The Millie Miglia also defined classes for Grand Touring and Special Touring cars and the Carrera Panamericana included additional Stock car and Touring car classes. Championship points were however only awarded for outright placings. Ferrari continued to be the dominant force in 1954, winning four of the six races, a result of Enzo Ferrari’s determination to bring prestige to his marque. The other two races were also won by Italian marques, Lancia and O.S.C.A.


1954 World Sportscar Championship, Season results, Results
Note: The Tourist Trophy was awarded to the DB of Paul Armagnac and Gerard Laureau, which was the winner of the Dundrod race on handicap. World Championship points were awarded on the overall race results rather than the handicap results.


1954 World Sportscar Championship, Season results, Championship
Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car  with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 6 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the table below.


1954 World Sportscar Championship, The cars
The following models contributed to the nett championship pointscores of their respective manufacturers.


1954 World Student Games
The 1954 World Student Games were an athletics competition held in Budapest, Hungary by the Union Internationale des Étudiants (UIE). It marked a one-off departure from the athletics event being linked to the biennial World Festival of Youth and Students.


1954 World Student Games
The level of competition was not as high as the previous, festival-associated event, but still featured winning performances from four 1954 European champions: Lajos Szentgáli (800 metres), Anatoliy Yulin (400 metres hurdles), Ödön Földessy (long jump), and Janusz Sidło (javelin throw). Javelin thrower Földessy was the only man to retain his world student title and in the women's section Christa Stubnick repeated her sprint double (the only female repeat victor).


1954 World Student Games
The women's events featured less established talents, though many winners in Budapest went on to greater success. Lyudmila Lisenko, Iolanda Balaș and Vera Krepkina eventually became Olympic champions at the 1960 Rome Olympics, while Christa Stubnick, Gisela Köhler and Irina Beglyakova were all runners-up at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Discus bronze medallist Lia Manoliu grew to become Olympic champion fourteen years later.


1954 World Table Tennis Championships
The 1954 World Table Tennis Championships were held in Wembley from April 5 to April 14, 1954.


1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles
The 1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles was the 21st edition of the men's doubles championship. Žarko Dolinar and Vilim Harangozo won the title after defeating Viktor Barna and Michel Haguenauer in the final by three sets to nil.


1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Singles
The 1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Singles was the 21st edition of the men's singles championship.


1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Singles
Ichiro Ogimura defeated Tage Flisberg in the final, winning three sets to one to secure the title.


1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Team
The 1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Swaythling Cup (Men's Team) was the 21st edition of the men's team championship.


1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Team
Japan won the gold medal defeating Czechoslovakia 5-4 in the decisive final group match. England won the bronze medal after finishing third in the final group.


1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Mixed Doubles
The 1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Mixed Doubles was the 21st edition of the mixed doubles championship.


1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Mixed Doubles
Ivan Andreadis and Gizi Farkas defeated Yoshio Tomita and Fujie Eguchi in the final by three sets to one.


1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Women's Doubles
The 1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Women's Doubles was the 20th edition of the women's doubles championship. Diane Rowe and Rosalind Rowe defeated Ann Haydon-Jones and Kathleen Best in the final by three sets to one.


1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Women's Singles
The 1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Women's Singles was the 21st edition of the women's singles championship. Angelica Rozeanu defeated Yoshiko Tanaka in the final by three sets to one, to win a fifth consecutive title.


1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Women's Team
The 1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Corbillon Cup (Women's Team) was the 14th edition of the women's team championship.


1954 World Table Tennis Championships – Women's Team
Japan won the gold medal, Hungary won the silver medal and England won the bronze medal following a three way tie in the final group play off, positions of which were eventually decided by matches won.


1954 World Weightlifting Championships
The 1954 Men's World Weightlifting Championships were held in Vienna, Austria from October 7 to October 10, 1954. There were 100 men in action from 23 nations.


1954 World Wrestling Championships
The 1954 World Freestyle Wrestling Championship were held in Tokyo, Japan.


1954 Wyoming Cowboys football team
The 1954 Wyoming Cowboys football team represented the University of Wyoming in the Skyline Conference during the 1954 college football season. In their second season under head coach Phil Dickens, the Cowboys compiled a 6–4 record (5–1 against Skyline opponents), finished second in the conference, and outscored opponents by a total of 215 to 171.


1954 Wyoming gubernatorial election
The 1954 Wyoming gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1954. Incumbent Republican Governor Clifford Joy Rogers ran for a full term as Governor of Wyoming after Frank A. Barrett was elected to the U.S. Senate, but lost the nomination to former State Representative Milward Simpson. Simpson narrowly defeated Democratic former Secretary of State William Jack in the general election.


1954 Wyoming state elections
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Wyoming on Tuesday, November 2, 1954. All of the state's executive officers—the Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction—were up for election. The result was largely a continuation of Republican rule, though Democrat Velma Linford won the election for Superintendent and the margins in most of the other races shrunk considerably from 1950.


1954 Wyoming state elections, Governor
Following Governor Frank A. Barrett's election to the U.S. Senate in 1952, Republican Secretary of State Doc Rogers became acting Governor. He ran for re-election, but was defeated by former State Representative Milward Simpson in the Republican primary. In the general election, Simpson then narrowly defeated William M. Jack, the former Secretary of State and State Auditor.


1954 Wyoming state elections, Secretary of State
Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Doc Rogers simultaneously served as acting Governor following Governor Frank A. Barrett's election to the U.S. Senate in 1952, and opted to run for re-election as Governor rather than for re-election as Secretary of State. State Auditor Everett T. Copenhaver ran for Secretary of State, and won the Republican primary unopposed. In the general election, he faced Zan Lewis, a former aide to Senator Lester C. Hunt and the longtime chief clerk in the Secretary of State's office. Copenhaver was able to build on his record of electoral victories and defeated Lewis in a landslide, and was the strongest performing statewide candidate that year.


1954 Wyoming state elections, Auditor
Incumbent Republican State Auditor Everett T. Copenhaver opted against seeking a third term, instead running for Secretary of State. Accordingly, State Treasurer Minnie A. Mitchell, barred from seeking a second term as Treasurer, ran for Auditor. She defeated Rusty Rothwell, secretary to the State Board of Charities and Reform, in the Republican primary and then faced Democratic nominee Bob Adams, a real estate broker, in the general election.


1954 Wyoming state elections, Treasurer
Incumbent Republican State Treasurer Minnie A. Mitchell, appointed to the post following the death of her husband in 1952, was barred from seeking re-election due to term limits. Charles B. Morgan, who served as Deputy State Treasurer for 41 years and to 12 different state treasurers, won the Republican primary over Insurance Commissioner Ford S. Taft. In the general election, he faced former State Representative W. D. "Jud" Witherspoon, the Democratic nominee, whom he narrowly defeated.


1954 Wyoming state elections, Superintendent of Public Instruction
Incumbent Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Edna B. Stolt declined to run for re-election to a third term. State Education Commissioner Ray Robertson won the Republican nomination to succeed Stolt unopposed and faced Velma Linford, the 1946 nominee for Superintendent. In the Democratic Party's only pickup of a state executive office, Linford narrowly defeated Robertson to win her first term.


1954 Yale Bulldogs football team
The 1954 Yale Bulldogs football team represented Yale University in the 1954 college football season. The Bulldogs were led by third-year head coach Jordan Olivar, played their home games at the Yale Bowl and finished the season with a 5–3–1 record.


1954 Yangtze floods
From June to September 1954, the Yangtze River Floods were a series of catastrophic floodings that occurred mostly in Hubei Province. Due to unusually high volume of precipitation as well as an extraordinarily long rainy season in the middle stretch of the Yangtze River late in the spring of 1954, the river started to rise above its usual level in around late June.


1954 Yangtze floods
Despite efforts to open three important flood gates to alleviate the rising water by diverting it, the flood level continued to rise until it hit the historic high of 44.67 m (146.6 ft) in Jingzhou, Hubei and 29.73 m (97.5 ft) in Wuhan. The number of dead from this flood was estimated at around 33,000, including those who died of plague in the aftermath of the disaster.


1954 Yangtze floods, Casualties
Partly as a result of this flood, the pressure to build new dams, the Gezhouba Dam and the Three Gorges Dam, in the upper reach of Yangtze river, gained considerable momentum.


1954 Yangtze floods, Commemoration
In 1969, a large stone monument was erected in the riverside park in Hankou (City of Wuhan, Hubei) honoring the heroic deeds in fighting the 1954 flood. Among the carvings on the monument is a calligraphic inscription by Mao Zedong, dedicated to the people of Wuhan:


1954 Yangtze floods, Commemoration
We must still be prepared to do battle against and overcome similarly severe floods that may occur in the future.


1954 Yangtze floods, Commemoration
Below, is his poem "Swimming" (1956), envisioning future bridge and dam construction on the Yangtze:


1954 Yangtze floods, Commemoration
I have just drunk the waters of ChangshaAnd come to eat the fish of Wuchang. Now I am swimming across the great Yangtze, Looking afar to the open sky of Chu. Let the wind blow and waves beat, Better far than idly strolling in a courtyard. Today I am at ease. "It was by a stream that the Master said - "Thus so things flow away!"" Sails move with the wind. Tortoise and Snake are still.


1954 Yangtze floods, Commemoration
Great plans are afoot: A bridge will fly to span the north and south, Turning a deep chasm into a thoroughfare;  Walls of stone will stand upstream to the westTo hold back Wushan's clouds and rain Till a smooth lake rises in the narrow gorgesThe mountain goddess if she is still there Will marvel at a world so changed."


1954 Yangtze floods, Commemoration
On the sides of the monument's pedestal are reliefs depicting heroic people of Wuhan fighting the flood, raising banners and placards with quotations from Mao Zedong.


1954 Yangtze floods, Comparison
Compared to the 1998 Yangtze River Floods, this flooding was more severe in terms of total flow of water, but less in terms of the highest level that the flood water reached. This is probably a result of the intense logging on the banks of the upper reach of Yangtze River during the later part of the 20th century.


1954 Yugoslav Cup
The 1954 Yugoslav Cup was the 8th season of the top football knockout competition in SFR Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Cup (Serbo-Croatian: Kup Jugoslavije), also known as the "Marshal Tito Cup" (Kup Maršala Tita), since its establishment in 1946.


1954 Yugoslav Cup, Round of 16
In the following tables winning teams are marked in bold; teams from outside top level are marked in italic script.


1954 Yugoslav First Basketball League
The 1954 Yugoslav First Basketball League season is the 10th season of the Yugoslav First Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in SFR Yugoslavia.


1954 Zagreb tram accident
On 31 October 1954, in Zagreb, Croatia, a tram accident happened on Mirogoj Road, a steep road leading from Medveščak Street to Mirogoj Cemetery. A tram lost control during descent and crashed, killing 19 passengers, while 37 were injured, making this one of the worst tram accidents in the world.


1954 Zagreb tram accident, Events
At 8:30 in the morning, the M-24 tram left garage no. 21 traveling on line 13 which was, at the time, the relation between Mirogoj and Šoštarićeva Street (several hundred metres east of Ban Jelačić Square). The tram traveled downhill from Mirogoj towards the intersection Gupčeva Zvijezda. About 60 people had boarded the tram at Mirogoj, having been to the cemetery in preparation of All Saints' Day. The driver released the parking brake and started to descend the hill. Upon reaching the first curve, he attempted to apply the track brake to no effect.


1954 Zagreb tram accident, Events
He then used the emergency brake, which releases sand onto the tracks in order to increase friction, but the tram was going too fast to stop. It continued to pick up speed until the last curve, near Gupčeva Zvijezda, where it derailed, rolled over and skidded 40 metres (130 ft) into a street light, uprooting and dragging along several trees in the process. The tram's speed was estimated at 80 km/h (50 mph), five times the speed limit.


1954 Zagreb tram accident, Events
People waiting for the tram at the nearby stop provided first aid, along with doctors and nurses from a nearby hospital, while stopped car and taxi drivers drove the injured to hospitals. The department for blood transfusion did not work on Sundays at the time, but opened to accept the tram passengers.


1954 Zagreb tram accident, Events
During the investigation that followed, it was discovered that the tram was involved in another accident earlier that day, where it had hit a horse carriage, but later continued towards Mirogoj. A smaller-than-expected amount of sand was recovered on Mirogoj Road, which might have been due to the earlier accident.


1954 Zagreb tram accident, Events
Tram traffic was suspended indefinitely along Mirogoj Road as a result of the accident. It was reinstated in 1964, the trams equipped with four types of brakes this time, and suspended again on 15 May 1967 to be replaced with buses. The tracks were removed in 1970s.


1954 college football season
The 1954 college football season saw three teams finish unbeaten and untied, with Ohio State Buckeyes and the UCLA Bruins sharing the national championship as the No. 1 picks of the AP Poll and the UPI Poll, respectively. Although the winners of the Big Ten and the Pacific conferences normally met in the Rose Bowl, a "no repeat" prevented the two champions from meeting. UCLA, which had been in the Rose Bowl earlier in the year, was replaced by conference runner-up USC.


1954 college football season
During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the college football teams that would later be described as "Division I-A". The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of "wire service" (AP and UPI) polls. The extent of that recognition came in the form of acknowledgment in the annual NCAA Football Guide of the "unofficial" national champions. The AP poll in 1954 consisted of the votes of as many as 419 sportswriters.


1954 college football season
Though not all writers voted in every poll, each would give their opinion of the twenty best teams. Under a point system of 20 points for first place, 19 for second, etc., the "overall" ranking was determined. Although the rankings were based on the collective opinion of the representative sportswriters, the teams that remained "unbeaten and untied" were generally ranked higher than those that had not. A defeat, even against a strong opponent, tended to cause a team to drop in the rankings, and a team with two or more defeats was unlikely to remain in the Top 20. Generally, the top teams played on New Year's Day in the four major postseason bowl games: the Rose Bowl (near Los Angeles at Pasadena), the Sugar Bowl (New Orleans), the Orange Bowl (Miami), and the Cotton Bowl (Dallas).


1954 college football season
In 1954, a limit of 10 games per season, excluding a bowl game, was imposed on all teams, with the exception that existing contracts would not be changed.


1954 college football season, September
In the preseason poll released on September 13, 1954, No. 1 Notre Dame had the most points, although No. 2 Oklahoma had more first place votes (74 vs. 52). Rounding out the Top Five were defending champion No. 3 Maryland, No. 4 Texas and No. 5 Illinois. As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.


1954 college football season, September
September 18, No. 2 Oklahoma won at No. 12 California 27–13, and No. 3 Maryland won at Kentucky, 20–0. Notre Dame and Texas, No. 1 and No. 4, were preparing to meet at South Bend to open their seasons. Oklahoma replaced Notre Dame as No. 1 in the first regular poll. No. 7 Georgia Tech, which beat Tulane 28–0 in Atlanta, replaced Illinois in the Top Five. Defying high expectations, the Illini would lose their opener to Penn State, 14–12, and finish the season with a 1–8–0 record. The poll: 1.Oklahoma 2.Notre Dame 3.Maryland 4.Texas 5.Georgia Tech.


1954 college football season, September
September 25 No. 2 Notre Dame hosted No. 4 Texas and won 21–0. No. 1 Oklahoma beat No. 20 Texas Christian (TCU) 21–16. No. 3 Maryland was idle, and No. 5 Georgia Tech lost to Florida, 13–12. Notre Dame took back over the top spot from O.U., and Texas, Maryland and Georgia Tech were replaced by No. 8 UCLA (32–7 over Kansas), No. 10 Wisconsin (52–14 over Marquette) and No. 11 Iowa (14–10 over No. 7 Michigan State). The poll: 1.Notre Dame 2.Oklahoma 3.Iowa 4.UCLA 5.Wisconsin


1954 college football season, October
In a Friday game, No. 4 UCLA beat No. 6 Maryland 12–7. The next day, October 2, No. 1 Notre Dame was upset by No. 19 Purdue, 27–14. No. 2 Oklahoma which was idle, moved to the top as Notre Dame dropped out. No. 3 Iowa defeated visiting Montana, 48–6, and No. 5 Wisconsin beat No. 13 Michigan State 6–0. In Columbia, the No. 15 South Carolina Gamecocks fell 26–6 against unranked West Virginia. The poll: 1.Oklahoma 2.UCLA 3.Wisconsin 4.Iowa 5.Purdue


1954 college football season, October
October 9 No. 1 Oklahoma won its annual game in Dallas against No. 15 Texas, 14–7. No. 2 UCLA edged Washington 21–20. No. 3 Wisconsin beat No. 11 Rice 13–7. No. 4 Iowa lost to unranked Michigan, 14–13, and No. 5 Purdue was tied by No. 6 Duke, 13–13 (in the next poll, they stayed at No. 5 and No. 6). No. 10 Ohio State, which had won at Illinois 40–7, entered the Top Five: 1.Oklahoma 2.Wisconsin 3.UCLA 4.Ohio State 5.Purdue.


1954 college football season, October
October 16 No. 2 Wisconsin hosted No. 5 Purdue and won 20–6. No. 1 Oklahoma visited Kansas and annihilated it, 65–0, while No. 3 UCLA went one better in beating Stanford 72–0. No. 4 Ohio State beat No. 13 Iowa 20–14. No . 14 West Virginia Mountaineers knocked off the No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions 19–14 at Beaver Stadium. No. 7 Ole Miss, which had beaten Tulane 34–7, entered the Top Five: 1.Oklahoma 2.Wisconsin 3.UCLA 4.Ohio State 5.Mississippi.


1954 college football season, October
October 23 No. 2 Wisconsin faced its second top-ranked opponent in a week, visiting Big Ten rival and No. 4 Ohio State. OSU won, 31–14, to take the No. 1 spot. No. 1 Oklahoma beat Kansas State 21–0, and No. 3 UCLA beat Oregon State 61–0. No. 5 Mississippi lost to No. 7 Arkansas at Little Rock, 6–0. No. 9 Army, which had won 67–12 at Columbia, moved up. The poll: 1.Ohio State 2.Oklahoma 3.UCLA 4.Arkansas 5.Army


1954 college football season, October
October 30 No. 1 Ohio State won at Northwestern, 14–7. No. 2 Oklahoma won 13–6 at Colorado. No. 3 UCLA won at California 27–6 and was given top billing in the next poll. No. 4 Arkansas won 14–7 at Texas A & M.   No. 5 Army, which got to stay home, edged Virginia 21–20. No. 6 Notre Dame, which beat No. 15 Navy 6–0 in Baltimore, moved up. The poll: 1.UCLA 2.Ohio State 3.Oklahoma 4.Arkansas 5.Notre Dame.


1954 college football season, November
November 6 No. 1 UCLA won at Oregon 41–0. No. 2 Ohio State beat visiting No. 20 Pittsburgh, 26–0. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Iowa State 40–0. No. 4 Arkansas, playing at Little Rock, beat No. 15 Rice 28–15, and No. 5 Notre Dame won at Penn, 42–7.


1954 college football season, November
November 13 No. 1 UCLA had the week off, while No. 2 Ohio State won at Purdue 28–6 and got back the top rung. No. 3 Oklahoma beat Missouri 34–13. No. 4 Arkansas lost to No. 19 SMU, 21–14. No. 5 Notre Dame beat North Carolina, 42–13. No. 6 Army, which at won at Penn 35–0, came back to the Top Five: 1.Ohio State 2.UCLA 3.Oklahoma 4.Notre Dame 5.Army.


1954 college football season, November
November 20 No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 12 Michigan 21–7. In Los Angeles, No. 2 UCLA beat its crosstown rival, No. 8 USC, 34–0. No. 3 Oklahoma beat Nebraska 55–7. No. 4 Notre Dame won at Iowa 34–18. No. 5 Army had the day, preparing for the Army-Navy game.


1954 college football season, November
November 27 No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 UCLA had finished their seasons. No. 3 Oklahoma won its annual season-closer at Oklahoma State, 14–0. No. 4 Notre Dame beat No. 17 USC 23–17. In Philadelphia, No. 5 Army was beaten by No. 6 Navy, 27–20, with the Midshipmen taking Army's spot in the poll.


1954 college football season, Rankings, Final AP Poll
AP ranked Ohio State as No. 1, while the UPI coaches' poll gave the top spot to UCLA. Both wire services' rankings were made at the end of the regular season, and were unaffected by the postseason bowl games. Ohio State and UCLA had two common opponents in 1954; Cal and USC. Ohio State defeated Cal 21–13 and USC 20–7, while UCLA defeated Cal 27–6 and USC 34–0.


1954 college football season, Rankings, Final Coaches Poll
The United Press International poll, taken from a panel of 35 coaches, had UCLA as the number one team beginning with the poll released on October 26.


1954 college football season, Rankings, Final Coaches Poll
A rival to the AP poll, the UPI prefaced its release with the statement, "The men who know the game the best, the coaches themselves, voted UCLA to the top spot by the slender margin of seven points over Ohio State, the perfect record champions of the Big 10 Conference,"    The UPI poll was a Top Ten, with a first place vote by a coach being worth 10 points, second worth 9 points, etc.


1954 college football season, Rankings, Final Coaches Poll
With 350 being the maximum number of points, and 315 being the total for 35 second place votes, the panel was split on whether UCLA or Ohio State was the best team in the nation. The UPI Top Ten   Ohio State and UCLA had two common opponents in 1954; Cal and USC. Ohio State defeated Cal 21–13 and USC 20–7, while UCLA defeated Cal 27–6 and USC 34–0.


1954 elections in India, Legislative Assembly elections
Legislative Assembly elections in India were conducted for Patiala & East Punjab States Union legislative assembly and Travancore-Cochin legislative assembly in 1954. In Patiala & East Punjab States Union, Indian National Congress won an absolute majority. While in Travancore-Cochin, no single party got the majority.


1954 elections in India, Legislative Assembly elections, Patiala & East Punjab States Union*
* : On 1 November 1956, under States Reorganisation Act, 1956, Patiala & East Punjab States Union was merged with Punjab.


1954 elections in India, Legislative Assembly elections, Travancore-Cochin*
* : In 1956, under States Reorganisation Act, 1956, Travancore-Cochin state was merged with the Malabar district of Madras State, Kasaragod taluk of the South Canara district and the Amindive Islands to form a new state Kerala. The southern part of Travancore-Cochin, Kanyakumari district was transferred to Madras State.


1954 in Afghanistan
The following lists events that happened during 1954 in Afghanistan.


1954 in Afghanistan
The Export-Import Bank of the United States lends $18,500,000 to Afghanistan to help buy the U.S. material, equipment, and services for the Helmand river valley development project.


1954 in Afghanistan, January 5, 1954
The Pakistani government orders the release of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the 63-year-old leader of the Red Shirts (Khudai Khidmatgars), who had been detained at Rawalpindi since June 1948, on a charge of championing the cause of Pashtunistan, i.e., the establishment within the northwest frontiers of Pakistan of a Pashtu-speaking province united with Afghanistan. About 45 other persons detained for the same reason are set free, but Abdul Ghaffar Khan is to reside in Punjab.


1954 in Afghanistan, January 27, 1954
An agreement is signed at Kabul by Mikhail V. Degtyar, the Soviet ambassador, and Abdul Malik, the Afghan Minister of Finance, under which the U.S.S.R. grants Afghanistan a loan of $3,500,000, at 3.5% interest, for the construction at Kabul of a grain elevator of 20,000 tons, of a flour mill with a capacity for grinding 60 tons of wheat in 24 hours, and of a mechanized bakery capable of converting 50 tons of flour into bread every 24 hours. Another grain elevator of similar capacity is to be constructed at Puli Khumri. The cost of both elevators is estimated at $8,000,000.


1954 in Afghanistan, February 2, 1954
An Afghan cultural mission arrives in New Delhi. Its leader, Ali Ahmad Popal, Deputy Minister of Education, says that the military pact between the U.S. and Pakistan will bring war nearer to Afghan frontiers.


1954 in Afghanistan, Spring 1954
The construction of a 100-km pipeline from Termez (Uzbek S.S.R.) to Mazar-i-Sharif is started by Soviet technicians; it will have an annual delivery capacity of 30,000,000 gal. of gasoline.


1954 in Afghanistan, May 1954
A foreign investment law granting capital from abroad equal treatment with national capital is promulgated. It makes provision for the transfer of profits abroad after payment of income tax, for the repatriation of capital, and for the transfer abroad of up to 70% of salaries of the foreign employees.


1954 in Afghanistan, Summer 1954
Extensive oil deposits in northern Afghanistan are further surveyed by Swiss technicians. As the oil fields are near Shibarghan, about 145 km from the Soviet frontier, the Moscow government urges the Kabul government to develop them either by an Afghan-Soviet company or with financial and technical aid derived from countries which are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.


1954 in Afghanistan, October 6, 1954
Another loan of $2,100,000 is granted for buying industrial equipment in the U.S.S.R.


1954 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1954 in Australia.


1954 in Australian literature
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1954.


1954 in Australian literature, Births
A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1954 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.


1954 in Australian literature, Deaths
A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1954 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.


1954 in Belgian television
This is a list of Belgian television related events from 1954.


1954 in Brazilian football
The following article presents a summary of the 1954 football (soccer) season in Brazil, which was the 53rd season of competitive football in the country.


1954 in Brazilian football, Brazil national team
The following table lists all the games played by the Brazil national football team in official competitions and friendly matches during 1954.


1954 in British music
This is a summary of 1954 in music of all genres in the United Kingdom.


1954 in British radio
This is a list of events from British radio in 1954.


1954 in British television
This is a list of British television related events from 1954.


1954 in Cambodia
The following lists events that happened during 1954 in Cambodia.


1954 in Canadian football
The Edmonton Eskimos upset the Montreal Alouettes to send the Grey Cup trophy back west for the first time since 1948.


1954 in Canadian football, Canadian Football News in 1954
1954 is generally recognized as the start of the modern era of Canadian football.


1954 in Canadian football, Canadian Football News in 1954
The BC Lions joined the WIFU and adopted the colours of burnt orange and brown. The NBC national network were televising IRFU games.


1954 in Canadian football, Canadian Football News in 1954
Winnipeg's Gerry James (RB), became the first player to win the Most Outstanding Canadian Award.


1954 in Canadian football, Canadian Football News in 1954
This was the last season that the Ontario Rugby Football Union would be allowed to challenge for the Grey Cup.


1954 in Canadian football, Regular season, Final regular season standings
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points


1954 in Canadian football, Grey Cup Championship
42nd Annual Grey Cup Game: Varsity Stadium – Toronto, Ontario


1954 in Canadian football, 1954 Ontario Rugby Football Union All-Stars
NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.


1954 in Canadian television
This is a list of Canadian television-related events in 1954.


1954 in Chile
The following lists events that happened during 1954 in Chile.


1954 in Estonia
This article lists events that occurred during 1954 in Estonia.


1954 in French Indochina
The following lists events that happened during 1954 in French Indochina.


1954 in German television
This is a list of German television related events from 1954.


1954 in Iceland
The following lists events that happened in 1954 in Iceland.


1954 in India
Events in the year 1954 in the Republic of India.


1954 in Israel, Events, Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 1954 include:


1954 in Israel, Events, Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The most prominent Palestinian fedayeen terror attacks committed against Israelis during 1954 include:


1954 in Israel, Events, Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The most prominent Israeli military counter-terrorism operations (military campaigns and military operations) carried out against Palestinian militants during 1954 include:


1954 in Italian television
This is a list of Italian television related events from 1954.


1954 in Italian television, Events
The TV signal covers Northern Italy, Rome and the Tyrrhenian side of Central Italy. The transmissions last four hours and a quarter by day (from 5:30 to 11:30 PM, with a pause from 7 to 8:45; from 11 AM to 4 PM and from 5 PM to 11:30 PM during the holidays). The TV programming relies on music, plays and films; the news are strictly institutional and focused on the official ceremonies. The subscribers to the new media are initially just 90, but a month later they numbner already 24,000 people.


1954 in Japan, Events
A sightseeing boat Uchigo-Maru capsized in Lake Sagami, Kanagawa Prefecture on 8 October.


1954 in Laos
The following lists events that happened during 1954 in Laos.


1954 in Libya
The following lists events that happened in 1954 in Libya.


1954 in Luxembourg
The following lists events that happened during 1954 in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.


1954 in Malaya
This article lists important figures and events in Malayan public affairs during the year 1954, as well as births and deaths of significant Malayans.


1954 in Mexico, Incumbents, Governors
Every governor was a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)


1954 in Mexico, Awards
Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor – Rosaura Zapata and  Erasmo Castellanos Quinto


1954 in Michigan, Top stories
The Associated Press United Press and Detroit Free Press, each separately ranked the state's top news stories of 1954 as follows:


1954 in Michigan, Population
In the 1950 United States Census, Michigan was recorded as having a population of 6,421,000 persons, ranking as the seventh most populous state in the country. By 1960, the state's population had grown 22.8% to 7,823,194 persons.


1954 in Michigan, Population, Cities
The following is a list of cities in Michigan with a population of at least 40,000 based on 1950 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1940 and 1960 is included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Cities that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.


1954 in Michigan, Population, Counties
The following is a list of counties in Michigan with populations of at least 100,000 based on 1950 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1940 and 1960 are included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Counties that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.


1954 in New Zealand
The following lists events that happened during  1954 in New Zealand.


1954 in New Zealand, Incumbents, Government
The 30th New Zealand Parliament expired this year. The National Party was elected to a third term in office under Sidney Holland on 13 November.


1954 in New Zealand, Arts and literature, Film
See : Category:1954 film awards, 1954 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1954 films


1954 in New Zealand, Sport, Lawn bowls
The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Christchurch.


1954 in North Vietnam
The following lists events that happened during 1954 in North Vietnam.


1954 in Norwegian football
The 1954 season was the 49th season of competitive football in Norway.


1954 in Norwegian music
The following is a list of notable events and releases of the year 1954 in Norwegian music.


1954 in Pakistan
This is a list of notable events that took place in Pakistan in 1954.


1954 in Portugal, Sport
In association football, for the first-tier league seasons, see 1953–54 Primeira Divisão and 1954–55 Primeira Divisão; for the Taça de Portugal seasons, see 1953–54 Taça de Portugal and 1954–55 Taça de Portugal.


1954 in Scottish television
This is a list of events in Scottish television from 1954,


1954 in Singapore
The following lists events that happened during 1954 in Singapore.


1954 in South Africa
The following lists events that happened during 1954 in South Africa.


1954 in South Africa, Railways, Locomotives
Two new Cape gauge steam locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR).


1954 in South Vietnam
The following lists events that happened during 1954 in South Vietnam.


1954 in Taiwan
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by BHGbot (talk | contribs) at 04:54, 19 June 2020 (WP:BHGbot 6 (List 5): fixed sort key; WP:GENFIXES). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


1954 in Taiwan
Events from the year 1954 in Taiwan, Republic of China. This year is numbered Minguo 43 according to the official Republic of China calendar.


1954 in Thailand
The year 1954 was the 173rd year of the Rattanakosin Kingdom of Thailand. It was the 9th year in the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), and is reckoned as year 2497 in the Buddhist Era.


1954 in Vietnam
When 1954 began, the French had been fighting the insurgent communist-dominated Viet Minh for more than seven years attempting to retain control of their colony  Vietnam. Domestic support for the war by the population of France had declined. The United States was concerned and worried that a French military defeat in Vietnam would result in the spread of communism to all the countries of Southeast Asia—the domino theory—and was looking for means of aiding the French without committing American troops to the war.


1954 in Vietnam
In a last ditch effort to defeat the Viet Minh, the French had fortified a remote outpost in northwestern Vietnam named Điện Biên Phủ with the objective of inducing the Viet Minh to attack and then utilizing superior French firepower to destroy the attackers. Viet Minh General Võ Nguyên Giáp described the French positions in a river valley as being at the bottom of a rice bowl with the Viet Minh holding the high ground surrounding the French.


1954 in Vietnam
In May, French military forces surrendered to the Viet Minh concluding the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. In July, a cease fire agreement was reached by the Geneva Accords dividing Vietnam into two provisional states at the 17th parallel of latitude. Ngô Đình Diệm became Prime Minister of South Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh became President of North Vietnam. Diệm overcame an early challenge to his rule from army leaders and the Hòa Hảo and Cao Đài religious sects. The United States pledged its support to the Diệm government and began to replace France as the principal foreign power involved in South Vietnam. China and the Former Soviet Union began to provide economic assistance to North Vietnam.


1954 in Vietnam, January
Emperor and Chief of State Bảo Đại appointed Bửu Lộc as Prime Minister of Vietnam.


1954 in Vietnam, January
United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced that 26 B-26 bombers and 200 U.S. Air Force mechanics would be provided the French to aid them in their war against the Viet Minh.


1954 in Vietnam, February
The United States, United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union agreed to discuss a solution to the war in Indochina at a Geneva Conference scheduled to begin on 26 April.


1954 in Vietnam, March
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu began. The French garrison was surrounded by the Viet Minh commanded by Võ Nguyên Giáp. During the nearly two-month course of the siege a total of about 20,000 soldiers in the French army defended themselves against 49,500 Viet Minh fighters.


1954 in Vietnam, March
The National Security Council of the United States approved the assignment of CIA operative Col. Edward Lansdale to Saigon. Lansdale was given much credit for advising Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and helping defeat the Hukbalahap Rebellion.


1954 in Vietnam, March
President Eisenhower met with the National Security Council to consider U.S. intervention to assist the French at Dien Binh Phu. Eisenhower imposed four conditions for U.S. intervention: France would have to request U.S. intervention; the United Nations would have to approve; intervention would have to be a multi-national effort; and Congress would have to approve.


1954 in Vietnam, March
A U.S. army study concluded that the use of nuclear weapons by the U.S to relieve the siege of Điện Biên Phủ was feasible and suggested an operational plan. The study met with opposition from senior military officers and was quickly abandoned.


1954 in Vietnam, April
President Eisenhower met with eight Congressional leaders, including Lyndon Johnson, to discuss Operation Vulture, a proposal to aid the French trapped in Dien Bien Phu with carrier-based air strikes. The members of Congress said they would support air strikes only if it were part of a multinational effort.


1954 in Vietnam, April
The National Security Council met again to consider U.S. intervention at Điện Biên Phủ. The Army, including Army Chief of Staff General Matthew Ridgway, was negative, stating that U.S. intervention would require 7 army divisions and heavy air support.


1954 in Vietnam, April
President Eisenhower used the phrase "falling dominoes" in a press conference. This was the origin of the domino theory which postulated that if Vietnam became communist the other nearby states would soon follow. The domino theory was a prominent justification for the Vietnam War in the United States during the 1960s.


1954 in Vietnam, April
Secretary of State John Foster Dulles returned to the United States after having failed to persuade France and the United Kingdom to support a multinational effort to assist the French in Điện Biên Phủ. The French wanted American air strikes, but opposed a multinational coalition; the British preferred to rely on the upcoming Geneva Convention to resolve the problem of the war in Vietnam.


1954 in Vietnam, April
Vice President of the U.S. Richard M. Nixon said at a press conference: "the United States as a leader of the free world cannot afford further retreat from Asia... If the French withdrew [from Vietnam], the United States might have to take the risk now by putting our own boys in."


1954 in Vietnam, April
22 AprilFrench Foreign Minister Georges Bidault told Dulles that only massive U.S. air strikes could save Điện Biên Phủ and withdrew French objections to a multinational effort. Winston Churchill in Great Britain, however, said he 'was not prepared to give any undertakings about United Kingdom military action in Indochina in advance of the results of Geneva."


1954 in Vietnam, May
Two American pilots, James B. McGovern Jr. and Wallace Buford, were killed when their cargo plane, attempting to airdrop supplies into Dien Bien Phu, was shot down. They were employed by Civil Air Transport, a CIA owned company. 37 American pilots participated in the effort to keep Dien Bien Phu supplied from the air.


1954 in Vietnam, May
French forces at Dien Bien Phu surrendered to the Viet Minh. 11,721 soldiers of the French army surrendered, many of them wounded. Most of the soldiers were from the French Foreign Legion or French colonial possessions in Africa and Indochina. 4,148 prisoners were repatriated later in 1954. Most of the others are presumed to have died in captivity although the fate of 3,013 Vietnamese serving in the French army and captured at Dien Bien Phu is unknown.


1954 in Vietnam, May
The French suffered about 9,000 dead, wounded, and missing in the battle. The French estimated that the Viet Minh suffered 23,000 dead and wounded. The Viet Minh claimed that they had only 9,000 casualties.


1954 in Vietnam, May
The United States was paying 80 percent of the cost of the French war against the Viet Minh.


1954 in Vietnam, May
After meeting Ngô Đình Diệm, the prospective Prime Minister of South Vietnam, in Paris, U.S. Ambassador Douglas Dillon told the State Department: "We were favorably impressed (with Diệm) but only in the realization that we are prepared to accept the seemingly ridiculous prospect that this Yogi-like mystic could assume the charge he is apparently about to undertake only because the standard set by his predecessors is so low."


1954 in Vietnam, June
Colonel Edward Lansdale arrived in Saigon from the Philippines to create and lead the CIA's Saigon Military Mission (SMM). Lansdale, a former advertising executive, was tasked with helping pro-Western elements in  Vietnam wage psychological and political warfare against the communist-dominated Viet Minh. The U.S. hoped than Lansdale could duplicate in Vietnam his success in helping the Philippines defeat the Hukbalahap insurgency.


1954 in Vietnam, June
In Saigon CIA operative Paul Harwood responded to a question from Ngô Đình Nhu, brother of Ngô Đình Diệm. Nhu asked what policies would persuade the U.S. to support his brother as Prime Minister. Harwood's terms were that the U.S. must participate directly in the training of the South Vietnamese army and the government of Vietnam must show uncompromising resistance to Viet Minh efforts to expand the territory under its control. Harwood's commitment to Diệm was unauthorized by the U.S. Government, but was tacitly accepted.


1954 in Vietnam, June
A CIA secretary in Saigon, Virginia Spence, established a close relationship with Ngô Dinh Nhu. She said of him and his followers. "The men who have schemed and fought...to get political power don't have any idea what to do with it now that it's within their grasp. They are like the bride who couldn't see beyond the end of the church aisle... They need support, all right, but they don't realize how much.


1954 in Vietnam, June
Bửu Lộc resigns as Prime Minister of Vietnam, paving the way for the appointment of Ngô Đình Diệm. It is uncertain whether the U.S. encouraged, or merely acquiesced, in the appointment of Diệm. Both France and the United States appear to have decided he was the only viable candidate for the job.


1954 in Vietnam, June
Five American enlisted men were taken captive by the Viet Minh on a beach near Da Nang. They were held until August 31 when they were repatriated as a result of the Geneva Accords.


1954 in Vietnam, June
The Premier of France, Pierre Mendès France, said that he "expected to have considerable difficulty with the new Vietnam government." Diệm, he said, was a "fanatic." His thoughts were echoed by other French officials:  "Diệm is too narrow, too rigid, too unworldly", said one.


1954 in Vietnam, June
In the last official battle of the Viet Minh's war with the French, 3,000 French troops withdrawing from An Khê toward Pleiku were ambushed in the Battle of Mang Yang Pass. The French suffered more than fifty percent casualties before finally extricating the survivors on July 17.


1954 in Vietnam, June
Ngô Đình Diệm arrived in Saigon after four years of exile in France and the United States to assume the post of Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam. Diệm was appointed to the post by Emperor and chief of state Bảo Đại, who lived in France most of the time. Diệm was a Catholic appointed to rule a country that was predominantly Buddhist.


1954 in Vietnam, June
In the words of one historian, "Diệm's attractiveness to his first American patrons derived from three qualities: he was a certified anti-communist nationalist, he was a Roman Catholic, and he understood English." English language ability was rare among Vietnamese at the time.


1954 in Vietnam, July
The Geneva Accords were signed in Paris. The accords called for a cease fire in the war, the independence of Vietnam, its division at the 17th parallel of latitude into two provisional states, North Vietnam and the State of Vietnam (South Vietnam), and the establishment of a demilitarized zone 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide separating the two provisional states. Viet Minh soldiers were to withdraw to the north and military forces allied to France to the south. Free movement between north and south was granted for 300 days.


1954 in Vietnam, July
The Final Declaration stated that the demarcation line at the 17th parallel between North and South Vietnam was only "provisional and should not in any way be interpreted as constituting a political or territorial boundary." Elections by secret ballot were to be held in July 1956 to unite the north and the south into a single country.


1954 in Vietnam, July
(In his autobiography published in 1963, Eisenhower noted that "had elections been held as of the time of the fighting [1954], possibly 80 per cent of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh ... rather than chief of State Bao Dai." This clearly indicated major difficulties for any candidate other than Ho Chi Minh in those 1956 elections.)


1954 in Vietnam, July
Neither the United States nor the Viet Minh were pleased with the Geneva Accords, the U.S. because Vietnam north of the 17th parallel was given to the communist Viet Minh, the Viet Minh because, despite their military victory, they gained control over only one-half the country. Under pressure from the Soviet Union and China, the Viet Minh (hereafter called North Vietnam) signed the agreement. Neither the United States nor South Vietnam signed the Accords. The U.S. only "took note" of the Accords and promised not to "disturb them" by the threat or use of force.


1954 in Vietnam, July
Commenting on the Geneva Accords and U.S. objectives in Vietnam, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said "The important thing...is to seize the future  opportunity to prevent the loss of northern Vietnam from leading to the extension of Communism throughout Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific."


1954 in Vietnam, August
Lansdale and a dozen operatives in the Saigon Military Mission began sabotage efforts which included distributing leaflets warning of the fate of the Vietnamese under the Viet Minh, encouraging immigration from the north to the south, discouraging immigration from the south to the north, contaminating the oil supply to ruin the motors of Hanoi buses, training potential guerrillas, hiring astrologers to make dire predictions of disaster in the north and peace in the south, and smuggling arms and other equipment to paramilitary anti-communist groups in the north.


1954 in Vietnam, August
President Eisenhower and the National Security Council decided that the U.S. would provide assistance for military training in South Vietnam "working through the French only insofar as necessary." The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff were reluctant to undertake the training mission as they believed conditions in South Vietnam were too unsettled to make training the South Vietnamese army feasible. The decision to train the South Vietnam army, in the opinion of one historian, "set in motion a chain of events that would prove irreversible."


1954 in Vietnam, August
An Air Vietnam Bristol Freighter evacuating civilians from Hanoi to Saigon crashed while making an emergency landing at Pakse, Laos killing 47 onboard.


1954 in Vietnam, August
A U.S. navy ship, the USS Menard, left Haiphong carrying 1,924 refugees on a three-day journey to Saigon. The Geneva Accords allowed for free movement between the northern and southern zones of Vietnam for a period of 300 days. The Menard was the first of many U.S. and French navy ships to transport refugees from north to south. The navy program to transport refugees from the north to the south was called Operation Passage to Freedom.


1954 in Vietnam, August
From August 1954 until July 1955, between 600,000 and one million northerners moved south, while between 14,000–45,000 civilians and approximately 100,000 Viet Minh fighters moved in the opposite direction. About 75 percent of the migrants to the south were Catholics. North Vietnam left behind in South Vietnam 8,000 to 10,000 covert civilian and military personnel, most of them members of the communist party. The task of the "stay-behinds" was political activism to ensure a victory for Ho Chi Minh in the national elections called for in 1956 in the Geneva Accords.


1954 in Vietnam, August
Among the American naval personnel working in Haiphong was Dr. Tom Dooley who would write an influential, best-selling, anti-communist book, Deliver us From Evil, and become one of the most outspoken anti-communists of the day.


1954 in Vietnam, August
President Eisenhower wrote President Diệm a letter assuring Diệm that the United States would support his government if he continued to implement democratic reforms. This letter was later cited by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson as the first step in the U.S. commitment to support South Vietnam.