1954 1000 km Buenos Aires
The 1954 1000 km Buenos Aires was a motor race for sports cars which was held on January 24 at the Autódromo Municipal-Avenida Paz, (Buenos Aires, Argentina). It was the opening race of the 1954 World Sportscar Championship and was also the inaugural 1000 km Buenos Aires. The race was won by Giuseppe Farina and Umberto Maglioli, driving a Ferrari 375 MM


1954 1000 km Buenos Aires, Report, Entry
A grand total 38 racing cars were registered for this event, of which only 36 arrived for practice and qualifying. This being the first major sports car races of the year, the race was supported by the work of teams of Ferrari and Maserati . Both teams were represented by one car in the race. Ferrari with a 375 MM, which was piloted by Giuseppe Farina and the young Umberto Maglioli. The factory Maserati was piloted Emilio Giletti and Luigi Musso. With Osca came another factory teams from Italy. France was represented by Gordini, and from the UK came Aston Martin’s entered by David Brown with Jaguar prepared and raced by Ecurie Ecosse. Also, the German works team of Borgward took the long journey to Buenos Aires.


1954 1000 km Buenos Aires, Report, Qualifying
Carroll Shelby took pole position for the privateer entry from Roy Cherryhomes team, in their Allard-Cadillac J2X.


1954 1000 km Buenos Aires, Report, Race
The race was held over 106 laps of the 5.888 miles Autódromo Municipal-Avenida Paz, giving a distance of 624.162 miles (1,000 km). In the race, the factory Ferrari won ahead of the privately entered Ferrari 250 MM of Alfonso de Portago and Harry Schell , as well as the Aston Martin DB3S by Peter Collins and Pat Griffith. At the lap 14, car number 42 (private Aston Martin DB3 chassis number one) driven by Greene and Stabile) got under fire and caused death of Eric Forrest Greene.


1954 1000 km Buenos Aires, Report, Race
Car number 10, driven by Farina and Maglioli took an impressive victory, winning in a time of 6hrs 41:50.8 mins., averaging a speed of 93.197mph. Second place went to de Portago and Schell , albeit three laps adrift. The podium was complete by the winner of the 1953 RAC Tourist Trophy, Collins and Griffiths who in turn were a further lap down.


1954 1000 km Buenos Aires, Standings after the race
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.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring
The 1954 12 Hours of Sebring (officially the Florida International 12-Hour Grand Prix of Endurance ) was a motor race for sports cars, staged on 7 March 1954 at the Sebring International Raceway, Florida, United States. It was the second race of the 1954 World Sportscar Championship and was the fourth 12 Hours of Sebring. The race was won by Bill Lloyd and Stirling Moss driving an Osca MT4 1450.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Report, Entry
A grand total 89 sports cars were entered for this event, of which only 63 arrived for practice. The race was supported by the work of teams of Scuderia Lancia, running four cars, the Aston Martin running three cars and the Austin-Healey team consisting of four cars, only one of which was a factory entry, under the name of Donald Healey Ltd., the others entered by private individuals. The three work's Lancia D24’s in particular were entered for – Juan Manuel Fangio and Eugenio Castellotti, Piero Taruffi and Robert Manzon and Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi, were in a class of their own.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Report, Entry
The factory Ferrari entries did not materialize, in order to defend their championship lead, but the private entries of Bill Spear and Briggs Cunningham were on hand. Likewise, there was no Jaguar factory team, but eight Jaguars were listed on the entry.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Report, Entry
Some of the race participants who also were noted in other fields of endeavor included ex-US congressman  Jim Simpson, “international playboy” Porfirio Rubirosa, and, fresh from finishing second in the Buenos Aires 1000km, Marquis de Portago – well known equestrian at the time and also a high ranking Spanish nobility.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Report, Practice
It became obvious during Friday practice sessions that the race would be between the Ferraris and Lancias. The Lancia D24s lapped the 5.2 mile circuit in three minutes 38 seconds and on the Saturday, Cunningham's Ferrari 375 MM made it in 3m 31sec. Another of Cunningham cars, an Osca MT4 1450 piloted by young English driver, Stirling Moss with his partnered Bill Lloyd, turned in lap on Friday of, 3m 56 secs, although this small engined car, no one considered this car a real threat the Lancias.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Report, Race
The race was held over 12 hours on the 5.2 miles Sebring International Raceway. The early morning rain cleared to leave a cold, windy but dry day. However, throughout the race, the strong wind blowing directly out of the north created a nasty crosswind on the fast back stretch.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Report, Race
With the race starting promptly at 10am, 59 cars scrambled for positions. Cunningham in his own Cunningham C-4R was the first across the line, but was soon headed by Erwin Goldschmidt in his Allard-Cadillac J2R. However, before the end of lap one, the three Lancias, of Fangio, Ascari and Taruffi had sorted themselves out and headed the field, running one, two and three with Spear's Ferrari close behind. The Cunningham Ferrari of Phil Walters, stopped for a replacement spark plug and lost several minutes. Moss was keeping the bigger cars on their toes holding down 4th.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Report, Race
Around mid-distance, trouble hits Spear's Ferrari, crippled by a broken oil seal. Last year's winner's, John Fitch and Walters, in their Ferrari had been marking up time, and with Spear's retirement, the only threat to the flying Lancias. Fitch and Walters had been pushing the car hard, and this too would not finish, going out late afternoon with a bad connecting rod bearing.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Report, Race
As darkness fell on the former Hendricks Army Airfield, the Lancias of Ascari and Villoresi, and Fangio and Castellotti had retired due to brakes and gearbox issues respectively, leaving the burden on the shoulders of Taruffi and Manzon. This D24, was still lapping swiftly on the now night-blackened circuit, at an average speed of 82 mph – more than seven mph faster than the 1953 record-breaking Cunningham C-4R – albeit with only one headlight.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Report, Race
As Taruffi and Manzon streaked out of sight, chief race steward, Alec Ulmann announced that the Lancia would be black-flagged if it continued to race with just one light. The team's race director, Attilio Pasquarelli put out a red flag, and leaned far out onto the course to block the car's path. When the car finally pitted, Manzon protested: “The car wouldn’t go any faster – oil pressure was off”. He thought the red flag was a pit signal that their lead was in danger.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Report, Race
Despite, as Moss said, the Lancias were “wiping the floor with the rest of us”, Lloyd and Moss soon took advantage of the Osca's beautiful handling, by throwing the car sideways, into the corners to scrub off as much speed as they started to countering the high brake wear.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Report, Race
The three Aston Martins had retired quite early  and the leading Lancia D24 being driven by Manzon, stopped on the circuit with engine trouble an hour from the end of the race. Manzon returned to the pits on foot, but co-driver Taruffi acted to push the car for the mile and a half back to the pits. The Lancia was finally pushed across the finish line but was disqualified and the Osca, driven by Moss and Lloyd, won the race. The Osca survived a slightly suspect clutch and a tremendous rain storm to take a totally unexpected win. They covered 168 laps (873.6 miles), averaging a speed of 72.800 mph. Second place went to the Lancia D24 of Porfirio Rubirosa and Gino Valenzano, albeit five laps adrift. Third place was awarded to the Austin-Healey 100 entered by Donald Healey and driven by Lance Macklin and George Huntoon.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Report, Race
Although there were no fatalities during the race, James Brundage, died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on his way home when the Allard he was driving hit a tree.


1954 12 Hours of Sebring, Standings after the race
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.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans was a 22nd race for Sports Cars, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1954, at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France. It was also the fourth race of the 1954 World Sportscar Championship. The race was won by José Froilán González and Maurice Trintignant driving a Ferrari 375 Plus.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans
People viewed this race as a battle between brute force and science (per the July 1954 "Motor Sport" article). In the high technology corner, with its sleek, aerodynamic bodywork was the new 3.4-litre Jaguar D-Type, and in the other corner was Ferrari's formidable 5.0-litre V12 375 Plus. Ranged in between was everyone else. The race was heavily affected by poor weather throughout and was a thriller right to the end, producing the closest finish for the race since 1933: less than 5km (half a lap).


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Regulations
The ACO again extended the replenishment window (last updated in 1952) of fuel, oil and water from 28 to 30 laps (405 km) although brake fluid was now exempted from this restriction for safety reasons. The equivalence multiplier for forced-induction engines (i.e. supercharged) was reduced from x2.0 to x1.4.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Regulations
On the track, the stretch from the corners at Mulsanne to Arnage was widened to 8 metres (finishing the work starting in 1950) and the Indianapolis corner was given a slightly banked camber.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Regulations
Also, this was the first year the race would be televised, getting it a far bigger potential audience.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
After the previous year's intense interest from manufacturers for the new Championship, this year the variety of works teams was reduced: Mercedes had decided to stay focused on F1, Alfa Romeo had closed its racing division, Lancia scratched their team (supposedly daunted by the speed of the Jaguars) and Austin-Healey boycotted the event because of the ongoing presence of the sports-car prototypes. But there were still 85 cars registered for this event, of which a full field of 58 arrived for practice as the remaining manufacturers increased their presence.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
As before, Jaguar's sole racing focus for the year was Le Mans and after their 1953 success, they arrived with three of the fantastic new Jaguar D-Type - purpose-built for the smooth tarmac of La Sarthe. A beautiful design, it had been tested in a wind-tunnel and featured the now-famous vertical fin to provide high-speed stability.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Low (only 32 inches (810 mm)) and sleek, it was extremely fast: the 3.4-litre straight-6 engine was redesigned and tilted at 8 degrees (to reduce height, like the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL had done) and developed 250 bhp with a top speed over 270 km/h. The cars were so new that they had not even been painted when they got to Le Mans. The driver line-up was kept pretty much the same from 1953 with winners Tony Rolt / Duncan Hamilton, and 2nd place Stirling Moss / Peter Walker.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
This year Peter Whitehead was paired with F1 driver Ken Wharton (his former co-driver Ian Stewart was racing with his brother, Graham, at Aston Martin). An ex-works C-Type was provided for the Belgian Ecurie Francorchamps team when their original car was crashed on the way to the circuit by a Jaguar mechanic.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
The major Italian works teams, Scuderia Ferrari, Officine Alfieri Maserati and Automobili Osca all brought new cars for this race: Ferrari's answer to the D-type was the new Ferrari 375 Plus: styled by Pinin Farina, it had a bored-out version of the Lampredi-designed V12 engine, now up to 4,954cc and putting out some 345 bhp, (nearly 40% more than the Jaguars) and a top speed approaching 270 km/h. Not as fast as the Jaguar, but its excellent acceleration was a suitable equaliser on a power-circuit such as Le Mans, with its long straights.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
With three of his best drivers now unavailable – Alberto Ascari was with Lancia, Giuseppe Farina had been injured in the Mille Miglia and Mike Hawthorn's father had just died suddenly – Ferrari could still field a top team of drivers: three of them - Umberto Maglioli, José Froilán González and Maurice Trintignant were in the current Ferrari F1 works team. With them were Paolo Marzotto (the only works finisher in the 1953 race), ex-Gordini driver Robert Manzon (like Trintignant) and Louis Rosier, 1952 race winner with Talbot. They were backed up three other Ferraris entered by Briggs Cunningham's and Luigi Chinetti's American teams. Glamour came with Chinetti's team with film star Zsa Zsa Gabor accompanying her rich playboy-boyfriend, Dominican Porfirio Rubirosa.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Maserati was taking over the Formula 1 world in 1954 with its outstanding 250F. They had also developed an uprated version of their A6GCS sportscar, replacing the 2.0-litre engine with the 2.5L version from the 250F. A standard 2.0-litre version was also privately entered, with factory support, for the Marquis de Portago. OSCA had started the year sensationally when a 1500cc MT-4 entered by Cunningham and driven by Stirling Moss and Bill Lloyd won the Sebring 12-hours against far more powerful opposition. Three such cars arrived at Le Mans.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Always looking to be competitive, as well as running the Ferrari 375 MM (because Ferrari had refused to sell him an engine for his own cars), Cunningham had tried to secure the new Dunlop disc brakes for his cars. However Jaguar used its contract-right to veto the deal. He arrived with a pair of the older Cunningham C-4R roadsters for his regular driver complement– the sole entrants in the Over-5 litre class.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
It was a big entry for Lagonda-Aston Martin with five works cars and two private entries. One of the two DB3S spyders had a supercharged 2.9L engine that developed 235 bhp driven by British F1 drivers Reg Parnell and Roy Salvadori, the other was run by Carroll Shelby. Alongside them were a pair of aerodynamic coupés & the long-running, expensive Lagonda sports car with a 4.5L V12 (effectively a double-Aston Martin engine)Gordini arrived with four cars, competing in three classes.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
The lead car, a T24S driven by Behra and Simon, had a 3.0L engine developing 230 bhp and new Messier disc brakes was capable of over 230 km/h. Gordini also entered a pair of older T15S, also with disc-brakes but with 2.5L and 2.0L engines respectively. Talbot sent no works team this year but supplied an improved 4.5L engine (now capable of 280 bhp) for the T26 spyders of the three private entries (Levegh, Meyrat, Grignard).


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
In the S-2000 class Bristol returned with three coupés developed from the previous year's model, with better styling and improved aerodynamics. There were also three Frazer-Nashes, using the same Bristol engine, as well as the first entries in the race for Triumph (an off-the shop-floor TR2) and Maserati.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Porsche returned with three cars to contest the S-1500 category against the OSCAs. The Porsche 550s were given a new quad-cam engine making 110 bhp and 210 km/h, and this year were open-top spyders. Another was also given a smaller 1089cc engine for the S-1100 class. The small British sportscar firm Kieft arrived with two cars to take on the smallest Porsche – bringing the first fibreclass chassis to Le Mans. One was also the first car with the new Coventry Climax FWA engine.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
The small-engine classes were well-represented, and again dominated by the French Renault and Panhard derivatives. This year DB had five cars present that comprised a pair of the tiny new central-seat HBR model with Panhard engines and three HDR models using rear-engined Renault power. Panhard itself, now with a full racing department, had 4 works entries built by Monopole who also had their own entry.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
Jaguar was able to get an unofficial practice in May on the full track in an unrelated event and Tony Rolt took the prototype D-type round fully 5 seconds faster than Alberto Ascari's lap record from the previous year in the Indy-engined Ferrari. In the official practice, all three works cars recorded identical times. and they and the Ferraris were a step up from the rest of the field. Overall, the Jaguars had better handling, disc brakes and were faster (Moss was timed at 154.44 mph/278 km/h over the flying kilometre, giving a huge 20 km/h advantage), but the Ferrari had superior power and acceleration. The supercharged Aston Martin, the Lagonda, and the Porsches were also impressively quick.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
Unfortunately the Maserati works transporter broke down en route to the track and the car had to be withdrawn as it arrived too late for scrutineering. The Marquis de Portago was able to take the start however, as he had driven his own car direct from the Modena factory in Italy.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
Controversially, Gilberte Thirion qualified the 2-litre works Gordini but was excluded from competing because of her gender (only three years after the Coupe des Dames was awarded to female drivers) – her father drove in her stead in the race.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
At 4pm the race was started under dark clouds by Prince Bernhard, consort of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and an avid motor-racing fan. It came as no surprise when the mighty 375's of González, Marzotto and Manzon stormed away in 1-2-3 formation at the start, with Moss, Rolt and Wharton (who had a startline collision) in close pursuit. After only five laps the first heavy downpour arrived, negating the Ferrari power advantage. By the end of the first hour, González and Marzotto and Moss had a gap over Rolt, and Manzon.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
The rest of the field was already a lap down. Forty minutes later on lap 22, still in heavy rain, Moss managed to take the lead, starting the to-and–fro battle between the two marques. Wharton had been held up in the first hour with a blocked fuel filter and over the next couple of hours, the other two Jaguars suffered engine misfires giving the Ferraris a lap's lead over the field. Walker stopped out on the track for 50 minutes, but the Moss/Walker car would not be staging an epic comeback this year.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
Meanwhile, Behra's Gordini and Fitch's Cunningham were regularly trading places in the top-10, mimicking the disc-brakes versus power battle at the front. However soon after 7pm, Behra pitted with ignition problems and then stopped out on the track beyond Mason Blanche. He pushed the car all the way back to the pits to get going again, but it eventually retired in the middle of the night.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
A number of other cars had been caught out in the rain: On only lap 5 Count Baggio planted the playboy Ferrari right into the Tertre Rouge sandbank and could not dig it out (so Rubirosa never got a chance to drive for his movie-star girlfriend). The other American Ferrari, of Fitch/Walters, was running 6th when a rocker-arm broke, dropping them out of the running while the engine was repaired. Eric Thompson spun the Lagonda backwards into the bank at the Esses. After nearly 2hours to get it mobile and back to the pits it was retired because the rear lights were too badly damaged and deemed unsafe.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
After four hours, at 8pm, González and Marzotto were lapping together, still having not swapped with their respective co-drivers, and a lap ahead of Rosier and Whitehead. Salvadori was fifth in the supercharged Aston, then Hamilton and the two Aston coupés, the Belgian Jaguar and Cunningham's own car filling out the top ten.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Night
At 9.30pm, the Talbot of Meyrat collided with the Aston Martin of 'Jimmy' Stewart as both were lapping a slower car in the fast section coming up to Maison Blanche. Meyrat ended in the hedgerows, but the Aston Martin rolled throwing Stewart clear. The car was completely written off and Stewart was very lucky to only suffer a serious arm break (that eventually contributed to his retirement from racing). The mid-evening showers caused another flurry of accidents and retirements, including Levegh who was in 8th place when he spun and wrecked his Talbot's suspension. As the rain finally eased off Wharton and Whitehead made a strong comeback, getting back to 3rd which became 2nd when the Maglioli/Manzon Ferrari broke its gearbox just after 11pm.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Night
The D-types were now steadily hauling themselves back into contention. At midnight González/Trintignant were two laps ahead of Whitehead/Wharton. Manzon/Rosier were third, ahead of Rolt/Hamilton and the Aston Martins of Parnell/Salvadori and Collins/Bira completing the top six. The rain returned and the lead Jaguar had to pit again with fuel-line issues. After several more pitstops it finally retired with a broken gearbox. It joined Moss' car that had become undriveable after he had a total brake failure at the end of the Mulsanne straight doing 160 mph  (taking two miles to stop on the escape road with hand-brake and gearbox!)


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Night
Rolt and Hamilton however, managed to move into 2nd place by half-time, albeit still two laps adrift. Third was the other Ferrari, followed by the Spear/Johnston Cunningham and the supercharged Aston Martin. Just afterward, in an unusual co-incidence, Prince Bira crashed his Aston Martin, while running in 4th place, within yards of Thompson's Aston coupé that had crashed earlier. In the next hour, the Herrmann/Polensky Porsche, leading the S-1500 class and an impressive 7th place overall, retired with a blown head gasket. This left Macklin leading the class in the OSCA, a full 20 laps ahead of the Bristol leading the S-2000 class


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Morning
As dawn arrived the Ferrari of Rosier/Manzon, running third, retired with a broken gearbox, jammed in second gear. Now the battle was reduced to just one car for each team at the front of the field. What's more, as the clouds built up and rain became an ever-present threat, the prospects for the aerodynamic D-types were starting to look promising.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Morning
By breakfast time, the rain started to come down very heavily and the stage was set for a heroic chase. González and Trintignant could afford to take things cautiously, but any unnecessary delays would enable the pursuing Jaguar to open up a chink the Ferrari's armour, and as the rain intensified, the sole remaining D-type piled on the pressure. But Trintignant responded and both cars roared round doing sub-4'30" lap-times. By 9.30am, after González's fuel stop when the Ferrari hesitated in restarting, the Jaguar team got more motivation and the lead was down to 3 minutes. But at 10am, Rolt glanced the bank coming out of Arnage lapping a slower car, and 2 minutes were lost in the pits for a bout of impromptu panelbeating.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Morning
The rain then eased during the morning, allowing the Ferrari to use its power to better effect, but still the Jaguar would not give up. Despite this, the race order remained fairly constant and at midday the order was still Ferrari, Jaguar, Cunningham, Jaguar, Cunningham, Aston Martin, Gordini and the OSCA as the leading small-engined car. The two remaining Porsches were running slowly, trying to get to the end of the race. The supercharged Aston Martin had been running surprisingly well all race until just after midday when a head-gasket failure caused its retirement. Around 1pm a ferocious squall slowed all the cars to a snail's pace, then the Jaguar drivers began to close the gap again on Trintignant as the track dried.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
With just two hours left to run, González and Trintignant were still almost two laps ahead of the English car. Ninety minutes to run and Trintignant brought the Ferrari in for a routine stop. González took over, but the V12 refused to restart. The Ferrari lost 7 minutes as the mechanics desperately worked on the engine. The rain started again and Rolt was now in sight: he came in to stop for new goggles, but his pit crew waved him on, and now the Jaguar was on the same lap as the leader.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Finally the Ferrari mechanics found the problem: the rain had saturated the ignition wiring. When González finally got going he was now only 3'14" ahead of the Jaguar. With thunder and lightning now lashing the circuit and unable to see, Rolt pitted and handed over to Hamilton for the final assault with an hour to go. Hamilton then put in extraordinary times in the rain, cutting the lead to just 90 seconds.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
González was exhausted (he had not eaten or slept through the  weekend) and his lap times dropped to 5'30", but his pit-crew urged him on and as the rain stopped with a half-hour to go, and the track dried out, he was once more able to bring the power of the Ferrari to bear again and extend the gap. Finally able to ease off on the final lap, González crossed the line to win by just under three minutes - but still the closest finish in the race since 1933.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Meanwhile, in the smaller classes, the pair of works OSCAs had an ample lead of 15 laps over the struggling Porsches and running in the top-10 overall. Yet within ten minutes, with just 2 hours to go, everything fell apart. First, the leading one of Giardini crashed and rolled at Mulsanne, then the one running second hit the barriers at Dunlop curve. Pierre Leygonie ran the short distance back to the pits to get equipment and advice from the pit-crew.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
He managed to get it going again and back to the pits to hand over to Lance Macklin but they were then disqualified at race-end for having abandoned the car. To round off a bitter race for OSCA, their last car was running second in the S-1100 class but its transmission broke in the final laps of the race.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Despite the atrocious weather, González and Trintignant had still driven their Ferrari 375 Plus through 302 laps, just 2 laps less than the year before, and covering over 2,500 miles (4,000 km). In his delight, Prince Bernhard jumped aboard with Trintignant for his victory lap in the rain. In the end it came down to pit-time: 37 minutes for the Jaguar versus 29 minutes for the Ferrari. The podium was completed by the American pair, William "Bill" Spear and Sherwood Johnston, in their Cunningham C-4R, who were far behind, 19 laps (over 250 km) back, Briggs himself came in 5th.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Despite their very reliable Chrysler engines, the Cunninghams were unable to match the pace of the leaders. Splitting the two American cars was the Belgian Jaguar which had run like clockwork despite not getting any pre-race testing. The last remaining Gordini came in 6th earning a special FF1 million prize as first French car home. After the demise of the OSCAs, Porsche inherited class wins in the S-1500, and S-1100, by having the only cars left running in their classes.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Bristol had a great race: finishing 6-7-8 overall and a clear 1-2-3 in their class. Although running most of the race behind the smaller OSCA, their leader finished over 30 laps ahead of the only class-competitor Fraser-Nash to finish. Aside from a window-wiper making life difficult for Wilson/Mayers (they had to drive at times with the door open to see out!) and Jack Fairman spinning with less than an hour to go (thereby losing the class win) they had a trouble-free run.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
The little DB cars also had one of their best races – finally winning the Index of Performance, as well as the Biennial Cup. Owner-driver René Bonnet and Élie Bayol finished a remarkable 10th overall with a class-distance record (going further than Nuvolari's winning Alfa Romeo 20 years earlier), embarrassing many far-bigger cars left in their wake. The Monopole entry was second in class, but had the remarkable record of having spent a mere five minutes and ten seconds at rest in the pits for the whole race.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
One who did not finish was the last Talbot running – after numerous issues with engine and gearbox problems, the pit crew sent it out with ten minutes to go to do the final lap, but it could not complete it within 30 minutes and so was not classified.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
The Argentinian winner earned a special place in Ferrari history: Three years earlier, he had scored Ferrari's first F1 victory. Now, in his last appearance at La Sarthe, he also gave the first victory for the Scuderia Ferrari at Le Mans. The weather had precluded any chance of breaking distance records, although in the dry both González and Marzotto had smashed Ascari's lap record by over 10 seconds.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Despite its abortive attempt in this race, the 2-litre Maserati proved dominant across Europe, winning over 20 class wins in the season. In October, DB inaugurated the first one-make race series, Formula Monomill for young drivers, using an 851cc DB-Panhard. The first race, at Montlhéry,was won by Jo Schlesser.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
The Porsche 550s had great success in the Championship's final round, in the Carrera Panamericana, with Herrmann finishing an excellent 3rd overall. The year before they had a class win, and the name 'Carrera' was applied to the 356 road-cars with the quad-cam engine. Many sales followed to privateer racers, furthering the company's racing reputation.


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Official results
Results taken from Quentin Spurring's book, officially licensed by the ACO


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, Statistics
Taken from Quentin Spurring's book, officially licensed by the ACO


1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, World Championship Standings after the race
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.


1954 A Group
Statistics of Bulgarian A Football Group in the 1954 season.


1954 A Group, Overview
It was contested by 14 teams, and CSKA Sofia won the championship.


1954 AAA Championship Car season
The 1954 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 13 races, beginning in Speedway, Indiana on May 30 and concluding in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 14. There was also one non-championship event in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The AAA National Champion was Jimmy Bryan, and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Bill Vukovich. Bob Scott was killed in the Independence Day Sweepstakes race at Darlington.


1954 AAA Championship Car season, Final points standings
Note: The points became the car, when not only one driver led the car, the relieved driver became small part of the points. Points for driver method: (the points for the finish place) / (number the lap when completed the car) * (number the lap when completed the driver)


1954 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
The inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held in Raleigh, North Carolina, at Reynolds Coliseum from March 4–6, 1954. NC State defeated Wake Forest, 82–80 in overtime, to win the championship. Dickie Hemric of Wake Forest was named tournament MVP.


1954 Aberdare by-election
The Aberdare by-election, 1954 was a parliamentary by-election held on 28 October 1954 for the British House of Commons constituency of Aberdare in Wales. The seat had become vacant when the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) David Thomas had died on 20 June 1954. Thomas had held the seat since a 1946 by-election. The Labour candidate, Arthur Probert held the seat for the party. He remained the constituency's MP until his retirement at the February 1974 general election.


1954 Adelaide earthquake
The 1954 Adelaide earthquake had its epicentre at Darlington, a suburb of the city of Adelaide in South Australia, some 12 km (7.5 mi) to the south of the Adelaide city centre. The quake took place at 3:40 am in the early morning of 1 March 1954 and had a reported magnitude of 5.6. An area of more than 700 km2 sustained an intensity greater than V on the Mercalli intensity scale.


1954 Adelaide earthquake, Geology
As Australia lies in the middle of a tectonic plate, South Australia is relatively stable geologically. However, South Australia is the second most earthquake-prone of the Australian states with around 3–4 tremors each day. Most tremors are of a magnitude below 2.5, and so noteworthy only to seismologists. Since they are dispersed fairly evenly across the state, most occur well away from centres of human population. The 1954 Adelaide earthquake differed because of its magnitude, which made it the fourth most intense earthquake reported in the state since settlement in 1836, and because it occurred in an area of dense human settlement.


1954 Adelaide earthquake, Geology
The quake is thought to have started along the Eden-Burnside fault line, which is essentially the Hills face zone, at a depth of 4 km. However, due to a lack of instruments at the time, this is uncertain. Due to the Adelaide plains being primarily heavy clay, amplification of the tremor was reduced, resulting in less damage than a quake of this size would be expected to cause in a metropolitan area. There were no reported fatalities, and 16 reported injuries.


1954 Adelaide earthquake, Damage
The total cost of the damage was estimated at around £17 million (2017: $578 million), but only £3 million (2017:$104 million) was paid out in insurance for 30,303 claims, covering around 22% of the damaged buildings. Adelaide in 1954 was still subject to wartime rationing, and most damaged property was uninsured. The earthquake was the most destructive earthquake in recorded Australian history until 1989, when it was eclipsed by the 5.6 Richter magnitude Newcastle earthquake, which caused $4 billion damage, killed 13 people, and injured 160.


1954 Adelaide earthquake, Damage
One of the settlement's earliest buildings, the Victoria Hotel in Hindley Street, suffered partial collapse. Other major buildings severely damaged included the local Catholic cathedral, St Francis Xavier Cathedral, the General Post Office clock tower, and a newly completed hospital in Blackwood which sustained major damage in all its wards and offices (though an operating theatre survived). The Wakefield Street Private Hospital was damaged to the tune of £600, which was not covered by insurance.


1954 Adelaide earthquake, Damage
The Britannia statue in Pirie Street, Adelaide was badly damaged, and since it had also been similarly damaged in the 1897 Beachport and 1902 Warooka earthquakes, the clock in the statue was permanently removed.


1954 Adelaide earthquake, Damage
Outside of Adelaide there was little damage. The Troubridge Island Lighthouse off the south east corner of Yorke Peninsula, 83 km west of Adelaide across the Gulf St Vincent, shut down after the quake damaged its generator, while the Cape St Albans Lighthouse on Kangaroo Island began flashing irregularly.


1954 Akron Zips football team
The 1954 Akron Zips football team was an American football team that represented the University of Akron in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) during the 1954 college football season. In its first season under head coach Joe McMullen, the team compiled a 3–5 record (3-4 against OAC opponents). John Cistone and Mario Rossi were the team captains. The team played its home games at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team
The 1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1954 college football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 60th overall and 21st season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Harold Drew, in his eighth year, and played their home games at Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Legion Field in Birmingham, Ladd Stadium in Mobile and at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. They finished with a record of four wins, five losses and two ties (4–5–2 overall, 3–3–2 in the SEC).


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team
After a second consecutive season-opening loss to Mississippi Southern, Alabama reeled off a four-game winning streak that included shutout victories over LSU, Tulsa and Tennessee. However, the Crimson Tide followed their streak by scoring only 14 points over the final six games of the 1954 season. After their win over Tennessee, Alabama lost to Mississippi State, and in the loss began a streak of 16 consecutive scoreless quarters that tied the all-time school record. Consecutive scoreless ties against Georgia and Tulane followed, despite quarterback Bart Starr's attempted comeback from a brutal pre-season hazing injury. The season ended with losses to Georgia Tech, Miami and Auburn by a combined score of 71–7. Their record of 4–5–2 was only Alabama's second losing season in 50 years.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team
After the conclusion of the season, on December 2, Harold Drew resigned as head coach of the Crimson Tide. During his tenure as head coach, Drew had a winning record going 54–28–7 in seven years. Drew's teams won one conference title and played in three bowl games in eight years. On the day of Drew's resignation, Jennings B. Whitworth was introduced as his successor as head coach after he served in the same capacity at Oklahoma A&M.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Mississippi Southern
To open the 1954 season, Alabama was upset by the Mississippi Southern Southerners, for the second consecutive year, 7–2 at the Cramton Bowl on a Friday night. The only touchdown of the game was scored by the Golden Eagles in the first quarter on an 18-yard Brooks Tisdale touchdown run. For the remainder of the game, both defenses were dominate with the only points coming in the fourth quarter when Douglas Potts blocked a Southern punt into the end zone for a safety and made the final score 7–2. The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against Mississippi Southern to 6–2.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, LSU
To open conference play for the 1954 season, Alabama defeated LSU 12–0 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. After a scoreless first quarter, Alabama scored their first touchdown on a 15-yard Bart Starr pass to Thomas Tharp for a 6–0 halftime lead. On the first play of the final period, Hootie Ingram scored on a 69-yard run and made the final score 12–0. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against LSU to 15–6–4.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
At Ladd Stadium, the Crimson Tide defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores by a final score of 28–14 in Mobile. Vanderbilt took a 7–0 first quarter lead after Charley Horton scored on a five-yard touchdown run. The Crimson Tide responded with a 30-yard Hootie Ingram touchdown pass to Thomas Tharp to tie the game 7–7 in the second quarter. However, the Commodores responded to take a 14–7 halftime lead after 28-yard Horton touchdown run. Early in the third, a blocked Vandy punt gave Alabama possession at the Commodores 16-yard line.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
Four plays later, William Stone tied the game at 14–14 with his two-yard touchdown run. Alabama then closed with a pair of touchdowns to win the game 28–14. In the third, Albert Elmore threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Luna and in the fourth, Tharp scored on a 10-yard run. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Vanderbilt to 18–14–1.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Tulsa
In the first Denny Stadium game of the season, Alabama shutout the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 40–0 in a contest that saw the Crimson Tide throw five touchdown passes. Alabama took a 14–0 first quarter lead after a 22-yard Hootie Ingram pass to William Hollis and on a 26-yard Ollie Yates pass to Curtis Lynch. Another pair of touchdowns in the second quarter on a four-yard Jerry Watford run and an 18-yard Yates pass to Billy Lumpkin made the halftime score 26–0 in favor of the Crimson Tide. Alabama then closed their scoring with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns on a 17-yard Albert Elmore pass to Paul Donaldson and finally on an 88-yard Elmore pass to Bobby Luna that made the final score 40–0. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Tulsa to 2–0.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Tennessee
In their annual rivalry game against the Tennessee, Alabama shutout the Volunteers 27–0 and handed the Vols their worst home loss to date. After a scoreless first quarter, Alabama took a 7–0 halftime lead after Albert Elmore threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Luna late in the second quarter. A pair of Elmore touchdown passes in the third quarter, seven-yards to Thomas Tharp and 25-yards to Nicholas Germanos, extended the Crimson Tide lead to 21–0. The final points came late in the fourth quarter when Tharp returned an interception 96-yards for touchdown and the 27–0 victory. The return remained the longest in Alabama history through the 1991 season when Mark McMillian had a 98-yard return against Chattanooga. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Tennessee to 18–13–5.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Mississippi State
On homecoming in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide were defeated by the Mississippi State Maroons 12–7 at Denny Stadium. After a scoreless first quarter, Alabama took a 7–0 halftime lead when Albert Elmore threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Tharp with only 0:25 left in the second. The Maroons scored their first touchdown in the third quarter when Bobby Collins returned a Bobby Luna punt 56-yards to cut the Crimson Tide lead to 7–6. State then scored the game-winning touchdown on a 30-yard Joe Silveri run in the fourth and gave the Maroons the 12–7 victory. The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against Mississippi State to 28–8–3.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Georgia
At Birmingham, the Crimson Tide battled the Georgia Bulldogs to a scoreless tie in the first Legion Field game of the season. The tie brought Alabama's all-time record against Georgia to 21–15–4.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Tulane
For their game against Tulane, Alabama traveled to New Orleans and played the Green Wave to a scoreless tie, the second for the Crimson Tide in two weeks. The tie brought Alabama's all-time record against Tulane to 16–7–2.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Georgia Tech
Against Georgia Tech, Alabama extended their scoreless streak to 14 quarters before a nationally televised audience against the Yellow Jackets 20–0 at Grant Field. Tech took a commanding 13–0 lead in the first quarter with touchdowns scored on runs of 45-yards by Paul Rotenberry and seven-yards by E. O. Thompson. The Jackets then scored their final points in the third on a six-yard Thompson run for the 20–0 victory. The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against Georgia Tech to 18–15–3.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Miami
On a Friday evening in Miami, Alabama was defeated by the Miami Hurricanes 23–7 at Burdine Stadium. After a scoreless first, Miami took a 10–0 halftime lead after Porky Oliver kicked a field goal and on a six-yard Whitey Rouviere touchdown run in the second quarter. The Crimson Tide then ended a 16 quarter shutout streak in the third quarter when Bart Starr scored on a one-yard run and made the score 10–7. The Hurricanes then closed the game with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and won the game 23–7. The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against Miami to 3–1.


1954 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Auburn
For the first time since the 1949 season, Alabama was defeated by the rival Auburn Tigers 28–0 at Legion Field. Auburn led 7–0 at halftime with the only first half touchdown scored on a one-yard Bobby Freeman run in the first quarter. After a 41-yard Freeman run gave the Tigers a 14–0 lead in the third, a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns gave Auburn the 28–0 victory. The final points came on a one-yard Joe Childress run and a three-yard Freeman run. The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against Auburn to 9–9–1.


1954 Alabama gubernatorial election
The 1954 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1954, to elect the Governor of Alabama. Incumbent Democrat Gordon Persons was term-limited, and could not seek a second consecutive term.


1954 Alabama gubernatorial election, Democratic primary
At the time this election took place, Alabama, as with most other southern states, was solidly Democratic, and the Republican Party had such diminished influence that the Democratic primary was the de facto contest for state offices; after winning the Democratic primary it was a given that the nominee would win the general election.


1954 Albanian Cup
1954 Albanian Cup (Albanian: Kupa e Shqipërisë) was the eighth season of Albania's annual cup competition. It began in Spring 1954 with the First Round and ended in May 1954 with the Final match. Dinamo Tirana were the defending champions, having won their fourth Albanian Cup last season. The cup was won by Dinamo Tirana.


1954 Albanian Cup
The rounds were played in a one-legged format similar to those of European competitions. If the number of goals was equal, the match was decided by extra time and a penalty shootout, if necessary.


1954 Albanian Cup, Quarter finals
In this round entered the 8 winners from the previous round.


1954 Albanian Cup, Semifinals
In this round entered the four winners from the previous round.


1954 Albanian National Championship
The 1954 Albanian National Championship was the seveneenth season of the Albanian National Championship, the top professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1930.


1954 Albanian National Championship, Overview
It was contested by 12 teams, and Partizani won the championship.


1954 Albanian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in the People's Republic of Albania on 28 May 1954. The Democratic Front was the only party able to contest the elections, and subsequently won all 134 seats. Voter turnout was reported to be 99.9%.


1954 Aldbury Valetta accident
On 6 January 1954 WJ474 a twin-engined Vickers Valetta training aircraft of No. 2 Air Navigation School Royal Air Force crashed near RAF Bovingdon just after takeoff in bad weather.


1954 Aldbury Valetta accident, Accident
The Valetta was authorised to carry out a pilot and navigation exercise from RAF Thorney Island to RAF Bovingdon and return. The flight was also to be used to transport a Rugby team for a match at RAF Halton.


1954 Aldbury Valetta accident, Accident
The aircraft had completed the first leg from Thorney Island to Bovingdon with 16 passengers without incident. For the return flight an extra passenger was carried although the aircraft had only 16 passenger seats. The pilot had not played in the Rugby match but the other crew members had. The Valetta took off at 17:16 with a visibility of 1200 yards in snow.


1954 Aldbury Valetta accident, Accident
The Valetta was seen to climb to about 400 feet then during a turn to the left it hit a tree five miles north of the airfield and crashed near Tom's Hill, Aldbury on part of the estate of the Ashridge Park National Trust. The aircraft crashed onto a wooded slope when both engines were torn off. The fuselage continued for another 100 yards with a debris trail of wreckage and bodies.


1954 Aldbury Valetta accident, Rescue and aftermath
The wreckage was spread over two miles, with a cold north wind and ice and snow on the ground combined with a narrow access road made rescue difficult. The fire brigade station officer said it had taken them half an hour to find the wreckage. The National Trust chief ranger with four of his staff were first on the scene reported "Ten bodies were scattered about and we found two men alive. One was outside the aircraft and did not seem to be very badly hurt. The other was pulled from inside the smashed fuselage and was only semi-conscious." Two passengers were rescued but one died in hospital later; all the others on board were killed. The location was close to the same spot a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress had crashed during World War II.


1954 Aldbury Valetta accident, Investigation
The cause of the accident was not established, but the extra passenger and weather at takeoff did not contribute to the crash. It was assumed that the pilot was trying to keep in eye contact with the ground in the poor visibility. Verdicts of accidental death were returned for the sixteen victims at the coroner's inquest held at Berkhamsted. The sole survivor said at the inquest he could not remember anything after boarding the aircraft at Bovingdon. The coroner said that before the aircraft departed "certain things were not done which should have been done. But the question of taking off was entirely a matter for the pilot to decide." "For some reason height was lost – no one knows why, no one will ever know. That caused the unfortunate crash. There was nothing wrong with the engines."


1954 Aldershot by-election
The Aldershot by-election  was held on 28 October 1954 when the Incumbent Conservative MP, Oliver Lyttelton was elevated to a new hereditary peerage, as Viscount Chandos. The by-election was won by the Conservative candidate Eric Errington.


1954 Alexander Cup
The 1954 Alexander Cup was the Canadian national major ('open' to both amateur and professional leagues) senior ice hockey championship for the 1953–54 season.


1954 Alexander Cup
The Maritime Major Hockey League (MMHL) was the only major league left in Canada, so its winner, the Halifax Atlantics were awarded the Alexander Cup.


1954 Algerian Assembly election
Member State of the African Union Member State of the Arab League


1954 Algerian Assembly election
Elections to the Algerian Assembly were held in Algeria in February 1954. Like other post-1948 elections in French Algeria, it was rigged by the authorities to ensure the defeat of Algerian nationalists.


1954 Algerian Assembly election, Electoral system
The Assembly was elected by two colleges, each of which elected 60 seats. The First College consisted of Europeans and évolués, whilst the Second College was composed of the remainder of the Algerian population.


1954 All England Badminton Championships
The 1954 All England Championships was a badminton tournament held at the Empress Hall, Earls Court, London, England, from 17–21 March 1954.


1954 All England Badminton Championships, Final results
Judy Devlin and Sue Devlin represented the United States, they were the daughters of former champion Frank Devlin of Ireland.


1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
The 1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the twelfth and last season of the circuit. The AAGPBL was left with five teams after the Muskegon Belles franchise folded at the end of the past season. As a result, it was the lowest number of teams since its opening season in 1943. The Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Kalamazoo Lassies, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox competed through a 96-game schedule, while the Shaugnessy playoffs featured the top four teams in a best-of-three first round series, with the two winning teams facing in a best-of-five series to decide the championship.


1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season, Regular season
Several changes were made to the rules for this season, making the game much like Major League Baseball. The ball size was reduced from 10 inches to 9 inches, while the pitching distance increased from 56 to 60 feet. In addition, the base paths were lengthened from 75 to 85 feet, five feet short of the major leagues. But the most significant change was the shortening of the outfield fences, which dramatically increased the number of home runs hit in the past. The five teams combined to hit 408 home runs, which tripled the number of homers hit during a regular season.


1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season, Regular season
Joanne Weaver of Fort Wayne won her third consecutive batting title in a row, this time clearing the .400 batting average barrier with a .429 mark. Not since Ted Williams in the majors in 1941 (.406) and minor leaguer Artie Wilson in 1948 (.402) had someone broken the .400 barrier, and nobody has done it since. Weaver also set single season records for the most home runs (29), total bases (254), on-base percentage (.479) and slugging average (.763).


1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season, Regular season
No pitcher won 20 games for the second year in a row, while South Bend's Janet Rumsey topped the league in earned run average (2.18) and complete games (21), ending second in wins (15), shutouts (5) and innings pitched (169). Gloria Cordes of Kalamazoo turned the best pitching performance of the year, when she hurled three consecutive shutouts in 34 scoreless innings of work. Weaver was honored with the Player of the Year Award at the end of the season.


1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season, Regular season
The only team not to make it to the postseason was last-place Rockford Peaches, the most successful squad in league history after winning four titles in the previous 12 seasons, including three in a row at one point.


1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season, Postseason, First round
In the first round of the postseason, first place Fort Wayne faced third place Grand Rapids and second place South Bend played fourth place Kalamazoo. Fort Wayne defeated Grand Rapids, 8–7, in Game 1. After that, Grand Rapids team members voted not to play against Fort Wayne the next two contests, because the league had allowed Rockford catcher Ruth Richard to play on the Fort Wayne team as a last-minute replacement for Rita Briggs, who was sidelined with a broken wrist.


1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season, Postseason, First round
During a debate over the eligibility of Richard, Fort Wayne manager Bill Allington and Grand Rapids manager Woody English came into a fistfight at home plate before Game 2. Grand Rapids forfeited both games to give the Daisies the first round. In the other series, Kalamazoo lost the first game to South Bend, 6–3, but pitchers Nancy Warren and Elaine Roth held the Blue Sox in the next two games by scores of 6–3 and 10–7, respectively.


1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season, Postseason, Championship series
In Game 1 of the final series, the Kalamazoo Lassies defeated the Fort Wayne Daisies 17–9 behind a four-hit, seven strong innings from June Peppas, who also helped herself by hitting 2-for-4, including one home run. Her teammates Carol Habben, Fern Shollenberger and Chris Ballingall, who hit a grand slam, also slugged one each. Katherine Horstman connected two home runs for the Daisies in a lost cause, and her teammate Joanne Weaver slugged one. Maxine Kline, who had posted an 18–7 record with 3.23 earned run average during the regular season, gave up 11 runs in six innings and was credited with the loss.


1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season, Postseason, Championship series
Fort Wayne evened the series against Kalamazoo winning Game 2, 11–4, after hitting a series-record five home runs off two pitchers. Horstman started the feat with a two-run home run to open the score in the first inning. In the rest of the game, Betty Foss added two homers with five runs batted in, while Joanne Weaver and Jean Geissinger added solo shots. Nancy Mudge and Dorothy Schroeder homered for Kalamazoo, and Peppas, who played at first base, hit a solo homer in three at-bats. Marilyn Jones limited the Lassies to four runs on nine hits. Phyllis Baker was the winning pitcher and Gloria Cordes was the loser.


1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season, Postseason, Championship series
In Game 3, the Daisies beat the Lassies,  8–7, fueled again by a heavy hitting from Weaver, who hit a double, a triple and a three-run home run in five at bats, driving in four runs. Peppas went 1-for-4 to spark a seventh-inning three-run rally, but Fort Wayne came back in the bottom of the inning with two runs that marked the difference. Phyllis Baker won the game and Nancy Warren was the losing pitcher.


1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season, Postseason, Championship series
In other close score, Kalamazoo evened the series in Game 4 with a 6–5 victory against Fort Wayne, behind a strong pitching effort by Cordes, who hurled a complete game. Ballingall led the offensive with three hits, one run and one RBI before being ejected in the 9th inning. Peppas also contributed with a single, a double and one RBI in four at-bats. Kline lost her second decision in the series.


1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season, Postseason, Championship series
In decisive Game 5, Peppas pitched a clutch complete game and went 3-for-5 with an RBI against her former Daisies team, winning by an 8–5 margin to give the Lassies the championship title. She received support from Mary Taylor (5-for-5), Balingall (3-for-4) and Schroeder, who drove in the winning run off pitcher Jones in the bottom of the eight. Peppas finished with an average of .400 (6-for-15) and collected two of the three Lassies victories, to become the winning pitcher of the last game in league history.


1954 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team
The 1954 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by the Associated Press (AP) for the All-Atlantic Coast Conference ("ACC") team for the 1954 NCAA University Division football season. Bob Bartholomew of Wake Forest was the only unanimous selection by all 43 voters.


1954 All-Big Seven Conference football team
The 1954 All-Big Seven Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Seven Conference teams for the 1954 college football season. The selectors for the 1954 season included the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press (UP). Players selected as first-team honorees by both the AP and UP are displayed in bold.


1954 All-Big Ten Conference football team
The 1954 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Ten Conference teams for the 1954 Big Ten Conference football season.


1954 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
The 1954 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship was the 23rd staging of the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament for boys under the age of 18.


1954 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
Mayo entered the championship as defending champions, however, they were defeated by Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final.


1954 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
On 26 September 1954, Dublin won the championship following a 3-3 to 1-8 defeat of Kerry in the All-Ireland final. This was their third All-Ireland title overall and their first in nine championship seasons.


1954 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship
The 1954 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship was the 24th staging of the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1928.


1954 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship
Tipperary entered the championship as the defending champions in search of a third successive title.


1954 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship
On 5 September 1954 Dublin won the championship following a 2-7 to 2-3 defeat of Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. This was their third All-Ireland title and their first in eight championship seasons.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship
The 1954 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship was the high point of the 1954 season in Camogie. The championship was won by Dublin who defeated first time finalists Derry by an 18-point margin in the final.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship, Final
Una O'Connor, Sophie Brack and Sheila Sleator shared ten goals. Rose McAllister, Patsy McCloskey, Anna Bryson and Patsy O'Brien scored Derry goals. The Irish Press noted:


1954 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship, Final
One of the biggest crowds ever turned up at Croke Park on Sunday evening last to see the All Ireland camogie final in which Dublin won the title for the seventh successive year. The Derry girls put up a splendid fight and were rather better than the score suggests, but they were unable to match the stickwork and combination of the more experienced Dublin line-out. Derry did well at the start but could not turn their early advantage into scores and when Dublin settled into their stride they advanced steadily to victory. Dublin led by 6-1 to nil at half-time. There was only one free in the entire game.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Final
The 1954 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Final was the 23rd All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1954 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship, an inter-county camogie tournament for the top teams in Ireland.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Final
Dublin completely dominated the game: they led 6-2 to 0-1 at the break, the Derry side having only entered their opponent's half with the sliotar three times. Dublin eased off in the second half and won an eighth All-Ireland in a row.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The 1954 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 68th staging of Ireland's premier Gaelic football knock-out competition.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Note the Munster football championship did not have Quarter-Finals. Limerick did not take part (1953-1964) while Clare skipped a year.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, Results, Munster Senior Football Championship
Note there were no Quarter-Final's were played Limerick didn't complete (1953-1964) while Clare decided to skip the Munster championships for just 1 year. This means that Kerry, Cork, Tipperary and Waterford would go on straight to the Semi-Final's with the winners of both matches qualify for the final.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final
The 1954 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the 67th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1954 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final
Meath won by six points with a goal by Tom Moriarty.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
The 1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 68th staging of the All-Ireland hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 11 April 1954 and ended on 5 September 1954.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Cork were the defending champions and retained their title following a 1-9 to 1-6 victory over Wexford in the final.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, Teams
A total of fourteen teams contested the championship, an increase of one on the previous championship. Antrim, who last participated at this level in 1949, re-entered the championship in spite of facing no competition in the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, Player facts, Debutantes
The following players made their début in the 1954 championship:


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, Player facts, Retirees
The following players played their last game in the 1954 championship:


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final
The 1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final was the 67th All-Ireland Final and the culmination of the 1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, an inter-county hurling tournament for the top teams in Ireland. The match was held at Croke Park, Dublin, on 5 September 1954, between Cork and Wexford. The Leinster champions lost to their Munster opponents on a score line of 1-9 to 1-6.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final
The game is notable for a number of reasons. The gates were closed 35 minutes before the start of the senior game due to the size of the crowd. A record 84,856 people were in attendance to see Christy Ring of Cork capture a record-breaking eighth All-Ireland winners' medal.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, All-Ireland final, Overview
Sunday 5 September was the date of the 1954 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Cork and Wexford. Cork were appearing in their third consecutive championship decider, having beaten Dublin and Galway to take the previous two titles. Wexford last appeared in the championship decider in 1951 when they lost out to Tipperary who captured their own three-in-a-row. They last won the All-Ireland title in 1910 when they defeated Limerick to take their first championship. Cork and Wexford last met each other in the championship more than half a century earlier in the All-Ireland final of 1901 with victory going to Cork. An interesting statistic at the time was the fact that Wexford had never beaten Cork in the championship.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, All-Ireland final, Overview
A record 84,856 spectators turned out in Croke Park to see one of the most anticipated All-Ireland hurling finals ever played. The charismatic Wexford men, one of the most talked about teams of the decade, had reached their second All-Ireland final in three years and looked well capable of winning this one. Cork, on the other hand, looked forward to creating their own piece of history. A win would give them a third All-Ireland title in-a-row while on a personal level a win would give captain Christy Ring a record-breaking eighth All-Ireland medal. The record crowd of spectators also looked forward to a scoring shoot-out between Christy Ring and Wexford's Nicky Rackard.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, All-Ireland final, Match report
At 3:15pm the sliothar was thrown-in and the game began in earnest. Cork got off to the better start when Éamonn Goulding, a future Cork dual player, latched onto the sliothar and deftly sent it over the bar for the opening score of the day. Shortly afterwards one of the biggest cheers of the day went up Christy Ring captured his first score of the day when he converted a 40-yard free. Wexford were visibly unnerved by the big occasion and the even bigger attendance and found it difficult to settle.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, All-Ireland final, Match report
Their first score of the day came from the stick of Nicky Rackard who later scored the equalizer after 20 minutes of play. Less than a minute later Ring was back in the thick of the action. He caught the sliothar, sidestepped three Wexford defenders and sent the sliothar sweetly over the crossbar to restore Cork's lead. He quickly increased his own personal tally by converting a free before passing the sliothar to Willie John Daly who captured Cork's final point of the opening 30 minutes. Wexford were equally accurate with their constant attacks on the Cork goal.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, All-Ireland final, Match report
A pointed free by Nicky Rackard was followed by the first goal of the day. Paddy Kehoe sent in the sliothar from a sideline cut before Tom Ryan tapped it into the net for the first goal of the game. At half-time the Wexford men had the narrowest of leads by 1-3 to 0-5.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, All-Ireland final, Match report
Immediately after the restart Wexford got off to the better start courtesy of a Tim Flood point after a jinking solo run. With six minutes gone in the second half the Cork players found their rhythm again. A long clearance by Gerard Murphy fell to Christy Ring who weaved his way through the Wexford defenders. He was 30 yards out from the goal when he sent off a powerful shot that looked like a certain goal.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, All-Ireland final, Match report
The players and spectators were convinced that Ring had put Cork back in the lead, however, the umpire had his finger raised for a 70-yard free. There was no goal as the sliothar struck Wexford full-back Nick O'Donnell and went out over the end line. Such was the force of Ring's shot that the impact of the sliothar broke O’Donnell's collarbone and he had to retire from the game. Bobby Rackard was switched to the full-back position; however, it turned out to be a tactical error as his clearances failed to go as far as O’Donnell's.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, All-Ireland final, Match report
Ring sent over his fourth point of the game in the 40-second minute before Vincy Twomey moved outfield with the sliothar and sent another sweet shot between the posts. In spite of the onslaught Wexford clung on to their two-point lead, however, the turning point of the match was just around the corner. With four minutes left in the game 19-year-old Johnny Clifford became the hero of the day for Cork. Wexford goalkeeper Art Foley was caught out of position and off his goal line leaving Clifford with an easy shot into an almost empty net.


1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, All-Ireland final, Match report
Cork had regained the lead but only by the smallest of margins. It had given them some breathing space; however, Wexford launched one final attack. This failed and when Josie Hartnett sent over another point the title looked to be Cork's. Fittingly, the final score of the game came from the man who was about to make history. Christy Ring pointed to give Cork a 1-9 to 1-6 win and a third All-Ireland title in-a-row. Furthermore, the victory gave Ring a record-breaking eighth All-Ireland winners’ medal.


1954 All-Pacific Coast football team
The 1954 All-Pacific Coast Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Pacific Coast teams for the 1954 college football season.


1954 All-Pro Team
The Associated Press (AP), New York Daily News (NYDN), The Sporting News (TSN), and United Press (UP) were among selectors of All-Pro teams comprising players adjudged to be the best at each position in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1954 NFL season. The AP, NYDN, and UP selected a first and second team.


1954 All-SEC football team
The 1954 All-SEC football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) chosen by various selectors for the 1954 college football season. Ole Miss won the conference.


1954 All-SEC football team, Key
Bold = Consensus first-team selection by both AP and UP


1954 All-Southwest Conference football team
The 1954 All-Southwest Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Southwest Conference teams for the 1954 college football season. The selectors for the 1954 season included the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press (UP). Players selected as first-team players by both the AP and UP are designated in bold.


1954 All-Southwest Conference football team, Key
Bold = Consensus first-team selection of both the AP and UP


1954 Allan Cup
The 1954 Allan Cup was the Canadian national senior ice hockey championship for the 1953-54 Senior "A" season. The event was hosted by the Penticton V's and Penticton, Vernon, and Kelowna, British Columbia. The 1954 playoff marked the 46th time that the Allan Cup has been awarded.


1954 Argentine Grand Prix
The 1954 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Autódromo 17 de Octubre in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 17 January 1954. It was race 1 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. Giuseppe Farina scored the pole position at an age of 47 years and 79 days, which still is a record today.


1954 Argentine Grand Prix
This was Juan Manuel Fangio's first home victory, following Alberto Ascari's win in 1953. He would repeat this with three consecutive victories in the following three years.


1954 Argentine Primera División
The 1954 Argentine Primera División was the 63rd season of top-flight football in Argentina. The season began on April 4 and ended on November 14.


1954 Argentine Primera División
Tigre returned to Primera while Banfield was relegated. Boca Juniors won its 13th league title


1954 Argentine general election
The Argentine General election of 1954 was held on 25 April. Voters chose both their legislators and the Vice-President of Argentina; with a turnout of 85%.


1954 Argentine general election, Background
The death of his wife and closest advisor, Evita, stuck President Juan Perón amid serious difficulties. A severe drought in 1952 and years of pessimism in Argentina's important agrarian sector depleted foreign reserves and forced Perón to curtail public lending and spending programs. The recession (and a bumper crop) did, however, allow Central Bank reserves to recover and brought inflation (50% in 1951) to single digits.


1954 Argentine general election, Background
Controversy surrounding Perón's in-laws and political violence both by and against his Peronist movement had dogged the president in the first half of 1953, and he took the opportunity of upcoming legislative polls to test his popularity. The Argentine Constitution did not require it at the time, but the President announced a special election to replace the late Vice President, Hortensio Quijano. Dr. Quijano had died on April 3, 1952, two months and one day before his term was to have ended on June 4, 1952. Perón nominated Senator Alberto Teisaire as the candidate for the then named Partido Peronista (Peronist Party).


1954 Argentine general election, Background
Teisaire was familiar to Perón from the 1943 coup d'état; the former rear admiral had helped retain the normally restive Navy's support for the populist leader before and after Perón's 1946 election and, after eight years in the Senate, he remained close to the military - a far from trivial consideration.


1954 Argentine general election, Background
In the opposition since 15 years before Perón took office, the centrist UCR had been burdened by censorship and sundry forms of harassment since 1930, and 1953 had been marked by the jailing of most of their leaders. Among the few prominent figures in the party available to run for the vice-presidency was Crisólogo Larralde. Larralde had opposed the UCR's 1945 alliance with conservatives and socialists against Perón, and was a well-known figure in the UCR's dissident, pro-Perón "Renewal Group." This did not, however, ease the UCR's restriction to access to most mass media, and the party was defeated by similar numbers to their 1951 loss.


1954 Arizona State Sun Devils football team
The 1954 Arizona State Sun Devils football team was an American football team that represented Arizona State College (later renamed Arizona State University) in the Border Conference during the 1954 college football season. In their third and final season under head coach Clyde B. Smith, the Sun Devils compiled an 5–5 record (3–1 against Border opponents) and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 178 to 228.


1954 Arizona State–Flagstaff Lumberjacks football team
The 1954 Arizona State–Flagstaff Lumberjacks football team was an American football team that represented Arizona State College at Flagstaff (now known as Northern Arizona University) in the New Mexico Conference during the 1954 college football season. In their first year under head coach Earl Insley, the Lumberjacks compiled a 3–6 record (1–4 against conference opponents), finished last in the conference, and were outscored by a total of 167 to 130.


1954 Arizona State–Flagstaff Lumberjacks football team
The team played its home games at Skidmore Field in Flagstaff, Arizona.


1954 Arizona Wildcats baseball team
The 1954 Arizona Wildcats baseball team represented the University of Arizona in the 1954 NCAA baseball season. The Wildcats played their home games at UA Field. The team was coached by Frank Sancet in his 5th year at Arizona.


1954 Arizona Wildcats baseball team
The Wildcats won the District VII Playoff to advanced to the College World Series, where they were defeated by the Oklahoma A&M Cowboys.


1954 Arizona Wildcats football team
The 1954 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona in the Border Conference during the 1954 college football season. In their third season under head coach Warren B. Woodson, the Wildcats compiled a 7–3 record (3–2 against Border opponents) and outscored their opponents, 385 to 215. The team captains were Buddy Lewis and Glen Bowers. The team played its home games in Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona.


1954 Arizona Wildcats football team
The team's average of 38.5 points per game was the second highest in major college football during the 1954 season. Tailback Art Luppino was the NCAA rushing leader with 1,359 rushing yards. Luppino also broke the NCAA modern-era single-season scoring record with 166 points scored in 1954.


1954 Arizona gubernatorial election
The 1954 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1954. Incumbent Governor John Howard Pyle, the first Republican elected to the office in two decades, ran for reelection for a third term.


1954 Arizona gubernatorial election
Former U.S. Senator Ernest McFarland defeated Governor John Howard Pyle by a narrow margin. McFarland had lost his bid for reelection to the United States Senate to Barry Goldwater in 1952, with McFarland subsequently deciding to run for the office of governor.


1954 Arizona gubernatorial election, Democratic primary
The Democratic primary took place on September 7, 1954. Due to the Republican Party tidal wave led by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, incumbent U.S. Senator Ernest McFarland lost his bid for reelection to the United States Senate to Barry Goldwater. He subsequently decided to run for the office of Governor of Arizona and challenge incumbent Republican Governor John Howard Pyle, the first Republican to hold the office for more than two decades. McFarland was challenged in the primary by State Senator William F. Kimball, but McFarland easily won.


1954 Arkansas Razorbacks football team
The 1954 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas in the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1954 college football season. In their second and final year under head coach Bowden Wyatt, the Razorbacks compiled an 8–3 record (5–1 against SWC opponents), won the SWC championship, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 195 to 104.


1954 Arkansas Razorbacks football team
With only 25 players on the team, this squad became known as the "25 Little Pigs." This fact makes it all the more amazing that they won the Southwest Conference championship.


1954 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Game summaries, Mississippi
This contest had been designated as a Southeastern Conference game because Ole Miss had not scheduled required six conference games to be eligible for SEC title.


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


1954 Arkansas gubernatorial election
Incumbent Democratic Governor Francis Cherry was narrowly defeated in the Democratic primary.


1954 Arkansas gubernatorial election
Democratic nominee Orval Faubus defeated Republican nominee Pratt C. Remmel with 62.09% of the vote.


1954 Arkansas gubernatorial election, Primary elections
Primary elections were held on July 27, 1954, with the Democratic runoff held on August 10, 1954.


1954 Armagh by-election
The Armagh by-election was held on 20 November 1954, following the resignation of Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament James Harden.


1954 Armagh by-election
Harden had held the seat of Armagh since a by-election in 1948, and had not faced a contest since then. The seat had been held continually by Ulster Unionists since its recreation for the 1922 general election.


1954 Armagh by-election, Candidates
The Ulster Unionists stood C. W. Armstrong, the son of former Mid Armagh MP Henry Bruce Armstrong. He had served in the British Army and been involved in the oil industry in Burma, serving from 1940 to 1942 in that country's House of Representatives.


1954 Armagh by-election, Candidates
The two main opposition groups, the Northern Ireland Labour Party and the Nationalist Party, had both fared poorly at the 1953 Northern Ireland general election, and decided not to contest the by-election.


1954 Armagh by-election, Result
With only one candidate for the seat, Armstrong was declared elected unopposed. This was the last unopposed election in any Westminster seat. Armstrong held the seat until the 1959 general election, when he stood down.


1954 Army Cadets football team
The 1954 Army Cadets football team represented the United States Military Academy in the 1954 college football season. In their 14th year under head coach Earl Blaik, the Cadets compiled a 7–2 record and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 325 to 127. In the annual Army–Navy Game, the Cadets lost to the Midshipmen by a 27 to 20 score. The Cadets also lost to South Carolina by a 34 to 20 score.


1954 Army Cadets football team
Four Army players were honored on the 1954 College Football All-America Team: halfback Tommy Bell (FWAA, INS-1, NEA-2); end Don Holleder (AFCA, INS-2, NEA-1, UP-1, CP-1); guard Ralph Chesnauskas (AP-1, UP-3); and quarterback Pete Vann (INS-2, UP-3, CP-2).


1954 Arundel and Shoreham by-election
The 1954 Arundel and Shoreham by-election was held on 9 March 1954. It was held due to the resignation of the incumbent Conservative MP, William Cuthbert. It was retained by the Conservative candidate, Henry Kerby.


1954 Asian Baseball Championship
The 1954 Asian Baseball Championship was the first continental tournament held by the Baseball Federation of Asia, from 18 to 26 December. The tournament was held in Manila, Philippines, and was won by the host nation. 17,000 people attended the final game at Rizal Stadium to see Philippines defeat Japan 8–1. As of 2019, it is the only time that the Philippines have won the tournament. South Korea (3rd) and Taiwan (4th) were the other participants.


1954 Asian Games
The 1954 Asian Games (Filipino: Palarong Asyano 1954), officially known as the Second Asian Games – Manila 1954 was a multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines, from May 1 to 9, 1954. A total of 970 athletes from 19 Asian National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 76 events from eight sports. The number of participating NOCs and athletes were larger than the previous Asian Games held in New Delhi in 1951. This edition of the games has a different twist where it did not implement a medal tally system to determine the overall champion but a pointing system.


1954 Asian Games
The pointing system is a complex system where each athlete were given points according to their achievement like position in athletics or in swimming. In the end the pointing system showed to be worthless as it simply ranked the nations the same way in the medal tally system. The pointing system was not implemented in future games ever since. Jorge B. Vargas was the head of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (In 1976, was renamed as Philippine Olympic Committee) and the Manila Asian Games Organizing Committee. With the second-place finish of the Philippines, only around 9,000 spectators attended the closing ceremony at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. The events were broadcast on radio live at DZRH and DZAQ-TV ABS-3 on delayed telecast.


1954 Asian Games, Opening ceremony
The Games were formally opened by President Ramon Magsaysay on May 1, 1954, at 16:02 local time. Around 20,000 spectators filled the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Malate, Manila, for the opening ceremony. As requested by the IOC, the torch relay and lighting of the cauldron were excluded from the Opening Ceremony to preserve the tradition of the Olympic Games. The torch ceremony were returned at the 1958 Asian Games. The host however gave a solution by giving a special citation to the last athlete to enter the parade. The Philippines, as host, was the last country to enter the stadium. The flag bearer for the Philippines squad was Andres Franco, who won a gold medal in the 1951 Asian Games in high jump event, the sole gold medal of any Filipino in the athletics events of the previous Asian Games.


1954 Asian Games, Sports
The 1954 Asian Games featured eight sports divided into 10 events, aquatics included three events namely diving, swimming and water polo. This version of the Asian Games comprised more sports and events than the last one, as six sports and seven events were in the calendar of 1951 Asian Games. Three sports—boxing, shooting and wrestling—made their debut, while cycling was dropped out.


1954 Asian Games, Participating nations
National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are named and arranged according to their official IOC country codes and designations at the time.


1954 Asian Games, Calendar
In the following calendar for the 1954 Asian Games, each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport were held. The numeral indicates the number of event finals for each sport held that day. On the left, the calendar lists each sport with events held during the Games, and at the right, how many gold medals were won in that sport. There is a key at the top of the calendar to aid the reader.


1954 Asian Games, Medal table
Japan led the medal table, athletes from Japan won most medals, including most gold, silver and bronze. Host nation, Philippines finished second with 45 total medals (including 14 gold).


1954 Asian Games, Medal table
The top ten ranked NOCs at these Games are listed below. The host nation, Philippines, is highlighted.


1954 Asian Games medal table
The 1954 Asian Games (officially known as Second Asian Games – Manila 1954) was a multi-sport event celebrated in Manila, Philippines from May 1 to May 9, 1954. This was the second edition of the Asian Games, in which a total 970 athletes representing 18 Asian National Olympic Committees participated in eight sports divided into 76 events.


1954 Asian Games medal table, Medal table
The ranking in this table is consistent with International Olympic Committee convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won (in this context, a "nation" is an entity represented by a National Olympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given; they are listed alphabetically by IOC country code.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1954 Atlantic hurricane season was an above-average Atlantic hurricane season in terms of named storms, with 16 forming. Overall, the season resulted in $751.6 million in damage, the most of any season at the time. The season officially began on June 15, and nine days later the first named storm developed. Hurricane Alice developed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved inland along the Rio Grande, producing significant precipitation and record flooding that killed 55 people. Activity was slow until late August; only Barbara, a minimal tropical storm, developed in July. In the span of two weeks, hurricanes Carol and Edna followed similar paths before both striking New England as major hurricanes. The latter became the costliest hurricane in Maine's history.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season
In late September, Tropical Storm Gilda killed 29 people after drenching northern Honduras. A tropical depression in early October was captured by a high-altitude photograph on a rocket, thus producing the first large-scale image of a tropical cyclone. The strongest and deadliest hurricane of the season was Hurricane Hazel, which killed thousands in Haiti before striking near the North Carolina/South Carolina border in October. It caused heavy damage in the United States before becoming extratropical and affecting Ontario. Intense rainfall affected Toronto with severe flooding, leaving significant damage. The season officially ended on November 15, although another hurricane named Alice developed on December 30 to the northeast of the Lesser Antilles; it lasted until January 6 of the following year. In total, there were 16 tropical storms, 7 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Season summary
The hurricane season officially began on June 15, when the United States Weather Bureau in Miami, Florida, began 24‑hour operations. The agency, under the direction of Grady Norton had access to 43 other weather stations across the Atlantic basin. Norton died during the season from a stroke while tracking Hurricane Hazel. Additionally, a group of Hurricane Hunters planes were put on standby for the season, able to be flown out into storms and collect data. During the season, there were eight named storms, as well as an unnamed hurricane and a tropical depression. The season officially ended on November 15, although an unnamed tropical storm formed a day later. In addition, Tropical Storm Alice developed on December 31, the latest a tropical cyclone has developed in the calendar year.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Season summary
Cumulatively, tropical cyclones left 193 deaths and $756 million in damage, becoming the costliest hurricane season at the time. The season was one of six to have three major hurricanes strike the country, along with 2005 (which had four), 1893, 1909, 1933, and 2004. Two of the major hurricanes – Carol and Edna – struck New England; this occurred despite an average of only 5–10 New England hurricanes per century. Carol struck Connecticut as a hurricane and left widespread heavy damage. Only ten days later, Edna became the costliest hurricane in Maine's history. The third major hurricane, Hazel, was the strongest hurricane of the season, attaining winds of 150 mph (240 km/h). Unusually, no tropical cyclones affected Florida.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Season summary
The season's activity was reflected with a cumulative accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 111, which is categorized as being "above normal". ACE is, broadly speaking, a measure of the power of the hurricane multiplied by the length of time it existed, so storms that last a long time, as well as particularly strong hurricanes, have high ACEs. ACE is only calculated for full advisories on tropical systems at or exceeding 34 knots (39 mph, 63 km/h) or tropical storm strength.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm One
A broad trough developed over the eastern Gulf of Mexico on May 26. A frontal disturbance formed over Florida along the trough, spawning an area of broad cyclonic turning. After emerging into the western Atlantic Ocean, a closed circulation developed within the system, and it is estimated that a tropical depression formed on May 28 about 100 mi (160 km) east of Jacksonville, Florida. Ship observations in the region suggested that the depression intensified into a tropical storm by late on May 28.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm One
The system was small, and was not discovered to have been a tropical cyclone until a reanalysis of data in 2015. The storm moved to the northeast ahead of an approaching trough, bypassing the Carolinas to the east; rainfall brushed the coast of North Carolina. On May 29, ship observations suggested peak winds of 50 mph (85 km/h). On the next day, the storm became associated with a warm front, indicating that it became extratropical to the southeast of New England. Continuing to the northeast, the former storm crossed over the southeastern coast of Newfoundland before being absorbed by another nontropical low to the northwest on May 31.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Two
A trough formed over southern Florida on June 17. Early the next day, a circulation formed, signaling that a tropical depression also developed over the Everglades. The system moved slowly north-northeastward, emerging into the western Atlantic Ocean at 06:00 UTC on June 20. Shortly thereafter, the depression intensified into a tropical storm, although the structure was broad and asymmetric due to association with a nearby upper-level low, signaling that the system was possibly a subtropical cyclone. Ship reports in the region indicate that the storm continued to intensify.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Two
On June 22, the structure became much more symmetrical while passing just off the Outer Banks, bringing winds of 33 mph (54 km/h) to Wilmington, North Carolina. That day, the Hurricane Hunters estimated winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), and is possible that the storm briefly attained hurricane status. The peak winds were estimated at 70 mph (110 km/h), due to a pressure reading of 994 mbar (29.4 inHg). The storm accelerated northeastward due to an approaching cold front. On June 24, the storm became extratropical, and shortly thereafter made landfall along southwestern Nova Scotia. The system dissipated the next day over the northern Gulf of Saint Lawrence.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Alice (June)
On June 24, Tropical Storm Alice developed rapidly in the western Gulf of Mexico, giving the citizens of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico little time to prepare. By June 25, Alice intensified to hurricane status, reaching peak winds of 110 mph (175 km/h) that day, before making landfall in northeastern Mexico, just south of the Mexico–United States barrier. The storm progressed inland along the Rio Grande Valley, dissipating on June 27.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Alice (June)
In Mexico, Alice left minor damage, and killed one person due to a fallen power line. Across Texas, Alice dropped torrential rainfall, peaking at 24.07 in (611 mm) near Pandale, with most of the rainfall concentrated around the Pecos River. High precipitation accumulations occurred in areas that had seen little rains in three years. This led to significant flooding along the Pecos River that produced "probably the greatest rate of runoff for a watershed of [that] size in the United States", as reported by the International Boundary and Water Commission.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Alice (June)
Ozona, Texas sustained the most impact, estimated at $2 million in damage. Downstream, the Rio Grande rose to the highest level since 1865, which flooded seven towns on either side of the border; Eagle Pass, Texas was flooded with 8 ft (2.4 m) of water. Overall there were at least 55 deaths.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Four
A dissipating cold front stalled over the southeastern United States from Arkansas to North Carolina on July 9. On the next day, a low pressure area developed along the coast of Georgia. Soon after, the front dissipated, and by 12:00 UTC on July 10, the system developed into a tropical storm. Observations from a coastal lighthouse and a nearby ship indicated that the storm attained peak winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) while moving slowly east-northeastward, just offshore the Carolinas. The storm began weakening on July 13, and dissipated the next day when it was absorbed by a larger extratropical storm that was developing to the north.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Barbara
On July 27, a tropical depression developed in the northern Gulf of Mexico, about 100 mi (160 km) south of Grand Isle, Louisiana. A map of the low pressure areas forming in July 1954 indicated that the system originated near the Mississippi Delta and tracked southward. After forming, the depression tracked northwestward, intensifying into Tropical Storm Barbara early on July 28. Maximum sustained winds reached 45 mph (75 km/h), although a tanker offshore named the Henry M. Dawes reported wind gusts of 60 mph (97 km/h).


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Barbara
Officials at the United States Weather Bureau posted a storm warning from Cameron to Burrwood, Louisiana, and also advised small craft to remain at port along the entire northern Gulf Coast. Without intensifying further, Barbara made landfall near Vermilion Bay, Louisiana on July 29, dissipating the next day over Texas. The storm dropped heavy rainfall along its path, including over 2 in (51 mm) in New Orleans. The rains caused flooding as well as some damage to the rice crop. However, the Monthly Weather Review yearly summary described the precipitation as "far more beneficial than damaging". There was no wind damage.


1954 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Carol
Carol developed from a tropical wave near the Bahamas on August 25. It quickly intensified as it tracked generally to the north, becoming a hurricane on August 27. Moving parallel to the coastline of the southeastern United States, Carol passed just east of Cape Hatteras with winds estimated at 110 mph (175 km/h). It intensified further as it accelerated, striking eastern Long Island as Category 3 hurricane. Carol made its final landfall on Old Saybrook, Connecticut late on August 31. Within a few hours, the hurricane became extratropical over New Hampshire, which later dissipated over Quebec.