April 1954

1954

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

<<	April 1954					>>
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
				01	02	03
04	05	06	07	08	09	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30

The following events occurred in April 1954:

April 1, 1954 (Thursday)

• The U.S. Congress and President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorize the founding of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
• South Point School is founded in Kolkata, India. It would become the largest school in the world by 1988.[1]
• The new Cardiff Airport at Rhoose in South Wales opens to passenger transport after operations were transferred from RAF Pengam Moors.[2]

April 2, 1954 (Friday)

• Walt Disney signs a contract with ABC television for the Disneyland series, and plans are announced for the building of the Disneyland theme park (provisionally called "Disneylandia") in California, along with a prospectus for the company's potential investors.[3]
• Died: Hoyt Vandenberg, 55, US Air Force general (prostate cancer)[4]

April 3, 1954 (Saturday)

• Petrov Affair: Diplomat Vladimir Petrov defects from the Soviet Union and asks for political asylum in Australia, beginning a major political incident.[5]
• A Douglas C-47A-80-DL Skytrain, operated by Devlet Hava Yolları, crashes 15 minutes after taking off from Adana Airport in Turkey, bound for Istanbul. All 25 people on board are killed.[6]
• On the River Thames in London, UK, the 100th annual Boat Race between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge is won by Oxford.[7]

April 4, 1954 (Sunday)

• Suffering from failing memory, legendary symphony conductor Arturo Toscanini is obliged to abandon plans for the German Requiem and introduce an alternative programme at his last concert.[8]

April 5, 1954 (Monday)

April 6, 1954 (Tuesday)

• US Senator Joseph McCarthy appears on See It Now to confront journalist Ed Murrow: he describes Murrow as "a symbol, a leader, and the cleverest of the jackal pack which is always found at the throat of anyone who dares to expose individual Communists and traitors".[9]

April 7, 1954 (Wednesday)

• US President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech during a news conference.[10]
• Born: Jackie Chan, actor and film director, in Beijing, China[11]

April 8, 1954 (Thursday)

• Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 9: a Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard and a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star collide over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. The total number of deaths is 37, including 36 people aboard the two aircraft and one person on the ground.
• South African Airways Flight 201: a de Havilland Comet 1, operated by South African Airways, disintegrates in mid-air as a result of fatigue failure while flying over the Mediterranean Sea from Rome to Cairo. All 14 passengers and seven crew are killed.[12]
• Died: Fritzi Scheff, 74, US actress and singer[13]

April 9, 1954 (Friday)

• First Indochina War: Joseph Laniel, Prime Minister of France, warns the People's Republic of China to stop sending aid to the Viet Minh revolutionaries.[14]

April 10, 1954 (Saturday)

• Died: Auguste Lumière, 91, French film pioneer[15]

April 11, 1954 (Sunday)

• In a general election in Belgium, the Christian Social Party wins 95 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives, and 49 of the 106 seats in the Senate.[16] The government, led by Jean Van Houtte, loses its majority in parliament. The two other main parties, the Socialist and Liberal Party, subsequently form a rare "purple" government, with Achille Van Acker as Prime Minister.
• Raymond Impanis wins the 52nd edition of the Paris–Roubaix cycling race.
• The 1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship opens with the first round of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.[17]

April 12, 1954 (Monday)

• Bill Haley and His Comets record the ground-breaking single "Rock Around the Clock" at the Pythian Temple studios in New York City.[18]
• Died: Luis Cabrera Lobato, 77, Mexican lawyer, politician and writer[19]
• Died: Prince Nikola of Yugoslavia, 25, killed in a road accident[20]

April 13, 1954 (Tuesday)

• While taking off from Xiengkhouang, Laos, a Lockheed C-60A-5-LO Lodestar operated by Société Indochinoise de Ravitaillement crashes, killing 16 of the 23 people on board.[21]
• A Douglas C-47-DL Skytrain belonging to the Chilean Air Force, carrying a cargo of meat from Santiago to Los Cóndores Air Base, crashes near Batuco, killing all 14 people on board.[22]
• Died: Angus L. Macdonald, 63, Canadian politician, Premier of Nova Scotia (heart attack)[23]

April 14, 1954 (Wednesday)

• Aneurin Bevan resigns from the British Labour Party's Shadow Cabinet in protest over his party's failure to oppose the rearmament of West Germany.[24]
• Harold Connolly becomes interim Premier of Nova Scotia, Canada, after the sudden death of Angus L. Macdonald.[25]

April 15, 1954 (Thursday)

• While towing a barge from Skagway, Alaska, to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the 541-ton Canadian tug Chelan sinks off the entrance to Sumner Strait west of Cape Decision in Southeast Alaska. All 14 people on the ship are lost.[26]

April 16, 1954 (Friday)

• US Vice President Richard Nixon tells the press that the United States may be "putting our own boys in Indochina regardless of Allied support".[27]
• Steam trains operate for the last time on the Clinchfield Railroad, between Kingsport and Erwin, Tennessee, United States.[28]
• Born: Ellen Barkin, US actress, in New York City[29]

April 17, 1954 (Saturday)

• Born: Roddy Piper, Canadian wrestler, in Saskatoon (d. 2015)[30]
• Died: Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu, 53, and Remus Koffler, 52, Romanian communist activists, executed after a show trial[31]

April 18, 1954 (Sunday)

• A British minesweeper, operated by the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, catches fire and sinks in the English Channel off Ostend, Belgium. All 31 crew members are rescued by the Dutch steamship Phoenix and the French ship Tunisie.[32]

April 19, 1954 (Monday)

• Two KGB couriers from the USSR arrive in Sydney Airport to escort Evdokia Petrova, a Soviet intelligence officer and the wife of Vladimir Petrov, who had recently defected to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, back to the USSR. The couriers are met by anti-Communist demonstrators, and the incident makes world headlines. The iconic photograph of Petrova being manhandled by the two couriers becomes an iconic Australian image of the 1950s, and she is removed from the plane at Darwin.[33]

April 20, 1954 (Tuesday)

• A United States Air Force Kaiser-Frazier C-119F Flying Boxcar, after a flight from Williams Air Force Base in Mesa, Arizona, crashes into a fog-shrouded ridge on Mission Point while approaching Burbank Airport in California. All seven people on board are killed.[34]
• A new station is opened at Tacoma, Washington, United States, on the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad.[35]
• Died: Michael Manning, 25, Irish murderer, the last person to be executed in the Irish Republic[36]

April 21, 1954 (Wednesday)

• Died: Emil Leon Post, 57, Polish American mathematician and logician[37]

April 22, 1954 (Thursday)

• France's Foreign Minister Georges Bidault tells US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles that only U.S. air strikes can save Điện Biên Phủ; France drops its objections to a multinational effort. British PM Winston Churchill refuses to give any undertakings about United Kingdom military action in Indochina.[38]
• Army–McCarthy hearings: Senator Joseph McCarthy begins hearings investigating the United States Army for being "soft" on Communism. The hearings are broadcast live on US television.[39]
• The 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees comes into force, defining the status of refugees and setting out the basis for granting right of asylum.

April 23, 1954 (Friday)

• An Aerolineas Argentinas Douglas C-47A-5-DK Skytrain, diverted to La Rioja, Argentina from El Plumerillo Airport in Mendoza because of severe turbulence in the Córdoba area, crashes in mountainous terrain near Sierra del Vilgo, killing all 25 people on board.[40]
• Born: Michael Moore, US documentary filmmaker, in Flint, Michigan[41]

April 24, 1954 (Saturday)

• Wolverhampton Wanderers football club wins the English Football League First Division title for the first time in its history.[42]

April 25, 1954 (Sunday)

April 26, 1954 (Monday)

• The 1954 Geneva Conference, an international conference on Korea and Indo-China, opens in Switzerland.[43]
• Akira Kurosawa's film, The Seven Samurai, is released in Japan.[44]

April 27, 1954 (Tuesday)

• Celtic F.C. defeat Aberdeen F.C. 2-1 in the final of the Scottish Cup football competition.[45]
• Born: Frank Bainimarama, prime minister of Fiji since 2007[46]
• Died: Antoni Bolesław Dobrowolski, 81, Polish scientist and explorer[47]

April 28, 1954 (Wednesday)

• U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles accuses Communist China of sending combat troops to Indo-China to train Viet Minh guerrillas.
• Died: Léon Jouhaux, 74, French labor leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate[48]

April 29, 1954 (Thursday)

• Born: Jake Burton Carpenter, US co-inventor of the snowboard, in Manhattan, New York (died 2019)[49]
• Born: Jerry Seinfeld, US comedian and actor, in Brooklyn, New York[50]
• Died: Joe May, 73, Austrian-born film director and producer[51]

April 30, 1954 (Friday)

• Bengali leader A. K. Fazlul Huq begins a visit to Kolkata, against the wishes of Mohammad Ali Bogra, Prime Minister of Pakistan.[52]
• The last passenger services run on the Clinchfield Railroad between Elkhorn and Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States.[28]
• Born: Jane Campion, New Zealand screenwriter, producer, and director, in Wellington[53]

References

1. S. B. Bhattacherje (1 May 2009). Encyclopaedia of Indian Events & Dates. Sterling Publishers Ltd. p. 1. ISBN 978-81-207-4074-7.
2. Passenger Transport. 1954. p. 488.
3. Dave Smith (1996). Disney A to Z: the official encyclopedia. Hyperion. ISBN 978-0-7868-8149-9.
4. Billy C. Mossman; M. W. Stark (1972). The Last Salute: Civil and Military Funerals, 1921-1969. Department of the Army. pp. 68.
5. Ken Webb (2003). Excel School Certificate Australian History, Civics and Citizenship. Pascal Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-877085-16-1.
6. Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
7. "Oxford wins 100th Boat Race". On This Day. BBC News. 3 April 1954. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-06.
8. Christopher Dyment (2016). Conducting the Brahms Symphonies: From Brahms to Boult. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 96–. ISBN 978-1-78327-100-9.
9. "Prosecution of E. R. Murrow on CBS' "See It Now"". See It Now. CBS. April 6, 1954. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
10. Andreas Wenger (1 January 2000). Living with Peril: Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Nuclear Weapons. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 340. ISBN 978-0-585-11418-7.
11. Jackie Chan (1 September 2003). 100% Jackie Chan: The Essential Companion. Titan. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-84023-491-6.
12. Whitney, Peter D. (1954-04-10). "Comet Wreckage Found in Sea; 3 Americans Among 21 Victims; Comet Wreckage Found in Sea; 3 Americans Among 21 Victims". The New York Times. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
13. "Saucy Kiss Me Again Girl Singer Fritzi Scheff Is Dead". The Milwaukee Journal. April 9, 1954. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
14. "France Warns Red China Aid to Indo Rebels Must Cease: Dulles Off Today for Parleys". The Washington Post. April 10, 1954. p. A1.
15. Blum, Daniel (1969). Screen World Vol. 6 1955. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-8196-0261-9.
16. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p289 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
17. Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
18. Bill Haley at AllMusic. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
19. Kendrick A. Clements (1979). "Emissary from a Revolution: Luis Cabrera and Woodrow Wilson". The Americas. Cambridge University Press. 35 (3).
20. "Prince Dies In Car Crash", in The West Australian (Perth, Western Australia) dated 13 April 1954, p. 17
21. "Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
22. Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
23. Hawkins, John. (1969) The Life and Times of Angus L. Windsor, N. S.: Lancelot Press Limited. OCLC 1867550 pp.252–254.
24. Laidler, Harry W. (4 July 2013). History of Socialism: An Historical Comparative Study of Socialism, Communism, Utopia. Routledge. p. 788. ISBN 978-1-136-23143-8.
25. Beck, J. Murray. (1988) Politics of Nova Scotia. (Volume Two 1896–1988) Tantallon, N. S.: Four East Publications. ISBN 0-920427-16-2 pages 239-240.
26. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (C)
27. John Stewart Bowman (1985). The Vietnam War: an almanac. World Almanac Publications. p. 35.
28. James A. Goforth (June 2004). Building the Clinchfield. The Overmountain Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-57072-291-2.
29. Witchel, Alex (April 22, 2011). "Ellen Barkin Is No Uptown Girl". The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2011. Barkin, who turned 57 on April 16...
30. Gelston, Dan. "WWE Hall of Famer Roddy Piper dies at 61". Associated Press.
31. McDermott, Kevin; Stibbe, Matthew (2015). De-Stalinising Eastern Europe: The Rehabilitation of Stalin's Victims after 1953. Springer. ISBN 9781137368928.
32. "Rescued Crew's Return". The Times (52909). London. 19 April 1954. col A, p. 4.
33. Stuart Macintyre (29 June 2009). A Concise History of Australia. Cambridge University Press. pp. 218. ISBN 978-0-521-51608-2.
34. Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
35. "A New Station for Tacoma" (PDF). Milwaukee Road Magazine. 42 (2): 4–5. May 1954. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
36. O'Donnell, Ian (18 April 2014). "Sixty years since Dublin's last hanging". Irish Times. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
37. Davis, Martin (1994). "Emil L. Post: His Life and Work". Solvability, Provability, Definability: The Collected Works of Emil L. Post. Birkhäuser. pp. xi–xxviii.
38. Doyle et al, p. 72
39. Rich Underwood (19 June 2007). Roll! Shooting TV News: Views from Behind the Lens. Taylor & Francis. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-136-03329-2.
40. "Friday 23 April 1954". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
41. Emily Schultz (2005). Michael Moore: A Biography. ECW Press. pp. 18. ISBN 978-1-55022-699-7.
42. World Football Legends homepage Archived 5 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
43. Bulletin. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 2007. p. 12.
44. Stuart Galbraith, IV (16 May 2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3.
45. Tom Campbell (1987). The Glory and the Dream: The History of Celtic F.C. 1887-1987. Grafton. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-586-20005-6.
46. B. Turner (12 January 2017). The Statesman's Yearbook 2009: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World. Springer. p. 451. ISBN 978-1-349-74027-7.
47. Polish Polar Research. Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe. 1998. p. 10.
48. "Nobel Committee information on Jouhaux". Retrieved 21 April 2020.
49. Pells, Eddie (November 21, 2019). "Snowboard pioneer Jake Burton Carpenter dies at 65". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
50. Weiner, Jonah (December 20, 2012). "Jerry Seinfeld Intends to Die Standing Up". The New York Times Magazine.
51. Hans-Michael Bock; Tim Bergfelder (1 September 2009). The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema. Berghahn Books. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-85745-565-9.
52. Bhashani Foundation (27 March 2012). Moulana Bhashani Leader of the Toiling Masses: Leader of the Toiling Masses. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-4691-3790-2.
53. Fox, Alistair (2011). Jane Campion: Authorship and Personal Cinema. Indiana University Press. p. 32. Retrieved 30 December 2015.