Today in History for July 1954

Months in 1954: January February March April May June August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 52 of 52

1st - Cards' Joe Cunningham hits 2 HRs for record 3 HRs in his 1st 2 days
1st - Test Cricket debut of Khalid Hassan, 16 yrs 352, then world record
1st - WDBO (now WCPX) TV channel 6 in Orlando, FL (CBS) begins broadcasting
2nd - 68th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: J Drobny beats K Rosewall (13-11 46 62 97)
2nd - Denis Compton scores 278 in 290 minutes v Pakistan
3rd - "Wonderful Town" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 559 perfs
3rd - 61st Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Maureen Connolly beats L Brough (62 75)
3rd - 9th US Women's Open Golf Championship won by Babe Didrikson-Zaharias
3rd - Food rationing ends in Britain
4th - WMSL (WYUR, now WAFF) TV channel 48 in Huntsville, AL (ABC) begins
4th - West Germany beats Hungary 3-2 for soccer's 5th World Cup in Bern
4th - Dr Sam Sheppard's wife Marilyn is murdered (he is accused of crime)
5th - B-52A bomber made its maiden flight
5th - Last day of Test Cricket for Khalid Hassan aged 16 yrs, 356 days
5th - The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin.
6th - KMOS TV channel 6 in Sedalia-Warrensburg, MO (PBS) begins broadcasting
6th - Tunisian government of M'zali, resigns
7th - T.A.N.U. party forms in Tanzania
7th - Formation of the TANU in Tanzania
8th - KMOX (now KMOV) TV channel 4 in Saint Louis, MO (CBS) 1st broadcast
8th - Military junta selects colonel Armas president of Guatemala
11th - 1st White Citizens Council organizes in Indianola, Miss
12th - Major League Baseball Players Association founded
12th - Pres Eisenhower put forward a plan for an interstate highway system
13th - 21st All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 11-9 at Municipal Stadium, Cleve
13th - Dean Stone gets credit for AL win, although he didn't retire a batter, he threw out Shoendienst trying to steal home, AL-11 NL-9
14th - 117°F (47°C), East St Louis, Illinois (state record)
14th - 118°F (48°C), Warsaw & Union, Missouri (state record)
15th - 110°F (43°C) at Balcony Falls, Virginia (state record)
15th - 1st coml jet transport plane built in US tested (Boeing 707)
15th - KOCO TV channel 5 in Oklahoma City, OK (ABC) begins broadcasting
15th - WBOC TV channel 16 in Salisbury, MD (CBS/NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
17th - 1st major league game where majority of team is black (Dodgers)
17th - Construction begins on Disneyland. . .
17th - Theodor Heuss re-elected president of West Germany
18th - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Inverness Four-Ball Golf Tournament
18th - Cards losing 8-1 to Phillies begin stalling in 5th, they forfeit game
20th - Armistice for Indo-China signed, Vietnam separates into North & South
20th - Tennis champ Maureen Connolly's right leg is crushed in an accident
20th - West German secret service head Otto John defects to German DR
21st - At Geneva, France agrees to independence of North & South Vietnam
22nd - Virgin Islands (US) adopts constitution (Revised Organic Act)
22nd - WTHI TV channel 10 in Terre Haute, IN (CBS) begins broadcasting
25th - Marilynn Smith wins LPGA Fort Wayne Golf Open
26th - WCET TV channel 48 in Cincinnati, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
27th - 36th PGA Championship: Chick Herbert at Keller GC St Paul Minn
27th - Armistice divides Vietnam into two countries
28th - Ernest Blochs 4th string quartet, premieres
30th - Bob Kennedy hits the 1st grand slam for the new Baltimore Orioles
Singer & Cultural Icon Elvis Presley 30th - Elvis Presley joins Memphis Federation of Musicians, Local 71
31st - Mil Braves' Joe Adcock sets record of 18 total bases (4 hrs, 1 double)
31st - First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio.

Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 57 of 57

1st - Michael Daniel Reid, Bainbridge MD, PGA golfer (1987 Seiko Tucson)
2nd - Wendy Schaal, Chicago Ill, actress (It's a Living, Julie-Fantasy Is)
3rd - Debbie Skinner, LPGA golfer
4th - Jim Beattie, baseball pitcher (NY Yankees)
5th - John Wright, NZ cricketer (opening batsman 1978-92)
5th - Leni Björklund, Swedish politician
5th - Jimmy Crespo, American guitarist (Aerosmith)
6th - Allyce Beasley, Bkln, actress (Agnes Dipesto-Moonlighting)
6th - James Kiberd, actor (Trevor Dillon-Loving, All My Children)
6th - Willie Randolph, former New York Mets manager
9th - Debbie Sledge, Phila, vocalist (Sister Sledge-We are Family)
10th - Andre Dawson, Miami Fla, outfielder (Expos, Cubs, 1987 NL MVP)
10th - Gene Holder, rocker
10th - Neil Francis Tennant, rocker (Pet Shop Boys-Left to My Own Devices)
10th - Neil Tennant, rocker (Pet Shop Boy-West End Girl)
11th - Benny Defranco, rocker (Defrnco Family)
11th - Butch Reed, American professional wrestler
12th - Wolfgang Dremmler, German footballer
13th - David Thompson, NBA guard (Phoenix Suns, Seattle Supersonics)
13th - Louise Mandrell, Corpus Christi Tx, country singer (Mandrell Sisters)
13th - Ray "Candles" Bright, Australian cricket slow-left armer (1977-86)
13th - Sezen Aksu, Turkish singer
13th - Rick Chartraw, American ice hockey player
14th - Bebe Buell, Norfolk Va, wife of Todd Rundgren/playmate (Nov, 1974)
14th - Jos Zoomer, Amsterdam Neth, rock drummer (Vandenberg)
14th - Ralph D'Amico, jockey
15th - Boris Polak, Israel, Men's 50M Free Rifle 3 Positions (Oly-20-1996)
16th - Jeanette Mott Oxford, American politician
17th - Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
17th - J. Michael Straczynski, American author
18th - Imtiaz Ali, cricketer (brother of Inshan One Test WI v India 1976)
18th - Ricky Skaggs, Cordell Ky, country singer (Heartbroke, Toy Hearts)
18th - Robert Cameron, CFL punter (Winnipeg Blue Bombers)
18th - Tobias Picker, composer
19th - Srđa Trifković, Serbian-American journalist
20th - Jay Jay French, NYC, guitarist (Twisted Sister-Not Gonna Take It)
20th - Moira Harris, American actress
22nd - Al Dimeola, rocker
22nd - Henriette Allais Jacksonville FL, playmate (Mar, 1980)
22nd - Pierre Lebeau, Canadian actor
22nd - Al Di Meola, American guitarist
24th - Philippe Alliot, race driver (grand prix)
25th - Ken Greer, rock guitarist (Red Rider)
25th - Lynn Frederick, Middlesex England, actress (Schizophrenia)
NFL Running Back Walter Payton (25th) 25th - Walter Payton, Columbia Mississippi, NFL running back (Chicago Bears), (d. 1999)
26th - Lawrence Watt-Evans, US, sci-fi author (Hugo, Sword of Bheleu)
26th - Vitas Gerulaitis, Brooklyn NY, tennis star (Australia 1987)
27th - G. S. Bali, Indian politician
28th - Ken Margolis, rocker (Mink DeVille)
28th - Steve Morse, rocker
28th - Mikey Sheehy, Gaelic footballer
28th - Bruce Abbott, American actor
28th - Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela, (d. 2013)
28th - Gerd Faltings, German mathematician
29th - Flo Hyman, Inglewood California, volleyball player (Olympic-silver-1984)
30th - Ken Olin, Chicago Ill, actor (Hill St Blues, Michael-30 Something)
31st - Derek Smith, Canadian ice hockey player

Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 2 of 2

17th - Master of quick wit and widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era Groucho Marx (63) weds actress Eden Hartford (24)
31st - "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" guest host Steve Allen (32) weds actress Jayne Meadows (33)

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 15 of 15

3rd - Siegfried Handloser, German physician (b. 1895)
6th - Dirk Verbeek, actor/director (Hofstad Stage), dies at 70
10th - Calogero Vizzini, Sicilian mafioso (b. 1877)
13th - Irving Pichel, dies at 63
13th - M C Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter/wife of Diego Rivera, dies at 47
14th - Jacinto Benavente y Martinez, Spanish playwright, dies at 87
14th - Jackie Saunders, American silent screen actress (b. 1892)
17th - Dirk B Nanninga, painter, dies at 85
18th - George Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster, dies at 59
19th - Jean Roger-Ducasse, composer, dies at 81
20th - Blair Moody, (Sen-Mich), dies at 52
24th - Mary Church Terrell, educator/civil rights leader, dies at 90
26th - Hans Lodeizen, [Johan Frederik], poet (Travel to Congo), dies at 26
29th - Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (b. 1879)
31st - Onofre Marimón, Argentine racing driver (b. 1923)