Baby Boomers - What Happened in 1954?

If you are a baby boomer born in 1954, you will find this information extremely interesting. Hope you enjoy learning more about the year you were born! If you have a friend or a family member born in 1954, send them a link to this page. They will appreciate it!

Major Events

• Dwight Eisenhower is president and Richard Nixon is vice president of the United States
• President Eisenhower signs into law the new social security bill funded by employers and employees
• Senator Joseph McCarthy begins leading televised hearings into alleged Communist influence in the Army
• Supreme Court rules unanimously that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional
• Operation Wetback is started to send back to Mexico almost 4 million illegal immigrants
• President Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act outlawing Communist Party in the U.S.
• America does a large scale nationwide civil defense drill simulating over 12 million Americans die in a mock nuclear attack
• Ellis Island in New York closes
• Senate condemns Joseph McCarthy for contempt of a Senate elections subcommittee during his Army investigation hearings
• U.S. Southeast Asian and Pacific nations form the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO)
• In Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka the Supreme Court unanimously bans racial segregation in public schools
• Nasser becomes premier of Egypt
• Radical Puerto Rican nationalists attack U.S. House of Representatives, shooting five congressmen
• CIA intervenes in Guatemala to help overthrow the government
• Soviet Union rejects proposals to reunify Germany
• Paris agreements grant West Germany sovereignty and admittance to NATO and Western European Union
• U.S. and Canada begin construction of an early-warning radar system in northern Canada

Business and Economy

• U.S. GDP (1998 dollars): $381.3 billion
• Federal spending: $70.86 billion
• Federal debt: $270.8 billion
• Consumer Price Index: 26.9
• Unemployment: 2.9%
• Dow Jones Industrial average closes at an all-time high of 382.74
• New York Stock Exchange prices reach their highest level since 1929

Science and Technology

• Nautilus, the first atomic powered submarine, launches
• First children receive Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine
• The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins
• The first organ transplants are done in Boston and Paris
• Harvard physicians perform the first successful kidney transplant in the United States
• Boeing tests the 707, the first jet-powered transport plane
• Physicist and nuclear pioneer J. Robert Oppenheimer dismissed from government projects due to his political beliefs
• Hydrogen bomb test conducted on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean
• James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announce discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA
• The first all electronic color television goes on sale from RCA selling for $1,000
• Increasing global concern about nuclear fallout and radioactive waste disposal

Sports

• Dr. Roger Bannister, a 25 year old from England, breaks the 4 minute mile with a time of 3:59
• Hank Aaron begins his career by joining the Milwaukee Braves
• New York Giants defeated Cleveland to win the World Series (4-0)
• Cleveland Browns win the NFL championship
• Minneapolis Lakers defeated Syracuse to win the NBA Championship (4-3)
• Sports Illustrated first issue debuted
• Rose Bowl parade is broadcast in color on TV
• The World Series is broadcast in color for the first time

Famous Baby Boomers Born in 1954

• Al Sharpton
• Bruce Hornsby
• Chris Evert
• Christie Brinkley
• Condoleezza Rice
• Denzel Washington Jr.
• Howard Stern
• Jackie Chan
• Jerry Seinfeld
• John Travolta
• Louise Mandrell
• Michael Moore
• Oprah Winfrey
• Patty Hearst
• Ron Howard
• Tony Dorsett

Arts and Entertainment

• Books: Not as a Stranger; Mary Anne; Love Is Eternal; The Royal Box; The Egyptian; No Time for Sergeants; Sweet Thursday; The View from Pompey's Head; Never Victorious, Never Defeated; Benton's Row
• Movies: On the Waterfront, Rear Window, The Caine Mutiny, Sabrina, The High and the Mighty, Wild One, White Christmas, The Glenn Miller Story, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
• Songs: Rock Around The Clock; Shake, Rattle And Roll; Earth Angel; Sh-Boom; That's All Right; Pledging My Love; Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite; I've Got A Woman; White Christmas; Work With Me Annie
• Popular Musicians: Bill Haley & His Comets, Penguins, Chords, Elvis Presley, Johnny Ace, Spaniels, Ray Charles, Drifters featuring Clyde McPhatter, Royals/Midnighters
• TV Shows: Father Knows Best, I Love Lucy, The Jackie Gleason Show, Dragnet, You Bet Your Life, The Toast of the Town
• The World Series is broadcast in color for the first time
• The revenue for television broadcasters surpasses that of radio broadcasters - gross revenue for television is $593 million
• Elvis Presley cut his first commercial record and begins his music career
• Marilyn Monroe marries Joe DeMaggio
• First annual Newport Jazz Festival held

Everyday Life

• U.S. Population: 163,025,854
• Life expectancy: 69.6 years
• Average yearly income: $4,167
• Cost of a new home: $10,250
• Cost of a new car: $1,700
• Federal hourly minimum wage: $.75
• Cost of a first-class stamp: $.03

Popular Culture

• 29 million U.S. households have television sets, double the number in service three years before
• Armistice Day is renamed Veteran's Day to honor vets from the Civil War, WWI and WWII, and the Korean conflict
• The words "under God" are added to the United States Pledge of Allegiance
• Nash and Hudson merged to form the American Motors Corporation (AMC)
• Mercedes introduced the 300SL coupe, with its gull-wing doors
• The first automatic toll collection machine in New Jersey
• Billy Graham leads an increasing interest in Christian revival meetings
• Swanson introduces TV Dinners
• First nonstick pan was produced
• Davy Crockett becomes a national fad - sales of coonskin caps soar
• Sun Myung Moon founds the Unification Church
• The first Burger King opens
• General Electric introduces colored kitchen appliances
• Iwo Jima memorial statue is erected
• Catholic Church declares watching Mass on TV does not fulfill obligations
• Sales of comic books reach 20 million copies a month
• The call sign "Air Force One" was classified to identify not only the president's plane but any plane when he was aboard
• M&M's Peanut Chocolate Candies are introduced
• The Butterball turkey brand and the self-basting turkey are introduced
• Play Doh created