Historical Events in April 1954

Event of Interest

Apr 1 Detroit Red Wings right wing Gordie Howe scores 2 goals and an assist, and sets a Stanley Cup playoff record for fastest goal from the start of a game (:09) in a 4-3 2OT win over Toronto in Game 5 of the Semi-Finals

Ice Hockey Legend Gordie Howe — Ice Hockey Legend
Gordie Howe

Apr 2 Plans to build Disneyland 1st announced [see Jan 26]
Apr 3 "Me & Juliet" closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 358 performances
Apr 3 Don Perry climbs a 20' rope in under 2.8 seconds (AAU record)

Music Recording

Apr 5 Elvis Presley records his debut single "That's All Right"

Singer & Cultural Icon Elvis Presley — Singer & Cultural Icon
Elvis Presley

Apr 6 Montreal Canadiens score 3 goals in 56 sec in playoff game against Det
Apr 6 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
Apr 7 German government refuses to recognize DDR

Conference of Interest

Apr 7 US President Dwight D. Eisenhower in news conference is first to voice fear of a "domino-effect" of communism in Indo-China

34th US President & WWII General Dwight D. Eisenhower — 34th US President & WWII General
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Apr 7 WALB TV channel 10 in Albany, GA (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
Apr 8 "By the Beautiful Sea" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 270 performances

Apr 9 WECT TV channel 6 in Wilmington, NC (NBC/CBS) begins broadcasting
Apr 9 7th Cannes Film Festival: "Gate of Hell" directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
Apr 10 KRGV TV channel 5 in Weslaco, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting
Apr 10 108th Grand National: Bryan Marshall wins aboard Royal Tan at 8/1; second consecutive GN victory for both Marshall and trainer Vincent O'Brien
Apr 10 Wales beats Scotland, 15-3 at the St. Helen's Ground, Swansea to share Five Nations Rugby Championship with France and England; France's first title

US Masters Golf

Apr 12 18th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Sam Snead wins his 3rd and final Masters by 1 stroke in an 18-hole playoff with Ben Hogan

Apr 12 8th NBA Championship: Min Lakers beat Syracuse Nationals, 4 games to 3
Apr 12 Belgian Van Houtte government resigns

Event of Interest

Apr 12 Bill Haley and the Comets record "Rock Around Clock"

Father of Rock 'n' Roll Bill Haley — Father of Rock 'n' Roll
Bill Haley

Apr 12 Joe Turner releases "Shake, Rattle & Roll"
Apr 13 Baltimore Orioles 1st game, loses to Tigers in Detroit 3-0

Event of Interest

Apr 13 Milwaukee Braves' Hank Aaron's 1st game

Baseball Player Hank Aaron — Baseball Player
Hank Aaron

Event of Interest

Apr 13 Robert Oppenheimer accused of being a communist

Physicist and Father of the Atomic Bomb Robert Oppenheimer — Physicist and Father of the Atomic Bomb
Robert Oppenheimer

Apr 14 Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov asks for politics asylum in Canberra
Apr 15 KARK TV channel 4 in Little Rock, AR (NBC) begins broadcasting
Apr 15 Orioles 1st game in Baltimore beat White Sox 3-1
Apr 15 WHO TV channel 13 in Des Moines, IA (NBC) begins broadcasting
Apr 15 Yankees dedicate a plaque to Edward Barrow
Apr 16 KVAL TV channel 13 in Eugene, OR (CBS) begins broadcasting
Apr 16 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Detroit Red Wings beat Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 in OT for a 4-3 series victory

Apr 18 Egyptian Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power and appoints himself Prime Minister
Apr 19 58th Boston Marathon won by Veikko Karvonen of Finland in 2:20:39

Boston Marathon

Apr 19 7-time winner of Boston Marathon, 65-year-old Clarence DeMar, runs his last race at Boston finishing 78th

Marathon Runner Clarence DeMar — Marathon Runner
Clarence DeMar

Apr 20 "Golden Apple" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 125 performances

Event of Interest

Apr 21 Georgi Malenkov becomes premier of USSR

Soviet Leader Georgy Malenkov — Soviet Leader
Georgy Malenkov

Apr 21 USAF flies French battalion to Vietnam
Apr 22 Achiel van Acker forms Belgian government
Apr 22 NBA adopts 24-second shot clock & 6 team-foul rule
Apr 22 US Senate Army-McCarthy televised hearings begin
Apr 22 USSR joins UNESCO
Apr 23 Hammerin' Hank Aaron hits 1st of his 755 homers
Apr 24 1st American, civilian pilot, P.R. Holden, wounded in Indochina
Apr 24 Australia & USSR break diplomatic relations
Apr 24 WSEE TV channel 35 in Erie, PA (CBS) begins broadcasting

First Solar Battery

Apr 25 Bell labs announces the 1st solar battery made from silicon. It has about 6% efficiency.

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*Magazine advert for Bell Labs' new invention, the solar battery*

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Apr 25 British raid Nairobi, Kenya (25,000 Mau Mau suspects arrested)
Apr 25 US performs atmospheric nuclear test above Bikini Island
Apr 25 WDEF TV channel 12 in Chattanooga, TN (CBS) begins broadcasting
Apr 26 Far Eastern Affairs conference opens in Geneva

Polio

Apr 26 Mass trials of Jonas Salk's anti-polio vaccine begin; the first shot is delivered in Fairfax County, Virginia; more than 443,000 children receive shots over three months

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