Historical Events in May 1954

May 2 MLB St. Louis Cardinal Stan Musial hits 5 HRs in a doubleheader against the New York Giants at Busch Stadium

May 3 Pulitzer prize awarded to Charles A Lindbergh & John Patrick

May 5 General Alfredo Stroessner leads a military coup in Paraguay, overthrowing the government of President Federico Chávez

May 6 English athlete Roger Bannister becomes first to run a sub-4 minute mile, recording 3:59:4 at Iffley Road Track, Oxford

May 7 French surrender to Vietminh after 55-day siege at Dien Bien Phu
May 7 US, Great Britain & France reject Russian membership of NATO
May 8 1st shot-put throw over 60' (18.29 m) by American Parry O'Brien, Los Angeles, California
May 10 Bolshoi Ballet does not appear in Paris
May 13 "Pajama Game" opens at St James Theater NYC for 1063 performances
May 13 Labour Party wins British municipal elections
May 13 Robin Roberts gives up a HR then retires next 27 men in a row
May 13 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
May 13 Chinese Middle School students in Singapore take part in anti-National Service riots
May 14 Belgium shortens military conscription from 20 to 18 months
May 15 KGLO (now KIMT) TV channel 3 in Mason City, IA (CBS) 1st broadcast

May 16 Ted Williams gets 8 hits in 1st game (DH) since breaking collarbone

May 16 WGAN (now WGME) TV channel 13 in Portland, ME (CBS) 1st broadcast
May 17 US Supreme Court unanimously rules on Brown v Topeka Board of Education reverses 1896 "separate but equal" Plessy v Ferguson decision
May 19 Postmaster General Summerfield approves CIA mail-opening project

May 20 Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of Nationalist China

May 21 US Twenty-sixth amendment to give 18-year-olds right to vote is defeated
May 22 79th Preakness: Johnny Adams aboard Hasty Road wins in 1:57.4
May 22 KREX TV channel 5 in Grand Junction, CO (CBS) begins broadcasting
May 22 Robert Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan is Bar Mitzvahed
May 24 1st rocket attains 150 mi (241 km) altitude, White Sands, New Mexico
May 24 Dr Peter Murray Marshall becomes 1st African American to head an American Medical Association unit (New York County)
May 24 German airline Lufthansa forms
May 24 IBM announces vacuum tube "electronic" brain that could perform 10 million operations an hour

May 29 Pope Pius XII issues holy declaration

May 29 First of the annual Bilderberg conferences, fostering relations between Europe and North America held at Oosterbeek, Netherlands

May 29 French Championships Men's Tennis: Tony Trabert beats Art Larsen 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 for first of 2 straight French singles titles

May 29 French Championships Women's Tennis: Maureen Connolly retains her title; beats Ginette Bucaille of France 6-4, 6-1

May 29 British runner Diane Leather becomes first woman to run the mile in under 5 minutes; 4:59.6 at Alexander Sports Ground in Birmingham, England
May 30 Dutch bishops forbid membership to non-catholic sporting clubs
May 30 Emile Zatopek runs world record 5K (13:57.2)
May 30 Hector Villa-Lobos' "Odisseia de Uma Raca" premieres
May 31 Indianapolis 500: Bill Vukovich takes the lead on lap 150 to win his second consecutive 500; sets then record 130.840 mph average race speed