1954

**1954** (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday in the Gregorian calendar.

## Events

- May 17 - The Supreme Court of the United States decides to desegregate schools in _Brown v. Board of Education_.
- August 1 - The First Indochina War ends.
- September 17 - The book _Lord of the Flies_ by William Golding is published.
- October 18 – Texas Instruments announces the first transistor radio.

## Births

- January 6 - Anthony Minghella, British movie director (d. 2008)
- January 9 - Lance Hoppen, American singer-songwriter and musician (Orleans)
- January 23 - Richard Finch, American bass guitarist (KC & the Sunshine Band)
- January 29 – Oprah Winfrey, American talk show host
- February 7 - Dieter Bohlen, German music mogul
- February 15 - Matt Groening, American creator of The Simpsons and Futurama
- February 16 - Iain Banks, Scottish writer
- February 18 - John Travolta, American actor
- February 20 - Patty Hearst, American heiress
- February 21 - Ivo van Damme, Belgian athlete (d. 1976)
- March 1 – Ron Howard, American actor, director
- March 1 - Igor Kisch, Czech politician, Minister of Health and doctor
- March 1 - Catherine Bach, American actress
- March 16 - Nancy Wilson, American guitarist (Heart)
- March 25 - Miran Anes, Albanian politician and judge (d. 2012)
- April 1 - Jeff Porcaro, American drummer (Toto) (d. 1992)
- April 11 - Abdullah Atalar, Turkish academic
- April 19 - Trevor Francis, English footballer
- April 23 – Michael Moore, documentary movie maker
- April 23 – Tony Atlas, American professional wrestler
- April 28 - Jimmy Barnes, Australian singer
- April 28 - Mary Jo Randle, British actress
- May 8 - Clive Wood, British actor
- May 13 - Johnny Logan, Irish singer
- May 17 - David Zippel, American lyricist
- May 20 - David Paterson, former Governor of New York
- May 21 - Janice Karman, American voice actress
- June 20 - Michael Anthony, American bass guitarist (Van Halen)
- June 25 - David Paich, American keyboardist (Toto)
- June 30 - Serzh Sargsyan, President of Armenia
- July 17 - Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
- July 28 - Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela (d. 2013)
- July 28 - Gerd Faltings, German mathematician
- August 12 - Francois Hollande, President of France
- August 15 - Stieg Larsson, Swedish writer (d. 2004)
- August 16 - George Galloway, British politician
- August 25 – Elvis Costello, British singer
- September 6 - Carly Fiorina, American politician
- September 21 - Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2022)
- September 30 - Mitch Lewis, Canadian multi-instrumentalist
- October 9 – Scott Bakula, actor
- October 10 - David Lee Roth, American singer (Van Halen)
- November 1 - László Kerekes, drijor and Hungarian composer
- November 14 - Condoleezza Rice, former United States Secretary of State
- November 24 - Susan Gilmore, British actress
- December 15 - Zivko Jovanović, Serbian politician and judge
- December 20 - László Levin, politician Hungarian (d. 2009)
- December 25 - Annie Lennox, Scottish singer (Eurythmics)
- December 28 - Denzel Washington, American actor
- December 29 – Albrecht Böttcher, German mathematician
- December 30 - Pnina Rosenblum, Israeli business woman and politician
- December 31 - Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland
- December 31 - Hermann Tilke, German racing circuit designer

## Deaths

- May 19 – Charles Ives, American composer
- June 7 – Alan Turing, mathematician
- June 9 - Alain LeRoy Locke, American writer
- July 13 – Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter
- August 6 – Emilie Dionne, one of the Dionne Quintuplets
- November 3 – Henri Matisse, painter
- November 29 – Enrico Fermi, physicist

## Related pages

- 1954 in association football