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