(Thursday, May 20, 1954) — Bill Haley & His Comets’s “Rock Around the Clock,” considered the first rock and roll song to top the charts, was released today, but it didn’t catch on until it appeared on the soundtrack of Blackboard Jungle the following year.
Category Archives: 1950s
Fender Stratocaster guitar officially released 60 years ago today (May 15 1954)
Video: 'Fender 60th Anniversary American Vintage 1954 Stratocaster Electric Guitar'
(Saturday, May 15, 1954) — The Fender Stratocaster, a double-cutaway electric guitar with an extended top “horn” shape for balance designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Freddie Tavares, was released today.
Share this:
British athlete Roger Bannister breaks four-minute mile 60 years ago today (May 6 1954)
Video: 'Roger Bannister Breaks the 4 Minute Mile (1954)'
(Thursday, May 6, 1954) — Medical student Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile today during a track meet in Oxford, England, in 3:59.4.
Share this:
Geneva Conference opens in Switzerland 60 years ago today (Apr 26 1954)
Video: 'Vietnam a Television History Episode 1' (Geneva Conference at 51:54)
(Monday, April 26, 1954; during the First Indochina War, part of the Cold War) — The Geneva Conference, organized to find a way to settle outstanding issues on the Korean peninsula and to unify Vietnam and discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina, convened today in Geneva, Switzerland.
Share this:
‘Seven Samurai’ released in Japan 60 years ago today (Apr 26 1954)
Video: 'Seven Samurai' trailer
(Monday, April 26, 1954) — Seven Samurai, a 1954 Japanese period adventure drama film about a poor village that recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves from bandits, opened today in Japan.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa, the film starred Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune.
Share this:
Senate Army-McCarthy hearings televised beginning 60 years ago today (Apr 22 1954)
Video: 'Joseph McCarthy Congressional Hearings'
(Thursday, April 22, 1954; during the Second Red Scare) — The McCarthy-Army hearings, a Senate hearing derived from Senator Joseph McCarthy’s hunt for communists in the United States, were televised live beginning today, continuing through June 17, 1954.
Share this:
Bill Haley & His Comets record ‘Rock Around the Clock’ in New York 60 years ago today (Apr 12 1954)
(Monday, April 12, 1954) — Bill Haley and His Comets today recorded “Rock Around The Clock,” considered the first rock and roll song to top the charts, for Decca Records at the Pythian Temple studios in New York City.
Share this:
Eisenhower presents ‘domino theory’ 60 years ago today (Apr 7 1954)
Video: '45 85 Part 5' (Apr. 7, 1954, at 8:27)
(Wednesday, April 7, 1954; during First Indochina War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower soberly warned at a news conference today that the fall of French Indochina to the communists could create a “domino” effect in Southeast Asia. The so-called “domino theory” dominated U.S. thinking about the region for the next two decades.
Share this:
Senator McCarthy replies to Murrow TV commentary 60 years ago this hour (Apr 6 1954)
Video: 'Good Night and Good Luck - McCarthy Response'
(Tuesday, April 6, 1954, 10:30 p.m. EST; during the Second Red Scare) — A month after being criticized by newsman Edward R. Murrow on CBS’ See It Now, Wisconsin Republican Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, given the chance to respond on the program, charged that Murrow had, in the past, “engaged in propaganda for Communist causes.” Continue reading Senator McCarthy replies to Murrow TV commentary 60 years ago this hour (Apr 6 1954)
Share this:
‘Columbia Pictures Doing Burns and Allen Story’ episode airs on ‘The Burns and Allen Show’ 60 years ago this hour (Mar 29 1954)
Video: 'Burns and Allen: Columbia Pictures Doing Burns and Allen Story'
(Monday, March 29, 1954, 8:00 p.m. ) — Columbia is doing the Burns and Allen story and everybody wants to get into the act on tonight’s episode of the CBS-TV sitcom series The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.
This episode is listed as #56 on TV Guide‘s 1997 list of Top 100 Episodes of All Time.
