Image: 'Elvis Presley - Backstage at the Overton Park Shell, Friday, July 30, 1954'
(Friday, July 30, 1954, 8:00 p.m. local time) — Elvis Presley made his professional debut in Memphis. It was his first concert to be advertised.
Category Archives: 1950s
Diem appointed prime minister of South Vietnam 60 years ago today (July 7 1954)
Video: 'Vietnam a Television History Episode 2' (July 7, 1954, at 4:18)
(Wednesday, July 7, 1954; during the First Indochina War, part of the Cold War) — Two months after the French surrendered to the Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu, Emperor Bao Dai appointed Ngo Dinh Diem today as prime minister of what would become South Vietnam, hoping he would be able to attract American aid.
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War critic Mendes France becomes French prime minister 60 years ago today (June 18 1954)
Video: 'Vietnam a Television History Episode 1' (June 18, 1954, at 53:30)
(Friday, June 18, 1954; during the First Indochina War, part of the Cold War) — The French cabinet fell and a new prime minister took over today, Pierre Mendès France, a critic of the Indochina War.
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‘Under God’ added to U.S. Pledge of Allegiance 60 years ago today (June 14 1954)
Video: 'One Nation Under God: Debating The Pledge Of Allegiance'
(Monday, June 14, 1954) — U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure today adding the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
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Secretary of State Dulles urges $3.5 billion foreign aid 60 years ago today (June 4 1954)
Video: 'Vietnam a Television History Episode 1' (June 4, 1954, at 51:29)
(Friday, June 4, 1954; during the First Indochina War, part of the Cold War) — U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles urged the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today to invest $3.5 billion in foreign aid during the next 12 months to help prevent “red domination” of the world.
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‘Dial M for Murder’ opens in New York City 60 years ago today (May 29 1954)
Video: 'Dial M for Murder' trailer
(Saturday, May 29, 1954) — Dial M for Murder, a crime thriller film about a straying husband who frames his wife for the murder of the man he’d hired to kill her, opened today in New York City at the Paramount theater.
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the film starred Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings and John Williams.
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103 sailors killed by explosions on aircraft carrier off Rhode Island 60 years ago this hour (May 26 1954)
Video: 'USS Bennington'
(Wednesday, May 26, 1954, 6:15 a.m. EDT) — Explosions rocked the aircraft carrier USS Bennington today off Rhode Island, killing 103 sailors. The initial blast was blamed on leaking catapult fluid ignited by the flames of a jet.
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Bill Haley’s ‘Rock Around the Clock’ released 60 years ago today (May 20 1954)
(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.
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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.
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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.
