The following events occurred in May 1954:
The Unification Church is founded in South Korea.
Died:Tom Tyler, American actor (b. 1903)
Died:Józef Garbień, Polish footballer and physician (b. 1896)
General Alfredo Stroessner deposes Federico Chávez in a coup d'état in Paraguay and rules until 1989.
Roger Bannister runs the first sub-four minute mile, in Oxford, England.
Died:B. C. Forbes, Scottish-born publisher (b. 1880)
Vietnam War (run-up): The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat (the battle began on March 13).
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is formed in Manila, Philippines.
U.S. Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, declares that Indochina is important but not essential to the security of Southeast Asia, thus ending any prospect of American intervention on the side of France.
The Boeing 707 is released after about two years of development.
The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict was adopted in The Hague, Netherlands.
Died:Heinz Guderian, German World War II general (b. 1888)
The Latin Union (Unión Latina) is created by the Convention of Madrid. Its member countries use the five Romance languages: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. It will suspend operations in 2012.
Died:William March, American writer and soldier (b. 1893)
Brown v. Board of Education (347 US 483 1954): The U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously that segregated schools are unconstitutional.
The Royal Commission on the Petrov Affair in Australia begins its inquiry.
Adnan Menderes of the Democrat Party forms the new (21st) government of Turkey.
Died:Charles Ives, American composer (b. 1874)
Chiang Kai-shek is reelected as the president of the Republic of China by the National Assembly.
The common Nordic Labour Market act is signed.
Died:Chief Bender, Native-American baseball player (Philadelphia Athletics) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1884)
Died:Robert Capa, Hungarian-born photojournalist (b. 1913)
A fire on board the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Bennington off Narragansett Bay, Massachusetts, kills 103 sailors.
Robert Menzies's government is reelected for a fourth term in Australia.
Creation and first meeting of the Bilderberg Group.
Diane Leather becomes the first woman to run a sub-five minute mile, in Birmingham, England.
May 1954 Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA