Life & Times 1954
Indicators
| Average annual income | $4,060 |
| New House | $22,000 |
| New Car | $1,950 |
| Minimum Wage | $.75 |
| Gallon of Gas | $.21 |
| Gallon of Milk | $.96 |
| Dozen Eggs | $.76 |
| Loaf of Bread | $.17 |
| Postage Stamp (ground) | $.03 |
Events
Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator forming the American Motors Corporation
The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut
President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam
Vietnam partitioned into North and South
The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
US Supreme Court rules in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka that segregation is unconstitutional
In Memphis, Tennessee, WHBQ becomes the first radio station to air an Elvis Presley record
The pledge of allegiance is modified: "one nation, indivisible..." becomes "one nation, under God..."
First flight of a B-52 Stratofortress
First kidney transplant operation is performed by Harvard doctors
Governor Francis Cherry implies Orval Faubus is a communist, but Faubus is elected governor
Borden's Dairy moves into Little Rock, opens a plant on Asher Avenue west of Hayes Street
Nobel Prize for Literature - Ernest Hemingway
Roger Bannister runs the first sub-four-minute mile in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds
"The Tonight Show" debuts
Books
The Bridge on the River Kwai - Pierre Boulle
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Live and Let Die - Ian Fleming
Lord of the Flies - William G. Golding
The Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers - J. R. R. Tolkien
Not as a Stranger - Morton Thompson
Sayonara - James A. Michener
Sweet Thursday - John Steinbeck
Movies
On the Waterfront (Best movie, best actor, Marlon Brando)
The Country Girl (Best actress, Grace Kelly)
Rear Window
The Caine Mutiny
Sabrina
Dial M for Murder
White Christmas
The High and the Mighty
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The Creature From The Black Lagoon
Them!
The Seven Samurai
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers
A Star Is Born
Music
1 Little Things Mean A Lot - Kitty Kallen
2 Wanted - Perry Como
3 Hey There - Rosemary Clooney
4 Sh-Boom - Crew Cuts
5 Make Love to Me - Jo Stafford
6 Oh My Pa-Pa - Eddie Fisher
7 I Get So Lonely - Four Knights
8 Three Coins in the Fountain - Four Aces
9 Secret Love - Doris Day
10 Hernando's Hideaway - Archie Bleyer
11 Young at Heart - Frank Sinatra
12 This Ole House - Rosemary Clooney
13 I Need You Now - Eddie Fisher
14 Cross Over the Bridge - Patti Page
15 The Little Shoemakker - Gaylords
16 That's Amore - Dean Martin
17 The Happy Wanderer - Frank Weir
18 Answer Me My Love - Nat King Cole
19 Stranger in Paradise - Tony Bennett
20 If I Give My Heart To You - Doris Day