This day in history. Read about what happened today. A short and interesting account of historical events and facts about this day as well as any other day of the year. Find historical birthdays, deaths, tragedies, war events, disasters and sports events.

This year in history
In the year 1954

	January 29th	American entertainer, Oprah Winfrey, was born in Mississippi. She is a producer, actress, and publisher who is probably the most financially successful entertainer in America and one of the richest people in the world.
	February 14th	UEFA (the Union des Associations Europeennes de Football) was founded in Basle, Switzerland.
	February 18th	American actor, John Travolta, was born in New Jersey. He is most known for his roles in the movies, Saturday Night Fever and Grease, as well as his amazing return to stardom in 1994 with Quentin Tarantino's hit movie, Pulp Fiction.
	February 20th	American, Patty Hearst, was born in San Francisco, California. She is the granddaughter of publishing tycoon, William Randolph Hearst. She became famous worldwide when in 1974 after being kidnapped she joined with her kidnappers in robbing a bank. She was subsequently arrested and sentenced to prison, however her prison sentence was commuted by US president Jimmy Carter. She also received a full pardon by president Bill Clinton on the last day of his presidency.
	February 25th	Gamal Abdul Nasser ascended to the position of prime minister in Egypt. He remained Egypt's leader until his death in 1970.
	February 26th	Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was born in Istanbul.
	March 1st	The United States detonated a 15 megaton hydrogen bomb on the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. It was the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the United States.
	April 9th	American actor, Dennis Quaid, was born in Houston, Texas.
	April 18th	Canadian comedian, Rick Moranis, was born in Toronto, Ontario. He is famous for his participation in family type movies, such as the Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. He partially retired from acting in 1996, after his wife died of liver cancer in 1991, in order to concentrate on raising his children.
	April 23th	American filmmaker, Michael Moore, was born in Flint, Michigan. He has been a controversial figure and critic of the Bush Administration. He became known worldwide with his 2002 film "Bowling for Columbine" which was intensely critical of the gun culture in America. Later on he released his "Fahrenheit 9/11" which examined Amrica in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
	April 29th	American comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the long-running sitcom Seinfeld, which he co-created and executive produced.
	May 5th	A coup d'etat was carried out in Paraguay by General Alfredo Stroessner. He remained in power for 35 years, which makes his the second longest rule in Latin America in the 20th century, after that of Fidel Castro of Cuba.
	June 15th	American actor, James Belushi, was born in Chicago, Illinois.
	June 15th	UEFA (the Union des Associations Europeennes de Football) was founded in Basle, Switzerland.
	June 27th	The world's first nuclear power station opened in Obninsk, near Moscow.
	July 5th	The BBC broadcast its first television newscast.
	July 15th	The first flight of the Boeing 707 took place. It was the first American made jet passenger aircraft.
	July 21st	The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, was published in the UK.
	July 28th	President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, was born in the town of Sabaneta, Barinas. He is best known for his anti-imperialism, as well as his criticism of neoliberal globalization and the foreign policy of the United States.
	August 24th	The Communist Control Act went into effect in the United States. Under the terms of the act the American communist party as well as membership in it, was outlawed.
	August 24th	President of Brazil, Getulio Dornelles Vargas, committed suicide.
	August 25th	British musician, Elvis Costello, was born in London. His real name is Declan Patrick MacManus.
	September 20th	The first program based on the FORTRAN language run on a computer. FORTRAN was developed as a more efficient alternative to assembly language for the IBM 704 mainframe computer.
	September 22nd	American singer, Shari Belafonte, was born in New York City.
	September 27th	The television show, Tonight!, also known as 'The Tonight Show' premiered on the NBC channel. The original host of the show was Steve Allen who hosted the show for 3 years to be replaced by Jack Paar who stayed on as the host for 5 years. The third host of the show, Johnny Carson, became an icon of American and worldwide television. He hosted the show for an amazing 30 years and in 1992 was replaced by Jay Leno.
	September 30th	The United States submarine USS Nautilus was commissioned. It was the world's first vessel that was powered by a nuclear reactor. It was decommissioned on the 3rd of March 1980.
	October 10th	American singer, David Lee Roth, was born in Indiana, USA. He is best known for his work with the hard rock band Van Halen.
	October 19th	The first ever ascent of Cho Oyu took place. Cho Oyu is the sixth highest peak in the world and is part of the Himalayas.
	October 31st	A revolt against French rule began in Algeria. It was the begining of an eight year struggle which lead to the country's independence.
	November 3rd	French painter, Henri Matisse, died at the age of 85. Along with Pablo Picasso he is one of the most well known painters of the 20th century.
	November 3rd	The first Godzilla film was released in Japan.
	November 13th	American businessman, Scott McNealy, was born in Indiana. He is the CEO as well as one of the founders of Sun Microsystems.
	November 14th	American politician, Condoleezza Rice, was born in Alabama. She replaced Colin Powell as United States Secretary of State when the later one retired on January 2005.
	November 14th	Greek musician, Yanni, was born in Kalamata, Greece. He is a worldwide famous instrumental music artist.
	November 29th	American filmmaker, Joel Coen, was born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Along with his brother, Joel, they are commonly known as 'The Coen Brothers', and are widely considered as some of America's most talented directors.
	December 24th	Laos gained its independence.
	December 25th	Scottish singer, Annie Lennox, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. She is one of the most distinct personalities of modern music, both as a solo artist and as the lead singer of the band, Eurythmics.
	December 28th	American actor, Denzel Washington, was born in Mount Vernon, New York. He is a two-time Academy Award-winning actor and one of the most financially successful actors currently working in Hollywood (2006).

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