March 1, 1954

1954Catherine Bach, American actress^[†]

Catherine Bach is an American actress. She is known for playing Daisy Duke in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard and Margo Dutton in African Skies. In 2012, she joined the cast of the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless as Anita Lawson.

1954Ron Howard, American actor, director, and producer^[†]

Ronald William Howard is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received multiple accolades, including two Academy Awards, seven Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2003 and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2013. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions in film and television.

1954Nuclear weapons testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.^[†]

Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of their explosion. Over 2,000 nuclear weapons tests have been carried out since 1945. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to signal strength. Because of their destruction and fallout, testing has seen opposition by civilians as well as governments, with international bans having been agreed on. Thousands of tests have been performed, with most in the second half of the 20th century.

1954Armed Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives.^[†]

The independence movement in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, involves all activities seeking the political independence of the archipelago and island as a sovereign state. Since the 19th century, individuals and entities have advocated independence through peaceful political and violent revolutionary actions. Under the administration of the Spanish Empire (1493–1898), the Revolutionary Committee demanded independence in the revolts of Grito de Lares in 1868 and Intentona de Yauco in 1897. Under the administration of the United States (1898–present), the Nationalist Party called for independence using violence and terrorism, while the Independence Party continues to promote independence via the electoral process.