On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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Pub Security Min ex-aide J Swiatlo, secretly in US since Dec after defection while shopping in W Berlin, appears at news conf, Washington; has been granted asylum; reveals data on missing Field family; por
Gen Ridgway declines comment on Quemoy's importance
Egypt charges Israeli merchant ship fired on Egyptian village S of Suez, wounding several inhabitants; protests to UN; holds ship and crew; illus; map; Min Salem comments; Israel denies charges; demands release of ship and crew; protests to UN; Egyptian repr at UN hints Israel provoked incident to force Security Council to reconsider Suez Canal blockade issue
dies; 78; career; por
1954Marshall Holman, American bowler and sportscaster[†]
Marshall Holman is an American sports broadcaster and retired professional ten-pin bowler. He was known for his flamboyant, fiery demeanor and his success on the PBA Tour from the mid-1970s to the end of the 1980s. He is one of only 17 players in history to reach at least 20 career PBA Tour titles. Holman was sponsored by Columbia 300 and Nike.
1954Harry E. Johnson, American lawyer and public servant[†]
Harry Edward Johnson is an American lawyer, academic, and businessman. Johnson is a former national president of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and was the president and CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.
1954Geoffrey Marcy, American astronomer[†]
Geoffrey William Marcy is an American astronomer. He was an early influence in the field of exoplanet detection, discovery, and characterization. Marcy was a professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, and an adjunct professor of physics and astronomy at San Francisco State University. Marcy and his research teams discovered many extrasolar planets, including 70 out of the first 100 known exoplanets and also the first planetary system around a Sun-like star, Upsilon Andromedae. Marcy was a co-investigator on the NASA Kepler space telescope mission. His collaborators have included R. Paul Butler, Debra Fischer and Steven S. Vogt, Jason Wright, Andrew Howard, Katie Peek, John Johnson, Erik Petigura, Lauren Weiss, Lea Hirsch and the Kepler Science Team. Following an investigation for sexual harassment in 2015, Marcy resigned his position at the University of California, Berkeley.
1954Mark Mitchell, Australian actor[†]
Mark Mitchell is an Australian actor, comedian and contemporary artist, best known for his roles in the sketch comedy series The Comedy Company, most especially his character of Greek Australian fruit store proprietor Con the Fruiterer.
1954Cindy Morgan, American actress (died 2023)[†]
Cynthia Ann Cichorski, known professionally as Cindy Morgan, was an American actress best known for playing Lora Baines/Yori in Tron and Lacey Underall in Caddyshack.
1954The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed.[†]
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, a western suburb of Geneva, on the France–Switzerland border. It comprises 24 member states. Israel, admitted in 2013, is the only full member geographically out of Europe. CERN is an official United Nations General Assembly observer.
In 1954, the world population was approximately 2,685,894,860 people[†]