- In 1954: In the United States Billboard's #1 hit was Kitty Kallen's Little Things Mean a Lot.
- In 1954: Marilyn Monroe married baseball player Joe DiMaggio.
- In 1954: The US-based National Negro Network was established with forty-six member radio stations.
- In 1954: First Lady of the United States, Mamie Eisenhower, launched the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, in Groton, Connecticut.
- In 1954: Four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire in the United States House of Representatives chamber and wounded five; they were apprehended by security guards.
- In 1954: RCA manufactured the first color television set. It had 12-inch screen and cost $1,000 ($8,945.99 in 2016 money).
- In 1954: Bill Haley & His Comets started the rock and roll "craze" when they recorded "Rock Around the Clock".
- In 1954: Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four minute mile, in Oxford, England.
- In 1954: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that segregated schools are unconstitutional.
- In 1954: John Travolta, Ron Howard, and Christie Brinkley were born. Frida Kahlo, Machine Gun Kelly, and Alan Turing died.
- In 1954: Johnny Ace accidentialy killed himself while playing Russian roulette.
- In 1954: I Love Lucy (CBS) was the most popular TV show. The Jackie Gleason Show (CBS) was runner-up.
- In 1954: 55.7 percen of United States households had television, compared to 31% of British households.
- In 1954: The average U.S. income was $3,960 ($35,426.10 in 2016 dollars). The average price of a home was $22,000 ($ 196,811.67 in 2016 dollars),.....
- ... bread cost $.17 ($1.52 in 2016 dollars) a loaf, and gasoline was $.21 a gallon ($1.88 in 2016 dollars).
- In 1954: Ellis Island officially closed.
- In 1954: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at an all-time high of 382.74.
- In 1954: Elvis Presley began his music career.
