March 1954

The following events occurred in March 1954:

March 1, 1954 (Monday)

U.S. officials announced that a hydrogen bomb nuclear test had been conducted on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean as part of Operation Castle.
U.S. Capitol shooting: Four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire in the United States House of Representatives chamber and wounded five; they were apprehended by security guards.
Born:
*Catherine Bach, American actress
*Ron Howard, American film director, producer and actor

Born: Hunt Sales, musician

American journalists Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly produced a 30-minute See It Now documentary, entitled "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy".
Born:
*Bobby Sands, Irish republican hunger striker
Died:
*Vagn Walfrid Ekman, 79, Swedish oceanographer
*Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, 41, German astronomer

Joey Giardello knocked out Willie Tory at Madison Square Garden, in the first televised boxing prize fight to be shown in color.

In Vietnam, the Viet Minh captured the main airstrip of Dien Bien Phu. The remaining French Army units there were partially isolated.

The 26th Academy Awards ceremony was held.
RCA manufactured the first color television set.
The Soviet Union recognised the sovereignty of East Germany. Soviet troops remained in the country.

Puerto Rico's first television station, WKAQ-TV, commenced broadcasting.
The trial of A. L. Zissu and 12 other Zionist leaders ended with harsh sentences in Communist Romania.
The British troopship HMT Empire Windrush suffered an engine-room explosion and fire. Four crew were killed but 1494 crew and passengers were saved. The abandoned ship sank two days later.
Egyptian protests in The Republic of Egypt against democracy.
Born:
*Bill Bourne, Canadian musician
*Arthur Frederick Goode III, American murderer

A C-47 transport with French nurse Geneviève de Galard on board was wrecked on the runway at Dien Bien Phu.
Born: Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre