In April Bill Haley and His Comets record “Rock Around the Clock”, signalling the start of the Rock ‘n’ Roll craze. Wikimedia Commons
Roger Bannister is the first to break the four minute mile on May 6, in Oxford, England. Norman Potter Central Press, Hulton Archive, Getty Images
British subculture, the ‘Teddy Boys’ first appear. Associated Newspapers / Rex Features
Gamal Abdel Nasser comes to power in Egypt after the signing of the British withdrawal order. Wikimedia Commons
‘Castle Bravo’, the most powerful hydrogen bomb ever tested by the USA is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean in March. Wikimedia Commons
West Germany was granted full sovereignty and admitted to join NATO in the 1954 Paris Agreements. Wikimedia Commons
‘Derationing Day’ on July 4 marked the end of rationing in Britain; nearly a decade after the Second World War had ended. Creative Commons
Senator Joseph McCarthy was censored, having declared that the US army had been infiltrated by Communism during the televised Army-McCarthy hearings, held between April and June. Here McCarthy talks to Roy Cohn at the Army-McCarthy Hearings. Wikimedia Commons
The U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously that segregated schools are unconstitutional in the Brown vs. Board of Education court case, in May 1954. Nettie Hunt and Daughter, Nikie on steps of U.S Supreme Court. Library of Congress
The Viet Minh’s siege of Dien Bien Phu, killing and capturing 16,000 French troops took place in May 1954, signalling the start of the Vietnam conflict. Vietnam People’s Army Museum
