1954 was the first year of FCC-approved color television signals, opening a whole new world to the media. There were only 200 RCA electronic color televisions that could show the Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade in living color on January 1, 1954.
Congress and the Pentagon authorized creation of the U.S. Air Force Academy.
The Iwo Jima memorial was dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.
Dr. Jonas Salk -- developer of the anti-polio vaccine -- began testing his final version on school children in Pittsburgh. The serum would be approved for national vaccine programs the next year.
Sample Prices in 1954