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Prohibition
The Prohibition was a time period in American History where all production, sales, or ownership of alcohol was illegal. It was put in effect by the ratification of the 19th ammendment to the United States Constitustion. During this time period, their were many gangs that made a huge profit selling alcohol illegaly to people. -
Women's Suffrage
With the passing of the 19th ammendment, women gained the right to vote. This was a huge deal because women had been denied their constitutional right for more than 100 years. They had just as much right as men to vote, but the right wasn't given to them until this event. -
Penicilin Discovery
Alexander Fleming accidentaly discovered penicilin when he was examining a discarded Petri dish. He discovered that the mold contained a powerful antibiotic, which he named penecilin. He had been searching for a "miracle drug" ever since his nose ran on bacteria and it "ate" the bacteria. More than a decade later, He recieved a Nobel Peace Prize and was Knighted for his discovery -
Saint Valentines Day Massacre
The Saint Valentines Day Massacre was a blatent killing of a rival gang by Al Capone. Capone was a leader of a gang that was thriving because of the Prohibition. He had arranged for the assasination of rival gang leader Bugs Moran. Then his gang members, dressed as police officers, had Moran's gang line up against the wall, and stot each of them at least 40 times in the chest and head with tommy guns. -
Black Thursday
For months before the Stck Market crashed, it was on a constant increase. Then, on Black Thursday, it started to fall. People started to sell all of their stocks, and caused it to fall even more. People were rumored to be commiting suiside. Then, a group of rich bankers put all their money together and bought a huge ammount of stocks, stopping the decline. People thought that since they would buy a huge amount of stocks, and more stocks were sold on that day than any other day in history. -
Black Tuesday
On Black Tuesday, the stock Market Crashed again. This time, instead of pooling their money in, the bankers started to sell. That freaked out the public, and they all sold everything, making it fall more and more. the market was falling so fast, that by the time the stock market stopped dropping, the ticker recording the points had a two and a half hour lag. -
Dustbowl-Black Sunday
The dusbowl was a series of huge dustorms in the Great Plains. It was caused by a combination of drought, loose farmland, and poor farming. The storms lasted from 1931 to 1939. The worst storm of the period was Black Sunday. The dust bowl affected more than 100,000,000 acres of land throughout the decade and displaced over 500,000 Americans -
Hindenburg Explosion
The hindenburg was a hydrogen filled blimp that was making an trans-antlantic flight carrying 61 crew and 36 passengers. when it was making its land in New Jersey, there were huge unexpected thunderstorms. The blimp had been vircling the landing area for hours when the finaly made the desicion to land. The blimp was hit by a lightning bolt and was completely burned down in 14 seconds. -
Amelia Earhart's Last Flight
Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She was also the first Woman to fly over the Pacific Ocean. When she was attemting to become the first woman to fly around the world, her plane dissapered after she departed from Lae and she was never seen again. -
Rosie Riveter
During WW II the male enlistment of soldiers left the industrial labor force scarce. Rosie the Riveter was the Government’s campaign to bring women into the industrial work force while the men were at war. During the time the female work force increased to 37 percent. -
Pearl Harbor
The American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii was attacked by Japanese fighter planes on December 7, 1941. The U.S responded to the Japanese’s war on China with economic sanctions and trade embargoes, making the Japanese mad at the U.S. The Japanese planes flew over Pearl Harbor while dropping bombs onto the ships, sinking 18 ships and 300 airplanes. -
D-Day
D-Day was a cross-channel invasion conducted by the U.S with British and Canadian Allies on 5 beaches in Normandy on June 6, 1944. The attack started at 6:30 a.m. 156,000 soldiers landed on the beach. 6,000 lives were lost, but on June 11 all beaches were secured. -
Iwo Jima
On February 1945, the Battle of Iwo Jima took place between the U.S and Japan. They both wanted the Island of Iwo Jima (the Japan wanted it so they could use fighter planes to attack U.S forces, and the U.S wanted it for emergency landings). The American’s sent bombing raids to attack the island before they attacked. The battle lasted 11 months. The American’s eventually took over the island. -
Nazi Surrender
A group of German Anti-Semitism Nazi’s rose to power in Germany, with the help of their leader Adolf Hitler during World War II. The Nazi’s conducted mass killings of Jews, because they thought them inferior. They created death camps at Auschwitz. They killed about 6 million European Jews and destroyed thousands of buildings. They surrendered on May 8, 1945. -
Hydrogen Bomb
During the beginning of the Cold War, the U.S. developed and dropped a hydrogen bomb in the face of frequent military and political provocations by the Soviet Union. The explosion of a Soviet Union atomic bomb in 1949 gave major momentum to the United States hydrogen bomb project. A decision on whether to continue with a thermonuclear bomb required the U.S. to use nuclear technology with the memory of the atomic bomb attacks that ended WWII still fresh in their minds. -
Rosa Parks
Thursday, December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks boarded a city bus to go home. The seat she sat in was for only whites, and if a white guy was standing then the black person had to move. Rosa Parks had been fighting for civil rights at the NAACP for more than 10 years and decided to take a stand. The bus driver ordered Parks to move to the back of the bus where there were open seats. When the driver yells a second time everyone stands up except for Parks. -
Federal Highway Act
United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which is also known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, on June 29, 1956. The bill consisted of 25 billion dollars, 41,000 miles of construction over a 10-year period. The Interstates were built in case the U.S. would go to war and the interstates would make it easier for tanks to travel from destination to destination. -
Explorer One
Explorer I was the first satellite by the United States to orbit the Earth. It was launched as part of the participation in the International Geophysical Year. The mission followed the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 satellites at the beginning of the Cold War. Explorer 1 was launched on January 23, 1958 at 22:48 Eastern Time in Cape Canaveral Missile Annex, Florida. -
Berlin Wall
The Government of German Democratic Republic built a wall to separate East and West Berlin. Berlin was located in the Soviet Union’s side, however the city was split in half so that the East side went to the Soviet Union and the West side went to the United States and Britain. The GDR built the wall to stop the flow of refugee’s moving to the West side and to make it almost impossible to escape. The United States conducted what’s known as the Berlin Airlifts to get the West side supplies. -
March On Washington
The March on Washington was a political rally in Washington D.C on August 28, 1963. More than 2,000 people gathered to bring attention to the political and social problems that African Americans faced. Throughout the day civil rights leaders gave speeches (including Martin Luther King’s “I had a Dream), sang songs, and gave prayers. -
My Lai Massacre
In March of 1968, a group of American soldiers, a part of the Charlie Company of the American Division’s 11th Infantry brigade, were told that a group of VC (Viet Cong) were located on the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai and were told to conduct a search and destroy mission. Once they arrived at the village, they found no VC. Despite this they killed hundreds of innocent women, children, and elderly men by rape, torture, or leading them into ditches to be shot with a machine gun. -
Kent State
On May 4, 1970 the Ohio National Guard shot at University students at Kent State University. Four students were killed and nine were severely injured while protesting the American Invasion of Cambodia. The shootings caused many schools to close, due to the large number of students protesting the shootings. -
Sears Tower
The Sears tower was the largest skyscraper ever built at the time. The building was constructed between 1970 and 1974 in Chicago, Illinois. The Sears Roebuck and Company needed to build the building because they needed around 3 million square feet of office space to accommodate the employees. -
Gas Shortage
America experienced a gas shortage between October 1973- March 1974. America became dependent on foreign oil. OAPEC eventually created an oil embargo because America was resupplying Israel. Because of the embargo, lines started to form at gas stations, gas stations closed on Sundays, and people were asked not to put up holiday lights. The Gas shortage eventually led to a national speed limit and the Department of Energy. -
Jonestown Massacre 1st Part
On November 18, 1978 over 900 people died due to mass suicide-murder. A man named Jim Jones led his cult called the People’s Temple to Guyana to escape negative media against their congregation. He promised his people a paradise where they would build a socialist utopia, however once they arrived, they experienced punishment for questioning Jones, swarms of mosquitoes, late night meetings, and had to participate in mock suicides. -
Jonestown Massacre 2nd Part
A representative from California named Leo Ryan received concerns from people who believed their family members were in trouble at Jonestown. Leo Ryan went to Jonestown to investigate and found that several members wanted to leave. While attempting to leave a group of gunmen sent by Jones shot and killed Leo Ryan, a cameraman, a reporter, a photographer, and a Jonestown member. -
Jonestown Massacre 3rd Part
Several people escaped into the jungle. Later the same day Jim Jones told his people that soldiers were going to come and torture them and ordered them to drink punch that was laced with sedatives and Cyanide. Over 900 people were killed and Jim Jones was found shot in the head. -
Three Mile Island
Three Mile Island was the worst nuclear accident to occur in the United States. A pressure valve failed to close, causing radioactive water to leak. Emergency cooling pumps automatically turned on, however, the cooling pumps were turned off. The core heated to 4,000 degrees, 1,000 degrees short of the meltdown temperature. Experts eventually declared that the hydrogen bubble wasn’t threatening to explode and was soon taken out of the system. Only workers at the plant were exposed to radiation. -
Assanination Attempt on Reagan
Monday, March 30, 1981, after 69 days in his presidency, President Ronald Reagan was shot. While leaving the a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Reagan and a few others were shot by John Hinckley, Jr. Reagan had heavy internal bleeding and a punctured lung. Reagan was able to have a quick recovery because of how quickly he got medical help. -
First Woman Supreme Court Judge
Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court. President Ronald Reagan is who appointed Sandra. After a few years of her tenure, she was known as having a swing vote in many cases. Prior to O’Connor’s appointment to the Court, sew was an elected official and judge in Arizona. -
Star Wars
To make an attempt and end the Cold War with the Soviet Union, Ronald Reagan announces the defense plan called Star Wars. Star Wars is a space and ground-based defense system that would intercept enemy nuclear missiles. This plan is a main reason why the Cold War came to an end. -
Libya Bombing
On April 14, 1986, the country in Africa called Libya was bombed by the United States. The U.S. launched air strikes on Libya for the sponsorship of terrorism against American troops and American citizens. The raid of bombs involved more than 100 U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft, and it was over in about an hour. Five terrorism centers were hit which included the headquarters of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi. -
Racial Segregation Banned
Racial segregation was declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court from the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case. The Supreme Court declared state laws establishing different schools for black students and white students were against the Constitution of the United States. The decision reversed the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896 which allowed racial segregation. As a result, de jure racial segregation was declared an infringement of The Constitution. -
Berlin Wall Falling
The Berlin Wall fell down after about three decades of keeping East and West Berlins separated. East Germany’s Communist rulers allowed for the gates along the wall to be opened after a bunch of people converged on crossing points. Ecstatic crowds immediately began to crowd on the top of the wall. -
LA Race Riots
On April 29, 1992 a series of riots broke out in Los Angeles. The African American community was mad with the city because they believed that the police were conducting racial profiling and abuse. Their rage was ignited when an African American by the name of Rodney King was beaten by several officers when resisting arrest for speeding. 53 people were killed and there were 1 million dollars were damaged.
