1942-1953

  • World War II

    World War II: the 28 nations at war with Axis powers pledge to make no separate peace deals
  • Revenue Act

    increased individual income tax rates, increased corporate tax rates, and reduced the personal exemption amount from $1,500 to $1,200. The exemption amount for each dependent was reduced from $400 to $350.
  • Battle of Coral Sea

    The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia, taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II.
  • Battle of Midway

    The Battle of Midway was a decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea.
  • Auto bodies Patent

    Henry Ford patents a method of constructing plastic auto bodies
  • Green Light Letter

    US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sends his famed "Green Light Letter" to MLB Commissioner Judge Landis, encouraging baseball to continue playing during World War II
  • First civilian appointed general

    William Knudsen becomes 1st civilian appointed a general in US army
  • Battle of Los Angleles

    The "Battle of Los Angeles" takes place, a series of anti-aircraft engagements over the city in response to a rumored but false Japanese attack. It would last until the morning of the following day.
  • 1944 Presidential Election

    Franklin D. Roosevelt reelection for a fourth term, becomes the only U.S. president elected four times. Harry S. Truman is elected vice president
  • D-Day

    The Normandy landings were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history.
  • 1945 Presidential Term Begins

    President Roosevelt begins fourth term; Truman becomes Vice President
  • Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Days later, Japan surrenders, ending World War II
  • 1945 Presidency

    President Roosevelt dies, Vice President Truman becomes the 33rd President. April 12, 1945 - Vice president Truman takes over after being Roosevelt's VP for only 88 days.
  • Employment Act

    Its main purpose was to lay the responsibility of economic stability of inflation and unemployment onto the federal government
  • Cold War

    Cold war begins
  • Truman Doctrine

    Truman Doctrine establishes "the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures"
  • 1948 Presidential Election

    U.S. presidential election, 1948: Harry S. Truman is elected president for a full term, Alben W. Barkley is elected vice president
  • North Atlantic Treaty Organization

    North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed
  • Korean War Begins

    The Korean War begins its three year conflict when troops of North Korea, backed with Soviet weaponry, invade South Korea. This act leads to U.S. involvement when two days later, the United States Air Force and Navy are ordered by President Truman to the peninsula. On June 30, ground forces and air strikes are approved against North Korea.
  • ANZUS Treaty

    The United States, Australia, and New Zealand sign a mutual security pact, the ANZUS Treaty.
  • 1952 Election

    President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower
  • Hydrogen Bomb

    President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb.
  • Korean War Ends

    The Korean War ends: the United States, the People's Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea sign an armistice agreement.