1954-1975

Korean War

Dec 1, 1952

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-postwar/6038
The result of the Cold War meets the first established United Nations. The US deployed their first ever containment policy keeping all foucus directly aimed at destroying the spread communism past a specific geographical point.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Elected President

Jan 20, 1953

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/dwightdeisenhower
Republican war hero who was liked by everyone. He and his anti-communist running mate Richard Nixon won over the public with the promise that Eisenhower would fly to Korea to negotiate peace.

Brown Vs. Board of Education

May 16, 1954

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0347_0483_ZS.html
US Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled a segregated school system unconstitutional, overturning the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896.

Emmett Till Case

Aug 24, 1955

http://www.biography.com/people/emmett-till-507515'
A 14-year old Chicago native who allegdly accosted a white woman at a grocery store in Mississippi while visiting some relatives. Days later, a group of white men who had heard him kidnapped him and brutally murdered him. The all-white jury aqquitted the two men charged with the murder of Emmit Till based of the claim that Emmit was actually dead.

Rosa Parks

Dec 1, 1955

http://www.rosaparks.org/
Charged, and jailed for refusing to give up her seat on the bus for a white man.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Dec 5, 1955

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_montgomery_bus_boycott_1955_1956/
Political and Social protest campaigning against the policy segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. Starting wiith Rosa Parks to the ruling that segregation was unconstitutional.

Interstate Highway System

Jun 29, 1956

http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/transportation/a_highway.html
A network of freeways that are part of the National Highway System, formed by President Eisenhower, authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.

John F. Kennedy Elected President

Jan 20, 1961

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnfkennedy
Youngest man to be elected into office. Democratic nominee defeating republican candidate and vice president Richard Nixon.

Peace Corps

Mar 1, 1961

http://www.peacecorps.gov/
Volunteer program run by the United States Government designed to provide technical assistance, help foreigners understand American culture, and also help Americans discover foreign cultures.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Apr 17, 1961

http://www.history.com/topics/bay-of-pigs-invasion
An unsuccessful military invasion of militia men trained and funded by the CIA to overthrow Cuba.

Cuban Missle Crisis

Oct 21, 1962

http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Cuban-Missile-Crisis.aspx
The Soviet Union was found housing offensive missles, after proclaiming they were for defense only, in Cuba while being aimed directly at the US. This posed a threat towards nucluer warfare.

Cuban Missle Crisis Resolution

Oct 28, 1962

http://cubanmissilecrisissla.weebly.com/resolution-to-the-cuban-missile-crisis.html
Kennedy ordered a "quarantine" to avoid any nuclear warfare and the Soviet Union agreed to dismantle their missles. The Us was able to keep their missles stationed in Turkey.

March on Washington

Apr 28, 1963

http://www.history.com/topics/march-on-washington
One of the largest political rallies in United States history. It called for Economic and Civil Rights for African Americans and took place in Washington D.C.

"Black Revolution"

Jun 8, 1963

http://www.humanityjournal.org/humanity-volume-3-issue-2/black-revolution-radical-humanism-malcolm-x-between-biography-and-internat
Malcolm X propses his violent theology towards the fall of segregation.

Birmingham Bombing

Sep 15, 1963

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/randall/birmingham.htm
KKK member Robert Chambliss placed a bomb under the steps of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church which exploded killing four African American girls who had been attending sunday school. Chambliss was finally convicted in 1977 at the age of 73 for the muder these four girls.

Lyndon B. Johnson Elected President

Nov 22, 1963

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/lyndonbjohnson
One of only four people who have served in all four of the elected federal offices of the United States. A Democrat, Lyndon Johnson succeeded to the presidency after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, completed his term, and was elected by a large margain in the 1964 election.

Gulf Of Tonkin

Aug 7, 1964

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq120-1.htm
A US Destroyer engaged three North Vietnamese torpedo boats. 4 North Vietnamese were killed, 6 were injured during an open sea battle.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Aug 7, 1964

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/tonkin-g.asp
Congress granted President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without formal declaration of war by Congree, for the use of "conventional" military forces against communist influences in Southeast Asia.

Malcolm X Assassination

Feb 21, 1965

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/assassins/malcolm_x/index.html
Former nation of Islam leader shot and killed by black muslimist assassins just prior to addressing the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

US Forces Increase

Jul 25, 1965

http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/research/americanhistory/ap_vietnam-escalate.php
Troops were increased abroad from 75,000 young men to 200,000 in hopes to end the war sooner.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Aug 9, 1965

http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/intro/intro_b.php
Outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been resposible for the suffrage of African Americans.

Tet Offensive

Jan 30, 1968

http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/viet8.html
Campaign of suprise attacks by the Viet Conglaunched against the military and civilian command throughout South Vietnam, during a time where no attcks were supposed to happen.

Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination

Apr 3, 1968

http://www.history.com/topics/martin-luther-king-assassination
Nonviolent Civil Rights Activist and founder of SCLC shot dead in Memphis, Tennesee.

Robert Kennedy Assassination

Jun 5, 1968

http://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/index.php/Robert_Kennedy_Assassination
Shot walking through the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel and died twenty-six hours later in Good Samaritan Hotel after winning the California and South Dakota Democratic Primary elections for Presidency.

Democratic Convention Riot

Aug 26, 1968

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93898277
Anti-War movement at the International Ampitheatre in Chicago, Illinois.

Richard M. Nixon Elected President

Jan 20, 1969

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/richardnixon
He later became the only president to resign from office.

Watergate Scandal

Jun 17, 1973

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1791.html
Nixon was exposed for being behind the attempted eave-dropping of the Democratic National Convention due to tapes holding his recored conversations.

Gerald R. Ford Elected President

Aug 9, 1974

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/geraldford
The only person to assume the presidency without having been previously voted into either the presidential or vice presidential office.

Fall of Saigon

Apr 30, 1975

http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/exhibits/saigon/
The capture of the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front. This marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition into a communist state.