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Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress, refuses to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man and is arrested in Montgomery, Alabama.
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In Shippingport, Pennsylvania, the first full-scale nuclear power plant begins operation. It supplied electricity to Pittsburg.
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The Explorer I is the first satellite the US launched. Which marked U.S. entry into the "space race" with the Russians.
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In an attempt to overthrow the Castro regime, a force of 1,500 Cuban exiles lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. They were trained and financed by the United States.
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The March on the Pentagon was a massive protest. The goal was to protest the Vietnam War. This protest involved more than 1000 participants.
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Richard Nixon, a Republican, is elected President of the United States.
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Five men are caught burglarizing the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, which was located at the Watergate hotel in Washington, D.C. These lead to President Nixon's resignation.
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President Richard Nixon resigns amidst the Watergate scandal. Then his vice president Gerald Ford takes office.