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Rosa Parks
Six days after the Keys v. Carolina Coach Company decision, Rosa Parks refused to surrender her seat on a Montgomery city bus and was arrested. Montgomery’s public transportation system had longstanding rules requiring African American passengers to sit in the back of the bus and to give up their seats to white passengers if the buses filled. While Parks was not the first to protest the policy by staying seated, but she was the first around whom Montgomery activists rallied. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first such measure passed since Reconstruction. The act was compromised away nearly to nothing, although it did achieve some gains, such as creating the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Commission, which was charged with investigating claims of racial discrimination. -
"The Affluent Society" is Published
Harvard economist and public intellectual, John Kenneth Galbraith, published "The Affluent Society" which examined America’s new post–World War II consumer economy and political culture. While noting the unparalleled riches of American economic growth, it criticized the underlying structures of an economy dedicated only to increasing production and the consumption of goods. -
Founding of the John Birch Society
The John Birch Society was founded by radical anticommunists, who were attacking liberals and civil rights activists as communists. -
First Televised Presidential Debate
One of the most notable events of the Nixon-Kennedy presidential campaign was their televised debate which was the first of its kind between major presidential candidates. The debate focused on domestic policy and provided Kennedy with an important moment to present himself as a composed, knowledgeable statesman. In contrast, Nixon, an experienced debater who faced higher expectations, looked sweaty and defensive. -
The Freedom Rides
Activists organized interstate bus rides following a Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation on public buses and trains. The rides intended to test the court’s ruling, which many southern states had ignored. An interracial group of Freedom Riders boarded buses in Washington, D.C., with the intention of sitting in integrated patterns on the buses as they traveled through the Deep South. -
The Bay of Pigs
On April 16, 1961, an invasion force consisting primarily of Cuban émigrés landed on Girón Beach at the Bay of Pigs. Cuban soldiers and civilians quickly overwhelmed the exiles, many of whom were taken prisoner. The Cuban government’s success at thwarting the Bay of Pigs invasion did much to legitimize the new regime and was a tremendous embarrassment for the Kennedy administration. -
First African American to Enroll at the University of Mississippi
In October 1962, James Meredith became the first African American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Meredith’s enrollment sparked riots on the Oxford campus, prompting President John F. Kennedy to send in U.S. Marshals and National Guardsmen to maintain order. -
The March on Washington
Civil rights leaders organized the August 1963 March on Washington. The march called for, among other things, civil rights legislation, school integration, an end to discrimination by public and private employers, job training for the unemployed, and a raise in the minimum wage. -
Kennedy's Assassination
On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas while riding in a presidential motorcade. The nation’s youthful, popular president was gone. -
The 1964 Civil Rights Act
This act is widely considered to be among the most important pieces of civil rights legislation in American history. The comprehensive act barred segregation in public accommodations and outlawed discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, and national or religious origin. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which granted President Johnson the authority to deploy the American military to defend South Vietnam. U.S. Marines landed in Vietnam in March 1965, and the American ground war began. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act abolished voting discrimination in federal, state, and local elections. In two consecutive years, landmark pieces of legislation had assaulted de jure (by law) segregation and disenfranchisement. -
The Cuban Adjustment Act
In 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Cuban Adjustment Act, a law allowing Cuban refugees to become permanent residents. Over the course of the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of Cubans left their homeland and built new lives in America. -
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Assassination
Martin Luther King Jr. was killed on April 4, 1968. He had been in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. The greatest leader in the American civil rights movement was lost. Riots broke out in over a hundred American cities. -
Altamont
Although it was supposed to be the Woodstock of the West, it was rather a disorganized disaster. Inadequate sanitation, a horrid sound system, and tainted drugs strained concertgoers. The crowd grew progressively angrier throughout the day. Fights broke out. Tensions rose. An 18-year-old boy was even stabbed and stomped to death. -
The National Environmental Policy Act
President Richard Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act into law in 1970, requiring environmental impact statements for any project directed or funded by the federal government. -
Watergate
On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested inside the offices of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in the Watergate Complex in downtown Washington, D.C. After being tipped of by a security guard, police found the men attempting to install sophisticated bugging equipment. -
War Powers Resolution
In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution, which dramatically reduced the president’s ability to wage war without congressional consent.