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Video tape recorder
Ginsberg, an researcher at Ampex Corporation, invented the videotape recorder in 1951 -
Polio vaccine
American medical researcher Dr. Jonas Salk announces on a national radio show that he has successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis -
Hovercraft
A cross between an aircraft, a boat and a land vehicle, was invented by boat-builder Christopher Cockerell. -
Montgomery bus boycott
ended Dec 20, 1956. After Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus, Dr. Martin L. King led a boycott of city busses. After 11 months the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public transportation was illegal. -
Eisenhower Doctrine
U.S. foreign-policy promising military or economic aid to any Middle Eastern country needing help in resisting communist aggression. -
SS-6 Sapwood.
Was a Soviet missile developed during the Cold Wa -
Civil Rights Act
Eisenhower passed this bill to establish a permanent commission on civil rights with investigative powers but it did not guarantee a ballot for blacks. -
Little Rock Nine
School board in Little rock, Arkansas, won a court order to admit nine African American students to Central High a school with 2,000 white students -
Sputnik
the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth -
Satellite invention
Sputnik 1 -
NASA
Establishment of a Senate Special Committee on Space and Aeronautics, with the goal of establishing a space agency, -
Lebanon crisis
Lebanese political crisis caused by political and religious ... American and Lebanese government forces successfully occupied the port and international airport of Beirut. -
Peace Movement
started in opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War (1955-1975). -
Non-violent protests against segregation
Four college students took a stand against segregation in Greensboro, North Carolina when they refused to leave a Woolworth’s lunch counter without being served. -
U-2 shot down
The USSR successfully shot down a U2 spy plane and captured it's pilot -
John F. Kennedy
Was the 44th quadrennial presidential election. Democrat -
Peace Corps
A program in which the assistance of U.S. volunteers is offered to the developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America -
Twenty-third Amendment
the United States that permitted citizens of Washington, D.C. the right to choose electors in presidential elections. -
Bay of Pigs
through April 19 1961.
The Bay of Pigs was an American attempt to overthrow the newly established communist government in Cuba by training and sending Cuban rebels. The coup ended up in a disaster due to the lack of support by the Americans. The incident was an embarrassment for the U.S. and ultimately led to Castro pleading for Soviet aid -
Freedom rides
A group of African Americans and civil rights activists that attempted to desegregate bus terminals around the country. -
Berlin crisis
The soviets tried to remove the allies from Berlin by cutting off access to the city -
16,000 in Vietnam
The number of military advisors sent by Kennedy will eventually surpass 16,000 -
Twenty-fourth Amendment
prohibited states from requiring payment of a poll tax as a condition for voting in federal elections -
University of Mississippi integrated
Riots erupted on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford where locals, students, and committed segregationists had gathered to protest the enrollment of James Meredith, a black Air Force veteran attempting to integrate the all-white school. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
ended Oct 28 1962. Soviet Union had placed nuclear missiles in Cuba to annoy and scare the United States. -
Feminine Mystique
Is a book written by Betty Friedan which is widely credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States. -
Civil Rights march on Washington
civil rights leaders organized a massive rally in Washington to urge passage of President Kennedy's civil rights bill. The high point came when MLK Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech led by MLK -
JFK assassinated
Lee Harvey Oswald convicted of killing JFK in Dallas TX -
War on poverty
Unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address. Was proposed by Johnson in response to a national poverty rate of around nineteen percent. -
Gulf of Tonkin
Passed by congress after an alleged attack on two U.S. naval destroyers stationed off the coast of Vietnam. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution effectively launched America's full-scale involvement in the Vietnam War. -
Free speech movement at Berkeley
led by Mario Savio it protested on behalf of students rights. It spread to colleges throughout the country discussing unpopular faculty tenure decisions, dress codes, dormitory regulations, and appearances by Johnson administration officials. Held at U.C. Berkley -
Great Society
President Lyndon B. Johnson outlined the goals of ”the Great Society,” a set of domestic programs designed to advance civil rights and aid those in poverty -
Operation Rolling Thunder
ended Nov 1, 1968 codename for an American bombing campaign during the Vietnam War. U.S. military aircraft attacked targets throughout North Vietnam -
Malcolm x assassinated
Black activist; He was shot several times while he began a speech to 400 the district of Harlem in New York -
Black Power
Black power came into mainstream light when James Meredith was shot in an ambush as he attempted to complete a peaceful march from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi. -
France withdraws from NATO
France decided to withdraw its troops from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; led by French president Charles de Gaulle complicated relations between the U.S. and Europe amidst clashing American and Communist spheres of influence. -
N.O.W
formed to promote the full participation of women in American society -
Floppy Disks
was invented at IBM by Alan Shugart in 1967. The first floppy drives used an 8-inch disk -
Detroit Riot
From July 23 1967-July 28 1967; One . of . the . most violent and destructive riots in U.S history It was rooted in a multitude of political, economic, and social factors including police abuse, lack of affordable housing, urban renewal projects, economic inequality, black militancy, and rapid demographic change. -
Tet Offensive
series of surprise attacks by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces, on scores of cities, towns, and hamlets throughout South Vietnam. Ended Sep 23, 1968 -
My Lai massacre
was one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed against unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War. A company of American soldiers brutally killed most of the people—women, children and old men—in the village of My Lai -
MLK assassination
Civil rights leader was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, shot by James Earl Ray. -
Robert Kennedy assassination
an American politician and lawyer who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964; Assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian immigrant upset over Kennedy's support of Israel -
Richard Nixon elected President
Republican nominee, former Vice President Richard Nixon, defeated the Democratic nominee, incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey. 46th President -
Neil Armstrong
Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first two people on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin, both American -
Vietnamization
he US policy of withdrawing its troops and transferring the responsibility and direction of the war effort to the government of South Vietnam. -
Cambodian invasion creates anti-war turbulence
When Nixon publicly announced the Cambodian incursion on April 30, it set off a wave of antiwar demonstrations -
Massacre Kent State
Four Kent State University students were killed and nine were injured on May 4, 1970, when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd gathered to protest the Vietnam War -
EPA established
To consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. -
Personal Computer
Ed Roberts coined the term was $750. in early 1971 -
Pentagon Papers published
First Article published was titled "Vietnam Archive: Pentagon Study Traces Three Decades of Growing US Involvement". -
Executive Order 11615
imposing a 90-day freeze on wages and prices in order to counter inflation. This was the first time the U.S. government enacted wage and price controls since World War II. -
Nixon proposed New Federalism
Nixon administration sought to decentralize programs and devolve power to state and locally elected officials reacting to the growth of federal government and increase in centralization. -
Genetic engineering invented
The direct transfer of DNA from one organism to another was first accomplished by Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen -
Nixon opens talks with China
ended Feb 28,1972; important strategic and diplomatic overture that marked the culmination of the Nixon administration's resumption of harmonious relations between the United States and China after years of diplomatic isolation. -
SALT talks begin
A series of talks between United States and Soviet negotiators from 1972 to 1979 which sought to curtail the manufacture of strategic nuclear weapons. -
Watergate
A break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate complex in Washington was carried out under the direction of White House employees. Disclosure of the White House involvement in the break-in and subsequent cover-up forced President Nixon to resign in 1974 to avoid impeachment. -
Nixon re-elected
He won reelection in a landslide victory over U.S. Senator George McGovern. -
Intensive bombing of North Vietnam
Peace talks between the United States and North Vietnam collapsed. American B-52s and fighter-bombers dropped over 20,000 tons of bombs on the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong -
Cease-fire in Vietnam
The Paris Peace Accords, officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam, was a peace treaty to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. -
U. S. forces withdraw
last remaining American troops withdraw from Vietnam as President Nixon declares "the day we have all worked and prayed for has finally come." -
Cell Phones
Motorola was the first company to produce a handheld mobile phone Martin Cooper -
Spiro Agnew resigns
Agnew pleaded no contest to a single felony charge of tax evasion and resigned from office. Nixon replaced him with House Republican leader Gerald Ford, was the 39th vice president of the United States from 1969 until his resignation in 1973 -
Watergate tapes
audio tape documenting Nixon and Haldeman formulating a plan to block investigations is released. from 6/23/1972 -
Nixon resigns
Richard Nixon's resignation speech was an address made on August 8, 1974 Ford takes office -
Serious inflation and recession
A quadrupling of oil prices by OPEC coupled with high government spending because of the Vietnam War led to stagflation in the United States.he period was also marked by the 1973 oil crisis and the 1973-1974 stock market crash. The period is remarkable for rising unemployment coinciding with rising inflation Started in 1973 -
Vietnam falls
The war ended with the fall of Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, to communist troops from the north. Ended on April 30,1975