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Minium Wage Increases
In 1995, An Amendment increased the minimum wage to $1.00 an hour with no changes in coverage. -
Rosa Parks Incites Montgomery Bus Boycott
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks and African American, was arrested for disobeying an Alabama law requiring black passengers to relinquish seats to white passengers when the bus was full. The arrest of Rosa Parks sparked a 381 day boycott of the Montgomery bus system and led to a the Supreme Court descision in 1956 that banned segregation on public transportation. -
Eisenhower Doctrine
The Eisenhower Doctrine was a response to the increasingly tense situation in the Middle East, President Dwight Eisenhower delivered a proposal to a joint session of the U.S. Congress calling for a new and more proactive American policy. This proposal soon came to be know as it established the Middle East as a Cold War battlefield. -
Civil Rights Acts of 1957
The Civivl Rights Act of 1957 was the first civil rights legislation since the Reconstruction. The act established the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department and empowered federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions against interference with the right to vote. -
Hawaii becomes the 50th State of the U.S.
Hawaii joined the Union on August 21, 1959. The Admission Act was enacted on March 18, 1959 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower who signed a proclamation naming Hawaii as the 50th State. -
President John F. Kennedy's Assassination
President John F. Kennedy served as the 35th president of the United States. He rode in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1960. There, he was shot in the neck by his accused killer Lee Harvey Oswald, but he never stood trial for murder because while being transferred after being brought into custody, he was shot and killed. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination
On Thursday, April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was shot dead while standing on a balcony outside his second- floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The news of his assassination promoted major outbreaks of racial violence, resulting in more deaths, and property damage around the world. James Earl Ray, a 40 year old escaped fugitive, confesses to the crime and was sentenced to a 99 year prison term. -
The 26th Amendment
The 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution lowered the voting age of U.S. citizens from 21 to 18 years old. "The 26th Amendment declared the right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote and it shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age." Section 1, Amendment 26 of the U.S. Constitution.