-
Newport Jazz Festival
On July 2, 1960, Newport experienced arguably its darkest day. The city turned into a battle zone as thousands of people shut out of the sold-out Newport Jazz Festival shows wandered the streets, fueled by alcohol, hurling beer bottles and rocks at police officers trying to quell the crowd. The State Police and, eventually, the National Guard had to be called in for help. -
Nixion-Kennedy Debates
During the 1960 debates between the two candidates, Americans for the first time could tune in and watch the debates on television, or listen on the radio. Kennedy himself said after the election that “it was TV more than anything else that turned the tide” toward his victory -
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his work as president concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. He was assassinated in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald -
The Beatles Appear for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show
At 8 p.m. on February 9, 1964, history was changed forever thanks to the British invasion of the quartet. At Studio 50 in New York, The Beatles opened their first live performance set with the all-time favorite song All My Loving, Till There Was You, and She Loves You. -
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution or the Southeast Asia Resolution, Pub.L. 88–408, 78 Stat. 384, enacted August 10, 1964, was a joint resolution that the United States Congress passed on August 7, 1964, in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the title of a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States 2nd Air Division, U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 2 March 1965 until 2 November 1968, during the Vietnam War. -
March on the Pentagon
The March on the Pentagon was a massive demonstration against the Vietnam War on October 21, 1967. The protest involved more than 100,000 attendees at a rally by the Lincoln Memorial. Later about 50,000 people marched across the city to The Pentagon and sparked a confrontation with paratroopers on guard -
Mai Lai Massacre
The Mỹ Lai massacre was the mass murder of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by U.S. troops in Sơn Tịnh District, South Vietnam, on March 16, 1968 during the Vietnam War -
Riots at the Chicago Democratic Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The convention was held during a year of violence, political turbulence and civil unrest, particularly riots in more than 100 cities following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. -
Woodstock
Woodstock was a music festival held August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, 40 miles southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music" and alternatively referred to as the Woodstock Rock Festival, it attracted an audience of more than 400,000. -
Chicago 8 Trial
On September 24, 1969, thirteen months after the riots that shocked America, the trial of the so-called "Chicago Eight" began in the oak-paneled, twenty-third-floor courtroom of Judge Julius Hoffman. A group of eight men are arrested and put on trial for conspiring to incite the riot -
The Beatles Break Up
Their break-up was a cumulative process attributed to numerous factors, such as the strain of the Beatlemania phenomenon, the death of manager Brian Epstein in 1967, McCartney's domineering role, Lennon's heroin use and his relationship with Yoko Ono, Harrison's prolific songwriting output, etc -
Kent State Protest
The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre, were the killings of four and wounding of nine other unarmed Kent State University students by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970 in Kent, Ohio, 40 miles south of Cleveland. -
Roe vs. Wade
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.