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Plessy v. Ferguson
Federal court case that ruled the doctrine "separate but equal" and legalized segregation laws. -
Ban of Segregation in Defense Military
President Roosevelt orders the execution of executive order 8802, which banned racial discrimination in the United States' military. -
First African American Baseball Player
Jackie Robinson (1919-1972) becomes the first African American to play for the Major League team, the Brooklyn Dodgers. -
Desegregation of the Armed Forces
President Truman orders that the United States' military be desegregated with the executive order of 9981. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown wins Federal Court Case against the segregation of schools in America. -
SEATO formed
Standing for the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, SEATO's purpose was to prevent communism from spreading to the Philippines. The organization was made up of the United States, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan. -
Bus Boycotts
After Rosa Parks's arrest, a series of bus boycotts swept Montgomery, Alabama in protest. -
"Southern Manifesto"
The "Southern Manifesto" was a ideology that arose in opposition to the Brown v. Board of Education court case decision, which promoted the desegregation of schools. This "Southern Manifesto" encouraged southerners to protest in a lawful manner to resist all of the "chaos and confusion" that would result from integrating schools. -
Little Rock 9
A group of nine African American students enroll into Little Rock Central High School, in Little Rock, Arkansas. These students were previously prevented from enrolling into the school because it was segregated. The nine students faced racial discrimination upon entering the school, and had to be escorted by armed forces to get them to the school. -
SCLC is Founded
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was an organization determined to push forward the Civil Rights Movement. It's first president was Martin Luther King Jr., the most influential leader during the Civil Rights Movement. -
NASA is Created
NASA, standing for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, sent the first American to the moon and also sent the first American to orbit earth into space. -
Castro Overthrows Bastista's Regime
Known as the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro overthrows the Batista regime. Fidel Castro was a communist politician, who served as Cuba's President from 1976-2008. -
SDS is Formed
Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS, was a national student activist organization. Those apart of the SDS opposed the drafting of students into the Vietnam War, and were often quite aggressive about showing that. -
Greensboro Sit-in
Four students sat at a lunch counter in Greensboro, refusing to leave after they were refused service. -
Peace Corps was Founded
The Peace Corps, created by President John F. Kennedy, sent men and women to foreign nations to help them with development. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
On April 17, 1961, the Bay of Pigs operation was launched. The invasion was botched, however, and many Cuban exiles who were fighting for the Americans were taken prisoner. The Bay of Pigs Invasion ended with John F. Kennedy and Fidel Castro coming to a deal for food and medicine in exchange for the prisoners of war. -
Freedom Rides
A period of protest where "Freedom Riders" would ride interstate buses into segregated southern states to protest the non-enforcement of the court cases that ruled segregation on public buses illegal. -
The Construction of the Berlin Wall Begins
East Germany begins construction on a barbed wire and concrete wall that would divide Germany until 1989. -
John Glenn is the First to Orbit Earth
NASA sends John Glenn into space to orbit planet Earth. He was the first American to do so, and orbited Earth three times. -
James Meredith enter 'Ole Miss
The University of Mississippi was an all-white college, until and African American man named James Meredith tried to enroll. This ensued in riots, resulting in two deaths and hundreds of people arrested. The riots escalated so badly, that President John F. Kennedy had to call in military back-up to restore peace and order. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a period of nuclear tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was found to be hosting missiles in Cuba, which increased America's worry that the Soviet Union was planning nuclear war against America. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Writes "A Letter from the Birmingham Jail"
After his arrest, King writes a piece expressing his feelings of how nonviolent protesting is the way to approach the Civil Rights Movement. -
16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
In an act of white supremacy, terrorists bomb the 16th Street Baptist Church. The bombing killed four little black girls. -
John F. Kennedy is Assassinated
JFK is assassinated in Dealy Plaza in Dallas, Texas. He was shot in the throat and in the back of the head by a trained sniper from the 6th story window of the Dallas County Administration Building. JFK's assassination troubled the nation deeply, as he was a key role in the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement. -
Economic Opportunity Act
The Economic Opportunity Act was a key element to former-president Lyndon B. Johnson's "Great Society". The EOA provided job training, adult education, and loans to small businesses. Programs of the EOA consisted of VSITA, Head Start, Senior Centers, and more. -
Malcolm X Moves Away from the Nation of Islam
Malcolm X was an influential leader in the Civil Rights Movement. After ties with his friend Elijah Muhammad were severed after Malcolm X spoke out about John F. Kennedy's assassination, Malcolm X resigned from the Nation of Islam. This action would lead to growing hostility, including death threats and open acts of violence, against him. The decision to leave the Nation of Islam would ultimately be the cause of his death in 1965 -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a huge progression in the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 stated that discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin is illegal. This was a great advancement not only for African Americans, but for people of all races and women as well. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave the President the power to use any force necessary to defend the military against the communist North Vietnam. This resolution would eventually launch America fully into the Vietnam War. -
Medicare and Medicaid
Medicare was put into place by President Johnson as a way to provide health insurance for elderly Americans. Medicaid was also put into place by Johnson, as a way to provide health insurance to certain low-income people. -
Immigration and Nationality Act is Enacted
The Immigration and Nationality Act allowed more immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It also allowed them to find jobs easier, and put them into the labor force.This act was pushed into action thanks to the Civil Rights Movement, which preached equality for all races. -
American Troops Arrive in Vietnam
With support of the American people, Johnson makes the executive decision to send United States's combat forces to battle in Vietnam. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act was responsible for helping children becomes more productive in society, including and specialized for children who lived in the poorest of conditions. -
Malcolm X Shot and Killed
Malcolm X was a radical leader of the Civil Rights Movement. Just after one week after his home was firebombed, he was shot by three Nation of Islam members. At the time he was shot, he was delivering a speech at a his own rally's organization. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was a series of American bombing attack on certain targets throughout North Vietnam. -
Selma Campaign/Bloody Sunday
The Selma campaign, organized by Martin Luther King Jr., was to be a nonviolent, 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama. Those protesting in the march were protesting for the right for blacks to vote in America. However, police turned violent and so did white protesters. The Selma Campaign was renamed as "Bloody Sunday", due to the amount of blood shed that day. -
Congress Passes the Voting Rights Act
President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Voting Rights Act on August 8th, 1965. This act prohibited the discriminatory voting practices that many southern states. This act enforced the fifteenth amendment in the United States Constitution. -
Black Panthers and Black Power
The group Black Panthers were a political organization that set out to challenge police brutality against African Americans. The organization wad founded in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. They would dress in black berets and black leather jackets. The term "black power" was first used by Stokely Carmichael as a way to support the rights and political power for black people. -
National Transportation and Motor Vehicle Safety Act
The National Transportation and Motor Vehicle Safety Act required automobile manufacturers to implement safety standards to their vehicles to protect the people automating them. -
Clean Water Restoration Act
The Clean Water Restoration Act provided federal funds to construct sewage treat plants, which had a great impact in reducing the amount of pollution in rivers. -
Air Quality Act
In 1967, the Air Quality Act was enacted as a way to monitor the amount of air pollution and ways of controlling it. -
Newark and Detroit Race Riots
The Newark and Detroit Race Riots were acts of violence against people of color. The Detroit Race Riots, for example, were among some of the worst, ending with 43 people dead and 342 injured. The growing tension between whites and colored people were intense in the 1960's, and many acts of violence, including these two major city riots, spurred all across the nation. -
Thurgood Marshall Becomes First African American in Justice System
Thurgood Marshall became the first black Supreme Court justice on August 8, 1967. -
Fulbright Holds Public Hearings on the Vietnam War
Senator J. William Fulbright published a series of public, educational hearings on the war in Vietnam. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a series of attacks on South Vietnam by the Vietcong. Within the first morning of the Tet Offensive, thirteen south Vietnamese cities were attacked. The United States and the South Vietnamese armies were able to hold off most of the attacks of the Tet Offensive, however, these battles pushed for America's withdrawal of the Vietnam War. -
My Lai Massacre
The My Lai Massacre was an incredible act of violence against unarmed citizens in Vietnam. American soldiers killed those civilians, most being women, children, and old men. Some of the soldiers who killed those civilians were tried and convicted. -
Martin Luther King Jr. is Assassinated
Martin Luther King Jr. was shot on his hotel room balcony on April 4, 1968. King's assassination led to many race riots in populous cities, such as Washington D.C. and Chicago. His death deeply affected many Americans, including presidential Robert F. Kennedy, President Lyndon B. Johnson, and his followers, friends, and family. -
RFK is assassinated
After being declared the winner for the South Dakota and California presidential primaries in the 1968 election, Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed at the Ambassador Hotel. -
Nixon Wins the Election
After being defeated by John F. Kennedy, eight years later, Richard Nixon won the 1968 presidential election. He defeated Hubert H. Humphrey by a landslide in the electoral college. -
Nixon bombs Cambodia
Nixon believed that by bombing Cambodia, it would weaken the United States's enemies. However, at home, the bombings caused more Americans to oppose the war. The bombings lasted until August of 1973, and experts estimate that some 100,000 Cambodian casualties were to be accounted for. -
Tinker vs. Des Moines
In the court case of Tinker vs. Des Moines, two students named Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt wore black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. However, when they wore them to school, they were sent home. With their parents, the students sued the school for the violating the student's right of expression. In a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that it was a violation of the freedom of speech to prohibit the students for wearing the bands. -
America is the First to the Moon
NASA sends Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle. Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon. This was considered a major victory for America, and America thus ended up winning the "space race" between America and the Soviet Union. -
Affirmative Action passed by Nixon
This Affirmative Action, ultimately called Executive Order 11478, meant the prohibition of discrimination of the federal civilian workforce in certain areas. -
Kent State and Jackson State killings
In the Kent State shooting, four students were killed and nine were injured on the Kent State University campus. The National Guard opened fire on a crowd protesting the Vietnam War. A similar instance was the Jackson State killings. At the Jackson State College, police opened fire on a group of students, killing two and injuring twelve. -
EPA Created
The Environmental Protection Agency's job is to protect the environment under federal government. -
My Lai Massacre Becomes Public
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26th Amendment is Added to the United States' Constitution
The 26th amendment is ratified to the Constitution and allows those who are eighteen or older to vote in the United States' elections. -
Publication of Pentagon Papers
Time Magazine publishes the Pentagon Papers, exposing the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War, both politically and military-wise, from 1945-1967 -
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords document was signed on January 27, 1973. This document officially ended the war in Vietnam and restored peace to the country. -
War Powers Act
This federal law made it so the President could not commit the nation to a war without Congress giving the President that approval. -
Vietnam Becomes One Communist Nation
After the communist North Vietnam captured the republic South Vietnam, Vietnam became one unified and communist nation.
