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Period: to
A History of History
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Korean War Begins
N.K. forces backed by the Soviet Union and communist China invade South Korea. The U.S. intervenes to prevent communism from spreading across the world unchecked. Yay America. -
First Modern Credit Card Introduced
Frank X. McNamara introduced the first modern credit card, the Diner's Club card, in 1950. This revolutionized the way Americans got themselves in debt. -
WW II Officially Ends
President Truman signed a peace treaty with the Japanese and officially brought an end to World War Two. -
Joseph Stalin Dies
The communist with the biggest mustache also has the biggest funeral Russia has ever seen. -
DNA Discovered
DNA is discovered by Francis Crick and James Watson. People are no longer can say, "The baby isn't mine." without getting a DNA test. -
Yuri Gagarin Becomes First Man in Space
The Reds take a running leap in the space race by sending the first man, a cosmonaut by the name of Yuri Gagarin, into space. Yuri is known for saying, "When I orbited the Earth in a spaceship, I saw for the first time how beautiful our planet is. Mankind, let us preserve and increase this beauty, and not destroy it!" -
President Kennedy Vows to Put Man on Moon
JFK makes it a goal for the United States, before the decade was out, to put a man on the moon. -
Tsar Bomba Tested in Soviet Union
Just six months after Yuri Gagarin's quote about preserving mankind, the world's largest nuclear test was performed by the Soviet Union. Tsar Bomba was a fifty megaton nuclear weapon developed as a way to show the Americans how cool communism was. -
President Kennedy is Assassinated
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Texas. Conspiracy abounds. -
Neil Armstrong Becomes First Man on Moon
Keeping JFK's promise, the United States landed the first man on the moon. Many a conspiracy theory is born. -
Kent State Shootings
A peaceful protest takes a turn for the worse when the National Guard opens fire with live rounds into the crowd. -
Watergate Scandal
The conspiracy theorists were actually right for once. Nixon's staffers ransack the DNC at the Watergate Hotel. -
Richard Nixon Resigns
President Nixon becomes the first US president to resign. You can't fire him if he quits. -
Vietnam is Reunited
After years of intense fighting with many American casualties, (and significantly more NVA/Viet Cong casualties) North Vietnam gets their socialist utopia (read: country wide rice and sadness farm) with the foundation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. -
Three Mile Island Incident
A near nuclear meltdown nearly occurs at Three Mile Island. Nearly. -
Pac-man Released
Known quarter burglar Pac-Man hits arcades everywhere. -
IBM Releases First PC
The personal computer is released by IBM. They have no GUI (General User Interface) so all commands must be entered in HTML code. -
Sally Ride Becomes First (American) Woman in Space
Sally Ride breaks the gender barrier for high qualification jobs in the US by becoming the first female astronaut. -
USSR Launches MIr Space Station
Mir (Peace or Earth) is run by joint US and USSR scientists. A large step to peace. -
Perestroika!
Premier Gorbachev calls for perestroika (reformation in English) of the Communist Party in the USSR. -
Hubble Telescope Launched
The Hubble Telescope, the primary source of all of those pretty, pretty space pictures, is launched by the USA. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union, the US's partner in almost destroying the world in nuclear fire for around forty years, collapses. Former Soviet states turn democratic and capitalist. Yay America. -
LA Riots
LA erupts in a series of riots. The city burns over the acuittal of four officers involved with excessive force charges. -
Dolly, A Cloned Sheep, is Born
Scientists manage to sucessfully clone a sheep. Religious people the world over are appauled. -
Columbine Massacre
Two students at Columbine High School perform US's first school shooting. Twelve students and one teacher are killed. -
World Trade Center Collapses
Terrorists fly hijacked commercial jets into the WTC in New York, New York. -
US Invades Iraq
The Iraq War begins. -
Hurricane Katrina Hits New Orleans
Many are killed in Katrina as the levies break in the Big Easy. -
First Black President Elected
President Obama wins the presidential election against Sen. John McCain. President Obama becomes the first black president in US. -
Bernie Madoff Charged With $50 Billion Security Charges
Madoff had embezelled a lot of money. He payed.