-
Yalta Confernece
At the TEHERAN CONFERENCE and the YALTA CONFERENCE Stalin gained Western recognition of a Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. The paranoia of his last years led to a period of terror reminiscent of the 1930s. -
House Un-American Activities Committee formed
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having Communist ties. -
United Nation Formation
The name "United Nations", coined by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was first used in the "Declaration by United Nations" of 1 January 1942, during the Second World War, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers. -
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held from July 16th, 1945 to August 2nd 1945. The Potsdam Conference is considered to be the last of World War Two's conferences. -
Trueman Doctrine
On March 12, 1947, President Harry S. Truman presented this address before a joint session of Congress. His message, known as the Truman Doctrine, asked Congress for $400 million in military and economic assistance for Turkey and Greece. -
Marshall Plan
On June 5, 1947, in a commencement address at Harvard University, Secretary of State George C. Marshall first called for American assistance in restoring the economic infrastructure of Europe. Western Europe responded favorably, and the Truman administration proposed legislation. -
The Berlin Airlift
During the around-the-clock airlift some 277,000 flights were made, many at 3-min intervals. By spring, 1949, an average of 8,000 tons was being flown in daily. More than 2 million tons of goods—of which coal accounted for about two thirds—were delivered. -
NATO Formation
-
Era of McCarthyism begins
Period of political persecution during the 1950s, led by US senator Joe McCarthy, during which many public officials and private citizens were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers. Although McCarthy was officially censured by the Senate for misconduct in 1954 (most of his evidence was fabricated), his claims induced an atmosphere of suspicion and paranoia that destroyed many careers. The term has come to signify any type of reckless political persecution or witch-hunt -
North Korea invasion of South Korea
Jun 25, 1950 - The '6th Infantry Division took part in the opening moves of the North Korean invasion of South Korea, moving against the ROKA 1st Division on June 25, 1950. After suffering heavy casualties in the Inchon area, this division met no opposition in its move ...The '6th Infantry Division took part in the opening moves of the North Korean invasion of South Korea, moving against the ROKA 1st Division on June 25, 1950. After suffering heavy casualties in the Inchon area, this division mo -
Armistice Signed Ending Korean War
After 2 years and 17 days of secret, difficult negotiations—during a war that lasted 37 months—an armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, finally halting the fighting in the Korean War. A bloody, destructive proxy war in the Cold War struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Korean War caused millions of casualties yet the border remained unchanged: the armistice left the two Koreas divided at the 38th parallel, just as they had been when the war began. -
Rosenberg Execution
June 19 marks the anniversary of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's historic execution in 1953. Found guilty of relaying U.S. military secrets to the Soviets, the Rosenbergs were the first U.S. civilians to be sentenced to death for espionage.
The Rosenbergs were accused of persuading Ethel's brother, David Greenglass, to provide them with confidential U.S. military information gained from his involvement in the development of nuclear weapons. It was believed that Julius, who was an active member -
Warsaw Pact Formation
The Warsaw Pact is the name given to an agreement between several Communist states of Europe. It is also known as the Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. The Warsaw Pact was established in 1955, in Poland. The Soviet Union initiated the Warsaw Pact in response to the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which in turn was formed in response to the perceived threat to European and North Atlantic nations by the Soviet Union. The Warsaw Pact was ma -
Sputnik 1 Launched
History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm.or 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S. -
First Man in Space
April 12 was already a huge day in space history twenty years before the launch of the first shuttle mission. On that day in 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (left, on the way to the launch pad) became the first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft. Newspapers like The Huntsville Times (right) trumpeted Gagarin's accomplishment. -
First American in Space
On May 5, 1961, Mercury Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
Shepard had become the first American in space, kicking off the program he
referred to as ''one step in the evolution of space travel.'' -
Creation of the Berlin Wall
Two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, East German authorities begin building a wall--the Berlin Wall--to permanently close off access to the West. For the next 28 years, the heavily fortified Berlin Wall stood as the most tangible symbol of the Cold War--a literal "iron curtain" dividing Europe. -
The Fisrt Man On The Moon
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the moon. He and Aldrin walked around for three hours. They did experiments. They picked up bits of moon dirt and rocks. They put a U.S. flag on the moon. They also left a sign on the moon
