-
Russian Revolution
The Bolsheviks overthrew the Tsarist monarchy, leading to the rise of the Soviet Union. -
Soviet Bomb Test
The classified research and development program that was authorized by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union to develop nuclear weapons during World War II. -
Iron Curtain
The notional barrier separating the former Soviet block and the West prior to the decline of communism that followed the political events in eastern Europe. -
Potsdam Conference
A conference between the UK, US, and USSR, concerning the military occupation and reconstruction of Germany, its borders, and War territory. -
Atomic bomb - Hiroshima/Nagasaki
The US detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, scaring Japan into surrender. -
Molotov Plan
The system created by the Soviet Union in order to provide aid to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union. -
Truman Doctrine
An American foreign policy whose stated purpose was to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. -
Hollywood 10
A group of Hollywood actors who refused to answer questions regarding their possible communist affiliations, citing the first amendment, and spent time in prison for contempt of Congress -
Marshall Plan
an American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the United States gave over $13 billion in economic assistance to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II. -
Berlin Blockade
The Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control in response to the unification of Western Germany. -
Berlin Airlift
The U.S. Aid sent through planes to the blockaded Berlin, dropping food and supplies to the trapped Germans, until the blockade was lifted. -
NATO
An intergovernmental military alliance between several North American and European countries based on the North Atlantic Treaty. -
Alger Hiss Spy Case
Alger Hiss was an American government official who was accused of being a Soviet spy and convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in. -
Korean War
Began when the North Korean Communist army crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded non-Communist South Korea. The United States came to South Korea's aid. -
Rosenburg Trial
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were Jewish United States citizens who spied for the Soviet Union and were tried, convicted and executed by the United States government through the electric chair -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist-nationalist revolutionaries. -
Army-McCarthy hearings
A series of hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations to investigate conflicting accusations between the United States Army and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. -
Geneva Conference
The Geneva Conference was a conference among several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland. It was intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War. -
Warsaw Pact
An alliance created by the Soviet Union and its Satellites in response to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). -
Hungarian Revolution
A nationwide revolt against the communist government of the Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies. -
U2 Incident
American U2 plane shot down by a Soviet surface to air missile where CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers had been on a top secret mission to over fly and photograph denied territory from his U2 spy plane deep inside Russia. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 -
Berlin Wall
A guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning American ballistic missile deployment in Italy and Turkey with consequent Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba -
Assassination of Diem
The arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, the president of South Vietnam, marked the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup d'état led by General Dương Văn Minh. -
Assassination of JFK
John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. in Dallas, Texas while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dealey Plaza. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
The gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the U.S. 2nd Air Division, U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force against North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. -
Tet Offensive
A campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam, names after the Vietnamese New Year, when the first major attacks took place. -
Assassination of MLK
On Thursday, April 4, 1968, King was staying in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. King had gone out onto the balcony and was standing near his room when he was struck at 6:01 p.m. -
Assassination of RFK
presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was mortally wounded shortly after midnight PDT at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He had just won the California presidential primaries in the 1968 election. -
Riots of Democratic convention
Tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters battle police in the streets, while the Democratic Party falls apart over an internal disagreement concerning its stance on Vietnam. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
a joint invasion of Czechoslovakia by five Warsaw Pact nations; the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany and Poland. -
Election of Nixon
The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial presidential election, where former Vice President Richard Nixon, defeated the Democratic nominee. -
Kent State
Four Kent State University students were killed and nine injured when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire during a demonstration protesting the Vietnam War. -
Nixon visits China
An important strategic and diplomatic overture that marked the culmination of the Nixon administration's resumption of harmonious relations between the United States and China. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
President Richard Nixon of the USA ordered a ceasefire of the aerial bombings in North Vietnam. The decision came after Dr. Henry Kissinger, the National Security Affairs advisor to the president, returned to Washington from Paris, France with a draft peace proposal. -
Fall of Saigon
the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam -
Reagan Elected
Ronald Reagan, a former actor and California governor, served as the 40th U.S. president from 1981 to 1989. -
SDI announced
Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as Star Wars, proposed U.S. strategic defensive system against potential nuclear attacks from the Soviet Union. The SDI was first proposed by President Ronald Reagan in a nationwide television address. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
a Cold War-era meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. It was held between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. The two leaders met for the first time to hold talks on international diplomatic relations and the arms race. -
‘Tear down this wall’ speech
Speech held by Ronald Reagan in West Berlin calling for the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to open up the barrier which had divided West and East Berlin since 1961. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
As the Cold War began to thaw across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for East Berlin's Communist Party announced a change in his city's relations with the West.
