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Formation of the United Nations
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. -
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cold war
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Iron curtain over Europe
The "Iron Curtain" was the symbolic, ideological, and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War, roughly 1945 to 1991. To the east of the Iron Curtain, the states were under the control of the Soviet Union, either directly or through 'puppet governments.' To the West were the democratic European states.
The Iron Curtain took physical shape in the shape of border defenses between the countries of the western and eastern -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine has raised profound questions from historians regarding its origins, long-term consequences, and the relationship between domestic and foreign policy. However, one thing is for certain, the Truman Doctrine signaled America's post war embrace of global leadership and ended its longstanding policy of isolationism. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan created a resurgence of European industrialization and also brought extensive investment into the region. It was a stimulant to the U.S. economy by establishing markets for American goods. The participation of the Soviet Union and East European nations, although, was a possibility, Soviet concern over potential U.S. economic domination of its Eastern European satellites and Stalin’s unwillingness to open up his secret society to westerners doomed the idea. -
Creation of Israel
The end of World War II led to the disappearance of French and British influence through the Arab world, as the fast eclipse of the old imperial powers changed the politics not only of Asia but of the Middle East and Africa also. The mandated territories granted by the League of Nations after World War I were granted independence. These included Syria and Jordan in 1946 and Lebanon in 1943. The mandate in Palestine was liquidated, and a Jewish homeland -- promised after World War I -
Belrin Air Lift
The Russians took Eastern Europe in what Stalin felt was essentially compensation for the beating the Soviet Union took during World War II. Berlin was considered the ultimate prize which is why raced his armies to it during the final months of the war.
While still allied with the west, Berlin along with Germany was split up into regions under British, American, French and Russian control. When Stalin blockaded Berlin, the West i.e United States and others decided to defend it's part of Berlin -
NATO formed
After World War II, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. occupied much of Europe. Most of the continent's governments had fallen to the Nazis during the war, so the two superpowers were left with the responsibility of setting up new governments. Each promised to allow free elections, but in the end, did not. This left eastern and western Europe divided by style of government -
Korean War
The Korean War was the first armed confrontation of the Cold War and set the standard for many later conflicts. It created the idea of a proxy war, where the two superpowers would fight in another country, forcing the people in that nation to suffer the bulk of the destruction and death involved in a war between such large nations -
Stalin dies
Joseph Stalin or Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin, was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953 -
Warsaw Pact Formed
The Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies have signed a security pact in the Polish capital, Warsaw, after a three-day conference. -
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Sputnik I and II
Sputnik 2, or Prosteyshiy Sputnik 2 was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on November 3, 1957, and the first to carry a living animal, a dog named Laika -
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Sputnik I & Sputnik II
In 1957 the Soviets used a missile to launch Sputnik 1 into orbit around the earth. The arms race evolved into a space race as the United States rushed to launch its own satellites. The space race was an opportunity for the two nations to show their technological superiority. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first orbiting satellite, on October 4, 1957. On November 3, they launched Sputnik II. -
NASA is formed
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research. -
bay of pigs invasion
A left-wing revolution in Cuba had ended in 1959 with the ouster of President Fulgencia Batista and the establishment of a new government under Premier Fidel Castro. The Castro regime quickly severed the country’s formerly strong ties with the United States by expropriating U.S. economic assets in Cuba and developing close links with the Soviet Union. -
Berlin Wall construction
It was designed to stop the large scale migration of East Germans to the West. Between the building of the wall in 1961 and its fall in 1989 it is estimated that around 5000 people managed to escape into West Berlin: over 2 milion had done so before the construction of the wall. -
Kennedy assassinated
A ten-month investigation from November 1963 to September 1964 by the Warren Commission concluded that Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, and that Jack Ruby also acted alone when he killed Oswald before he could stand trial. -
USS Pueblo Incident
The incident quickly escalated. The U.S., already deeply embroiled in the Vietnam War, sent several aircraft carriers to the Sea of Japan and demanded the captives be released. Just days before the attack, North Korean commandos had launched an assassination attempt on South Korea's President Park Chung-hee at his residence. -
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treat
The list of parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty encompasses the states which have signed and ratified or acceded to the international agreement limiting the spread of nuclear weapons. On 1 July 1968, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was opened for signature. -
UN Resolution 2758
The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 was passed in response to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1668 that required any change in China's representation in the UN be determined by a two-thirds vote referring to Article 18[1] of the UN Charter. -
Nixon visits China
On his visit to China, Nixon met with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. The two leaders agreed to expand cultural contacts between their two nations. Nixon also established plans for a permanent U.S. trade mission in China. -
Paris Peace Accords
"The Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam," signed January 27, 1973, never looked like it would live up to its name. Four decades later it stands exposed as a deliberate fraud. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
The Iran Hostage Crisis changed politics and diplomacy between the USA and Iran for many years after. The Iranian Hostage Crisis was the result of University students taking hostages and demanding the former Shah be brought back to Iran to be tried for his crimes. The US played an instrumental role in keeping the unpopular Shah in his position of power. -
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Iran Contra Affair
The Iran-Contra Affairs of the 1980s stemmed from the Reagan Administration’s foreign policies toward two seemingly unrelated countries, Nicaragua and Iran. The Administration believed that changes to these countries that occurred in the 1970s threatened U.S. national interests. -
Korean Airline Flight 007
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KAL 007, KE 007[Notes 2]) was a Korean Air Lines civilian airliner that was shot down by Soviet interceptors on 1 September 1983, over the Sea of Japan (East Sea), near Moneron Island just west of Sakhalin island. All 269 passengers and crew aboard were killed, including Lawrence McDonald, a sitting member of the United States Congress. The aircraft was en route from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage when it strayed into prohibited Soviet airspace around the time -
US invades Grenada
President Ronald Reagan, citing the threat posed to American nationals on the Caribbean nation of Grenada by that nation's Marxist regime, orders the Marines to invade and secure their safety. There were nearly 1,000 Americans in Grenada at the time, many of them students at the island's medical school. In little more than a week, Grenada's government was overthrown. -
Chernobyle disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities of the Soviet Union. -
USSR invades Afghanistan
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, invasion of Afghanistan in late December 1979 by troops from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union intervened in support of the Afghan communist government in its conflict with anticommunist Muslim guerrillas during the Afghan War (1978–92) and remained in Afghanistan until mid-February 1989. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
One direct effect of the Tiananmen Square Massacre was as a demonstration of what the East German government were not willing to do when a near identical public order situation occurred there ahead of a visit from Gorbachev. -
Soviet Union Crashes
The Soviet Union finally collapsed in 1991 when Boris Yeltsin seized power in the aftermath of a failed coup that had attempted to topple reform-minded Gorbachev. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
The thirteen days marking the most dangerous period of the Cuban missile crisis begin. President Kennedy and principal foreign policy and national defense officials are briefed on the U-2 findings. Discussions begin on how to respond to the challenge. Two principal courses are offered: an air strike and invasion, or a naval quarantine with the threat of further military action. To avoid arousing public concern, the president maintained his official schedule, meeting periodically with advisors to
