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G.I Bill of Rights
This act was created in order for veterans to be provided with the right of education, and one year of unemployment compensation. Loans began to form to help out these men on buying homes and starting their own business. -
Hiroshima
The bombing on Hiroshima by "Little Boy" became deadly towards the Japanese people. This specific location had a purpose because it was the largest port city with an army base that had not been inflicted with damage towards previous bombs. Dropping this bomb perpetuated power towards the US of nuclear dominance. -
Cold War
Post World War II where the US and Soviets became superpowers and indirectly fought each other through the arms & space race. -
Beat Generation
The cultural phenomena of a rejection of American values came into prominence. Examples of elements of this group of Americans were experimentation with drugs, differences o views on sexuality. -
Fair Deal
Truman decides to add on the New Deal and call it the Fair Deal that focuses more on education, health, and public housing. It led only to the Housing Act of 1949 and the Social Security Act of 1950 due to opposition in congress. -
McCarthyism
During his speech in West Virginia, he accused more than 200 people that were communist who worked with the US. His accusation was anxiously accepted by other Americans who feared of control. His persecution of people never seemed to have back-up evidence. -
Korean War
The Korean War was fought between South Korea and communist North Korea. It was the first major conflict of the Cold War as the Soviet Union supported North Korea and the United States supported South Korea. As of today, the split between both regions are separated by the 38th parallel. -
Ike Turner
A prestigious songwriter, musician, and producer began having an interest in music in his early high school years and later on pursued fame with his song "Rocket 88" that truly showed the essence of rock n roll. -
TV Shows
In the 1950s, TV shows depicted stereotypical families such as a white father, mother, and children. Watching TV shows became popular at this time and shows like I Love Lucy, and Leave it to Beaver became temporary for households to watch every week. -
Bill Haley & the Comets
An American rock band that started in 1952 until death of Haley in '81. They created the first group of white musicians that brought rock n roll to the American majority. -
Elvis
A popular singer, artist and actor that rose to fame for his voice and seductive and provocative dance movements. His music influenced the name "rock n roll". One of his popular performances is "Hound Dog" -
Dr. Jonas Salk
A profound biologist who researched the vaccine in order to prevent polio. Although 11 people had died of his vaccine, Americans continued to vaccinate their children. He even tested it on himself and his own children to prove that it truly works. -
Alger & Ethel Rosenberg
Both men were accused of being involved in spying the Americans to pass on information to the Soviets of their secrets. -
Earl Warren Supreme Court
He was a United States jurist who served as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court that led the Supreme Court with an activist direction (Brown v. Board case) which pushed further the boundaries of civil rights in the US. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This case was important as it caused a turning point in civil rights history to proclaim that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Chief Justice Earl Warren had stated that segregating schools could detriment African American children's personal lives and education. -
Emmett Till Tragedy
This incident was mainly caused by racism in the deep South. 11 year old boy Emmett Till walked into a convenience store and supposedly said some harassing words towards the owner. Her husband had tracked him down to his house and kidnapped him to later on torture him in the woods with vicious acts that made him unrecognizable when the police found his body. Great steps were taken after this event that created new importance towards civil rights. -
Little Richard
Richard was a profound artist that brought fame of rock n roll to the black community. His suggestive lyrics and catchy piano playing caught him the spotlight in the music industry. It was also known that Elvis himself stole lyrics and music from Little Richard to have it become his own & gain more popularity instead. -
Rosa Parks
A civil rights leader came to an occurrence when a white man demanded her to give up her seat but she refused. After being arrested, it triggered a national civil rights movement and influenced MLK to fight for what they deserve. -
Space Race
Competition between the Soviets & US where who could go into space first. Russia achieved this objective and later on affected the US with their drive to influence higher education. -
Ho Chi Minh Trail
This trail was implemented with a network of roads to connect the division of North & South Vietnam and other countries beside them. One of the many reasons was to provide transportation routes for Northern troops going into the southern region. There were also '"dummy" routes to fool the Americans. -
LSD
LSD or "acid" became significant in a person's daily lives as it caused major drug abuse that spread to other countries such as United Kingdom.With the counter-culture in the 60s, many used it as an escapism of society's problems. -
Sit-ins
This was a protest by African Americans that sat in white areas and refused to get up when told to. In Greensboro, North Carolina, staff refused to give them service and whites tackled them and they never moved an inch until they were arrested. Overall sit ins were only involving the South so they weren't impacting as much to the North. -
New Frontier
The term New Frontier was used by liberal Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech in the 1960 United States presidential election to the Democratic National Convention at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the Democratic slogan to inspire America to support him. -
OPEC
This organization's main function was to stabilize oil production in foreign countries and unify the petroleum policies to ensure a consistent supply for the consumers. Without this agreement, individual countries would end up increasing their supply in the international revenue. -
Peace Corps
he Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The stated mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance; helping people outside the United States to understand US culture. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs invasion occurred because of Fidel Castro nationalizing all American companies in Cuba and US responded by stopping all imports of their sugar and need of aid. The invasion took a turn for the worst as most of them trained men were captured and Kennedy went through humiliation to release his men. This event will lead to the missile crisis later on. -
Albert Sabin
A Polish American medical researcher that created an oral vaccine for polio This was a step higher being taken from Salk's vaccine and improved the health of citizens in the US. His vaccine was clear of dangerous viruses and had easy transmission when done orally instead of shots. -
Feminism
Feminism in the 1960s began to grow more attention as women found more ways to voice their opinion on gaining equal rights and pay as men. One well known person was Belly Friedan who'd written a book called the "Feminine Mystique" claiming that women could anything as equally as good as men do. -
Assassination of JFK
In 1963 in Dallas, riding in a parade to drum up support for the upcoming presidential election in 1964, JFK was shot twice by Lee Harvey Oswald and pronounced dead at Parkland hospital. -
Daisy Girl
This ad might be one of the most political and controversial ads ever to broadcast on television. It shows a girl in a field of flowers and later on a huge explosion is shown on screen to tell the audience that we should protect our children from nuclear bombs such as these. It was towards Johnson's campaign and an important turning point in history politics. -
Barry Goldwater
An Arizona senator that went up against Johnson. His extreme conservatism scared many into voting for Johnson. His policies included getting rid of the New Deal and Great Society that dealt with social security and civil rights. -
Selma March
A major demonstration made my MLK to fight for fairness in vothing. When state troopers met the demonstrators at the edge of the city by the Edmund Pettus Bridge, that day became known as "Bloody Sunday." -
Malcolm X
An influential black leader who challenged MLK's ways of non-violent protests towards civil disobedience. His motive was to advocate nationalism, racial separation, and self defense. His assassination was during his speech in 1965 in NYC. It was hypothesized to be Black Muslims that killed him but no proof has been shown to prove this. -
Hippies
The formation of the hippie movement began in an article "A New Paradise for Beatniks". Characteristics were plentiful as they disliked materialism, technology, Vietnam War, and impure foods. Instead, they promoted their support for peace, love, and freedom to have sexual liberation. A majority of these people were from the middle class origin and rarely were involved in the work force. -
Black Panther Party
Originated in Oakland and formed by 6 members.They adopted the Black Panther symbol from an independent political party established the previous year by Black residents of Lowndes County, Alabama. The Panthers also supported the Black Power movement, which stressed racial dignity and self-reliance. -
Chicano Mural Movement
This was a civil rights movement for Hispanics and incldued student demonstration to press for billingual education, and hiring of more diverse teachers. Because of such empowering artwork, by the 70s, dozens of programs were offered at universities. -
Native American Civil Rights Movement
In the late 1960s, Native Americans slowly, btut progessively started to gain their rights and reservations back thanks to organizations such as AIM and NIYC. -
My Lai Massacre
The massacre made by American soldiers sought out on a "search and destroy" hunt for the 48th Viet Cong member who was believed to be in the area. Men shot anyone of any age, carved "C Company" onto their chests, and raped women. It took place after the Tet offensive where the Charlie Company had lost 5 men. -
Death of MLK
On that day after 6pm, it was known that he was on the second floor balcony where a bullet shot him in the neck and was presumed dead after an hour of being admitted into the hospital. Many blacks saw King’s assassination as a rejection of their strong pursuit of equality through the nonviolent resistance he had conquered. His murder, like the killing of Malcolm X in 1965, radicalized many moderate African-American activists, inspired groups like the Black Panther. -
Apollo 11
Organized by NASA, their mission was to send American astronauts into space during the space race between Soviets. Neil Armstrong became the first man to land on the moon. -
Silent Majority
Their involvement with politics was when Nixon mentioned in his speech to convey that the people who'd supported his policies are the silent ones while others who were against the joining of US and VN only became known as the the noisy minority. -
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The EPA is one of the largest federal agencies and was created by an executive order in 1972 to control pollution in the areas of air, water, solid waste, pesticides, radiation, and toxic substances. The EPA has broad rule-making powers to adopt new regulations by holding meetings, hearings, initiating judicial proceedings and ordering remedies for misdemeanor. -
Beginnings of Personal Computer
The KENBAK-1 was considered to be the first personal computer created by John Blankenbaker and sold automatically in 1971.Relying on switches for input and lights for output from is 256-byte memory, the product only sold 40 machines and afterwards closed down their process. -
Stagflation
While prices are rising, higher unemployment rates are being shown. President Nixon attempted to resolve the situation by devaluing the dollar and declaring wage. -
Title IX
Branched from the Education Amendments banned discrimination between genders when involving education programs or activities funded by the government. Impact was greatly, as it created equal rights for female athletes. -
Heritage Foundation
A public policy that promoted mostly conservative ideas such as free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. -
Endangered Species Act
Made it illegal for Americans to take part in selling, killing, kidnapping animals under the list of extinction. Of the 2,268 species that are listed as endangered or threatened by the ESA, 673 are foreign species that are found only in areas outside of the United States. -
VHS
Invention of recorders that use a half inch video format enabled viewers at home to record and play back programs from TV or watch rental movies from. Many believe that VHS lasted longer than could have been expected. Very few media formats can expect to match the long life of the VHS today. -
The Moral Majority
A political group consisted mainly of Christians. Even with little accomplisments, people were finally bringing up to light the issues had about the moral fabric of their society. They focused on issues such as feminism, abortion, etc. -
3 Mile Island
The 3 mile island accident was from a nuclear malfunction and a something had caused part of the core to melt in the #2 reactor. No injuries or noticeable health defects were seen from the incident. Training and operations improved from then on to make the nuclear power industry safer and more reliable. -
Home video game systems
Game systems entered homes because of Baer's prototype in creating the Odyssey. Games invented during the 1980s were commonly known such as Nintendo Game Boy, Atari 7800, and the Gemini. -
Jimmy Carter
The 39th president was known to be a member of the Democratic Party and created two important departments; Department of Education, and Energy. His popularity sunk during the election of 1980 when he lost against Ronald Reagan. -
Lionel Sosa
Developed the largest Hispanic advertising agency in the US called Bromley Communications. An advertising and marketing executive, was named one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the U.S. by Hispanic Business magazine. His pinnacle of success came in the popular 1990s with his company receiving over $130 million a year. -
Reaganomics
During Reagan's presidency, Reagan introduced a “supply-side” economic philosophy, commonly called Reaganomics, that championed tax cuts for the rich, reduced government regulation, cuts to social-welfare programs, and increased defense spending. -
AIDS Crisis
AIDS started to show more occurrences between homosexual men and rapidly grew in the 1980s. Abusive drug users, people who shared needles, and any contact with blood was seen as a risk of being diagnosed with AIDS. Throughout the decade more than 12,000 Americans died in the year of 1986 due to AIDS and increased globally as much as 20,000 in the next two years. -
Music Television (MTV)
MTV, or Music Television, brought a revolution to the recording industry. MTV broadcast music video interpretations of popular songs. Beginning in 1981, MTV redefined popular music. Stars like Madonna and Michael Jackson were able to convey a musical image as well as music. -
Sandra Day O' Conner
Appointed by President Reagan, was the first woman to be in the Supreme Court and was considered a conservative and served for 24 years. She took on an important role with the swing vote that reaffirmed the Roe v. Wade case. After her retirement, she's been active to educating the youth to better themselves by being involved in civics and gov't. -
Sam Walton’s Just-in-Time Inventory
Walton's creations was a management system in which materials or products are produced or acquired only as demand requires. This approach to managing inventory has become increasingly popular in the 21st century as sellers try to control inventory costs while still meeting customer demands. -
Black Entertainment Television (BET)
BET is founded by the first African American billionaire, Robert L Johnson who wanted to reach out to African Americans as close as he possibly could. The network has released a variety of content such as stand up comedy, news, mainstream hip hop, R&B music videos, and more. They've also branched out to other regions such as Canada and France. -
Challenger Explosion
The space shuttle named Challenger had detonated for the first 73 seconds it was in flight killing everyone on board. The cause of this was a faulty seal in the fuel tank. Later on, officials created better safety regulations to come back in 1988 with Discovery. -
Oprah Winfrey
Starting her career, she moved to Baltimore to host a TV show called "People are Talking" and stayed there for more than 5 years until she was offered her own show. Her personality was exerted through her broadcast and was known as the lady who won hearts of her viewers making the show skyrocket in views and placed first in ratings. -
Rap music
During the 1980s, a crack epidemic gave birth to hip hop. Incarceration rates increased, more occurrences of police brutality, gang violence,and Nihilism. Popular songs like Straight Outta Compton, Dopeman, Talkin' All That Jazz, and It's Tricky received highlights for their catchy rhythm and signifying lyrics. -
Internet
Tim Berners- Lee created a global network connecting millions of computers, making it possible to exchange information gaining popularity in the 90s. During this time, the internet was growing exponentially and the government decided to privatize it. This boom also led to globalization and brought more people together to share new ideas everyday, such as memes -
Online Gaming
Online gaming opened a new door for teenagers who wanted an escape route. This set up of a variety of games allowed for team players and more social interaction. The mass interest led to interesting games such as Road Rash, and Legend of Zelda -
Rodney King Incident
The videotaped police brutality beating of Rodney King sparked riots triggered by the officers involved in the L.A.P.D. The accused officers still remain not guilty after the obvious evidence, and some felt the result was because of racism. These feelings helped it become the worst rioting since the 1960s. -
Health Care Reform
Under Clinton's presidency, the reform package required each citizen and resident to be enrolled in a qualified health plan. Also recognized as "Hillary-care", he attempted to set a comprehensive plan that could provide health care universally. The bill was later on defeated in 1994 due to the lack of Democratic Senators to pass it. -
Emails
Historically, the term electronic mail was used generically for any electronic document transmission. It boomed in popularity as commercials from AOL, Prodigy, and CompuServe all showed up. -
World Trade Center Attack
Terrorists drove a truck bomb underneath it and detonated it. The parking garage was gutted, but the buildings stood up until the two planes hit it in 2001. More than 1,000 people had been injured and six people died including a pregnant woman. -
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
A free trade plan initiated in the Bush administration and enacted by a narrow vote in Congress in the early months of the Clinton administration. It established a common market without tariff barriers between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. -
Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy
This policy was towards lesbians and gays allowing them to serve the military as long as they don't state their sexuality. In a way to compromise to restrict the military from witch hunting but excluding others who are too exposed to join the military. This was Clinton's way to help homosexuals not be separated; even commanders couldn't investigate it. -
Welfare Reform
Federal government put cap on lifetime benefits for welfare recipients + stipulated job training & work requirements. One of the requirements were recipients must work within 2 years, recipients cannot receive benefits for more than 5 years. -
DOMA
A federal law that ruled same sex marriage unconstitutional. Although the law itself was ruled unconstitutional because the Supreme Court majority believed that any couple should deserve equal rights as much as a heterogeneous couple. -
Bush v. Gore
During the 2000 election, after Bush's win, there was a Florida dispute between recount and this case ended up going to the Florida Supreme Court ruling in favor of Gore's request to ordering counties to apply the standard of "the clear intention of the voter". After all this work, Bush remained to be the winner in the end. -
9/11 Attacks
Formed by coordinated suicide attacks that involved innocent people being killed by Al-Qaeda. Terrorists had hijacked four airplanes and intentionally crashed two in the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Later on in the future, there will be a museum dedicated to the lives lost and broken pieces of the airplanes, stairs, people's clothing, and many other sentimental artifacts that grasps the importance of this event. -
Patriot Act
After the 9/11 incidnet, Congres passed a security legislation in order to make the country rid of terrorism coming again. This act gives the authorities stronger powers to control information such as looking at hidden records and researching in libraries, anything task to make sure the country is protected with a strong barrier. -
No Child Left Behind Act
This was enacted in order to prevent a broken public education system that linked federal money to state action requiring states paying higher standards for their students. Also connected with the disabilities act and helps set high standards for students to achieve for their future jobs -
Hurricane Katrina
Was considered to be one of the most damaging natural disasters that exposed Bush's inefficiency to deal with the crisis and helping the people affected. Because of New Orleans low elevation, the flooding seemed to become more hazardous and destroyed almost 80% of the land, more than 1,300 people had died, and costs of the damage came to about $150 billion. -
Barack Obama
Served a two year term presidency from 2009-2016. His administration campaigned for change and equality throughout the United States. He was also the first African American president and brought the largest presidential inauguration attendance. He had policies such as the Foreign policy, which removed troops from Iraq, oversaw the death of Osama Bin Laden, focused on diplomacy, created tax cuts, Obamacare, deportation of immigrants, and many more. -
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Used to create jobs and consumer spending with the help of over 700 million dollars to revive the broken income. It also included financial incentives for adopting electronic health records. -
Obamacare
The main objective of Obamacare was to expand health insurance coverage to an estimated 32 million uninsured Americans and strengthens existing coverage. It was effective in a way that by holding health insurance companies accountable, protecting providers and patients, while also guaranteeing choice and control -
Undoing of DOMA
in 1996, Congress had passed DOMA, which stated the definition of marriage was only to one man and one woman, and not give martial rights to a same sex couple. In 2012, a U.S. court appealed that provision is unconstitutional because it intereferd with the 10th amendment to define marriage.
