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Teaches Elvis the dance
When Forrest was young he had braces on his legs and his mom ran a bed and breakfast. One of the patrons was non other than Elvis Presley, who went stayed there watched Forrest dance. Because of his leg braces he made weird moves with his legs which was made famous by Elvis. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1mvfc_elvis-presley-hound-dog_music -
Plays for Bear Bryant
Bear Braynt was a famous football coach for the University of Alabama. Forrest ran during a foorball practice while he was scouting and was thenrecruted to play for the Alabama. Braynt retired with 6 National Championships, 13 conference championships, and 323 game wins. -
University of Alabama Integration
In 1963 a federal district court ordered that the University of Alabama attmit african Americans. Being a southern state there was obviously a lot of pushback from the public and the army had to attend to ensure the safety of the new students. http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement/videos/george-wallace-opposes-integration -
Meets President Kennedy/Assasination
Forrest met President Kennedy because he was a player for the All-American football team. Later that year Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. -
Medal of Honor from LBJ
During his time in Vietnam he saved many people from dying when they were attacked. Because of this he recieved the madal of honor from LBJ, who got most of the heat for the Vietnam War. Later that day he made a speech at an Anti-war protest. -
Enters Vietnam
The war in Vietnam was between the Soviet backed North Vietnam and the United States backed South Vietnam, or communism vs. capitalism. The war was very controversial in the US and caused lots of protests and politcal tensions. The US ultimetly withdrew from Vietnam, losing the war.
http://www.artistdirect.com/video/billy-joel-goodnight-saigon/152195 -
Apollo 11
Although no one in the room was playing attention, the news of the first moon landing was being broadcast across the nation. This was a significant point in history because the United States was the first nation to put people on the moon. Because of this, many people believe America won the space race. http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/1969-moonlanding-vin -
Watergate
When Forrest met President Nixon he put him in the Watergate hotel. That night he called complaining of flashlights shining. He didn't realize that this was the infamous Watergate break in. There was a break in at the Democratic National Commitee headquaters and the Nixon administration attempted to cover it up. This ultimetly led to Nixons resignation and the extreme loss of trust from the public.
http://www.authentichistory.com/1961-1974/6-nixon/3-watergate/popculture/19730000_At_The_Watergate -
Hurricane Carmen
Hurricane Carmen was the most intense tropical storm of 1974. The Category 4 hurricane left crops destroyed and many people were killed. In the movie, Forrest and Lt. Dan were out at sea and were the only shrimping boat left standing, which set off their company. -
Invests in Apple
In 1975 Apple was just a small computer company. Lt. Dan invests some of the companies money into it and it really takes off, increasngs Forrests income tremendously, Apple has made amazing improvents in technology and other fields, -
AIDs Outbreak
In the 1980s a new disease was spreading like wildfire and killing millions of people. First only prominent in gay males, the disease eventually spread to females and then transfered to their children. Doctors didn't understand the disease and people didn't know how it was spread so many people infected werre isolated from friends and family. In the movie, Jenny has the virus and eventually dies. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/view/ -
Reagan Assassination Attempt
In 1981, someone attempted to kill our new president. In the movie, the event is on TV whe Forrest gets the call that his mother is dying during this. After the atempt, Reagan still was pro-guns and thought people still had the right to own them
