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The Ku Klux Klan
Forrest Gump was born on January 1, 1944. His mother named him after Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was the founder of the KKK. The KKK was a white supremacy group which was founded in the Reconstruction Era, and came back after World War I. -
Elvis Presley
In the movie, Elvis stays at Forrest's house for a little bit before he became famous. Forrest, with his leg braces, danced strangely as Elvis played his guitar. Later in the movie, Forrest sees Elvis performing the dance on a TV in a store. This relates to what we learned because music was popular among young people during the cold war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJslCsekjIg -
The Integration of University of Alabama
Governor George Wallace refused to let an African American couple attend Univ. Alabama. President JFK ordered him to move/let them go. This was shown in the movie as Forrest attended that college to play football during this time. This relates to when we learned about the Civil Rights Movement. -
Assassination of JFK
On this date in history, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. In the movie, Forrest speaks on how he was assassinated as he once met him for being on the All American Football team. -
The Black Panther Party
In the movie, Jenny takes Forrest to meet with the Black Panthers. The Black Panther Party was a civil rights group that focused on police brutality. It was founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. -
The Vietnam War
Forrest Gump joined the military in the Vietnam War in 1967 after he graduated college. The Vietnam war lasted from 1955-1975 and was a fight against communism. Many Americans were against the war. -
US Moon Landing
The US landed on the Moon on this date. This was important because both the US and the Soviet Union wanted to do this first. This occurred during the Cold War which was between both of those countries. Forrest mentioned this event in the movie. -
Watergate Scandal
This event was when Nixon sent people to break into the DNC offices at the Watergate Hotel. This occurred in the movie because Forrest was staying in that hotel and called the police. -
President Nixon Resigned
President Nixon resigned on this date due to the escalation of the Watergate Scandal. He gave a one day notice of his resignation. He was avoiding impeachment. FUN FACT; my birthday is august 9th HEHE -
Hurricane Carmen
Hurricane Carmen was shown in the movie when Lieutenant Dan and Forrest were on their shrimping boat. This storm had so much rain that it decreased production of rice. It was a major event in the movie as Forrest's shrimping boat was the only one to survive. -
Apple Investment
On this date in history, Lieutenant Dan and Forrest invested into a so called "fruit company." This company was known as Apple. It later became one of the largest technology companies in the world. -
HIV/AIDS Outbreak
During the 70s/80s, HIV and AIDS became a major problem in the US. You could get this disease from shooting up drugs with needles, or by having unprotected sex. In the movie, Jenny dies from this disease as there was and still is no cure, we can only contain it.
