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Desegregation of University of Alabama
When African American students attempted to desegregate the University of Alabama, Governor George Wallace and state troopers blocked the doors of the school. However, The Supreme Court Case Brown v. BOE declared segregation unconstitutional in 1954, and the executive branch made persistent efforts to enforce this. On June 10, President Kennedy deployed National Guard troops to force desegregation. The next day, Wallace yielded to pressure, and two African American students enrolled. -
JFK Assassination
In preparation for the upcoming election, Kennedy traveled to and spoke in various states in the US. Around noon in Dealey Plaza, gunfire struck, and Kennedy was shot in the head and neck. After arriving at Parkland Memorial Hospital shortly after the shooting, Kennedy was pronounced dead around 1:00 p.m. His body was placed on Air Force One and brought to Love Field. -
Anti-War Protests During Vietnam War
Critics began questioning the government’s assertion that it was fighting a democratic war to liberate South Vietnam from Communism when US planes began dropping bombs in North Vietnam in February. The anti-war movement began mostly on college campuses as members of SDS organized teach-ins to express their opposition. Protesters included students, prominent artists, intellectuals, and hippies. In 1967, the biggest protest took place at the Lincoln Memorial with about 100,000 protesters. -
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party was a political organization founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to challenge police brutality against blacks. The organization was founded after the assassination of Malcolm X and the killing of an unarmed black teen. Political activities of the Panthers included things like the Ten Point Program, free breakfast programs for school children, and free health clinics. The party was involved in many violent and controversial actions, including the deaths of many. -
Abbie Hoffman/Yippies
Abbie Hoffman was an activist and founder of the Youth International Party, or Yippies. Most famously, Hoffman and the Yippies protested outside the Democratic Party National Convention. This eventually lead to the Chicago Seven, a group of radicals who stood trial on charges of conspiring to disrupt the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Also, Hoffman wrote books on a multitude of subjects, such as revolution and an autobiography. -
RFK Assassination
Robert Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles by a Palestinian man named Sirhan and died the next day. Sirhan confessed at his trial and received a death sentence on March 3. However, since the California State Supreme Court invalidated all death penalty sentences in 1972, Sirhan spent the rest of his life in prison. RFK was shot immediately after winning the presidential candidacy, and Sirhan believed that the assassination was “instrumental” in the oppression of Palestinians. -
Moon Landing
The launch of the Apollo 11 mission from the Kennedy Space Center carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins to the moon for the first time. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the surface for the first time in human history as millions watched from Earth. As Armstrong descended down the ladder he said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Aldrin shortly followed Armstrong’s descent. Both men collected samples from the surface to bring back and study -
Ping Pong Diplomacy
Relations between China and America had previously been clouded by Cold War propaganda and diplomatic science. By the early 1970s, both nations were looking to open communication with one another. Two ping pong players, one from America and the other from Japan, spoke to one another and had several interactions to establish peace, and President Nixon later wrote, “I had never expected that the China initiative would come to fruition in the form of a ping-pong team.” -
Assassination Attempt of George Wallace
George Wallace was a politician for the resistance to racial change. While being the Governor of Alabama and a presidential candidate, he was shot outside a rally in Michigan. The shooter was Arthur Bremer and was sentenced to 63 years in prison. The shooting left Wallace paralyzed from the waist down. After the shooting, Wallace wasn’t able to recovery politically. -
Watergate
The Watergate scandal began when several burglars tied to Nixon’s reelection campaign were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate complex in Washington D.C. The prowlers were caught wiretapping phones and stealing documents, and Nixon took aggressive steps to cover up the crime. After his role in the crime was exposed two years later, Nixon resigned. The scandal has lead Americans to question their leaders since this incident. -
Hurricane Carmen
Hurricane Carmen made landfall on the marshland of southern Louisiana, eventually dissipating over eastern Texas. Precipitation in Alabama reached up to 13 inches. Approximately 100,000 residents left their homes and sought shelter. Damage was lighter than first feared, but the sugar industry suffered substantial losses. Fish, shrimp, and oysters also suffered the ecological effects of Hurricane Carmen. Throughout its course, the hurricane killed 8 people and caused $162 million in damage. -
Assassination Attempt of President Reagan
Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. Hinckley shot the president after he addressed the Building and Construction Workers Union of the AFL-CIO. Lucky for Reagan, most of the bullets did not explode. Hinckley shot three more people before he shot the president, including the press secretary, a police officer, and a Secret Service agent. The bullet was fired into the limo and then ricocheted into the President’s chest.
