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Volstead Act
The eighteenth amendment, also known as the Volstead Act was the prevention by law of manufacture and sale of alcohol in the United States. Prohibition spawned from the traditional ideas of anti-German sentiment but led to the revolutionary era of organized crime. Prohibition was a divided subject in the U.S. -
Census revealed 50% urban population
For the first time, the majority of Americans lived in urban areas. -
19th Amendment
The United States Constitution prohibits the United States and the states from denying the right to vote citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recognizing the right of women to a vote. -
Harlem Renaissance
Period of artistic development of African-American writers, artists, actors, and musicians in the 1920s. -
Universal Negro Improvement Association (Marcus Garvey)
African American leader during the 1920s who founded the Univeral Negro Improvement Association and advocated mass migration of African Americans back to Africa. -
Dawes Plan
A plan to revive the German economy, the United States loans Germany money which then can pay reparations to England and France, who can then pay back their loans from the U.S. -
Immigration Act
Limited the number of immigrants allowed entry to the U.S. through a national origins quota. -
Scopes Trial
1925 court case in which Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan debated the issue of teaching evolution in public schools. -
The Jazz Singer
The first movie with sound; this "talkie" was about the life of a famous jazz singer; Al Jolson. -
Transatlantic Flight
Charles Lindbergh (pilot of the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight)/Nonstop airplane crossing from New York to Paris, and solo. -
Kellogg-Briand Pact
Was signed on August 27, 1928, by the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan, ad a number of other states. The pact renounced aggressive war, prohibiting the use of was as "an instrument of national policy" except in matters of self-defense. -
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
On February 14, 1929, seven members and associates of George "Bugs" Moran's bootlegging gang were lined up against a wall and shot dead inside the garage at 2122 North Clark Street. -
Stock Market Crash
A major American stock market crash occurred in the autumn of 1929 -
Bonus Army
WW1 Veterans who were seeking early payment of a pension bonus for their service. -
"Hundred Days"
The early period of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. -
Tennessee Valley Authority
Authorized to complete the dam at Muscle Shoals and build others in the region, and to generate and sell electricity from them to the public at reasonable rates. -
Emergency Banking Relief
A conservative bill designed primarily to protect the larger banks from being dragged down by the weakness of smaller ones. The Treasury Department was to inspect banks before reopening. -
U.S. off gold standard
A monetary system in which currency is backed by gold, when Congress enacted a joint resolution nullifying the right of creditors to demand payment in gold. -
Civilian Conservation Corps
A voluntary public work relief program that operated from 1933-1942 in the U.S. for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18-25 and eventually expanded to ages 17-18. -
Federal Emergency Relief Act
A grant-making agency authorized to distribute federal aid to the states for relief. -
National Industrial Recovery Act
A U.S. labor law and consumer law passed by the 73rd US Congress to authorize the President to regulate the industry for fair wages and prices that would stimulate economic recovery. -
Public Works Administration
The Public Works Administration budgeted several billions of dollars to the construction of public work and providing employment. Improving public welfare. -
Civil Works Administration
A short-lived job creation program established by the New Deal during the Great Depression in the United States to rapidly create mostly manual labor jobs for millions of unemployed workers. -
Second New Deal
Roosevelt's second attempt at reform. -
Social Security Act
A two-tiered system of social insurance programs and means-tested assistance. -
Jesse Owens win four gold medals
Won four gold medals, in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, and the ling jump (Olympics). -
Neutrality Act (Cash and Carry)
Series of laws passed by Congress in 1935 banned arms sales or loans to countries at war. -
Destroyers for Base Deal
Roosevelt's compromise for helping Britain as he could not sell Britain US destroyers without defying the Neutrality Act. -
Lend-Lease Act
Given President Roosevelt's virtually unlimited authority to direct material aid such as ammunition, tanks, airplanes, trucks, and food to the war effort in Europe without violating the nation's official position of neutrality. -
Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
A surprise military strike by the imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States. -
Midway
Between the Japanese and the Americans in the biggest carrier battle of world war two. -
Korematsu v. United States
A landmark the United States Supreme Court case upholding the exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast Military Area during WW2. -
D-Day
The Alllied attempt to win back France from Nazi Germany bylanding troops on the French beaches of Normandy. -
Yalta Conference
A meeting of three WW2 allies: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. -
Potsdam Conference
Last of the Big Three meetings during WW2. -
V-E Day
The end of the war in Europe. -
V-J Day
Japanese surrender. The WW2 is over -
Iron Curtain Speech
Winston Churchill spoke about the necessity for the U.S. and Britain to act as the guardians of peace and stability against the menace of Soviet communism. -
Truman Doctrine
The establishment that the U.S. would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. -
Marshall Plan
A U.S. program providing aid to Westen Europe following the devastation of WW2. -
Containment Policy
A U.S. policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. -
NATO formed
North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Wester European countries. -
Korean War
North and South Korea War. -
Rosenberg's Convicted of Espionage
Ethan Rosenberg spying on the government. -
McCarthy Allegations
Hundreds of Americans were accused of being "communist." -
SEATO formed
An alliance similar to NATO in which the countries of South East Asia agreed that a Soviet attack on one of them would be considered an attack on them all. -
Domino Theory
The theory that a political event in one country will cause similar events in neighboring countries, like a falling domino causing an entire row of upended dominoes to fall. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus, Dr. Matrin L. King led a boycott of city busses. -
Elvis Presley
An American singer -
Sputnik 1
The Soviet Union surprised the world by launching Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. -
Berlin Crisis
Stalin blockaded all routes by land and rail into West Berlin. -
U-2 Incident
An American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. -
Bay of Pigs
An invasion begins when a CIA-financed and -trained group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the communist government. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the US and the Soviet Union. -
James Meredith
Students and other protesters took to the streets, burning cars and throwing rocks at the federal marshals who were tasked with protecting Meredith. -
Gideon v. Wainwright
A landmark the United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously held that in criminal cases states are required under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to provide an attorney to a defendant who is unable to afford their own attorneys. -
Civil Rights Act
The nation's premier civil rights legislation. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Authorized President Lydon Johnson to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks against the force of the United States and to prevent further aggression" by the communist government of North Vietnam. -
Great Society
Congress passed many Great Society measures, including Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid to education. -
Thurgood Marshall
The first African American to serve on the Supreme Court. -
Miranda v. Arizona
defendants' statements to authorities are inadmissible in court unless the defendant has been informed of their right to have an attorney present during questioning and understanding that anything they say will be held against them. -
Tet Offensive
A series of major attacks by communist forces in the Vietnam War. Vietnamese communist troops seized and briefly held some major cities at the time of the tet. -
My Lai Massacre
One of the most horrific incidents of violence committed against unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War. -
MLK Assassinated
Civil rights leader and activist was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis Tennessee. -
Massive Demonstrations Against Veitnam War
It was the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam. -
SALT
A series of strategic arms limitation talks. During this period, the UNited States and the USSR negotiated the first agreements to place limits and restraints on important armaments. -
Kent State Shooting
A small group of protesters taunted the Guard from the Prentice Hall parking lot. -
Nixon Opens Relation with China
U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China was an important strategic and diplomatic overture. -
Nixon Resigns
Nixon resigned in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office. -
American Hostage in Iran Released
The 52 American hostages, seized from the US Embassy in Tehran in November 1979, were finally released on 20 January 1981. -
South Vietnam Falls to Communist
South Vietnam falls to Communist troops from North Vietnam, marking the end of the Vietnam War. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
Political changes in Eastern Europe and civil unrest in Germany put pressure on the East German government to loosen some of its regulations on travel to West Germany. -
Strategic Defense Initiative
This program was to develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries, specifically the Soviet Union. -
Iran-Contra Arms Deal
Reagan appeared on national television and stated that the weapons transfers had indeed occurred, but that the United States did not trade arms for hostages. -
Germany Reunified
German Democratic Republic became part of the Federal Republic of Germany. -
Breakup of the USSR
Many countries broke away from the Soviet Union. This was caused by a lot of factors such as the Fall of Berlin Wall and the Romanian Revolution. -
Operation Desert Storm
This was a massive war between Saddam Hussein, the leader of the Iran forces and the Americans in the two deserts of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.