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Cold War
Growing out of post-World War II tensions between the two nations, the Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted for much of the second half of the 20th century resulted in mutual suspicions, heightened tensions and a series of international incidents that brought the world’s superpowers to the brink of disaster. -
McCarthyism
a vociferous campaign against alleged communists in the US government and other institutions carried out under Senator Joseph McCarthy in the period 1950–54. Many of the accused were blacklisted or lost their jobs, although most did not in fact belong to the Communist Party. -
korean War
Cold war conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces on Korean Peninsula. North Korean communists invade South Korea (June 25, 1950). President Truman, without the approval of Congress, commits American troops to battle (June 27). President Truman removes Gen. Douglas MacArthur as head of U.S. Far East Command (April 11, 1951). Armistice agreement is signed (July 27, 1953). -
Malcolm X
Malcolm is released from prison after six years (instead of eight to ten) and meets Elijah Muhammad in Chicago. It is here that he receives the legendary 'X' from the Nation of Islam. -
Vietnam War
Vietnam War. Vietnam War. a conflict, starting in 1954 and ending in 1975, between South Vietnam (later aided by the U.S., South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand, and New Zealand) and the Vietcong and North Vietnam -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka is widely known as the Supreme Court decision that declared segregated schools to be "inherently unequal." -
Disneyland
Disneyland, the brainchild of Walt Disney, whose father had worked at previous world's fairs and inspired his son to build the iconic Magic Castle and other exhibits, opens in Anaheim, California, with the backing of the new television network, ABC. Disneyland California remains today as one of the greatest theme park capitals of the world and some say is second only to his second park built some years later on the other side of the country, Disney World Florida. -
Emmett Till's murder
Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955) was an African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman. -
Interstate Highway System
Interstate highway system begins with the signing of the Federal-Aid Highway Act. The interstate highway system would enable quick and efficient travel for business and leisure travelers and make destinations like Disneyland and the National Park system more easily connected to the urban population centers of the USA. -
Little Rock Nine
Nine African-American teenagers faced great obstacles and angry mobs in September 1957 to desegregate Little Rock Central High School. Ranging in ages from 15 to 17, these teenagers showed an enormous amount of courage and are considered civil rights activists - meaning that they fought for the right for children all over the country to attend the school of their choice regardless of their race -
NASA
Nasa was formed as the US became interested in space exploration. -
hawaii becomes a state
It is one of the smallest states, and it is the only state made up entirely of islands. The islands are the tops of volcanoes, some of them still active. -
United States embargo against Cuba
The United States embargo against Cuba (known in Cuba as el bloqueo) is a commercial, economic, and financial embargo imposed on Cuba by the United States. -
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is a volunteer program run by the United States government. -
The Berlin Wall
Was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
President Kennedy denounces Soviet Union for secretly installing missile bases on Cuba and initiates a naval blockade of the island (Oct. 22–Nov. 20) -
George Wallace, Governor of Alabama
The staunch conservative demonstrated his loyalty to the cause on June 11, 1963, when black students Vivian Malone and James A. Hood showed up at the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa to attend class. In what historians often refer to as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door," the governor literally stood in the doorway as federal authorities tried to allow the students to enter. -
Martin Luther King, Jr
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech before a crowd of 200,000 during the civil rights march on Washington, DC -
The Panama Canal incident
The Panama Canal incident occurs when Panamanian mobs engage United States troops, leading to the death of twenty-one Panama citizens and four U.S. troops. -
Nike
The company was founded as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Landmark piece of civil rights legislation in the United States that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public. -
Hippie Culture
They made their way to Northern California this year. The Human Be-In in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco popularized hippie culture, leading to the legendary Summer of Love on the West Coast of the United States. -
Twenty-Fifth Amendment Ratified
Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, outlining the procedures for filling vacancies in the presidency and vice presidency -
Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
on June 6, 1968, Robert Kennedy died from his wounds at age 42.The nation was severely shocked at the news of yet another assassination of a major public figure. Robert Kennedy was the third major assassination of the decade, following the murders of Robert's brother, John F. Kennedy, five years earlier and of the great civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. just two months earlier. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 definition. The space vehicle that carried three American astronauts to the moon and back in July 1969. The vehicle consisted of a command module, which stayed in lunar orbit, and a lunar module, which carried two of the three crewmen to a safe landing on the moon. -
Woodstock, 1969
Rock music festival held near Bethel, N.Y., U.S. (its site was to have been the nearby town of Woodstock), on Aug. 15–17, 1969. It attracted about 450,000 young rock fans and featured performers such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Who, and Janis Joplin. -
War Protest
Four students are shot to death by National Guardsmen during an antiwar protest at Kent State University (May 1) -
Cigarettes advertisment ban
January 2, 1971 - A ban on the television advertisement of cigarettes goes into affect in the United States. -
Watergate Scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal that occurred in the United States in the 1970s as a result of the June 17, 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement. -
Apple Inc
Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne on April 1, 1976 to develop and sell personal computers. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
On November 4, 1979, an angry mob of young Islamic revolutionaries overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 Americans hostage. It's hard to say, since the hostage crisis was merely the latest event in the long and complex relationship between the United States and Iran. -
Ronald Reagan/ Reaganomics
Economic policies promoted by U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. These policies are commonly associated with supply-side economics, referred to as trickle-down economics by political opponents -
Summer Olympics
President Carter announces that U.S. athletes will not attend Summer Olympics in Moscow unless Soviet Union withdraws from Afghanistan (Jan. 20 -
John Lennon's Murder
The Beatles' musician John Lennon was shot and killed outside of his New York City apartment on the night of Dec. 8, 1980. Lennon and wife Yoko Ono were returning from the recording studio to their home at The Dakota when 25-year-old crazed fan Mark David Chapman shot him at close range -
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American actor and politician. He was the 40th President of the United States. Prior to his presidency, he served as the 33rd Governor of California. -
Assassination Attempt of Ronald Reagan
It happened 69 days into the presidency of Ronald Reagan. While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr. -
ratification of the Equal Rights
Deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution passes without the necessary votes (June 30). 1982 lobbied, marched, rallied, petitioned, picketed, went on hunger strikes, and committed acts of civil disobedience -
Challenger explodes
Space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members (Jan. 28). It is the worst accident in the history of the U.S. space program -
Live Aid
Live Aid, a concert attended by 100,000 people and watched by 1.9 billion viewers in 150 countries at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, was held, raising global awareness of famine in Ethiopia. -
Persian Gulf War
Iraqi troops invade Kuwait, leading to the Persian Gulf War -
Technoligical Advances
The World Wide Web or internet is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. Whch was made on this day. -
Virus that causes AIDS is dicovered
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Margaret Heckler announces Dr. Robert Gallo and fellow NCI researcher's discovery of HTLV-III as the virus that causes AIDS.
