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Francis Ferdinand Assassination
On this day, Arch Duke Francis Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo. This was ultimately what caused the start of World War I. -
The First Battle of Ypres
On this day, the First Battle of Ypres began. It was a fight between the Germans and the allies for the control of the city of Ypres. -
The Lusitania
The Lusitania was a cruise ship that German U-boats sunk. They claimed they believed that it was carrying artillery. Many civilians died. -
Italy Declares War
On this day Italy declared war on Germany and Austria and officially entered World War I. -
The US Enters the War
On this day, the United States entered World War I by declaring war on Germany. -
German and Russian Treaty
On this day, Germany and Russia signed the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. This treaty assured each of the countries that they would not attack each other. -
End of WWI
On this day, Germany signed an armistice with the allies, officially ending World War I. -
Italy Enters the War
On this day Italy officially entered WWII as an Axis power when they invaded France. -
Operation Sea Lion
This was Germany's invasion of the united Kingdom during the battle of Britain. Hitler's hope was the destroy the Royal Air Force. -
Operation Barbarossa
This was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. -
Pearl Harbor
On this day that Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and caused the US to enter WWII. -
Doolittle Raid
FDR decided to air bomb Tokyo. The Americans were outnumbered but ended up coming out on top and the mission was a success. -
The Battle of Guadalcanal
This battle was the first major offensive of the allies. It was a surprise attack and ended with a major victory for the allies. -
US First Air Raid in Europe
The first air raid in Europe that was conducted by the US occurred on this day. Ultimately it was a success and there was only minor damage to two aircraft. -
D-Day
On this day american forces invaded 5 beaches in Normandy. Over 425,000 people were killed or wounded. It was a major allied win. -
The Battle of the Bulge
This battle began on D-Day and lasted until January 25, 1945. It was the last major German offensive. In the end, the allies came out on top. -
Germany Forces Surrender
German forces in Italy are the first to surrender to the allies. The allies occupied most of Germany. -
Hiroshima
The attack on Hiroshima was a major part of the war. It was the first atomic bomb used and caused many fatalities. -
Nagasaki
This was the second atomic bomb used during this war and was used only days after the first one was dropped on Hiroshima. this bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki and was done during the final stages of the war. -
Senator McCarthy
On this day, Senator McCarthy claimed that 205 people in our US government were communist and posed a threat to us. It was later revealed he was lying. -
North Korea Invades the South
North Korea sent 135,000 troops into South Korea on this day. This was the action that started the Korean War. -
MacArthur
General Douglas MacArthur ordered the eighth army to KATUSA program. -
Inchon Landing
On this day, the US and allies landed 1st division US marines at Inchon. -
Truman and MacArthur
On this day president Truman relieved General MacArthur of his commands after MacArthur made public statements that contradicted policies. -
Eisenhower Election
On this day Eisenhower was elected president. He won by a landslide with 442 electoral votes. -
Johnson Visits Vietnam
President Lyndon B. Johnson went to South Vietnam to offer aid to Diem. After this, military presence in Vietnam grew. -
ARVN
John F. Kennedy sent special forces troops to South Vietnam to advise the Army of the Republic of Vietnam on better ways of how to fight this war. -
Agent Orange
In 1962 the US started using agent orange. It was a chemical weapon that was found to cause many health problems. Some were deadly. -
Diem's Power
On this day, Diem was removed from power and then he was assassinated the following day. -
JFK
On this day, John F. Kennedy was assassinated. -
USS Maddox
North Vietnamese boats fired torpedoes on the USS Maddox. The Maddox was missed and responded with firing back at the North Vietnamese. -
First US Combat Troops
On this day, the first US combat troops arrived in Vietnam. 3,500 marines landed at China Beach, joining the 23,000 military advisors already there. -
First Protest
In October or 1965, the first major protests against US involvement in the Vietnam war began to take place. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a week long assault on over 100 cities. It was executed by the NVA. This event led to more Americans protesting against the Vietnam War. -
Election of 1968
For the 1968 election, Lyndon B. Johnson announced that he would not be running for a second term. He is the only president to not run twice. Nixon was then elected president. -
Hamburger Hill
Beginning on May 10, 1969, 10 attempts were made to try and take over hamburger hill. It took soldiers 10 days to do so. Directly after securing the hill, US forces abandoned it on June 5th. Just weeks later, the NVA took control of the hill again. -
Woodstock Music Festival
This was a three day music festival that represented peace. Over 500,000 people attended. The festival was actually held in Bethel, NY. -
Kent State University
On this day students at Kent State University held a large protest that ended in the national guard firing into a crowd of students. Four students were shot dead and five students were injured. -
Operation Lam Son 719
The SV attempted to take Tchepone. 12,000 SV went into Laos. It was supposed to be an NVA weapons supply area. It was the first real test to see if the South Vietnamese military was prepared to lead the war. -
POW - MIA
Anne Purcell developed POW-MIA which was an organization to bring home the missing and the prisoners. Her husband was a POW for 5 years before returning home on this date. -
Last US Ground Troops
On this day, the last US ground troops left Vietnam from De Nang Base. -
Joseph Tito died
Joseph Tito reunified Yugoslavia and was a communist leader. He worked with both the Soviet Union and the US. however, when he died Yugoslavia began to struggle again. -
Slobodan Milosevic
Slobodan Milosevic was the Serbian president starting in about 1989. He used nationalism and religious hatred to get to his position. In the end he ended up creating more issues between the Serbs and the Muslims in Kosovo. -
Beginning of the Persian Gulf War
The Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, ordered and invasion of Kuwait. As a result of this, Saudi Arabia and Egypt called on the US for help. Hussein refused to withdraw from Kuwait and this prompted the US to send an air defense known as Operation Desert Shield. -
United Request
The United Nations asked Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. They gave them until January 15, 1991 to withdraw. -
Hussein Declares Jihad
Hussein declared jihad against the US and made a peace treaty with Iran to get full military strength. -
Operation Desert Storm
This was a period of 42 days of attack that ended with a cease-fire and ended up leading to the Iraqi war in 2003. -
Operation Desert Sabre
This was the beginning of the ground offensive. The plan was to storm Kuwait and the southern part of Iraq. -
Cease-Fire
President George H. W. Bush declared a cease-fire because most of the Iraqi forces had either surrendered or fled. -
Independence from Yugoslavia
Slovenia and Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia and this essentially started a civil war. Slovenia ended up winning. -
Sarajevo Seige
Milosevic forces attacked Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, and killed over 3,500 children and more civilians on top of that. this was essentially the beginning of the "ethnic cleansing". -
UN resolution
The UN resolution authorized humanitarian relief efforts. UNOSOM was established and it helped sort out confusion among the groups in the region as well as get them supplies. -
Operation Provide Relief
The US wanted to aid Somalia with medical help and food supplies and do so without using the military. -
Operation Restore Hope
The US Marine and Navy Seals went to Mogadishu to help secure the area and at the time it was successful. The biggest issue was between General Mohammad Farrar Aidid and Ali Mahdi Mohamed. In the end, the operation was a success. -
Aidid Attacks
Aidid begins to attack soldiers and ends up killing 24 Pakistani soldier and wounding 44 others. This was not the end of his acts of violence. -
US Response to Aidid Attack
The US attacks Aidid's compound using a helicopter and in response to this he killed four journalists and made sure that everyone saw what he had done. -
Black Hawk Down
This was an attempt of the US military to finally bring down Aidid. The fighting took place in Mogadishu and dozens of US troops were killed or wounded.Aidid was not cooperating and the US ended up giving up. -
Military Action
On this day there was a large NATO bombing against Bosnian Serbs. This is when the military really started to take action. -
Peace Talk
Milosevic is finally ready to try and make peace. The negotiations were made at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base. They agreed to democratic elections, the war criminals would be handed over for prosecution, and there would be two main portions. Those portions were the Bosnia Serb republic and the Muslim-Croat Federation.
