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U.S History
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Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks, is 1st Black awarded a Pulitzer Prize (poetry).In 1939 Brooks married Henry Lowington Blakely, Jr. They had two children: Henry Lowington Blakely III, born on October 10, 1940; and Nora Blakely, born in 1951. -
Seat Belt
A seat belt, also known as a safety belt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop -
The Discovery of the Molecular Structure of DNA - The Double Helix
The sentence "This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest" may be one of science's most famous understatements. It appeared in April 1953 in the scientific paper where James Watson and Francis Crick presented the structure of the DNA-helix, the molecule that carries genetic information from one generation to the other. -
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley pays $4 to a Memphis studio & records his 1st two songs, "Casual Love" & "I'll Never Stand in Your Way". Elvis was the "king of Rock n' Roll". -
Sputnik Launches Space Race
The Soviet Union successfully launches Sputnik, an unmanned satellite, into space. Earlier American efforts to launch a similar satellite had failed. -
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence.It also means "the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism." -
Greatest Game Ever Played
The Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants 23-17 in overtime to win the NFL Championship in the so-called "Greatest Game Ever Played." -
HIV/AIDS
The world first became aware of AIDS in the early 1980s. Growing numbers of gay men in New York and California were developing rare types of pneumonia and cancer, and a wasting disease was spreading in Uganda.AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is the final stage of HIV disease, which causes severe damage to the immune system. -
The Missile Gap
Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, Democratic Senator from Massachusetts, argues that the Eisenhower administration has allowed a "missile gap" to develop between the United States and the Soviet Union. He claims that the Soviets are outpacing the United States in missile production, and that he will reverse this gap if elected. (In fact, there is no missile gap; the United States possesses several times as many missiles as the Soviets.) -
JFK Wins Presidency
Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy is elected president of the United States. His margin of victory over Republican candidate Richard M. Nixon is just over 100,000 votes. Kennedy wins 300 Electoral College votes to Nixon’s 219. -
Soviet Becomes First Man in Space
The USSR's Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space, successfully completing one orbit around earth in his Vostok 1 spacecraft. -
Bay of Pigs
A CIA-organized force of anti-Castro Cuban exiles attempts to invade Cuba, landing at a place called the Bay of Pigs. Rather than toppling Castro's government, the invasion is quickly crushed by Cuba's armed forces. President Kennedy takes full responsibility for the debacle. -
Kennedy Proposes Moon Program
In a congressional address, President John F. Kennedy pledges to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. -
Berlin Wall
East Germany builds the Berlin wall, dividing East and West Berlin. The wall separates families, cuts off workers from jobs, and devastates Berliners on both sides, becoming the most powerful symbol of the oppression of Eastern Europe under Soviet domination. -
First US Combat Death
An American serviceman dies in Vietnam, the first combat death reported. For many Americans, the death will mark the beginning of the Vietnam War. -
National Guard Desegregates Ole Miss
President John F. Kennedy orders federal troops and the federalized National Guard to the campus of the University of Mississippi to enforce the court-ordered admission of James Meredith, an African American. Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett had blocked implementation of the court order citing the states rights doctrine of interposition. -
JFK Proposes Big Tax Cuts
In a speech before the Economic Club of New York, President John Kennedy unveils a plan for economic recovery that emphasizes large tax cuts and credits for businesses. One of his liberal economic advisors labels it the most “Republican speech since McKinley.”1 These proposals will become part of the Tax Reduction Act signed into law in 1964. -
Rumford Fair Housing Act
In California, the Rumford Fair Housing Act is signed into law, forbidding landlords and property owners from discriminating against potential homeowners or renters based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, marital status, or physical handicap. -
First Woman in Space
Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova makes the first flight by a woman in space. -
Washington March
More than 250,000 demonstrators, black and white, gather at the nation's capital for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. -
Klan Bombs Birmingham Church
In Birmingham, Alabama, the Ku Klux Klan bombs the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, killing four young girls attending Sunday school. Only one suspect is tried: Klansman Thomas Blanton Jr. is convicted for the crime in 2001, 38 years after the murder. -
Atomic Test
he Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT) is a treaty prohibiting all test detonations of nuclear weapons except underground -
Kennedy Assassination
President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson is sworn in as president the same day. -
LBJ Declares War on Poverty
In President Lyndon Johnson’s first inaugural address, a little over a month after assuming the presidency, he declares war on poverty and outlines an ambitious domestic agenda aimed at reducing unemployment, increasing support for education and job training, and expanding public services for the poor. -
Johnson Slashes Taxes
President Lyndon Johnson signs the Tax Reduction Act lowering income tax rates from a range of 20-91% to 14-70%. Corporate rates are reduced from 52% to 48%. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The act outlaws discrimination in public facilities, such as parks, and in public accommodations, such as hotels and restaurants, and it prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution by a unanimous vote in the House and a nearly unanimous vote of 88-2 in the Senate, giving President Lyndon Johnson the authority to send American troops to Vietnam and to use "all necessary measures to repel armed attack." -
Berkeley Free Speech Movement
Hundreds of students at the University of California, Berkeley spontaneously surround a police car as it attempts to remove a political activist for engaging in political advocacy on campus. Roughly 3000 students will join the 32-hour protest marking the beginning of Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement. -
Johnson Landslide
In the 1964 presidential election, Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson crushes Republican Barry Goldwater to win a second term as president. -
St. Louis Arch underconstruction
The Gateway Arch (Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) designed by Eero Saarinen was completed. Located on the original settlement site of St. Louis, it symbolizes the role of St. Louis in the development of the western frontier -
Creation of Medicare and Medicaid
President Lyndon Johnson signs the bill creating Medicare, a national health insurance program for the elderly. Companion legislation creates Medicaid, providing health care for people on welfare. Later, Medicaid will be broadened into a more comprehensive program financing health care for low-income persons. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
President Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The act abolishes literacy tests and other tests used by local and state governments to inhibit African-American voting. -
Black Panthers Founded
In Oakland, California, Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, and David Hilliard found the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. -
Detroit Riots
A police raid on an illegal drinking establishment sparks riots in Detroit, Michigan; 43 people are killed,1,189 are injured, and more than 7,000 people are arrested. -
Ice Bowl
In the famous "Ice Bowl" game, held on the frozen tundra of Green Bay's Lambeau Field, the Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 on a last-minute touchdown to win a return trip to the Super Bowl. -
Protests at Columbia University
Students at Columbia University seize several campus buildings to protest the university’s involvement with the Institute for Defense Analysis—a Defense Department think tank—and university plans to build a gym on a park in a neighboring black community. The protestors will be removed from the buildings on 30 April after a violent battle with the police. -
Robert Kennedy Assassination
Just minutes after claiming victory in the California Democratic primary election, Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. -
First African-American Congresswoman
Shirley Chisholm becomes the first African-American woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. -
Nixon Wins Presidency
Republican candidate Richard Nixon is elected president of the United States. In defeating Democrat Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon Johnson’s vice president, Nixon wins 43.4 % of the popular vote and 302 Electoral College votes. Humphrey receives 42.7% of the popular vote and 191 Electoral College votes. Former Alabama Governor George Wallace receives one Electoral College vote. -
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and the first person to walk on the Moon. -
Equal Employment Opportunity
President Nixon issues Executive Order 11478, which requires all federal agencies to adopt "affirmative programs for equal employment opportunity." -
Seaseme street
Sesame Street is a long-running American children's television series created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett. -
Weatherman Bomb Accident
Three members of the Weathermen, a radical political organization growing out of the Students for a Democratic Society, are killed when the bomb they are constructing in their Greenwich Village townhouse explodes. -
Kent State Shooting
National Guardsmen opened fire on a group of students, wounding many, 4 fatally, on the campus of Kent State University. Today, memorials to the four students stand near the place of the shootings. -
Nixon Begins War on Drugs
President Richard Nixon coins the phrase, "War on Drugs," promising in a major speech to defeat "public enemy number one in the United States... If we cannot destroy the drug menace, then it will destroy us." -
First Southern Black Mayor
Maynard Jackson becomes the first black mayor of Atlanta, and the first African-American mayor of a major southern city. -
John Lennon Shot Dead
At around 10:50 pm on 8 December 1980. pronounced dead on arrival at 11:07 pm. -
Len Bias Dies at University of Maryland
Len Bias, a basketball star at the University of Maryland, dies of a cocaine overdose one day after being selected with the second pick in the NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. Bias's shocking death fuels a nationwide panic about cocaine abuse.
