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Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was the physical division between West Berlin and East Germany. However, it was also the symbolic boundary between democracy and Communism during the Cold War. Just past midnight on the night of August 12-13, 1961, trucks with soldiers and construction workers went through East Berlin. While most people were sleeping, these crews began tearing up streets that entered into West Berlin, dug holes to put up concrete posts, and strung barbed wire all across the border between East an -
Medicare and Medicaid
On July 30, 1965, as part of his "Great Society" program President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Social Security Amendment of 1965. This new law established the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which were designed to deliver health care benefits to the elderly and the poor. Medicare was initially designed to provide health care benefits for people 65 and older and their dependents, regardless of income or medical history. -
Miranda Rights
On this day the Supreme Court decided on Miranda v. Arizona, establishing the principle that all criminal suspects must be advised of their rights before interrogation. Ernesto Miranda was arrested for supposedly doing the crime, but there was no convincing evidence. -
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Tet Offensive
A communist guerrilla movement in Vietnam that fought the South Vietnamese government forces. an offensive by Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces against South Vietnamese and U.S. positions in South Vietnam, beginning on Jan. 31, 1968. -
The New Left
Composed of college students and young intellectuals, whose goals included racial equality, de-escalation of the arms race, nonintervention in foreign affairs, and other major changes in the political, economic, social, and educational systems. The climax came at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. -
Immigration Act of 1965
The 1965 Immigration Act abolished the Immigration Act of 1924. The U.S. government limited the number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2%. -
The Counterculture
On this date one of the most historical "movements" (party) went down. A 3 day festival, of sexual encounters, drugs, and rock and roll. The festival was held to supposedly promote peace and anti-war, but some people say it was just a party. -
Gender Equality
Women worked to gain greater equality in the workplace and politics. In growing numbers, women entered professions that had once been dominated by males. The idea of women just being housewives is being changed completely. -
Earth Day
On the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared -
Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers, officially titled United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. The papers were first brought to the attention of the public on the front page of The New York Times in 1971. -
Environmental Protection Agency
EPA was established on December 2, 1970 to consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. Since its inception, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people. -
Three Mile Island Accident
The Three Mile Island accident was a partial nuclear meltdown which occurred at the Three Mile Island power plant in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States on March 28, 1979. It was the worst accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history,[1] and resulted in the release of small amounts of radioactive gases and radioactive iodine into the environment. In the end the reactor was brought under control, although full details of the accident were not discovered until much later, follow -
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Reagan Doctirine
The Reagan Doctrine was a strategy orchestrated and implemented by the United States under the Reagan Administration to oppose the global influence of the Soviet Union during the final years of the Cold War. Under the Reagan Doctrine, the U.S. provided aid to anti-communist guerillas and resistance movements in an effort to "roll back" Soviet-backed communist governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. -
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Supply Side Economics
The idea that economic growth can be most effectively created by lowering barriers for people to produce (supply) goods and services, such as lowering income tax and capital gains tax rates, and by allowing greater flexibility by reducing regulation. According to supply-side economics, consumers will then benefit from a greater supply of goods and services at lower prices. Ronald Reagan made supply-side economics a household phrase, and promised an across-the-board reduction in income tax rates -
Nuclear Freeze Movement
The Nuclear Freeze Movement was not caused by an actual war, but by the increased threat of war associated with the U.S. Senate's failure to ratify the SALT II arms control agreement that had already been negotiated with the Soviet Union. Much of the success of the Freeze campaign was due to the simplicity and clarity of its program. It called on the U.S. and Soviet Union to "adopt a mutual freeze on the testing, production, and deployment of nuclear weapons and of missiles, and new aircraft des -
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) is a 1987 agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union. The treaty eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with intermediate ranges. -
George H. W. Bush
An American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States. He ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States in 1980, but was chosen by party nominee Ronald Reagan to be the vice presidential nominee, and the two were subsequently elected. During his tenure, Bush headed administration task forces on deregulation and fighting the "War on Drugs". In 1988, Bush launched a successful campaign to succeed Reagan as president, defeating Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis. For -
Bill Clinton
An American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the first president of the baby boomer generation. Clinton has been described as a New Democrat. Clinton left office with the highest end-of-office approval rating of any U.S. president since World War II. Since then, he has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. -
George W. Bush
An American politician and businessman who was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Eight months into Bush's first term as president, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred. In response, Bush announced the War on Terror, an international military campaign which included the war in Afghanistan launched in 2001 and the war in Iraq launched in 2003. Bush left office in 2009, and was succeeded as president by Barack Obama, who ran on a platform of change from Bush's -
Fighting Terrorists
On September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred. 2 planes hit the world trade center in New York City. After the attack, president Bush and the U.S. government declared war to the middle east. Our troops are still being deployed out there to keep the peace.
