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Birth of the United Nations
The United Nations' purpose is an intergovernmental organization whose purpose is to promote cooperation between various countries around the world. The United Nations replaced the ineffective League of Nations. It's headquarters is located in the International Territory in New York City. -
The ENIAC Announced
The ENIAC was the first computer that was intended for general use. ENIAC stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer. The computer was financed by the U.S. Army, Ordnance Corps, and the Research and Development Command. The computer was designed by John Mauchley and J. Presper Eckert. View more info. -
Winston Churchill Gives "Iron Curtain" Speech
Winston Churchill gives a now famous speech "Iron Curtain", which was requested by the Westminister College in Fulton, Missouri. The term "Iron Curtain" referred to the attempt of the physical boundary the Soviet Union tried to put up in between Europe to avoid open contact with Western Europe. To learn more information about the Iron Curtain speech given by Winston Churchill, click here! -
U.S. President Harry Truman Creates the Truman Doctrine
President Truman establishes the Truman Doctrine, which states that the U.S. will give financial and military aid to Greece and Turkey in order to prevent them from falling into the Soviet's hands. Britain was a big supporter of Greece, but since they were close to bankruptcy, the U.S. steps in to help. Click to view a cartoon. -
Charles Yeager - A Test Pilot with Great Success
Charles Yeager was a United States Army Air Force test pilot, born on Februray 13, 1923, who was the first pilot confirmed to travel faster than sound. Charles served in the U.S. Army Air Force and the U.S. Air Force. Charles was also an aircraft mechanic and flight instructor during his service to the U.S. Military. Click to view an NY Daily News article. -
NATO Is Established
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance in which the member states agree to defend each other in response to an attack from an external force or party. The NATO headquarters is located in Brussels, Belgium. Click to view NATO's homepage. -
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Korean War
The Korean War was a war between North and South Korea. The failure to hold elections the Korean Peninsula caused the conflict. The United Nations supported South Korea, and the Soviet Union & China supported North Korea. Want to learn a little more? Click here. -
Colombo Plan comes into effect
The Colombo Plan, which contained members in the Asia-Pacific region, focused on human resources development. The plan was established on November 28, 1950, but didn't come into effect until July 1, 1951. -
Treaty of San Francisco is Signed
The treaty of San Francisco (also known as the Treaty of Peace with Japan) was signed in San Francisco, California. This treaty officially ended World War II, and formerly ended Japan's position as an imperial power. The treaty didn't go into effect until April 28, 1952. Click to view the treaty. -
Egyptian Revolution
The Egyptian Revolution was first aimed at overthrowing King Farouk of Egypt, and after they did so, the revolution still went on with different goals. The new goals were to abolish the constitutional monarchy and aristocracy of Egypt and Sudan, establish a republic, end the British occupation of the government, and secure the independence of Sudan. -
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Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt led by Fidel Castro against its allies and the government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista (Wikipedia.org). The revolution helped reshape Cuba's and the United States' relationship, and Fidel Castro's government began a program of nationalism and transformed Cuba's economy and civil society (Wikipedia.org). Click here to view a Washington Post article on the Cuban Revolution. -
The First Ready to use Hydrogen Bomb is tested by the Soviet Union
The first ready to use hydrogen bomb (or also known as a thermonuclear weapon) was tested by the Soviet Union. The hydrogren bomb uses heat to generate nuclear fusion, uranium fusion, and hydrogen fusion to make one gigantic explosion. Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam were the designers of thermonuclear weapons for the U.S., and the first hydrogen bomb prototype that was tested occurred in 1952, which was done by the United States. -
Supreme Court Declares Segregation Unconstitutional
In the Brown vs. Board ruling, the Supreme Court declares public school racial segregation unconstitutional. The argument was that the 14th amendment, which states that each U.S. citizen has citizenship rights and the amendment protects laws. -
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Civil Rights Movement
The African American civil rights movement took place from May 17, 1954, beginning with the Brown vs. Board Supreme Court ruling, to April 4, 1968, in which Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The African American Civil Rights movement consisted of many key events in which African Americans confessed publicly that the government needed to recognize them as equal to any Caucasian person. Click to view a video on Voice of America. -
The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) is formed
The Central Treaty Organization was a security organization, which consisted of the countries of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. The goal of this organization was to prevent the Soviet Union from expanding Middle-east oil producing regions. (Organization formed due to pressure from U.S. and Britain). Date displayed is date when it went into effect? Click to learn more. -
The Warsaw Pact is Formed
The Warsaw Pact is a treaty that required its member states to come to help or defend each other when being attacked by an outside force. The Warsaw Pact also set up a unified military command under Marshal Ivan S. Konev of the Soviet Union. Want to learn more? Visit the History channel by clicking here. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
As part of the civil rights movement, the Montgomery Bus Boycott is most famously known as the boycott in which Rosa Parks, an African American woman, refused to give up her seat to a white man. That particular event occurred on December 1, 1955, and other bus boycotts continued until December 20, 1956. Click to view a video on the Montgomery Bus Boycott. -
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Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a war in which the nationalist forces were trying to unify the country of Vietnam under a communist government and under the United States (with the South Vietnameses' help), in which their goal was to prevent the continuous spread of communism. FYI: The Vietnam War lasted until April 30, 1975. Click for more info. -
Sputnik is Launched
The Soviet Union launched the first artificial Earth satellite (began Space Race). This was a test run to see if scientists could actually gain information that we can't gain unless we travel there ourselves (i.e. density of atmosphere, detection of meteoroids, etc.) Click to view a video. -
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is formed
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was formed by the United Kingdom sometime in January of 1958 to help prevent any war that may require the use of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons. The symbol of the CND was what is now known as the "peace sign". Click here to visit their website to learn more information, and support them as well! -
Humans recieve first images of the far side of the Moon
Also known as the "dark" side of the moon, humans first recieved pictures of this side of the moon on October 7, 1959 thanks to the Soviet's launch of the Luna 3 space probe. This region of the moon was first directly seen by human eyes in 1968 thanks to the Apollo 8, which was the second manned mission in the United States. Click here to view an article about the far side of the moon. -
The first human spaceflight occurred
The first human spaceflight occurred on April 12, 1961. The Soviet Union was the country that first launched a spaceflight with a human on board. As part of the Votosk program, the Soviet Union put Yuri Gagarin on board a spaceflight, and the spaceflight completely orbited the Earth once. Click to learn more. -
1st Freedom Ride of the '60s leaves D.C.
The First Freedom Ride of the 1960s left Washington, D.C. Freedom Rides were tests that the Civil Rights activists performed of the Supreme Court ruling of the Boynton vs. Virginia case, which stated that segregation was unconstitutional for passengers engaged in interstate travel. The First Freedom Ride of the '60s expected to arrive in New Orleans, LA on May 17, 1961. -
Berlin Wall Construction Began
The purpose of the Berlin Wall was to prevent citizens of the Soviet Union side of Berlin (East side) from immigrating to the West side, which was shared by the U.S.A., Great Britain, and France. The East German Goverment announcved on November 9, 1989 that the Soviet Union side of the wall could visit the west side, but the actual wall wasn't destroyed until the day of October 3, 1990. This helped Germany reunite the two sides of Berlin like it used to be. (image shows completed Berlin Wall) -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the event during the Cold War that brought the world closer to involving nuclear weapons in the war. The Crisis started after the U.S. put missiles in Turkey and Italy and aimed them at Moscow. The Soviet in response put missiles in Cuba and aimed them at the U.S. to prevent any future invasion. Click to learn more. -
Martin Luther King delivers his "I Have a Dream" Speech
Martin Luther King delivers his "I Have a Dream" Speech to 250,000 civil rights supporters. In his speech, "he calls for an end to racism in the United States." He delivers his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial, to remind everyone what Lincoln did for the Negros. Click to view a CNN Report on the 50th Anniversary of the Speech -
March on Washington
The 1963 March on Washington was a march that took place in Washington, D.C. The march was led by A. Philip Randolph. It's major goals were to: obtain the right to vote, have adequate integrated education, full and fair employment, decent housing, a massive federal works program, and meaningful civil rights laws. Click to learn more. -
John F. Kennedy Assassinated
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, TX during a presidential motorcade. He was shot with a sniper by Lee Harvey Oswald, at 12:30 p.m. that day. Click to view a YouTube video of Kennedy being shot. -
First Close Up Images of Mars - Mariner 4 Launched
The Mariner 4 spacecraft was the first successful spacecraft out of the four launched that flew by Mars as intended. The spacecraft was designed to transmit close-up Mars information to Earth, to help scentists better understand the planet. Click to view a video of the launch. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 becomes effective
Signed by President Lyndon Johnson, this act eliminates the discrimination in voting. The act was intended to enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments of the United States Constitution (14th - defines citizenship; 15th - prohibits the denial of the right to vote). Click to view more info. -
Martin Luther King Jr Assassinated
The famous Civil Rights Movement leader was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968 at the Lorraine Motel. He was 39 years old when he was assassinated. -
Neil Armstrong Walks on the Moon
Neil Armstrong was the first human ever to walk on the moon. Neil was a part of the Apollo 11 mission, which was by NASA, that lasted 8 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes, and 35 seconds. Click to view a video. -
Creation of ARPANET
ARPANET was one of the first ever operational "packet switching" networks that could be run on a computer. ARPANET was one of the first versions of the "Internet". ARPA stands for Advanced Research Project Agency, and it was created by Charles Herzfeld. Click here to learn more.
