Post Word War II

  • Ronald Regan

    Ronald Regan
    Reagan reduced social spending, cut taxes, and increased defense spending. He was criticized for cutting important programs, such as housing and school lunches. But by 1983, prosperity had returned to America and Reagan's economic reforms appeared to be working, but in October of 1987 the stock market crashed. In 1986, the Iran-Contra scandal came to light, which revealed arms sales were being conducted with Iran in a partial exchange for the release of hostages in Lebanon.
  • Malcom X

    Malcom X
    Malcolm X was a Black Muslim minister in the Nation of Islam and an influential black leader. Malcolm X converted to Islam while he was in prison. He formed the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) which attracted thousands of young, urban blacks with its message of socialism and self-help. He initially advocated nationalism, self-defense, and racial separation. After going to Mecca he believed in blacks and whites. Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965 while giving a speech in New York City.
  • Cesar Chavez

    Cesar Chavez
    Cesar was a Mexican-American, who was also a farm worker, labor leader, and civil-rights activist. He helped form the National Farm Workers Association with Dolores Huerta, later the United Farm Workers(UFW). He helped to improve conditions for migrant farm workers and unionize them. He wanted to be the voice for all the immigrant farmers and help his Mexican people out. He was a huge help for the public to hear of the terrible conditions farmers dealt with on the daily.
  • G.I. Bill

    G.I. Bill
    The G.I. Bill of Rights or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 provided for college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans as well as one-year of unemployment compensation. It also provided loans for returning veterans to buy homes and start businesses. This bill ha help more than millions of returning veterans find jobs and provide for their family.
  • Period: to

    Civil Rights

  • Little Boy

    Little Boy
    "Little Boy" is the name of the nuclear bomb America dropped on Hiroshima, Japan August 6, 1945. The U.S. clued for surrender of Japan in the Potsdam Declaration. It asked that the Japanese surrenders unconditionally. The Japanese government ignored this ultimatum. By executive order of President Harry S. Truman, Japan is then bombed. After another city in Japan is bombed, they surrender and the war is now over.
  • Period: to

    Cold War

  • Iron Curtain

    Iron Curtain
    After World War 2, Winston Churchill came to the United States to delivered a speech at Westminster College. During the speech, he praised the United States and wanted to create a “special relationship” with the English speaking country. He also talks about the “Iron Curtain” spread over Eastern Europe, separating the Western Hemisphere apart from the Eastern Hemisphere. This speech was the announcement of the Cold War - the rivalry between capitalism and communism society.
  • West Berlin Supplies

    West Berlin Supplies
    Berlin is now divided up in East and West, Soviet have the east while the Allies have the west. An agency called the Kommandatura and the Allies begin their “Operation VITTLES” to help out Berlin with cargos of foods and supplies. This airlift went on for more than a year and more than 2.3 million tons of cargo was dropped into East Berlin during the time period. This were important to the West Berlin because with out this, many would died from starvation.
  • Fair Deal

    Fair Deal
    Domestic reform proposals of the second Truman administration (1949-53); included civil rights legislation and repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, but only extensions of some New Deal programs were enacted.
  • Politics

    Politics
    American politics in the 50's included a plethora of scandals, doctrines, wars, and elections. The Cold war with USSR and the threat or having a nuclear war with Russia. The Truman Doctrine was made to prevent communism in Europe. John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon went against each other for the presidential election.
  • Rock 'n' Roll

    Rock 'n' Roll
    Genre of popular music that fused black rhythm and blues with white bluegrass and country styles, crossing the cultural divide that had separated black and white musical traditions. It was originally jazz, but after whites stole it from blacks they changed the whole image and made it socially acceptable but white washing it. Elvis Presley is said to be the creator or rock n roll when he stole the sound from people of color.
  • TV Shows

    TV Shows
    During the 50's, the famous television show I Love Lucy was a popular one to watch. It is a television show based on the lives of a middle class couple, later turned family with the addition of little Ricky; this show somewhat challenged the original stereotype of the housewife; the main character does not exactly challenge her husband as much as she reacts to him and his overreactions. It was the first show that had the first major female star on tv.
  • Period: to

    The 1950's

  • Television

    Television
    TV overpowered newspapers, magazines, radios as source of news info and diversion. TV advertising meant a vast market for new fashions/ products. TV programming created a popular image of american life: white, middle class, suburban, with traditional gender roles. also sometimes portrayed less conventional lifestyles. Oppressed/less fortunate people could see the way everyone else lived - contributed to sense of powerlessness and isolation.
  • Ike Turner

    Ike Turner
    His first recording, Rocket 88, in 1951 is considered a contender for first rock and roll song. Relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1954, he built the Kings into one of the most renowned acts on the local club circuit. There he met singer Anna Mae Bullock, who he renamed Tina Turner, forming the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, which over the course of the sixties became a soul/rock crossover success. He was a huge impact on thr rock 'n' roll movement.
  • Alger and Ethel Rosenberg

    Alger and Ethel Rosenberg
    Alger and Ethel Rosenberg was put on trial for selling nuclear secrets to the Russians. At the New York Southern District federal court, the couple defended the father and son team of Emanuel and Alexander Bloch. Roy Cohn was also involved with this case; Cohn was best known for his association with Senator Joseph McCarthy. In the end, the Couple was both prosecuted This event is important because the HUAAC activities in searching for communists increase significantly after the trial.
  • Dr. Jonas Stalk

    Dr. Jonas Stalk
    Salk was an American biologist and physician best known for the research and development of a killed-virus polio vaccine. While researching and developing a vaccine for polio, an infection disease caused by a virus that lives in the throat and intestinal tract, Salk injected himself, his wife and his three sons. Salk announced the success of the initial human tests to a national radio audience on March 26, 1953.
  • Earl Warren Supreme Court

    Earl Warren Supreme Court
    Controversial Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1953-1969); he led the Court in far-reaching racial, social, and political rulings, including school desegregation and protecting rights of persons accused of crimes; presided over the Brown v. the Board of Education case. He used a loose interpretation to expand rights for both African-Americans and those accused of crimes.He believed that the Supreme Court should be the center for civil rights.
  • Elvis Presley

    Elvis Presley
    Memphis-born singer whose youth, voice, and sex appeal helped popularize rock 'n' roll in the mid-1950s, the music was heavily drawn from black rhythm and blues traditions. Commonly known using only his first name, he was an icon of popular culture, in both music and film. Elvis was the important because it help the whites became more aware of the black culture and "steal" many more music from them. He is said to be the creator of Rock n Roll and made it socially acceptable.
  • Oprah Winfrey

    Oprah Winfrey
    She is a great philanthropist, established Harpo Productions 1988, and one of TIME 100 Most Influential of 20th Century. In 2003 Forbes listed as first African American female billionaire. She became a prosperous black woman after being rapped in molested as a child. Winfrey is a talk show host and has her own television channel called OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network). Her story is important to US history because she is billionaire as a black woman in America, she meets all these odds and wins.
  • Sonia Sotomayor

    Sonia Sotomayor
    She was the first Hispanic-American and the third woman in Supreme Court. She was the fearless federal trial court judge who saved Major League Baseball from a ruinous 1995 strike. She graduated from Yale Law School and passed the bar exam in 1980.
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Montgomery Bus Boycott
    After Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man, Martin Luther King rallies the black community to stop riding buses. This seriously hurt the bus companies. Since their customers were not using the service anymore. Blacks started walking and riding bikes instead. This lasted more than a year, and ended in '56 when the SC declared segregated buses unconstitutional. Blacks were happy that they got exactly what they wanted and this brought blacks closer to equal treatment.
  • Race to Space

    Race to Space
    The Space Race was a battle between the U.S. and The Soviet Union. It was a battle over who had the best science, technology, and economic system. After the Soviets launched Sputnik into the orbit, it really intensified the Cold War and pushed Americans to get to space first. To try and catch up with them American made three programs; Mercury Gemini, and Apollo. The Space Race ended with Americans landing on the Moon first in 1968.
  • Little Rock 9

    Little Rock 9
    9 black students enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, testing the Supreme Court ruling that declared desegregation in public schools. Mandated that all public schools be integrated. On September 4, 1957, the first day of classes at Central High, Governor Orval Faubus called in the state National Guard to bar the black students’ entry into the school. In response Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the “Little Rock Nine” into the school.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1957

    Civil Rights Act of 1957
    Eisenhower passed this bill to establish a permanent commission on civil rights with investigative powers but it did not guarantee a ballot for blacks. It was the first civil-rights bill to be enacted after Reconstruction which was supported by most non-southern whites.
  • Sputnik

    Sputnik
    The world’s first every artificial satellite was launch at 10:29 pm in Moscow. It has a diameter of 22 inches and it had a complete orbit once every hour and 36 minutes. The United States is now doomed with fear of the Soviets taking over space technology. The satellite was soon deteriorated and burn up in space. Sputnik was important to history because it help both the United States and Soviet further improving their space technologies for the “Space Race”.
  • NASA

    NASA
    When the USSR launched Sputnik into outer space in 1957, it sparked an urgency in Americans. Americans wanted to be the first to enter space and be the first on the moon, and so they made N.A.S.A. NASA stands for National Aeronautic and Space Administration. It was used to advance their space technology and get the US back in running with the Soviets in the space race. This changed the course of the space race and America landed on the moon before Russia in 1969.
  • Hippies

    Hippies
    Believed in anti-materialism, free use of drugs, they had a casual attitude toward sex and anti-conformity, (1960's) practiced free love and took drugs, flocked to San Francisco- low rent/interracial, they lived in communal "crash pads", smoked marijuana and took LSD, sexual revolution, new counter culture, Protesters who influenced US involvement in Vietnam. They were more liberal than their parents and are the start of modern society,
  • LSD

    LSD
    During the 60's, LSD was a popular drug hippies used. It made them hallucinate and was fun to try in large groups. LSD is one of the most potent, mood-changing chemicals. It is manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in the ergot fungus that grows on rye and other grains.It is produced in crystal form in illegal laboratories, mainly in the United States. These crystals are converted to a liquid for distribution. It is odorless, colorless, and has a slightly bitter taste.
  • New Frontier

    New Frontier
    The term "New Frontier" was used by JFK in his in the 1960 United States presidential election to the Democratic National Convention, and used it as his slogan to get votes. The term developed into a label for his administration's domestic and foreign programs.He promised to revitalize the stagnant economy and enact reform legislation in education, health care, and civil rights.
  • Period: to

    The 1960's

  • Sit-Ins

    Sit-Ins
    A nonviolent protest tactic first popularized by African American college students seeking civil rights in the South. Four black students took seats at the whites-only lunch counter of a Woolworth's store, intending to "sit-in" until they were served and after 4-5 months their actions brought the desegregation of the lunch counter. As protests in the 1960's spread beyond civil rights, many radical groups adopted the sit-in as a tactic.
  • Albert Sabin

    Albert Sabin
    Dr. Sabin was born on August 26, 1906, in Bialystok, Poland. He began research on polio, an acute viral infection that can cause death or paralysis and which had, at the time, reached epidemic proportions both nationwide and around the globe. He would soon be best known as the developer of the oral live virus polio vaccine.
  • OPEC(Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries/companies)

    OPEC(Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries/companies)
    This organization cut off supply of oil as protest of U.S. support of Israel, The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that placed an embargo on oil sold to Israel's supporters. Caused worldwide oil shortage and long lines at gas stations in the US. The president of the time, Nixon, convinced Israelis to give up some territory and the embargo ends.
  • Peace Corps

    Peace Corps
    A federal agency created by President Kennedy in 1961 to promote voluntary service by Americans in foreign countries, it provides labor power to help developing countries improve their infrastructure, health care, educational systems, and other aspects of their societies. Part of Kennedy's New Frontier vision, the organization represented an effort by postwar liberals to promote American values and influence through productive exchanges across the world.
  • Bay of Pigs

    Bay of Pigs
    During the Cold War, the CIA proposed a launch mission to President Kennedy that would overthrow Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader. But Castro was prepared and it was a failed attack of 1, 500 Cuban exiles. This ended in the embarrassment of JFK and confidence in Cuba. It made JFK appear weak to Americans because he wasn't taking a strong enough stand up to Communism. President Kennedy took full responsibility for the failed mission and was upset with the CIA.
  • Barack Obama

    Barack Obama
    Forty-forth president of the United States, and first African American elected to that office. A lawyer and community organizer in Chicago, Obama served in the Illinois State Senate before being elected to the U.S. senate in 2004. After a protracted primary election campaign against Senator Hillary Clinton, Obama sealed the Democratic Party's nomination and defeated Senator John McCain on November 4, 2008.
  • Feminism

    Feminism
    This refers to the 1960's Women's Liberation Movement that campaigned for equal rights particularly in America on issues such as employment, marital relationships, sexual orientation and for social and economic rights in addition to the more basic rights they had won during first-wave. Women protested and rallied to get equal treatment. They wanted to have jobs and education. They were tired of being home bodies who were supposed to be watching the kids and making dinner for their husbands.
  • "I Have a Dream Speech"

    "I Have a Dream Speech"
    A public speech delivered by Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the march on Washington for jobs and freedom. He wanted to put an end to racism in the United States and also called for civil and economic rights. His main purpose of his speech is to remind America of the struggles of the Blacks in America and to demand equality. To this day, people still quote him with "I have a dream" whenever they want something. This speech really changed the course of black history and rights
  • Assassination of JFK

    Assassination of JFK
    President John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald. Kennedy was visiting Dallas to start gathering support for the upcoming presidential election of 1964. Kennedy's assassination and funeral became a defining moment for that generation as the nation was caught up in grief and watched Kennedy's state funeral on television. His brief presidency was viewed as a high point of the postwar era and cast its influence on American politics during the 1960's and 1970's.
  • Jack Ruby

    Jack Ruby
    Oswald was brought to the basement of the Dallas police headquarters on his way to a more secure county jail. As Oswald came into the room, Jack Ruby emerged from the crowd and fatally wounded him with a single shot . Ruby, who was immediately detained, claimed that rage at Kennedy’s murder was the motive for his action. Some called him a hero, but he was nonetheless charged with first-degree murder.
  • Great Society

    Great Society
    The Great Society was a set of programs implemented by Lyndon Johnson to decrease poverty and racial injustice. New major spending programs that addressed education, medical care, urban problems, and transportation were launched during this period. It lowered the numbers of Americans living in poverty from 20% to 13% between 1963 and 1968. Unlike other presidents, Johnson got things done because of his strong assertive personality.
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965

    Voting Rights Act of 1965
    The act effectively banned literacy tests for voting rights and provided for federal registration to assure the franchise to minority voters. National outrage over southern police brutality of demonstrators supporting black voter registration aided in the passage of the bill. As a result of this act, within a few years, a majority of African Americans had become registered voters in the southern states.
  • Anti-War Movement

    Anti-War Movement
    The Anti-War Movement was a student protest that started as the Free Speech movement in California and spread around the world. All members of the Anti-War Movement shared an opposition to war in Vietnam and condemned U.S. presence there. They claimed this was violating Vietnam's rights. This movement resulted in growing activism on campuses aimed at social reform etc. Primarily a middle-class movement.
  • Tet Offensive

    Tet Offensive
    Tet Offensive was a series of major attacks by communist forces in the Vietnam War. Early in 1968, Vietnamese communist troops seized and briefly held some major cities at the time of the lunar new year, or Tet. This was during the end of the Vietnam war. Vietcong and North Viet launched a strike on the South. They attacked 100 towns and wanted a revolution. America brought troops over to stop the communist party. They did not want communism to spread to South Viet.
  • Silent Majority's Involvement in Politics

    Silent Majority's Involvement in Politics
    Nixon Administration's term to describe generally content, law-abiding middle-class Americans who supported both the Vietnam War and America's institutions. As a political tool, the concept attempted to make a subtle distinction between believers in "traditional" values and the vocal minority of civil rights agitators, student protesters, counter-culturalists, and other seeming disruptions of the social fabric.
  • Black Panther Party

    Black Panther Party
    A black rights political organization created in Oakland, California by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. They urged black armament and direct confrontation with the police. In fact, the group was involved in a series of violent confrontations with the police. The group was internally divided and a major split in the leadership occurred in 1972. By the late 1970's the Black Panthers had lost most of their influence in the African-American community.
  • Freedom Rides

    Freedom Rides
    A form of civil rights protest for which the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized racially mixed groups to travel by bus through the South to test compliance with federal laws banning racial segregation on interstate transportation, bus stations, hotels, and restaurants. In several southern cities, these activists were attacked by white supremacists and this drew the Kennedy administration, albeit reluctantly, further into the struggle for equal rights.
  • Period: to

    The 1970s

  • Home Video Game System

    Home Video Game System
    The 80's and 90's, is when video games started becoming popular in the United States. Gaming arcades would be the after school spot for teens and kids. When personal gaming systems were created lots of people had one. Playing the Nintendo 64, game cubes, and all those things.
  • Watergate Hotel

    Watergate Hotel
    This was the headquarters of the democratic party. Some of Nixon's spies gathered information of other political figures and celebrities to gain dirt on them. The spies, which Nixon called "plumbers" were caught by a security guard and arrested. This then led to Nixon being questioned and the beginning of his prospective impeachment.
  • Title IX

    Title IX
    Provision of the 1972 Education Amendments that prohibited gender discrimination and opened sports and other arenas to women.
  • Roe V. Wade

    Roe V. Wade
    Legalized abortion and is at the center of the current controversy between "pro-life" and "pro-choice" advocates. The Court ruled that a woman has the right to an abortion without interference from the government in the first trimester of pregnancy, contending that it is part of her "right to privacy." The Court maintained that right to privacy is not absolute, however, and granted states the right to intervene in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.
  • Affordable Cell Phones

    Affordable Cell Phones
    Technology in the 90's were very innovative. Cellular phones became affordable and common. People could call anyone anywhere in the country. Cell phones slowly took over computers and television.
  • Nixon Tapes

    Nixon Tapes
    Republican party operatives who had broken into the Democratic party facility at the Watergate Hotel convicted of burglary. Investigation of possible White House involvement disclosed existence of Nixon's tapes of meetings, but the President refused to turn over the tapes to Congress. Opposition to Nixon created unity in Congress that allowed passage of legislation Nixon had opposed. Nixon gives an edited version of the tapes to the senate and claimed he was innocent. The Supreme Court said no.
  • Endangered Species Act

    Endangered Species Act
    Identifies threatened and endangered species in the US, and puts their protection ahead of economic considerations, protected threshold and endangered species and directed the FWS to prepare recovery plans; Richard Nixon, Enacted in 1973. Recognizes the value of species habitat. Authorizes designation of critical habitat and calls for recovery plans for listed species. Legislation designed to protect species in danger of extinction.
  • Beginnings of the Personal Computer

    Beginnings of the Personal Computer
    The first was launched by Apple, called Apple II. IBM later interned the market and dominated. The result was thousands of jobs, some in the manufacturing of computers and hardware. The computer industry flourished during the 90's. Computers changed business and life with faster communication. Cell phones shortly took over and has now become the new technology of the 2000s
  • Video Head System(VHS)

    Video Head System(VHS)
    The VHS videocassette format is introduced in North America at a press conference before the Consumer Electronics Show starts in Chicago. It was VHS vs. Beta max. VHS, or Video Home System, was based on an open standard developed by JVC in 1976. The format allowed longer playtime and faster rewinding and fast-forwarding. JVC showed a two-hour tape that was so compact, Popular Science called it “smaller, in fact, than some audio cassette decks.”
  • Iran Hostage Crisis

    Iran Hostage Crisis
    The 444 days in which American embassy workers were held captive by Iranian.The crisis began when revolutionaries stormed the American embassy, demanding that the United States return the shah to Iran for trial. The episode was marked by botched diplomacy and failed rescue attempts by the Carter Administration. After permanently damaging relations between the two countries, the crisis ended with the hostage's release the day Ronald Reagan became president.
  • Period: to

    The 80's

  • Jimmy Carter's Presidency

    Jimmy Carter's Presidency
    President of the United States who was a peanut farmer and former governor of Georgia, he defeated Gerald Ford in 1976. As President, he arranged the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel in 1978 but saw his foreign policy legacy tarnished by the Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis in 1979. Domestically, he tried to rally the American spirit in the face of economic decline, but was unable to stop the rapid increase in inflation.
  • Robert Johnson

    Robert Johnson
    Robert Johnson is the founder of BET (Black Entertainment Television). Though he later sold program to Viacom in 2001. He became first African American billionaire.
  • A.I.D.S. Crisis

    A.I.D.S. Crisis
    Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a virus that destroys the body's immune system. Transferred when body fluids, such as blood or semen, which carry the virus, enter the body of an uninfected person. The virus appeared in America in the early 1980s. The Reagan administration was slow to respond to the "AIDS Epidemic," because effects of the virus were not fully understood and they deemed the spread of the disease as the result of immoral behavior. It was found in the gay community 1st.
  • Reganomics

    Reganomics
    Reaganomics was the federal economic policy of the Reagan administration. It's policy was based on the theory that allowing companies the opportunity to make profits, and encouraging investment, will stimulate the economy and lead to higher standards of living for everyone. It Argued that tax cuts can be used stimulate economic growth, move money into the hands of the people and they will invest, thus creating prosperity.
  • Music Television(MTV)

    Music Television(MTV)
    MTV founded Aug, 1 1981, was 24/7 stream of music videos. MTV was instrumental in promoting the careers of performers such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince and Duran Duran, whose videos played in heavy rotation. MTV went on to revolutionize the music industry and become an influential source of pop culture and entertainment in the United States and other parts of the world, including Europe, Asia and Latin America, which all have MTV-branded channels.
  • Internet

    Internet
    Began as the government funded Arpanet in 1963. Increased rapidly after being released from the government, and upon the advent of the personal computer. The World Wide Web made publishing and accessing data from the Internet more organized. After the internet became more accessible, Online gaming and computers took over the world. But these inventions would later be shattered by the cell phone, which contained the internet, communication, and games.
  • Reagan Doctrine

    Reagan Doctrine
    The doctrine served as the foundation for the Reagan administration’s support of “freedom fighters” around the globe.America’s “mission” was to “nourish and defend freedom and democracy.” Reagan declared that, “We must stand by our democratic allies. And we must not break faith with those who are risking their live, to defy Soviet-supported aggression and secure rights which have been ours from birth. He concluded, “Support for freedom fighters is self-defense.”
  • Iran Contra Affair

    Iran Contra Affair
    The Iran contra affair was a scandal that erupted after the Ronald Reagan administration sold weapons to Iran in hopes of freeing American hostages in Lebanon; money from the arms sales was used to aid the Contras (anti-Communist insurgents) in Nicaragua, even though Congress had prohibited this assistance. After a plan crashed and revealed the guns in 1986, Reagan was questioned. But talk of Reagan's impeachment ended when presidential aides took the blame for the illegal activity.
  • Challenger Explosion

    Challenger Explosion
    On January 28, 1986, the American shuttle orbiter Challenger broke up 73 seconds after liftoff, bringing a devastating end to the spacecraft’s 10th mission It was later determined that two rubber O-rings, which had been designed to separate the sections of the rocket booster, had failed due to cold temperatures on the morning of the launch. The tragedy and its aftermath received extensive media coverage and prompted NASA to temporarily suspend all shuttle missions.
  • George H. W. Bush

    George H. W. Bush
    Forty-first president of the United States. A former congressman, diplomat, businessman, Republican party chairman, and director the CIA, Bush served for eight years as Reagan's vice president before being elected President in 1988. As president, he oversaw the end of the Cold War and the revitalization of the American military in the Persian Gulf War. He faced a severe economic recession late in his term that severely damaged his popularity, and he lost his bid for reelection in 1992.
  • Fall Of The Berlin Wall

    Fall Of The Berlin Wall
    The Fall of the Berlin Wall was a very significant moment for Germany. The reunion of the East and west wall brought families together, and marked that communism was not going to spread. It happened when the spokesman for East Berlin's Communist Party announced a change in his city's relations with the West. Starting at midnight that day, he said, citizens of the GDR were free to cross the country's borders. That is when people from both sides started climbing the walls and crossing over.
  • Period: to

    The 90's

  • Persian Gulf War/1st Iraq War

    Persian Gulf War/1st Iraq War
    After Iraq leader Saddam Hussein ordered invasion and occupation of the neighboring country Kuwait in early August 1990. The US invaded Iraq to liberate Kuwait, Iraq set Kuwait's oil fields on fire so the Americans couldn't gain the oil. Hussein defied United Nations Security Council demands to withdraw from Kuwait by mid-January 1991 this conflict caused the US to set military bases in Saudi Arabia, also called Operation Desert Storm.
  • Election of 1992

    Election of 1992
    Democrats chose Bill Clinton (despite accusations of womanizing, drug use, and draft evasion) and Albert Gore Jr. as his running mate. Republicans chose Bush for another election and J. Danforth Quayle as his running mate. Third candidate Ross Perot added color to the election by getting 19.7 million votes in the election (no electoral votes though), but Clinton won, 370 to 168 in the Electoral College. Democrats also got control of both the House and the Senate.
  • Health Care Reforms

    Health Care Reforms
    This was a 1993 health care reform package under the Clinton Administration that required each US citizen and permanent resident alien to become enrolled in a qualified health plan. President Clinton set up a task force led by his wife to come up with a comprehensive plan to provide universal health care along these lines. It was defended by George Mitchell in Congress but was ultimately defeated in 1994 because there were not enough Democratic Senators behind a single proposal to pass a bill.
  • Bill Clinton Presidency

    Bill Clinton Presidency
    Entered off in January 1993, as the first democratic president since Jimmy Carter and a self-proclaimed activist. He had a very domestic agenda. When in office he had a lot of controversial appointments. When a longtime friend, Vince Foster, committed suicide it sparked an escalating inquiry into some banking and real estate ventures involving the president and his wife in the early 1980s. This became known as the Whitewater affair.
  • North Americans Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA)

    North Americans Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA)
    North American Free Trade Agreement took effect Jan.1st, 1994, creating a free-trade area between the US, Canada, and Mexico; provides for the tariff-free movement of goods and products, financial services, telecommunications, investment, and patent protection within and between the signatories. The rules were out in place for several industries, like agriculture and technology. Lots of Americans lost jobs from NAFTA, and it stopped Mexican knock-off products.
  • Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy

    Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy
    The act prohibits any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation or from speaking about any homosexual relationships, including marriages or other familial attributes, while serving in the United States armed forces. The "don't ask" part of the policy indicates that superiors should not initiate investigation of a service member's orientation in the absence of disallowed behaviors, though mere suspicion of homosexual behavior can cause an investigation.
  • Election of 2000

    Election of 2000
    The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush (1989-1993), and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President. Bill Clinton, the incumbent President, was vacating the position after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Bush narrowly won the November 7 election, with 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266.
  • Period: to

    Contemporay

  • Bush V. Gore (SCOTUS)

    Bush V. Gore (SCOTUS)
    This case was during the 2000 presidential election between Bush and Gore over Florida's 25 electoral votes. They took it to the supreme court, and SCOTUS said that Bush won the electoral votes, which is what determines the president ultimately The decision made George W. Bush the new president of the United States, and the fiasco made people question the need for the electoral college..
  • War on Terror

    War on Terror
    Initiated by President George W. Bush after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the broadly defined "war on terror" aimed to weed out terrorist operatives and their supporters throughout the world. This involved open and covert military operations, new security legislation, efforts to block the financing of terrorism, and more. They took troops over to Iraq and took over the area.
  • 9/11 Attacks

    9/11 Attacks
    19 al-Qaeda members hijacked passenger airplanes and used them to destroy a small section of the Pentagon & destroy the twin towers of the World Trade Center in NYC; 3,000 people were killed & 6,000 were injured. These events led to an unsuccessful manhunt for Saudi-born extremist Osama Bin Laden, heightened security in the US, and expanded military action abroad. This was the worst case of domestic terrorism in American history.
  • 2nd Iraq War

    2nd Iraq War
    Saddam Hussein was accused of having stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. The US also falsely linked him with Niger in buying uranium to make nuclear powers weaponry. President George W Bush convinced the congress to declare war on the dictator in 2003. Bush made a doctrine that authorized the use of force against any nation that harbored terrorist. Within a few weeks the dictator was overthrown but an insurgent war started that lasted until 2011.
  • Hurricane Katrina Disater

    Hurricane Katrina Disater
    On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. When the storm had a Category 3 rating brought sustained winds of 100–140 miles per hour–and stretched some 400 miles across. The storm itself did a great deal of damage, but its aftermath was catastrophic. Hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were displaced from their homes, and experts estimate that Katrina caused more than $100 billion in damage.
  • The Great Recession

    The Great Recession
    The Great Recession was a period of general economic decline observed in world markets during the late 2000's and early 2010's. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country. In terms of overall impact, the International Monetary Fund concluded that it was the worst global recession since the 1930's (the Great Depression). The cause of the recession was related to the real estate market, though choices made by other nations contributed as well.
  • Affordable Care Act(ACA) "Obamacare"

    Affordable Care Act(ACA) "Obamacare"
    US federal statute signed into law by Obama on March 23, 2010. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act amendment, it represents the most significant regulatory overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. It was enacted to increase the quality and affordability of health insurance, lower the uninsured rate by expanding public and private insurance coverage, and reduce the costs of healthcare for individuals and the government.