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Period: to
Cold War
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Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy whose stated purpose was to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. Congress appropriated financial aid to support the economies and militaries of Greece and Turkey. More generally, the Truman Doctrine implied American support for other nations allegedly threatened by Soviet communism and became the foundation of American foreign policy, and led, in 1949, to the formation of NATO, a military alliance that is still in effect. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the United States gave over $13 billion in economic assistance to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II. The goals of the United States were to rebuild war-torn regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, improve European prosperity, and prevent the spread of Communism due to Stalin and the Soviet Union's growing grip on the Eastern part of Europe entering the Cold War Era. -
Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show was an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. Virtually every type of entertainment appeared on the show; classical musicians, most notably to name would be Elvis Presely who's career took off, opera singers, popular recording artists, songwriters, comedians, ballet dancers, dramatic actors performing monologues from plays, and circus acts were regularly featured. -
The Berlin Airlift
In response to the Berlin Blockade set up by Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, the Western Allies organized the Berlin airlift, to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin, a difficult feat given the size of the city's population.Aircrews from the Allied nations such as the United States Air Force, British Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air forces flew over 200,000 flights in one year, providing to the West Berliners up to 8,893 tons of necessities each day in order for survival. -
Beat Generation
The Beat Generation was a literary movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the 1950s. The bulk of their work was published and popularized throughout the 1950s. Central elements of Beat culture are rejection of standard narrative values, exploration of American and Eastern religions, rejection of materialism, explicit portrayals of the human condition, experimentation with psychedelic drugs, and sexual liberation and exploration -
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term refers to Joseph McCarthy and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from 1947 to 1956 and characterized by heightened political repression as well as a campaign spreading fear of Communist influence on American institutions and of espionage by Soviet agents. It was also to be based on a list in the possession of Joseph McCarthy -
Little Richard
An influential figure in popular music and culture for decades, Little Richard's most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950s when his dynamic music laid the foundation for rock and roll. His music also played a key role in other popular music genres, including soul. Little Richard influenced numerous singers and musicians; his music helped shape rhythm and blues for generations to come, and his performances and headline-making thrust his career right into the mix of American popular music. -
Period: to
The 1950s
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Korean War
This political but physical conflict was a war between North Korea (with the support of China and the Soviet Union) and South Korea (with the principal support of the United States). The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, came to the aid of South Korea. China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union also gave some assistance to the North. -
Ike Turner
Izear Luster "Ike" Turner, Jr. was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. An early pioneer of fifties rock and roll. Turner recorded for many of the key R&B record labels of the 1950s and 1960s. With the Ike's Turner Revue, he graduated to larger labels Blue Thumb and United Artists. Throughout his career Turner won two Grammy Awards and was nominated for three others adn is currently considered to have written the first rock and roll record. -
I Love Lucy TV Show
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball. It is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential sitcoms in history and even was voted the 'Best TV Show of All Time' in a survey conducted by ABC News and People Magazine at the time in the 1950s where pop culture was seen to take off. The increasing amount of TV's present in homes at the time fed into the hype and made the show very popular at the time of its running. So much so that reruns run in present day. -
Bill Haley and his Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band, founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets (and variations thereof). From late 1954 to late 1956, the group placed nine singles in the Top 20, one of those a number one and three more in the Top Ten. The group was also well known as pioneers in terms of the rising age of rock and roll that plagued the generation growing up in the fifties -
Polio Vaccine
The first polio vaccine was the inactivated polio vaccine. It was developed by Jonas Salk and came into use in 1955 due to an outbreak. In a generic sense, vaccination works by priming the immune system with an 'immunogen'. Stimulating immune response, via the use of an infectious agent, is known as immunization. The development of immunity to polio efficiently blocks person-to-person transmission of wild poliovirus, thereby protecting both individual vaccine recipients and the wider community. -
38th Parallel
After a series of cross-border raids and gunfire from both the Northern and the Southern sides, the North Korean Army crossed the parallel and invaded South Korea. This sparked a United Nations resolution against the aggression and the Korean War, with United Nations troops (mostly Americans) helping to defend South Korea. Seceeding the war, this would become the physical and political barrier between capitalist South Korea with support from Americans and communist North Korea backed by the S.U. -
Elvis Presley
Presley was a pioneer of rock, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. With a series of successful television appearances and chart-topping records, he became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, made him very popular and controversial. -
Malcolm X
Malcolm X was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights, activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans; detractors accused him of preaching racism and violence. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history.His view of violence methods created ridges in between him and other Civil Rights leaders such as MLK. -
Period: to
The Civil Rights Movement
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Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education, was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. The decision effectively overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public school education. As a result, racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. -
Albert Sabin
Albert Sabin was a Polish medical researcher, best known for developing the oral polio vaccine which played a key role in nearly eradicating the disease. The Sabin vaccine is an oral vaccine containing weakened forms of strains of polio viruses. In 1955, Salk's vaccine was released for use. It was effective in preventing most of the complications of polio, but did not prevent the initial intestinal infection. The Sabin vaccine is easier to give than the earlier vaccine developed by Salk in 1954 -
Death of Emmett Till
Emmet Till was a 14-year-old African-American who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after a white woman said she was allegedly offended by him in her family's grocery store. The brutality of his murder and the fact that his killers were acquitted drew attention to the long history of violent persecution of African Americans in the United States. Till posthumously became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement as his death truly showed the mercilessness of Jim Crow that plagued the South U.S.. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was an activist in the civil rights movement best known for her role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In Montgomery, Parks refused to obey an order to give up her seat in the "colored section" to a white passenger, after the whites-only section was filled. Parks' prominence in the community and her willingness to become a controversial figure inspired the black community to boycott the Montgomery buses for over a year, the first major direct action campaign of civil rights movement -
Eisenhower Interstate System
The Dwight Eisenhower National System of Interstate, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that form part of the National Highway System in the United States. The system is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed its formation. Construction was authorized by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, and the original portion was completed 35 years later. The network has since been extended and it had a total length of 47,856 miles -
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas. They then attended after the intervention of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. With help from the national guard, they were then able to attend Central High School despite Faubus's efforts. -
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite.The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on October 4th, 1957. It was a 58 cm (23 in) diameter polished metal sphere, with four external radio antennas to broadcast radio pulses. Its radio signal was easily detectable even by radio amateurs, and the 65° inclination and duration of its orbit made its flight path cover virtually the entire inhabited Earth. The surprise success leads to the Space Race between the US and S.U. -
NASA
President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian (rather than military) orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29, 1958, disestablishing NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency became operational on October 1, 1958. The new agency was a direct response to Sputnik, which was the satellite launched by the Soviet Union recently. -
The New Frontier
The term New Frontier was used by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech in the 1960 United States presidential election. The phrase developed into a label for his administration's domestic and foreign programs. It showed that under Kennedy he would continue to support America and improve the overall standard of living, for example, he continued Ike's highway system and even sought to eradicate poverty in the low levels of cities thus being the New Frontier. -
Period: to
The 1960s
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Election of 1960
After Kennedy's success in publicly televised debates against Republican Richard Nixon who was at a disadvantage of JFK's personality, especially on television, a closely contested election, Democrat John F. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican Party nominee. This was the first election in which all fifty states participated, as well as the first election in which an incumbent president was ineligible to run for another term due to the Twenty-second Amendment. -
Peace Corps
This program was established by Executive Order 10924, issued by President John F. Kennedy. The Peace Corps is a volunteer program run by the United States government. The stated mission of the Peace Corps includes providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand American culture, and helping Americans to understand the cultures of other countries and To promote world peace and friendship in a time that the Cold War was fully in effect against communism. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-sponsored paramilitary group. Trained and funded by the CIA, Brigade 2506 fronted the armed wing of the Democratic Revolutionary Front and intended to overthrow the increasingly communist government of Fidel Castro. Launched from Guatemala and Nicaragua, the invading force was defeated within three days by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, under the direct command of Castro. -
Earl Warren Supreme Court
Earl Warren is best known for the liberal decisions of the Warren Court, which outlawed segregation in public schools and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayers, and requiring "one man–one vote" rules of apportionment of election districts. He made the Supreme Court a power center on a more even basis with Congress and the Presidency, especially through four landmark decisions like Brown v. Board of Education -
Lee Harvey Oswald
He is the man that was concluded to have acted alone in the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. He was also an ex-marine that had been recently re-approved to enter the United States after living in the Soviet Union for years before. Many conspiracy theories show that he did not in fact act alone, but received help from various other people, however investigations from top government agencies and local police had all led to him being the loan gunman on the sixth floor of the depository. -
"I Have A Dream" Speech
"I Have a Dream" is a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August, 1963, in which he calls for an end to racism in the United States and called for civil and economic rights. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement as it further instilled the will for all to be equal. -
JFK Assassination
John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was riding with his wife Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife, when he was fatally shot. The motorcade rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital where President Kennedy was pronounced dead about thirty minutes after the shooting leading to LBJ becoming the next acting president following his death. -
Jack Ruby
Jack Leon Ruby was the Dallas, Texas, nightclub owner who fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, while Oswald was in police custody after being charged with assassinating U.S. President John F. Kennedy. A Dallas jury found him guilty of murdering Oswald, and he was sentenced to death. Mnay speculate in fact that Ruby intended to silence Oswald so that he would be unable to tell officials what exactly happened the day JFK was murdered instead of his overwhelming "outrage'. -
Hippie
A hippie is a member of a counterculture, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread around the world. The word hippie was used to describe beatniks, and Hippie fashion and values had a major effect on culture, influencing popular music, television, film, literature, and the arts. Since the 1960s, mainstream society has assimilated many aspects of hippie culture. The religious and cultural diversity from hippies has gained widespread acceptance. -
Daisy Girl Ad
"Daisy", was a controversial political advertisement aired on television during the 1964 United States presidential election by incumbent president Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign. Though only aired once, it is considered to be an important factor in Johnson's landslide victory over Goldwater and an important turning point in political and advertising history. It remains one of the most controversial political advertisements ever made. As it showed whhat may come if Goldwater had won the election. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark civil rights and US labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations. Powers given to enforce the act were initially weak, but were supplemented during later years. Congress asserted its authority to legislate under the United States Constitution. -
Selma Marches
The Selma marches were three protest marches from Selma, Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery. The marches were organized to demonstrate the desire of African-American citizens to exercise their right to vote, in defiance of segregation, were part of a broader voting rights movement underway in Selma and throughout the South U.S. By highlighting racial injustice, they contributed to the passage that year of the Voting Rights Act, a landmark federal achievement of the Civil Rights Movement. -
LSD
LSD is also known as acid, is a psychedelic drug known for its psychological effects, which may include altered awareness of one's surroundings, perceptions, and feelings as well as sensations and images that seem real though they are not. It is used mainly as a recreational drug and for spiritual reasons. It gained a lot of popularity in the mid-1960s especially with the hippie movement that swept the nation for those who oppose the Vietnam War. It is not considered to be lethal when taken. -
Black Panthers
The Black Panther Party was a political organization founded by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton.The Black Panther Party's core practice was its armed citizens' patrols to monitor the behavior of officers of the Oakland Police Department and challenge police brutality in Oakland, California. Community social programs became a core activity of party members.The Black Panther Party instituted a variety of community social programs, and community health clinics to address issues like food injustice. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr., an American clergyman and civil rights leader, was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. King traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of striking African American city sanitation workers. For some, King's assassination meant the end of the strategy of nonviolence. Others in the movement reaffirmed the need to carry on King's and the movement's work, immediately following his tragic death, riots sprouted up in cities all around the country. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first two humans on the Moon. Mission commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin, both American, landed the lunar module. The landing was broadcast on live TV to a worldwide audience. Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface and described the event as "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Apollo 11 effectively ended the Space Race and fulfilled a national goal proposed in 1961 by at the time U.S. President John F. Kennedy. -
Period: to
The 1970s
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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The Environmental Protection Agency is an independent agency of the United States federal government for environmental protection. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA and it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The main objective of the organization was to preserve and protect various amounts of species of animals who were endangered or exposed to certain factors such as hunting, pollution, and loss of habitat due to industrialization. -
Watergate Scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal that occurred in the United States following a break-in by five men at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. and President Richard Nixon's administration's subsequent attempt to cover up its involvement. After the five burglars were caught and the conspiracy was discovered, Watergate was investigated by the United States Congress. Meanwhile, Nixon's administration resisted its probes. -
Title IX
Title IX was enacted as a follow-up to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 1964 Act was passed to end discrimination in various fields based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the areas of employment and public accommodation. While Title IX is best known for its impact on high school and collegiate athletics, the original statute made no explicit mention of sports. Coverage of sports was implied, however, as this topic was the topic on which the lobbying was based. -
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation was founded in 1973 by Paul Weyrich, Edwin Feulner, and Joseph Coors.Growing out of the new activist movement inspired by the Powell Memorandumdiscontent with Nixon's embrace of the "liberal consensus" and the nonpolemical, cautious nature of existing think tanks, Weyrich and Feulner sought to create an organization that would supply policymakers with concise, timely position papers. The group also sought out to return things to how they were in the periods before them. -
Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade is a landmark decision issued in 1973 by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of the constitutionality of laws that criminalized or restricted access to abortions. The Court ruled 7–2 that a right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman's decision to have an abortion, but that this right must be balanced against the state's interests in regulating abortions: protecting women's health and protecting the potentiality of human life. -
Nixon's Resignation
In light of his loss of political support and the near-certainty that he would be impeached and removed, Nixon resigned the presidency after addressing the nation on television. Nixon chose to resign after realizing public opinion was not in his favor to remain in office. The resignation speech was delivered from the Oval Office and was carried live on radio and television. Nixon stated that he was resigning for the good of the country and asked the nation to support the new president. -
The Torrijos–Carter Treaties
These treaties guaranteed that Panama would gain control of the Panama Canal after 1999, ending the control of the canal that the U.S. had exercised since 1903. The treaties are named after the two signatories, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Commander of Panama's National Guard, General Omar Torrijos. Treaties like this displayed Carter's view on foreign policy and how he approached foreign affairs. It was also released due to not much economic benefit being generated from the canal. -
Camp David Accords
The Camp David Accords were the result of diplomatic efforts by Egypt, Israel, and the United States that began after Carter became President.The efforts initially focused on a comprehensive resolution of disputes between Israel and the Arab countries, gradually evolving into a search for a bilateral agreement between Israel and Egypt. Upon assuming office, President Carter moved to rejuvenate the Middle East peace process that had stalled throughout the 1976 presidential campaign in the U.S. -
Three Mile Island
The Three Mile Island accident was the most significant accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history. The accident crystallized anti-nuclear safety concerns among activists and the general public, resulted in new regulations for the nuclear industry, and has been cited as a contributor to the decline of a new reactor construction program that was already underway in the 1970s.The partial meltdown resulted in the release of radioactive gases and radioactive iodine into the environment. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic standoff between Iran and the United States. Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981, after a group of Iranian students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. It is also noted that the hostages were released right after Carter left the oval office and Ragen replaced him in 1980. -
Period: to
The 1980s
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Election of 1980
Carter's unpopularity and poor relations with the american public, especially following the hostage crisis led Ronald Reagan winning in a complete landslide. Prior to the election, Reagan campaigned for increased defense spending, implementation of supply-side economic policies, and a balanced budget. His campaign was aided by Democratic dissatisfaction with Carter, the Iran hostage crisis, and a worsening economy at home marked by high unemployment and inflation that occured under Carter. -
HIV/AIDS Crisis
The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), found its way to the United States as early as 1960 but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in young gay men in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco in 1981. It was initially thought to be a "punishment" by God upon the homosexual community, however once heterosexual people began to contract the disease, it was then many realized that something was spreading. -
"Reaganomics"
Reaganomics refers to the economic policies promoted by U.S. President Reagan during the 1980s. These policies are commonly referred to as trickle-down economics or voodoo economics by political opponents, and free-market economics by political advocates.The four pillars of Reagan's economic policy were to reduce the growth of government spending, reduce the federal income tax and capital gains tax, reduce government regulation, and tighten the money supply in order to reduce inflation. -
MTV!
The channels originally aired music videos as guided by television personalities. At first, MTV's main target demographic was young adults, but today it is primarily teenagers.It has also become involved in progressive social causes. The network received criticism towards this change of focus, both by certain segments of its audience and musicians. MTV's influence on its audience, including issues involving censorship and social activism, has also been a subject of debate for several years -
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court after being personally appointed by President Ronald Reagan. On September 21, O'Connor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate with a vote of 99–0. It was very influential for her to receive this position at the time she did as women's rights was a growing movement throughout this time period. In her first year on the Court, she went on to receive over 60,000 letters from the public, more than any other justice had in history. -
Rap/ Hip Hop Music
The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles. Prior to the 1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began to spread to music scenes in dozens of countries, many of which mixed hip-hop with local styles to create new subgenres. Groups and artists such as "N.W.A." dominated the charts and even had their music to spread to other demographics that hadn't listened to rap music before that time. -
SDI "Star Wars"
The Strategic Defense Initiative was set up in 1983 within the United States Department of Defense to oversee development. A wide array of advanced weapon concepts, including lasers,particle beam weapons and ground- and space-based missile systems were studied, along with various sensor, command and control, and high-performance computer systems that would be needed to control a system consisting of hundreds of combat centers and satellites spanning the entire globe against nuclear attack. -
Reagan Doctrine
The Reagan Doctrine was a strategy orchestrated and implemented by the United States under the Reagan Administration to overwhelm the global influence of the Soviet Union in an attempt to end the Cold War. Under the Reagan Doctrine, the U.S. provided overt and covert aid to anti-communist guerrillas and resistance movements in an effort to "roll back" Soviet-backed communist governments. The doctrine was the centerpiece of United States foreign policy until the end of the Cold War in 1991. -
Iran-Contra Affair
The Iran–Contra affair, was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. They hoped, thereby, to fund the Contras in Nicaragua while at the same time negotiating the release of several U.S. hostages. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress. -
Challenger Explosion
The NASA shuttle orbiter mission STS-51-L and the tenth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members, which consisted of five NASA astronauts and 2 others. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Florida. It was said to be a malfunction of one of the engines as it reacted in a bad way due to the cold morning air at the time of take-off. The space program wouldn't launch for another 2 years after. -
Period: to
The 1990s
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Gulf War
The Gulf War, codenamed Operation Desert Shield or operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia in its combat phase, was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait. George Bush deployed US forces into Saudi Arabia and urged other countries to send their own forces to the scene. Many nations joined the coalition, forming the largest military alliance since World War II. -
Rodney King Incident
Rodney Glen King was an African-American taxi driver who became known internationally as the victim of Los Angeles Police Department brutality after a videotape was released of several police officers beating him during his arrest. The beating was caught all on home video as it shows the four officers continuing to beat Rodney King. The four officers were tried on charges of use of excessive force; three were totally acquitted, the jury failed to reach a verdict on one charge for the fourth -
Election of 1992
Democratic Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush, independent businessman Ross Perot of Texas, and a number of minor candidates. George H.W. Bush, unfortunately, had a negative reputation for The Gulf War, leading for candidates such as Ross Perot to take votes from him leaving the newcomer Bill Clinton to take office after receiving over 40 percent of the votes, as he based his campaign off of improving the economy after Bush left office. -
Healthcare Reform
The Clinton health care plan, was a 1993 healthcare reform package proposed by the administration of President Bill Clinton and closely associated with the chair of the task force devising the plan, First Lady of the United States Hillary Clinton. Its goal was to come up with a comprehensive plan to provide universal health care for all Americans, which was to be a cornerstone of the administration's first-term agenda after Bill Clinton had heavily campaigned on reforming healcare in 1992. -
World Trade Center Bombing
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack, carried out in February 1993 killing seven, when a truck bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The attack was planned by a group of terrorists including Ramzi Yousef, Mahmud Abouhalima, Mohammad Salameh, Nidal A. Ayyad, Abdul Rahman Yasin, and Ahmed Ajaj and their primary goal was to bring the North tower crashing down and over into the South Tower, however, the attack was unsuccessful. -
NAFTA
NAFTA is an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Canada. The no tarriffs on goods was put into place between the three countries hoping to improve their economy by creating jobs and creating free and less restricted trade with one another. However, there have been attempts to try and change it. -
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy
The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. This relaxation of legal restrictions on service by gays and lesbians in the armed forces was mandated by United States federal law. The act prohibited any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation or from speaking about any homosexual relationships -
E-Mail
Email grew at an increasing rate in terms of users around the mid-1990s, it proved to be a new faster way to communicate with those close and far as opposed to sending letters or only depending on cell phones. Companies such as Yahoo saw a great increase in the number of people using their networking sites around the year 1994 and recorded tens of millions of users by the end of the decade heading into the new Millenium. It is regarded as one of the best inventions to date as it is still used. -
DOMA
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law that, prior to being ruled unconstitutional, defined marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman, and allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the other states. DOMA passed Congress by large, veto-proof majorities and was signed into law by Bill Clinton in September 1996. By defining "spouse" and its related terms to signify a heterosexual couple in a recognized marriage -
Monica Lewinksy Scandal
The Lewinsky scandal was an American political sex scandal that involved President Bill Clinton and intern Monica Lewinsky. The sexual relationship took place between 1995 and 1997 and came to light in 1998. Clinton ended a televised speech with the statement that he "did not have sexual relations" with Lewinsky. Further investigation led to charges of perjury and to the impeachment of Clinton. He was subsequently acquitted on all impeachment charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. -
Period: to
Contemporary
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Election of 2000
Republican candidate George W. Bush, the Governor of Texas and the eldest son of the 41st President George H. W. Bush, narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Al Gore, the incumbent vice president. It was the fourth of five presidential elections in which the winning candidate lost the popular vote. Both major party candidates focused primarily on domestic issues, such as the budget, tax relief, and reforms for federal government social insurance programs, although foreign policy was not ignored. -
Bush v. Gore
Bush v. Gore, was a decision of the United States Supreme Court that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election. On December 9, the Court had preliminarily halted the Florida recount that was occurring. Eight days earlier, the Court unanimously decided the closely related case. The Supreme Court decision allowed the previous vote certification to stand, as made by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, for George W. Bush as the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes -
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based education based on the premise that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals could improve individual outcomes in education. The Act required states to develop assessments in basic skills. To receive federal school funding, states had to give these assessments to all students at select grade levels. -
9/11 Terrorist Attacks
The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda in the U.S. The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. Four planes in total were hijacked that morning two of those which struck both towers of the World Trade Center that would collapse later that day. One other plane flew into the Pentagon in Washington, while the last crashed into a field after passengers revolted. -
P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act
The full title is “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001”. From broad concern felt among Americans from both the September 11 attacks and the 2001 anthrax attacks, Congress rushed to pass legislation to strengthen security controls. the permission given law enforcement officers to search a home or business without the owner's or the occupant's consent or knowledge and created stricter laws especially for travel. -
2nd Iraq War
The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein. The invasion occurred as part of a declared war against international terrorism and its sponsors under the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush following the September 11 terrorist attacks. And included the United States and the United Kingdom using the "shock and awe" technique to soften the Iraqi militants. -
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was an extremely destructive and deadly Category 5 hurricane that caused catastrophic damage along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge and levee failure. Over fifty breaches in New Orleans's hurricane surge protection were the cause of the majority of the death and destruction during Katrina on August 29, 2005. Eventually 80% of the city and large tracts of neighboring parishes became flooded, and the floodwaters lingered for weeks -
The Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of general economic decline observed in world markets during the late 2000s and early 2010s. In terms of overall impact, the International Monetary Fund concluded that it was the worst global recession since the 1930s (the Great Depression). The causes of the recession largely originated in the United States, particularly related to the real-estate market, though choices made by other nations contributed as well. Its effects are still being felt in present day. -
Election of 2008
The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, a Senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, a long-time Senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of Senator John McCain of Arizona and Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. Obama then became the first African American ever to be elected as president. After narrowly beating Hillary Clinton for the democratic vote, Obama would go on to base his campaign off of economic reform due to the Great Recession and the removal of U.S. troops from the nation of Iraq -
Affordable Care Act (ACA)
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) or nicknamed Obamacare, is a United States federal statute enacted by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama. Insurers in these markets are made to accept all applicants and charge the same rates regardless of pre-existing conditions or sex. To combat resultant adverse selection, the act mandates that individuals buy insurance and insurers cover a list of "essential health benefits". It also outlawed not having health insurance.
