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Stock Market Crash
The Stock Market Crash of 1929 is also known as Black Tuesday. The crash hit Wall Street as investors traded about 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost, ruining the lives of thousands of investors. After Black Tuesday, America, along with industrialized world spiraled into the Great Depression which lasted ten years. -
Roosevelt 1st Election
In the first three years of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to be the next President of the United States. During the time of his presidency, FDR worked hard to keep America going with acts such as The New Deal. FDR's New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms and regulations enacted in the United States. -
CCC
FDR's New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms and regulations enacted in the United States. The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program within a sector of the New Deal. The CCC operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from ages 17–28. The men would work to rehabilitate land across America and much of the rehabilitated land became a part of National Parks. -
Social Security Act
The Social Security Act established a system of old-age benefits for workers, benefits for victims of industrial accidents, unemployment insurance, aid for dependent mothers and children, the blind, and the physically handicapped. It was enacted through FDR's New Deal and is still upheld to this day. -
FDR Court Packing Scandal
President Franklin Roosevelt announced plan that was labeled to be very controversial to expand the Supreme Court up to 15 judges to allegedly make it more efficient. People and critics immediately accused Roosevelt of attempting to “pack” the court with Justices that would be in favor of his acts and neutralize Supreme Court justices opposed to his New Deal. -
Germany Breaks Munich Pact
The Munich Pact was a agreement that permitted Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders that mainly consisted of German speakers, for which a new territory, "Sudetenland" was marked. Hitler still went through with taking over the rest of Czechoslovakia anyway, and this cause more tension and battles later on in the Second World War. -
HUAC Formed
The House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. HUAC’s controversial tactics contributed to the fear, distrust and repression that existed during the anticommunist hysteria of the 1950s. The committee used its subpoena power as a weapon and called citizens to testify in hearings before Congress. This atmosphere often produced dramatic but questionable revelations involving Communists infiltrating American institutions. -
Battle of Britain
German and British air forces clashed in the skies over the United Kingdom in the summer and fall of 1940. This was the largest sustained bombing campaign of the time. The Battle of Britain ended when Germany failed to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force, making this a major turning point in the Second World War. Britain’s victory saved the country from a ground invasion and a likelihood of occupation by German forces. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
On December 7th, 1941, The Japanese Army launched an attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. . At around 8 in the morning, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes destroyed or damaged nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. -
Operation Overlord/D-Day
D-Day was the day of The Normandy Landings. The Normandy Landings were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. -
FDR Dies/Truman President
On April 12, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away during his presidency. FDR was on his fourth term in office and died at the age of 63. His death left Vice President Harry Truman in charge of a country in the midst of WWII and in possession of a weapon more powerful than any other weapon in history. -
Nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima/Nagasaki
During WWII an American B-29 bomber dropped the atomic bombs "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The explosion destroyed 90 percent of the city in Hiroshima and killed around 80,000 people instantly. Tens of thousands later died of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped the A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing about 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito later announced his country’s surrender in World War II. -
United Nations created
Led by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, the signatories agreed to use all available resources to defeat the Axis powers. It was agreed that no country would sue for a separate peace with Germany, Italy, or Japan. Instead, they agreed to act together. The signatories also promised to pursue the creation of a future international organization that would ensure life, liberty, independence, and religious freedom, and to preserve the rights of man and justice. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy de facto declaration whose stated purpose was to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. It was first announced to Congress by President Harry S. Truman on March 12, 1947. The Soviet Union was the center of all communist activity and movements throughout the world. The United States needed to provide military and economic assistance to protect nations from communist aggression. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was a conquest that the Western Allies put into action to help people trapped under the power of the Soviets. The Allies would supply sectors of Berlin from the air and use cargo planes to deliver food, fuel and other goods to the people who lived in the western part of the city over the Soviet occupation zone. During the Berlin airlift, an Allied supply plane took off or landed in West Berlin every 30 seconds and made nearly 300,000 flights in all. -
The Korean War
The Korean War began on 25 June 1950 was a war between North Korea and South Korea. The war started when North Korea invaded South Korea over the 38th Parallel following a series of clashes along the border. In July 1953, the Korean War ended with over 5 million soldier and civilian lives lost. The Korean peninsula is divided to this day. -
Rosenberg Trials
The trial of the Rosenbergs began in May of 1951. The couple was accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians, but because the U.S. and the Soviets were not at war, they could not be convicted of Treason. The left-wing community believed that the Rosenbergs were prosecuted because of their membership in the Communist Party. The trial lasted nearly a month, ending on April 4 with convicting all of the defendants. The Rosenbergs were sentenced to death row on April 6. -
Brown v Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka was a landmark Supreme Court case in which the justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. Brown v. Board of Education was one of the breakthroughs of the civil rights movement, and helped establish the precedent that “separate-but-equal” education and other services actually weren't equal at all. -
The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was between the communist government of North Vietnam and South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The conflict was enhanced in the midst of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. More than 3 million people were killed in the Vietnam War, and over half of them were Vietnamese civilians. Opposition to the war in the United States divided the Americans public. Communist forces ended the war by seizing control of South Vietnam in 1975. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
In 1955, shortly after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus for a white person, MLK Jr. led a boycott of city buses. After 11 moths of African Americans boycotting public transportation- rain or shine- the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public transportation was unconstitutional. -
Rosa Parks Arrested
On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for breaking the city bus transportation law in Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested when the bus began to fill up and she decided to sit in the section labeled "Whites Only." When she refused to give up her seat for a white man and was arrested for it, there was massive resistance among the African American community in the south. -
Sputnik
Sputnik was the world's first artificial space satellite launched by the U.S.S.R.. The launching of Sputnik began the space race during the Cold War. The launching also enhanced American involvement with other countries other than military involvement, and space education became more prominent in the U.S.. -
Eisenhower sends in Federal Troops
To uphold integration at Central High for the Little Rock Nine, Eisenhower had to send in federal troops in order to keep off white resistance mobs. Federal troops were to escort the African American students at Central High in order to keep the nine safe. -
Greensboro lunch Sit-ins
Four local African American students entered Woolworth's Store and sat in seats labeled as "Whites Only," and refused to move until they were served. On the second day, 27 students came to participate, and by the fourth day there were 300 students supporting and participating in the sit ins. Around the United States, similar sit ins took place, and some stores had to close temporarily. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a wall that divided East and West Berlin physically, but also symbolized the extreme sociocultural difference between the two sectors. The Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens were allowed to cross the border. That night, crowds gathered at the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and began to chip away at the wall. -
Freedom Rides
Civil Rights campaign members protested transportation segregation by traveling by bus through the southern states. White violence against them urged the Kennedy administration to protect them and become more involved in the process. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. JFK made the decision to enact a naval blockade around Cuba. Citizens feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war. But when the U.S. agreed to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba. -
Assassination of JFK
John F. Kennedy was traveling through Dallas, Texas in an open convertible. He was driving and waving to large crowds surrounding his car. As their vehicle passed the Texas School Book Depository Building, Lee Harvey Oswald fired shots from the sixth floor, fatally wounding President Kennedy. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead at age 46. His Vice President, Lyndon Johnson was later sworn into office about 2 hours later and became the 36th President of the United States. -
March on Washington
In August of 1963, Civil Rights leaders organized a March and rally in Washington D.C. to urge the passage of JFK's civil rights bill. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the Civil Rights leaders that organized the march and rally. He gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech to over 200.000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial. -
Kennedy sends in Federal Troops
A young African American Air Force veteran, James Meredith, tried to enroll in the University of Mississippi. A federal court ensured his right to attend. When federal marshals accompanied Meredith on campus to register for his classes, riots began against him. JFK had to send in 400 federal marshals and 3,000 troops to control the mobs and protect Meredith. -
MLK goes to a Birmingham Jail
In 1963, MLK Jr. was arrested and sent to jail because he and others were protesting the treatment of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama. A court had ordered the MLK Jr. could not hold protests in Birmingham -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of ethnicity is one of the biggest legislative achievements of the civil rights movement. It was proposed by President John F. Kennedy and survived strong opposition from southern members of Congress. It was signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was authorized by President Lyndon Johnson and passed by Congress on August 7, 1964, after an alleged attack on two U.S. naval destroyers stationed off the coast of Vietnam. The Resolution was put into place to “take all necessary actions to fight any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression” by the communist government of North Vietnam. This led to the U.S.'s involvement in the Vietnam War. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the codename for an American bombing campaign during the Vietnam War. U.S. military aircraft attacked North Vietnam from March 1965 to October 1968. This was intended to put pressure on North Vietnam’s communist leaders and reduce their capacity to wage war against the U.S. This represented a major expansion of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. -
Selma to Montgomery March
The Selma March was a political march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The march took place from March 21- March 25, 1965 and was led by Martin Luther King Jr.. The march took a violent turn when the marchers were stopped and beaten by local police. This March became a landmark in the Civil Rights movement because the nation saw how violent the police were acting towards regular human beings out of hate. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X was African American Nationalist and religious leader. His views differed from MLK because of their upbringings. Malcolm was faced with a more violent childhood with his father being brutally murdered by the white supremacist Black Legion, which made his views on Black Power more intense. He was assassinated by rival Black Muslims while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was an act that worked to overcome legal barriers at state and local levels of government that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, it is considered one of the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history. -
Tet-offensive
The Tet Offensive was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. It was an attempt to diminish the rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the United States to decrease their involvement in the Vietnam War. North Vietnam was victorious in the Tet Offensive and the attacks marked a major turning point in the Vietnam War. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King was on his balcony of the Lorraine Motel, where he was staying, when James Earl Ray shot him in the neck. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead soon after at the age of 39. King was a national leader of the Civil Rights movement and his death shocked America and hurt the movement moving forward. -
Richard Nixon elected President (1/10)
Richard Nixon became the President of the United States on November 5th, 1968. Many Americans, while hoping for peace in Vietnam, did not want the U.S. to be defeated. Because of this, the president's strategy was to appeal to Americans by facing their fears. He signed democratic bills, increased federal income for low-income housing, raised the benefits for Social Security, and expanded the Jobs Corps. -
Woodstock
Woodstock is also known as the “Three Days of Peace and Music." It was a three day music festival in August of 1969 labeled as a safe place to love and live freely while listening to the music that helped people take the terrors of the world off their minds. Roughly 200,000 people came to celebrate music. -
Nixon's Secret Meeting with Kissinger (5/10)
Nixon ordered a secret meeting with Henry Kissinger and the Foreign Minister of North Vietnam, Le Duc Tho. When the men failed to come to a reasonable compromise, the president ordered bombings on North Vietnam to force them to settle. After weeks of attacks on North Vietnam, they finally agreed on the compromise to give back their prisoners of war when the U.S. withdrew their military. -
Nixon's Proposal (2/10)
President Nixon Proposed a plan in which the United States and North Vietnam would agree to withdraw their military forces from South Vietnam. This was a Nixon's attempt to end the war, which is called “Vietnamization”. This was also a chance to appeal to the American public that was so outwardly against this war. -
The Guam Doctrine (3/10)
Also known as the "Nixon Doctrine", this doctrine was established during the Vietnam War. It stated that the United States would honor their pre-existing defense commitments, but in the future other countries would have to fight their own battles with out the United States' support. This doctrine was a sensible way of thinking, but Nixon later went on to order and invasion anyways. -
The U.S. Invades Cambodia (4/10)
President Nixon, a year after creating the Guam Doctrine, orders U.S. troops to invade Cambodia. He made this decision after North Vietnam's own invasion of the country, and had a goal to destroy Communist supply routes and base camps located in Cambodia. -
Kent State
On May 4, 1970, four Kent State University students were killed and nine were injured, when members of the Ohio National Guard shot at a crowd protesting the Vietnam War. The tragedy was a major turning point in a nation divided by the conflict in Vietnam. After the shooting, students led a strike that forced colleges and universities across the nation to close temporarily. -
The Paris Accords (6/10)
The Paris Accords was a peace agreement between the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Viet Cong. The Paris Accords also promised a cease-fire and free elections. However, the armistice did not end the war. Within time the signing of The Paris Accords eventually occurred. -
Paris Accords Signed (7/10)
After 12 days of negotiating, the four groups signed the Paris Accords. This agreement would allow the U.S. to finally withdraw from the war. This was officially titled the agreement on the ending of the war, and restoring peace in Vietnam. It was officially signed on January 27, 1973 to establish peace and allow the Vietnam War to end. -
Vietnam Day
National Vietnam War Veterans Day on March 29 is a day dedicated to honoring the men and women who served and sacrificed during the longest conflict in United States history. March 29, 1973 signifies the day that combat support units withdrew from South Vietnam. many years later veterans of this time period are finally gaining the respect that was not given to them when they returned from a war that was out of their control. -
The Fall of Saigon (8/10)
After the Vietnam war came to an end, North Vietnam invaded Saigon in South Vietnam. Americans and South Vietnamese people are fearing for their lives and flee for helicopters to take them to their Naval Ships. In order to create space for soldiers and civilians, members of the ship pushed helicopters into the sea. -
Fleeing Saigon (9/10)
With the North Vietnamese's invasion of Saigon, thousands of South Vietnamese citizens were left fearing their lives. Many fled aboard a U.S. Navy Ship by helicopter. Because of the amount of people coming to the ship was so high, members of the ship had to throw helicopters overboard and into the ocean to create space. -
South Vietnam Falls (10/10)
on April 30th, 1975, after the North Vietnamese invaded South Vietnam, South Vietnam fell to the communists. North Vietnamese and Viet Cong captured Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, and forced South Vietnam to surrender.
