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The Forrest Gump Living Project
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The Korean War
Conflict between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in which at least 2.5 million persons lost their lives. The war reached international proportions in June 1950 when North Korea, supplied and advised by the Soviet Union, invaded the South. -
The United Nations
United Nations forces retreat south toward the 38th parallel when Chinese Communist forces open a counteroffensive in the Korean War. This action halted any thought of a quick resolution to the conflict. On December 8, 1950, shipments to Communist China are banned by the United States. -
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were found guilty of conspiracy of wartime espionage and sentenced to death. They were executed June 19, 1953. Morton Sobell was also convicted of the crime and sentenced to thirty years in prison. -
Richard Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster Fuller files patent for the Geodesic Dome. The dome building, under his design, would be utilized in many futuristic constructions, particularly by Fuller in world exhibitions, such as his famous United States Pavilion at the Montreal World's Fair of 1967. -
The Cold War
On Jan.21, The United States launches the world's first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus. The nuclear submarine would become the ultimate nuclear deterrent -
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy begins televised Senate hearings into alleged Communist influence in the United States Army. Later this year, on December 2, the U.S. Congress votes to condemn Senator McCarthy for his conduct during the Army investigation hearings. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Racial segregation in public schools is declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in Brown vs. the Board of Education. The ruling of the court stated that racial segregation violated the 14th Amendment's clause that guaranteed equal protection. The Monroe School in Topeka, Kansas had segregated Linda Brown in its classes. -
Disneyland
is the first of two theme parks built at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, opened on July 17, 1955. It is the only theme park designed and built under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. -
The Space Race
began on August 2, 1955, when the Soviet Union responded to the United States announcement four days earlier of intent to launch artificial satellites for the International Geophysical Year, by declaring they would also launch a satellite "in the near future". The Soviets won the first "lap" with the October 4, 1957 launch of Sputnik 1. -
The Murder of Emmett Till's Murder
When Till was captured by white men he got pistol-whipped and placed in the bed of the pickup truck covered with a tarpaulin. Throughout the course of the night, Bryant, Milam, and witnesses recall their being in several locations with Till. According to some witnesses, they took Till to a shed behind Milam's home in the nearby town of Glendora, where they beat him again and tried to decide what to do. -
The "Little Rock Nine"
were the nine African-American students involved in the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School. Their entrance into the school in 1957 sparked a nationwide crisis when Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, in defiance of a federal court order, called out the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the Nine from entering. President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by federalizing the National Guard and sending in units of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division to escort the Nine into the school on -
NASA
NASA selects the first seven military pilots to become the Mercury Seven, first astronauts of the United States. The Mercury Seven included John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Gus Griscom, Wally Scare, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton. -
The Berlin Wall
was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin.The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls,which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. -
National Park Service
The National Park Service extends its lands into the U.S. Virgin Islands when President John F. Kennedy proclaims the Buck Island Reef as a National Monument. The reef includes an underwater nature trail and one of the best marine gardens in the Caribbean Sea. -
The Cuban Missiles Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crises begins. In response to the Soviet Union building offensive missiles in Cuba, President John F. Kennedy orders a naval and air blockade of military equipment to the island. An agreement is eventually reached with Soviet Premier Khrushchev on the removal of the missiles, ending the potential conflict after thirty-eight days, in what many think was the closest the Cold War came to breaking into armed conflict. -
Lyndon B. Johnson
On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. The event thrust Lyndon Johnson into the presidency. A man widely considered to be one of the most expert and brilliant politicians of his time, Johnson would leave office a little more than five years later as one of the least popular Presidents in American history. -
Nike (Shoe Company)
Nike, originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS), was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1964. The company initially operated as a distributor for Japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger (now ASICS), making most sales at track meets out of Knight's automobile. -
The Creation of the Mustang
was brought out five months before the normal start of the 1965 production year. The earliest versions are often referred to as 1964½ models, but VIN coded by Ford and titled as 1965 models with production beginning in Dearborn, Michigan on March 9, 1964and the new car was introduced to the public on April 17, 1964 at the New York World's Fair. -
Malcolm X
Malcolm X led a mass rally in Harlem on February 21, 1965, rival Black Muslims gunned him down.Although his life was ended, the ideas he preached lived on in the Black Power Movement. -
Chevrolet Camero 1966
is an automobile manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand, classified as a pony car and some versions also as a muscle car. It went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed as a competing model to the Ford Mustang. The car shared its platform and major components with the Pontiac Firebird, also introduced for 1967. -
The Black Panthers Party
African American revolutionary party, founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The party’s original purpose was to patrol African American neighbourhoods to protect residents from acts of police brutality. -
Martin Luther King,Jr.
In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. -
Neil Armstrong
The Apollo program completes its mission. Neil Armstrong, United States astronaut, becomes the first man to set foot on the moon four days after launch from Cape Canaveral. His Apollo 11 colleague, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. accompanies him. -
Woodstock,1969
was the most famous of the 1960s rock festivals, held on a farm property in Bethel, New York, August 15–18, 1969. The Woodstock Music and Art Fair was organized by four inexperienced promoters who nonetheless signed a who’s who of current rock acts, including Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, the Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, and Country Joe and the Fish. -
Disco Music/Culture
Disco is a genre of music that peaked in popularity in the late 1970s, though it has since enjoyed brief resurgences including the present day. The term is derived from discothèque (French for "library of phonograph records", but subsequently used as proper name for nightclubs in Paris. -
The United States Supreme Court
The United States Supreme Court upholds the right of the New York Times and the Washington Post to publish classified Pentagon papers about the Vietnam War, under the articles of the First Amendment to the Constitution. The New York Times had begun the publication of the Pentagon papers on June 13. -
Cotton Gin
The cotton gin is a machine designed to separate the seeds from the cotton harvested from the plant. The process uses a small screen and pulling hooks to force the cotton through the screen. It was invented by Eli Whitney on March 14, 1794, one of the many inventions that occurred during the American Industrial Revolution. -
The Camp David Peace Agreement
The Camp David Peace Agreement between Israel and Egypt is formulated in twelve days of secret negotiations at the Camp David retreat of the President. President Jimmy Carter witnessed the signing of the agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House. -
John Lennon's Murder
After being hit with the four bullets, John managed to stumble into the building to the concierge's desk and say "I'm shot" before collapsing to the floor. Within minutes there were two pairs of police officers on the scene, and while the first two dealt with Chapman, the second team carried John to their squad car and brought him to the Emergency Room at Roosevelt Hospital. When asked "Do you know who you are?", John nodded but couldn't speak. He lost consciousness shortly afterwards and was pr -
Ronald Reagan/Reagonomics
During his Presidency, Reagan pursued policies that reflected his personal belief in individual freedom, brought changes domestically, both to the U.S. economy and expanded military, and contributed to the end of the Cold War.Termed the Reagan Revolution, his presidency would reinvigorate American morale, reinvigorate the American economy and reduce American reliance upon government. As president, Reagan kept a series of diaries. -
IBM
IBM introduces the IBM-PC personal computer, the IBM 5150. It was designed by twelve engineers and designers under Don Estridge of the IBM Entry Systems Division. It sold for $1,565 in 1981. -
ATT
ATT settles its lawsuit with the U.S. Justice Department. The agreement forced the independence of the twenty-two regional Bell System companies in return for expansion into the prohibited areas of data processing and equipment sales. -
The Knoxville's World Fair
The Knoxville World's Fair opens on the topic of energy by President Reagan. A special category exposition sanctioned by the Bureau of International Exhibitions, the Knoxville event would draw over eleven million people to the Tennessee valley over the next six months. -
The Falling of the Berlin Wall
People came to the wall with sledgehammers or otherwise hammers and chisels to chip off souvenirs, demolishing lengthy parts of it in the process and creating several unofficial border crossings. These people were nicknamed "Mauerspechte" (wall woodpeckers).The East German regime announced the opening of ten new border crossings the following weekend, including some in historically significant locations (Potsdamer Platz, Glienicker Brücke, Bernauer Straße). Crowds on both sides waited t -
The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party
The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party gives up its monopoly of power, continuing the trend, since the beginning of the Berlin Wall coming down, that the Cold War was about to end. The ending of the Cold War was completed, in many ways, by the strong policies of U.S. President Ronald Reagan toward the Soviet block. Six days later, a plan to reunite Germany was announced. -
The 1990 Census
The 1990 census is conducted, counting 248,718,301, for an increase of 9.8% over the 1980 census. This is the smallest increase in the population rate since 1940. The geographic center of the United States population is now ten miles southeast of Steelville, Missouri. -
Iraq invades Kuwait
Iraq invades its neighbor, Kuwait, setting into motion the beginning of U.S. involvement in the Gulf War. Four days later, the United Nations begins a global trade embargo against Iraq. On November 29, the United Nations passes a resolution, #678, stating that Iraq must withdraw its forces from Kuwait by January 15, 1991 or face military intervention. -
Tumacacori National Monument
Tumacacori National Monument is enlarged and re-titled a Historical Park by legislation signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. The site, including the historic Spanish mission church of San Jose de Tumacacori, was founded by Padre Eusebio Kino in 1691. -
Breakup of Soviet Union
ceased to exist on 26 December 1991 by declaration no. 142-H of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union,acknowledging the independence of the twelve republics of the Soviet Union, and creating the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On the previous day, 25 December 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned, declaring his office extinct, and handed over the Soviet nuclear missile launching codes to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. -
Fall of Communism
The events began in Poland in 1989 and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. One feature common to most of these developments was the extensive use of campaigns of civil resistance demonstrating popular opposition to the continuation of one-party rule and contributing to the pressure for change.[3] Romania was the only Eastern Bloc country whose people overthrew its Communist regime violently;[4] however, in Romania itself and in some other places, the
