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United Nations Founded
The United Nations Charter was formed on June 26, 1945, but was put into action on October 24, 1945. It was needed to restore peace and take the place of the old and noneffective League of Nations. The United Nations were founded by the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, and was signed by 26 other nations. The ideas were put together by President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Joseph Stalin. -
Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech
WInston Churchill, former British Prime Minister, delivers the Iron Curtain Speech. He spoke of tightening relations between the United States and Great Britain and warned of future Soviet actions. -
Berlin Blockade
After World War II, Berlin was divided into four parts: the western half was shared between the United States, France, and Great Britain, and the eastern half belonged to the Soviet Union. In an attempt to block American imperialism, the Soviet Union put into place a blockade that closed all roads and railways going into and out of west Berlin. Doing so also cut off all resources needed to survive in west Berlin. -
Berlin Airlift Starts
The United States starts the Berlin airlift in response to the Soviet's Berlin blockade. It supplies food, water, and other necessary supplies to East Berlin. -
Soviet Union Tests Atomic Bomb
The Soviet Union successfully tests their first atomic bomb, which was code named "First Lightning." The scientists working for the Soviet Union placed animals and fake buildings near the test region to measure the results the bomb would have on life. In September, an American plane flew over the test site in Kazakhstan and sensed radiation from the bomb. President Truman later told the people of the United States that the Soviets also were in possession of an atomic bomb. -
Berlin Airlift Stops
Due to the success of the Berlin airlift, the Soviet Union lifts the Berlin blockade, causing the end of the airlift. -
Truman Fires MacArthur
President Harry S. Truman "relieves" General MacArthur of his duties in Korea. -
Building of the Berlin Wall
Soon after authorities sealed off passage between East and West Berlin, the building of the Berlin wall began. The effort was made by East Berlin in order to stop citizens of the east from fleeing to the democratic west. East Berlin was loosing many valuable people, and the economy crumbled because of it. The wall was built to try and save the economy of the east and keep the people in. It stood for 28 years and acted as a literal "iron curtain" dividing Europe. -
Eisenhower Elected President
Before being elected in 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower was Supreme Commander of the troops that invaded France on D-Day and took supreme command over the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He was very active in trying to ease the tensions of the Cold War during his presidency. -
Stalin Dies
Joseph Stalin suffers from a cerebral hemorrhage and dies at age 74. -
Khrushchev Becomes Premier of the Soviet Union
Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet First Secretary, replaces Nicolay Bulganin as Soviet Premier in 1952. Khrushchev opposed Joseph Stalin's totalitarian views and opted for a more free communism. He was peaceful in trade with capitalist nations and wanted to maintain a peaceful atmosphere. He built a good relationship with the United States, but that was destroyed soon after by the Cuban Missile crisis and many other events which also caused citizens to turn against him. -
Geneva Conference
The Geneva Conference was held in order to try to resolve problems in Asia. -
Eisenhower Re-Elected as President
The election of 1956 was uneventful, and President Eisenhower won by significant amount. Eisenhower had suffered a heart attack in September, and his health was a moajor concern at the time, but the good outweighed the bad. He had ended the war in Korea and gained the trust of all but seven of the forty eight states. He was also the last president elected before Hawaii and Alaska joined the United States. -
Explorer I Launched
The United States put it's first satellite, Explorer I, into orbit. It was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The satellite would orbit the earth once every 114.8 minutes, which is 12.4 times around the earth per day. On March 31, 1970, Explorer I burned up after entering earths atmosphere and orbiting the earth 58 thousand times. -
NASA Created
U.S. Congress passes legislation establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, founded by Dwight D. Eisenhower. -
U-2 Incident
The U-2 spy plane was very technologically advanced and could fly at 70,000 feet and take high quality pictures. The CIA claimed that the Soviet Union did not have anti-aircraft weapons that could shoot down high altitude aircraft, however, a U-2 flight "disappeared" while flying over Russia. The United States government assured the people that the plane had simply gone off course and crashed. But later, Khrushchev produced footage of the captured captain and the wreckage of the plane. -
Kennedy Elected
The youngest man ever to be elected, John F. Kennedy, barely beat Vice President Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election. -
Soviet Union Sends First Person into Space
Soviet astronaught Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin becomes the first human being to travel into space aboard the Vostok 1. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
American planes discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba. When spotted, the bases were nearing completion, and President Kennedy found that the missiles could hit most of the cities in the United States. He decided to keep this a secret from the public, but later announced in a speech his decision to try and quarantine Cuba in order to prevent weapons from being supplied to Cuba from the Soviet Union. -
Kennedy Assasined
President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas at age 38.
