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United Nations Founded
The United Nations is an international government organization that functions to prevent international conflict and promote world peace. At the time of it's founding, the United Nations consisted of 50 countries. It was founded after WWII as a replacement for the unsuccessful League of Nations. This event is important because the UN played a key role in keeping the world safe in the times following the Cold War and still does today. -
Cold War Starts
The Cold War was a war between the two superpowers; the Soviet Union and United States. There is no certain start date, but it followed closely after WWII ended because of the United States's use of nuclear bombs. In this war, the two powers never actually fought each other directly. -
Berlin Blockade
The Soviet Union built a blockade to stop supplies from moving around through Berlin. The citizens trapped inside of the city would have starved quickly if the US hadn't started delivering supplies via the Berlin airlift. The blockade was lifted May 12, 1949. -
Department of Defense Created
The Department of Defense is a government agency that deals with national security with headquarters located in the Pentagon. It was created by the National Security Act of 1947 and became amended in 1949. During the Cold War, it functioned as a powerful economic force because of the projects and research it funded. The Department of Defense was founded as a way to join the the Navy and Army to raise the efficiency of the departments. It is a big deal because it protects the country from attack. -
China Falls to Communism
The Chinese Revolution of 1949 was led by communist leader Mao Zedong, who founded the People's Republic of China. The PRC started the revolution between Communists and Nationalists. After China fell to Communism, the US suspended diplomatic ties with them. China becoming a communist country made America reconsider the effectiveness of foreign policies like containment. -
Korean War Starts
A war started at the 38th parellel, of the border between North and South Korea, to stop the spread of communism to South Korea. It was ended in a stalemate in which a cease-fire was called between North Korea and the forces of South Korea and the United States. They are still at war today but no military action has been taken. -
Rosenberg Trial
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted and sentenced to death on the charge of "Conspiracy to Commit Espionage." It was believed that they gave information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. -
Hydrogen Bomb Exploded in the Pacific
The United States detonated the first thermonuclear weapon on Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific. It turned out to be 1,000 times more powerful than conventional nukes. Many scientists and researchers opposed the detonation of the bomb because they believed it would only accelerate the arms race; they were correct. A year later, the Soviet Union detonated their own hydrogen bomb. The United States introduced a weapon with no limits existing to its destructiveness. -
Stalin Dies
Stalin was responsible for the murder of millions during his reign as head of the Soviet Union. It is not known whether his death was an assassination or not, but many believe it was. -
Cease-Fire in Korean War
The US, The People's Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea agreed to an armistice after a 3 year war. The war was started when North Korea invaded South Korea and the US sent military aid to prevent the spread of communism. There was talk that hinted at the use of atomic bombs, but America resisted for fear of starting WWIII. As a result, North Korea is still at war with South Korea and the US. This was important because it prevented the spread of communism and ended a bloody war. -
Geneva Conference
The Geneva Conference took place in Switzerland and was between the world superpowers. The conference was brought on by the war in Vietnam and ended it as well as ending the spread of communism. -
Suez Canal Crisis
Israeli forces attacked Egypt at the Suez Canal and were quickly joined by France and Britain. The Soviet Union began supplying Egypt with weapons because they wanted to gain territory in the Middle East. The US eventually threatened the Israeli, French, and British with economic sanctions if they continued, so they all withdrew from the battle. As a result, France and Britain had weakened influence as a superpower. -
McCarthy Dies
Joseph McCarthy played a major role in the Red Scare that engulfed the United States. McCarthy went around "hunting" communist spies in the United States, but his popularity among the public dropped severely when a hearing was televised that revealed his aggressive tendencies. -
NASA Created, Explorer I Launched
Explorer I was the first US satellite to be launched and followed the Soviet's Sputnik I. This started a "space race" with the Soviet Union to see who could get a man on the moon first. The US was upset because they had always prided themselves with being technologically advanced but got passed up by their biggest enemies. NASA was founded to work on a projects to surpass the Soviets. The United States got a man on the moon first and won the space race. -
Cuban Revolution
Fidel Castro, a communist, started a revolution in Cuba against the current dictator, Fulgencia Batista. The United States backed up Batista because he was anti-communist, but it quickly became evident that Cuban citizens supported Castro, and eventually he won control over the country. The US cut diplomatic ties with Cuba after they started getting close with the Soviet Union. This event was important because it introduce communism to the Western Hemisphere. -
U-2 Incident
A United States spy plane (the U-2) was shot down in Cuba by the Soviets who demanded to know why the US had a spy plane flying in their air space. The US tried to cover it up but eventually the Soviets found out the truth because they had captured the pilot and could tell that the Americans had been lying. -
Bay of Pigs
The US trained Cuban exiles how to fight and launched an invasion on Castro and the communist nation he ran. However, the attack was incredibly unsuccessful because the American troops were so outnumbered and in less than 24 hours they had been beaten. -
Berlin Wall
The German Democratic Republic but a wall that cut West Berlin off from East Germany to keep fascists out of the East to protect their socialist state. It ended when the East German Communist Party began allowing people through because previously they shot any one who tried getting in or out. At the time, the British Ambassador was supportive of the wall, which still stands to this day and represents the oppression felt by Berliners. It changed the political structure. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Missiles were spotted by a U-2 spy plane in Cuba which started a 13 day political and military dispute between the Soviet Union and US. The USSR had installed nuclear weapons in Cuba that were capable of hitting the US. President Kennedy quarenteened the island by preventing Soviet ships from bringing supplies to the Cubans. The USSR finally agreed to remove their nuclear missiles from Cuba if the US agreed to not capture Cuba. This was the closest the world has ever been to a nuclear war. -
Kennedy Assassinated
President Kennedy was riding through the streets of Dallas during a parade with his wife when he was shot and killed. Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn into office quickly after JFK was pronounced dead.
