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Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an announcement by President Harry S. Truman. In his announcement, he essentially declared that the spread of communism was impermissible, and that communism must be contained. He asked Congress to give him funding to help Turkey and Greece, who were facing Soviet threats. It was the official announcement of the U.S's "containment" policy, and a de facto declaration of war for the Cold War, beginning a war against communist ideology. -
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McCarthyism
McCarthyism was named after Joseph McCarthy--a prominent anti-communist senator, and was just one part of the Second Red Scare. In February 1950, McCarthy announced he had a list of communists working in the government. During this time, McCarthy accused others of being communists, often with little to no evidence, at a time when such accusations had career-destroying ramifications. The 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings had damaged his reputation, and he was censured by the Senate in December. -
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Korean War
The Korean War began when the communist, Soviet-backed North Korea invaded the US-supported, (relatively) democratic South Korea. The North quickly pushed the South back to Busan, after which the US and United Nations intervened to push the North back all the way back to the Chinese border, by which point China joined and pushed the West back to the 38th Parallel in July 1951. The war remained a stalemate, and in 1953, both sides signed an armistice--as such, the war still technically continues. -
Brown v. Board of Education Decided
Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was a landmark civil rights case declaring that public segregation in schools was unconstitutional. The father of Linda Brown sued the board, and the case was taken up by the Supreme Court on December 9, 1952. On May 17, 1954, the Warren Court delivered a unanimous decision; public segregation in schools is unconstitutional. -
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Vietnam War
The Vietnam War began in late 1955, as a battle between the communist North Vietnam (the Viet Cong) and the (relatively) democratic South Vietnam. U.S. involvement in the war began in 1965, in support of South Vietnam, but due to the disastrous guerrilla war waged by the Viet Cong, the U.S. would leave Vietnam in 1973. Shortly after the U.S. left, the war ended with Saigon falling to the North, turning Vietnam into a communist country and becoming one of the U.S's only military defeats. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a boycott of the Montgomery public transit system, which at the time practiced a policy of racial segregation. The boycott began after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger, and ended after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. -
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1, Earth's first artificial satellite, was launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. It was man's first foray into space, and was a major propaganda victory for the Soviet Union, kicking off the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union with a 0-1. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred when the United States discovered that the Soviet Union had installed missiles in Cuba to threaten the United States. Over a period of 13 days, the United States and the Soviet Union entered a period of shaky negotiations, but the crisis ended when the USSR removed their missiles from Cuba, and the US's from Turkey.. It was the closest humanity has ever come to nuclear annihilation. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, organized by the NAACP, was a civil protest meant to advocate for jobs, rights, and opportunities for African-Americans. Martin Luther King Jr, a keynote speaker, delivered his famous "I Have A Dream" speech at this event. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
On November 22, 1963, President John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, by Lee Harvey Oswald, while riding through Dealey Plaza in a presidential motorcade during his visit to the city. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964. This landmark act prohibited discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, color, national orientation, and religious affiliation. -
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Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War, and a major military escalation during the war. The Viet Cong (North Vietnam) relentlessly assaulted South Vietnamese and American forces, inflicting heavy casualties before finally being repelled. This heavily damaged American morale, as it was costly for the American public. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. -
Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
On June 5, 1968, while campaigning in California, former Attorney General and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Palestinian nationalist Sirhan Sirhan. He died the next day. Exactly two months before, he'd spoken on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. -
Moon Landing (Apollo 11)
The Apollo 11 mission launched on July 16, 1969, with a three person crew, and ended July 24, 1969. On July 20, 1969, Mission Commander Neil Armstrong was the first man to step on the moon, achieving the goal that President Kennedy set at the beginning of the decade. -
Watergate Break-in
On June 17, 1972, a plot to break into the Watergate complex was foiled. It made national news, as the break-in was attempted by aides working on President Richard M. Nixon's re-election campaign (He won). The ensuing controversy, which became the worst political scandal in United States history, led to an unprecedented loss of trust in the United States government and the first and so far only presidential resignation (Nixon) in the U.S's history. -
Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade was a landmark decision, decided in 1973, ruling that women had a constitutional right to abortion. This decision legalized abortion nationwide; previously, access to abortion was a state matter. -
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Iranian Hostage Crisis
The Iranian Hostage Crisis lasted from 1979 to 1981, when Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and held American diplomats hostage. All the diplomats were eventually safely returned, but the crisis resulted in the complete severance of all diplomatic relations between Iran and the US, and was a major factor contributing to President Jimmy Carter's defeat in the 1980 presidential election.