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A hurricane strikes Galveston, Texas. (Later estimated as a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale) It is considered to be the deadliest hurricane in American history, with a death toll estimated between 6,000 and 12,000. -
America entered the war after Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. Peace was restored after many years of war when the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. -
Prohibition was enacted in 1919 and became law in 1920. The result was a rise in organized crime, including Al Capone’s gang in Chicago. It also led to widespread corruption among police officers, politicians, and judges, as well as increased alcohol consumption by those who could still afford it. -
The decade saw great economic prosperity that left many Americans feeling prosperous for the first time. Unfortunately, it also led to an economic collapse known as the Great Depression.
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The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave women the right to vote on August 20, 1920. -
The Great Depression started with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929. During this period, businesses closed because people were not buying their products. This led to high unemployment rates and lower salaries for those who did have jobs. The Great Depression lasted from 1929 until 1941 when World War II began. -
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a declaration of war against Japan and Germany on December 11, 1941, only three days after Pearl Harbor was attacked. -
The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between Communism and Democracy, pitting the ideologies of Russia and the US against one another. -
The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. The Civil War officially abolished slavery, but it didn’t end discrimination against Black people. -
1964 Congress passed Public Law 88-352 (78 Stat. 241). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination based on sex, as well as race, in hiring, promoting, and firing. The Act prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs. It also strengthened the enforcement of voting rights and the desegregation of schools. -
The U.S. and Soviet Union competed in space exploration, ending in the moon landing. Apollo 11 was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969. -
The Watergate scandal began June 17, 1972, when several burglars were arrested in the Democratic National Committee office located in the Watergate complex of buildings in Washington, D.C. The burglars were connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign. The Watergate scandal changed American politics forever, leading many Americans to question their leaders and think more critically about the presidency. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. -
In 1989, every other communist state in the region replaced its government with a noncommunist one. In November of that year, the Berlin Wall was finally destroyed. By 1991, the Soviet Union itself had fallen apart. -
The World Wide Web publicly debuts as an Internet service