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GI Bill
The GI Bill, also known as Servicemen's Readjustment Act, provided a college education and up to one-year unemployment compensation for those who served in WWII. This act also helped veterans start their businesses, and buy homes. This made life after war a bit easier for returning vets. -
Little Boy
Little Boy was the American atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, and was the first atomic bomb to be used in a war. It was 9,700 pounds, and resulted in the deaths of around 90,000-146,000 Japanese people. -
Fat Man
Fat Man was the American atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, and was the second nuclear weapon ever used in a war. Weighing 10,300 pounds, it killed between 39,000 and 80,000 people. -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry S. Truman promised to help any countries who were threatened by communists/the Soviet Union. This document is looked at as the declaration of the Cold War. -
Berlin Airlift
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union blocked Western Allies' passage to West Berlin. US and British had to have planes supply West Berlin for almost a year, otherwise they wouldn't have survived. -
Rock 'n' Roll
Rock 'n' Roll was derived was African American music, such as jazz and R&B. Rock & Roll was slang for sex and teenagers would use this term and music to rebel against their parents. The term came about after WWII. -
Television
TV first became popularized in the 1950's, by mid-50's, 75% of Americans had a television set. TV became a form of entertainment, as well as a way to get news. Some popular TV shows from the time are "I Love Lucy," "Father Knows Best," "Leave it to Beaver," and "The Ed Sullivan Show." TV also changed the way presidential campaigns played out. -
Fair Deal
President Truman's, smallest and last, addition to the New Deal. He wanted to put more focus on health care, public housing, and education. He wanted a higher minimum wage and wanted all American's to have equal rights. -
Beat Generation
The Beat Generation- or Beats/Beatniks-influenced the American culture after World War II with their literary and art work. Their work was mainly popular during the 1950's. They resented materialism, marriage, the normal way of life. They preferred individual freedom, in sex and drugs. -
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy waved around a piece of paper at a republican club, claiming he knew of 205 communists. He attacked many people, saying that they were communists but he had no proof. Because of this, the term McCarthyism was created, meaning to make an accusation with no evidence to back up your claim. -
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were a couple who were found guilty for giving American secrets about the Atomic Bombs to the Soviets. They are apart of the paranoia Americans had during the Cold War. They were electrocuted on June 19, 1953 -
Polio Vaccination
Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin (who created the oral vaccine) are both credited for creating the polio vaccine. Polio killed or severely injured millions of people, the creation of this vaccine resulted in the elimination of polio. -
Bill Haley and the Comets
Bill Haley and the Comets was one of the first groups to make Rock & Roll famous. The group had a total of nine singles to make it to the Top 20's. Their most known song is probably, "Rock Around the Clock," which is the first song to make Rock & Roll popular. -
Brown v. Board of Education
A 7-year old girl, Linda Brown was going to a school further away, because the school close to her was an all white school. When her parents grew tired of it, they wanted to send her to a closer school. The first black SCOTUS justice, Thurgood Marshall, fought for her and won the case by using psychological evidence. Because of Brown v. Board of Education (which also overturned Marshall's other case, Plessy v. Ferguson), schools, waiting rooms, restrooms, and more became integrated. -
Emmett Till Tragedy
Till was a 14 year old boy from Chicago who went down to Mississippi to visit with relatives & see what the south was about. His friends dared him to hit on a white girl in a country store, four days later, the woman's husband, Rob Bryant and John Miliam hunted Till down, abducted him, tortured and killed him, his body was unrecognizable. They dumped his body in a river & he wasn't found until 3 days later. His mom wanted his casket open in his funeral to show how evil the south can be. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks is the black woman who refused to give up her seat to a white man after a long day of work. Since she was black and he was white, she got arrested. Upon hearing of her arrest, people began to boycott the Montgomery Bus System, which was the start of the Civil Rights Movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
After Rosa Parks was arrested, Jo Ann Robinson sends out 35,000 flyers, asking people to boycott the bus system. Tons of people boycotted for a whole year, the bus system needed black riders to keep their business going. So, after a year, the boycott worked, and SCOTUS ruled the segregation of buses unconstitutional. -
Elvis Presely
Elvis was one of the first people who made Rock & Roll what it was, which is why he is regarded as a legend and as the King of Rock. Elvis shocked and offended many older American's with his sexual dance moves. His music still lives on to this day. -
Little Richard
Little Richard is an African American Rock 'n' Roll musician. His song "Tutti Frutti" was a big hit, reaching Number 2 on the charts in the US and the UK. Pat Boone, Elvis, and Bill Haley all covered songs by Little Richard. -
Little Rock 9
After Brown v. Board, white segregationists refused to integrate. The town of Little Rock, Arkansas was trying to integrate schools, they sent nine students to go to a white school. The students, the students' parents and even the governor, Orval Faubus, did not like the idea of integrating school. Then, President Eisenhower jumped in and had the black students escorted to school. He forced integration on the state. -
Race to Space
The Space Race was a competition between the USSR and the US to see who could reach the moon first, as well as who could have better space technology. It started with the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik and basically ended once the US landed on the moon. -
NASA
National Aeronautics and Space, or NASA, was created by the government during the 1950's as a result of the Space Race between American and the Soviet Union. It is still around today and is based in Houston, Texas. -
Hippies
Part of the Counterculture. They changed the way sex was viewed, and were one of the first groups to do so. Rejected an average lifestyle, preferred to stay in separate communities. Were all about peace and love. Rock music spread the hippie movement. -
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD is a drug that was popularized in the 60s by hippies. Super powerful drug that causes the user to hallucinate greatly, which leads to people wanting it more and more and leads to addiction. -
Chicano Mural Movement
This movement was started to educate the ignorant white people about Chicano culture and issues. These murals were painted on churches, schools and businesses. It led to people having a better appreciation for Chicano culture. -
Sit-Ins
Sit-ins is a form of non-violent protesting, where protesters sit at the white only counters in restaurants and ask to be served. They do not get up, or fight back, even when the white restaurant employees throw food at, or attack them. The first sit-in was in Greensboro, North Carolina, and it started a movement across the nation. It eventually gets a Nashville lunch counter desegregated. -
Peace Corps
Created by President Kennedy, he promoted voluntary deeds by American citizens in other countries. Helps aid 3rd world countries by helping to improve their health, education, etc. Wanted to promote a positive way of thinking for other countries about American's. -
Earl Warren Supreme Court
Most liberal SCOTUS to date, who worked as a Chief Justice for 16 years. Some of his most famous and important cases are: prayer in school, Jim Crow, and interracial marriage. Warren brought Civil Rights to attention in Congress. -
Feminism
Feminists were part of the counterculture, they split from Civil Rights and started focusing on women's rights. Some focused on encouraging women to empower themselves through sexuality, while others focused more on equal treatment, pay and opportunity. Betty Friedan (the author of The Feminine Mystique), Gloria Steinem and Angela Davis are some of the feminists from the time. -
Assassination of JFK
President John F. Kennedy was riding in a parade in Dallas, Texas to promote himself for re-election. He had been promoting and publicizing the route of the parade the days following his appearance, he wanted as large of a crowd as possible to know where he was. Lee Harvey Oswald shot 5 times, hitting JFK twice. Kennedy was then taken to Parkland Hospital and had passed away within an hour. -
Counterculture
Counterculture refers to people had different lifestyles and values than ordinary people. They were into drugs (LSD), sex and all about living in the moment. Learn about yourself, focus on you. You are free to do what you want. Feminists are apart of the Counterculture as well. -
Malcolm X
Malcolm X was a militant black civil rights leader. He converted to Islam, because he thought it was for black people only, when he spent time in jail, and started focusing on black power. When he went to Mecca and saw all different kinds of people, he sort of backed down on militancy. He was then assassinated for allowing whites to help him on his fight for equality. -
Daisy Girl Ad
An Ad that only aired once during LBJ's presidency, yet led to many American's fearing the Cold War even more. Caused controversy and was a political turning point in advertising. It insinuated that commanders should be able to use nuclear weapons if they wanted to. -
Barry Goldwater
Goldwater was a conservative Arizona senator. In the Election of 1964, Goldwater ran against Lyndon Johnson for the republican party. He opposed The New Deal, The Great Society, Social Security and Civil Rights. -
Anti-War Movement
Part of the counterculture, many people began to hate the Vietnam war. Many were upset that it was mainly African American people and the poor who were being drafted, while rich people got out of it. They were tired of being targeted. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 is the spaceflight that carried and landed the first people, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, on the moon. The mission lasted 8 days. The landing is seen as the American victory of Race to Space. -
Silent Majority's Involvement in Politics
Nixon first used the term in a speech, the silent majority was the beginning of the conservative movement in America. It refers to the white people who were getting weary of programs that only helped minorities. Nixon turned to the Silent Majority (supporters of the Vietnam War) when the number of people who held anti-war ideals were growing. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This amendment was proposed in 1971 to outlaw discriminating against gender. Feminists thought it was a victory, but the amendment was 3 states shy of being ratified. -
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation was a non-profit think tank that supported conservative ideas. They were based on principles like, free enterprise, individual freedom, traditional American values, and more. -
OPEC
In 1973 OPEC controlled most of the worlds oil. When there was an embargo placed on America for supporting Israel, Nixon had to convince Israel to give up some territory. After that, the embargo ended. Later, OPEC started raising their oil prices, which ended up with gas stations in America being out of gas. Because of this, gas guzzlers had higher taxes, and oil companies had a good profit. -
Endangered Species Act
When people started caring about equality for people, they didn't forget animals rights. People were upset that animals were being killed due to industrialization. The Endangered Species Act protects animals and plants that are endangered to be identified, thus creating protection for the animals. -
Stagflation
Stagnant means there is no activity (in the economy), and inflation is when there is an increase in prices, but a decrease in the value of money. Put the two together and you get the unusual occurrence of stagflation, so when the Recession of 1974 hit, it was hard to deal with. There was high unemployment, and trying to solve this problem only led to more inflation. -
Watergate
Nixon's "plumbers" were found guilty of stealing campaign information while fixing a broken wire tap, and were caught by a security guard. After Nixon won the Election of 1972, people began to speculate if Nixon bribed the plumbers in order to keep them quiet. Recordings showed that Nixon did, in fact know what was going on. This meant he'd have to be impeached, but before it could happen he resigned and Gerald Ford, his vice president, took over. -
Jimmy Carter
Carter was a former peanut farmer, and governor of Georgia. in The Election of 1976, he beat Gerald Ford and became president. He was president during a bad time of inflation and the Iranian Hostage Crisis. While president he put attention on human rights and boycotted the 1980 Olympics, because they were in Moscow. -
Beginnings of the Personal Computer
The first ever personal computer was called the Apple II, and was created by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. They were the start of it all. Companies and colleges first started having them, before they became normalized. -
The Moral Majority
The Moral Majority was founded by Jerry Falwell. It was made up of Christians who were pro-life, pro-family, and pro-American, all very conservative. The group didn't really do much, but were still a key element to the rise of conservatism. -
The New Right
The New Right is a conservative movement in the US. Many people were getting angry with liberals, they wanted a smaller government, and more jobs. Their views basically oppose that of the liberal, for example, they were pro-life and didn't care about equal rights. -
VHS
Video Home System, or VHS, was a new technology during the 80s. It allowed people to watch movies and tapes at home. The VHS was created in Japan, but later came to America. -
Discount Retailing
In the 1980s, stores like Walmart and Home Depot began to come about. These stores were based on just-in-time delivery, meaning they get items, sell them quickly, and put new orders in, rather than having the items stocked somewhere. This allowed for items to be cheaper. -
Rap Music
Rap music first became popular in the 1980s as a hardcore version of hip hop. It was something new, and many people disliked it, such as President George H. W. Bush, and President Clinton, who criticized it. Some rappers from the time are Ice-T, NWA, Too Short and Kid Frost. -
Election of 1980
Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter ran against each other in the 1980 election. Reagan was a former governor for the state of California, as well as an actor, he also testified in front of HUAC over communism. Carter's (current president) popularity was brought down by the Iranian Hostage Crisis, since he couldn't get the hostages back home. Because of this, Reagan won the election. Once Reagan was sworn in, the hostages were released, so it was under his presidency rather than Carter's. -
AIDS Crisis
The AIDS crisis affected thousands of homosexuals, but spreads to heterosexuals through blood transfers. Since mainly members of the LGBT community were being affected, it wasn't given the attention it needed. A pastor and conservative activist, Jerry Falwell Sr., stated that AIDS were a 'punishment' to homosexuals, as well as to our society for 'tolerating' them. -
Ronald Reagan
Before becoming president, Reagan was the governor of California as well as an actor. When campaigning he appealed to the common man. He ran in both the election of 1980 and 1984, and he won both. During his presidency he had Reaganomics, cut welfare and the Iran-contra affair. -
MTV
When cable TV started becoming popular, MTV was created. It was a new form of entertainment, watching music videos. MTV was the first channel like this, and it helped boost the careers of pop singers during the time. -
Challenger Explosion
The space shuttle, Challenger, was about to start its mission. At 73 seconds into the take off, it exploded due to a malfunction in a seal in the fuel tank. It resulted in the death of the 7 crew members, and shocked many. NASA was criticized greatly. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Khrushchev built a wall to separate West (rich) and East (poor) Berlin in 1961. In 1989, the Berlin Wall began to come down. The fall symbolizes the end to communism in Europe, the end of the Cold War and the end of the Soviet Union. -
Online Gaming
Gaming became a pastime in the 90s. Arcades were packed, gaming was a new form of entertainment. Online gaming proves how technology is so versatile, it can be used for fun, or for businesses and such. -
Lionel Sosa
Lionel Sosa is a Hispanic advertiser. He created ads for corporations and even presidential elections. He is one of 25 of the most influential Hispanics in the US, according to TIME. -
BET
BET, or Black Entertainment Television, was created by Robert Johnson. He became the first ever black billionaire. BET has music and TV shows that show life in the African American community. It centers solely around black people. -
Rodney King Incident
King, a black man, was chased by the police for 78 miles in Los Angeles, and it ended with him being brutally beat by the police. A video was taken of the incident which led to unhappy people and riots. Black and Latinos began shoplifting at Asian shops because Asian's wouldn't hire black or Latinos. -
E-Mails
In the 1990's e-mail's were a new thing. They reduce the use of paper, since e-mails can be sent instead of the traditional letters. This changed many people's lives and businesses, receiving an e-mail is much faster than having to wait for a letter. Also, because of e-mail, USPS started losing money. -
Internet
Though the internet first started on military camps in the 1960s, and colleges had supercomputers for communication, the internet wasn't normalized until the 90s. By 1994 6 million homes had the internet. It changed our whole life, to business, communication, and entertainment. -
Lewinsky Affair
Monica Lewinsky was a White House intern, at the time of the Clinton Presidency. Her a Clinton eventually started having an affair. People began to speculate and they were questioned. When Clinton lied, and was found guilty of having sexual relations with Lewinsky, he was impeached, but the impeachment never went through due to a shortage of votes. This scandal made American's even more weary of the government. -
Election of 2000
The runners in the 2000 Election were VP to Clinton, Al Gore (Democrat), Texas governor, George W. Bush (Republican) & Ralph Nader (independent party). When Election Day came, Bush won the electoral college, & Gore won the popular vote. But it wasn't that easy, Florida couldn't decide who won the state. After over a month of counting & lawsuits, it was decided that Bush won Florida. But ... it doesn't end there, Gore took it to SCOTUS, only to hear that judges can't be told how to count votes. -
Al Gore
Al Gore was Clinton's Vice President as well as the Democratic nominee who ran against Bush in the Election of 2000. Gore was an environmentalist, and he wanted people to be more aware of what they do to earth. Gore ended up losing the electoral college to Bush. -
George W. Bush
George W. Bush was the governor of Texas who became the 43rd president after winning the Election of 2000 against Al Gore. His win caused controversy due to the fact that the election was so close, but in the end, Bush won the electoral college. Many people disagreed with his way of leading. -
9/11 Attacks
19 al-Qaeda hijackers took over four planes. Two of those hit the World Trade Center buildings, or the Twin Towers. One plane hit the pentagon, and the last plane nosedived because passengers had heard of the other attacks and stepped up. 2,973 people's lives were taken on this day. This day changed the lives of many Americans. The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 was created because of the attacks. -
No Child Left Behind Education Act
Schools education began to decline, and Bush wanted their standardized test scores to be higher. NCLB set a higher standard for kids, to make sure they are learning what the need to. Because these students need to have a higher score, more money was being spent on education. -
Hurricane Katrina Disaster
In 2005 a huge hurricane hit New Orleans. Over 1300 people died, and the city was 80% under water. The damages costed a whopping $150 billion. Because of the Hurricane, New Orleans' residence were forced to relocate, many came to Texas. Bush was president at the time and many people thought he mishandled the disaster. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
The first ever female SCOTUS Justice. Nominated by Reagan in 1981, O'Connor was a moderate who leaned more towards conservatism, though, later she became more liberal. She was a Justice for 25 years, but had to retire in 2006 when her husband developed Alzheimer's. -
The Great Recession
In 2008 investments became worthless, banks stopped making loans (after lending them freely), and the stock market crashed yet again. The government had to pay the failing banks debt, America lost 8.4 million jobs and there was a large cutback of consumer spending. This was the worst economic downfall in the US since the Great Depression -
Barack Obama
Barack Obama is a Harvard Graduate, a lawyer, a senator for Illinois, and after that, a US senator. After all of that, Obama made history, after 241 years of America, Obama became the first African American president when he defeated the republican, John McCain. -
Sonia Sotomayor
Sotomayor got her education and Yale and Princeton. She was the first ever Hispanic SCOTUS Justice, when she was appointed by President Obama. She was also the third ever female Justice. She has been serving since August of 2009. -
ACA; Obamacare
The Affordable Care Act is a private health insurance that requires everyone to choose between paying a fine, or having insurance. Obamacare was supposed to improve health insurance for Americans, but because it was not a single-payer system, it upset many people. -
Oprah Winfrey
Ex-TV show host, entrepreneur, and philanthropist are all words to describe Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey grew up poor, discriminated against (even by her family) for being a dark skin black girl, and was also a victim to rape. But after all that, she became the first African American female billionaire. -
Climate Change
Scientists noticed a change in the environment & tell us to stop burning fossil fuels. They notice that temperatures are rising, polar ice caps are melting and beaches are eroding. Factories and cars have changed our environment, so we have to step up to make a change. Through all scientific evidence, there are still some people who... don't believe in climate change. -
Ike Turner
Ike Turner was an African American musician who made the first ever Rock & Roll song, "Rocket 88." But, white artists ripped off black artists' songs, so Turner's song was ripped off by Bill Haley. -
Black Panther Party
A military styled organization, founded in Oakland, California. Black people showed pride in their race, they were all about self defense rather than non-violence, like MLK Jr. White people feared them, due to their militancy. When the founder, Huey Newton was found guilty of murder of a white cop, the Black Panther Party basically came to an end. -
Cesar Chavez
Chavez wanted better working and living conditions for Mexican's who worked in California, so he started strikes and marches. He became the head of the United Farm Workers of America. Chavez started a boycott on non-union picked grapes, 17 million people participated. The boycott proved to be a success, workers wages and working conditions improved. -
Affordable Cell Phones
The cellphone was a huge deal, and was life changing. Never before could people contact one another within seconds. People could now chat with each other on the phone, or make sure their loved ones are safe. People could stay in contact with friends without handing to see them face-to-face.
