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38th Parallel
Soviet and American forces agreed to divide Korea temprarily along the 38th parallel. This came after Japan's defeat in World War II. -
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Nuclear Arms Race and Limitation
Nuclear Arms Race Each superpower wanted to be able to prevent the oher from launching its nuclear weapons, so they were both involved in a race to match each other's weapons. The world's people lived in constant fear because they knew that each side would be destroyed if they launched their weapons. -
First Atomic Bomb
Atomic Bomb On this day the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb at a remote test site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. They code named this atomic bomb "First Lightning". -
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Korean War
Korean War The Korean War was a war between South Korea and North Korea. North Korea supported communism and South Korea supported a democratic government. -
Battle of Inchon
The Battle of Inchon was a a battle during the Korean War that resulted in a victory for the United Nations. They achieved this through an amphibious assault far from the Pusan Perimeter that the UN and South Korea were desperately defending. -
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong was the communist leader of China. He sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops to help the North Koreans in the battle for communism. -
Hydrogen Bombs
Hydrogen Bomb In 1953 both the United States and the Soviet Union both had developed the Hydrogen Bomb. This made the world a much more dangerous place because of all the power possessed between the two countries. -
Korean Armistice Agreement
Both sides signed an armistice which ended the fighting. It was signed by US Army Lieutenant General William Harrison Jr., North Korean General Nam II, and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. -
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Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Movement This movement was made to end racial segregation and discrimination against blacks and give constitutional voting rights to them. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Brown vs. Board This case helped determine that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. This event paved the way for large scale desegregation. -
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Vietnam War
Vietnam War The Vietnam War was between North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was under communism while South Vietnam had a democratic government and this is why the war was fought. -
Domino Theory
The domino theory was developed. This is a theory that if one nation becomes Communist- controlled, the neighboring nations will also become Communist- controlled. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks On this day Rosa Parks refused to give up her spot on the bus to a white person in Alabama. She was not the first to do this but she is the most known because of how the NCAAP believed she would be the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge after her arrest. -
Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh Ho Chi Minh tried to overthrow South Vietnam's government by continuing to aid Viet Cong. He was the prime minister and president of North Vietnam. He was on the winning side of this war. -
Kim Il Sung
Kim Il Sung Kim II Sung became a communist ally of the Soviet Union. He was the communist leader of North Korea from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. -
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 The Soviet Union launches the Sputnik 1 which was the first ever artificial spacecraft successfully placed in orbit around the Earth. The Russian word Sputnik means companion. The Sputnik 2 was later launched around a month later that carried a small dog named Laika into orbit. This was the first time any living creature had been launched into space as well. -
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Space Race
Space Race The Space Race was period of time where the US and Soviet Union were in competition for who had the best technology to go into space with. -
NASA Formed
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is formed. It replaces the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA). They named Washington DC the headquarters for NASA. -
U-2 Spy Plane Incident
U-2 Spy Plane An American U-2 Spy Plane is shot down while taking photos and spying on the Soviet Union. Confronted with evidence of his nation spying President Dwight D. Eisenhower was forced to admit to the Soviet Union that he had been spying on them for years. -
Largest Ever Bomb Test Conducted
The Soviet Union explodes the most powerful nuclear weapon ever over Novaya Zemlya off northern Russia. It was a 58 megaton atmospheric nuclear weapon nicknamed the "Tsar Bomba". -
President Kennedy Speech
SpeechPresident Kennedy gives a speech at Rice University reaffirming the importance of the moon program. After the Soviets launched the first spaceship the Sputnik 1 and successfully sent a man into space President Kennedy understood the need to surpass the Soviets. In this speech he talks about how we choose to go to the moon not because it's easy but because it's hard and tells how even though it will be tough we are willing to accept the challenge. This speech gives us the motivation we needed. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis In 1962, the US learned that less than 100 miles off the coast of Florida, the Soviet Union was shipping nuclear missles to Cuba. President John F. Kennedy responded by demanding that the Soviet Union remove the missles from Cuba. -
Naval Blockade
Naval Blockade President Kennedy imposed a naval blockade that prevented further Soviet shipments into Cuba. This stopped the shipment of the nuclear weapons that the Soviets were sending there. -
Nuclear War
The world faced a risk of nuclear war over the issue for a few tense days because Kennedy demanded the Soviet Union remove its nuclear missiles from Cuba. The Soviet Union finally pulled these missiles out after 13 days. -
Nikita Khruschev
Nikita Khrushchev finally agreed to remove the Soviet missiles after 13 days. With him doing this they stayed clear of war between the two. -
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty President John F. Kennedy banned the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere. It was developed to slow the Arms Race and to stop the excessive release of nuclear fallout in the atmosphere. -
Martin Luther King
MLK On this day Martin Luther King gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. In this speech he calls for an end to racism in the United States. He was a big part in the civil rights movement. -
Gulf of Tonkin
In the Gulf of Tonkin, South Vietnamese commandos conducted raids on North Vietnamese islands. Later Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which was to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks against the U.S. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
This was the title of a gradual and sustained US 2nd Air Division, US Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force aerial bombardment campaign conducted against North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. This operation was the most intense air/ground battle during the Cold War period. -
B-52s Bomb North Vietnam
B-52 Bombers As part of the Operation "Rolling Thunder" US Air Force B-52 bombers strike North Vietnam for the first time. Each carried around 100 bombs and attacked industrial, infrastructure, and military targets from a high altitude. -
Tet Offensive
This was when the Viet Cong launched the Tet Offensive. This changed the public opinion about Johnson's policy for war in Vietnam for the worse because of how bloody and cruel it was. -
The End of the Civil Rights Movement
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968 prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of houses. This came just seven days after Martin Luther King was assassinated. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 On this date Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. Their crewmate Michael Collins orbitated around the moon with Apollo 11 alone while the other two became the first to walk on the moon. Neil Armstrong was the first to get off the ship and step onto the moon. This is where his famous saying "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" came from. -
SALT I
Salt 1 SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) led to the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty and an Interim Agreement which froze the existing number of weapons held by each side. The Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty was a treaty on the limitation of ABM systems used in defending areas against missile delivered nuclear weapons.
