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Period: to
1940s
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Franklin D. Roosevelt is Elected to 3rd Term as President of the United States
Roosevelt was re-elected ofr an unprecedented 3rd term and eventually was elected for a 4th term, becoming the only president of the United States to have served more than 2 terms. -
U.S. Congress Reintroduces the Draft
The U.S. Congress approves the first peacetime conscription draft of possible American involvement in WWII. -
RKO Pictures releases Citizen Kane
Directed by and starring Orson Welles, this was the greatest movie ever made and it set a standard for every movie to come afterwards. -
Mount Rushmore is Completed
Mount Rushmore shows the faces of our most famous presidents in American history, and symbolizes that the impossible is possible with effort. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
<i>"A date that will live in infamy."</i> (FDR)
<p>Japanese Kamikaze planes bombed and destroyed one of USA's largest naval bases on this day. -
Executive Order 9066 is Signed Ordering Japanese-Americans to be Held in Relocation Camps
Executive Order 9066 gave US military the power to intern Japanese-Americans onto relocation camps against their will. -
Battle of Midway
During the fight, the US Navy defeated the Imperial Japanese Navy near the Midway Atoll. -
Manhattan Project Begins
Headed by Robert Oppenheimer, this project was secretly founded to develop the first atom bomb. -
Detroit (MI) Race Riots
Started by a pair of black and white males, the riot spread into the Paradise Valley area of Detroit, where several buildings were burned and cars were flipped. The police did little to stop the riots. -
D-Day (Operation Overlord)
Allied forces faced Germany on Omaha Beach, giving their all against the Axis power above them on the cliffs of the beach manning their turrets and light machine guns. Overall, over 676,000 casualties occured during the battle. -
G.I. Bill of Rights is Signed into Law
The law provided a range of benefits to WWII veterans. To qualify, soldiers had to be active for at least three months. -
Americans Land at Iwo Jima
The USAF fought and captured Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire. This was one of the bloodiest battles in WWII. -
Harry S. Truman Becomes President of USA
Truman becomes the 33rd President of the United States of America, taking FDR's place after he died. -
Germany Surrenders in WWII
Germany signed an unconditional surrender in France, resulting in the ending of WWII. -
Bombing of Hiroshima
After the US gave Japan an ultimatum to surrender ( which they ignored), they dropped an atomic bomb which they named Little Boy on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, decimating the city, -
Bombing of Nagasaki
Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, the US drop a second atomic bomb, named Fat Man, on the city of Nagasaki in Japan, destroying the city in the process. -
First Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly
Held in London, England, 51 nations met for the first time to establish the UN's rules and procedures. -
Jackie Robinson Debuts at First Base for the Brooklyn Dodgers
This game on opening day for the Brooklyn Dodgers' season made Jackie Robinson the first African American to play in the MLB. -
Marshall Plan is Created
The Marshall Plan was created to help Europe recover from WWII. The Plan helped America by creating markets for American goods. -
President Truman is Re-Elected
Truman's re-electing surprised the majority of America, because Thomas Dewey was expected to be the winner of the presidential campaign. -
NATO is Formed
NATO was formed in order to ensure that the nations involved would aid each other in the event that a nation was attacked. -
National Basketball Association of America is Founded
After three years of fighting for fans and players, rival basketball associations BAA and NBL merge to form the NBA, or National Basketball Association.
