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First Model T Produced
Henry Ford's famous car revolutionized the way Americans travel and work, and introduced assembly-line factories. -
Zimmermann Telegraph
A German telegraph urging Mexico to join the war in exchange for American territory is intercepted, serving as more incentive for the United States to join the war. -
WW1 Armistice
World War One finally came to an end when the Allies and Germans signed an armistice, or truce. -
19th Amendment Ratified
The Ratification of the 19th Amendment finally allows all legal citizens to vote, regardless of gender. -
Charles Lindbergh's Flight
25 year old Charles Lindbergh becomes the first man to successfully fly across the Atlantic ocean. -
Black Thursday
The first day of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that kicked off the Great Depression. -
The New Deal
The first of President Roosevelt's economic controls is passed, with the goal of helping the "forgotten man". -
Hilter Becomes Chancellor of Germany
Through some complicated maneuvering, Adolf Hilter is appointed chancellor of Germany, an important step in his rise to power. -
The Munich Pact
Attempting to avoid war, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain comes to an agree which gives Germany parts of Czechoslovakia. -
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Germany and the Soviet Union reach an agreement of nonaggression and both nations pledge not to attack each other. -
Germany Invades Poland
Nazi Germany invades Poland, prompting the declaration of war from France and England and beginning World War 2. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Japan launches a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii, forcing America to enter the war. -
D-Day
Allied forces launch one of the largest invasions in history on the beaches of Normandy, France, eventually leading to the liberation of much of Europe from Hilter's control. -
Bombing of Hiroshima
The United States releases a nuclear bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, effectively ending Japan's involvement in the war, and ushering in the use of new and terrifying weapons of war. -
Founding of the United Nations
51 nations join together in an organization whose stated goals were to maintain international peace and cooperation between the nations of the world. -
The Long Telegram
George Kennan sends a telegram with over 8,000 words from Moscow, detailing his opinion about the spread of the communist Soviet Union. This contributed to America's later policy of containing communism, or preventing its spread. -
NATO is Formed
American and European nations form a pact whose main goal was to combat communism and the Soviet Union. -
Soviets Test First Successful Atomic Bomb
When Soviet Russia obtains nuclear weapons, it throws the world under the constant threat of atomic warfare. -
The Korean War Begins
The Soviet-backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) invaded the Republic of Korea (South Korea). America entered the war in the hopes of stopping the spread of communism. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
The Supreme Court unanimously rules that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional, even if the segregated institutions claim to be equal. -
The Vietnam War
This devastating, nearly 20-year war was fought by the communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam, with America's support. -
Rosa Parks Stays in Her Seat
Rosa Park refuses to give up her seat to a white passenger, and helps to kick start the 13-month Montgomery Bus Boycott and the larger civil rights movement. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A tense, 13-day standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union, after nuclear-powered missiles were installed in Cuba, less than 100 miles from America. -
Kennedy Assassinated
President John F. Kennedy is assassinated while attending a campaign event in Texas; the man arrested for the killing, Lee Oswald, is also brutally murdered while waiting for trial. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Congress authorizes President Johnson to retaliate for the attacks of two American ships by Vietnamese torpedo boats just days earlier. -
MLK Assassinated
Civil Rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated, pushing most of America into mourning. -
Apollo 11 Lands on the Moon
NASA's Apollo 11 successfully lands on the moon, under the command of Neil Armstrong. -
Watergate
When the offices of the Democratic National Committee were broken into, it began an investigation into the misuse of power in the Nixon administration. -
Nixon Resigns
After his role in the Watergate scandal is uncovered, and facing impeachment, President Nixon resigns from office. -
The Berlin Wall Falls
Two years after President Reagan famously pushed Germany to "tear down this wall", the Berlin Wall fell, ending the divide between West Berlin and the rest of Germany. -
The World Wide Web
The Internet has no one "founder", but Tim-Berners Lee's World Wide Web was the first program that allowed multiple computers to access a "web" of common information. -
Amazon Launches
Amazon.com, originally an online bookstore, grows to revolutionize the economy and the way that people can live. -
Shooting at Columbine High
Two twelfth graders massacre their classmates, start a trend of school shootings. -
9/11
Four coordinated terrorist attacks shock the world and ignite the fire of modern terrorism.