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Ho Chi Minh is born
He goes on to lead an independence movement for communist-ruled Democratic Republic of Vietnam, later drawing out in 1965 due to him falling ill. The U.S. did not support his communist views, as they did not want it spreading to other countries. -
Vietnam declares independence from France
Neither the U.S. nor France recognize Vietnam as a separate nation, and North Vietnam is angry at the fact they don't, causing the start of a war. -
The Geneva Accords cause Vietnam to be split into North and South
The signature of the Accords caused the nations to be divided at the line of the 17th parallel. -
President Eisenhower declares "Domino Theory"
The idea of domino theory was that if Vietnam fell to communism, then all countries around, and past them, would fall to communism after the first country. -
The Viet Minh and Ho Chi Minh defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu
In response to the French's defeat, the U.S. was very reluctant. They did not want to get pulled into the war but still wanted to help France. -
Ngo Dinh Diem cancels elections in Vietnam
Diem decided to cancel the elections in Vietnam due to the fact that Ho Chi Minh had more support on than Diem himself did. The vote was for reunification of Vietnam. -
The National Liberation Front is formed
The National Liberation Front, better known as the Viet Cong, was a revolutionary group that took part in Southern Vietnam. -
A South Vietnamese monk sets himself on fire
The monk in S. Vietnam was a Buddhist. He killed himself in order to protest the alleged persecution of members of Buddhism by the South Vietnamese government -
U.S withdraws support of Ngo Dinh Diem, leader of S. Vietnam
Shortly after the U.S. had withdrawn their support for Diem, he was assassinated by a group of soldiers, and he had been killed along with his brother. -
President Kennedy is assassinated, leading to LBJ to take over as president.
If JFK had lived on, the war in Vietnam would have been quite a bit different. U.S. involvement in the war would have decreased, or would have even been withdrawn. -
LBJ claims U.S. ship was fired upon by the North Vietnamese
The ship that LBJ claimed to have been shot at was U.S.S. Maddox, and it was in the Gulf of Tonkin when this was accused, which is international waters. LBJ responded with using this as a reason to attack Northern Vietnam, and to get involved in the war. -
The first U.S. combat troops arrive in Vietnam
The U.S. had originally sent around 23,000 military advisers to Vietnam in 1955, and not sending any other backup until much later.
