We Didn't Start The Fire (But They Did)

Korea Divided

Sep 8, 1945

• After World War II, Korea was divided between a northern part (under Soviet influence) and a southern part (under US influence)
• Tensions between communist north and capitalist south escalated into a war from 1950 to 1953, known as The Korean War.

Sugar Ray Robinson Knocks Out Jimmy Doyle (Forever)

Jul 25, 1947

• Middle-weight boxing champion of the world
• Considered pound-for-pound the best boxer at the time
• Highly personable and popular.
• Dominated Jimmy Doyle and scored a decisive knockout in the eighth round that knocked Doyle unconscious and resulted in Doyle's death later that night.

Harry S. Truman Is Elected President

Nov 2, 1948

• 33rd U.S. President
• Dropped the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Ended WW2
• Brought the U.S. into the Korean War

Doris Day Shoots First Movie

Dec 20, 1948

• Born 1924
• Travled with Les Brown Band at age 16
• First movie in 1948
• Popular movie star and singer; "A Guy is a Guy", "Secret Love", etc.

Joe DiMaggio Signs Record Contract

Feb 7, 1949

• Played for the New York Yankees
• On his return, his home run helps the Yankees beat their rival team the Boston Red Sox 5-4
• Doesn’t play from 1943 to 1945; he serves in the military during World War II
• Marries Marilyn Monroe in 1954

South Pacific's First Showing

Apr 7, 1949

• Popular movie and Broadway show
• Centers on a nurse stationed at a U.S. Naval base during World War II. She falls in love with an expatriate French plantation owner but struggles to accept his mixed-race children.

Walter Wynchell Attacks SOD

Apr 16, 1949

• The pioneer of gossip and the creator of the gossip column
• Radio show became the top-rated radio show in the country in 1950
• Assaulted then Secretary of Defense James Forrestal for his policies. In the same year, Walter Winchell also labeled Josephine Baker, an African-American-French entertainer, as a communist.

Red China Forms From Rebellion

Oct 1, 1949

• Communists took control of China- They renamed it People’s Republic of China- Called Red China by US to indicate they were communists- Red China entered Korean War in 1950s, only when it looked like the UN would beat North Korea

Johnnie Ray Records First HIt

Dec 9, 1949

• Partially deaf singer- Song Cry was most popular; actually cried while singing it- Other hits: The Little White Cloud That Cried and Walking in the Rain
• First recording contract with OKeh

Television Hits America

Jan 1, 1950

• Most large cities offered just one station
• Sets in these days have 10 inch screens and are in black and white
• Color becomes more popular and less-expensive years later

First Studebaker Bullet-Nose Released

Feb 2, 1950

• American wagon and automobile manufacturer founded in 1852
• Began its financial decline
• Has been defunct since 1967.

Joe McCarthy's Anti-Communism Campaign

Feb 9, 1950

• Republican senator of Wisconsin
• Believed that the State Department was harboring a group of Communists and Communist sympathizers
• Lead to a series of brutal interrogations of suspects in the US army; ruined the lives of both the guilty and innocent
• McCarthyism: Making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence

Rosenburgs Give Away A-Bomb Secrets

Jul 17, 1950

• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, two American communists
• Sentenced to death on March 29 for selling atomic bomb information to the Soviet Union

Marilyn Monroe Makes It Big

Jan 15, 1951

• Became a hugely successful Hollywood star with films like The "Asphalt Jungle" and "All About Eve"

The King And I

Mar 29, 1951

• Musical opens on Broadway on March 29

The Catcher In The Rye

Jul 16, 1951

• Written by J.D Salinger
• Broke conventions with its controversial themes and “vulgar” language
• Novel played a major role in the cultural shift against conformity and laid the roots for student rebellion
• For the next half century, several cases erupted with high school teachers being persecuted for teaching text in classrooms.

Marlo's Academy Award

Dec 1, 1951

• Actor Marlon Brando is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in A Streetcar Named Desire.

England's Got A New Queen!

Feb 6, 1952

• Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne upon the death of her father, King George VI
• Coronation didn’t take place until June 2, 1953.
• Great event to Britain, United States and many other countries organized cinema screenings during school time.

From Lieutenant to Prime Minister

Jun 18, 1952

• Led overthrow of the monarchy
• Planned the Revolution
• Republic of Egypt was established
• Nasser would continue to lead as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior until he became Egypt’s second president in 1956.

Liberace Woos Women Nationwide

Jul 1, 1952

• Popular pianist and entertainer
• Had his own TV show in the 1950s
• Known for wearing sequined tuxedos and having a candelabrum on his piano
• Advised singer Elvis Presley to also wear “fancy clothes” during his performances
• Adored by women for sweet smile and wavy hair.

Rocky Marciano, World Champ

Sep 23, 1952

• Defeats Jersey Joe Walcott, becoming the world Heavyweight champion
• Would win every year until 1956 when he officially retired.

Goodbye, Santayana

Sep 26, 1952

• Philosopher, novelist, poet and essayist
• Dies Sep. 26
• "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"

First H-Bomb Test

Nov 1, 1952

• First hydrogen bomb was under development
• Detonated on by the U.S. on Enewetak, an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, as part of Operation Ivy

Eisenhower Wins Election By A Landslide

Nov 4, 1952

• Elected 34th President of the United States of America
  • "I Like Ike"

Richard Nixon Elected into Senate

Jan 3, 1953

• Prior, served in the U.S. Navy during WWII; discharged as lieutenant commander
• Elected as a Republican to the Eightieth and Eighty-first Congresses; served from January 3, 1947, until his resignation November 30, 1950

Josef Stalin Has Fallen

Mar 5, 1953

• Founder and leader of the Soviet Union
• Started forty year-long tension between the US and USSR (also known as the Cold War)
• Death eased Cold War tensions

Sergei Prokofiev's End

Mar 5, 1953

• Dies at age of 61
• Russian-born composer and conductor
• Achieved success both inside and outside the USSR
• Considered a major 20th century composer.

Malenkov takes The Reins

Mar 7, 1953

• Stalin’s deputy prime minister and right-hand man
• Immediately after Stalin’s death became the prime minister of the Soviet Union
• Reign on top was short; five year long power struggle ousted him

Roy Cohn, McCarthy's Partner-in-Crime

Apr 17, 1953

• Roy Cohn and Senator Joe McCarthy are put on trial for, in addition to other charges, improperly pressuring the United States army
• Together they had scared the country with rumors of Communists overseas, corroborating with homosexual government staff for secrets
  • Such tactics effectively banned suspected homosexual individuals from working in the US Government
• Died of AIDS

Communist Bloc

Jun 16, 1953

• Workers strike at a construction site in East Germany
• Uprising becomes the first of many anti-communist revolts to come.
• Communist Bloc: Soviet Union, as well as ‘satellite’ states like Hungary, Ukraine, and East Germany.
• The Bloc was in direct opposition to NATO countries (US, France, UK, etc.), with whom it fought the forty year-long Cold War.

Winthrop Rockefeller On The Headlines (Surprise, Surprise)

Jun 20, 1953

• Grandson of the great oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller
• Moved to Arkansas while divorcing his wife, actress Jievute “Bobo” Paulekiute. Winthrop
• Early example of someone who was “famous for being famous.” - Heir to a massive fortune
• Found himself in the press very often thanks to his playboy lifestyle

Panmunjom

Jul 27, 1953

• Village on the North Korean/South Korean border
• Negotiations between the United Nations and the Communist North Koreans to end the Korean War took place.

Roy Campanella With Another MVP Award

Nov 19, 1953

• Wins the second of his three MVP awards
• Breaks the franchise record of 130 RBIs with 142

Toscanini's Embarrassment at Carnegie Hall

Apr 4, 1954

• Conductor of the NBC Symphony Orchestra
• Radio and TV celebrity
• Suffers a memory lapse during a performance in Carnegie Hall; never performs in public again.

Wonder-fabric Dacron

Apr 17, 1954

• (A.k.a Polyethylene terephthalate)
• Versatile man-made fiber
• Developed by DuPont
• Used in fabrics for all sorts of purposes.

Dien Bien Phu Falls

May 7, 1954

• French garrison town in North-Western Vietnam
• Unexpected attack from Communists freedom-fighters; lead to French withdrawal
• Resulting United States involvement eventually became known as the Vietnam War.

Rcok Around The Clock

May 20, 1954

• “Rock Around the Clock,” by Bill Haley and the Comets
• Recorded and first issued in the spring as a B-side to “Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town).”
• Wasn’t until July 9, 1955 that the song became the first rock-and-roll single to reach #1 on the Billboard Pop charts

The Short Reign of Juan Peron

Sep 21, 1954

• Juan Domingo Peron spent his last year as Argentine’s President. - - Reigned from 1946 to 1955 before a coup d'etat called “Revolucion Libertadora” ousted him.

Peter Pan Takes Flight

Mar 7, 1955

• NBC presented the Peter Pan Broadway musical live on TV
• Nearly all of the show’s original cast performed in what was the first full-length Broadway production on color TV
• Attracted an audience of 65 million—breaking records for the most number of viewers ever for a single television program.

Polio Vaccine Released To Public

Apr 12, 1955

• Developed by Jonas Salk at the University of Pennsylvania
• Privately tested and later introduced in April, 1955 -After two doses of the vaccine by injection, 90% or more of individuals develop protective antibody to all three serotypes of the polio virus,
• At least 99% are immune following three doses.

The Death of Albert

Apr 18, 1955

• German-born theoretical physicist
• Famously developed the general theory of relativity (one of the two main pillars of modern physics)

Davy Crockett

May 25, 1955

• Five-part serial, based on the exploits of the real-life frontiersman
• Aired on ABC as part of the wildly popular Disneyland series

Grand Opening of Disneyland

Jul 17, 1955

• Theme park created in southern California by Walt Disney

The Revenge of "Little Bastard"

Sep 30, 1955

• James Dean dies on September 30 from a car crash
• Nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in the film East of Eden.
• Most famous for the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause. In the film -Dean played rebellious teenager, Jim Stark.
  • Film was considered culturally significant, capturing the feeling of unrest that had been growing in the 1950s.
• Before his last film Giant was released, he crashed his Porsche 550 Spyder, dubbed “Little Bastard.”

Brooklyn Wins The World Series... Finally

Oct 4, 1955

• Won the pennant 5 times between 1940 and 1954, but had never won the World Series until 1955.
• During a grueling 7-game series, the Dodgers finally won a World Series for the first time in franchise history.
• The championship gave Brooklyn Dodgers' fans triumph they had longed for

The King of Rock and Roll

Nov 21, 1955

• Elvis Presley signs a recording contract with RCA Victor.
• Later go on to become the “King of Rock and Roll”; “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Blue Suede Shoes”.

Nikita Knruschev's Rise To Power

Feb 25, 1956

• Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev makes his famous secret speech denouncing Stalin’s “cult of personality” and leadership of the Soviet Union.
• Later becomes the Soviet Premier in 1958
• Considerably improved relations with the U.S.; opened up a cultural interaction between the two nations.

Peyton Place

Mar 17, 1956

• Peyton Place is the best-selling novel by Grace Metalious and was published in this year.
• Though mild in comparison to today’s primetime, it shocked the reserved values of the 1950s.

Princess Grace

Apr 19, 1956

• Actress Grace Kelly left Hollywood and married Prince Rainier III of Monaco, attaining the title of “Princess Grace.”

Trouble in the Suez

Jul 26, 1956

• President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser decides to nationalize the Suez Canal.
• Results in what is refered to as the Suez Crisis
• Diplomatic and military confrontation pitted Egypt on one side, and Britain, France and Israel on the other
• United States, Soviet Union, and United Nations would pressure Britain, France and Israel to withdraw

Brigette Bardot's First Shot To Fame

Oct 21, 1956

• French actress
• Controversial film "And God Created Woman"
• When viewing was permitted in the US, a year later, the boundaries for acceptable nudity and sexuality in film were redrawn, and Bardot became an overnight sensation
• Would become a mega sex symbol and redefined the role of women in the movies.

Budapest

Oct 23, 1956

• Hungarian Revolution against the Soviet government took place in the capital city of Budapest
• Despite its failure, the revolt had a profound impact on the Soviet Empire and the US.

Alabama Pride and Prejudice

Dec 20, 1956

• Site of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
• Lasted from December 1, 1955 to December 20, 1956
• Stemmed from Rosa Parks’s arrest for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person.

This incident brought the Civil Rights movement to the national front, and also marks the rise of Martin Luther King.

Zhou En-Lai

Feb 12, 1957

• Zhou Enlai is Premier and Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China
• pushes for modernization to reverse damage caused by the “Cultural Revolution” of 1966 to 1976
• Zhou is largely responsible for the re-establishment of diplomacy with the West during the Nixon presidency.

Mickey Mantle

Apr 5, 1957

Micky Mantle wins his second MVP award. He leads the league in runs and walks, and bats a career-high .365 (second in the league to Ted Williams' .388). The previous year he had won the Major League Baseball Triple Crown, which is awarded to a batter who leads either the National or American league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI) over a full regular season.

Dr. Zhivago

Jun 17, 1957

-Boris Pasternak finishes his novel Doctor Zhivago in the USSR
-The story takes place between the Russian Revolution of 1905 and the Second World War.
-Due to its independent minded stance on the October Revolution, Doctor Zhivago is refused publication in his home country.
- Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, arranges to smuggle the manuscript out of the country
- Following year, Pasternak is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature

Little Rock, Big Segregation

Sep 3, 1957

• Group of young black students (The Little Rock Nine) is prevented from entering a segregated high school
• Event comes 3 years after the Brown v. Board of Education court decision, which ruled against the segregation of schools, making the Nine more significant in America’s civil rights history.

On The Road

Sep 5, 1957

• Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road is published.
• Kerouac’s controversial lays the foundation for the liberal revolution of the 1960s.

Thalidomide Children

Oct 1, 1957

A drug developed to prevent morning sickness during pregnancy, Thalidomide becomes available over-the-counter in Germany on October 1, 1957. The drug causes between 5,000 and 7,000 infants to be born with malformation of the limbs (phocomelia). Only 40% of these children survived.

Sputnik Takes Off

Oct 4, 1957

-The USSR launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, initiating the "Space Race"

Bridge on the River Kwai

Dec 14, 1957

-1957 British-American World War II film, based on the French novel (1952) by Pierre Boulle
- The film is a work of fiction, but relies on the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–43 as its historical setting.
- Film would go on to win seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for David Lean, and Best Actor for Alec Guinness.

Those Crazy Kids..

Jan 21, 1958

Charles Starkweather kills eleven people between January 21 and January 29 (the date of his arrest) during a two-month road trip with his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, in Nebraska and Wyoming.
Starkweather was executed seventeen months later; Fugate served seventeen years in prison before her release from incarceration in 1976.

California Baseball

Apr 18, 1958

The Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants are transplanted to California, becoming the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. On April 18, the teams face each other in their first game on west-coast soil. The Dodgers win 6-5 before 78,672 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Catcher Roy Campanella is not on the field, as an off-season accident has left him partially paralyzed. He never plays baseball again

Charles de Gaulle

May 13, 1958

The May 1958 Crisis results in the French military seizing control of Algeria from the Fourth Republic. At this point, Charles de Gaulle is elected to the position of Prime Minister of France, leading to the formation of the Fifth Republic, which currently governs France.

Lebanon

Jul 15, 1958

• President Dwight Eisenhower authorizes Operation Blue Bat, a military strategy to stop riots and ease political and religious tensions in Lebanon, at the behest of Lebanese President Chamoun
• First application of the Eisenhower Doctrine under which the U.S. would intervene to protect regimes it considered threatened by international communism.

Fidel Castro

Jan 26, 1959

Fidel Castro, a Cuban revolutionary and Communist leader of Cuba for many years, is sworn in as Prime Minister (and later President). He had major involvement in the Cuban revolution (alongside Che Guevara). The critical stages of the revolution take place from 1956-59.

The Day The Music Died

Feb 3, 1959

American singer-songwriter Buddy Holly dies in a plane crash in Iowa, along with Ritchie Valens and “The Big Bopper.” Although his success lasted only a year and a half, critic Bruce Eder described him as “the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll.”

The Mafia

Apr 17, 1959

The mafia gains mainstream exposure as the FBI concentrates its efforts on busting organized crime members. Vito Genovese, who had previously won a bitter war for control of the Luciano crime family, is arrested for his role in running a drug trafficking ring. Genovese’s arrest was the first event in an almost decade-long process, whereby Carlo Gambino would establish himself as the supreme crime boss amongst the American Mafia.

Hula Hoops

May 17, 1959

Invented in 1958 by toy company Wham-O!, the hula hoop becomes a nationwide craze in the following years. The modern version of the hula hoop is made of plastic tubing while earlier versions of the hoop were made with natural materials.

Space Chimp

May 28, 1959

On May 28, Able and Miss Baker return to Earth from space aboard the flight Jupiter AM-18. Monkeys had been launched into space numerous times before humans dared to attempt the feat. The earliest mission took place in 1948, with a monkey named Albert. Albert II, launched in 1949, technically entered space, though he died shortly afterwards.

Edsel Is A No-Go

Oct 30, 1959

The Edsel is an automobile that was manufactured and seriously hyped by the Ford Motor Company during the 1958, 1959, and 1960 model years. Fraught with problems, the Edsel line never gained popularity with contemporary American car buyers and sold poorly. Consequently, the Ford Motor Company lost millions of dollars on the Edsel’s development, manufacturing and marketing.

Ben-Hur

Jan 29, 1960

Ben-Hur is an American epic historical drama film, starring Charlton Heston and directed by William Wyler. It was a remake of the 1925 silent film of the same name. Adapted from Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, the film would go on to win a record 11 Academy Awards that year including Best Picture.

Payola

Feb 17, 1960

The first major payola investigation occurs, bringing radio and television personalities to court for participating. The practice of record companies paying DJs to play their products on the radio was commonplace in the 1950s. Legendary pioneers of early rock and roll promotion like Alan Freed are disgraced by the scandal.

Cheater, cheater

Mar 15, 1960

Syngman Rhee is re-elected as the President of South Korea after his opponent died shortly before the March 15 elections. In South Korea the Vice President was elected separately and Lee Gibung won by a wide margin, prompting allegations from the opposition that the election was rigged. This lead to demonstrations and riots against the government. On April 26, after the student-led April Revolution, Rhee resigned as president. Two days later, he was flown out of the country covertly on a DC-4 be

U-2 (Not The Band)

May 1, 1960

On May 1, Gary Powers, the pilot of U-2 reconnaissance aircraft (flown by the CIA at the time), is shot down by a Russian missile while flying over Soviet territory. This happened roughly two weeks before the scheduled opening of an East-West summit in Paris and prompted a marked deterioration in the United States' relations with the Soviet Union.

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho

Jun 16, 1960

While the novel written was published in 1959, the cinema version of Psycho becomes a cultural phenomenon in 1960. Alfred Hitchcock’s horror/suspense masterpiece stars Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh.

Belgians in the Congo

Jun 30, 1960

The Republic of Congo (Leopoldville) gains independence from Belgium on June 30, having been its colony since 1908. Joseph Kasavubu served as President and Patrice Lumumba as Prime Minister.

The Twist

Aug 6, 1960

Singer Chubby Checker releases “The Twist,” starting a national dance sensation. Soon, not only teens but also adults where doing the twist. The dance was responsible for popularizing “fast dancing” or rock-and-roll among adults.

Kennedy With A Landslide

Nov 8, 1960

John F. Kennedy wins the election against Richard Nixon to become the 35th President of the United States on November 8. It was one of the closest presidential elections of the 20th century. In the national popular vote Kennedy led Nixon by just two-tenths of one percent (49.7% to 49.5%), while in the Electoral College he won 303 votes to Nixon’s 219 (269 were needed to win).
Although his term was marked with milestones, it was cut short by assassination in 1963.

Bob Dylan

Apr 17, 1961

Bob Dylan, an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and artist, is signed to Columbia Records after a New York Times review of a show at Gerde’s Folk City by critic Robert Shelton.

Bay Of Pigs Invasion

Apr 17, 1961

United States-trained Cuban exiles attempt to invade Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro in what was called the Bay of Pigs Invasion. They fail miserably. It was the largest embarrassment of the JFK presidency.

Stranger in a Strange Land

Jun 1, 1961

Stranger in a Strange Land, written by Robert A. Heinlein, is a breakthrough best-seller with themes of sexual freedom and liberation. It was a very important novel to a variety of counter culture movements in the 1960s and 70s, as it was a critique of American culture as it existed at the time

Hemingway Throws In The Towel

Jul 2, 1961

Ernest Hemingway commits suicide on July 2 after a long battle with depression. He was an author from the mid-1900’s, famous for writing fiction in which much of the story’s actual meaning is hidden in the story’s subtext. He is perhaps best known for his 1951 novel, The Old Man and the Sea.

The Berlin Wall

Aug 13, 1961

On August 13 Berlin is separated into two cities, West and East Berlin, as the East German government starts building The Berlin Wall. It was erected to prevent citizens of the Soviet East from escaping to the West.

British Beatle-mania

Feb 7, 1962

The Beatles, a British rock group, gain media attention in England after adding Ringo Starr as their drummer, Brian Epstein as their manager and join the EMI’s Parlophone label.

Americans Step Foot Into The Universe

Feb 20, 1962

On February 20, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth. Just a year earlier, Yuri Gagarin from Russia had become the first man to go to space. Thus, Glenn’s achievement served as redemption for the U.S, and was a major step forward in the famous Space Race with the U.S.S.R.

Nazis Survive

May 31, 1962

Otto Adolf Eichmann, a “most wanted” Nazi war criminal, is captured by Mossad operatives in Argentina and taken to Israel to be tried for crimes against humanity and war crimes. He is found guilty and hanged in 1962.

Liston v. Patterson

Sep 25, 1962

In the monumental heavyweight boxing match of September 25, Sonny Liston knocked out heavy weight world champion Floyd Patterson in the first round. The fight was socially significant, as Liston was widely reported to have mob ties, and was perceived as a thug. Prior to the fight, leaders of the NAACP asked Patterson not to agree to the fight, fearing if Liston won, his increased fame would reinforce the negative stereotypes of African Americans that were prevalent at the time.

Ole Miss

Sep 30, 1962

The Ole Miss riot was fought between Southern segregationist civilians and government forces after James Meredith became the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi.

Lwarence of Arabia

Dec 10, 1962

The British-American epic adventure drama film Lawrence of Arabia was released. Based on the life of the British Army officer T. E. Lawrence, the film became a monster hit, and has since become a cinematic classic, often regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made.

Got a Secret, Can You Keep It..?

Jan 22, 1963

The “Profumo Affair” was a sex scandal that rocked the British Parliament in 1963. Secretary of State for War John Profumo was highly respected and married, but after it was discovered that he had a several week affair with a showgirl named Christine Keeler, he was forced to resign.

Pope Paul

Jul 2, 1963

Cardinal Giovanni Montini is elected to the papacy and takes the papal name of Paul VI. In the same year he visited John F. Kennedy, who was the first and only Catholic President.

Malcolm X

Nov 10, 1963

Malcolm X commented on John F. Kennedy’s assassination, stating, “the chickens have come home to roost.” This caused the Nation of Islam to censor him. He had come into the news in the 1960’s when he preached black separatism as a part of his strict Muslim teachings and as a method to fuel the Civil Rights Movements of the time.

Kennedy's Assassination

Nov 22, 1963

President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas on November 22. Kennedy was riding in an open-top automobile in a presidential motorcade when Lee Harvey Oswald reportedly shot him through the head with a sniper rifle from a sixth floor window of a nearby building. Surveys performed between 1966 and 2003 determined that as much as 80 percent of the United Sates have suspected a conspiracy to either plan or cover-up the assassination.

Birth Control

Jan 1, 1965

The baby boomer era ends with the invention of oral contraceptives in the mid of the 1960’s. The result is a decline of the birth rate in developed countries.

Ho Chi Minh

Mar 2, 1965

The president and prime minister of North Vietnam under communist rule, Ho Chi Minh’s name became famous due to the Vietnam War, and the ‘Ho Chi Minh Trail’. On March 2 Operation Rolling Thunder begins bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail supply line from North Vietnam to the Vietcong rebels in the south. On March 8, the first U.S. combat troops, 3,500 marines, land in South Vietnam.

Nixon's back again

Nov 5, 1968

After losing the election for President to John F. Kennedy in 1960 and then losing his bid to be Governor of California in 1962, former Vice President Richard Nixon’s career seemed to be over. However he fought back to regain prominence in 1968 when he re-ran for President. In a three-way race between Nixon, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and independent candidate Alabama Governor George Wallace, Nixon defeated Humphrey by nearly 500,000 votes (seven-tenths of a percentage point), with 301 ele

Moon Landing

Jul 16, 1969

On July 16 at exactly 9:32 am EDT, a Saturn V rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida with Apollo 11 and astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins on board. The lunar trip takes just over three days. After overcoming several computer malfunctions, Armstrong takes over manual flight-control and guides the Lunar Module to a landing on the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility at 4:17 pm EDT on July 20. The first humans on the Moon will wait another six hours before they venture o

Woodstock Fest

Aug 15, 1969

A monumental moment in the history of popular music, the Woodstock music festival takes place at Bethel, New York from August 15th to August 18th. It is a gathering of all the counter culture elements that have defined the decade. Several of the artists who help shape the era come to perform, including Jimi Hendrix, who was the last to take the stage. The three-day event attracts a colossal crowd of over 500,000 people, and remains as one of the biggest music events in history.

Watergate Scandal

Jun 17, 1972

The Watergate scandal is the result of the break-in of the [Watergate office complex in Washington, DC, and the Nixon administration’s attempts to cover-up their involvement. This leads to the discovery of many abuses of power including “bugging” the offices of political opponents and hiring the CIA, FBI and the IRS to harass activist groups. The resulting discoveries lead to the incarceration of 43 people, many being Nixon’s top administration officials, and the first (and currently only) resi

Wheel of Fortune

Feb 5, 1975

Wheel of Fortune, an American TV game show created by Merv Griffin, hits syndication and receives massive popularity across the United States. The program is hosted by Pat Sajak, Vanna White, and announcer Jack Clark. Wheel of Fortune has long been one of the highest-rated programs on U.S. syndicated television. It was the highest-rated show in all of syndication before it was dethroned by Two and a Half Men in the 28th season (2010–11).

Palestine

Mar 30, 1976

March 30, also known as Land Day is a Palestinian protest against the state of Israel confiscating land from the Palestinian territories. Palestinian citizens clash with Israeli police leaving six Arabs dead, around 100 wounded and hundreds more are arrested. This is but one of many conflicts plaguing the area of the Middle East and Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Punk Rock

Apr 17, 1976

Punk rock begins with the formation of The Ramones in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They played a speedier, louder, shorter version of early doo-wop Rock ‘n’ Roll of the 1950s and became an powerful influence on the underground New York scene. In 1975, the Sex Pistols were formed in London. Their debut recording, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols became one of the most influential albums of all time. While the Pistols have denied finding any in

Terror on the AIrline

Jun 7, 1976

Numerous airline hijackings take place during the late 1970s, but most notably Air France Flight 139 on June 7. Two Palestinians from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations and two Germans from the Revolutionary Cells hijack an Air France plane with 248 passengers. This leads to a hostage situation in which more than 100 passengers are held in Uganda’s Entebbe Airport. It is a misconception that Jews were separated to mimic the separation seen during the Holocaus

Reagan

Nov 2, 1976

Ronald Reagan, actor, radio personality, and conservative Republican, first attempts a presidential campaign against President Gerald Ford and narrowly loses the presidential nomination. Ford would go on to lose the election to Democrat Jimmy Carter. Reagan would later run again, and win, in 1980.

Begin

Jun 21, 1977

Menachem Begin becomes the sixth Prime Minister of Israel on June 21. Begin’s most significant achievement as Prime Minister is the signing of a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, for which he and Anwar Sadat share the Nobel Prize for Peace.

Russians in Afghanastan

Apr 17, 1979

The Soviet Union entered Afghanistan to “protect” Communist interests in the country. Rebels were supported by the United States, and finally after a long, costly war, the Soviets were forced to withdraw from the country.

Ayatollah's in Iran

Nov 4, 1979

In 1979, the Iranian Revolution sees the overthrow of the Shah, and a group of religious leaders, called Ayatollah’s, take over enforcing Islamic law. Hostages are taken at the US embassy in Tehran on November 4 in what has been called the Iran Hostage Crisis. The hostages are finally released 444 days later, minutes after Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the 40th President of the United States.

Foreign Debts

Apr 17, 1980

Trade defects are hurting the US economy as the worldwide balance of trading foreign goods does not tide in favor of the United States, and debts rise as a result. As of this writing (February 6, 2014), the United States holds almost 21% of the world’s economic debt.

Homeless Vets

Sep 19, 1981

It was discovered that many Vietnam War veterans became homeless after the war due to public scorn and lack of post-war employment. They lose their homes, battle alcoholism and drug addictions, and die of starvation.

First American Woman in Space

Jun 18, 1983

Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space. She becomes a role-model for women in the field of science and math. Ride’s quip from space “Better than an E-ticket”, harkens back to the opening of Disneyland with the E-ticket purchase needed for the best rides.

AIDS

Nov 11, 1983

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection) is identified as the cause of the AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) epidemic. The sexually transmitted disease eventually will claim the lives of an estimated 36 million people.

Crack

Jan 1, 1984

Crack appears primarily in impoverished inner-city neighborhoods in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami in the later part of the year. It is said to be the most addictive form of the narcotic drug cocaine, although this has been contested. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers.

Death Metal

Jan 12, 1984

In 1984 a nineteen-year-old named John McCollum shoots and kills himself while listening to the music of Ozzy Osbourne, including The Blizzard of Ozz. With his headphones on and the music playing, John places a .22-caliber handgun to his head and takes his own life. Although McCollum had a long history of clinical depression, his parents sued Osbourne for their son’s death, claiming the lyrics in the song “Suicide Solution,”

Bernie Goetz

Dec 22, 1984

Bernard Goetz is mugged by four African-American males on a train. He fires an unlicensed revolver at youths five times, and is prosecuted for possessing an unlicensed weapon. The incident sparks a nationwide debate on race and crime in major cities, the legal limits of self-defense, and the extent to which citizenry can rely on police to secure their safety. Both praised and vilified in the media and public opinion, New York City’s press dubs Goetz “The Subway Vigilante.” The incident comes to

Hypodermics on the Shore

Apr 17, 1988

The Syringe Tide is an environmental disaster in which medical waste is found washed up on beaches in New Jersey after being illegally dumped at sea. Before this event, waste dumped in the oceans was an “out of sight, out of mind” affair. This has been cited as one of the crucial turning points in popular opinion on environmentalism.

Coke v Pepsi

Apr 17, 1989

Pepsi and Coca-Cola engage in the “rock-and-roller Cola Wars” — both brands put high-profile celebrities at the helm of their respective marketing campaigns. It started with Paula Abdul’s campaign with Coke and Michael Jackson’s contract with Pepsi, but continued for some time as each brand attempted to one-up the other.

Tiananmen Square

Jun 4, 1989

When students take Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the Communist Party in China decreed martial law, meaning that any political adversary would be treated as a foreign enemy, and lethal force may be used against them