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38th Parallel
North Korea and South Korea Divided Following Japanese surrender, Soviets maintained military presence in the North with American troops in the South. Temporary border at 38th parallel established. -
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Korean War
A war between the Republic of Korea (South Korea), supported by the United Nations, and The Democratic People's Republic (North Korea), at the time supported by China and the Soviet Union. -
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Second Red Scare
The second Red Scare occurred after World War II (1939–45), and was popularly known as "McCarthyism" after its most famous supporter, Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthyism coincided with increased popular fear of communism in the US. -
U.S. Wants To Leave
U.S. Want to Leave American forces begin preperations to leave Korea, hoping to leave South Korea as an independent state under the leadership of Syngman Rhee. -
Hollywood Blacklist
The mid-20th-century practice of denying employment to screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals because of their suspected political beliefs or associations. Artists were banned from work on the basis of their alleged membership with the American Communist Party, involvement in progressive political causes that enforcers of the blacklist associated with communism, and refusal to assist investigations into Communist Party activities. -
North Korea Invades South Korea
North Korea declares war on South Korea and invades them. Whether North Koreans acted with Stalin's approval is still debated. -
Operation Thunderbolt
Operation ThunderboltOperation Thunderbolt, under the command of new General Mathew Ridgway, allows the United States, United Nations, and Republic of Korea forces to go on the offensive against the North Korean and Chinese forces. -
Rosenberg and Sobell Trial
The trial began because of the accusation that the Rosenbergs, an American couple, gave secrets away to the Soviet Union. Sobell was also put on trial for having relations with the Rosenbergs. The Rosenbergs were sentenced to death and Sobell was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. -
Army-Mccarthy Hearings
A series of hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations. The hearings were held for the purpose of investigating conflicting accusations between the United States Army and Senator Joseph McCarthy. -
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Space Race
Space Race History A race between the United States and the Soviet Union for space capability supremacy. -
The Case of Emmett Till
Emmett Till PBS
Emmett Till, a fourteen year old Chicagoan was kidnapped, shot, beaten to death, and thrown into a river after allegedly flirting with a married white woman. Till's mother wanted his funeral to be an open casket so the world can see the brutality of his death. It sparked the world with the controversy of the rights of Blacks in the South. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Bus Boycott
NAACP member Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat for a white passenger while she was in the front of the "colored section". She gets arrested and this leads to a bus boycott which lasted for more than a year until the buses were desegragated. Martin Luther King Jr. was the main leader of the boycott. -
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Civil Rights Movement
Movement for racial equality in the U.S. that, through nonviolent protest, broke the pattern of racial segregation in the South and achieved equal rights legislation for blacks. -
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Vietnam War
A war between North Vietnam, supported by China, The Soviet Union, and other communist allies and South Vietnam supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies. -
Communist Insurgency in Vietnam
Communist activity begins. Guerrilla assassinate over 400 South Vietnam officials and thirty-seven armed companies are organized near the Mekong Delta. -
Little Rock Nine
Little Rock Nine
Nine black students are enrolled in an originally all white Central High School. They were blocked from coming into the school by Governor Orval Faubus. President Dwight D. Eisenhower placed the National Guard to transport them into the school. -
Explorer I
Explorer IThe U.S. successfully launches Explorer I. It is the first successful U.S. satellite to launchl. -
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Nuclear Warfare
During a brief section of the Cold War, many of the superpowers were starting to use nuclear weapons and fighting over who had better weapons. -
Student Sit-Ins
Sit Ins
Four black students from from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College began sit ins by starting at a lunchcounter. They were not served but still sat there. This began similar protests throughout swimming pools, movie theathers, and resteraunts. The original four were finally served at the first lunchcounter six months later. -
U2 Spy Plane Incident
U2 Spy Plane was shot down by Cuban forces while flying over Cuba to see if they had any nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union. -
First Man In Orbit
Space RaceYuri Gagarin was the first man to successfully orbit the Earth in the spacecraft Vostok I. It took the U.S. nearly a year later to complete this task, sending astronaut John Glenn in the spacecraft Explorer 7. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Failed military invasion of Cuba to obtain the nuclear weapons of Cuba and overthrow part of Fidel Castro's government undertaken by the CIA-group Brigade 2506. -
Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders PBS
On May 4, 1961, 13 riders (seven black, six white) left Washington D.C, on Greyhound/Trailway buses. Their plan was to ride through the states and end in New Orleans, Louisiana. They were stopped by mobs and police who wanted to kill and arrest them. They threw fire into the buses to make them burn and the riders were beaten until the were arrested by the police. They never made it to New Orleans. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side and the United States on the other side. The crisis is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict. -
Limited Test Ban Treaty
The Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT) is a treaty prohibiting all test detonations of nuclear weapons except underground. It was developed both to slow the arms race, and to stop the excessive release of nuclear fallout into the planet's atmosphere. -
Total War on North Vietnam
After the Gulf of Tonkin Incident Congress authroized President Johnson to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression." The U.S. then waged total war against Northern Vietnam. -
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident
The Gulf Of TonkinThe North Vietnamese attacked two U.S. destroyers that were stationed in international waters (The Gulf Of Tonkin). The incident occured on two dates, August 2 and August 4. -
First Space Walk
The Space Race TimelineAlexei Leonov, a Soveit cosmonaut, performed the first space walk outside his spacecraft, Voskhod. His walk lasted a total of 12 minutes. -
U.S. Wins
How the Space Race UnfoldsThe U.S. wins the space race when astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk across the surface of the moon. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin being the second man on the moon. -
Protest Against Attack
Protests Against AttackPresident Nixon announces that U.S. troops will be attacking enemy territories in Cambodia. This actions ignites nationwide protests in the U.S., mainly on college campuses. -
