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Panama Canal
The Panama Canal provides a crucial waterway for international marine transportation and trade. It is regarded as one of the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century and one of the "Seven Wonders of the Modern World". After it was was built, ships no longer had to sail through the Strait of Magellan or around hazardous Cape Horn. This impressive artificial waterway is 50 miles long (80km) and (70 meters) wide. President Woodrow Wilson officially opened the Panama Canal in 1920. -
G.I. Bill
GI Bill of Rights was signed by President Roosevelt on June 22, 1944. The purpose of the 1944 GI Bill was to help retuning veterans from WW2, both men and women to make an efficient and speedy readjustment to civilian life and the economy. The provisions of the GI Bill were extremely costly and ensured that hospital facilities were strengthened, provided educational and training opportunities, loans for aid in buying or building houses and purchasing farms or business properties. -
Period: to
Civil Rights
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Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.” -
Nagasaki
Despite witnessing the terrible destruction of the bomb on Hiroshima, Emperor Hirohito and Japan still refused to surrender. Three days later, on August 9, 1945, another atomic bomb, nicknamed Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. Again the devastation was horrible. On August 15, 1945 Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s surrender in a radio broadcast. The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought World War 2 to an end -
Period: to
Cold War
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Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine pledged to support other countries in their struggle to resist communism. Containment was the policy of restricting communist expansion by diplomatic, military and economic actions. The Truman Doctrine warned that it was the duty of the United States to quash the communist aggression in Turkey and Greece. The purpose of the Truman Doctrine were to ease the USSR demands in Turkey and to stabilize the government in Greece to prevent the spread of communism. -
Fair Deal
Fair Deal, in U.S. history, President Harry S. Truman’s liberal domestic reform program, the basic tenets of which he had outlined as early as 1945. In his first postwar message to Congress that year, Truman had called for expanded social security, new wages-and-hours and public-housing legislation, and a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act that would prevent racial or religious discrimination in hiring. -
Beat Generation
Beat Generation, American social and literary movement originating in the 1950's. Its adherents, self-styled as “beat". and derisively called “beatniks,” expressed their alienation from conventional, or “square,” society by adopting an almost uniform style of seedy dress, manners, and “hip” vocabulary borrowed from jazz musicians. Generally apolitical and indifferent to social problems, they advocated a kind of soul searching through other substances/ways. -
T.V. Shows of the 1950’s
At the end of World War II, the television was a toy for only a few thousand wealthy Americans. Just 10 years later, nearly two-thirds of American households had a television. Americans loved sitcoms. In the 1950's, "I Love Lucy" topped the ratings charts. Another show that topped the charts was "The Wild West", the show had all the western things that Americans like along with some slight romance. TV was also used for political news and such. -
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy was a U.S. senator who lent his name to the term McCarthyism. McCarthy dominated the U.S. political climate in the early 1950's through his sensational but unproven charges of communist subversion in high government circles. In 1954, in a rare move, his Senate colleagues officially censured him for unbecoming conduct. He called out a lot of famous people and put them on trial publicly. This caused a lot of people to become scared of communism. -
Period: to
1950's
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Bill Haley and the Comets
Originally formed with the name "Bill Haley and the Saddlemen", Bill Haley and his Comets was a rock and roll band of the 50s. It was one of the earliest groups of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of white America and the rest of the world. Bandleader Bill Haley had previously been a country performer; after recording a cover of the seminal rock and roll song "Rocket 88", he changed musical direction to the new sound. -
Nikita Khrushchev
In a 1956 "secret speech," he discussed Stalin's crimes for the first time, starting a process called "de-Stalinization." He also visited the West, putting a smiling face on his brand of "Reform Communism," though also known to have an abrasive persona. Khrushchev was one of the primary players in the Cuban Missile Crisis and oversaw the building of the Berlin Wall. After being pushed from power and retiring, he died several years later on September 11, 1971 in Moscow. -
Elvis
Born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis Presley came from very humble beginnings and grew up to become one of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll. By the mid-1950s, he appeared on the radio, television and the silver screen. On August 16, 1977, at age 42, he died of heart failure, which was related to his drug addiction. Since his death, Presley has remained one of the world's most popular music icons. -
Domino Theory
The Domino Theory related to the spread of Communism and communist rule during the Cold War. The Domino theory speculated that if one region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a falling domino effect until the entire region was 'lost' as part of the chain reaction. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower put the theory into words, although he never directly used the term "Domino Theory". -
Little Richard
Known for his flamboyant performances, Little Richard's hit songs from the mid-1950s were defining moments in the development of rock ‘n’ roll. Born Richard Wayne Penniman on December 5, 1932, in Macon, Georgia, Little Richard helped define the early rock ‘n’ roll era of the 1950s with his driving, flamboyant sound. With his croons, wails and screams, he turned songs like “Tutti-Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally” into huge hits and influenced such bands as the Beatles. -
Dr. Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk was born October 28, 1914, in New York City. In 1942 at the University of Michigan School of Public Health he became part of a group that was working to develop a vaccine against the flu. In 1947 he became head of the Virus Research Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. At Pittsburgh he began research on polio. On April 12, 1955, the vaccine was released for use in the United States. He established the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in 1963. Salk died in 1995. -
Emmett Till Tragedy
Emmett Till was born in 1941 in Chicago and grew up in a middle-class black neighborhood. Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi, in 1955 when the fourteen-year-old was accused of whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a white woman who was a cashier at a grocery store. Four days later, Bryant's husband Roy and his half-brother J.W. Milam kidnapped Till, beat him and shot him in the head. The men were tried for murder, but an all-white, male jury acquitted them. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was sparked when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama on Thursday December 1, 1955. The Montgomery bus boycott lasted for 381 days. NAACP lawyers successfully won the Browder vs. Gayle legal case in which the Supreme Court ended federal tolerance of racial segregation. The Montgomery Bus Boycott ended on December 21, 1956. -
Rosa Parks
Civil rights activist Rosa Parks (February 4, 1913 to October 24, 2005) refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated Montgomery, Alabama bus, which spurred on the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott that helped launch nationwide efforts to end segregation of public facilities. The city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. Rosa Parks received many accolades during her lifetime, including the NAACP's highest award. -
Ike Turner
R&B legend Ike Turner and grew up playing the blues. In 1956, he met a teenager and singer named Anna Mae Bullock. He married her and helped create her stage persona, Tina Turner. The two became the Ike & Tina Turner Revue and created several R&B hits. The duo's cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" earned them their first and only Grammy Award together in 1971. Turner died of a cocaine overdose on December 12, 2007, in San Marcos, California. -
Albert Sabin
Albert Bruce Sabin was born Aug. 26, 1906 in Bialystok, Poland, Russian Empire and died March 3, 1993. Polish American physician and microbiologist best known for developing the oral polio vaccine. He was also known for his research in the fields of other diseases In 1935 he joined the staff of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York City, where he was the first researcher to demonstrate the growth of polio-virus in human nervous tissue outside the body. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine crisis erupted on September 4, 1957 when Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas, the refused the admission of nine African American students to the racially segregated Little Rock Central High school. On September 23, 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower sent in U.S. troops to enforce integration at Little Rock's Central High School in the face of violent white opposition to the de-segregation of schools. -
Malcolm X
Malcolm X was a minister, human rights activist and prominent black nationalist leader who served as a spokesman for the Nation of Islam during the 1950s and 1960s. Due largely to his efforts, the Nation of Islam grew from a mere 400 members at the time he was released from prison in 1952 to 40,000 members by 1960. Articulate, passionate and a naturally gifted and inspirational orator, Malcolm X exhorted blacks to cast off the shackles of racism "by any means necessary," including violence. -
Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson is considered to be one of the greatest blues performers of all time. His hits include "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" and "Sweet Home Chicago," which has become a blues standard. PBut much of Johnson's life is shrouded in mystery. Part of the lasting mythology around him is a story of how he gained his musical talents by making a bargain with the devil.He died at age 27 as the suspected victim of a deliberate poisoning. -
Period: to
1960's
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Peace Corps
The Peace Corps was officially established by John F. Kennedy. The Peace Corps program was aimed at helping developing nations by addressing challenges in agriculture, education, environment, health, youth development and community economic development. By the end of 1963 thousands of young Americans had volunteered for the Peace Corps. The program expanded over the years and from 1961 to the current day. The Peace Corps is one of JFK's most enduring legacies. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs invasion was when 1400 CIA-backed Cuban exiles launched a botched invasion at a beach on the south coast of Cuba called the Bay of Pigs. Plans for US backed invasion of Cuba was initiated during the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower and implemented during the Kennedy Administration. The Bay of Pigs invasion was sparked when Fidel Castro nationalized all American companies in Cuba and the USA responded by stopping imports of Cuban sugar and all aid to Cuba -
Freedom Rides
The Freedom Riders made their protest on May 4, 1961 when 6 left buses bound for the south. The purpose was to test new Interstate Commerce Commission regulations and court orders banning segregation in interstate transportation and establish whether facilities at bus terminals on the journey were integrated or segregated.The Freedom Riders were attacked and greeted with terrifying violence in Alabama and forced to abandon the original Freedom Ride in Montgomery, Alabama. -
Feminism
Feminism during the 1960's was considered as the second wave of feminism. Books such as "The Feminine Mystique" gave women the mind set that they wanted to be equal. One of the most popular protest was the Miss America Pageant. Women protested how they were "looked a like cattle". The National Organization for Women was also created during this time by Betty Friedan. NOW became one of the most well-known feminist groups and is still in existence. -
LSD
Discovered on April 16, 1943, by a Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman who accidentally consumed the drug resulting in unusual sensation and hallucinations. The use of LSD increased until the 1960's when the counterculture figures publicly presented the benefits of using it. The negative behaviors and reactions it caused became a problem, therefore, the use, manufacture, and sale were made illegal in U.S. -
Birmingham March
The Birmingham Campaign was a series of protests against racial segregation in Birmingham, Alabama that took place in April of 1963. On May 11th, a bomb went off at the Gaston Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was staying. Fortunately he had left earlier. Another bomb blew up the home of King's younger brother A.D. King. In response to the bombings, the protesters became violent. They rioted throughout the city, burning buildings and cars and attacking police officers. -
Brown VS Board of Education
The 1954 Brown vs Board of Education was a ground breaking legal case in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was prohibited by the Constitution dismissing the "separate but equal" arguments of the lawyers for the Board of Education. NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall successfully won the school de-segregation case that was brought by 13 African American families. It is known as "Brown VS Board" due to Linda Brown being the fist name on the file. -
Lee Harvey Oswald
Born on October 18, 1939, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Lee Harvey Oswald eventually joined the U.S. Marines and later defected to the Soviet Union for a period of time. He returned to America with a family, and eventually acquired firearms. Oswald allegedly assassinated President John. F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. While being taken to county jail, on November 24, 1963, Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby. -
Assassination of JFK
The JFK Assassination shocked the nation and tragically brought the presidency of John F Kennedy to an untimely and tragic end. The JFK Assassination took place on November 22, 1963 as the President was traveling, in a presidential motorcade through the city of Dallas, Texas to attend a luncheon at the Dallas Trade Mart. President John F Kennedy was fatally hit with two bullets, one in the head and one in the neck, and was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead. -
Jack Ruby
On November 22, President Kennedy was fatally shot while riding in an open-car motorcade through the streets of downtown Dallas. Less than an hour after the shooting, Lee Harvey Oswald killed a policeman who questioned him on the street. Thirty minutes after that, he was arrested in a movie theater by police. Oswald was formally arraigned on November 23 for the murders of President Kennedy and Officer J.D. Tippet. -
Warren Commission
The Warren Commission was established to investigate the assassination of the American president John F. Kennedy in 1963. The commission took its name from its chairman, Chief Justice Earl Warren. The Warren Commission has come in for much criticism of its methods and conclusions, in particular its allowing of the destruction of crucial evidence by the law enforcement authorities and intelligence agencies without any adverse comment. -
Daisy Girl Ad
The Daisy Girl Ad was a controversial political advertisement aired on television during the 1964 United States presidential election by incumbent president Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign. Though only aired once (by the campaign), it is considered to be an important factor in Johnson's landslide victory over Barry Goldwater and an important turning point in political and advertising history. It remains one of the most controversial political advertisements ever made. -
Hippies
Hippies were a countercultural movement that rejected the mores of mainstream American life. The movement originated on college campuses in the United States, although it spread to other countries, including Canada and Britain. The name derived from “hip,” a term applied to the Beats of the 1950s. Although the movement arose in part as opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War (1955–75), hippies were often not directly engaged in politics. -
Selma March
There were three Selma marches in 1965 as part of the Voting Rights Movement. The First March from Selma, began on March 7, 1965 and was organized by John Lewis and one of the original Freedom Riders. The purpose of the demonstration was part of a voting registration campaign in Selma which had a record of consistent resistance to black voting. The Selma marchers were met with violence from heavily armed state troopers who used tear-gas clubs and horses to dispel the participants. -
Ho Chi Minh Trail
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was an elaborate system of mountain and jungle paths and trails used by North Vietnam to infiltrate troops and supplies into South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos during the Vietnam War. The trail was put into operation beginning in 1959, after the North Vietnamese leadership decided to use revolutionary warfare to reunify South with North Vietnam.Starting south of Hanoi in North Vietnam, the main trail veered southwestward to enter Laos running east into South Vietnam. -
Black Panther Party
The Black Panthers Party maintained that little had been achieved by the reformers in the Civil Rights Movement and that violent revolution would be the only means to achieve success in the liberation of African Americans. The Black Panther Party were involved in violent confrontations with the police and many of its members were arrested. The lack of support from the majority of African Americans resulted in the collapse of the Black Panther Party in the early 1970's. -
Barry Goldwater
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 2, 1909, Barry Goldwater ran his family’s department store before embarking on a political career. He served in the senate for 30 years, gaining recognition for his fiscal conservatism. Goldwater lost the 1964 campaign for the presidency to Lyndon B. Johnson in unprecedented landslide. After losing the election, Goldwater ran for the senate again and won, serving from 1969 until his retirement in 1987. He died in Paradise Valley, Arizona, on May 29, 1998. -
Apollo 11
On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first humans ever to land on the moon. About six-and-a-half hours later, Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. As he set took his first step, Armstrong famously said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The Apollo 11 mission occurred eight years after President John Kennedy announced a national goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. -
The New Right
This was a movement that was an outspoken conservative movement of the 1980's that emphasized such "social issues" as opposition to abortion, the Equal Rights Amendment, pornography, homosexuality, and affirmative action.The “newness” of the New Right refers both to the reinvigorated and redefined forms of conservative political activity and to the youthfulness and mobilization of a previously disorganized suburban middle class. -
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is an American conservative public policy think tank based in Washington, D.C. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose policies were taken from Heritage's policy study Mandate for Leadership. Heritage has since continued to have a significant influence in U.S. public policy making, and is considered to be one of the most influential conservative research organizations in the United States. -
Period: to
1970's
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The Moral Majority
The Moral Majority movement is an organisation made up of conservative Christian political action groups, which campaigns on issues it believes are central to upholding its Christian conception of the moral law, a perception it believes represents the majority of people's opinions. With a membership of millions the Moral Majority is one of the largest conservative lobby groups in the United States. Among issues it campaigns on are abortion, homosexuality and others. -
Phyllis Schlafly
Phyllis Schlafly has been a national leader of the conservative movement. She has been a leader of the pro-family movement since 1972. In a ten-year battle, Mrs. Schlafly led the pro-family movement to victory over the principal legislative goal of the radical feminists, called the Equal Rights Amendment. An articulate and successful opponent of the radical feminist movement, she appears in debated on college campuses more frequently than any other conservative. -
Watergate Hotel
The Watergate scandal was one of the worst political scandals in the history of the United States. The scandal began when five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic Party offices on June 17, 1972 and ended with the resignation of President Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974. President Nixon did not face criminal charges because he was pardoned by incoming President Ford. However, many of the other men involved were prosecuted. -
Nixon Tapes
Despite the mounting suspicion that President Nixon was involved, there wasn't any real proof. The Congress needed hard evidence in order to impeach the president. Investigators soon discovered that Nixon kept tapes of all his conversations in the Oval Office. Investigators asked for the tapes. When Nixon refused, the Supreme Court got involved and ordered him to turn the tapes over. The tapes were the "smoking gun." They clearly showed that Nixon had at least been involved in the cover-up. -
Roe VS Wade
The right to regulate abortion was reserved to the states. This changed with the 1973 Supreme Court landmark decision in the case of Roe v Wade which ruled that state governments could not regulate abortion during the first three months until the end of the first trimester of pregnancy. The case of Roe v Wade was first argued on December 13, 1971 but, was re-argued in the Supreme Court on January 22, 1973 and reached a 7–2 decision in favor of the plaintiff. -
Endangered Species Act
In the United States there are a number of laws that protect endangered animals. These laws are part of the Endangered Species Act which was signed into law by President Nixon in 1973. These laws help protect the animals and their habitat. They also include programs to help animals recover called Recovery Plans. The main agencies that enforce the laws and help protect the animals are the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. -
Invention of VHS
The Video Home System (VHS) is a standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes. Developed by Victor Company of Japan, it was released in Japan in late 1976 and in the United States in early 1977. From the 1950's, magnetic tape video recording became a major contributor to the television industry, via the first commercialized video tape recorders. At that time, the devices were used only in expensive professional environments such as television studios and medical imaging -
Jimmy Carter
Born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, Jimmy Carter was the 39th president and served as the nation's chief executive during a time of serious problems at home and abroad. Carter's perceived mishandling of these issues led to defeat in his bid for reelection. In 2002 Jimmy Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." -
Iran Contra Affair
The scandal of the Iran Contra Affair, arose due the foreign policies of President Ronald Reagan and his administration regarding the change of government in the two seemingly unrelated countries of Iran and Nicaragua. In 1979 they both underwent revolutions and, as the power in the countries shifted, so did the political ideals. The Shah of Iran was forced to flee as Ayatollah Khomeini became leader in Iran, creating the Islamic State and fiercely denouncing American influence in Iran. -
Three-Mile Island
The Three Mile Island Accident was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history. The Three Mile Island accident began on Wednesday, March 28, 1979 and involved a partial nuclear meltdown in reactor number 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station located south of the city of Harrisburg in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. A part of the nuclear core was damaged, radiation was released. -
Election of 1980
United States presidential election of 1980, American presidential election held on Nov. 4, 1980, in which Republican Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Democratic Pres. Jimmy Carter. As the campaign developed, Reagan’s most serious opposition came from Bush, who won support from moderate Republicans worried that Reagan’s conservatism might alienate the broader electorate.By the time the Republican nominating convention began in Detroit. -
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan initially chose a career in entertainment, appearing in more than 50 films. While in Hollywood, he worked as president of the Screen Actor's Guild and met his future wife. He later served two terms as governor of California. Originally a liberal Democrat, Reagan ran for the U.S. presidency as a Republican and won two terms, beginning in 1980, ultimately becoming a conservative icon over the ensuing decades. He died in 2004 of Alzheimer's -
Period: to
1980's
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Introduction of MTV (Music Television)
MTV, in full Music Television, cable television network that began as a 24-hour platform for music videos. MTV debuted just after midnight on August 1, 1981, with the broadcast of “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. Following the format of Top 40 radio, video disc jockeys introduced videos and bantered about music news between clips. MTV expanded its programming to include rhythm and blues artists, and the network took off. -
BET
Founded by Robert Johnson, Black Entertainment Television is the most prominent television network targeting African American audiences. The network as also aired a variety of stand-up comedy, news, and current affairs programs and formerly aired main stream rap, hip-hop, and R&B music videos. -
Reagan Doctrine
The Reagan doctrine aimed to justify American support of the Contras in Nicaragua, the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan and Jonas Savimbi's Unita movement in Angola, among other anti-communist resistance groups.The doctrine was supported strongly by foreign policy analysts at the influential, conservative Heritage Foundation, who helped define and politically advance it. Critics of the doctrine argued that it would lead to so-called blowback, inflaming Third World hostilities to the United States. -
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey was born in the rural town of Kosciusko, Mississippi, on January 29, 1954. In 1976, Winfrey moved to Baltimore, where she hosted a hit television chat show, People Are Talking. Afterward, she was recruited by a Chicago TV station to host her own morning show. She later became the host of her own, wildly popular program, The Oprah Winfrey Show, which aired for 25 seasons, from 1986 to 2011. That same year, Winfrey launched her own TV network, the Oprah Winfrey Network. -
Challenger Explosion
On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart during take-off. All of the seven crewmembers died in the accident including a schoolteacher from New Hampshire named Christa McAuliffe. The Challenger was the first Space Shuttle to launch at night. For the next two years, NASA halted all space shuttle flights. Many of the parts were redesigned for added safety. Also, new procedures were put into place to insure this wouldn't happen again. -
George H.W. Bush
Born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, George H.W. Bush fought in WWII and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1966. He served as Ronald Reagan's vice president for two terms and then won the 1988 U.S. presidential race, before losing his bid for a second term to Bill Clinton. Afterward, he made appearances for son George W. Bush, who also was elected U.S. president, and co-founded the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
he Berlin Wall was built by the communist government of East Berlin in 1961. In many ways it was the perfect symbol of the "Iron Curtain" that separated the democratic western countries and the communist countries of Eastern Europe throughout the Cold War. Much of the wall was torn down by people chipping away as they celebrated the end to a divided Germany. On October 3, 1990 Germany was officially reunified into a single country. -
Period: to
1990's
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Rodney King Incident
Rodney King was caught by the Los Angeles police after a high-speed chase on March 3, 1991. The officers pulled him out of the car and beat him brutally, while it was all caught on camera The four L.A.P.D. officers involved were indicted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force by a police officer. However, after a three-month trial, a predominantly white jury acquitted the officers, inflaming citizens and sparking the violent 1992 Los Angeles riots. -
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton was the 42nd president of the United States.In 1978 Clinton became the youngest governor in the country when he was elected governor of Arkansas. Elected U.S. president in 1992 and reelected in 1996, Clinton enacted legislation including the Family and Medical Leave Act and oversaw two terms of economic prosperity. Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998 following the revelation of his affair with Monica Lewinsky but was acquitted by the Senate in 1999. -
Ross Perot
Ross Perot is best known as one of the most successful third-party candidates in American history. In 1992, Perot ran as an independent candidate for the U.S. presidency, winning nearly 19 percent of the popular vote. He ran again in 1996. The Reform Party, which he founded in 1995, gradually established its autonomy from him. Perot has authored several books, including Ross Perot: My Life & the Principles for Success and United We Stand. -
Election of 1992
The United States presidential election of 1992 was on November 3, 1992 in the United States. The three main people running were: George H. W. Bush, a Republican from Texas and the President; Bill Clinton, who was a Democrat and Governor of Arkansas; and Ross Perot an Independent candidate. Bill Clinton was the winner of the election. Clinton got 370 Electoral votes, Bush got 168, and Perot got 0. A person running for president will need to get 270 to win. -
World Trade Center Attack (1993)
A truck bomb was set-off underneath the North Tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. This attack was done by terrorists. An act of terrorism is a systematic use of violence to instill fear on a population. The World Trade Center bombing of 1993 involved the detonation of a 1,500 lb. nitrate-hydrogen enhanced explosive. The device was intended to blow-up both buildings and ultimately kill thousands of people. The bombing killed seven people and injured over 1,000. -
Lionel Sosa
Lionel is the founder of Sosa, Bromley, Aguilar & Associates, now Bromley Communications, the largest Hispanic advertising agency in the U.S during the 1960s and his created own advertising agency; founder of largest Hispanic advertising agency in US; Hispanic media consultant for six Republican campaigns; 2006 recognized as one of 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America by TIME magazine. -
Lewinsky Affair
The Lewinsky scandal was a political sex scandal emerging in 1998, from a sexual relationship between United States President Bill Clinton and a 22-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The news of this extra-marital affair and the resulting investigation eventually led to the impeachment of President Clinton in 1998.In 1995, Monica Lewinsky, a graduate of Lewis & Clark College, was hired to work as an intern at the White House during Clinton's first term. -
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton is an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. senator (2001–09) and secretary of state (2009–13) in the administration of Pres. Barack Obama. She also served as first lady (1993–2001) during the administration of her husband, Bill Clinton, 42nd president of the United States. As the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in 2016, she became the first woman to top the presidential ticket of a major party in the United States. -
Period: to
Contemporary
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Election of 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President. Bill Clinton, the incumbent President, was vacating the position after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Bush narrowly won the November 7 election, with 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266. -
Bush VS Gore
In 2000, Al Gore, the former Vice President of the United States was facing George W. Bush for the presidential election. A local court in the state of Florida forced the city of Palm Beach to manually recount almost 10,000 ballots. This recount was imposed because the voters in Florida had problems with the state’s electronic voting machines. This problem was amplified because the ballots were not properly punched; a large number of ballots did not reveal who the voter intended to vote for. -
War on Terror
The term 'War on Terror' followed the devastating September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States when President George H Bush used the phrase to describe the threat of terrorism in the world. He announced his intention to initially target the radical Islamic group Al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, but went on to say that the War on Terror "Will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated". -
9/11 Attack
On September 11, 2001 the United States was attacked by an Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda. They hijacked four passenger planes and used them as weapons to crash into buildings. Two of the planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City while another plane hit the Pentagon. All 246 passengers and crew on the four airplanes died along with 2,606 people at the World Trade Center and 125 at the Pentagon. In all, 2,996 people were killed by the terrorist attacks. -
No Child Left Behind Education Act
The No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002. The No Child Left Behind Act is a major revision of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act and designed to "close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind". Congress passed the law with overwhelming bipartisan majorities keen to reduce the achievement gap between all types of students -
Housing Bubble
A housing bubble is a run-up in housing prices fueled by demand, speculation and exuberance. Housing bubbles usually start with an increase in demand, in the face of limited supply, which takes a relatively extended period to replenish and increase. The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates in response to the end of the technology surge, encouraging investors to purchase real estate, causing another "bubble" and increased housing prices. -
Hurricane Katrina Disaster
Hurricane Katrina was a Category 5 major hurricane with winds exceeding 157 mph that caused $300 billion of catastrophic damage, widespread flooding and the deaths of at least nearly 2000 people. Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States and swept across 7 states leaving one million Americans homeless. $50 billion was given in aid by the government but there was considerable criticism regarding the handling of the disaster. This still affects people today -
Barack Obama
Born in Honolulu in 1961, Barack Obama went on to become President of the Harvard Law Review and a U.S. senator representing Illinois. In 2008, he was elected President of the United States, becoming the first African-American commander-in-chief. He served two terms as the 44 president of the United States.On January 10, 2017, President Obama returned to his adopted home city of Chicago to deliver his farewell address. -
John McCain
John McCain was enrolled at the U.S. Naval Academy and was dispatched to Vietnam. After his release, McCain served as a Republican congressman and senator from the state of Arizona, earning renown as a "maverick" who challenged party orthodoxy. He launched a bid for the U.S. presidency in 1999 and earned the Republican nomination in 2008.After winning a sixth Senate term in 2016, McCain made headlines for his opposition to Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare and his battle with brain cancer. -
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor was born on June 25, 1954, in the Bronx borough of New York City. Her desire to be a judge was first inspired by the TV show Perry Mason. She graduated from Yale Law School and passed the bar in 1980. She became a U.S. District Court Judge in 1992 and was elevated to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 1998. In 2009, she was confirmed as the first Latina Supreme Court justice in U.S. history. She is still in her SCOUTS seat today
