1955 - 1975

  • 1064

    President Johnson proposes a Great Society

    His vision included reforms that would bring racial equality and ease conditions of poverty in the United States.
  • Warsaw Pact

    The Warsaw Pact was the Soviet Union's response to the NATO; it was an alliacne between the Soviet Union and various Eastern European countries.
  • Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man.

    This incident would escalate into the famous Montgomery bus boycott.
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower is reelected President

  • Interstate Highway Act is passed

    This law allowed the government to construct over 40,000 miles of interstate highway.
  • "In God We Trust" is adopted as the national motto

  • Eisenhower Doctrine Announced

    In Eisenhower's speech titled a "Special Message to the Congress on the Situation in the Middle East," he outlined his new foreign policy doctrine.
  • Little Rock High School Desegregated

    Governor Orval Faubus attempted to prevent nine African-American students from entering school by using the Arkansas national guard. President Eisenhower sent the military to safely escort the nine students into the school.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1957

    This act put legal protections in place in an attempt to ensure that every eligible American citizen could vote.
  • The Shippingport Atomic Power Station becomes operational

    This is the first commercial nuclear power plant in the United States.
  • NASA is established

  • National Defense Education Act Passed

    This act funded public education in the United States on all levels.
  • Landrum-Griffin Act

    This act regulated the internal machinations of labor unions within the United States.
  • Alaska is granted statehood

    Alaska and Hawaii were the last two states to attain the status of statehood.
  • Hawaii is granted statehood

  • John Fitzgerald Kennedy defeats Vice President Nixon in a bid for Presidency.

    It is speculated that JFK won the Presidency because of his appearance on-stage during the televised presidential debates.
  • A CIA U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down while flowing over Soviet airspace

  • Civil Rights Act of 1960

    This act established federal inspection of local voter registration polls in an attempt to minimize discrimination against minority groups in voter registration.
  • Greensboro sit-ins

    The sit-ins began when four African-American college students refused to leave a segregated lunch counter. The sit-ins escalated into hundreds of students who refused to leave segregated businesses in protest of their racist policies.
  • American Peace Corps Established

  • Alliance for Progress put in place

    This was a program created by Kennedy in an attempt to establish cooperation between Latin American and the United States.
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    Bay of Pigs invasion

    The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed military undertaking by the CIA that attempted to overthrow Castro's regime.
  • Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space

    He piloted the Freedom 7 spacecraft
  • Engel V. Vitale

    This court case states that it is unconstitutional for state officials to require the recitation of school prayers in public, government-funded schools.
  • Trade Expansion Act

    This Act authorized international tariff reductions.
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    Cuban Missile Crisis

    The Cuban Missile Crisis was a standoff between American and Soviet Union forces that occurred when American pilots discovered the presence of ballistic missiles in Cuba (a satellite of the Soviet Union).
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Marches on Washington

    This is where his famous "I have a dream" speech took place.
  • Atomic Test Ban Treaty

    This treaty prohibited the testing of atomic weapons in space, underwater, or in the atmosphere.
  • Community Mental Health Act signed up Kennedy

    This act provided federal funding for community mental health centers and research facilities.
  • President Kennedy is Assassinated

    He was shot in Dallas, Texas.
  • Economic Opportunity Act

    This act authorized the formation of Community Action Agencies in order to better fight poverty.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed

    This act illegalized racial segregation in the United States.
  • President Johnson is elected for a full Presidential term

  • 24th Amendment Passed

    This act prevented Congress and State governments from withholding the right to vote from citizens to were unable to pay taxes.
  • Tonkin Gulf Incident

    Controversial conflicts in the Gulf of Tonkin that led the United States' greater participation in the Vietnam war.
  • Medicare and Medicaid Established

    These programs were put in place to help pay for medical expenses for disadvantaged demographics in the United States.
  • Immigration Act of 1965

    The act abolished the National Origins Formula which was the immigration policy of the United States preceding the act.
  • Malcolm X assassinated

  • 25 Amendment passed

    This Amendment provided details on the procedure on the takeover of office by the Vice President should the President die.
  • Department of Housing and Urban Development established

  • Miranda v. Arizona case established Miranda Rights

    These rights ensure that suspects are fully informed of their right to remain silent when they are arrested.
  • Department of Transportation established

    It was put in place to manage and develop America's transportation infrastructure.
  • The First Super Bowl takes place in Las Angeles

    The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs
  • Detroit Race riots begin

    They soon spread to 159 cities through the US
  • Fair Housing Act

  • Martin LUther King Jr. is assassinated.

  • Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated in Las Angeles

  • Nixon elected the 37th President of the United States

  • Stonewall riots in New York Mark the beginning of the modern gay rights movement

    The riots began in response to a police raid on the Stonewall Inn.
  • Senator Edward M. Kennedy drives off a bridge.

    He was on his way home from a party on Chappaquiddick Island. His passenger died.