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Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Plan, was a program that provided aid to Western Europe following World War Two. It provided more that $15 billion to help finance rebuilding efforts in Europe. It was constructed by George C. Marshall, and was estimated to take four years. Also, it was developed to stop the spread of communism in Europe. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/marshall-plan-1 -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin airlift was the the United States response to the soviet blockade of land land routes in West Berlin. The U.S started to airlift food,water and medicine to the citizen of that city. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/berlin-airlift-begins -
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Joseph McCarthy's Career in the Senate
*Being a first term senator, McCarthy won his place by bringing up his opponents failures and highlighting his own wartime heroics.
*He gained spotlight when he waved a piece of paper in the air claiming he had a list of 205 communist members in the government.
*At the beginning of his 2nd term in the senate, McCarthy got the spot of Committee on Government Operations. With this title he expanded his investigation on communism. https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/joseph-mccarthy -
Creation of NATO
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was an alliance between Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy,Luxembourg,the Netherlands,Norway,Portugal, and the U.S to unite their military. The purpose of this alliance was to state that if a military attack was made to any of the countries listed in the alliance the attack would be considered against them all. https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/formation-of-nato-and-warsaw-pact -
Berlin Airlift ends
The soviets stopped blocking Berlin because west Germany had become a separate and independent nation, and the Russian failure was complete. -
The first successful nuclear weapon test
The soviets exploded an atomic bomb at a remote test site in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. They successfully detonated their first atomic bomb, code named "First Lightning". The atomic bomb was roughly equal to ''Trinity", the first U.S atomic explosion, which weighed 20 kilotons. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviets-explode-atomic-bomb -
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Korean War
The Korean war began when 75,000 North Korean soldiers crossed the 38th parallel line that divided North Korea and South Korea. This crossover was the first military action of the Cold War. In July, America joined the South, in battle, helping the South gain a little bit of land above the 38th parallel. https://www.history.com/topics/korea/korean-war -
First Hydrogen Bomb in the US
The U.S first Hydrogen bomb was detonated on Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific ocean. Approximately this weapon was 1,000 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb. This gave us a slight advantage in the race with the Soviet Union. Photo: https://images.app.goo.gl/mYgztvrBX68vtSf16 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-tests-first-hydrogen-bomb -
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Dwight D. Eisenhower's Presidency
*Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.Gave $25 billion to construct 41,000 miles of interstate highways.*Armistice that ended the Korean War.Threatened China, North Korea, and South Korea with attacks of nuclear weapons if they didn't sign.*Civil Rights Acts of 1957.Created civil rights offices that had the authority to prosecute discriminatory cases and voting rights intrusions.*Creation of NASA. Allowed for exploration of space. http://presidenteisenhower.net/dwight-eisenhower-accomplishments/500/ -
Start of the Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Julius and Ethel were a married couple who were convicted of committing espionage( the practice of spying to obtain political and military information.) in 1951.The were accused of spying for the soviet union in the matter of the atomic bomb. They were then killed by electric chair. Photo : https://images.app.goo.gl/V4ZM4ctGaTjzDXNBA https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/julius-and-ethel-rosenberg-executed -
First Hydrogen Bomb in the USSR
The first USSR Hydrogen bomb was detonated at the Semipalatinsk test site in the northern Kazakhstan. The design of the bomb was based on the layer cake concept where alternate layers of thermal nuclear material were placed in a fusion bomb. The hydrogen bomb was an original design unlike the atomic bomb which was a based off of he U.S atomic bomb. Photo: https://images.app.goo.gl/Q4LX8dZGkuD6qRzU8 http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1954-2/hydrogen-bomb/ -
Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education
Oliver Brown, the father of Linda Brown, filed a lawsuit against the board of education of Topeka, Kansas for not letting his daughter into their all-white elementary school. Brown claimed that the school violated the "equal protection clause" of the 14th Amendment. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff and the verdict banned segregation in public schools.
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka -
The murder of Emmett Till https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-death-of-emmett-till
Emmett was murder when visiting family in Mississippi, because he allegedly was flirting with a white women 4 days prior to his death. Emmett was kidnapped by the woman's husband and her brother and forced to carry a 75 pound gin to the Tallahatchie river. He was forced to take off his clothes, was beaten almost to death, had an eye gauge out, and was shot in the head. His body was tide to the cotton gin with barbed wire and then thrown into the river. The murderess were convicted not guilty. -
The Hungarian Uprising
The Hungarian Uprising was a protest demanding a more democratic political system and freedom from Soviet oppression.
However after 12 days, Soviet tanks and troops viciously killed and wounded thousands, and nearly a quarter-million Hungarians fled the country. Photo: https://images.app.goo.gl/FJbBsLRM2U4nQjWa8 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviets-put-brutal-end-to-hungarian-revolution -
The Launch of Sputnik 1
Sputnik was the world's first artifial satellite. Sputnik was launched from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic. Photo: https://images.app.goo.gl/1PY74PkhU7ZFQTW99 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sputnik-launched -
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Nikita Khrushchev as the Premier of the Soviet Union
Nikita Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He pursued a policy of peaceful coexistence with the West. He was also a passionate believer in communism, none the less he preferred peaceful coexistence with capitalist countries. He built a relation with the U.S but the relationship fell when Soviets shot down an American U-2 spy plane deep inside their territory. https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/nikita-sergeyevich-khrushchev -
Castro takes over in Cuba
In 1960, Castro took over all businesses owned by the US.This made the United States end all relations and make a trade embargo that still stands today.The Soviets supported Castro because of Cuba's close proximity to the US. This gave them an advantage placing missiles aimed at Florida. This was considered a win for the Soviets because the U.S President agreed to not re invade Cuba and consented to take American nuclear weapons out of turkey.
https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/fidel-castro -
U2 spy plane shot down
The U2 spy plane was shot down while it was conducting espionage over the Soviet Union.The U.S. government made up a cover story saying that a weather plane had gone off course and crashed somewhere in the Soviet Union. However, Khrushchev showed the wreckage of the U-2 and the captured pilot, who was alive. The incident caused an important summit meeting between President Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/american-u-2-spy-plane-shot-down -
John F. Kennedy elected to Presidency
Before John F. Kennedy became president, he served as a member of Congress from 1947 to 1953. For his inaugural speech, Kennedy asked US citizens to work together to eliminate poverty and win the Cold War. One of JFK's accomplishments was the creation of Peace Corps. Also, he reduced U.S. import duties as part of an agreement to promote international trade. https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy
https://millercenter.org/president/john-f-kennedy/key-events -
Bay of pigs invasion
Bay of pigs invasion was the act of CIA trained Cuban exiles trying to overthrow Castro. The exiles started with the secret help of America but their plan started to fail soon after. When the attack was about to take place word got out to Castro who immediately sent his troops to stop this attack and sent the exiles to prison. The plan could have been successful if only America hadn't turned their back on the exiles. https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/bay-of-pigs-invasion -
First man in space
The first man in space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. He along with his industrial technician also became the first man to orbit the planet .Vostok 1 the space ship he was on, orbited Earth at a maximum altitude of 187 miles. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-man-in-space -
Cuban Missile crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a political and military standoff between the leaders of the US and the Soviet Union over the nuclear missiles on Cuba aimed at the US. President Kennedy found out about the missiles from photographs from a U2 spy plane. The Crisis lasted 13 days and the resolution was that the Soviets would remove the Cuban missiles if the US didn't invade Cuba, and if the US removed their missile installations in Turkey.
https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cuban-missile-crisis -
Murder of Medgar Evers https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/medgar-evers-assassinated
Medgar Evers was a civil rights leader, who got shot by white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith. He encouraged African Americans to vote, and was getting witnesses and evidence for the Emmitt Till murder case. The first and second trial of chief suspect Byron De La Beckwith were inconclusive by an all-white jury, which set Beckwith free. 30 years later, the state of Mississippi reopened the case, and a racially mixed jury found Beckwith guilty of murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. -
First American troops arrive in South Vietnam
The first U.S. combat troops arrived in Vietnam as 3500 Marines land at China Beach to defend the American air base at Da Nang, Vietnam.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-marines-land-at-da-nang -
Allan Bakke case https://www.britannica.com/event/Bakke-decision
The Allan Bakke Case, also known as the Regents of the University of California v Bakke, was the case of a white man being rejected from a medical school. Bakke claimed that he was the victim of the school's unfair reversed discrimination.He added that it was against the Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment. Also, the school was known for having a racial quota. For this reason, the Court ruled that the racial quota was unconstitutional and demanded that the school accepted Bakke as a student.
