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World powers agree to a divided Vietnam.
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Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces defeat the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
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Le Duan replaces Ho Chi Minh as First Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party
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John F. Kennedy beats Richard Nixon in the U.S. presidential election
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Southern revolutionaries form the National Liberation Front
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Self immolation of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc in Saigon sparks outrage around the world
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President Diem is murdered during a coup by dissident generals of the South Vietnamese army
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Kennedy is assassinated and Johnson is sworn in as president.