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End of World War II
The date that World War II ended is not agreed on by all. However, after the Allies won over the Axis powers in Germany the war was still being fought in Japan. On August 14, 1945, also known as V-J Day (Victory of Japan) is when many consider the war to be over although the Japanese formally surrendered later that year on September 2, 1945. -
Brown v. Board of Education Decision
This Supreme Court case held that the the "separate but equal" clause was unconstitutional and reversed the decision of Plessy v. Ferguson. The decision desegregated public schools, meaning that black children and white children no longer had separate schools. -
Rosa Parks Incident
In Montgomery, Alabama Rosa Parks was just trying to ride the bus. Infact, she did nothing illegal. On December 1, 1955 while on board a bus, Rosa Parks was seated in the first row of the black section. However, when a white man boarded the bus and saw that the white section was full he ordered Rosa to get out of her seat, which she refused. The bus driver then called the police. This event sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which outlawed segregation in the public transportation system. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
After the Rosa Parks Incident, and her arrest, the Montgomery Improvement Association was created and led by Martin Luther King, Jr. The association made a plan to boycott the city owned bus system; every African-American involved refused to ride the city bus for 381 days. The bus companies were losing most of their profit; the Supreme Court outlawed racial segregation on public transportation. -
Little Rock Nine Incident
Nine African-American students were trying to enter Little Rock Central High School, after the desegregation of the school system. Governer Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to go block the students from getting in the building on September 4. Mayor Woodrow Mann of Little Rock asked President Eisenhower to send federal troops to help protect the children. The President sent the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army, and on Sept. 25 the kids entered school a success. -
Sputnik Launched
When the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik, sending the United States into a frenzy. The U.S. thought that this satellite gave the Soviet Union the power to shoot missiles and nuclear weapons from Europe to the United States. This resulted in the creation of the Explorer project and NASA. -
U-2 Incident
An American plane flying over a Soviet territory in a was shot down by Soviet anti-aircraft artillary. The pilot was sentenced to 10 years of jail but was released early in trade of a Soviet spy. This led to the fall of the Paris Summit between Nikita Krushchev and President Eisenhower. This also built up to the Cuban Missile Crisis. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
This was an unsuccesful attack on southern Cuba carried out by Cuban exiles. This was an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro, the head of the Cuban government. The attack was supported and encouraged by the United States. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
This began when the United States picked up signal of Soviet missile construction in Cuba. President Kennedy formed the group EX-COMM to help solve the situation. Kennedy then decided to set up naval defense all around the island of Cuba making it impossible for the Soviet Union to deliver any more weapons. This ended in a nuclear weapon agreement between the countries to prevent nuclear war. Also, the Hotline Agreement was passed which was a telephone line from Moscow to Washington D.C. -
Letter from Birmingham Jail
This is a letter from Martin Luther King, Jr. from his jail cell, to Alabama clergymen who thought that the nonviolent protests were "unwise and untimely" and thought that African Americans should resolve their problems in court. MLK responded with the importance of nonviolent protest and the effectiveness of it. He also emphasized negotiation and the fact that as long as blacks wait for freedom they will never get to be free. -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
A march for the freedom and equality of African Americans in which 200,000 protestors marched from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. Here Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. This march is known to greatly influence the passing of the Civil Rights Act of1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
