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Alaska and Hawaii
Alaska and Hawaii become the 49th and 50th US states, respectively. -
JFK Elected
Democratic Party candidate John F Kennedy elected president, narrowly defeating his rival Richard Nixon. -
Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs invasion: an unsuccessful attempt to invade Cuba by Cuban exiles, organised and financed by Washington. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
US compels Soviet Union to withdraw nuclear weapons from Cuba in what has become known as the Cuban missile crisis. -
I have a dream
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech before a crowd of 200,000 during the civil rights march on Washington, DC. -
JFK Assassination
President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Tex. -
Boots on ground in Vietnam
First U.S. combat troops arrive in South Vietnam. -
Moon Landing
Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr., become the first men to land on the Moon. -
Watergate
President Nixon resigns in the Watergate scandal over a 1972 break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters. -
End of Vietnam War
South Vietnamese government surrenders to North Vietnam; U.S. embassy Marine guards and last U.S. civilians are evacuated.
