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G.I Bill
This Act was created to provide many benefits for World War II veterans. This created hospitals, low-interest homes mortgages, and covered tuition and fees for veterans attending college. This Act was also known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944. -
38th Parallel established as border
A border line of latitude that is 38 degrees north on the Earth. The line crossed Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, North America, and the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. This was formed between North and South Korea before the Korean War. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain alludes to the boundary dividing Europe spanning from the end of World War II to the Cold War. Europe was separated into the Eastern and Western bloc because of political and militarily issues. The Western bloc was the democratic side, while the Eastern bloc was the communist side. -
2nd Red Scare
A phenomenon led by the increasing power of communist countries after World War II. The United States feared the Soviet Union and its spread of communism. The United States were afraid of communist agents from Russia infiltrating in the US in order to gain information on nuclear weapons. -
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Cold War
The Tension and conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Arms Race and Space Race increased the tension between the two. This war was considered more of a conflict than a war itself because there was no fighting involved. -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry S. Truman enacted the Truman Doctrine in order to show that the United States would provide any type of support to all democratic nations that are under communist threat. The United States promised to provide political, military, and economic help. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall plan made over $13 billion to help Europe recover from economic depression during 1948 and 1951. This ignited economic recovery and was originally started in order to promote European economic integration as well as federalism. This created a private economy that was like the domestic economy in the United States -
Berlin Airlift
After World War II, the Russians created a blockade on Berlin closing every entrance in order to keep it for themselves. So the United States and their allies came and drop supplies by air instead. This lasted for more than a year and hauled more than 2.3 million tons of cargo to drop into West Berlin. -
Fair Deal
A set of proposals made by President Truman to congress in a State of the Union address. He describes the domestic agenda from the Truman administration. He was open to new proposals that would continued New Deal liberalism. The important initiatives were education, universal health care, the Fair Employees Practices Commission, and the repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act. -
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1950s
After World War II, the United States became the new superpower and the world's strongest military. The economy became better and more utilities, cars, and houses became available to more Americans. The Civil Rights Movement starts at this time as well. -
Beat Generation
A movement during the 1950s that included artists, novelists, and poets that were considered "beatniks," or "proto-hippies." They used black slang and rejected American culture. These types of people promoted sex, freedom, drugs. They created the general idea for protests during the late 1960s. -
Ike Turner
He was a African-American musician, songwriter, and record producer during the 1950s. He was a early pioneer of Rock n' Roll during the 1950s. He and many other musical pioneers in the 1950s, paved the way for Rock n' Roll. -
Polio Vaccine
American medical researcher Jonas Salk develops the vaccine for polio disease. This played a role in eradicating polio in the United States by 1994. -
Bill Haley & His Comets
This was a American Rock & Roll band formed in 1952. They were the first group of white musicians that exposed the African-American blue and Rock & Roll during the 1950s. They're hit "Rock Around the Clock Tonight," became the national anthem for teenagers in the late 1950s. This was the first song that paved the way for Rock & Roll. -
Little Richard
He helped create early Rock n' Roll during the 1950s with his unique sound. He collaborated with Art Rupe from Specialty Records in 1955. He then made "Tutti-Frutti," which became a billboard hit reaching No.17 on the list. He helped paved the way for Rock n' Roll just like the other early pioneers in his era. -
Albert Sabin
A polish medical researcher known for creating the oral polio vaccine. This played a major role in eradicating the disease. Him and other medical researchers sought to find a vaccine and eventually did. -
Television
During the 1950s, television became popular in American pop-culture. Americans across the nation used television as a form of entertainment, and a political strategy for politicians. The first debate televised was between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960. -
Vietnam War
A conflict between the communist North Vietnam and the South Vietnam, with the United States being their allies. The war also included other countries such as Laos, Cambodia. More than 3 million people were killed in this war, including 58,000 American soldiers. -
Elvis Presley
During the 1950s, Elvis grew fame and stardom after influencing Rock n' Roll. His good looks, dance moves, and singing abilities drew in a large audience and grew the Rock n' Roll genre. Presley will currently be known as the King of Rock. -
Space Race
The twentieth century competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War era. They battled to see which country would get on the moon first, make new technological advances in space, and discover more things in space. Each country to prove who would be superior in space. This started when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. -
Hippies
A group of people who promoted freedom and peace in America during times of war. They used drugs such as LSD and Marijuana. They always held protests and rallies in order to promote these values or ideals. -
Period: to
1960s
This era was a decade where many Americans gave new life to democratic ideals. During this time, the Civil Rights Movement was happening as many African-Americans fought for equality. This was suppose to be the Golden Age in America for most Americans, but didn't seem like it to the rest. -
Nixon and Kennedy in the first televised debate
In 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon compete in the first televised debates in American history. These debates made it important to craft the perfect public image and taking advantage of media exposure. This became a strategy used by many politicians today. -
New Frontier
President John F. Kennedy made this foundation to promote the raise of minimum wage, condense overcrowded schools, cutting taxes, space technology, and increase in spending. This plan failed eventually. -
The Peace Corps
An organization created by President Kennedy's Executive Order 10924, on March 1, 1961. This established a new agency within the Department of State The goal was to spread capitalist ideas and inspire younger people to contribute in humanitarian projects in impoverished countries.This plan eventually because of Conservatives being against liberal views. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union on a American missile being launched in Turkey and Italy. The Soviet Union launched a missile in Cuba after. This was considered to be the closest the Cold War was escalating into a nuclear war. -
John F. Kennedy Assassination
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in a vehicle in Dallas Texas. Oswald was hiding in a building while the vehicle passed and waited to shoot three fatal shots hitting President John F. Kennedy and Governor Connally. The third shot killed President Kennedy. -
Jack Ruby
Jack Ruby was the man who killed Lee Harvey Oswald in a nightclub in Dallas. He was affiliated with gangs and had many relations with Dallas police officers. When Oswald was brought out by Dallas police on his way to county jail he was shot by Ruby with a .38 revolver. Ruby was then immediately taken away and claimed that Kennedy's murder motivated him to commit the murder. -
Lee Harvey Oswald
A former U.S. marine who assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.On November 1963, Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby, outside a Dallas nightclub. A year later the Warren Commission concluded that acted alone. -
Warren Commission
A investigative mission established by Lyndon B. Johnson a week after the assassination of Kennedy to find out about his death. The investigation was led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, who declared that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone after a yearlong investigation. -
Daisy Girl Ad
Lyndon B. Johnson created this ad called the "Daisy Girl Ad" in which sparked controversy in the 1960s. He intended to put fear into Americans in order to gain votes. The ad included a little girl in a field and a nuclear bomb goes off. This ad is meant to portray that children can die because of a nuclear bomb and persuaded many Americans to vote for Lyndon B. Johnson. -
The Great Society
An addition to the New Deal made by Lyndon B. Johnson who promised more focus on academics, standards of living, etc. His goal was to eliminate poverty and racial inequality in the United States. -
Counter culture
The Counter Culture included hippies who rejected American values, they came after the Beat Generation and included young people who protested mainstream institutions. These type of people participated in events such as Woodstock. -
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1970s
In the 1970s, women, African-Americans, gays, and many other oppressed social groups came in large groups fighting for equal rights. This era was made up of political conservatism and traditional roles in America. Other movements like the environmental protection movement followed by Watergate, helped destroy Nixon's image. This era would change traditional American ideals that were there at that time. -
Environmental Protection Agency
President Nixon established the EPA and began operating on December 2, 1970, in order to speak in one agency about the enforcement of activities to ensure environmental protection. This was created to protect the health of citizens and environment. This was done by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passes by Congress. Since then, it's been working on making the environment cleaner for the American people. -
Equal Rights Amendment
In 1923, the National Woman's political party proposed the Equal Rights Amendment. This amendment was to provide for the equality of sexes and to stop discrimination based on sex. The amendment later won the requisite two-thirds vote from the House of Representative. On March 1972, the U.S. Senate and sent to the states. This would later fail to achieve ratification in the end. -
Watergate
A major political scandal that happened in the 1970s On June 17, 1972 five men were arrested inside the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. The burglars were connected to President Nixon's reelection campaign, and were caught attempting to wiretap phones and steal confidential documents. Nixon tried to cover this scandal up many times, and even avoided it when he could. He was later forced to resign on August 8, 1974. -
Title IX
Title IX was a federal law that prohibited discrimination based on sex in any government funded education program. The initiative of Title IX was to avoid the use of government money to support gender discrimination in education programs to support individual citizens, and provide protection against those activities. -
Roe v. Wade
This was a Supreme Court case that took place on January 22, 1973. The court ruled that restrictive state regulations on abortion were unconstitutional. Abortion was controversial during that time and many women advocated to legalize it. -
Heritage Foundation
Ronald Reagan created a non-profit research institution called the Heritage Foundation. The mission was made to promote conservative policies based on free enterprise, limited government, freedom, traditional American values, and a stable national defense. -
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provided the protection of animals who were threatened or endangered. They depended on the protection of ecosystems. -
Camp David Accords
This was a treaty signed at the White house in Washington, D.C. between Egyptian President Anwar el- Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. This set up the permanent peace agreement between Egypt and Israel after decades of conflict. -
Three- Mile Island
A nuclear meltdown that happened on Three-Mile Island in Eastern Pennsylvania in 1979. This happened because of a fuel core being uncovered after shutting down a fission reaction. The radiation spread into towns but no one was infected. This event made many Americans feel worried about nuclear power. -
Moral Majority
A political party formed by Jerry Falwell, a preacher who supported pro-life, pro-American, pro-family, and etc. This party created a conservative bloc in the late 70s and early 80s. -
Robert Johnson
An African-American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and investor. He is the founder of BET, which he sold later on in 2001 to Viacome. He also founded RBJ Companies. Robert was the First African-American to become a billionaire -
Period: to
1980s
This era saw change socioeconomically due to advances in technology. The change in global economic trends in the 1980s, were because of the rise of "Reaganomics." The rise of pop-culture in television networks like MTV, introduced music and helped jump start the music careers of artists that are known today as legends in the industry. -
Election of 1980
This was the presidential election between Republican Ronald Reagan and Democrat Carter. Carter was running for his second term why Reagan didn't. Reagan defeats Carter in November, and subsequently, after Reagan is sworn in, Ayatolah Khomeiri releases the American hostages in spite of Carter. -
Reaganomics
President Reagan made Reaganomics, which were his economic policies during his time in office. The goals were to reduce government spending, government, regulations, tighten money supply, and cut spending and taxes. Reagan hoped for a "second American Revolution for hope and opportunity" -
Space Shuttle Program
NASA's first launch was on April 12, 1981, and began to set new achievements through 30 years of space missions. The spacecraft has carried, launched, and repeatedly orbited people in space to repair satellites, find new research, and build the largest structure in space, the International Space Station. -
Music Television (MTV)
MTV Music Television goes on air for the first time on August 1, 1981. MTV heavily influenced pop-culture in America during the 1980s. Not only was MTV very big in the music industry, but they also televised the news and current events. This has helped teens or young adults keep up with what's going on with the world. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006 and was the first women ever to serve on the Supreme Court. O'Connor was known for her dispassionate and meticulously researched opinions and is remembered as acting as a stable guiding hand in the court's decisions during those 24 years in office. In 2009, President Obama honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. -
The Strategic Air Defense
The Strategic Air Defense, otherwise known as Start Wars, is a program initiated by President Reagan, under the Peace Thought Strength Initiative. Reagan intended to develop a anti-ballistic missile system to protect the United States. Reagan also tries to sell nuclear weapons to the Soviet -
Reagan Doctrine
During the State of the Union address, President Ronald Reagan defines some of the key concepts of his foreign policy, establishing the foundation for the Reagan administration’s support of “freedom fighters” around the globe. In action, this policy translated into covertly supporting the Contras in their attacks on the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua; the Afghan rebels in their fight against the Soviet occupiers; and anticommunist Angolan forces embroiled in that nation’s civil war -
Iran Contra Affair
The Iran- Contra scandal occured on August 20, 1985. This was a scandal that happened during the second term of the Reagan. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. They hoped, thereby, to fund the Contras in Nicaragua while at the same time negotiating the release of several U.S. hostages. -
Challenger Explosion
On January 28, 1986, the American shuttle orbiter Challenger broke after liftoff, putting an end to NASA's 10th mission. Seven astronauts died while on board. This received media coverage and prompted NASA to refrain from sending astronauts into space for more than two years. -
George H. W.. Bush
George H. W. Bush became the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. Before this, he was a congressman and the director of the CIA. He is the oldest living President and Vice President in American history at this time. His son is George W. Bush, who is the 43rd President of the United States. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was destroyed to symbolize the fall of the East German communist government. East Germans were allowed to enter West Germany. Thousands of Germans continued to destroy the wall with weapons after being demolished. -
Period: to 200
1990s
The 1990s incorporated a many great things during the era, but all good things must come to an end. Computers were becoming faster and easier to cheap, and connected everyone from anywhere. The 1990s was defined by political movements towards conservative, and there were many cuts on spending in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In this era, technology was advancing and new things like the World Wide Web were emerging. -
Persian Gulf War / 1st Iraq War
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait in early August 1990. Arab powers such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called the United States and other Western nations to help intervene. Hussein disobeyed the UN Security Council's demands to withdraw from Kuwait in mid-January 1991, and launched the war. -
Rodney King Incident
On this day, Rodney King was stopped by LAPD and was brutally beaten and tasered. This abuse was recorded and sparked controversy within the black community. The officers involved in the beating were acquitted of all charges. After the shocking news, the black community began riots that lasted for six days. This was known as the 1992 LA Riots. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
Gorbachev introduced a new policy that included free speech and rebuilding after addressing economic and political issues that backfired on them. Hard-line communists had a failed coup against Gorbachev in August 1991 and resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union a few months after. -
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton became the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the governor of Arkansas prior to this. In 1998, he was guilty perjury before a grand jury and obstruction of justice because of a affair with his secretary named Monica Lewinsky. He was impeached because of this. -
Health Care Reform
In 1993, first lady Hillary Clinton advocated for healthcare across the United States. The goal was to think of a decisive plan to provide universal healthcare for all Americans. This was planned to be one of the cornerstones of the administration's firs-term agenda. The plan received criticism and it loss the interest of the people. -
1993 World Trade Center Bombing
In 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed when a truck detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The bomb was suppose to end the North Tower crashing into the South Tower, bringing both of them down. The plan failed but they managed to kill six people and injure a lot of people. -
North American Free Trade (NAFTA)
NAFTA, was a trade agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico, which eliminated tariffs and trade restrictions between the three countries. Clinton hoped the agreement would encourage other countries to establish a trade pact as well. NAFTA was one of Clinton's first major victories. -
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy
The Clinton Administration enacted the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on February 8, 1994. This was a policy on military services by gays, lesbians, bisexuals, prohibiting qualified people, who are gay, from serving their countries. On September 20, 2011, the policy was repealed by the Obama administration. -
The Lewinsky Scandal
On January 17, 1998, there was a scandal that broke out about the affair between President Clinton and intern Monica Lewinsky. It was revealed that the affair took place from 1995 to 196. Clinton repeatedly denied allegations but later was exposed after a semen stain on a dress Lewinsky wore turned out to be his DNA. This resulted in the impeachment of Bill Clinton, the first ever in American History. -
Period: to
Contemporary
The 2000s included many interesting things such as the Election of 2000, Obama's presidency, 9/11 attacks, and many. The United States has changed drastically in just a decade. -
Election of 2000
The Election of 200 was a competition between Republican nominee George W. Bush and Democratic nominee Al Gore. This was by far the most bizarre elections in American history. The election came down to the Supreme Court decision and a recount in votes. Bush would win the election 271 to 266 in electoral votes. -
Al Gore
Al Gore is a American politician and environmentalist who was the 45th Vice President from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He ran for office in the 2000 Presidential Election against Republican George W. Bush. He would lose the election after such a close election. -
George W. Bush
George W. Bush served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. After the terrorists attacks that took place in 2001, Bush became a wartime president and went to war in Iraq. He also went through Hurricane Katrina and received a lot of criticism for his lack of support for the people of New Orleans. -
No Child Left Behind Education Act
The No Child Left Behind Education Act of 2001, was enacted by President George W. Bush as an education reform bill. on January 8, 2002. This act reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This applied to disadvantaged students. -
Hurricane Katrina Disaster
On August 23, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and severely destroyed the state and its cities. The people there had to move to the down south mostly to Texas. This was one of the five deadliest hurricanes recorded in American history. -
Election of 2008
The Election of 2008 was the the 56th presidential election in United States history. The Election was between Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican nominee John McCain. Barack Obama would win the election and make history as he was the first African American president in United States History. -
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama is an American politician who was the 44th President of the United States. He was in office fro 2009 to 2017. He was the first African American to ever be elected president in the history of the United States.
