The United States in World Affairs

  • Korean War

    Korean War
    American troops help defend South Korea from the North's communist way.
  • Bay of Pigs Invasion

    Bay of Pigs Invasion
    U.S. sponsored invasion of Cuba fails.
  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    Cuban Missile Crisis
    U.S. forces Soviet Union to remove nuclear missiles from Cuba.
  • U.S. build-up of troops in Vietnam War

    U.S. build-up of troops in Vietnam War
  • Nixon Visits China

    Nixon Visits China
    President Richard Nixon visit China and Soviet Union. Nixon and Brezhnev sign first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT).
  • Paris Peace Accords

    Paris Peace Accords
    Paris Peace Accords are signed, ending U.S. involvement in Vietnam War.
  • OPEC Embargo

    OPEC Embargo
    OPEC places an embargo on oil to U.S. because of the nation's support for Israel in October War.
  • Panama Canal

    Panama Canal
    U.S. signs treaty agreeing to return Canal Zone and control of canal to Panama by 1999.
  • Camp David Accords

    Camp David Accords
    President Jimmy Carter sponsors peace talks between Egypt and Israel.
  • U.S. makes friends with China

    U.S. makes friends with China
    U.S. establishes full diplomatic relations with China.
  • Grain Embargo

    Grain Embargo
    In response to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, U.S. places an embargo on sales of American grain to Soviet Union, boycotts Moscow Olympic Games, and delays completion of SALT II.
  • Invasion of Grenada

    Invasion of Grenada
    President Ronald Reagan orders invasion of Grenada after a Marxist revolution in that Caribbean nation.
  • Iran Weapons Deal

    Iran Weapons Deal
    American public learns that U.S. secretly sold weapons to Iran in hopes of gaining release of American hostages in Lebanon.
  • Invades Panama

    Invades Panama
    U.S. invades Panama and captures Manuel Noriega.
  • Bush and Gorbachev hold Summit

    Bush and Gorbachev hold Summit
    Bush and Gorbachev hold summit in Washington D.C.
  • Persian Gulf War

    Persian Gulf War
    U.S. led multinational force ends Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.
  • Attack on the U.S.

    Attack on the U.S.
    the war on terror; planes were hijacked and force crashed into the twin towers.
  • The Department of Homeland Security

    The Department of Homeland Security
    The Department of Homeland Security is created in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
  • Iraq War

    Iraq War
    The United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invades Iraq marking the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  • George W. Bush orders a troop surge

    George W. Bush orders a troop surge
    George W. Bush orders a troop surge which substantially increases the number of U.S. troops in Iraq and ultimately leads to reductions in casualties and major victories for coalition and Iraqi forces, against the insurgency.
  • Osama bin Laden is killed

     Osama bin Laden is killed
    Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda and mastermind of the September 11 attacks, is killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan by soldiers from the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group.
  • Boston Marathon

    Boston Marathon
    Terrorists attack the Boston Marathon by detonating two bombs at the finishing line of the race, killing three and injuring 283 runners and spectators. Suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev then led Boston police on a high-speed chase, killing one officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police and Dzhokhar was detained the day after.