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Korean War
American troops help defend South Korea.The war reached international proportions in June 1950 when North Korea, supplied and advised by the Soviet Union, invaded the South. -
Bay of pigs
U.S. sponsored invasion of Cuba fails.On January 1, 1959, a young Cuban nationalist named Fidel Castro (1926-) drove his guerilla army into Havana and overthrew General Fulgencio Batista (1901-1973), the nation’s American-backed president. -
Vietnam War
U.S. build up of troops in Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was a long, costly armed conflict that pitted the communist regime of North Vietnam and its southern allies, known as the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. -
President Richard Nixon
Visits China and Soviet Union. Nixon and Brezhnev sign first strategic arms limitation treaty (SALT).Negotiations commenced in Helsinki, Finland, in November 1969. SALT I led to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and an interim agreement between the two countries -
Paris Peace Accords
Paris Peace Accords are signed ending U.S. involvement in Vietnam war.The document began with the statement that "the United States and all other countries respect the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Vietnam as recognized by the 1954 Geneva Agreements on Vietnam". -
OPEC
OPEC places embargo on oil to U.S. because of the nation's support for Israel in October war.. Daily shipments of oil from the Middle East dropped from 1.2 million barrels to a scant 19,000 barrels. Motor vehicle owners faced long lines at the service stations, and were forced to pay dearly for gasoline when they finally took their turn at the pump -
Panama Canal
U.S. signs treaty agreeing to return Canal Zone and control of canal to Panama by 1999.The Panama Canal Treaty also authorized the immediate abolishment of the Canal Zone, a 10-mile-wide, 40-mile-long U.S.-controlled area that bisected the Republic of Panama -
Camp David Accords
president Jimmy Carter sponsors peace talks between Egypt and Israel.From the start of his administration, Carter and his Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, pursued intensive negotiations with Arab and Israeli leaders, hoping to reconvene the Geneva Conference, which had been established in December 1973 to seek an end to the Arab-Israeli dispute. -
Diplomatic relations with China
U.S. establishes full diplomatic relations with China.As of January 1, 1979, the United States of America recognizes the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China. On the same date, the People's Republic of China accords similar recognition to the United States of America. The United States thereby establishes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. -
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. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the establishment by the Soviets of a puppet government in that nation, brought U.S. relations with the Soviet Union to the breaking point. -
Invasion on Grenada
invasion of Grenada after a Marxist Revolution in the Caribbean nation. Prime minister Bishop was eventually murdered in October of 1983 during a power struggle with hard-liners in his own movement, creating a breakdown in civil order that threatened the lives of American medical students who were living on the island. In response, and at the request of allied Caribbean nations, the US launched "Operation Urgent Fury," sending the Marines to the north of the island and Army Rangers to the south. -
Iran weapons deal
american public learns that u.s. secretly sold weapons to Iran. U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese admitted on November 25 that profits from weapons sales to Iran were made available to assist the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. -
u.s. invades panama
u.s. captures Manuel Noriega. Tensions between Americans in the Panama Canal Zone and Noriega’s Panamanian Defense Forces grew, and in 1989 the dictator annulled a presidential election that would have made Guillermo Endara president. -
Bush and Gorbachev hold summit in Washington, D.C.
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Washington, D.C., for three days of talks with President George Bush. The summit meeting centered on the issue of Germany and its place in a changing Europe. -
Persian Gulf War
U.S. led multinational force ends Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. The Gulf War, codenamed Operation Desert Shield for operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm in its combat phase. -
Attack on U.S.
The war on terror. The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
