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Civil Rights Act of 1960
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights act of 1960 that established federal inspection of local voter polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote or actually vote. -
The Birth of The Peace Corp.
President Kennedy initiates 17 billion dollar nuclear missile program, increases military aid to Indochina and announces the creation of the Peace Corps. that promoted the concept of world peace. -
First man in space
Yuri Gagarin of the USSR becomes the first man in space. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
The United States attempts to overthrow Fidel Castro's power in the cuban government at tha Bay of Pigs but is a failure -
Danger for the Freedom Riders
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) begins sending student volunteers on bus trips to test the implementation of new laws prohibiting segregation in interstate travel facilities. One of the first two groups of "freedom riders," encounters its first problem two weeks later, when a mob in Alabama sets the riders' bus on fire. The program continues and by the end of the summer 1,000 volunteers, black and white, have participated. The Freedom Riders force integration of Interstate and Travel faci -
Construction of the Berlin Wall
After many issues involving Communist East Germany and Democratic West Germany,East Germany guards begin the construction of the Berlin Wall to seperate them from West Germany -
Cuban Missle Crisis
The Soviets establish several missile bases located in Cuba, President Kennedy is happy by this move by the soviets and orders a naval blockade to divert any missiles coming in. -
Assasination of Medgar Evers
In Jackson,Mississippi, the state's NAACP field secretary, 37-year-old Medgar Evers is assassinated outside his home. Byron De La Beckwith is tried twice in 1964, both trials resulted in hung juries. Only thirty years later is he convicted for murdering Evers. -
Kennedy's assasination
President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald. Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as President on Air Force One with First Lady Jackie Kennedy present. -
War on Poverty
President Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the State of the Union address thus initiating plans for his Great Society. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964, making segregation in public facilities and discrimination in employment illegal. -
Malcom X. is killed
Malcom X is assassinated in New York City. Malcolm X was a black nationalist and founder of the Organization of Afro-American Unity. It is believed the assailants are members of the Black Muslim faith, which Malcolm had recently abandoned.
