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General Lee surrenders at Appomattox courthouse, ending the Civil War, and beginning both this class and the era of reconstruction. -
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President Lincoln is assassinated during a performance of "Our American Cousin" by John Wilkes Booth. -
In May 1869 the Transcontinental Railway is completed, allowing for even faster settler expansion across the Continent. Combined with the California Gold Rush and the Homestead Act which started in 1862, 4 million homesteaders spread across the continent. -
On March 7th 1876 Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for the telephone. He would make the first phone call on March 10th, saying, "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you." -
Reconstruction ends with the passing of various discriminatory laws in the south, and the gilded age begins in the north. The Gilded Age begins, so named because of it's large increase in economic growth after reconstruction. -
On May 4th 1886, a peaceful protest for the 8 hour workday erupted into violence as an unknown assailant threw a bomb at a group of police officers, killing one and injuring several more, before the police opened fire on the crowd, killing 4-8 protestor and injuring upwards of 70, as those in the crowd open fire killing 6 more police officers. -
How the Other Half Lives, a book of photographs of New York City's urban poor is published, documenting the appalling living conditions and showing the rest of the world their struggle to survive. -
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife are assassinated in Sarajevo by 19 year old Gavrilo Princip, beginning the series of events that would lead to WW1. -
After the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and a month of intense political discussions begin between Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France and Britain eventually results in Austria Hungary declaring war on Serbian, subsequently starting the first World War. -
On April 4th 1917 Congress votes to declare war on Germany, bringing American into the First World War on the side of the entente. -
World War One ends at the 11th hour, on the 11th day, of the 11th month of 1914, bringing an end to one of the most horrific wars in human history after 4 years of fighting. -
The 18th Amendment was added to federal law on January 16 1919 banning the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol in the United States and starting the era of prohibition. -
The Secretary of state certifies the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920, giving women the Constitutional right to vote. While first proposed back in 1878, it didn't pass congress until 1919. -
On Tuesday October 24th 1929, the Black Tuesday Stock Market Crash happened, starting the Great depression, a period of severe economic depression that lasted until America's entry into World War 2 -
on November 8th 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt wins the 1932 election in a complete landslide, taking all but 6 states from the incumbent Herbert Hoover. FDR would go on to be the only president to win more than 2 terms and would lead through World War 2 -
Although World War 2 itself broke out on September 1st 1939, American involvement didn't begin until the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941. The United States would declare war on all of the axis countries the next day. -
The Battle of Midway was a 6 month long clash between the Japanese Imperial Navy and the American Navy that ended after a decisive 3 day air and sea battle to take a Japanese base on Midway Island. It is generally considered the turning point of the war in the Pacific. -
American and Allied troops invade Sicily in Italy, marking the first time the Axis had been attacked in their own homelands. -
On June 6th 1944, the Normandy Landings occur, better known as D-Day. Allied troops from 13 different countries met fierce German Resistance but ultimately managed to retake a significant part of Normandy, allowing the Allies to successfully invade the rest of Europe. -
The Nazis were defeated on May 8th 1945. With Hitler's suicide a week prior and the capture of Berlin and much of Germany by Allied troops the remnants of the German Command were forced to surrender unconditionally. People the world over celebrate. -
On August 6th and again on August 9th, nuclear bombs are dropped over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing 226,000 people and ending the war with Japan as both a third atomic bombing and a land invasion of Japan loomed. -
The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States is generally agreed to have begun in 1947, as post war tensions between the communist east and capitalist west rise. -
On December 1st 1955, Rosa Parks was riding a packed city bus in Montgomery Alabama, when she and 3 other Black passengers were asked to stand so that white ones could sit, Rosa refused and was fined $14 but with help from the NAACP was able to fight segregation up to the supreme court and win, with busses integrating on November 13, 1956. -
The Space Race starts on October 4th 1957 after the Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first man made satellite. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis begins on Oct 16, 1962 and lasts to Oct 29, 1962. After the USA put nuclear missiles in Turkey, a country that bordered the USSR, the USSR put nuclear missiles in Cuba, leading to an intense 2 week stand off that many think is the closest we've come to nuclear war. -
The March on washington was a massive civil rights protest lead by Martin Luther King Jr, when 250,000 people marched to the Lincoln memorial in the name of civil rights. It was also where he delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech. -
Shortly after noon on November 22nd 1963, President JFK is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in a murder that shocked the world. -
On august 4th 1964 the Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred. The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a heavily debated international incident that was presented to congress as an unprovoked attack by South Vietnamese forces on US Navy ships. While what exactly happened is unknown to this day, it was used by LBJ to massively escalate US involvement in Vietnam. -
On July 20th 1969 Niel Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the 2 first astronauts on the moon. -
On June 17, 1972, Burglars hired by President Nixon break into the Watergate hotel to steal documents from the democratic party. This scandal would lead to Nixon becoming the first and only president to resign. -
On March 29, 1973, two months after the signing of the peace agreement, the last U.S. combat troops leave Vietnam, allowing the North to win a decisive victory against the American's South Vietnamese allies. -
Iranian students storm the American Embassy during the Iranian revolution and take over 66 people hostage, setting off a protracted hostage crisis that lasted all through Jimmy Carter's one term. All women and African Americans were freed but Iran kept 52 people hostage for 444 days. -
The Iranian hostage crisis comes to an end on the day of Ronald Reagan's inauguration, ending the 444 day long crisis. This is also the last event covered in our course.