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H-Bomb
The first AMerican strides occurd in 1941 with the Manhattan Project begging to take shape. Led by Robert Openheimer, it would be the project that constructed a nuclear weapon that ends WWII in the Pacific with the dropping of two atomic bombs in Heiromshima and Nagasaki. -
Satellite Nations
A satellite nation is a nation that appears to be sovereign but is actually heavily influenced or controlled by another country. This was popular with the communist party. It was used in WWII starting in 1944 but used across many years. -
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U.S. establishes containment policy
This was part of the cold war and was a way to prevent the spread of communism. It had the US become involved with Asia, parts of Africa and Eastern Europe. -
HUAC begins hearings
HUAC stand for the The House Un-America Committee. This commitit was based on anti communist investigations in the House. Because it was in the House, it was not directly related to McCarthyism. -
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Potsdam Confrence
This was part of the cold war and was a way to prevent the spread of communism. It had the US become involved with Asia, parts of Africa and Eastern Europe. -
Creation of the UN
It was created as a replacement to the League of Nations. It was created to prevent future world wars after WW2. 190+ countries in it today. -
Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech
It was a speech that historians argued is the beginning of the cold war. It described the physical and political differences between Eastern and Western Europe. -
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War begins in China Between Nationalists and Communists
This war was a civil war between the people's republic and those who supported the government. After many years the People's Republic took control of the mainland. There was never an armstice or treaty signed so some consider the war to still be going. -
Hollywood Blacklist
Many actors, directors, and other hollywood stars were accused of being communists. Thus because of these allogations many stars became blacklisted and/or banned from the film industry/Hollywood. -
Brinkmanship
According to the online dictionary brinkmanship is the practice of pushing dangerous events to the brink of disaster in order to achieve the most advantageous outcome. This was particularlly used in the Cold War, especially with nuclear war threats. -
Hollywood 10
This was part of the Hollywood black list. 10 Directors were asked to testify in court and they essentially pled the 5th. These 10 were arrested and black listed from hollywood. -
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First Levittown Constructed
These were the first planned communities. Many of the houses were small and almost identical. This allowed them to be mass produced quickly and effeciently. -
Establishment of the Truman Doctrine
Truman said in a speech that the US would aid any country in preventing the spread of communism. This was targeted specifically towards Turkey and Greece for 400 million dollars when Britain stopped sending aid. -
Formation of the CIA
This was created as it was found that intellegence was necessary even during times of peace. It was an extensive part of the Cold War. -
Moon
First photograph of one of Uranus's moon Miranda. -
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Development on Rock and Roll
It originated from a combination of many different types of music. Its considered a United States music that spread across the world and became extremely popular. It is typical to accent the back beat. -
Marshall Plan Instituted
The Marshall Plan was the official recovery plan for Europe with money provided by the US. The Soviets were one of the only nations do decline the aid even though they greatly needed it. -
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Berlin Airlift
A response by nations such as Britian, the US and Canada to the Berlin Blockade. Every 15 minutes a plane would fly over head and air drop supplies to the people "trapped" in Berlin by the USSR. -
Election of 1948
Truman ran against Dewey. Truman wins election. (democrat) -
“Dewey Defeats Truman”
The election was miss predicted. Dewey went to bed thinking he had won because of predictions but when he woke up he had lost. There is a famous picture of him holding a newspaper saying he won because of inacurrate political predictions. -
NATO Established
NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was an agreement to all who signed to mutually defend each other in the event of a foreign attacker. -
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McCarthyism
According to dictionary.com McCarthyism is "the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism." It occured during the second Red Scare in the US and created a witch hunt with commnists instead -
McCarran Act
This was the Internal Security Act. Essentially it protected the US from unAmerican orginizations and required communist groups to become regestered. -
Development of Suburbs
Suburbs began to be built during the baby boomer times. There was such a large population growth that suburbs such as Levittowns were consturctued in mass similar bulk to lower prices, create communities of similar income, and create safety. -
Impact of consumerism
Consumerism aided in a higher growth rate economy, existence of a variety of goods and services to choose from and more industrial production. It had negative effects in its over dependence on labor saving devices -
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Social roles of women and men during 1950s
Women were in charge in the family. They cleaned, where doctors, care takers, responsible for the children, cooked and many more family roles. The men were often the money makers in the family. -
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Role of Mexican Americans in 1950s
Mexican Americans became work hands and did a lor of grunt or day labor works. This occured because many of the men were coming back, fighting, or aiding the wars. -
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Role of Native Americans in 1950s
There were many open jobs on farms and in the cities. Native americans began to recieve work but still recieved prejiduce. -
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Korean War
This was a war between North and South Korea with intervention by the US on the south's and China for the North. The main purpose for the US was to prevent the spread of communism and fell under the Truman Doctrine. The war however ended essentially as a draw. There was never a peace treaty only an armstice. -
General MacArthur Fired
Truman fires MacArthur. MacArthur had a different approach towards the Korean war and wanted to continue pushing even though Truman was against it. For this reason and his instictive commands he was fired. -
“I Love Lucy” premiers
It was a black and white tv citcom on NBC. It demonstrated the family lifestyle and the role each person in the family should play. -
Winter Olympics
6th winter Olympics of 1952 open in Oslo, Norway. -
Election of 1952
This election was between Eisenhower and Stevenson. Eisenhower won. (Republican). -
Rosenbergs executed for treason
They were two spies working for the USSR. They were leaking information back to the USSR about the atomic bomb in Los Alimos. -
Nikita Kruschev rises to power in USSR
After the death of Stalin Kruschev was named Secertary of the Communist party and later the Premier in 1958. Kruschev transfer to power was smooth and he led to be a strong believer in communism and dictator ruling styles. -
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Geneva Accords
China, USSR, US, and France met in Switzerland to discuss Vietnam and the Korean peninsula. An outcome of this meeting was the splitting of Vietnam. The confrence led to a set of documents known as the Geneva Accords. -
Warsaw Pact Established
The Warsaw Pact was a mutual defensive treaty between eight communist states in central and eastern germany. This was in part due to the Western Germany intergration of NATO. -
King Kong
King Kong first televised. -
Election of 1956
Eisenhower against Stevenson again. Eisenhower wins against Stevenson (Republican). -
Federal Highway Act signed, begins work on Interstate highway system
Eisenhower was pushing for an interstate system. It was argued for and created for mass transporting troops across the nation so the troops could be assembled at a moments notice. It is one of the most notible things Eisenhower did in his presidency. -
Eisenhower Doctrine Established
While dealing in regard to the Middle East, Eisenhower said that the US would help economically and with military support. This however was targeted towards preventing the spread of communism and the USSR. -
Jonas Salk develops polio vaccine
Jonas Salk created a vaccine to cure polio. Polio was a leading cause of death and this vaccine saved thousands of lives and has been modified and is still used today. -
Sputnik Launched
The USSR launched Sputnik a low orbiting satallite into space. It was the first ever satellite to be launched into space. It was the trigger to the cold war. -
Alaska becomes state
Alaska was purchased from Russia. It has immense numbers of natural resources and is one of the largest states yet one of the least populated. -
Castro takes power in Cuba
Castro had led the revolution ousting Batista and taking power for himself. He created an alliance with the USSR allowing Cuba to hold nuclear and other weapons very close to the US. -
Hawaii becomes a state
Hawaii became the 50th state. It was acquired for economic and military benifits. -
U-2 Incident
A U-2 spy plane was shot down and the US and the pilot admitted to spying. The spy was sentenced for 10 years but realeased early in a trade for a USSR spy.