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Period: to
United States 1942-1953
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Battle of the Coral Sea
A naval battle between Japan and United States with Australia. The battle was between air forces from aircraft carriers. There were losses on both sides, but was described as a tactical victory for the Allies. -
Battle of Midway
A naval battle north of Midway Atoll between Japan and the United States. The United States was victorious and crippled the Japanese naval fleet through sinking four Japanese aircraft carriers along with a heavy cruiser. -
D-Day
Allied forces including the United States invaded Normandy, France. This was the largest amphibious assault in history. The operation began the liberation of France and later western Europe, and was the beginning Allied victory over the Western Front. -
End of World War 2
After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan announced their surrender with the formal signing of a surrender happening on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Japan was the final Axis nation to surrender which marked the end of World War 2. -
First United Nations Meeting
The first United Nations meeting was convened on January 10, 1946 in the Methodist Central Hall in London and included representatives of 51 nations. The United States was among the nations represented in the meeting. The United Nations ultimately led to the disbanding of the League of Nations with its mission being transferred to the United Nations. -
The Long Telegram
On Febuary 22, 1946 the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. embassy in Moscow, George Kennan sent a famously lengthy telegram in which he denounced the Soviet Union saying there could be no cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union and instead the Soviets had to be “contained.” -
Start of the Cold War
As World War II transformed both the United States and the USSR, turning the nations into formidable world powers, competition between the two increased. Following the defeat of the Axis powers, an ideological and political rivalry between the United States and the USSR gave way to the start of the Cold War. -
The Marshall Plan
The European Recovery Program (ERP), popularly known as the Marshall Plan, pumped enormous sums of capital into Western Europe. From 1948 to 1952 the United States invested $13 billion toward reconstruction while simultaneously loosening trade barriers. To avoid the postwar chaos that had followed in the wake World War I, the Marshall Plan was designed to rebuild Western Europe, open markets, and win European support for capitalist democracies. -
Credit Cards First Issued
Credit cards, first issued in 1950, further increased access to credit. This created a way to pay for things without cash. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower Elected President
Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected as the 42nd president of the United States. Bringing to the Presidency his prestige as commanding general of the victorious forces in Europe during World War II, Eisenhower worked to ease tensions of the Cold War. Eisenhower served two terms as president.