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The vaccine for Polio is found. After it is found, the disease pretty much disappears. -
The first American, Soviet, French and Great Britain summit happens in Switzerland. No major agreements are made but the summit eases Cold War tensions. -
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. She is later arrested that day, but her action would inspire the civil rights movement to come. -
Dwight Eisenhower signs an act that would create the Interstate Highway System. The system is one of the biggest public works projects in US history. -
President Dwight D. Eisenhower is re elected for a second term. -
The first US nuclear power plant is built and located in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. It supplied power to Pittsburgh.
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The US launches its first satellite into space. Its name was Explorer I, and it allowed the US to take the lead in the 'space race'. -
In Charlotte, North Carolina, many black students protested segregation. They sat at Woolworth's lunch counter and didn't leave until they were offered service. -
John F. Kennedy beats outs Richard Nixon to become the 35th US president. He also become the youngest and first Catholic president. -
1500 Cubans land on the Bay of Pigs and attempt to overthrow the Castro regime. The attempt is a failure that damages the US. -
Martin Luther King Jr. gives his famous speech 'I Have a Dream', that influences great national change. -
President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald. His vice Lyndon B. Johnson takes his place. -
Lyndon B. Johnson orders an attack on Vietnam as a response to the USS Maddox. The US then bombs Vietnam for the first, but not the last time. -
Former vice-president of JFK, Lyndon B. Johnson is elected president in a landslide victory. -
Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray. -
Richard Nixon is elected as the 37th president of the US. He won in a very one sided election against George McGovern. -
Five men are caught breaking in to the DNC at the Watergate Hotel. This would later lead to Nixon leaving office. -
Despite the scandal, Nixon is re elected as US president. -
Congress (after withdrawing all military troops) ended all direct military involvement with the Vietnam War. -
Due to the Watergate scandal, Nixon leaves office and his vice, Gerald Ford takes over. -
The Vietnam War officially ends. NVA tanks drove through the gate of the presidential palace in Saigon.
