1955 – 1975

  • Minimum Wage Increases

    Minimum wage is increased from 75 cents to $1 per hour.
  • Disneyland opens

    Disneyland, the brainchild of Walt Disney, whose father had worked at previous world's fairs and inspired his son to build the iconic Magic Castle and other exhibits opens in Anaheim, California, with the backing of the new television network, ABC. Disneyland California remains today as one of the greatest theme park capitals of the world and some say is second only to his second park built some years later on the other side of the country, Disney World Florida.
  • Rosa Parks Incites Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Called "the mother of the civil rights movement," Rosa Parks invigorated the struggle for racial equality when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. Parks' arrest on December 1, 1955 launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott by 17,000 black citizens.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1957

    the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. The new act established the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department and empowered federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions against interference with the right to vote.
  • Russians Launch Sputnik; "Space Race" Begins

    Sputnik was the first artificial Earth satellite. This affected the U.S. economy because there was a new emphasis on science and technology in American schools.
  • National Defense Education Act

    This act funded education institutions at all levels. America was competing with the Soviet Union in areas of science & technology. This affected the economy because they were making breakthroughs. It was important because it encouraged students to continue their education after high school. This was helpful because those people would have better jobs to fill in the future & would be allowed to express their knowledge throughout inventions which would overall benefit the U.S. (like scientist
  • Alaska and Hawaii Become States

    he United States is growing. Also, Alaska's economy is based on the oil industry. Tourism is the second industry in the state. It brings about a billion dollars to the state economy. Travel and tourism is super important in Hawaii. They have tropical weather and beaches that attract tourists from all over.
  • President Kennedy Assassination

    John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, is assassinated while traveling through Dallas, Texas, in an open-top convertible.
  • U.S. in Vietnam War

    The U.S. entered the Vietnam War in an attempt to prevent the spread of communism, but foreign policy, economic interests, national fears, and geopolitical strategies also played major roles. Learn why a country that had been barely known to most Americans came to define an era.
  • Minimum Wage Increases

    Minimum Wage Increases from 1.25 to 1.60 dollars an hour.
  • MLKJ Assassination

    Martain Luther King Jr. was always working to form a coalition of poor Americans–black and white alike–to address such issues as poverty and unemployment. Ames Earl Ray ended up shooting Martin Luther King Jr. This was important because many blacks saw King’s assassination as a rejection of their vigorous pursuit of equality through the nonviolent resistance he had championed.
  • The Civil Rights Act of 1968 is Signed

    The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law by President Johnson.This provided for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, religion, or national origin and made it a federal crime to force or by threat of force, injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone, by reason of their race, color, religion, or national origin.
  • Man on the Moon

    At 02:56 GMT on 21 July 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. He stepped out of the Apollo 11 lunar module and onto the Moon's surface, in an area called the 'Sea of Tranquility. '
  • 26th Amendment

    Passed by Congress March 23, 1971, and ratified July 1, 1971, the 26th amendment granted the right to vote to American citizens aged eighteen or older.