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Disneyland, one day to become one of the most recognizable children's attractions, opens in Anaheim, California.
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An African-American woman, Rosa Parks, refuses to give her seat up and go to the back of a passenger bus. She becomes an icon among those pushing for desegregation.
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The Federal-Aid Highway Act creates the interstate highway system in the United States, allowing for easier transportation between states.
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Explorer I, the first United States satellite to enter space is launched.
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Alaska becomes the 49th state of the United States.
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Hawaii becomes the 50th state of the United States.
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A United States U-2 Plane piloted by Gary Powers is shot down and he is captured by the Soviet Union. Two years later he would be traded back to the United States in exchange for a Soviet spy.
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The Bay of Pigs invasion into Cuba, led by United States forces, fails and is repulsed by the Cuban military.
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The Cuban Missile Crisis begins, in which the United States and Soviet Union debate heavily for multiple days over the status of nuclear missiles in Cuba.
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200,000 people march on Washington D.C. for equal rights for African-Americans. Here Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would deliver his famous "I Have A Dream" speech.
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Muhammad Ali) wins the World Heavyweight Championship in Boxing.
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The Battle of Ia Drang Valley occurs as the first major battle involving United States ground forces in Vietnam.
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Medicare, the government medical program for elderly citizens, begins.
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The first Super Bowl is held in Los Angeles between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated while giving a speech from a motel balcony
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Peace talks between those involved in the Vietnam War begin.
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During a Vietnam War protest at Kent State University in Ohio, 4 students are killed and 9 more injured by National Guardsmen.
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Disney World opens to the public in Orlando, Florida.
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he Watergate crisis begins when four men are arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate office building
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The last of the United States military personnel in Vietnam leave.
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President Richard Nixon resigns from the office of President, avoiding the impeachment process that was under way.
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Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, falls to communist forces, leading to the south's unconditional surrender and the end of the Vietnam War