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Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and her husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. -
Nixon-Kennedy Debates (1st on Television)
This was the first-ever televised presidential debate. It was so important because the whole nation tuned into the debate and you could see Nixon sweating during the debate Kennedy was calm cool and collected and it helped him win the debate and the presidential election overall. -
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was the most notorious political murder of the 20th century. Kennedy was the fourth U.S. president to have been assassinated while in office. Kennedy’s death also brought an abrupt end to his supporters’ sense of optimism about the country’s future, which had been fueled by his broad popularity. -
The Beatles Appear for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show
The Beatles made their first live U.S. television appearance. More than 70 million Americans gathered around their televisions to watch four young men from Liverpool make history -
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repeal any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent any further aggression. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson approved an increased air campaign nicknamed Operation Rolling Thunder. The purpose of the campaign was to provide additional air support to South Vietnam, including bombing targets in North Vietnam. It marked a major increase in the United States' involvement in the conflict. -
Kent State Protest
The killings took place during a peace rally opposing the expanding involvement of the Vietnam War into Cambodia by United States military forces as well as protesting the National Guard presence on campus. The incident marked the first time a student was killed in an anti-war gathering in United States history. -
March on the Pentagon
The March on the Pentagon was a massive demonstration against the Vietnam War on October 21, 1967. The protest involved more than 100,000 attendees at a rally by the Lincoln Memorial. Later about 50,000 people marched across the Potomac River to The Pentagon and sparked a confrontation with paratroopers on guard. -
Mai Lai Massacre
The My Lai massacre was one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed during the Vietnam War. A company of American soldiers brutally killed most of the people—women, children and old men—in the village of My Lai on March 16, 1968. -
Woodstock
In 1969, the country was deep into the controversial Vietnam War, a conflict that many young people vehemently opposed. It was also the era of the civil rights movement, a period of great protest and unrest. Woodstock was an opportunity for people to escape into music and spread a message of unity and peace -
Riots at the Chicago Democratic Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention protests were a series of protest activities against the Vietnam War that took place prior to and during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. -
Chicago 8 Trial
The Chicago Eight were the first people tried under the first federal anti-riot law. Anti-riot laws were all at the local or state level until the passage of the 1968 Civil Rights Act, which included a provision making it illegal to cross state lines to incite a riot. -
The Beatles Break Up
Their break-up is attributed to numerous factors, including: the strain of the Beatlemania phenomenon, the 1967 death of manager Brian Epstein, bandmates' resentment of McCartney's perceived domineering, Lennon's heroin use and his relationship with Yoko Ono, Harrison's increasingly prolific songwriting -
Roe vs. Wade
The Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1973, decriminalized abortion nationwide. It protected the right to access abortion legally all across the country, and freed many patients to access the care they needed when they needed it — without fear.