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Start of Vietnam War
Start of the Vietnam war, which was a civil war between Communist North Vietnam and Democrat South Vietnam -
Period: to
: Events of the 1960's
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Woolworth Sit In
On February 1, 1960, four black students from a college in Greensboro, North Carolina, sit at a white lunch counter in Woolworth's and ask for service. When they are denied and asked to leave, the refuse and lead a four day long sit in. This event helped lead to a five month long protest and eventually the desegrigation of the lunch counter on July 25.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/6-legacy/freedom-struggle-2.html -
Catch 22
Written by Joseph Heller, the books follows Captain John Yossarian and the fictional 256th air squadron based on the island of Pianosa. The novel tells about the experiences Yossarian and the other air man at the camp go through. "Catch 22" refers to a type of unsolvable puzzle, and the book is appropriatly named this because of the paradoxical requirments the men are expected to make so they can go home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22 -
Assassination of President Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy is shot and assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot three times, one fatally wounding Kennedy and the other seriously injuring the Texas Governor Connally. Vice President Lyndon Johnston was then sworn in as president. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act, proposed by Kennedy and signed by President Johnson, this act abolished segrigation in public facilities and discrimination in employment illegal. Nonetheless, strict Jim Crow laws were still enforced throughout the south. This act is seen as a crowning legislative achievement of the civil rights era. -
Tet Offensive
Some 700,000 Vietcong launch the Tet Offensive, which was a coordinated series of attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam. The TV coverage of the Tet offensive shocked the American public and further eroded the war support. Although North Vietnam suffered heavy casualties, they managed a stratigic victory with the Tet offensive. This marked the slow withdraw of US troops from Vietnam. -
MLK Assassination
Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennesse. He was standing on the balcony of his second story hotel room when a bullet struck through his jaw and severed his spinal cord. MLK was one of the most prominent black rights activists in the 60's and is still a black rights symbol to this day. -
First Man On the Moon
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men on the moon. The famous phrase "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" is a direct quote from Armstrong as he took his first steps on the moon. -
End of Vietnam War
This date offically marked the end of the Vietnam War.