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The Newport Jazz Festival was first held on July 17–18, 1954 at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island. The festival has been held annually for almost 68 years -
The first presidential debate between Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy took place on Monday, September 26, 1960, at the WBBM-TV studios in Chicago, Illinois. The debate was moderated by Howard K. Smith of CBS with Sander Vanocur, Charles Warren, Stuart Novins and Bob Fleming as panelists. -
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. -
The Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. This was their first live performance in the United States. -
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed by the United States Congress on August 7, 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it into law on August 10, 1964. -
Operation Rolling Thunder began on March 2, 1965. It was a bombing campaign that lasted until October 1968. -
On October 21, 1967, at least 35,000 anti-war protesters organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam gathered for a demonstration at the Defense Department (the “March on the Pentagon”), where some 2,500 armed soldiers confronted them. -
mass killing of as many as 500 unarmed villagers by U.S. soldiers in the hamlet of My Lai on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War. -
Riots. On August 28, 1968, around 10,000 protesters gathered in Grant Park for the demonstration, intending to march to the International Amphitheatre where the convention was being held. At approximately 3:30 pm, a young man lowered the American flag that was in the park. -
Woodstock was the most famous of the 1960s rock festivals. Its full name was The Woodstock Music and Art Fair. It took place on a farm property in Bethel, New York. -
The Chicago Eight Conspiracy Trial took place from September 1969 to February 1970. The trial was held in the district courthouse in Chicago. -
The Beatles announced their breakup on April 10, 1970, when Paul McCartney announced he was taking a break from the band. However, the breakup process had been underway for years. -
On 4 May 1970, four students were shot dead by the National Guard during a Vietnam War protest at Kent State University. The shocking incident still resonates as a seminal moment in modern US history. -
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 decision in favor of "Jane Roe" (Norma McCorvey) holding that women in the United States had a fundamental right to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction and striking down Texas's abortion ban as unconstitutional.