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Nixon-Kennedy Debates (1st on Television)
Kennedy vs. Nixon was the first televised presidential debate. The event took place two days before the election and focused almost entirely on issues of foreign policy. Their first televised debate shifted how presidential campaigns were conducted. The debate was watched live by 70 million Americans and it made politics an electronic spectator sport. -
Newport Jazz Festival
The live performances were set outdoors, on a lawn. These performances were given by several notable jazz musicians. Around 13,000 people attended between the two days. At the annual festive, thousands of people were unable to enter the sold-out shows roaming the city streets and battling the police. Roughly 200 people were arrested. By Sunday word circulated that the Festival would be cancelled. There were a lot more complications in the festival's future years but eventually was presumed. -
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Kennedy was assassinated shortly after noon as he rode through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas in a motorcade. As it was passing the Texas School Book Depository, gunfire suddenly reverberated in the plaza. This event was significant because many people felt Kennedy was a great president. He fought for equal rights and opportunities as president from 1961-1963. -
The Beatles Appear for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show
A record-setting 73 million people tuned in making it one of the seminal moments in television history. The Beatles opened their set with “All My Loving,” and “Till There Was You.” The show was a huge television success. As hard as it is to imagine, over 40% of every man, woman, and child living in America had watched. The Beatles earned a total of $10,000 from three performances. The second show nearly duplicated the record-setting performance of their first appearance. -
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing President Johnson to take any action he believed was necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace. This gave President Johnson nearly unlimited powers to oppose “communist aggression” in Southeast Asia. What led to the escalation of this is the alleged attack on two U.S. naval destroyers stationed off the coast of Vietnam. The result of the resolution launched America's full-scale involvement in the War. -
Woodstock
Woodstock was a music and art festival that was put together by Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, the Who, and the Grateful Dead in Bethel New York. It is estimated that nearly 500,000 attended the festival over the four-day period of the event in '69. Woodstock was and will always be significant because it was a place of peace during all of the protests due to the civil war. -
March on the Pentagon
After a long day of speeches and demonstrations, the mood at the Lincoln Memorial changed. At 5:40 p.m. about 50,000 people marched to The Pentagon. The March on the Pentagon was a massive demonstration against the Vietnam War. The protest involved more than 100,000 attendees. Once the protesters forced their way inside the Pentagon the Deputies and soldiers were taunted and assaulted with vegetables, rocks, and bottles. -
Mai Lai Massacre
The Mỹ Lai massacre was a war crime committed by the United States. involving the mass murder of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by the U.S. Army. It occurred when Charlie Company was ordered to enter the village for a search and destroy mission. Charlie Company vented their rage on the villagers at My Lai. Lieutenant William L. Calley, and his platoon murdered at least 300 Vietnamese civilians and perhaps as many as 500 at a small South Vietnamese sub-hamlet called My Lai. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was an American bombing campaign during the Vietnam War. The U.S. military aircraft attacked targets throughout North Vietnam. The bombing brought devastation to North Vietnam but it did not force North Vietnam to surrender. North totaled $500 million in total damage. They estimated 19,000 to 26,000 deaths including 13,000 to 17,000 civilian deaths were caused by the bombing. Most people would say It was an expensive failure at the cost of many lives. -
Riots at the Chicago Democratic Convention
The riot was triggered by the death of a Black youth. He had been swimming in Lake Michigan and had drifted into an area tacitly reserved for whites; he was stoned and he shortly drowned. In Chicago itself, more than 48 hours of rioting left 11 Chicago citizens dead, 48 wounded by police gunfire, 90 policemen injured, and 2,150 people arrested. The convention was noteworthy for leading to a significant change in the rules governing delegate selection. -
Chicago 8 Trial
A variety of groups convened in Chicago to protest during the convention week to end the War in Vietnam. This was the trial for eight antiwar activists charged with inciting violent demonstrations. The jury acquitted all seven defendants of conspiracy and acquitted Froines and Weiner on all charges. The trial was important because raised questions about the First Amendment and exposed a culture clash in America. -
The Beatles Break Up
Many trace the breakup of the Beatles to the death of their manager, Brian Epstein. Paul McCartney was the man who "split The Beatles" because, on December 31st, 1970, McCartney filed a lawsuit in the London High Court against Lennon, Harrison, Starr, and Apple Corps, demanding the dissolution of The Beatles & Co. From that day on the Beatles were now considered four individual musicians, and the band that changed the face of rock music was officially dead. -
Kent State Protest
Members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd gathered to protest the Vietnam War. Four Kent State University students were killed and nine were injured. Immediately after the incident, the shootings led to protests on college campuses throughout the United States and a student strike, causing more than 450 campuses across the country to close with both violent and non-violent demonstrations. The Kent State protest prompted changes in state law regarding campus protests and violence. -
Roe vs. Wade
Roe vs. Wade was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States generally protects a pregnant individual's liberty to have an abortion. Fifty years ago, on January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court issued its landmark 7–2 decision in Roe v. Wade, protecting a woman's constitutional right to choose.