-
The Battle of Britain was the intense air battle between the Germans and the British over Great Britain's airspace from July 1940 to May 1941, with the heaviest fighting from July to October 1940.
-
The U.S. Congress approves and enacts the first peacetime conscription draft.
-
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt continues his dominance of presidential politics with a 449 to 82 Electoral College victory over Republican candidate Wendell Wilkie, winning his third presidential election. Roosevelt becomes the first man to hold office for three terms.
-
The Lend-Lease Act is approved, which provided $7 billion in military credits for American manufactured war supplies to Great Britain and other allies; in the fall, a similar Lend-Lease pact would be approved for the USSR with a $1 billion loan.
-
Japanese fighter planes launch a surprise attack on United States soil, destroying the U.S. Pacific Fleet docked at the base.
-
The first Diners Club credit cards were given out in 1950 to 200 people (most were friends and acquaintances of McNamara) and accepted by 14 restaurants in New York. The concept of the card grew and by the end of 1950, 20,000 people were using the Diners Club credit card. The Diners Club credit card is considered the first modern credit card.
-
The United States recalls all consular officials from China after the seizure of the American consul general in Peking.
-
Famous animated film from Walt Disney Pictures was produced for the first time.
-
The Korean War begins its three year conflict when troops of North Korea, backed with Soviet weaponry, invade South Korea.
-
The 1952 Winter Olympics open in Helsinki, Finland with thirty participating nations. During these games, the first triple jump in figure skating history is performed by Dick Button, who won one of the four gold medals gained by U.S. athletes.
-
Mr. Potato head first manufactured and sold by hasboro
-
At Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the first hydrogen bomb, named Mike, is exploded.
-
The first color televisions go on sale.
-
McCarthy hearings held by US Senate subcommittee find communist in America
-
Ray Kroc founds the idea for the McDonald's corporation, agreeing to franchise the idea of Dick and Mac McDonald, who had started the first McDonald's restaurant in 1940 and had eight restaurants by 1954.
-
Racial segregation in public schools is declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in Brown vs. the Board of Education. The ruling of the court stated that racial segregation violated the 14th Amendment's clause that guaranteed equal protection.
-
Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress, refuses to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, prompting a boycott that would lead to the declaration that bus segregation laws were unconstitutional by a federal court
-
Montgomery bus boycott is sparked after Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus.
-
The first transatlantic telephone cable began operation.
-
Dan Larsen pitches the first no-hitter, a perfect game, in post-season baseball history when his New York Yankees best the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 5th game of the 1956 World Series.
-
organization established (1958) by a treaty signed in 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany (now Germany); it was known informally as the Common Market. The EEC was the most significant of the three treaty organizations that were consolidated in 1967 to form the European Community.
-
Explorer I, first American satellite, is launched (Jan. 31).
-
Nationalist try to unify country under communist control
-
the first Barbie is created by Ruth Handler in 1959. Around 350,00 Barbie dolls sold in the first year
-
U.S. breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba
-
John H. Glenn, Jr., is first American to orbit Earth—three times in 4 hr 55 min
-
Chips Ahoy! makes its debut in 1963 and sole widely in the US
-
On August 5, 1963, after more than eight years of difficult negotiations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
-
President Kennedy shot and killed by sniper in Dallas, Tex. Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president same day
-
Barbie's first black friend Christie was introduced to the market.
-
Kent State University shooting of four students by National Guard.
General Charles De Gaulle dies. -
October 1, 1971 Disney's Animal Kingdom opens its gates to the public
-
Motorola was the first company to produce a handheld mobile phone. April 3, 1973 first handheld mobile phone call was made
-
Coporation founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975
-
Genre of musci that peaked in the late 70's. Initial audiences were African American, Italian-American, gays, and psychedelic
-
The eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 was the worst volcanic disaster in U.S. history; however, it offered scientists an exceptional opportunity to examine and study a large volcanic eruption, which has enriched scientific knowledge of volcanoes.
-
Erno Rubik designed a small cube, with moving pieces, to help his students study three-dimensional geometry. Once the original was built, Rubik turned and twisted the sides, pleased with his invention. It wasn't until he tried to put the cube back to its original configuration that he discovered it was an obsessive puzzle. The Rubik's Cube (originally called "Magic Cube") was first sold in Hungary in 1977 and then sold internationally in 1980. The simple cube immediately became immensely popula
-
The United States became the first country to recognize the strange illness among a small number of gay men in 1981
-
From 1981-1990 across the United States crack cocaine was used often. There was a huge glut of cocaine powder in Miami, the Bahamas and Dominican Republic throughout the 1980’s, which caused money/economy to drop by 80%. As early as 1981 crack cocaine appeared throughout big cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, Houston, and the Caribbean.
-
Sandra Day O'Connor is sworn in as the first woman Supreme Court justice
-
Brooklyn Bridge is one hundred years old. United States invades Granada.
-
Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist studying at a research facility in Switzerland. He invented a method of organising information which he called the world-wide-web (www). His system linked documents from different sources and guided users to related information. The www was first used by the public in 1991 and it allowed the transfer of text, sound, images and video clips.
-
the World Trade Center is bombed by Islamic terrorists when a van parked below the North Tower of the structure explodes. Six people are killed and over one thousand are injured.
-
Michael Jordan retires from the NBA to play minor league baseball. He returns to the NBA 17 months later.
-
President Bill Clinton signs the Assault Weapons Ban, which bars the use of these weapons for ten years.
