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The Battle of the Atlantic
After America entered the war, Hitler was determined to keep supplies from reaching Britain and the USSR. He ordered submarines to raid the ships along the Atlantic. The German submarines were very powerful. During the first four
months of 1942 Germany sank 87 U.S. ships -
Pearl Harbor
Up until Pearl Harbor, Americans wanted to stay out of World War II. On December 07, 1941, the Japanese attacked the US Navy base, Pearl Harbor. They targeted the Arizona. They hoped to cripple us enough so we wouldn’t be able to effectively fight back for awhile. But, their plan did not work. America was quick to join the war and in the end, we eventually defeated Japan. Pearl Harbor devastated a lot of Americans but we were able to redeem ourselves and fight back. -
Battle of Stalingrad
One of Hitlers greatest mistakes, along with Napoleons, was invading Russia. The Germans progressed on into Stalingrad for weeks. When winter came, the Germans were still in their summer uniforms. Although the Germans surrendered in January 1943, The Soviets lost more than 1 million men in the battle. -
Casblanca Conference
The Casblanca Conference was held to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. Franklin Roosvelt and Wintson Churchill came together in Casblanca, Morocco to come up with a plan. It was decided that their next moves would be to plan amphibious invasions of France and Italy and that only unconditional surrender would be accepted. -
D-Day
Even while the Allies were battling for Italy, they began plans on
a dramatic invasion of France. The invasion was known as “Operation Overlord” and the commander was American General Dwight D. Eisenhower.D-Day was the largest land-sea-air operation in military history. German retaliation was brutal but by September 1944, the Allies had freed France, Belgium and Luxembourg -
Battle of the Bulge
In October 1944, Americans captured their first German town Aachen. Hitler responded with one last massive offensive. Hitler hoped breaking through the Allied line would break up Allied
supply lines. The "bulge" kept on being pushed back and forth but eventually the Germans had been pushed back. The Germans could do nothing but retreat. This was a victory for the allies. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan provided economic aid to all European countries offered in the European Recovery Program to help them rebuild. Soviets did not like this plan. The blame for dividing Europe fell on the Soviet Union, not the United States. And the Marshall Plan proved crucial to Western Europe’s economic recovery. This increased tensions between USA and Soviets. -
Operation Vittles (Berlin Airlift)
On June 18, 1949, USA, Britain , and France announced plans to create a unified West Germany currency. Objecting to this, Soviet Joseph Stalin cut land routes between western Germany and Berlin on June 24. The blockade separated two million west Berliners from their normal sources of supply. Americans had to deliver supplies by air. The airlift began on June 26, 1948/ -
China Falls to Communism
In June 1949, Chang Kai-Shek was defeated by Mao Zedong. Oct 1, Mao proclaims People’s Republic of China (PRC). China falling to communism made Americans fear of the spread of communism. More and more countries were falling to communism and Americans were not happy about it. China's fall to communism is one of the main reasons America got involved with Vietnam. -
The "end" of The Korean War
General MacArthur had plans to invade China. However, the US did not want the war to go much farther so Truman removed MacArthur from all his commands and replaced him with General
Matthew Ridgway who gradually pushed back almost to original line. Eventually, a truce was signed on July 27, 1953. However, no treaty was signed, so technically, to this day, the Korean War is not over. -
Rosa Parks Arrest
In 1955 Montgomery busses had a white only section and a black only section. When the white only section was full, it was custom for whites to ask blacks to give up their seats, even though it was against the law. When asked to give up her seat to a white man, Rosa Parks refused. She was then arrested. Her refusal to stand up ignited the Montgomery Bus Boycott and initiated a spark in people to fight for Civil Rights. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
As a result of Rosa Park's arrest the African Americans in
Montgomery began to boycott the buses. The boycott lasted 382 days. Because 70% of most bus riders were black, the bus companies finances struggled. Finally, in 1956, Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses was unconstitutional. -
Operation Ranch Hand
U.S. personnel dumped an estimated 19 million gallons of defoliating herbicides over parts of Vietnam and parts of Laos between 1962-1971. This deadly chemical cocktail, Agent Orange which contained dioxin, killed off millions of acres of jungle to try to weaken the Vietcong. The operation succeeded inn killing vegetation, but not in stopping the Viet Cong. -
March on Washington
March on Washington was a protest march to draw attention to the unjust challenges African Americans were still facing. About 250,000 people gathered for this. This is where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his iconic "I Have A Dream" speech. Also called March on Wahington for Jobs and Freedom. -
Warren Commission
Lyndon B. Johnson established the Warren Commission to further investigate the assassination of John F Kennedy. It was concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone on the assassination. However, many continue to challenge their conclusions. There are numerous conspiracies on what really happened. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. -
Gulf on Tonkin
In August 1964, in response to American and South Vietnamese espionage along its coast, North Vietnam launched an attack against the C. Turner Joy and the U.S.S. Maddox, two American ships on call in the Gulf of Tonkin. Congress gave Lyndon B Johnson a "Blank Check" which pretty much gave him all the power to do whatever he wanted with Vietnam. This event led to the start of the Vietnam War. -
Tet Offensive
In late January, North Vietnam and the NLF launched coordinated attacks against major southern cities. America successfully fought back, but it was presented to the media as a loss. This made more and more people hate the war. " Hey, Hey LBJ! How many babies did you kill today?" Vets were called baby killers. -
Democratic Convention
One of the most famous protests during the Vietnam war was the Democratic convention of 1968. Hundreds of thousands of people came to Chicago in August 1968 to protest American intervention in Vietnam and the leaders of the Democratic Party who continued to prosecute the war. -
The USA Lands First Man on the Moon
With tensions increasing between US and soviets, USA finally beat the soviets at something in the space race. USA and Soviets were kind of in a competition to see who was technologically superior. Time after time the soviets would beat America but finally America is the first to have someone on the moon. On July 20, 1969, astronauts
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to reach the
moon. -
The Impeachment of Richard Nixon
On July 27, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee approved Impeachment against Nixon. Initially, Nixon expected to win his trials. However, on August 5, the smoking gun tapes were released revealing that Nixon was involved with the Watergate Break-in. This made Nixon believe he was going to lose. He then resigned his presidency.
