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Jamestown was the first successful permanent English settlement in what would become the United States. The settlement thrived for nearly 100 years as the Capital of the Virginia Colony; but it was abandoned after the Capital moved to Williamsburg in 1699 -
The Headright System was created to attract new settlers to the region and address the Labor shortage. New settlers who paid their way to Virginia received 50 acres of land. The land was granted to the new settlers to start Tabaco farming which was the best crop during this time period. -
100 passengers aboard the Mayflower landed in the New World and establish the first colony in New England. This shaped the future of American colonies. It remained active until 1691 when Plymouth Colony became the Massachusetts Bay Colony. -
The proclamation, in effect, closed off the frontier to colonial expansion. The King and his council presented the proclamation as a measure to calm the fears of the Indians, who felt that the colonists would drive them from their lands as they expanded westward. Many in the colonies felt that the object was to pen them in along the Atlantic seaboard where they would be easier to regulate. -
The Sugar Act of 1764 put an end to smuggling trade in sugar and molasses from the French and Dutch West Indies. It was also to replace the Molasses Act in 1733. This act reduced trade between the colonies and other countries. Its purpose was to raise revenue through the colonial customs service and to give customs agents more power and latitude with respect to executing seizures and enforcing customs law. -
The Sons of Liberty was a group of people founded to advance the rights of the Colonist. This helped the colonies because they resisted against the British policies. They started a boycott against all British goods being sold in the colonies. Their actions led to the Boston Tea Party, and later helped lead to the American Revolution. -
British Parliament passed the Stamp Act to help replenish their finances after the costly Seven Years' War with France. Part of the revenue from the Stamp Act would be used to maintain several regiments of British soldiers in North America to maintain peace between Native Americans and the colonists. -
The Boston Massacre occurred as 'mob' attacked British soldiers and in return the soldiers open fired killing several people. The town called a meeting demanding the removal of the British. The Boston Massacre was a signal event leading to the Revolutionary War. -
The Boston Tea Party was a raid that took place in the Boston Harbor in 1773, during which American colonists dumped shiploads of tea into the water ($5 million worth of tea) to protest a British tax on tea. This event was important because it fueled the tension that had already begun between Britain and America. -
The Boston Port Act was designed to punish the colonist after throwing million's of dollars worth of tea in to the Boston Harbor. The Act shut down the Boston Harbor, the landing and discharging, lading or shipping, of goods, wares, and merchandise, at the town, and within the harbor, of Boston, in the province of Massachusetts Bay, in North America. This caused the colonist to not be able to ship or import goods for everyday life, which caused many problems. -
The battle at Lexington and Concord kicked off the American Revolution for independence. Tension had been building throughout the 13 colonies and the British, particularly in Massachusetts. A shot known as 'the shot hear round the world' caused the British to open fire. Soon after fighting started, the British retreated under intense fire, giving the American Colonies the confidence to win the war. -
The Second Congress took place in Philadelphia and functioned as a de facto national government at the outset of the Revolutionary War by raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and writing petitions such as the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms and the Olive Branch Petition. -
After intense fighting in and around Boston and before independence had been declared, Paine writes "Common Sense". Common Sense lays out a passionate case for independence in the language of the common people. Less than a year after independence is declared, an ill equipped the Continental Army experiences low moral. Paine writes Crisis, a series of 9 essays to boost the moral of the Continental Army. -
The Declaration of Independence is an important part of American democracy because first it contains the goals of our nation. Second it contains the complaints of the colonists against the British king. Third, it contains the arguments the colonists used to explain why they wanted to be free of British rule. -
George Washington and his Continental Army crossed the Delaware River into New Jersey on December 26 in a surprise attack. His tactic led the Americans to their first real victory (captured Trenton from Hessians) which helped turn the war back into the Americans favor. The victory ensured that the French would join in alliance with the Americans. -
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first written constitution of the United States. Written in 1777 and stemming from wartime urgency, its progress was slowed by fears of central authority and extensive land claims by states. Under these articles, the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes. Significantly, The Articles of Confederation named the new nation “The United States of America.” -
The American victory in the Battles of Saratoga was a major turning point in the American Revolution. It helped persuade the French to recognize American independence and to openly provide military assistance. It also increased Gates's popularity so much so that he was being considered to replace George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. -
Benjamin Franklin had been sent to France to try and gain an ally to support the American's in the war. The French wanted revenge on Britain for the 7 years war, but didn't want to join the Americans unless they would win. The Victory at Saratoga was all the French needed to agree. They agree to send troops and their Navy. -
The outcome in Yorktown, Virginia marked the conclusion of the last major battle of the American Revolution and the start of a new nation's independence. It also cemented Washington's reputation as a great leader and eventual election as first president of the United States -
The Treaty of Paris officially ends the Revolutionary War. United States is granted all British lands between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River. It recognized the United States as an independent nation. -
Shays' Rebellion exposed the weakness of the government under the Articles of Confederation and led many including George Washington to call for strengthening the federal government in order to put down future uprisings. It replaced the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution. Then rebellion showed that the Articles were too weak and gave too much power to the individual colonies. -
The Cabinet's role is to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of each member's respective office. The constitution allows congress to create departments to help the president- cabinet. The first president cabinet had 4 departments. -
The French Revolution, beginning in 1789, was a political revolution inspired by Enlightenment ideas. The upheaval was caused by widespread discontent with the French monarchy and the poor economic policies of King Louis XVI, who met his death by guillotine, as did his wife Marie Antoinette. -
The Bill of Rights is the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. These amendments guarantee essential rights and civil liberties, such as the freedom of religion, the right to free speech, the right to bear arms, trial by jury, and more, as well as reserving rights to the people and the states.
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The cotton gin made the cotton industry of the South explode. Before its invention, separating cotton fibers from its seeds was a labor-intensive and unprofitable venture. After Whitney unveiled his cotton gin, processing cotton became much easier, resulting in greater availability and cheaper cloth. -
The Whiskey Rebellion was caused by farmers refusing to pay the tax until the American Army enforces it. This upholds the power of the new Federal Government, and caused a war to the Constitution. George Washington ordered cannons to be fired at the farmers but to miss on purpose, and they forfeited. -
The treaty was an important diplomatic success for the United States. It resolved territorial disputes between the two countries and granted American ships the right to free navigation of the Mississippi River as well as duty-free transport through the port of New Orleans, then under Spanish control. -
The election of 1800 was significant because it marked the first peaceful transition in power from one political party to another. Jefferson stressed for the need of a limited government and the protection of civil liberties. -
The Louisiana Purchase encompassed 530,000,000 acres of territory in North America that the United States purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million. It doubled the size of the United States, greatly strengthened the country materially and strategically, provided a powerful impetus to westward expansion, and confirmed the doctrine of implied powers of the federal Constitution. -
Lewis and Clark Expedition was a U.S. military expedition, led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark, to explore the Louisiana Purchase and the Pacific Northwest. The expedition was a major chapter in the history of American exploration. -
Steamboats proved a popular method of commercial and passenger transportation along the Mississippi River and other inland U.S. rivers. Their relative speed and ability to travel against the current reduced the time and expense of shipping. Robert Fulton was granted a monopoly on steam travel in New York if he could provide a boat that could travel from New York to Albany at an average speed of 4 mph. This ship became known as the Clermont. -
The Embargo Act of 1807 was an attempt by President Thomas Jefferson and the U.S. Congress to prohibit American ships from trading in foreign ports. It was intended to punish Britain and France for interfering with American trade while the two major European powers were at war with each other. -
War of 1812, conflict fought between the United States and Great Britain over British violations of U.S. maritime rights. Although often treated as a minor footnote to the bloody European war between France and Britain, the War of 1812 was crucial for the United States. It effectively destroyed the Indians' ability to resist American expansion east of the Mississippi River. -
The British and Indian forces are defeated by American forces in Canada. Tecumseh's death ends Indian resistance in the Ohio River Valley. This allows the United States to control the Northwest. -
British army invade the U.S Capital and many other important local landmarks. They set fire the President's mansion and the U.S capital. Overall, the burning of Washington symbolized that the young nation that was built upon democracy and freedom was able to take a major world power head-on and come out victorious. -
On December 24, 1814, The Treaty of Ghent was signed by British and American representatives at Ghent, Belgium, ending the War of 1812. By terms of the treaty, all conquered territory was to be returned, and commissions were planned to settle the boundary of the United States and Canada. -
The Battle of New Orleans is referred to by many historians as the greatest American land victory of the war. American troops, led by future President Andrew Jackson, defeated the much larger British force, which bolstered U.S. hopes for a speedy end to the war. -
The purpose of the Missouri Compromise was to keep a balance between the number of slave states and the number of free states in the Union. It allowed Missouri to enter as a slave state at the same time Maine entered as a free state, thus maintaining a balance in numbers of free and slave states. The rush, effectively led to massacre known as Bleeding Kansas and propelled itself into the very real beginnings of the American Civil War. -
In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act, which gave the federal government the power to exchange Native-held land in the cotton kingdom east of the Mississippi for land to the west, in the “Indian colonization zone” that the United States had acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase. This led to the Trail of Tears which was forced displacements and ethnic cleansing of approximately 60,000 Native Americans. -
South Carolina then adopted (1832) the Ordinance of Nullification, proclaiming both tariffs null and void within the state and threatening to secede if the federal government attempted to enforce the tariffs. It also authorized the use of armed forces to protect customs officials and enforce collection of tariffs.
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The telegraph revolutionized long-distance communication. It worked by transmitting electrical signals over a wire laid between stations. The telegraph changed the shape of American society. The telegraph expanded the business possibilities and expedited the work of a variety of professions. It was invented by Samuel Morse. -
The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states. Less than 34 hours later, Union forces surrendered. This event triggered war at Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay on April 12, 1861. -
From the first days of the Civil War, slaves had acted to secure their own liberty. The Emancipation Proclamation confirmed their insistence that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom. It added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically. It declared that all slaves in the rebellious Confederate states would be free. The Emancipation Proclamation was an important step in ending slavery in the US. -
The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the Civil War for one main reason: Robert E. Lee's plan to invade the North and force an immediate end to the war failed. The collision of two great armies at Gettysburg put an end to that audacious plan. It stopped the Confederate momentum in the Eastern Theater and it probably killed any chance of Europe intervening. It gave the Federals a badly needed victory and boosted Northern morale. -
The Reconstruction era redefined U.S. citizenship and expanded the franchise, changed the relationship between the federal government and the governments of the states, and highlighted the differences between political and economic democracy. Three amendments ended the system of slavery, defined citizenship in the country and prohibited racial discrimination in voting. -
The 13th Amendment forever abolished slavery as an institution in all U.S. states and territories. In addition to banning slavery, the amendment outlawed the practice of involuntary servitude and peonage. Why was this important? So that slaves could now be free to get paid jobs and more. -
During its years of operation, the Freedmen's Bureau fed millions of people, built hospitals and provided medical aid, negotiated labor contracts for ex-slaves and settled labor disputes. It also helped former slaves legalize marriages and locate lost relatives, and assisted black veterans. -
The purchase of Alaska in 1867 marked the end of Russian efforts to expand trade and settlements to the Pacific coast of North America, and became an important step in the United States rise as a great power in the Asia-Pacific region. Defeat in the Crimean War further reduced Russian interest in this region. -
The resulting coast-to-coast railroad connection revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West. It brought the western states and territories into alignment with the northern Union states and made transporting passengers and goods coast-to-coast considerably quicker, safer and less expensive. The railroad ensured a production boom, as industry mined the vast resources of the middle and western continent for use in production. -
Supreme court case that established the legality of ‘separate but equal’. Plessy, makes Jim Crow laws legal. He opens Hotels, Restaurants, Parks, Restrooms, Waiting rooms, Hospitals, Movie theaters all for Americans of all race even though at this time the racial injustice was at its peak. -
On February 15, 1898, an explosion of unknown origin sank the battleship U.S.S. Maine in the Havana, Cuba harbor, killing 266 of the 354 crew members. The sinking of the Maine incited United States' passions against Spain, eventually leading to a naval blockade of Cuba and a declaration of war. -
With the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, became the youngest President in the Nation’s history. He brought new excitement and power to the Presidency, as he vigorously led Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy. He took the view that the President as a “steward of the people” should take whatever action necessary for the public good unless expressly forbidden by law or the Constitution. -
Before the Panama Canal was built, ships traveling between the east and west coasts of the American continents had to go around Cape Horn in South America, a voyage that was some 8,000 nautical miles longer then going through the canal and that took about two months to complete. All journeys between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are shortened by thousands of nautical miles by going through the canal. -
On December 1st, 1913, Henry Ford's assembly line first opened and reduced the manufacturing time of a Model T automobile from 12 hours to just above 90 minutes. It also reduced the cost of the Model T from $825 in 1908 to just $260. This was a great thing for the American people letting not just rich people buy cars but almost all Americans. This helped the economy by making transportation easier and many people could travel for work now. -
World War 1, began in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. His murder catapulted into a war across Europe that lasted until 1918. During the conflict, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Canada, Japan and the United States. Thanks to new military technologies and the horrors of trench warfare, World War I saw unprecedented levels of carnage and destruction. -
The Russian Revolution paved the way for the rise of communism as an influential political belief system around the world. It set the stage for the rise of the Soviet Union as a world power that would go head-to-head with the United States during the Cold War. -
The entry of the United States was the turning point of the war, because it made the eventual defeat of Germany possible. It had been foreseen in 1916 that if the United States went to war, the Allies' military effort against Germany would be upheld by U.S. supplies and by enormous extensions of credit. -
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. The 19th amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle—victory took decades of agitation and protest. -
The Treaty of Versailles is one of the most controversial armistice treaties in history. The treaty's so-called “war guilt” clause forced Germany and other Central Powers to take all the blame for World War I. This meant a loss of territories, reduction in military forces, and reparation payments to Allied powers. -
With World War I, the importance of the radio became apparent and its usefulness increased significantly. During the war, the military used it almost exclusively and it became an invaluable tool in sending and receiving messages to the armed forces in real time, without the need for a physical messenger. -
Television can teach kids important values and life lessons. Educational programming can develop young children's socialization and learning skills. News, current events and historical programming can help make young people more aware of other cultures and people. -
The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from 1929 to 1939. It caused enormous hardship for tens of millions of people and the failure of a large fraction of the nation's banks, businesses, and farms. It transformed national politics by vastly expanding government, which was increasingly expected to stabilize the economy and to prevent suffering. -
The main cause of the Wall Street crash of 1929 was the long period of speculation that preceded it, during which millions of people invested their savings or borrowed money to buy stocks, pushing prices to unsustainable levels. This was the main cause of the Great Depression and caused many of Americans to lose jobs and have no money. -
Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist and Baptist minister who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. King sought equality and human rights for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and all victims of injustice through peaceful protest. He was the driving force behind watershed events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act. -
Seeking raw materials to fuel its growing industries, Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. By 1937 Japan controlled large sections of China, and war crimes against the Chinese became commonplace. The eight-year Japanese invasion caused tremendous damage to China in terms of civilian and military casualties and property losses. -
The Fair Labor Standards Act established the minimum wage, legislated a standard workweek, and outlawed oppressive child labor. President Roosevelt called it, after the Social Security Act, the most far-reaching, far-sighted program for the benefit of workers here or in any other country. -
Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II. Over the next six years, the conflict would take more lives and destroy more land and property around the globe than any previous war. -
The United States instituted the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, which required all men between the ages of 21 and 45 to register for the draft. Those who were selected from the draft lottery were required to serve at least one year in the armed forces. Once the U.S. entered WWII, draft terms extended through the duration of the fighting. By the end of the war in 1945, 50 million men had registered for the draft and 10 million had been inducted in the military. -
Roosevelt was elected to a third term with the promise of maintaining American neutrality as far as foreign wars were concerned: Let no man or woman thoughtlessly or falsely talk of American people sending its armies to European fields. In August, Roosevelt met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to draft a statement to the effect that the United States will help them should Japan further encroach in the southwest Pacific. -
Pearl Harbor attack, surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, by the Japanese that precipitated the entry of the United States into World War II. The strike climaxed a decade of worsening relations between the United States and Japan. -
The G.I. Bill was created to help veterans of World War II. It established hospitals, made low-interest mortgages available and granted stipends covering tuition and expenses for veterans attending college or trade schools. From 1944 to 1949, nearly 9 million veterans received close to $4 billion from the bill’s unemployment compensation program. The education and training provisions existed until 1956, while the Veterans’ Administration offered insured loans until 1962. -
On April 12, 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passes away after four momentous terms in office, leaving Vice President Harry S. Truman in charge of a country still fighting the Second World War and in possession of a weapon of unprecedented and terrifying power. FDR's death was important because he was a great leader and had the optimism and courage that he shared with his fellow citizens. -
During World War II an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion immediately killed an estimated 80,000 people. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.” -
The Baby Boomer generation dominated the American culture and the workplace, for over 30 years. The Boomer has enjoyed a long period of generational dominance in an era of economic growth and expansion Today they receive many of the benefits created by Traditionalists, such as social security, and Medicare. -
One of the most important changes after World War 2 was the Cold War. After World War 2 the United States and the Soviet Union entered a state of distrust and hostility. The Cold War was a struggle for global influence and power between the Soviet Union and the United States. The threat of nuclear annihilation had a great impact on American domestic life as well. People built bomb shelters in their backyards. They practiced attack drills in schools and other public places. -
Becomes the 1st black player in the major leagues. He was spiked, beaned, threatened, players refused to play with or against him, & he was refused service while on the road. He never retaliated. His courage, discipline, & success was an inspiration to millions -
The Marshall Plan was a U.S.-sponsored program that was implemented following the end of World War II. It was intended to aid European countries that had been destroyed as a result of the war, and it was laid out by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall during an address at Harvard University in 1947. -
On June 23, 1948 the USSR imposed a complete blockade on railway, road and canal traffic leading to West Berlin from the allied German zone. No supplies of any type, including food, fuel and consumer goods, were allowed to enter West Berlin. Stalin wanted to starve the city into submission. This was done for two main reasons: Stalin's desire to control all of Berlin and the allies London program of 1948 that called for a separate West Germany and currency reform -
The Berlin Airlift was implemented by President Truman as an act to hold on to West Berlin. The airlift would be used to keep the city stocked with food, fuel and consumer goods. Everything from coal to chocolate was flown in by U.S and British cargo planes. President Truman made it clear that if a cargo plane was shot down it would mean war between the U.S and the USSR. This was important because the U.S helped save West Berlin from being taken over. -
In April 1949, ten west European countries, the United States and Canada, signed the Washington Treaty, which created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an alliance which brings together free and sovereign countries in order to create a collective security system. The principal purpose of the alliance is specified in articles 5 which states that “An armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all. -
Now, for the Allies, the Korean War was an offensive one: It was a war to “liberate” the North from the communists. Initially, this new strategy was a success. The Inch'on Landing, an amphibious assault at Inch'on, pushed the North Koreans out of Seoul and back to their side of the 38th parallel. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a landmark 1954 Supreme Court case in which the justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. Brown v. Board of Education was one of the cornerstones of the civil rights movement, and helped establish the precedent that “separate-but-equal” education and other services were not, in fact, equal at all. -
Called "the mother of the civil rights movement," Rosa Parks invigorated the struggle for racial equality when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. Parks' arrest on December 1, 1955 launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott by 17,000 black citizens. -
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a civil rights protest during which African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating. The boycott took place from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, and is regarded as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation. -
The bill created a 41,000-mile “National System of Interstate and Defense Highways” that would, according to Eisenhower, eliminate unsafe roads, inefficient routes, traffic jams and all of the other things that got in the way of speedy, safe transcontinental travel. At the same time, highway advocates argued, in case of atomic attack on our key cities, the road net permit quick evacuation of target areas. -
On January 1, 1959 revolution in Cuba successfully overthrew the government. On January 6th Fidel Castro became premier and later communist dictator of Cuba. Many Cubans flee to the U.S. Castro started bringing Cuba closer to the communist USSR starting with a trade agreement. President Eisenhower authorized a CIA plan to overthrow Castro using Cuban exiles living in the United states. -
The U-2 incident was a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union that began with the shooting down of a U.S. U-2 reconnaissance plane over the Soviet Union in 1960 and that caused the collapse of a summit conference in Paris between the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France. -
Over 1,000 student volunteers both black and white, organized by CORE and SNCC began taking rides through the south to test new laws outlawing segregation in bus and railway stations. Several groups of riders are viscously attacked and buses bombed by mobs of angry white racists. Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor, the Commissioner of Public Safety knows the mobs are waiting and intentionally arrives with the police 15 minutes late, giving the mobs more than enough time to do serious damage. -
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The Act marked the first occasion since Reconstruction that the federal government undertook significant legislative action to protect civil rights. Although influential southern congressman whittled down the bill's initial scope, it still included a number of important provisions for the protection of voting rights. It established the Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department -
The U.S. Congress passes legislation establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America’s activities in space, on July 29, 1958. NASA has since sponsored space expeditions, both human and mechanical, that have yielded vital information about the solar system and universe -
Congress of Racial Equality (core) established in 1942, is another civil rights organization which focuses on peaceful racial equality. They have 53 chapters throughout the U.S. during the movement. CORE organizes a number of different protests, court cases, marches, etc. to shed light on inequality and discriminations. -
The student nonviolent coordinating committee is organized. The organization plans and coordinates civil rights protest activities throughout the south. Gives a young black students an opportunity to be actively involved in the Civil rights movement. In later years, the organization grows frustrated with the slow pace of change and becomes more radical. -
The SCLC planned a march and rally in Washington, D.C with support from the NAACP, SNCC, and CORE. Over 250,000 people are in attendance. People are bused in from all over the country. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I have a dream” speech -
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik-1. The successful launch came as a shock to experts and citizens in the United States, who had hoped that the United States would accomplish this scientific advancement first. This would start the space race during the 1950's. -
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine Black students who enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957. Their attendance at the school was a test of Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The first day of classes at Central High, Governor Orval Faubus called in the Arkansas National Guard to block the Black students’ entry into the high school. -
The Soviet Union announces that it has successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of being fired “into any part of the world.” The announcement caused great concern in the United States, and started a national debate over the “missile gap” between America and Russia. This also launched the space age that U.S was trying to join. -
U-2 flight piloted by Francis Gary Powers disappeared while on a flight over Russia. The CIA reassured the president that, even if the plane had been shot down, it was equipped with self-destruct mechanisms that would render any wreckage unrecognizable and the pilot was instructed to kill himself in such a situation. He was shot down while conducting espionage over the Soviet Union. -
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, a TV address on October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy notified Americans about the presence of the missiles, explained his decision to enact a naval blockade around Cuba and made it clear the U.S. was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize this perceived threat to national security. -
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. while riding in a motorcade in Dallas during a campaign visit. Kennedy’s motorcade was turning past the Texas School Book Depository at Dealey Plaza with crowds lining the streets—when shots rang out. The driver of the president’s Lincoln limousine, with its top off, raced to nearby Parkland Memorial Hospital, but after being shot in the neck and head, Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. -
American astronauts Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (1930-) became the first humans ever to land on the moon. About six-and-a-half hours later, Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. The Apollo 11 mission occurred eight years after President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) announced a national goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s.
