-
Wright Brothers' First Flight
The first heavier-than-air aircraft was successfully flown at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina by Orville Wright. The event placed the theory of flight into practice and opened up several new technological branches regarding aviation. -
Use of Production Lines
Invented by Henry Ford for his automobile company, the production line shaped the manufacturing industry into one that's more efficient and consistent. -
Implementation of 40 Hour Workweek
Implemented by Henry Ford at his automobile company, he believed that a 40-hour workweek would boost the morale and productivity of his employees. The implementation of this system influenced the traditional American work-life schedule into what we are familiar with today. -
Wall Street Crash of 1929
This stock market crash was one of several factors that catalyzed The Great Depression. While this economic crisis took place in the US, other countries also suffered due to connections to the US economy until President Franklin D. Roosevelt got the US out of the crisis with the New Deal. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor with airplanes to demobilize the American naval fleet. This attack prompted Franklin D. Roosevelt to request US congress to join WW2, resulting in an approval. -
The Trinity Test
The world's first ever nuclear bomb detonation occurred at Los Alamos, New Mexico as part of the Manhattan Project lead by Robert Oppenheimer. This successful test resulted in the USA winning the nuclear arms race against Nazi Germany, and the invention of weapons of mass destruction redefined warfare. -
First Demon Core Accident
The Demon Core was a plutonium sphere that was intended to be used as the core of a third nuclear bomb to be dropped on Japan until they surrendered. With the core now being used for scientific experiment, Physicist Harry Daghlian was testing the properties of the core while it was close to criticality, where he dropped a tungsten carbide brick onto the core, resulting in the core reaching criticality and him being exposed to the first lethal dose of radiation from the Manhattan Project. -
First Supersonic Flight
Performed in the Bell X1 by Chuck Yeager, the US was the first to achieve supersonic flight. -
End of Korean War
The US military joined the fight against communist North Korea to contain the communism they were spreading onto the Korean Peninsula. The war ended in a stalemate, and both North and South Korea are divided among the 38th parallel. An armistice agreement was signed between the two nations, but no peace treaty was signed. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The US and USSR were in a cold war, and tension grew significantly when an American U2 spy plane, piloted by Major Richard S. Heyser, photographed a nuclear missile site in Cuba. The crisis came to an end after President John F. Kennedy made a deal with the USSR prime minister, Nikita Khrushchev, to take down the Soviet nukes in Cuba. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in his open-roof vehicle during a presidential motorcade in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald, resulting in national unrest. -
Moon Landing
In response to the USSR winning the space race, President John F. Kennedy proposed that the US shall be the first to put a man on the moon. To execute this plan, the Apollo 11 mission was formed with crew members Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. This event marked the first time a human stepped on another celestial body. -
US Defeat in the Vietnam War
The US joined the Vietnam War to limit the spread of communism from North Vietnam. The Viet Cong used tactics that gave them a significant advantage over the US, such as utilizing a tunnel system. As a result, the US lost the war, resulting in the failure of containing communism and the distrust in the US government by its people. -
Three Mile Island Accident
Located on Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station is a pressurized water reactor that suffered a partial nuclear meltdown in Unit 2 of the plant. This incident is marked as the USA's most severe nuclear accident. Cleaning up the island took around fourteen years and costed approximately one billion dollars. -
Iranian Hostage Crisis
The American embassy in Tehran, Iran, was seized by Iranian terrorists who held 52 Americans hostage for over a year. -
Creation of ARPANET
The USA created ARPANET as a form of rapid communication within the United States. The network was only accessible to select agencies, but it evolved into the internet that we know of today. -
9/11
Carried out by Al-Qaeda and planned by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, four planes were hijacked and collided into various structures such as the World Trade Center and The Pentagon. -
Capture of Saddam Hussein
The USA invaded Iraq to halt all possession and production of weapons of mass destruction under Saddam Hussein's regime. Hussein was found and captured in an underground hiding spot, where he was later sent to a detention camp and executed for his crimes against humanity four years later. -
Assassination of Osama Bin Laden
The leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, was killed in his compound in Pakistan by US Seal Team Six almost a decade after his affiliation with the 9/11 attacks. His body is buried in the Arabian Sea. -
2023 Chinese Balloon Incident
An unauthorized high-altitude balloon was discovered in US airspace, and it was identified to be manufactured by China with surveillance capabilities. In response, the Chinese government claimed that the balloon was blown off course and was originally intended for testing purposes, denying allegations of being a spy balloon. The balloon was then shot down by an F22 Raptor about a week after it was discovered, marking the first air-to-air kill for the aircraft type.