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This day marks the defeat of french forces leading the Vietnamese to "autonomy."
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This is a landmark case where the Supreme Court ruled that the segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The ruling paves the way for large-scale desegregation
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President Eisenhower's administration sends the first U.S. advisers to South Vietnam to train the South Vietnamese Army
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Rosa parks refuses to give up her seat at the front of the "colored section" of a bus to a white passenger, defying southern custom of the time. In response to her arrest, this sparks the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott.
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Nine black students are denied from entering Central high School (formerly an all white high school). President Eisenhower sends federal troops and the National Guard to intervene on balf of the students, who become known as the "Little Rock Nine"
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President Kennedy orders an immediate build-up of U.S. toops in Thailand to a total of 5,000 due to Communist attacks in Laos and movement toward the Thailand border.
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200,000 people join the March on Washington. They Congregate at the Lincoln Memorial and they listen to Martin Luther King deliver his famous "I have a dream" speech.
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The 24th Amendment abolishes the poll tax, which originally had been instituted in 11 southern states after Reconstruction to make it difficult for poor blacks to vote.
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President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin. It also provides the federal gov. with the powers to enforce desegregation.
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Malcolm X, black nationalist and founder of Afro-American Unity, is shot to death.
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Quaker Norman Morrison set himself on fire and died outside Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's Pentagon office in protest of the Vietnam War.
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U.S. bombs dropped on N. Vietnam total over 600,000 tons. This shows how much destruction occured during the Vietnam War.
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Communists start Tet Offensive which escalates into one of the major battles of the war, including attacks on almost all of the capitals of S. Vietnam's 44 provinces.
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Martin Luther King was shot while he was standing on the balconey outside his hotel room. James Earl Ray, a convict and committed racist, was convincted of the crime.
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President johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing
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Draftees acounted for 38% of all American Troops ion Vietnam. Over 12% of the draftees were college graduates. This shows the drastic effect that the war had on the youth of that time.
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Expanded peace talks open in Paris with representatives of the U.S., S. Vietnam, N. Vietnam, and the National Liberation Front (NLF). This sparks the beginning of negotations.
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The leader of the communists in Vietnam dies.
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President Nixon announces during a TV address, the withdrawal of another 150,000 troops over the next 12 months. This reduction would lower US toop strength to 284,000.
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This case upholds busing as a legitimate means for acheiving integration of public schools. Although largely opposed in some areas, court-ordered busing plans followed in many cities after this case.
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During the peace talks, the Viet Cong proposed the return of all American and allied prisoners held in North and South Vietnam by the end of 1971 if all US troops were withdrawn within that same period. US reaction was cautious.
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The U.S. carries out the heaviest air strikes on North Vietnam since 1968, consisting of 1,025 sorties.
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The North Vietnamese launch major offensive across the DMZ, the biggest since Tet in 1968. In retaliation, Nixon orders the bombing of the Hanoi and Haiphong area. US bombing of North Vietnam above the 20th parallel is renewed on April 15, 1972.
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The last American soldiers depart from Siagon.