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House Un-American Activities Committee formed
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having Communist ties. -
United Nations Formation
The name "United Nations", coined by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was first used in the "Declaration by United Nations" of 1 January 1942, during the Second World War, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers. -
Cold War begins
Yalta Conference was held after WWII and started the Cold War. -
Potsdam Conference
The WWII heads of congress discussed post war agreements in Europe without agreement. -
Truman Doctrine
Cold War strategy of the containment with the Soviet Union and communism. -
Marshall Plan
The primary program for rebuilding and creating a stronger economic foundation for Western Europe. -
Berlin Airlift
One of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first such crisis that resulted in casualties. -
NATO Formation
12 nations established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to coordinate the military defenses of member nations against possible Soviet aggression. Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United States agreed to consider an armed attack against any one of them as an attack against all. -
North Korean invasion of South Korea
a military conflict between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. -
Rosenberg Executions
Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg (September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were American communists who were executed in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage. The charges related to passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. This was the first execution of civilians for espionage in United States history. -
Armistice Signed Ending Korean War
was a military conflict between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. The war began on 25 June 1950 and an armistice was signed on 27 July 1953. -
Warsaw Pact Formation
The Warsaw Pact is the name given to an agreement between several Communist states of Europe. It is also known as the Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. The Warsaw Pact was established in 1955, in Poland. -
Sputnik 1 launched
first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957, and was the first in a series of satellites collectively known as the Sputnik program. -
First Man in Space
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human in outer space and the first to orbit the Earth. He received medals from around the world for his pioneering tour in space. -
First American in Space
May 5, 1961, Mercury Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. blasted off in his Freedom 7 capsule atop a Mercury-Redstone rocket (left). His 15-minute sub-orbital flight made him the first American in space. -
First Man on the Moon
Apollo 11 mission landed the first humans on the Moon. Launched on July 16, 1969, the third lunar mission of NASA's Apollo Program was crewed by Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene 'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon, while Collins orbited in the Command Module.
