Cultural Literacy By wc1472 Jan 1, 1215 Magna Carta Jan 1, 1453 Mehmed II takes Constantinople May 12, 1620 Landing of the Mayflower May 12, 1689 English Bill of Rights Jul 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence May 7, 1787 Ratification of the US constitution Jul 14, 1787 Start of the French Revolution May 12, 1804 Napoleon Declared Emperor Aug 2, 1807 Car Invented Jun 18, 1815 Napoleon Defeated at Waterloo Period: Apr 12, 1861 to May 9, 1865 Us Civil War Jun 28, 1914 assassination of Franz Ferdinand Nov 7, 1917 Bolshevik Revolution Apr 6, 1918 US enters WW1 Sep 29, 1918 Armistice WW1 Sep 1, 1939 German invasion of poland Dec 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor Attack May 12, 1945 German Surrender Aug 6, 1945 Fat Man Aug 9, 1945 Little Boy Sep 2, 1945 Japan Surrenders Mar 5, 1946 Iron Curtain Speech Period: Jun 12, 1948 to May 12, 1949 Berlin Airlift May 12, 1950 Communist China Period: Jun 12, 1950 to Jun 12, 1953 Korean War Nov 1, 1955 Vietnam War begins May 12, 1961 Berlin Wall Constructed May 12, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis Jul 22, 1963 Kennedy Assassinated Period: Jan 30, 1968 to Sep 23, 1968 Tet Offensive Aug 15, 1969 Woodstock Jun 17, 1972 Watergate Scandal May 12, 1975 America completely leaves Vietnam May 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square Protest Aug 3, 1990 Re-Unification of Germany Jun 12, 1991 USSR ends Apr 16, 1994 End of Apartheid and Nelson Mandela's release Sep 11, 2001 9/11