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USA vs. USSR: a War of Espionage
Spying began with the Russians smuggling research done in the Manhattan Project, and went until the mid 80s when the US flew spy planes over arms storage facilities and military bases in Russia. -
Yalta Conference
The major allied powers met to parcel out Europe after the war. Stalin wanted to convert all countries he occupied to communist. This was partiularly upsetting to the other allies as they saw communism as morally askew. -
Atomic Bomb Dropped on Nagasaki
The atomic bomb caused the Japanese empire to surrender, effectively ending the second world war. Nuclear weapons would continue to haunt international politics for the rest of the 20th century (and even after). -
WW2 Officially Ends
The Surrender of Japan marked the end of the war. Just over six years after the invasion of Poland. -
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Cold War
A period of high tension generated by the clashing of ideals in world superpowers. This era slowly ground to halt in 1991. -
President Truman begins containment
President truman gave $400 million to Turkey and Greece to fight the Soviets in hopes that Stalinism will be contained. -
Truman signs Executive Order 9981
This documant mandates that the Military is to be entirely desegragated and that anyone rgardless of race, culture, or wealth should have an equal opportunity at promotion. -
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Arms Race
Russia and the United State build tens of thousands of nuclear weapons in a display of military superiority. The sheer size of the nuclear stockpiles was so vast that the prospect of a USSR vs. USA war would most likely end most organic life of Earth from radiation. -
U.S. Political advisors go to South Vietnam
After the Korean War ended in a stalemate, twelve representatives were sent to South Vietnam where they were tasked with disuading the Vietnamese from supporting communism by any means possible. -
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Vietnam War
As part of the cold war policy of containment, the U.S thought it necessary to stop the spread of communism in Vietnam otherwise they freared all of Indochina would be engulfed in the political system. -
Rosa Parks rails against segragation.
Rosa Parks refuses to sit at the back of the bus as required by arbitrary segragation laws. She was arrested as a result which sparked outrage in in the public, and highlighted the pure insanity of segragation laws. -
Brown V. Board of Education
The United States Supreme Court rules that schools can no longer legally be segragated. -
Sputnik 1 launched
Russia, at the time of Sputnik's launch, was trying only to further advances in rocketry and pace travel, The event was highly publicised, but there was still a tidal wave of paranoia from the United States as we feared the sattellite's continuous beeping noise was a secret message. This paranoia although rooted in fear, ultimately began the US's enormous orbital launch capability we now have today. -
Sit-ins
Large scale anti-segragation sit-ins were held across the south to bring awareness to the enormity of racism at the dime. This lead to the desegragation of many businesses and luch counters across the south and had a huge imact on the civil rights movement as a whole. -
Letters from Burmingham Jail
Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote letters from jail urging that it is people's moral duty to oppose unjust laws. -
I Have a Dream/ March on Washington
MLK Jr. Delivered an iconic speech where he spoke of a better America in which segragation didn't exist. He shouted the words the entire civil rights movement had been speaking thus far, and he did so in front of thousands on the federal government's doorstep. -
President Johnson Reluctantly Deplays Marines in Vietnam
The first two battalions of U.S. Marines that landed in North Vietnam that day became the first U.S combat troops in the war. Johnson did not like the idea of war in that country, but he felt there was no other choice at the time. He later drafted peace agreements, unfortunately to no avail. -
Vietnam War Draft begins
Vietnam, a hugely unpopular war to begin with, spawned outrage when a lottery draft was issued. -
Anti-War Movement
Almost immediately after a draft was issued, a politically charged generation armed themselves with daisies and picket signs in protest of the war. -
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Ifflation and Economic Recession
Following both oil crisises as well as the Nixon shock and the failure of the Bretton Woods System the U.S. economy and corresponding stock market took a rather grim turn. The value of the American Dollar plummeted and plunged the economy into a recession it took nearly two decades to recover from. -
First Oil Crisis
Following an embargo from the then OAPEC oil prices reched an unprecidented high and lines formed at gas stations for fear the united states could run out. A second oil crisis occured in 1979 sparking similar panic. -
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Digital Revolution
With the advent of the first home computer almost all old analog systems have been replaced in favor of digital systems. The "third industrial revolution" as it has been called is still continuing to this day with new systems such as 3d printing, autonimous drones, and smart appliances. -
Ronald Reagan Elected
Presidential election is won by Reagan on a strictly conservative platform marking a new beginning for the conservative agenda. -
Soviet Union Dissolved
The end of the USSR is widely accepted as the official end of the cold war. -
9/11 WTC Attacks
On September 11, 2001 The World Trade Canters in New York City were struck by two hijacked planes and burned down with an estimated 3,000 civillians inside. This event is a leading cause of the war on terror and increased airport security. -
War on Terror Begins
Immediately after the WTC was destroyed, the war on terror began. The goal of this was to wage war on the Taliban as well as any other terrorist orginizationa and any country giving them asylum. Teh effectiveness, execution, and intentions of these goals are still debated. -
Hurrcane Katrina
After A massive hurricane struck New Orleans thousands were displaced as their homes and businesses were destroyed. This was one of the largest Hurricanes of the century. -
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Great Recession
Due to over lending, and the sudden rupture of the housing and real estate bubble, the economy suffered a massive downturn. In fact, it was the largest since the great depression. The U.S. economy did not fully recover until 2012 -
Obama Elected President
In 2008, America had its first black president after centuries of exclusively elderly white males. -
Same Sex Marriage Legalized
I what is possibly the most major breakthrough in civil rights in the 21st century, same sex couples are allowed to become married under U.S law.
