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The Klu Klux Klan
In the movie Forrest Gump claims that his mother named him after Civil war hero, Nathan Bedford Forrest. This man was the person who founded the Klu Klux Klan during the 1800's. In the movie, Forrest Gump is actually superimposed onto a picture from the movie, Birth of a Nation of Nathan Bedford Forrest as can be seen in the picture on the left. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raVFzZZLp3A -
vietnam war
In 1973 the Vietnam war began between North and South Vietnam but without significant U.S. involvement. In the movie Forrest Gump acted out a scene in the vietnam war. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPPaZU18rUg -
hippie movement
After Jenny leaves Forrest, he soon finds her associating herself with the Hippie Culture in an Anti-Vietnam War rally. The Hippie movement did actually occur in the Untied States. During the mid-1960's a hippie subculture started to emerge among the youth population. The main belief that they expressed was their anti-sentiments towards the war in Vietnam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcOTZeZ3_40 -
school house stand in
The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door was an event in which Alabama Governor George Wallace stood in the door of the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963 to prevent the entry of two black students. A curious Forrest Gump found himself in the view of cameras documenting the event. -
Jonh F. Kennedy
In this scene you see Forrest meet with president John F. Kennedy at the White House, as part of being a member of the All -American college football team. This scene is in all black an white showing its age and is in the format of a nightly news broadcast. It starts out with a picture of the White House and then shows all the players standing around talking and joking around with the president. -
The Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party, original name Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, African American revolutionary party, created in 1966 in Oakland, California, by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The party’s original purpose was to patrol African American neighborhoods to protect them from acts of police brutality. In the movie Forrest goes in a black panther party and beats up jenny's boyfriend after he hits her. -
Moon landing
The Moon landing by the Apollo 11 astronauts on July 20, 1969, is shown on a television screen in the Forrest Gump film. However, nobody in the room pays attention, as they are all fascinated by Forrest Gump's amazing skills at ping-pong. -
ping pong diplomacy
The establishment of trade and other relations between two countries, China and the United States in the 1970s, initiated as a result of an American table-tennis team travelling to China. In the movie Forrest plays ping pong for the army after getting hurt in the vietnam war. https://www.ncuscr.org/content/video-documentary-visionaries-ping-pong-diplomacy -
smiley face
In the movie, a man asks Forrest Gump for ideas of T-shirt designs. Forrest Gump wipes his muddy face on a T-shirt and the movie shows a smiley face on the T-shirt. which soon becomes a famous and very popular symbol in the United States It is during the 1970's that the smiley face was invented to show a stylized representation of a smiling human face. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOHr85z9k64 -
The watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal that happened in the United States during the early 1970s, following a break-in by five men at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. on June 17, 1972, and President Richard Nixon's administration's subsequent attempt to cover up its involvement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC9PE2CiSGA -
President Nixon
In the film, he is shown congratulating Forrest after his success with ping-pong diplomacy in China. Nixon invites him to stay at the Watergate Hotel, unknowing that Forrest would uncover the Watergate scandal. He later appears on TV announcing his resignation, detailing the time he would resign, and that vice president Gerald Ford would take office as the 38th President of the United States, while Forrest gets discharged from the United States Military. -
Hurricane Carmen
In the Forrest Gump film, the hurricane is noted for having decimated the shrimping industry of Bayou La Batre. Forrest Gump's boat Jenny was at sea at the time of the hurricane. It suffered the worst of the storm, but was not destroyed by being blown on land like other boats. Forrest's business, initially very slow, came to prosper after the hurricane eliminated much competition. -
apple computers
In the Forrest Gump movie part of the profits from the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company are invested by Lieutenant Dan into "some fruit company", as Forrest Gump calls it. This company was Apple Computer, Inc., during the time of its startup and its subsequent explosion in value contributed to Forrest's financial security. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOHr85z9k64 -
elvis presley
In the movie Elvis Presley comes to stay at the Boarding Home that the Gump's run. Young Forrest dances in a very odd way while Elvis plays the guitar. This eventually inspires Elvis Presley to find new dance moves similar to those that Forrest showed him. Elvis Presley was one of the greatest revolutions in Rock and Roll and Pop culture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJslCsekjIg -
john lennon
In the movie Forrest Gump is asked to sit in on a television interview with John Lennon and Dick Carret. John Lennon was an English musician and singer who was one of the founding members of The Beatles. With Beatle Fellow, Paul McCartney, he formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 20th century.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EukElITplo4
