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The Klu Klux Klan
Forrest Gump claims he was named after a Civil War hero named 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 -
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Vietnam War
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/640271257798967296
The Vietnam War was one of the most controversial armed conflicts during the 20th century. Many people were against the war as they believed that the soldiers were only being sent to their deaths, and that the war was not very productive for the United States. Many of the soldiers returned home only to be called by protesters as "baby killers." -
Hippie Counterculture
During the mid-1960's a hippie counterculture started to come out among the youth population. The main belief that they expressed was their anti-sentiments towards the war in Vietnam. The Hippie's created their own social groups, listened to psychedelic rock, embraced the sexual revolution and used drugs such as marijuana, LSD, and "magic mushrooms" to explore other states of consciousness. -
Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
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. Forrest Gump found himself in the view of cameras documenting the event. This illustrates how the governor wasn't in favor of desegregation. -
John F Kennedy
Forrest meets the President in Washington, D.C. to be congratulated when he is certified an All-American football player for his performance at the University of Alabama. Given free food and drink, Forrest drinks about 15 Dr. Peppers, so that when he is asked by the President on live television "How does it feel to be an All-American?" all he can think to say is "I got to pee". Forrest later speaks on President Kennedy's assassination, followed by that of his brother Robert Kennedy in 1968. -
The Black Panthers
In the movie, Jenny takes Forrest Gump to a meeting of the Black Panther Party. They believed all blacks deserved to be treated equally to whites in society. This group believed in violent protests. -
The 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. They do not realize the historic moment happening at the time. -
Smiley T-shirts
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. -
Ping Pong Diplomacy
The term comes from an incident when American Ping Pong player, Glenn Cowan missed his team bus during the 31st World Table Tennis Championship. He is forced to take the Chinese team bus where he talks with Zhuang Zhedong through an interpreter. After it was agreed that the American table tennis team would also be used for foreign affairs by playing with members of the Chinese team. This soon became known as Ping Pong Diplomacy. -
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. The Beatles were very famous in the pop culture world. Lennon was known for his rebellious nature and his criticism of the Vietnam War. -
Watergate Scandal
In the movie, Forrest Gump witnesses the Watergate Scandal from the Watergate hotel. The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970's which involved a break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Complex in Washington D.C. After investigating, it was found out that President Nixon was aware of this and that several members of the Committee to Re-elect the President had participated in this break-in. -
Hurricane Carmen
In the movie, the hurricane is noted for having destroyed 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. -
Apple
In the movie, Forrest Gump made a fortune in the shrimp industry. His friend and partner Lieutenant Dan invested part of the proceeds from shrimp sales in "some kind of fruit company," which was actually Apple Inc. -
Elvis Presley
In the movie, Elvis Presley comes to stay at the Boarding Home that the Forrest and his mother 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. -
HIV Outbreak
Jenny Curran a party girl her whole life. She most likely had many sexual partners throughout her adulthood. Jenny would later die of an unknown disease which is thought to have been HIV.
