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Beginning of the Korean War
Interactive Map
Armed forces from communist North Korea smash into South Korea, setting off the Korean War. The United States, acting under the supervision of the United Nations, quickly sprang to the defense of South Korea and fought a bloody and frustrating war for the next three years. In the end, the country was permanently divided at the 38th parallel, resulting in North Korea and South Korea. -
Sputnik Launched
Sputnik Song
The successful launch of the satellite Sputnik by the Soviet Union in October 1957 shocks and frightens many Americans. As the tiny satellite orbited the earth, Americans reacted with dismay that the Soviets could have gotten so far ahead of the supposedly technologically superior United States. There was also fear that with their new invention, the Soviets had gained the upper hand in the arms race. -
Building of the Berlin Wall
In an effort to lessen the wave of refugees attempting to leave East Berlin, the communist government of East Germany begins building the Berlin Wall to divide East and West Berlin. Construction of the wall caused a short-term crisis in U.S.-Soviet bloc relations. The wall itself came to symbolize the Cold War. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Video on the Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis begins on October 14, 1962, bringing the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war. Photographs taken by a U-2 spy plane offered evidence that Soviet-made missiles in Cuba were now stationed 90 miles off the American coastline. The fact that the missiles were so close to major U.S hubs made this conflict all the more intense. -
JFK Assassination
Assassination in DallasIn Dallas, the Kennedys and Connallys waved at the large and enthusiastic crowds gathered along the parade route. As their vehicle passed the Texas School Book Depository Building at 12:30 p.m., Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired three shots from the sixth floor, fatally wounding President Kennedy and seriously injuring Governor Connally. Kennedy was pronounced dead 30 minutes later at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital. He was 46. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964 Passed
This act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, prohibited discrimination in public places. It also allowed for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. This document was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965 Passed
The Voting Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The act significantly widened the franchise and is considered among the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history. It eliminated humiliating practices like the "Grandfather Clause" and literacy tests. -
Dr. King is Assassinated
Martin Luther King Jr. is fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers’ strike and was on his way to dinner when a bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. King was pronounced dead after his arrival at a Memphis hospital. He was 39 years old. -
Roe v. Wade Passed
A Few Songs for Roe v. Wade
After two years of hearing evidence, the Court invalidated the Texas abortion law by a 7-2 vote. Using the same reasoning as the Griswold v. Connecticut decision, the majority of the justices maintained that a right to privacy was implied by the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments. No state could restrict abortions during the first three months, or trimester, of a pregnancy. -
Nixon's Resignation
Nixon's Resignation SpeechI
n his immediate wake, Nixon left a shattered and confused nation. The fallout from Watergate stripped the nation of its executive power and damaged the credibility of the U.S. Nixon proved himself to be a rather untrustworthy person. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
This was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the U.S. On this day, Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking more than sixty U.S. hostages. They were held hostage for 444 days. -
Glasnost and Perestroika
Limits of This Plan
Gorbachev realized that he had inherited significant problems. The USSR's citizens were struggling under their poor standard of living and lack of freedom. In response he created glasnost and perestroika or openness and reconstruction.
