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Cold war conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces on Korean Peninsula.
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to the Constitution is ratified, limiting the president to two terms
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becomes the first black American professional softball player as an outfielder on the Admiral Music Maids of the National Girls Baseball League out of Chicago.
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becomes the first black player to comete at Wimbledon.Gibson also won the women’s doubles championship later in the day.
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The International Softball Federation is established to govern worldwide softball competition.
The first National Softball Week was declared for July 22 -
President Truman authorizes the seizure of United States steel mills in order to avert a strike, but his action is ruled illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 2.
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Pat McCormick becomes the first diver to ever win all five national championships. She took a gold in springboard diving and a gold in platform diving at the Helsinki Summer Games, as well. She also wins AAU's James E. Sullivan Memorial Award.
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The first meeting was held for the International Softball Federation, which would govern the sport around the world.
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At Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the first hydrogen bomb, named Mike, is exploded.
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General Dwight D. Eisenhower, a newcomer to politics, but popular due to his role in winning World War II as European commander, gains an easy victory over Democratic challenger Adlai E. Stevenson. The Electoral College vote was 442 to 89.
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President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower travels to Korea to try and end the conflict.
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The description of a double helix DNA molecule is published by British physicist Francis Crick and American scientist James D. Watson. They, along with New Zealand born scientist Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery in 1962.
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Fighting ceases in the Korean War. North Korea, South Korea, the United States, and the Republic of China sign an armistice agreement.
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The United States CIA assists in the overthrow of the government in Iran, and retains the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to the throne.
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The Cold War continues in earnest when President Dwight D. Eisenhower approves a top secret document stating that the U.S. nuclear arsenal must be expanded to combat the communist threat around the world.
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The first color televisions go on sale.
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Racial segregation in public schools is declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in Brown vs. the Board of Education. The ruling of the court stated that racial segregation violated the 14th Amendment's clause that guaranteed equal protection. The Monroe School in Topeka, Kansas had segregated Linda Brown in its classes.
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Ray Kroc founds the idea for the McDonald's corporation, agreeing to franchise the idea of Dick and Mac McDonald, who had started the first McDonald's restaurant in 1940 and had eight restaurants by 1954.
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The United States government agrees to train South Vietnamese troops.
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The Supreme Court of the United States orders that all public schools be integrated with deliberate speed.
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Disneyland, the brainchild of Walt Disney, whose father had worked at previous world's fairs and inspired his son to build the iconic Magic Castle and other exhibits, opens in Anaheim, California, with the backing of the new television network, ABC. Disneyland California remains today as one of the greatest theme park capitals of the world and some say is second only to his second park built some years later on the other side of the country, Disney World Florida.
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Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress, refuses to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, prompting a boycott that would lead to the declaration that bus segregation laws were unconstitutional by a federal court.
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The two largest American labor unions, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, merge to form the AFL-CIO, boasting membership of fifteen million.
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The first major world's fair since the end of World War II opens in Brussels, Belgium and evokes a Cold War debate between the pavilions of the Soviet Union and the United States.
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Alaska is admitted to the United States as the 49th state to be followed on August 21 by Hawaii.
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President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act
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Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, outlining the procedures for filling vacancies in the presidency and vice presidency
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Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.
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Richard Nixon is inaugurated as the 37th president
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our students are shot to death by National Guardsmen during an antiwar protest at Kent State University
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House Judiciary Committee recommends to full House that Nixon be impeached on grounds of obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress
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President Carter meets with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin at Camp David
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President Carter announces that U.S. athletes will not attend Summer Olympics in Moscow unless Soviet Union withdraws from Afghanistan
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Deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution passes without the necessary votes
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of Grenada after a coup by Marxist faction in the government
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Reagan's second inauguration
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space shuttle challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members (Jan. 28). It is the worst accident in the history of the U.S. space program. U.S. bombs military bases in Libya in effort to deter terrorist strikes on American targets
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Cngress holds public hearing in Iran-Contra investigation (May 5–Aug. 3). In a speech in Berlin, President Reagan challenges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall” and open Eastern Europe to political and economic reform
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george H. W. Bush is inaugurated as the 41st president (Jan. 20). Oil tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound, spilling more than 10 million gallons of oil
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Iraqi troops invade Kuwait, leading to the Persian Gulf War
