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The Soviet Union's expansion in Eastern Europe and the Communist victory in China have impacted the U.S. by raising fear and paranoia about the spread of communism in the West. The first wave was sparked by the 1917 Russian Bolshevik Revolution (Under Russian Revolution), and the second wave was during the early Cold War, where McCarthyism became a period of intense anti-communist suspicion and political repression in the U.S. as a result of it.
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Japanese forces launched a surprise air raid on the U.S. naval base in Oahu, Hawaii. Leading the US's official entry into WWII. -
The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, which marked the end of WWII. An estimate of over 150k-246k civilians were killed. -
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North Vietnam (Supported by communist allies) and South Vietnam (Supported by anti-communist allies) went to war against each other. The U.S. intervened and prevented the communists from taking over, but left in 1973. This led to the Fall of Saigon, where North Vietnamese forces captured the capital of South Vietnam to finally unify Vietnam as a whole. This war also marked the first recorded footage of war broadcast on television, which led to the Hard Hat Riot against deployment. -
The space race between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) was to achieve dominance in spaceflight and to reach the Moon.
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Five men planted listening devices on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to expose Nixon's organized, massive cover-up about the Watergate break-in and attempted to use the CIA to block FBI investigations. This reveals the discussion of illegal hush money and weaponizing the Vietnam War and national security to justify it. -
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Childish Gambino (ft. Donald Glover and Ludwig Göransson) released a music video about a surreal satirical critique of American gun violence, racism, and the entertainment industry's role in distracting from chaos. -
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Apple agrees to pay $95 million to settle a class-action privacy lawsuit regarding unintended Siri usage between 2014 to 2024.
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The president of South Korea was arrested for trying to attempt to start an insurrection, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power. He made a brief, unconstitutional declaration of martial law, and it triggered an insurrection and rebellion probe. -
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The prime minister of Canada -
A wildfire burned around 57k acres or 90 miles of land. -
Trump faced the prospect of a prison sentence that would potentially lead up to his inauguration after a New York judge formally sentenced him for his felony conviction in his hush-money case. He could face 4 years in prison for 34 felony charges, except that the U.S. Constitution and practical considerations would mean impeding his presidency, so Trump would receive no jail time, no fines, and no probation. -
An OnlyFans creator, Bonnie Blue, went viral by claiming to sleep with over 1057 men in under 12 hours. -
The FDA announced an initiative to phase out synthetic dyes (Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, and Green 3) by the end of 2026. Certain states can enact a state ban, like West Virginia and California, banning Red 40 and other dyes that will take place later in 2027-2028. -
A 12-hour ban on TikTok was executed in the U.S. after concerns regarding its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. Lawmakers fear the Chinese government could access American user data or manipulate the app's algorithm for propaganda and disinformation. Before the ban, people flocked to RedNote after the ban until Jan. 20th, when Trump made an executive order to delay the ban by a 75-day delay extension to find a US buyer. -
The Gulf of Mexico was officially renamed the "Gulf of America" in the U.S. after an executive order signed by Pres. Trump. -
Pres. Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law on Nov. 19th, which required the Department of Justice to publish the files. The first batch was released in Dec. 19th, then later in 2026, there would be an addition of more documents to come. -
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