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Indian Independence
The Indian Independence Act 1947 was as an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. -
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Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Blockade was during the occupation of post–World War II Germany and was one of the major international crises of the Cold War. The Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control was blocked by the Soviet Union. -
Creation of Israel
In May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the creation of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the nation on the same day. -
Formation of NATO
In 1949, the prospect of further Communist expansion prompted the United States and 11 other Western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). -
Formation of Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union and seven ot there European states sign a treaty establishing the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. -
Launch of Sputnik
The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I into space, an unmanned satellite. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, U.S. leaders and the Soviet Union engaged in a 13 day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, 90 miles from U.S. shores. -
Assasination of Egyptian President Sadat
On October 6, 1981, Armed Forces Day, Anwar el-Sadat was assassinated by Muslim extremists during a military parade commemorating the Yom Kippur War in Cairo, -
Tiananmen Square Protest
The Tiananmen Square protest was where students led popular demonstrations in Beijing which took place in the spring of 1989 and received broad support from city residents, exposing deep splits within China's political leadership. The protests were forcibly suppressed by hardline leaders who ordered the military to enforce martial law in the country's capital. -
Asasination of Israeli Prime-Minister
The Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rhabin was assasinated by an Israeli ultranationalist terrorist named Yigal Amir, strenuously opposed Rabin's peace initiative and particularly the signing of the Oslo Accords.
