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G.I. Bill
The G.I. Bill, also known as the Servicemen's Act of 1944, is a law that provided a range of benefits for returning WWII veterans. The benefits established hospitals, made low-interest mortgages available, granted stipends covering tuition & expenses for veterans attending college or trade schools. Due to what the act offered it was then signed on June 22,1944 by President Franklin D Roosevelt. To this day our current president has signed the Forever G.I. Bill into law, meaning we still have it. -
Atomic/ Hydrogen Weapons
In the 1940's there was a research & development program for the atomic/hydrogen bombs during the WWII, which was called The Manhattan Project. These atomic bomb occurred when an atom was separated & a hydrogen bomb was when hydrogen & helium are pressured in together to make an explosion. On August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb named Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, which was being tested by Truman.The explosion was huge, the city was destroyed, & tens of thousands of people were killed. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was a term that came from a speech that Winston Churchill gave on March 5,1946. The term was used to reference a boundary line that divided Europe into two areas from the end of WWII until the end of the Cold War. The two sides were under different controls. The Eastern part of Europe was under the control &influence of the Soviet Union, which no one knew what was going on behind the "curtain" on this side basically. While the Western part of Europe lived in political freedom. -
Period: to
Cold War
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Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American policy created to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. President Harry S. Truman first announced it to congress on March 12, 1947, but it was developed on July 12, 1948 when he pledge to contain Soviet threats to Greece and Turkey. Having the doctrine, Truman established that the United States would provide political, military & economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. -
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy was born in November 15, 1908. He died on May 2, 1957. Joseph McCarthy was a United States Republican Senator form the state of Wisconsin. He is famous for lending his name to McCarthyism, which was a period of intense anti-communism that occurred in America from 1948 to mid 1950s. In his second term as a senator in 1954, he turned his attention to "exposing" the communist infiltration. Leading him to keep his job but lose power, because during hearing he lost most of his allies. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was signed by Harry Truman in 1948. This plan was created, because the US wanted to help by offering finances to help Europe recover from WWII. The name of the plan came from the secretary of state George Marshall. The plan offered finances meaning that the U.S. gave over $13 billion in economic assistance to the Western European. As a result many nations were assisted greatly in their economic recovery. Leading it to an end in 1952, economies grew at an unprecedented rate. -
Rock n Roll
Rock n Roll was a form of American popular music that evolved in the 1950's out of rhythm & blues, country, jazz, gospel, & pop. It was originally "black" music, but then white people started listening to it. The American musical form characterized by heavy rhythms & simple melodies which spread worldwide having significant impacts on social dancing, clothing fashions, & expressions of protest. It became popular with teens & caused generational tensions due to it not being accepted at first. -
Period: to
1950’s
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Ike Turner
Ike Turner was born on November 5, 1931, in Clarksdale, Mississippi. In 1956, he met a teenager & singer named Anna Mae Bullock. He married her & helped create her stage persona, Tina Turner. The two became the Ike & Tina Turner Revue & created several R&B hits. The duo's cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" earned them their first & only Grammy Award in 1971. Their last hit together was in 1973. Turner then died of cocaine overdose on December 12, 2007,in San Marcos, California. -
Bill Haley & the Comets
Bill Haley & his comets were known as an American rock & roll band, which was founded in 1952. The band was also known as Bill Haley & His Comets or even Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group placed nine singles in the Top 20, one of those a number one & three more in the Top Ten. Bill Haley & His Comets also signed with Decca Records & recorded "Rock Around the Clock", the first of many hits. The Rock & roll band had then came to an end when Bill Haley passed away in 1981. -
Eisenhower's Election
The Eisenhower election, which was held on November 6,1956. In this election he ran for re-election, & the election was a re-match of the election in 1952. In 1952, the Republican party nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower to be its candidate for President. Just four years earlier, the liberal Americans for Democratic Action had tried to draft Eisenhower to replace Truman on the Democratic ticket in 1948. But as Eisenhower's opponent in 1956 was Adlai Stevenson, he had defeated him four years earlier. -
Fair Deal
A " fair deal " is what President Harry Truman called his plan. He announced it in a speech on January 5, 1949. His Fair Deal recommended that all Americans have health insurance, that the minimum wage be increased, & that, by law, all Americans be guaranteed equal rights. The Fair Deal built on the New Deal of President Roosevelt & would represent the last major attempt by the Executive Branch to create new federal social programs until President Lyndon B Johnson proposed the Great Society. -
Polio Vaccine
On March 26, 1953, American medical researcher Dr. Jonas Salk announces on a national radio show that he has successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes the crippling disease of polio. In 1952,an epidemic year for polio, there were 58,000 new cases reported in the United States, & more than 3,000 died from the disease. For promising eventually to eradicate the disease, Dr. Salk was celebrated as the great doctor benefactor of his time for making the Polio vaccine. -
Domino Theory
The domino theory was a Cold war policy that suggested a communist government in one nation would quickly lead to communist takeover in neighboring states, each falling like a perfectly aligned row of dominoes. This policy was first used by president Eisenhower on April 1954 in Southeast Asia. He was concerned about global communism. In fact, America failed to prevent a communist victory in Vietnam. With the exception of Laos & Cambodia, communism failed to spread throughout Southeast Asia. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a landmark 1954 Supreme Court case in which the justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. Brown v. Board of Education was one of the cornerstones of the civil rights movement, which helped establish the “separate-but-equal” education & other services were not, in fact, equal at all. But even after the supreme courts decision it didn't achieve school desegregation completely on its own. -
Period: to
Civil Rights
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Dr. Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk was born in New York City, he attended New York University School of Medicine. In 1955, he became a worldwide hero for developing the first effective polio vaccine. When the vaccine was introduced, polio was considered one of the most frightening health problems in the world. Polio is a deadly infectious disease that spreads from person to person & can invade person’s brain & spinal cord, causing paralysis. He then also established the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in 1963. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott began due to Rosa Parks, an African American woman, who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus. She was arrested & fined. Because of that four days later African Americans refused to ride city buses to protest segregated seating, which took place from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956, & is regarded as the first large-scale demonstration against segregation. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War started in November 1, 1955 & ended in April 30, 1975. It was fa war fought between communist of North Vietnam & South Vietnam. The North was supported by communist countries like China & the Soviet Union. The South was supported by anti-communist countries like the United States. The war end up lasting for 20 years. Which then resulted with the United States losing Vietnam. Not only did they lose the war & Vietnam, but the US also had lost prestige in the eyes of the world. -
Little Richard
Little Richard Wayne Penniman was born on December 5, 1932, in Macon, Georgia. He was an American recording artist, songwriter, & musician who was one of the early creators of rock n roll music. He helped define the early rock ‘n’ roll era of the 1950s with his driving, flamboyant sound. With his croons, wails & screams, he turned songs like “Tutti-Frutti” & “Long Tall Sally” into huge hits and influenced such bands as the Beatles. He then later went to bible college & became a church preacher. -
Albert Sabin
Albert Sabin a Polish American was born on August 26,1906. He was medical researcher, best known for developing the oral polio vaccine which has played a key role in nearly eradicating the disease. Sabin & other researchers, most notably Jonas Salk in Pittsburgh & Hilary Korzybski & Herald Cox in New York City & Philadelphia, sought a vaccine to prevent the illness. His vaccine contained weakened forms of strains of polio viruses & is still used today worldwide to eradicate acute poliomyelitis. -
Emmett Till
Emmett Till was born in 1941 in Chicago & grew up in a middle-class black neighborhood. He had went to visit relatives in Money, Mississippi, in 1955. While he was there he was accused of whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a white woman. At this time segregation was a big issue. Four days after the incident, her husband Roy & is half brother J.W. Milam kidnapped Till. They beat him & shot him in the head. Due to his murder his mother asked for his casket to be opened to show what Jim Crow causes. -
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi. Elvis came from very humble beginnings & grew up to become one of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll. Not only was he a musician making his own music, but he was also an actor. By the mid-1950s, he appeared on the radio, television & the silver screen. On August 16, 1977, at age 42, he died of heart failure, which was related to his drug addiction. Since his death, Presley has remained one of the world's most popular music icons. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913 & died on October 24, 2005. She was a Civil Rights Activist who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated Montgomery bus. Leading to a 381 day Montgomery Bus Boycott that helped launch nationwide efforts to end segregation of public facilities. The city of Montgomery had no choice, but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. She then received many accolades during her lifetime, including the NAACP's highest award. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine black students who enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957. Their attendance at the school was a test of Brown v. Board of Education. On the first day of school at Central High, Governor Orval Faubus called in the Arkansas National Guard to block the black students entry into the school. Later that month, President Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the Little Rock Nine into the school. -
Civil Right Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was introduced in Eisenhower’s presidency & was the result of sending Congress a proposal for civil rights legislation. The act didn't create new rights, but it established the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department & empowered federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions against interference with the right to vote. It also established a federal Civil Rights Commission with authority to investigate discriminatory conditions & recommend corrective measures. -
John Glenn
John Glenn was born on July 18,1921 in Cambridge,Ohio. In 1959 Glenn, a Marine pilot was selected for Project Mercury astronaut training. He then became a backup pilot, who made the first two U.S. suborbital flights into space. He was then selected for the first orbital flight, & in 1962, aboard Friendship 7, he made three orbits around Earth. After his service in the U.S. Marine Corps & NASA, he went on to serve as U.S. Senator from his home state. He died on December 8, 2016 at the age of 95. -
LSD
LSD or "Acid", is famous for its role in the 1960s counterculture movement, is a colorless, odorless, & slightly bitter tasting drug. It was popularized by individuals, such as psychologist Timothy Leary, who encouraged American students to “turn on, tune in, & drop out.” Creating an entire counterculture of drug abuse & spread the drug from America to the United Kingdom & the rest of Europe. Even today, use of LSD in the United Kingdom is significantly higher than in other parts of the world. -
Anti-War Movement
The anti war movement in America began in the Cold war era. The movement was composed of leftist college students, pacifist religious groups, peace activists, & citizens of all ages. All these people were united by one thing, which was their strong opposition towards the Vietnam war. Leaders of the antinuclear movement included widely recognized professionals such as Dr. Benjamin Spock. The antinuclear movement, in effect, was believed to have started up the arguments of the anti war movement. -
Peace Corps
In 1960, John F. Kennedy, proposed to the University of Michigan, to help the developing countries, by promoting peace. He encouraged them to go to needy countries & give them aid, financially, educationally, & physically. They tried to help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men & women. Also they tried to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served. This spurred an evolution in the form of volunteering around the world. -
New Frontier
The term New Frontier was used by liberal Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech in the 1960 United States presidential election. The phrase developed into a label for his administration's domestic & foreign programs. He promised to revitalize the stagnant economy & enact reform legislation in education, health care, & civil rights. The New Frontier offered new paths into science, space, & social issues that Kennedy intended Americans to explore & conquer. -
Period: to
1960’s
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Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King was a social activist, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. Through his activism & inspirational speeches he played a role in ending legal segregation of African-American citizens, as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 & the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964,& is remembered as one of the most influential & inspirational African-American leaders in history. -
Warren Commission
The Warren Commission was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through Executive Order 11130 on November 29, 1963 to investigate the assassination of United States President JFK that took place on November 22, 1963. The U.S. Congress passed Senate Joint Resolution 137 authorizing the Presidential appointed Commission to report on the assassination of President JFK, mandating the attendance & testimony of witnesses & the production of evidence concerning the infraction occurring in Dallas. -
Assassination of JFK
John F Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 at 12:30 p.m Central Standard Time in Dallas, Texas while riding in a motorcade in Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while he was riding with his wife, Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, & Connally's wife, Nellie, in a presidential motorcade. A ten-month investigation by the Warren Commission from November 1963 to September 1964 concluded without absolute proof that Oswald acted alone in shooting Kennedy. -
Jack Ruby
Jacob Rubenstein, also known as Jack Ruby, was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 25, 1911. Jack Ruby, a nightclub owner, shot & killed Lee Harvey Oswald in the Dallas Police Headquarters on November 24, 1963, two days after Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy. The incident was broadcasted live nationwide on television. He was arrested immediately after the shooting, & told several witnesses that Oswald's death would spare "Mrs. Kennedy the discomfiture of coming back to trial." -
The Great Society
The Great Society was an ambitious series of policy initiatives, legislation & programs spearheaded by President Lyndon B. Johnson with the main goals of ending poverty, reducing crime, abolishing inequality & improving the environment. In May 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson laid out his agenda for a “Great Society” during a speech at the University of Michigan. With his eye on re-election that year, Johnson set in motion his Great Society, the largest social reform plan in modern history. -
Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 2, 1909. In his early years before embarking on a political career he ran his family’s department store. In 1952, he ran as a Republican for a seat in the United States Senate, & won. He served in the senate for 30 years, gaining recognition for his fiscal conservatism. Goldwater ran again in the 1964 campaign for the presidency, but lost to Lyndon B. Johnson in unprecedented landslide. He died in Paradise Valley, Arizona, on May 29, 1998. -
Daisy Girl Ad
"Daisy Girl", was a controversial political advertisement aired on television during the 1964 U.S. presidential election by president Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign. It was a 60-second TV ad that changed American politics forever. A 3-year-old girl counted as she plucked daisy petals in a sun-dappled field. Her words were supplanted by a mission-control countdown followed by a massive nuclear blast in a classic mushroom, meaning if they vote for Barry Gold Water little girls will be nuked. -
Space Race
After WWII coming to an end, a new conflict began. Known as the Cold War, this battle was between two great powers, the capitalist United States & the communist Soviet Union. In the late 1950s, space became another dramatic arena for this competition, as each side tried proving the lead of its technology, its military firepower & its political-economic system. The U.S. & U.S.S.R. competed of who will land on the moon first. Resulting with the U.S. landing first in 1957 & the race ending in 1975. -
Selma March
The Selma march was part of the civil-rights protests that occurred in 1965 in Alabama. In March of that year, an effort to register black voters in the South, protesters marched from Selma to Montgomery, were they faced deadly violence from local authorities & white groups. As the world watched, protesters achieved their goal, and reached Montgomery. This march, & Martin Luther King participation in it, raised awareness of difficulties faced by black voters, & the need for a Voting Rights Act. -
Voting Rights of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to overcome legal barriers that prevented African Americans their right to vote as granted by the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The act banned the use of literacy tests, provided federal oversight of voter registration, & authorized the U.S. attorney general to investigate the use of poll taxes in state & local elections. Making this act one of the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation. -
Cesar Chavez
Cesar Chavez was born near Yuma, Arizona, on March 31, 1927. He was an activist who worked as a community & labor organizer in the 1950's. He began utilizing nonviolent means to bring attention to the plight of farmworkers, & formed both of the National Farm Workers Association, which later became United Farm Workers. As a labor leader, he led marches, called for boycotts & went on several hunger strikes. It is believed that Chavez's hunger strikes contributed to his death on April 23, 1993. -
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government for environmental protection. President Richard Nixon proposed the EPA & began it's operation on December 2, 1970. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House & Senate. The agency is led by its Administrator, which the current one was Scott Pruitt. Under President Obama, the EPA began to impose regulations of carbon emissions from cars & power plants. -
Period: to
1970’s
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Watergate Hotel
The Watergate Hotel was built between 1963 & 1971. Its mainly known for a scandal that occurred On June 17, 1972. Several burglars were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate complex of buildings in Washington, D.C. that day. The prowlers were connected to President Nixon’s reelection campaign, & they had been caught wiretapping phones & stealing documents. Nixon took steps to cover up the crime afterwards, then leading him to resign in 1974. -
Nixon's Tape
The Nixon White House tapes are audio recordings of conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon & Nixon administration officials, Nixon family members, & White House staff, produced between 1971 & 1973. These recordings played a leading role in the resignation of the 37th president on August 9, 1974. They remain perhaps the greatest treasure of information ever left by a president, as well as most complex. However, today the recordings remain relatively unexplored on non-Watergate topics. -
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a program that aims to provide a framework to conserve & protect endangered & threatened species & their habitats. The lead federal agencies for implementing this act are the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) & the U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service. The Fish & Wild Service maintains a worldwide list of endangered species. Species include birds, insects, fish, reptiles, mammals, crustaceans, flowers, grasses, & trees. -
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation, founded in 1973, is an American conservative public policy think tank based in Washington, D.C. The foundation took a role in the conservative movement during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose policies were taken from Heritage's policy study Mandate for Leadership. Its stated mission is to formulate & promote public policies based on the principles of "free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, & a strong national defense." -
General Ford's Presidency
Gerald Ford was the 38th President of the United States. He was in office from August 9,1974 to January 20,1977. Before his accession to the presidency, he served as the 40th Vice President of the United States from December 1973 to August 1974. Ford is the only person to have served as both vice president & president without being elected to either office. His 895 day long presidency is the shortest in U.S. history for any president who did not die in office. He then passed away in 2006. -
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter was born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. Jimmy Carter was a white man who would refuse to join any segregationist group. He was the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He also served as the nation's chief executive during a time of serious problems at home & abroad. Carter's perceived mishandling of these issues led to defeat in his bid for reelection. He then later turned to diplomacy & advocacy, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002. -
The Moral Majority
The Moral Majority was an American political organization that was associated with the Christian right & Republican Party. The organization was formed in response to the social & cultural transformations that occurred in the 1960"s & 70's. It was first founded in 1979 by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell & associates. The group of moral majority played a significant role in the 1980 elections through its strong support of conservative candidates. Later on it then came to an end in the late 1980's. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 American hostages. The cause of this was President Jimmy Carter’s decision to allow Iran’s deposed Shah, a pro-Western who'd been expelled from his country, to come to U.S. for cancer treatment. However, the hostage taking was for more than his medical care: it was a dramatic way for student revolutionaries to declare a break with Iran’s past & an end to American interference in its affairs. -
Three Mile Island
Three Mile Island is the site of a nuclear power plant in south central Pennsylvania. In March 1979, a series of mechanical & human errors at the plant caused the worst commercial nuclear accident in U.S. history. Resulting in a partial meltdown that released dangerous radioactive gasses into the atmosphere. Also resulted in higher costs & longer construction times for new nuclear plants. Since then public feared of the incident & no new nuclear power plants have been built in the United States. -
Election of 1980
The election of 1980 occurred on November 4,1980. It was a presidential election was a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter & his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent. Reagan, aided by the Iran hostage crisis & a worsening economy at home, won the election in a landslide. Carter then attacked Reagan as a dangerous right-wing radical. For his part, Reagan, repeatedly ridiculed Carter, & won a decisive victory. -
Home Video Game Systems
Home video game systems were video game devices that were primarily used for home gamer's, as opposed to in arcades or some other commercial establishment. Home consoles were a type of video game consoles, in contrast to the handheld game consoles which are smaller & portable, allowing people to carry them & play them at any time or place, along with micro-consoles & dedicated consoles. During the 1980's other companies released video consoles, but then having a sever crash in the late 1980's. -
Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson was born on April 8, 1946. Johnson founded Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 1979 with his wife, Sheila. It was launched in January 1980, in 1991, BET became the first African American-owned company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. He became the first African-American billionaire after selling the network to Viacom in 2001. Johnson has since started a new business, the RLJ Companies, & has invested in an NBA team, a film company, & political causes & campaigns. -
Period: to
1980’s
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Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagen served as the 40th U.S. president from 1981 to 1989. Reagen was raised in a small-town Illinois were he became a Hollywood actor in his 20s. He later served as the Republican governor of California from 1967 to 1975. Then he became a popular two-term president. He cut taxes, increased defense spending, negotiated a nuclear arms reduction agreement with the Soviets & is credited with helping to bring a quicker end to the Cold War. He then died from Alzheimer's at the age of 93. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor was born in El Paso, Texas, on March 26, 1930. In her early years after studies she struggled finding a job due to being a women. But she was then elected to two terms in the Arizona state senate. In 1981 Ronald Reagan nominated her to the U.S. Supreme Court. She received unanimous Senate approval, & made history as the first woman justice to serve on the nation's highest court. She was a key swing vote in many important cases, but then retired in 2006 after serving 24 years. -
MTV
MTV is an American cable,& satellite television channel owned by Viacom Media Networks & headquartered in New York City. It Launched on August 1, 1981, the channel originally aired music videos. In its early years, MTV's main target demographic was young adults, but today it is towards teenagers, particularly high school & college students. MTV has toned down its music video programming significantly in recent years, & its programming now consists mainly of original reality, comedy & drama. -
Space Shuttle Program
The Space Shuttle Program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew & cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official name, Space Transportation System, was taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. NASA's space shuttle flew 135 missions,a few were Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis & Endeavour. -
A.I.D.S. Crisis
The AIDS epidemic began in illness & death as the world faced a new & unknown virus. In 1981, cases of a rare lung infection, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) were found in five young gay men in Los Angeles. There was also reports of men in New York & California with an unusual aggressive cancer, Kaposi’s Sarcoma. In December 1981, the first cases of PCP were reported in people who inject drugs. By the end of the year, there were 270 reported cases of severe immune deficiency among gay men. -
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) " Star Wars"
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as Star Wars, was a program initiated in 1983 under President Ronald Reagan. The intent of this program was to develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries, specifically the Soviet Union. With the tension of the Cold War, the SDI was the U.S. response to possible nuclear attacks from afar. The SDI required extremely advanced technological systems, yet to be researched & developed. -
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey philanthropist, was born in the rural town of Kosciusko, Mississippi, on January 29, 1954. In 1976, she moved to Baltimore, where she hosted a television chat show, People Are Talking. Afterward, she was recruited by a Chicago TV station to host her own morning show. She later became the host of her own, wildly popular program, The Oprah Winfrey Show, which aired for 25 seasons, from 1986 to 2011. That same year, Winfrey launched her own TV network, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). -
Period: to
1990’s
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Reagan Doctrine
The Doctrine was a strategy orchestrated & implemented by the U.S. under the Reagan Administration to overwhelm the global influence of the Soviet Union in an attempt to end the Cold War.In his 1985 state of the union address, President Reagan pledged his support for anti-Communist revolutions in what would become known as the "Reagan Doctrine." In Afghanistan, the United States was already providing aid to anti-Soviet freedom fighters, ultimately, helping to force Soviet troops to withdraw. -
Rodney King Incident
Rodney King was a taxi driver who became internationally known after being beaten by Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991. A witness, George Holliday, videotaped much of the beating from his balcony, & sent the footage to local news station KTLA. The footage shows four officers, several of them striking him repeatedly, while other officers stood by. The officers were later tried in a state court for the beating, three were acquitted & the jury failed to reach a verdict for the fourth. -
Election of 1992
The United States presidential election of 1992 was the 52nd quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1992. The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush; Democrat Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, & independent Texas businessman Ross Perot. Democratic Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated Republican President George H. W. Bush, Ross Perot of Texas,& a number of minor candidates. -
George H. W. Bush
George Bush is an American politician who was the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. A member of the Republican Party, he was previously a congressman, ambassador, & Director of Central Intelligence. He is the oldest living former President & Vice President. Since 2000, he's often referred to as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush 41", "Bush the Elder", or "George Bush Senior" to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who was the 43rd President of the United States. -
World Trade Center Attack
The World Trade Center attack was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, carried out on February 26, 1993, when a truck bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The 1,336 pounds urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device was intended to send the North Tower (Tower 1) crashing into the South Tower (Tower 2), bringing both towers down & killing tens of thousands of people. It failed to do so, but it killed six people & injured over a thousand of them. -
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton was born on October 26,1947, in Chicago,Illinois. She married Bill Clinton in 1975 & served as first lady from 1993 to 2001. She served as U.S. senator from 2001 to 2009. She planned to run for the presidency, but Barack Obama won. Obama appointed her as secretary of state. She was sworn as part of his cabinet in 2009 & served until 2013. In 2015, she decided to run again,& became the first woman in US history to become the presidential nominee of a major political party. -
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton was the 42nd U.S. president, & served in office from 1993 to 2001. Prior to that, the Arkansas native & Democrat was governor of his home state. During his time in the White House, America enjoyed an era of peace & prosperity, marked by low unemployment, declining crime rates & a budget surplus. Clinton appointed a number of women & minorities to top government posts. In 1998, Clinton was impeached with charges related to a sexual relationship he had with a White House intern. -
Welfare Reform
President Bill Clinton twice vetoed the welfare reform bill put forward by Newt Gingrich & Bob Dole. On August 22, President Clinton signed into law "The Personal Responsibility & Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996," a welfare reform plan that will dramatically change the nation's welfare system into one that requires work in exchange for time-limited. He fulfilled his campaign promise to "end welfare as we have come to know it". Changing it with food stamps, child care & medicaid. -
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of the Marriage Act was passed by Congress in 1996. The act prohibited married same-sex couples from collecting federal benefits. It was overruled on June 26, 2015 by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. This ruling cited the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, concluding that a denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples is unconstitutional. However many states & companies extended benefits to same sex partners & many states legalized same sex marriages -
Lewinsky Affair
The Lewinsky Affair was an American political sex scandal that involved President Bill Clinton & Monica Lewinsky. The sexual relationship took place between 1995 & 1996 & came to light in 1998. Clinton ended a televised speech with the statement that he didn't have sexual relations with Lewinsky. Further investigation led to charges of perjury & led to the impeachment of President Clinton. He was acquitted on all impeachment charges of perjury & obstruction of justice in a 21-day Senate trial. -
Election of 2000
The Election of 2000 was the 54th presidential election. It was held on November 7, 2000. The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas & son of former president George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) , & Democratic candidate Al Gore. The election hinged on results from the state of Florida, where the vote was so close to mandate a recount. The outcome of the election was decided by the US Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore. -
Period: to
Contemporary
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No Child Left Behind Education Act
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a re-authorization of the Elementary & Secondary Education Act. NCLB set high standards & accountability for student achievement to make sure that all children are caught up to 21st century learning. NCLB is Federally Funded, spending more money on education than ever before. Spending more than a million dollars a year on a program to teach children how to read. They also funded low income families. -
Patriot Act
The Patriot act was signed by George W. Bush. This act was an anti-terrorism law made in response to the attacks on the Pentagon & World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The USA PATRIOT Act, as it is officially known, is an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept & Obstruct Terrorism.” Bush hoped the bipartisan legislation would empower law enforcement & intelligence agencies to prevent future terrorist attacks on American soil. -
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was the costliest natural disaster & one of the five deadliest hurricanes in history of the United States. The storm is currently ranked as the third most intense United States landfalling tropical cyclone, behind only the 1935 Labor Day hurricane & Hurricane Camille in 1969. Overall, at least 1,245 people died in the hurricane & subsequent floods, making it the deadliest United States hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. Total property damage was about $108 billion. -
Barack Obama
Barack Obama was born in Honolulu in 1961. Growing up he didn't know much of his dad, & his mother left him for his safety so he lived with his grandparents. He attended Colombia University, & went on to become President of the Harvard Law Review & a U.S,. senator representing Illinois. In 2008, he was elected as President of the United States. Do to that, he became the first African-American commander in chief. Obama served two terms as the 44th president, because he was reelected in 2012. -
American Recovery & Reinvestment Act
The ARRA, was intended to create jobs & promote investment & consumer spending during the recession that followed the financial collapse in 2008. No Republicans in the House & only 3 Republicans in the Senate voted for this bill, arguing against the massive growth in federal spending. Three of the main goals of the ARRA was to create new jobs & save existing ones, to spur economic activity & invest in long-term growth, & to foster more accountability & transparency in government spending. -
Sonya Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor was born on June 25, 1954, in the Bronx borough of New York City. Her desire to be a judge was first inspired by the TV show Perry Mason. She struggled to get higher education due to her mother being a single mother. But Sonia manged to graduate from Yale Law School & passed the bar in 1980. She became a U.S. District Court Judge in 1992 & was elevated to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 1998. In 2009, she became the first Latina Supreme Court Justice in U.S. history. -
The Great Recession
The Great Recession was a global economic downturn that devastated world financial markets as well as the banking & real estate industries. The crisis led to increases in home mortgage foreclosures worldwide & caused millions of people to lose their life savings, their jobs & their homes. It’s considered as the longest period of economic decline since the Great Depression. It was most pronounced in the US, & in Western Europe, which it originated as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis. -
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act ,also known as A.C.A. ,is a law consisting of two pieces of legislation that are collectively referred to as "Healthcare Reform" or "Obamacare". It was set up to expand health insurance coverage to an estimated 32 million uninsured Americans and strengthen existing coverage. A few of the things that ACA did was increase benefits & lower costs for consumers, provide new funding for public health & prevention, bolster health care & public health workforce & infrastructure. -
Bush V. Gore (SCOTUS case)
In Bush v. Gore, a divided Supreme Court ruled that the state of Florida's court-ordered manual recount of vote ballots in the 2000 presidential election was unconstitutional. The Florida Supreme Court's recount order was unconstitutional because it granted more protection to some ballots than others, violating the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. This meant that for future elections, another president could ¨luck out¨ like in George Bush´s case, or get ¨screwed over¨ like Al Gore did.
