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France joins the UN
France joins the UN -
US aircraft carriers attack Okinawa
US aircraft carriers attack Okinawa -
Liberation of Warsaw by Soviet troops
Liberation of Warsaw by Soviet troops -
FDR sworn-in for an unprecedented 4th term as president
FDR sworn-in for an unprecedented 4th term as president -
USSR captures Budapest, after 49-day battle with Germany
USSR captures Budapest, after 49-day battle with Germany, 159,000 die -
30,000 US Marines land on Iwo Jima
30,000 US Marines land on Iwo Jima -
Battle of Iwo Jima
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U.S. drops atomic bomb on Japan
World War II ends 8 days later -
Winston Churchill gives “Iron Curtain” speech in Missouri
tensions rise between United States and Soviet Union -
Baby Boom
record amount of births in a period of economic growth and increased consumerism leads to the most dominant and self-conscious generation in American history. -
Unveiling of Truman Doctrine
announcing the U.S. would do everything in its power to contain communism -
Marshall Plan enacted
providing American aid in rebuilding western and southern Europe, advances the Cold War significantly -
Berlin Airlift
Berlin Airlift shows American resolve against the spread of communism and Soviet aggression -
Creation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Creation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) -
China becomes communist
Republicans use event to paint Democrats as “soft on communism” -
Korean War
Korean War -
Senator Joseph McCarthy asserts he has list of communists in the State Department
Although he has no such list, McCarthy builds upon national fear of communism to make himself the nation’s most powerful individual. Eventually falls in 1954 after accusing the military of communist sympathies. Nonetheless, McCarthy defines the 1950s as a decade of suppression of left-leaning thought and action. -
U.S. tests hydrogen bomb
U.S. tests hydrogen bomb -
Release of The Day the Earth Stood Still
beginning of science fiction films standing in for American fears about the Cold War -
First rock and roll concert in Cleveland
First rock and roll concert in Cleveland -
Brown v. board of education
Black children were not permitted into a white public school; they had to go to another school for just black students. The black students got the same equipment, and where supposed to be treated as the white students where. -
American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) merge
signaling an end to the great period of American labor organizing. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The bus boycott happened in Montgomery, Alabama it was to oppose the policy of racial segregation on the local bus. December 1st Rosa Parks an African American lady was asked to move to the back of the bus for a white person could have her seat. At this she refused and the supreme court declared that laws requiring segrega -
President Eisenhower signs Interstate Highway Act
leading to massive government investment in road building and disinvestment in American downtowns and public transportation -
Freedom Rides
The first Freedom Ride took place on May 4, 1961 when seven blacks and six whites left Washington, D.C., on two public buses bound for the Deep South. They intended to test the Supreme Court's ruling in Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which declared segregation in interstate bus and rail stations unconstitutional.