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With the Compromise of 1877 and the withdrawal of federal troops from the south, the Reconstruction period is marked to end. -
The US and Spanish go to war over Cuban independence. America defeats Spain, gaining control of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. -
Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated, spurring Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia. Because of alliances, this quickly turned into a global war. -
After the sinking of American ships by Germany and the interception of the Zimmerman Telegram, Woodrow Wilson declares US to war to "make the world safe for democracy". -
After a German surrender, the Treaty of Versailles is signed, which blames Germany for the whole war and puts them at significant economic pain. -
Women gain the right to vote in the US after decades of activism -
Overspeculation causes Wall Steet to collapse, banks aren't able to get people their money, and businesses begin to shut down, marking the beginning of the Great Depression. -
After the Treaty of Versailles, Adolf Hitler rises to power in Germany, allowing him to declare war on Poland, prompting Great Britain and France to go to war also, officially starting World War II -
While the US tries to remain neutral in the war, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. This results in an almost immediate declaration of war and America joins the Allied Powers. -
Japan surrenders to the Allied Powers following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Being the last of the Axis to surrender, this officially marked the end of the war. -
Not an actual war, but a geopolitical rivalry between the US and USSR, the Cold War was an arms race mixed with proxy wars and sabotage to prove one political view was superior. -
North Korea, backed by China and the Soviet Union invade South Korea, initiating a conflict and forcing allied countries to war. -
The US Supreme Court decides segregation in schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education, setting the Civil Rights Movement in motion. -
Martin Luther King Jr. gives his "I Have a Dream" speech to 250,000 people, demanding an end to segregation, equality for all races, and justice. This event was a huge point of the Civil Rights Movement -
Signed by president Lyndon B. Johnson, the Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
The US lands astronauts on the Moon, marking a major achievement in space exploration and declaring America winner of the Space Race. -
Symbolized the end of the Cold War and collapse of communist regimes across Europe. -
The Soviet hammer and sickle flag lowers for the last time, replaced by the Russian tricolor flag, officially marking the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War -
Terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijack four commercial airplanes, hitting the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Resulting in the death of 2,977 people, these attacks prompted a "War on Terrorism" from the US. -
After more than 100,000 cases in over 100 countries, COVID-19 is officially declared a pandemic by the WHO, putting the world into lockdown for months to come.