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Eisenhower is elected the 34th President of the United States and remains in office until 1961.
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American medical researcher Dr. Jonas Salk announces on a national radio show that he has successfully tested a vaccine against polio. His vaccine was later distributed to millions in 1955 and polio cases went down to below 6,000 the next year.
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The justices ruled that segregation the public schools was inherently unequal and unconstitutional. This case overruled the Plessy v. Ferguson case.
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Operation Wetback was created to prevent illegal immigration coming from Mexico and catch the the illegal immigrants - mostly in the states of California, Arizona, and Texas. Many illegal immigrants were captured and then sent back to Mexico.
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Walt Disney's Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California and today attracts approximately 14 million visitors a year. It is the only theme park designed and built under the direct supervision of Walt Disney.
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Hurricane Diane hit North Carolina and then moved northward and caused massive floods in the NE United States. It killed around 200 people and caused almost $1 billion in damages.
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This sparked the yearlong Montgomery Bus Boycott and began the modern Civil Rights Movement.
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Under the Eisenhower Doctrine, a country could request American economic assistance and/or aid from U.S. military forces if it was being threatened by armed aggression from another state.
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The United States admits approximately 35,000 refugees from Hungary after the 1956 Hungarian revolt.
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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was created in response to the Soviet Union's creation of Sputnik and was America's way of getting ahead in the Space Race.
