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Timeline
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Stock Market Crashes
Known as "Black Tuesday", the economy tanks after the stock market crash that drops stock prices by nearly 30 points. source -
Breadline, New York
image sourceClare Leighton's wood engraving is created in 1932 to reflect the new desolate economic times. -
New Deal introduced by FDR
Elected following Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt introduces a New Deal to bring America back to its feet, starting with a 6 day bank holiday to help the ailing business. He creates several programs to help the American people with the New Deal. source -
Social Security created
FDR creates social security, a system that will help out the elderly and disabled.image source -
Nazi Blitzkreig (1939-1940)
Hitler uses the Blitzkrieg (lightning war) technique to take over several countries, including Poland and France. source -
US joins WWII after attack on Pearl Harbor
FDR formally declares war after the surprise attack on the US Naval Base Pearl Harbor the day before. source -
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Assembly Line (Home Front)
image sourceJolán Gross-Bettelheim's lithograph is created showing the new social changes that came with WWII. Women began doing more work in factories as men went off to war. -
Truman Doctrine announced
President Truman announces his doctrine that declares the US will aid Greece and Turkey to prevent them from falling under Soviet power.source -
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United States enters the Korean War (1950-1953)
The United Nations and the United States approve sending troops over to Korea for the war. Korea is ultimately split into totalitarian North and democratic South Korea.source -
1st Hydrogen bomb testing
The US drops a hydrogen bomb on the small Pacific island, Eniwetok. It destryoys the 3 mile island completely. source -
Eisenhower Doctrine
Created under President Eisenhower, the doctrine approves aid to Arab/Middle Eastern countries to prevent them from falling under communist rule. source -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
US supported Cuban anti-Castro forces land in the Bay of Pigs and are summarily overwhelmed by Castro forces. 1100 men are captured in an embarrassing defeat. source -
Cuban Missile Crisis
President Kennedy learns of Soviet missiles in Cuba and hostilies escalate as he tries to get them removed. Nuclear war is threatened several times before an agreement is tensely reached. source -
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US invasion of Cambodia
President Richard Nixon announces the invasion and garners public outrage. source -
US involvement in Vietnam removed
The US leaves the Vietnam War and South Vietnam falls to the communist North Vietnam. -
Nixon Watergate hearing
The Watergate scandal, where the Democratic National Committee's headquarters were broken into, is investigated. President Nixon receives 3 articles of impeachment by the House Judiciary Committee. source -
Hammer and Sickle
image source One piece from Andy Warhol's Hammer and Sickle series from 1976-1977. Created during the Cold War, it portrays two Communist symbols. -
Panama Canal treaties
President Jimmy Carter agrees to end US control over the Panama Canal by 2000, though still upholds the right to defend it as an internationally used waterway. source -
Iranian revolution & hostage crisis
Iranian rebels overthrow the US-backed governement and install their own leader. Angered by the US freezing funds to Iran, 66 Americans are taken hostage for over a year. source -
SALT II treaty with Soviet Union
President Jimmy Carter signs the Second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty with the Soviet Union, placing a cap on how many nuclear weapons can be had. -
The US invades Grenada
The US invades the Caribbean nation of Grenada to overthrow its Socialist government. source -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall dividing East and West Germany is torn down, symbolizing an end to the Cold War. source -
US invasion of Panama
The US invades Panama after a year of diplomatic relations goes nowhere. The invasion is widely condemned by the American public, but President Bush justifies it as a way to protect the neutrality of the Panama Canal and install a democratic government/ -
USSR dissolves
The Soviet Union collapses as its leader, Nikita Gorbrachev, resigns. He is replaced by elected President Boris Yeltsin.
