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GI Bill of Rights
Act conveying several benefits for World War 2 veterans; among these, low-cost mortgages, one year "severance package" (unemployment compensation), and paid tuition for university, to name a few. -
Period: to
Truman
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Potsdam Conference
Conference between US, USSR, UK; first conference attended by Truman; Stalin officially informed of atomic bomb (already knows about it through spies) -
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
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Atomic bombing of Nagasaki
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Japanese surrender, WWII ends
Tokyo subject to impressive air raid the day prior -
Churchill gives Iron Curtain speech
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HUAC investigates Hollywood personalities under pretense of Communism
Many Hollywood folks end up being blacklisted because of HUAC trials; as little as 10% pursue re-integration into the entertainment industry under a different name. (Jan 1 not real date; event happened throughout this year.) -
Truman Doctrine
States that US will provide financial, military, and political support to countries in jeapordy of becoming Communist, so long as their government is some form of democracy -
Taft-Hartley Act
Any strike threatening the health and safety of the people allow the president to call for an 80 day cooling-off period.
Vetoed by Truman, overrode by Congress -
UN supports formation of Israel
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Marshall Plan signed into law
States that the US will provide $12 billion to help reconstruct Europe. -
Israel formed
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NATO formed
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is essentially an alliance between the Allied countries in the Western Bloc Main concept behind the alliance is the idea that an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all NATO countries. -
Mao captures Peking, establishes PRC
PRC: People's Republic of China Non-Communist Chinese fled to now-Taiwan Formosa. -
North Korea invades South Korea
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Mossadeq nationalises British-held oil facilities in Iran
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Truman signs Mutual Security Act
Essentially a successor to the Marshall Plan, giving economic and military aid to countries allied with the US -
McCarran-Walter Act passed
Severely limited immigration from percieved communist areas of the world, to limit influx of communists to the US. -
Marshall Plan ends
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Period: to
Eisenhower
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Joseph Stalin kicks the oxygen habit
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Mossadeq overthrown in CIA funded coup
Replaced with Zahedi, a prime minister loyal to the Shah and not opposed to American influence. -
Viet Minh defeat French at Dien Bien Phu
French withdraws from southeast Asia -
Brown v Board
Overrules Plessy v Ferguson, in that deprecate schools are inherently unequal.
Leads to Little Rock. -
Warsaw Pact formed
Essentially the Communist version of NATO; alliance formed between USSR and satellite states. Same principle as NATO. -
Geneva Summit
Attending:
- President Eisenhower of US
- PM Eden of UK
- Premier Bulganin of USSR
- Khrushchev of USSR
- PM Faure of France -
Rosa Parks arrested
Triggers Montgomery Bus Boycott. -
Khrushchev begins De-Stalinization
Khrushchev delivers "On the Personality Cult and its Consequences" speech -
Browder v Gayle
Supreme Court decision rules segregated seating on buses unconstitutional.
Ends Montgomery Bus Boycott. -
Eisenhower Doctrine
US pledges protection to Middle Eastern states, should they seek it if they come under attack. -
Sputnik launch
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NASA formed
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Period: to
Kennedy
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Yuri Gagarin pilots Vostok 1; first man in space
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Bay of Pigs invasion, lasts to the 19th.
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Kennedy sets national goal: men on the moon
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Berlin Wall constructed
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Tsar Bomba detonated
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Cuban Missile Crisis
US and USSR inch very close to initiating WW3 when Khrushchev belays an order to turn around a ship. -
Moscow-Washington hotline set up
Primarily as a vector for as direct communication as possible in stressed times. -
Partial Test Ban Treaty
Essentially a nuclear non-proliferation treaty between the US, UK and USSR -
Kennedy assassinated, succeeded by Johnson
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Period: to
Johnson
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Johnson and Khrushchev cut back nuclear weapon production
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Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
North Vietnamese attack two American destroyers at the Gulf of Tonkin; leads to increased US involvement in Vietnam. -
US builds up military in South Vietnam, sustained bombing of North Vietnam.
-
US invades Dominican Rep. to prevent communist takeover
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Tet Offensive begins
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Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty opened for signature
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Period: to
Nixon
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US bombs Cambodia
-
Apollo 11 moon landing
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Vietnamization begins
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NPT enters into force
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War on Drugs press conference
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Khrushchev dies
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Nixon pays surprise visit to China
First US President to visit since PRC foundation. -
US ends involvement in Vietnam War
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Period: to
Ford
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Haile Selassie ousted by Marxist junta
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North Vietnam beats South Vietnam
South Vietnam falls with capture of Saigon, the two countries merge under a Communist government. -
Experimental Flight Apollo-Soyuz
First joint flight of NASA and the Soviet space program -
Mao kicks the oxygen habit
-
Period: to
Carter
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Carter gives speech regarding the US energy crisis
Encouraged energy conservation and wearing more clothes. -
Love Canal incident
Superfund law created in response to Love Canal neighbourhood seeing the consequences of being built upon a toxic waste landfill -
Carter and Brezhnev sign SALT II
-
Iran hostage crisis begins
52 American diplomats and citizens as hostages -
Period: to
Reagan
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Iran hostage crisis ends
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Caribbean Basin Initiative announced
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Reagan delivers Evil Empire speech
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Strategic Defense Initiative proposed
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Gorbachev becomes leader of USSR
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Chernobyl disaster
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"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" speech
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Gorbachev announces at UN that USSR will cease military activity in Eastern Europe