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In the early 20th century, America was flexing its economic and political muscle on the international stage. The era was defined by the temperance movement, Progressive-era activism, the sinking of the Titanic and World War I.
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Henry Ford introduced the Model T, the first affordable automobile that made car travel available to middle-class Americans. It revolutionized transportation and American industry through the use of assembly line production.
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British cryptographers deciphered a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman to the German Minister to Mexico, offering United States territory to Mexico in return for joining the German cause. This discovery helped draw the United States into World War I.
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Germany and the Allies signed an armistice in Compiègne, France, effectively ending the fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I. The ceasefire went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
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The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, officially granting women the right to vote. This victory ended almost a century of protest and agitation by the women's suffrage movement.
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Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight, flying the Spirit of St. Louis from New York to Paris. He became an instant international celebrity and a symbol of the aviation age.
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The U.S. stock market crashed, signaling the beginning of the Great Depression. Panic selling on Wall Street destroyed the wealth of many investors and led to a global economic downturn.
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Paul von Hindenburg named Adolf Hitler the Chancellor of Germany. This appointment allowed the Nazi party to begin dismantling democratic institutions and paving the way for the Third Reich.
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(Date refers to FDR’s first inauguration and the start of the "Hundred Days"). President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated a series of programs, public work projects, and financial reforms designed to lift the United States out of the Great Depression.
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Great Britain, France, and Italy agreed to allow Germany to annex the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in an attempt to appease Hitler and avoid war. The agreement is now synonymous with the failure of diplomatic appeasement.
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German forces bombarded Poland on land and from the air, prompting Britain and France to declare war on Germany two days later. This event marks the official beginning of World War II in Europe.
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It was the biggest and deadliest war in history, spanning six grueling years and involving countries in nearly every part of the world. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, World War II pitted the Allied forces (led by the United States, Great Britain and the U.S.S.R.) against the Axis powers (Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy). Explore the battles, key players and atrocities from the war and its impact on geopolitics and humankind today.
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Japanese forces launched a surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack killed over 2,400 Americans and led the United States to formally enter World War II the next day.
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Allied forces launched the largest amphibious invasion in history on the beaches of Normandy, France. This operation began the liberation of German-occupied France (and later Europe) from Nazi control.
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The United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to force a Japanese surrender. These are the only two instances of nuclear weapons being used in armed conflict.
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The United Nations officially came into existence when its Charter was ratified by the majority of signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council. Its primary aim was to maintain international peace and security after WWII.
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U.S. diplomat George Kennan sent an 8,000-word telegram from Moscow detailing his views on the Soviet Union and outlining the policy of "containment." This document became the basis for American strategy during the Cold War.
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established by the U.S., Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. It was the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere.
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The Soviet Union successfully tested its first atomic bomb (RDS-1) in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. This ended the U.S. nuclear monopoly and escalated the nuclear arms race.
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North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea, sparking a conflict that drew in the United Nations (led by the U.S.) and China. The fighting ended in an armistice in July 1953, but no peace treaty was signed.
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The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. This landmark decision overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson.
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(Date often cited as the official start by the U.S. government). A prolonged conflict between the communist government of North Vietnam (supported by the USSR and China) and South Vietnam (supported by the U.S.). The U.S. combat role ended in 1973, and Saigon fell in 1975.
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Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement.
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A 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning American ballistic missile deployment in Italy and Turkey and Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba. It is considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war.
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President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dallas, Texas. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president later that day aboard Air Force One.
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Following a reported confrontation between U.S. destroyers and North Vietnamese torpedo boats, Congress passed this resolution. It gave President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to increase U.S. military involvement in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war.
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NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon. Armstrong famously described the event as "one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."
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Five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. The ensuing scandal revealed abuses of power by the Nixon administration and led to his resignation.
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Facing almost certain impeachment for his role in the Watergate cover-up, Richard Nixon announced his resignation, becoming the first U.S. president to do so. He officially left office the following day, August 9.
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(Date marks the official switch to TCP/IP). ARPANET and the Defense Data Network officially changed to the TCP/IP standard, creating the modern "Internet" of connected networks. (Note: The World Wide Web, which made the internet user-friendly, was released publicly in August 1991).
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East German officials announced that citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin, leading crowds to dismantle the wall that had divided the city since 1961. This event symbolized the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the impending end of the Cold War.
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(1990–Present)
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Terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes, crashing two into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon, and one into a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and triggered the U.S. War on Terror.
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(Date marks the WHO declaration). The World Health Organization officially declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic. The event led to worldwide lockdowns, economic disruption, and major shifts in daily life.