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Stock Market Crash
The day that the Stock Market crashed will forever be remembered as “Black Tuesday.” On this day, investors traded up over 10 million shares in one day, causing an outbreak on Wall Street. This new “golden age” was hit and so began the Great Depression. -
Roosevelt First Election
Franklin D. Roosevelt was a Democrat in the 1930s who was running against President Herbert Hoover in the 1932 Presidential Election. Roosevelt won by carrying 42 states whereas Hoover carried 6 states. A strong thought that Hoover caused/was blamed for the Great Depression helped Roosevelt to win the election. -
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CCC - Civilian Conservation Corps
The CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) was a relief program for the public in which young adolescent men to work and do manual labor jobs that were not that hard, but still helped throughout the chaos of the Great Depression. During this time, over 3 million men joined the CCC which also provided them many basic needs. -
STORY EVENT #1: Adolf Hitler Appointed Chancellor
Adolf Hitler took over Germany by speaking at many public speeches, where the audience quickly learned that he was superior to the President of Germany and that he truly wanted what was best for Germany. When Adolf Hitler was appointed as Chancellor, the German President was still “in control” and running the country. This event leads to the Book Burning that Hitler led later in 1933. -
STORY EVENT #2: Book Burning
As soon as Hitler came into reigning the country (over the President), he decided that any non-german books were unacceptable to own throughout the country. He orchestrated a book burning, where all books that went “against” the views of Hitler’s views were burned in fires on the streets. This led to the further ways that Hitler would run the country later. -
STORY EVENT #3: German President Dies
When the German President, Paul von Hindenburg, died, Hitler officially became the President of Germany and his reign of the country started. Before he became President, he had lost in 1932 in the Presidential Election against Hindenburg. Once Hitler became President, it led to him further abolishing it. -
STORY EVENT #4: Adolf Hitler Abolishes the Office of President
Hitler abolished the office of President on this date because he wanted to spread fear across the country - he did this becoming a dictator. He didn’t care for the needs of the people, but instead for the “needs” and “must-dos” of the country. He thought that by establishing fear throughout the country, more people would listen, follow, and worship him. This event led to the openings of concentration camps and death camps. -
Social Security Act
The Social Security Act was when it created Social Security, which was a “federal safety net” (Social Security Act, 2018) for many minorital Americans. Those who were unemployed, old, and economically struggling were supported by this act. -
FDR Court Packing Scandal
Parts of FDR’s “New Deal” had previously been rejected by the Supreme Court because they were unconstitutional. Later on, Roosevelt proposed that they expand the Supreme Court to 15 judges, in hopes that his New Deal would be good enough to be passed by them as well as other new laws. -
STORY EVENT #5: Buchenwald Concentration Camp Opens
Buchenwald was the largest concentration camp in Germany (Auschwitz was a death camp) and it was also one of the first ones to be built behind Dachau. Early Buchenwald consisted mostly of political prisoners until Kristallnacht (next event), when afterwards it became open to many Jews. -
HUAC Formed
The HUAC, also known as the House of Un-American Activities Committee was a committee of people in the House of Representatives who investigated and convicted many people of being communist during the Cold War. If convicted, you were put before Congress to testify or blacklisted so you wouldn’t be able to obtain any jobs in the future or lose your current one. -
STORY EVENT #6: Kristallnacht 11.9.1938
Kristallnacht, also known as the “Night of Broken Glass,” was a night where all of the anti-Jewish groups all went into the city and destroyed many Jewish stores, synagogues, & homes. Along with this, the Nazi people killed over 90 Jewish people in their homes and in the synagogues. This later led to Hitler expanding his reign and his views into new country, thus soon starting a second World War. -
Germany Breaks Munich Pact
The Munich Pact was a formal agreement between Germany, Britain, France, & Italy that allowed Germany to annex Sudetenland as long as that was the only place - they had to leave such countries like Poland alone. This pact was broken on September 30, 1938 when Germany invaded Poland, thus Britain declared war on Germany. -
STORY EVENT #7: Britain & France Declare War on Germany
Britain and France declared War on Germany because they invaded Poland after they signed the Munich Pact on September 29th, 1938. The Munich Pact was an agreement between Germany, France, and Britain and Germany promised to not invade any other territories as long as they could claim Sudetenland. The World War officially started after this, leading to the opening of many more concentration camps. -
STORY EVENT #8: Auschwitz Camp Built
Auschwitz was the largest death camp that was built in Germany at the time. It was very high-tech - surrounded by electrical barbed wires and fences all along the perimeter of the camp. The building of these concentration camps led to many new expansions (or attempts) of the German Territory into Eastern Europe. -
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Battle of Britain
As Germany started to grow during WWII, Britain’s own Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, kept spirits up and told his country that they will be able to fight off Germany. When Germany came to conquer, they failed to claim victory in the skies, which is what they needed to target many bases, posts, and the population. -
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STORY EVENT #9: Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the largest military invasion by the Axis Powers on the Soviet Union. The Axis Powers consisted of Germany, Japan, & Italy. This failed because the invasion was in the Soviet Union’s grounds - which during the time, there was a very harsh winter that the Soviets adapted to but the Axis Powers were not very able to adapt to this. This led to Japan also becoming very powerful at this time, which is how they bombed Pearl Harbor and brought the United States into the war. -
PERSONAL EVENT: Operation Reinhard
Operation Reinhard was the Germany's plan to commit murder towards over 2 million Jewish people who were resisting German rule in the Germany-occupied part of Poland. Another goal of the Germans was to find those Jews who were able to labor for long hours in concentration camps before they were killed as well. This is important because back home in America, many people were not acknowledging anything like this happening during this time. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was a U.S. naval base on the Oahu island in Hawaii. On December 12, 1941, a Japanese dive bomber, followed by 360 other Japanese planes, bombed the Harbor. From here, the U.S. declared war on Japan, thus being directly involved. Over 2,000 American soldiers and other military operants were killed. -
STORY EVENT #10: U.S. Declares War on Japan 12.8.1941
After the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, America decided it was finally time to join the war directly, as they had been helping the Allies beforehand. The United States joined in on December 8th, the day after Pearl Harbor and joined in on the Allied Powers. -
Operation Overlord/D-Day
The Battle of Normandy, France was a small battle that last for 3 months. This battle began on June 6th, which was called “D-Day.” Here, over 150,000 Allied forces flew and landed on several beaches in Normandy: this was called Operation Overlord. This resulted in the victory of the Allies liberating West Europe from Germany. -
FDR Dies/Truman President
President Franklin D. Roosevelt died after having served 4 terms as President. During WWII, FDR was a major help in fighting the war and keeping an atomic bomb hidden. When he died, his Vice President, Harry Truman, took over as President. When he was President, he wasn’t very aware of many things going on, which took him a while to get used to. -
Vietnam Day
Vietnam day is the day that Vietnam became an independent country. Before the Vietnam War, many countries, such as France and Japan had lots of power in Vietnam. After the war, it was concluded that Vietnam be its own separate country; they now celebrate Vietnam Day with many flags and celebrations around their civilizations. -
Nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima/Nagasaki
Prior to the bombing, the top-secret project that was in control of these two atomic bombs was named The Manhattan Project. This project tasked many engineers and physicists to build 3 atomic bombs, 2 of them changing the course of WWII. The bomb dropped in Hiroshima was the first one, and it killed over 80,000 people immediately. The bomb in Nagasaki was on September 9, 1945, a little bit smaller, and killed 40,000 people whereas the Hiroshima bomb killed 80,000. -
United Nations created
President FDR & Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill declared “international postwar peacekeeping organization” called the United Nations. After WWII, 51 countries had joined in hopes to maintain international peace/security throughout the war and not in war as well. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a declaration that declared economic and military aid to Greece & Turkey as the Soviet Union was expanding to the Mediterranean. This was during the Cold War, a series of wars that never resulted in the direct fighting between the Soviet Union and the United States. -
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Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was where U.S. planes would go above West Germany and drop supplies in West Berlin. Supplies consisted of food, water, medicine, blankets, and other essential needs that a citizen may need to help them survive. This was so important because people in West Berlin were treated very poorly where they didn’t get many of their essentials to living. -
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Korean War
The Korean War first started when over 70,000 North Korean soldiers crossed the 38t parallel - which separated North and South Korea - and started killing people. Back and forth fighting occured for 2 years at the 38th parallel and the United States was trying to help South Korea so that communism would not spread. The war ended up in a ceasefire, no treaty or anything was ever signed. -
Rosenberg Trials
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were two people who were accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Julius Rosenberg was part of the American Communist Party, and got blacklisted then fired from his job. On April 6, Ethel and Julius were sentenced to death. -
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Brown v Board of Education
Categorized as one of the “cornerstones of the civil rights movement,” the Brown v Board of Education helped to establish and enforce the theory that whites and blacks were equal, but still separate from each other. This meant that students of different colors were learning the same things and getting the same education, however, they were not learning it together in the same environment. -
PERSONAL EVENT: Lynching of Emmett Till
Emmett Till was 14 when he was taken from his home in Mississippi, where he was visiting family, by two white men to be beaten and brutally murdered. He was killed was b/c Till was "flirting" with a white woman. The men, four days later, brutally and killed him. He was later found in the Mississippi River but was too disfigured to even tell it was him afterwards. His mom wanted an open casket so that people could see. This event is important because from here on, this helped to shape the CRM. -
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Vietnam war (start to end)
The Vietnam War involved America because the U.S. wanted to contain communism and not let it spread. When leader Ho Chi Minh created the Vietcong, this startled many Americans. This war divided the U.S. into two halves: those who supported the war, and those who didn’t. In the end, the Vietnam War resulted in the taking out of U.S. troops from Vietnam, and a year later, the North Vietnamese communists gained control of South Vietnam. -
PERSONAL EVENT: Rosa Parks Arrested
Rosa Parks was a 42-year-old lady who sat down in the front of a integrated bus coming home from work. When a white man told her to move, she told him no. She was later arrested for not moving for this man. This is important because people across the country have learned about what Parks did for not only African American women, but also for all people who have dealt with segregation in the country. -
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PERSONAL EVENT: Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery bus boycott from 1955-1956 was a protest to show that inequality/segregation on public transportation buses is unacceptable and that black people were not here for it. They would walk everywhere instead of taking the bus or any other type of transformation to work, school, home, etc. -
Sputnik
On October 4th, the Soviets launched Sputnik to orbit the Earth. This initially started the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States. Many Americans were worried that since there was a Soviet satellite orbiting above them, the Soviets could hear everything they were saying and planning. -
Greensboro lunch Sit-ins
The Greensboro sit ins were many nonviolent protesting sit ins inside of restaurants. This occured due to white employees not serving the African American customers who sat at the countertops while dining. The protests got so bad that many African Americans were arrested or even beaten for sitting there. -
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Freedom Rides 5.4.1961 – 12.10.1961
Freedom Rides occurred for many months in Jackson, MI and they consisted of people who were against segregation and who wanted to “challenge” (nonviolently) the segregation that occurred on public transportation. -
Berlin Wall
During the Cold War, tensions over who was going to control what parts of Berlin were growing. On August 13, Eastern German authorities sealed off the passageway between East and West Berlin with a barbed wire. The Berlin wall started being built on August 15, when concrete that would rise to 15 feet was put down. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis first began when President JFK found out that there were Soviet missile bases in Cuba, and missiles pointed towards the Florida shores, less than 90 miles away. He set up an immediate meeting to discuss what was going on and what to do. Soviets and U.S. way later, came to an agreement that if the U.S. never invaded Cuba, then the Soviets would take their missiles out of Cuba. -
PERSONAL EVENT: MLK goes to a Birmingham jail
Protesting against white supremacy in Birmingham, Alabama, MLK and many others were arrested. While in jail, King wrote a letter. This letter was about why he was protesting against the law. He said “I am here because injustice is here,” meaning he was only put in jail so that white people could feel superior if they put an important figure in there. This is important to American History because people today even still read this speech and he was an important icon that got put in jail unjustly. -
March on Washington
On August 28, 1963, there was a huge protest march that occurred in Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. made a speech titled “I have a Dream.” The march was for hoping to gain equal freedom and jobs. This empowering speech that MLK gave gave great optimism to many people, in hopes that one day everyone of different race, ethnicity, and gender can all be equal. -
Assassination of JFK
John F. Kennedy was riding in the back of a convertible car next to his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, when he was shot in the head and in the neck. He was 46 years old and the man who shot him was Lee Harvey Oswald, a man who was a former U.S. Marine but discharged around 1959 when he tried to become a citizen in the Soviet Union. -
PERSONAL EVENT: Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act was where discrimination based on anything - race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity - was outlawed. This was passed so that segregation would be outlawed in public places: bathrooms, movie theaters, restaurants, etc. This is important because this was the official beginning of ending segregation in the United States. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
On August 2nd, 3 North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked the USS Maddox, killing many people, only to have another incident occur 2 days later, when the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy were both attacked off the coast of North Vietnam. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution allowed President Johnson to take all necessary measures in protecting the United States if any outside forces attacked it. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X was a minister and human rights activist who was the Islamic spokesman in the 1950s-1960s. He was shot in New York City while he was giving a speech about the Afro-American Unity in a ballroom. Growing up, threats from the KKK caused their family to move from Nebraska to Michigan so that his father could further his preaching. -
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Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was an American bombing “campaign” where air forces targeted cities all over North Vietnam and bombed them. This event is significant because it symbolized the first real attack on Northern Vietnam territory and helped America put pressure on the “expanding” communist regime in Vietnam. -
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Tet-offensive
For the majority of the time during the early dates of the Vietnam War, the United States and South Vietnam forces were dominating the North Vietnamese communists. However, the Tet-Offensive changed this. The Tet-Offensive was a sequence of unplanned and “blitz” attacks on 100+ cities in South Vietnam. After many U.S. soldiers and South Vietnamese troops died, the North Vietnamese claimed their victory for this and so began the departure of U.S. troops slowly. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4th, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee on the balcony of his motel room while about to prompt a protest. He was only 39 years old and died around 7pm that night. James Earl Ray was the man who shot King. -
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Woodstock
Woodstock was a music festival in upstate New York where it was named as “Three Days of Peace and Music.” This was an important event because the so-called “hippies” started to perform and become relevant with the Vietnam War, because all they wanted was peace throughout the world. -
Kent State
At Kent State University on May 4th, 4 college students were brutally killed when the Ohio National Guard shot at many people who were protesting the Vietnam War. This was important because the protest was led by many students and it ended up closing many campuses all over the United States.
