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This concept was introduced to the public in this year when Charles Darwin published a book called, "On the Origin of Species". Survival of the fittest is the idea that beings most suited to their environment are the ones that will live on and reproduce. This idea took hold in the US, being interpreted to apply to obtaining wealth. https://www.britannica.com/science/survival-of-the-fittest -
The Sand Creek Massacre was a particularly brutal event where a group by the name of "The Colorado Volunteers" killed and scalped Native Americans. Around 400 were killed, mostly consisting of women, children, and the elderly. https://www.nps.gov/sand/learn/historyculture/index.htm -
Governor of California Leland Stanford completed the first transcontinental railroad by tapping a ceremonial gold spike with a mallet. From then on, the Central Pacific Railroad was connected to the Union Pacific Railroad. https://news.stanford.edu/2019/05/08/first-transcontinental-railroad-stanford-forever-linked/ -
This timeline covers the history of the United States. It goes from 1877 to 2011.
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While the automobile in whole cannot be credited to one individual, Karl Benz invented the first practical one. It was powered by an internal-combustion engine. https://www.thoughtco.com/who-invented-the-car-4059932 -
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural explosion that happened when many African Americans migrated to the North. It brought things like literature, plays, and most notable, jazz music. https://www.ushistory.org/us/46e.asp -
In this year, Hawaii became a territory of the US. This caused the economies of each to become increasingly intertwined. https://20012009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/gp/17661.htm#:~:text=America's%20annexation%20of%20Hawaii%20in,of%20a%20European%20nation's%20empire. -
The US declared war on Germany, cancelling their neutrality that led up to this. Contributing factors to this was Germany's use of submarines in war and the "Zimmermann Telegram" where Germany offered help to Mexico if they would attack the US and were declined. https://www.annefrank.org/en/timeline/42/the-united-states-declare-war-on-germany/ -
The League of Nations, a coalition of countries intending to achieve peace, is something the US did not join. The Treaty of Versailles is the treaty that would have initiated the US. It was not ratified, several groups of Americans were against it for their own reasons. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/league -
The Great Depression was a period of despair and misfortune for the US. It was caused by the economy falling, triggered by the stock market crash of 1929. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/rise-to-world-power/great-depression/a/the-great-depression -
Isolationism is the idea and practice of not getting involved with the affairs of other countries. The US was isolationist at this time because of previous affairs and not wanting to worsen any situations. https://www.britannica.com/topic/isolationism-foreign-policy -
Pearl Harbor was the most important American naval base. Unprovoked, it was attacked by Japan on this day. Japan claimed it to be retribution for the US supporting the Chinese Republic. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/pearl-harbor -
The Berlin Airlift is when Germany was separated into Eastern and Western. They shut off road paths between each, so the US had to show their support to the Western section through air travel. https://www.defense.gov/News/Inside-DOD/Blog/Article/2062719/the-berlin-airlift-what-it-was-its-importance-in-the-cold-war/ -
Rosa Parks refused to move from her seat on a bus when she was told to because of racial segregation. This sparked an uproar of boycotting the bus, saying that it is not fair to tell someone to move because of their race. https://www.ushistory.org/us/54b.asp -
The Vietnam War was a civil conflict between communist North Vietnam and capitalist South Vietnam. The US got involved for the first time after previously being isolationist. https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War -
Feminism is the idea that women deserve rights and that tradition gender roles do not always apply. This was the second wave of feminism in history. https://www.gsrc.princeton.edu/history-of-feminism -
This was a legal case regarding abortion. It ruled that state regulation of it was unconstitutional. https://www.britannica.com/event/Roe-v-Wade. -
"Reaganomics" was what Reagan's program for economic recovery was sometimes called. It had four major objectives, to reduce: government spending, tax rates, regulation, and inflation. https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Reaganomics.html -
Ronald Reagan was elected for president this year. He had charisma, power, and political skills. A leading reason for his election was his promise to help the economy. https://millercenter.org/president/reagan/campaigns-and-elections -
The idea of the internet was brought by the invention of the World Wide Web in this year. Tim Berners-Lee invented it while working at CERN. https://home.cern/science/computing/birth-web/short-history-web -
On this day, the Soviet hammer and sickle flag lowered for the last time. The collapse of the Soviet Union was because of several reasons that happened over time, such as democratization and economics. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/collapse-soviet-union#:~:text=On%20December%2025%2C%201991%2C%20the,the%20newly%20independent%20Russian%20state.