-
Lyndon B. Johnson 1963 presidential inauguration
This was the eighth non-scheduled, extraordinary inauguration to take place since the presidency was established in 1789. At 2:38 p.m., Lyndon Baines Johnson took the oath of office as the 36th President of the United States. -
Kennedy Assassination
As the Kennedy's vehicle passed the Texas School Book Depository Building at 12:30 p.m., Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired three shots from the sixth floor. Kennedy was pronounced dead 30 minutes later at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital. He was 46. -
Gulf of Tonkin incident
Also known as the USS Maddox incident, drew the United States more directly into the Vietnam War. It involved two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. -
War protest in Washington 1967
In Washington, D.C. nearly 100,000 people gather to protest the American war effort in Vietnam. More than 50,000 of the protesters marched to the Pentagon to ask for an end to the conflict. -
Tet Offensive
70,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched the Tet Offensive. A coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam. Though U.S. and South Vietnamese forces managed to hold off the Communist attacks, news coverage of the offensive shocked and dismayed the American public and further eroded support for the war effort. Despite heavy casualties and as the attacks marked a turning point in the Vietnam War, -
My Lai Massacre
Probably one of the most infamous events of the Vietnam War. It mass killing of between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam. -
Nixon wins Presidency
Eight years after being defeated by John F. Kennedy in the 1960 election, Richard Nixon defeats Hubert H. Humphrey and is elected president. -
Paris Peace Accords Jan 27, 1973
The United States, South Vietnam, Viet Cong, and North Vietnam formally sign “An Agreement Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam” in Paris. Due to South Vietnam’s unwillingness to recognize the Viet Cong’s Provisional Revolutionary Government, all references to it were confined to a two-party version of the document signed by North Vietnam and the United States. -
Saigon captured
The North Vietnamese Army took over Saigon with little resistance, and it was quickly renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of their revolutionary leader, Ho Chi Minh, who had died several years before. After great efforts by the U.S. to withdraw without losing the war, and the establishment of a peace agreement with North Vietnam in Paris on January 27th, 1973, American soldiers began to leave Vietnam for good.
