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1492
Christopher Columbus discovers the 'New World'
Christopher Columbus received financial aid and permission from the Spanish monarchy to explore new routes to Asia. His finding of the Americas was the beginning of all events such as the Columbian Exchange and Spanish Inquisition. He opened up the new continent for trade and expansion. -
England's Jamestown Settlement
Jamestown was the first successful English colony in the Americas. Their success was largely due to the discovery of the cash-cop tobacco with Native American aid. The colonization of Jamestown was the beginning of the colonial era. It was a direct result of England's Headright System. -
Creation of the Headright System
The Headright System was created by the British monarchy to encourage settlement of the New World. The king granted original settlers 100 acres and any settlers who came after 50 acres. This system encouraged indentured servitude, as wealthy men would often employ less wealthy men to serve their purposes in the New World. The less wealthy men hoped for a better life with land. -
Establishment of the Virginia House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the first colonial legislature of the New World. It was the first democratically elected government body within the U.S Its creation established the beginning of democratic representation within the United States. -
Mayflower Arrives at the United States
The Mayflower's arrival was a result of Pilgrims seeking freedom from religious persecution. The Pilgrims created the Mayflower Compact, which although flawed, was the first attempt at outlining a government. The Mayflower represented the beginning of the colony's struggle for government. -
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War signified the end of Benign Neglect. The British believed that the colonies were subservient to Britain, and began to try and exercise this thought. Following years of makeshift freedom, the colonies pushed back against their imposition. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was drafted during the Albany Congress. Called by Benjamin Franklin, the purpose of the plan was to unite the colonies against the French. The plan was ultimately denied but succeeded in fostering relationships between colonies. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was one of Britain's attempts to enforce control over the colonies. It ordained that any colonial citizen was required to offer quartering to any soldiers of the royal army. This allowed for corruption and spying of the colonists. The act succeeded in angering colonists and further rebellious ideologies. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was the predecessor of the Molasses Act. Its purpose was to curb black-market trades in hopes of soliciting loyalty. The Sugar Act cut taxes on sugar and molasses. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was the desecration of rebellious colonists by British soldiers. It signified the breaking point between the colonies and Britain. It served as a revolutionary event that colonists pointed to as an injustice that justified their rebellion. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an attack on British power by colonial rebels, namely the Sons of Liberty. Rebels threw millions of dollars worth of tea into the ocean in an act of defiance. This was one of the first great Revolutionary events. It was a great act of colonial defiance. -
The Shot Heard Around the World
The Shot Heard Around the World was the first shot of the Revolutionary War. Nobody knows which side, the British or the colonies, fired first. It signified the culmination of tension between both parties and the beginning of a long war for independence. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill was one of the first battles of the American Revolution. Although they were brutally defeated, the colonists proved that they could hold their own against Great Britain. The Battle took a blow to moral and support for the war and made recruits sparse. -
Publishing of 'Common Sense' by Thomas Paine
Common Sense by Thomas Paine was a successful attempt at propaganda in favor of American Independence. Paine's writing put into words the injustice felt by the common people by the British imposition. The article outlined the 'common sense' thoughts and feelings that came as a result of injustice. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson. In addition to solidifying American independence from Britain, it included details such as all men being created equal. It was a document that solidified early American values. -
Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the war. A colonial army was able to overtake and apprehend a British troop, leveling the playing field. It served as a moral boost for the Patriots and a moral shot for the British. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was America's first attempt at a government. It was a direct reflection of America's fears about a corrupt government. It named no executive leader, leaving the country vulnerable and without direct leadership. It created powerful states and a weak government. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris signified the end of the American Revolution. America was given ownership of all land from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. It named the U.S. as an independent and sovereign nation. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shay's Rebellion was a rebellion among Massachusetts farmers who were upset with post-war taxation. They attacked the courthouses where the trials for their debts and tax evasion were held. The extent and damage of the Rebellion highlighted the faults of the Articles of Confederation. The government was unable to effectively curb the rebellion. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance was an attempt to organize the Northwest territory. It outlined the guidelines for which territories must follow to become a state. Territories were required to establish a territorial government, have a population of at least 60,000, define their territory borders, and require the construction of a school building. -
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion was a rebellion among Pennsylvania farmers who refused to pay the whiskey tax. The U.S. army was able to quickly assemble and stifle the rebellion. This event proved the competency of the new constitution. -
Alien Act
President Adams implemented the Alien Act as part of the Alien and Sedition Acts. His purpose was to maintain his and federal power. The Alien Act authorized the imprisonment and deportation of 'aliens'. This made sure to keep power within nationalist federalists. -
Embargo of 1807
With Great Britain and France at War, the U.S. trade was in jeopardy. President Jefferson wanted to maintain neutrality, so as not to incite foreign affairs against the young United States. He put an embargo on all foreign trade, which collapsed the American economy. Although initially detrimental, it encouraged domestic manufacturing. -
Battle of Thames
The Battle of Thames was significant in that it showed the British that America would not be bullied into submission. American troops were able to defeat both British and Indian troops in Canada. This battle and ideal were solidified and commemorated by the death of Indian Chief, Tecumseh. -
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent was the official end of the War of 1812. Both Britain and America declared an antebellum. Although signed, news of the treaty took months to reach the battlefield. -
Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans was the presumed end of the War of 1812. American General Andrew Jackson brought together an unruly group of men to defeat British troops. It was a decisive victory for the U.S. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a compromise put forth by the Senate to maintain a balance between slave states and free states. It ordained that no slave states would be admitted above a certain point unless a free state was also admitted. Its purpose was to main fairness within the higher courts and representation. -
Election of 1824
The Election of 1824 was a controversial election between John Q. Adams and Andrew Jackson. A deal was struck between Adams and Speaker of the House Henry Clay, known as the corrupt bargain. Adams won the presidency and implemented policies that supported a strong central government. -
Election of 1828
The Election of 1828 was won by Andrew Jackson. He sought to recreate old Jeffersonian ideals. Jackson's campaign was considered the first modern political campaign. He utilized tactics such as mud-slinging and presidential debates to entice voters. -
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836. Many citizens of Texas were families of Americans, which fostered support for their cause within the states. Additionally, the American government sought to use Texas land, formerly Mexican land, for their use. -
Annexation of Texas
In response to growing support for the annexation of Texas during the Mexican-American War, President Polk officially annexed the Texas Republic. This action guaranteed American support for Texas during the war. This action also served as a justification for aggression and seizing of Mexican land for American use. -
Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention in the United States. It signified the beginning of the women's suffrage movement. During the Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted the Declaration of Grievances. It outlined women's grievances over women's rights and equality. -
Dredd Scott v. Sandford
The Supreme Court ruled against Dredd Scott in a 5/9 majority. Scott was arguing that he was now free, seeing as his master had moved to a free state. The Supreme Court's ruling proved that no state was truly a free state. -
Battle of Bull Run
The Battle of Bull Run was one of the first serious engagements of the Civil War. It was a Confederate victory, which shocked the overconfident North. North citizens were so confident in their prospects, that civilians went to spectate the battle. -
Homestead Act 1862
The Homestead Act of 1862 was Lincoln's attempt to stimulate westward expansion. He offered an allotment of land to any settler who would improve their land within a given amount of years. Although initially popular, this task proved difficult within the temperamental terrain of the west. -
Pacific Railway Act 1862
The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 was an attempt to connect the east and west coast vial railroads. The construction of such a railroad would alow both internal and international trade more efficiently. In order to construct this railroad, Lincoln hired 2 companies on opposite sides to build a railroad until they met in the middle, offering subsidies and land grants determined by the miles of track laid. -
Morrill Land Grant 1862
The Morrill Land Grant of 1862 was an attempt to facilitate higher education across America. The government granted federal land within each state for the extended purpose of developing colleges and universities. All universities created under the grants succeeded in educating the next generation, allowing for innovation and inventions that helped boost America. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam was the single bloodiest day of the Civil War. After a string of North losses, they finally obtained a victory as the Confederacy retreated. Although they won, the North sustained more casualties than their counterparts. Lincoln grappled onto this victory, and spun it as a cause to support the Civil War. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation declared that if any Confederate state rejoined the Union they could keep their slaves. If they refused, all of their slaves would be freed upon Union victory. This Proclamation changed the intent of the war from Unifying the country to ending slavery. -
Wade Davis Bill
The Wade Davis Bill was passed as an alternative to Lincoln's 10% Plan. It ordained that 50% of each Confederate territory must swear allegiance to the Union before they could rejoin as a state. It also stated that only non-Confederates from each new state could vote or hold office. -
Sherman's March To Sea
Sherman's March to Sea was the final campaign of the Civil War. U.S. General Tecumseh Sherman led troops through Georgia, pillaging the countryside and military outposts. He declared that every liberated slave was to be given 40 acres of land and a mule. -
Founding of the Freedmen's Bureau
The Freedmen's Bureau was an institution dedicated to aiding newly freedmen in assimilating to free life. They helped fund community development, churches, and schools. The Bureau also helped freedmen find land and jobs to support their families. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment granted all U.S. citizens equal rights and protection under the law. This was significant because it meant that individual states could no longer justify withholding the right to franchise based on state citizenship. It ordained that national citizenship outweighed state citizenship. -
Election of 1868
The Election of 1868 was the first presidential election to take place after the Civil War. Former General Ulysses S. Grant won the presidency. His actions were in favor of maintaining military districts. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment prevented any state or government from restricting the right to franchise based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This Amendment was unpopular and barely implemented. Due to its unpopularity, the implementation caused the Republican Party to lose a great amount of support. -
Civil Rights Act of 1875
The Civil RIghts Act of 1875 banned discrimination in public accommodations. Although enforced and implemented by President Grant's administration, it lost support following the end of his presidency. This was a major step towards racial equality within the United States. -
Battle of Little Big Horn
The Battle of Little Bighorn was one of the major battles of The Indian Wars. The Natives beat American troops in a devastating victory. This loss sparked more animosity within the states, sparking more anti-native ideologies. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first significant action impeding immigration into the United States. It banned Chinese labor immigration into the country for 10 years. This proved that America still had a long way to go when it came to racial equality. -
The Dawes Act of 1887
The Daws Act of 1887 allowed Native Americans to claim individual homesteads if they followed the same rules laid out in the Homestead Acts. All land that was not claimed by Natives was then declared excess and allotted to any white settlers who wanted to claim it. The Dawes Act effectively shrunk Indian territory and aided in the destruction of Native life and traditions. -
The Battle of Wounded Knee
US Troops Mobilized Against Ghost Dancers. Members of the 7th Cavalry firing the opening shots at Wounded Knee, where some 300 Lakota Sioux, many of them women and children, were slaughtered within minutes. As the Ghost Dance movement spread, frightened white settlers believed it a prelude to an armed uprising. It was the deadliest mass shooting in American history, involving nearly three hundred Lakota people shot and killed by soldiers of the United States Army. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy was denied a first-class seat on a train which he paid for by Ferguson who declared that the seat was not meant for him. Plessy argued that his 14th Amendment right was violated, but was shot down by a 7/1 majority from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation was justified if things were segregated yet equal. -
Annexation of Hawaii
On July 7, 1898, the Hawaiian Islands were annexed by this joint resolution. When the Hawaiian islands were formally annexed by the United States in 1898, the event marked the end of a lengthy internal struggle between native Hawaiians and non-native American businessmen for control of the Hawaiian government. Hawaii played a major role as a base of operations during the three major wars in Asia during the twentieth century – WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. -
Gold Standard Act
The Gold Standard Act was an Act of the United States Congress, signed by President William McKinley and effective on March 14, 1900, defining the United States dollar by gold weight and requiring the United States Treasury to redeem, on demand and in gold coin only, paper currency the Act specified. United States notes became redeemable for gold at the historical rate of $20.67 per ounce. -
The Platt Amendment
The Platt Amendment's conditions prohibited the Cuban Government from entering into any international treaty that would compromise Cuban independence or allow foreign powers to use the island for military purposes. It permitted extensive U.S. involvement in Cuban international and domestic affairs for the enforcement of Cuban independence. -
Women's Trade Union League Founded
The Women's Trade Union League was most successful from 1907 to 1922, thanks to the leadership of Margaret Dreier Robins. During that time they managed to get many of the things they fought for, including the 8-hour workday, an end to child labor, and a minimum wage. They used strikes, held rallies, took employers to court, talked to the press, lobbied the legislature, walked out, and participated in picket lines. -
Wright Brothers Invent Airplane
Wilbur and Orville Wright spent four years of research and development to create the first successful powered airplane, the 1903 Wright Flyer.Wilbur and Orville Wright spent four years of research and development to create the first successful powered airplane, the 1903 Wright Flyer. -
Production of Ford Model T
The Model T was introduced to the world in 1908. Henry Ford wanted the Model T to be affordable, simple to operate, and durable. The vehicle was one of the first mass production vehicles, allowing Ford to achieve his aim of manufacturing the universal car. The Model T changed the way Americans lived, worked and traveled. Henry Ford's revolutionary advancements in assembly-line automobile manufacturing made the Model T the first car to be affordable for a majority of Americans. -
NAACP founded
The NAACP was created in 1909 by an interracial group consisting of W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, Mary White Ovington, and others concerned with the challenges facing African Americans, especially in the wake of the 1908 Springfield (Illinois) Race Riot. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the association led the black civil rights struggle in fighting injustices such as the denial of voting rights, racial violence, discrimination in employment, and segregated public facilities. -
Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States
Standard Oil was an American company and corporate trust that from 1870 to 1911 was the industrial empire of John D. Rockefeller and associates, controlling almost all oil production, processing, marketing, and transportation in the United States. Standard Oil Company, a major oil conglomerate in the early 20th century, violated the Sherman Antitrust Act through anticompetitive actions, i.e. forming a monopoly, and ordered that the company be geographically split. -
Clayton Antitrust Act
It sought to prevent anticompetitive practices even earlier by targeting price discrimination, limit further mergers & acquisitions, and limit membership on boards of companies in particular situations. The Act also had a provision for any contemplated mergers and acquisitions in certain situations. While the Sherman Antitrust Act only stated that monopolies were forbidden, the Clayton Antitrust act made the actions that created monopolies illegal. -
Lusitania Sinks
A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The sinking greatly turned American opinion against the Germans, helping the move towards entering the war. The disaster immediately strained relations between Germany and the neutral United States, fueled anti-German sentiment and set off a chain of events that eventually led to the United States entering World War I. -
National Parks Service created
President Woodrow Wilson signed the "Organic Act" creating the National Park Service, a federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for maintaining national parks and monuments that were then managed by the department. Its fundamental purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for their enjoyment in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. -
The Volstead Act
The National Prohibition Act, better known as the Volstead Act, defined an intoxicating beverage as anything that contained more than one half of one percent alcohol. By contrast, Canadian prohibition laws set the limit at 2.5 percent. Nationwide Prohibition lasted from 1920 until 1933. The Eighteenth Amendment—which illegalized the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol—was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1917. -
19th Amendment
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.The 19th amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle—victory took decades of agitation and protest. -
National Origins Act
The National Origins Act of 1924, also called the Immigration Act of 1924, was a discriminatory and ethnocentric policy that reduced overall immigration to the United States and established quotas on immigration from Western and Southern European countries, as well as Asian countries and Russia. It drastically reduced the number of immigrants coming from southern and eastern Europe. By 1920, the majority of newcomers to the U.S. were Catholics and Jews from southern and eastern Europe. -
Scopes Monkey Trial
In 1925, John Scopes was convicted and fined $100 for teaching evolution in his Dayton, Tenn., classroom. The first highly publicized trial concerning the teaching of evolution, the Scopes trial also represents a dramatic clash between traditional and modern values in America of the 1920s. The trial's proceedings helped to bring the scientific evidence for evolution into the public sphere while also stoking a national debate over the veracity of evolution that continues to the present day. -
Sacco and Vanzetti executed
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were Italian immigrants and anarchists who were controversially convicted of murdering Alessandro Berardelli and Frederick Parmenter, a guard and a paymaster. The Sacco-Vanzetti case revealed the whole anatomy of American life, with all its classes, professions, and points of view, and all their relations, and it raised almost every fundamental question of our political and social system. -
Stock Market Crash
There were many causes of the 1929 stock market crash, some of which included overinflated shares, growing bank loans, agricultural overproduction, panic selling, stocks purchased on margin, higher interest rates, and a negative media industry. Investors lost billions of dollars as millions of shares plummeted in value and even became worthless. Those who had bought stocks with borrowed money were wiped out completely. Millions of Americans lost everything. -
Smoot-Hawley Tariff
The Smoot-Hawley Act was created to protect U.S. farmers and other industries from foreign competitors. It increased tariffs on foreign imports to the U.S. by about 20%. At least 25 countries responded by increasing their own tariffs on American goods. It contributed to the early loss of confidence on Wall Street and signaled U.S. isolationism. By raising the average tariff by some 20 percent, it also prompted retaliation from foreign governments, and many overseas banks began to fail. -
Amelia Earhart flies over the Atlantic Ocean
Earhart became the first woman, and the second person after Charles Lindbergh, to fly nonstop and solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Flying a red Lockheed Vega 5B, she left Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, Canada, and landed about 15 hours later near Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Her awards included the American Distinguished Flying Cross and the Cross of the French Legion of Honor. In 1929, Earhart helped found the Ninety-Nines, an organization of female aviators. -
Emergency Banking Act
The legislation increased presidential powers during the banking crisis, allowed the Comptroller of the Currency to restrict banks with impaired assets from operating, provided for additional bank capital through the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and permitted the emergency issuance of Federal Reserve Bank Notes. The EBA is still in effect today. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures customer deposits, guaranteeing people the money they have deposited with the banks is safe. -
Civilian Conservation Corps Founded
Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933. The CCC or C's as it was sometimes known, allowed single men between the ages of 18 and 25 to enlist in work programs to improve America's public lands, forests, and parks. The program's primary goal was to bring poor young men out of America's urban centers to rehabilitate their health and morale while contributing to their families' economic well being. -
Glass-Steagall Act
The Glass-Steagall Act was designed to separate commercial and investment banking and prevent commercial banks from engaging in speculative activities that could put depositors' funds at risk. It was one of the most widely debated legislative initiatives before being signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in June 1933. -
Indian Reorganization Act
Also known as the IRA, the Indian New Deal and the Wheeler-Howard Act, the act granted a new degree of autonomy to Native Americans in the United States, giving them greater control over their lands and allowing them to form legally recognized tribal governments.While the IRA provided modest improvements in the lives of the Utes and other Indigenous people, it fell far short of its goal of achieving full tribal self-determination and economic independence. -
Munich Conference
Chamberlain asked Hitler to sign a document that he believed was symbolic of the desire of both nations to never endure war again. Hitler agreed to this promise. With that, the Munich Conference had seemingly accomplished its goal of averting war over a crisis in Czechoslovakia. Its cost would be realized later, as Hitler pushed past the agreements limitations and sought dominion over Europe. -
Naval Expansion Act
The Naval Act of 1938, also known as the Second Vinson Expansion Act, was an important legislative act passed by Congress under the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. The Act officially mandated a 20% increase in strength of the U.S. Navy.Mahan, Roosevelt, and Lodge believed that sea power was the catalyst for national power, and they wanted the United States to become the preeminent nation of the 20th century. -
Executive Order 9066
President Roosevelt and many of his military advisers had long worried about the loyalty of Japanese Americans. The Office of Naval Intelligence kept tabs on Japanese communities as early as 1936 and FDR ordered the creation of lists of Japanese Americans in Hawaii to be interned in an emergency. Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. The order led to the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. -
Pear Harbor
With Pearl Harbor being a major oil and fueling station for ships and planes Japan saw this as a major asset to the United States and attacking it would cripple their military. Following the devastating attack, Congress declared war on Japan, bringing America officially into World War II. All of the Pearl Harbor battleships save three, the USS Arizona, the USS Oklahoma, and the USS Utah, were raised, rebuilt, and put back into service during the war. -
GI Bill of Rights
Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the G.I. Bill, provided World War II veterans with funds for college education, unemployment insurance, and housing. It put higher education within the reach of millions of veterans of WWII and later military conflicts. The act put higher education, job training, and home ownership within the reach of millions of World War II veterans. -
"Trinity" - first nuclear explosion
Trinity was the code name of the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, conducted by the United States Army. Because the Trinity Test was relatively close to the ground, it shot large amounts of radiation up into the atmosphere. Radioactive fallout descended to the northeast over an area about 250 miles long and 200 miles wide. -
United Nations founded
The United Nations was established after World War II in an attempt to maintain international peace and security and to achieve cooperation among nations on economic, social, and humanitarian problems. Its forerunner was the League of Nations, an organization conceived under similar circumstances following World War I.The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members. -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry S. Truman presented this address before a joint session of Congress. His message, known as the Truman Doctrine, asked Congress for $400 million in military and economic assistance for Turkey and Greece. The Truman Doctrine effectively reoriented U.S. foreign policy, away from its usual stance of withdrawal from regional conflicts not directly involving the United States, to one of possible intervention in far away conflicts. -
Jackie Robinson joins the Brooklyn Dodgers
Robinson broke the color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers signing Robinson heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s. Robinson endured racial attacks, both verbal and physical, without fighting back. Eventually, his team united against those who insulted Robinson for his race. -
Taft Hartley Act
The Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, better known as the Taft–Hartley Act, is a United States federal law that restricts the activities and power of labor unions. It was enacted by the 80th United States Congress over the veto of President Harry S. Truman, becoming law. The act prohibits unions from performing certain practices and requires disclosure of certain activities. The act has many detractors who feel the act has hurt labor laws and decrease worker rights. -
Kinsey Reports
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, statistical study published in 1948 by A.C. Kinsey and his associates W.B. Pomeroy and C.E. Martin, the first of its kind. Kinsey's published data showed that Americans were engaging in sexual behaviors more frequently and with more variety than conventional morality suggested. Though later research would correct some of the findings to a degree, the Reports were compared to "an atomic bomb" in their impact on American society. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality. The events relevant to this specific case first occurred in 1951, when a public school district in Topeka, Kansas refused to let Oliver Brown's daughter enroll at the nearest school to their home and required her to enroll at a school further away. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a civil rights protest during which African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating. The boycott is regarded as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation. On November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling that bus segregation violated the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, which led to the successful end of the bus boycott -
Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" released
Elvis's first RCA single, Heartbreak Hotel, released in 1956, topped the music charts in the US. As his music rose through the tracks, Elvis appeared on a number of US network television variety shows, most notably the Ed Sullivan Show, accelerating his national profile and fame.It was inspired by a newspaper article about the suicide of a lonely man who jumped from a hotel window inspired the song. This song brought about a new era of music as well as sparked conversations about mental health. -
Interstate Highway Act of 1956
The Interstate Highway Act came as a result of fear created by the Cold War.This act authorized the building of highways throughout the nation, which would be the biggest public works project in the nation's history. Popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 established an interstate highway system in the United States. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front, consisting of Cuban exiles who opposed Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution, clandestinely financed and directed by the U.S. government. According to polls at the time, Americans largely supported the Bay of Pigs invasion, despite its failure. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis, was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of nuclear missiles in Cuba.The confrontation is widely considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into full-scale nuclear war. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans.It was the largest gathering for civil rights of its time. An estimated 250,000 people attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, arriving in Washington, D.C. by planes, trains, cars, and buses from all over the country -
Civil Rights Act
In 1964, Congress passed Public Law 88-352 (78 Stat. 241). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing.In response to a new wave of protest, the U.S. Congress soon followed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -
Griswold v. Connecticut
On June 7, 1965, the Supreme Court issued its famous Griswold v. Connecticut decision and struck down Connecticut's 86-year-old Comstock law. By a vote of 7 to 2, the Court held that the law unconstitutionally invaded the privacy rights of married couples.Additionally, it is important to note Justice Harlan's concurring opinion in Griswold, which found a right to privacy derived from the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting.It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.The Voting Rights Act of 1965 removed barriers to black enfranchisement in the South, banning poll taxes, literacy tests, and other measures that effectively prevented African Americans from voting. -
Thurgood Marshall Becomes First African American Supreme Court Justice
Thoroughgood "Thurgood" Marshall was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-American justice.Marshall founded LDF in 1940 and served as its first Director-Counsel. He was the architect of the legal strategy that ended the country's official policy of segregation. -
Moon Landing
Space was the latest theater for battling the Cold War and provided an opportunity for the United States to promote leadership and demonstrate the technological advances of a free and democratic society. In order to do that, the United States needed to reach the moon before the Soviet Union.The first country to land a spacecraft with people in it on the Moon was the United States, with their aircraft Apollo 11. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
The Iran Hostage Crisis was a diplomatic standoff between Iraq and the United States. Iranian students seized the embassy and detained more than 50 Americans, ranging from the Chargé d'Affaires to the most junior members of the staff, as hostages. The Iranians held the American diplomats hostage for 444 days. Placing a roadblock in the path of U.S.-Iranian relations, it was also widely believed to have contributed to Carter's defeat by Reagan in the 1980 presidential election. -
9/11
9/11 came about as a result of continued tensions with Iran as well as a rising Islamic extremism. Two airplanes were highjacked by extremists, and caused to crash into two prominent New York towers. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the turmoil. This event contributed to increase tensions in foreign affairs as well as national identity. -
Barack Obama Becomes The First Black President
Barack Obama was the first African American president in American history. Not only that, Obama managed to win a second term of his presidency. He put into effect the Affordable Care Act, as well as the Paris Climate Change Agreement.