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Korean War
The Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea’s behalf. In July 1953, the Korean War came to an end. Some 5 million soldiers and civilians lost their lives during the war. -
Bay of Pigs
On January 1, 1959 Fidel Castro drove his guerrilla army into Havana and overthrew General Fulgencio Batista. For the next two years, US officials attempted to push Castro from power. Finally, in April 1961, the CIA launched a full-scale invasion of Cuba by 1,400 American-trained Cubans who had fled their homes when Castro took over. However, the invasion did not go well. The invaders were badly outnumbered by Castro’s troops, and they surrendered after less than 24 hours of fighting. -
U.S. troops in Vietnam
In Operation Chopper, helicopters flown by U.S. Army pilots ferry 1,000 South Vietnamese soldiers to sweep a NLF stronghold near Saigon. It marks America's first combat missions against the Vietcong. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. Disaster was avoided when the U.S. agreed to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s (1894-1971) offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba. -
SALT
Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty and interim SALT agreement on May 26, 1972, in Moscow. For the first time during the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union had agreed to limit the number of nuclear missiles in their arsenals. -
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords was an agreement between the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), and the United States to bring an end to the Vietnam War. -
OPEC Embargo
The Arab-dominated OPEC announces a decision to cut oil exports to the United States and other nations that provided military aid to Israel in the War of 1973. In December, a full oil embargo was imposed against the United States and several other countries, prompting a serious energy crisis in the United States and other nations dependent on foreign oil. -
Panama Canal
President Jimmy Carter signs a treaty that will give Panama control over the Panama Canal beginning in the year 1999. The treaty ended an agreement signed in 1904 between then-President Theodore Roosevelt and Panama, which gave the U.S. the right to build the canal and a renewable lease to control five miles of land along either side of it. -
Camp David Accords
At the White House Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem signed the Camp David Accords, laying the groundwork for a permanent peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. The accords were negotiated during 12 days of intensive talks at President Jimmy Carter’s Camp David retreat in Maryland. -
U.S. relations with China
President Gerald Ford visited China in 1975 and reaffirmed American interest in normalizing relations with Beijing. The United States and the People's Republic of China announced on December 15, 1978 that the two governments would establish diplomatic relations on January 1, 1979. -
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
In response to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, U.S. places an embargo on sales of American grain to Soviet Union, boycotts Moscow Olympic Games, and delays completion of SALT ll. -
Invasion of Grenada
President Ronald Reagan, citing the threat posed to American nationals on the Caribbean nation of Grenada by that nation’s Marxist regime, orders the Marines to invade and secure their safety. There were nearly 1,000 Americans in Grenada at the time, many of them students at the island’s medical school. In little more than a week, Grenada’s government was overthrown. -
Iran weapons Deal
The United States has been secretly selling arms to Iran in an effort to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon. The revelation, confirmed by U.S. intelligence sources on November 6, was a shock to officials outside President Ronald Reagan’s inner circle. In addition to violating the U.S. arms embargo against Iran, the arms sales contradicted President Reagan’s vow never to negotiate with terrorists. -
Malta Summit
Occurred a few weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall. During the summit, Bush and Gorbachev would declare an end to the Cold War. -
U.S. invades Panama
The United States invades Panama in an attempt to overthrow military dictator Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges and was accused of suppressing democracy in Panama and endangering U.S. nationals. Noriega’s Panamanian Defense Forces were promptly crushed, forcing the dictator to seek asylum with the Vatican anuncio in Panama City, where he surrendered on January 3, 1990. -
Persian Gulf War
A war between the forces of the United Nations, led by the United States, and those of Iraq that followed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. The United Nations forces, called the Coalition, expelled Iraqi troops from Kuwait in March 1991. -
War on Terror
The phrase "War on Terror" has been used to specifically refer to the ongoing military campaign led by the U.S., UK and their allies against organizations and regimes identified by them as terrorist. Started after the September 11th attacks on the United States.
