1950s

1950
  • Americans enter the Korean War to support the democratic South Korean government against the communist North Korean invasion
  • Joseph McCarthy begins his campaign of McCarthyism to expose communists living in the United States
/ 1955
  • Jonas Salk develops the vaccine for Polio
  • Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus; leads to the Montgomery Bus Boycott

1951
  • The first live transcontinental television broadcast from the Japanese Peace Conference ushers in the “Golden Age of Television” where shows like I Love Lucy become common
  • 22nd amendment establishes term limits for presidents
/ 1956
  • The Interstate Highway Act develops the construction of highways across the United States
  • Elvis makes his debut on The Ed Sullivan Show

1952
  • WWII hero Dwight D. Eisenhower elected as president
  • The United Nations headquarters opens in New York City
/ 1957
  • The Soviet Union launches the first space satellite Sputnik
  • The “Little Rock 9” (9 black students) were escorted by US troops as they enrolled in a previously segregated school

1953
  • Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of communist espionage and sentenced to death; fear of communism spreads
  • The United States announces the development of the Hydrogen Bomb
/ 1958
  • NASA (National Aeronautics Space Administration) created to build American space program
  • The microchip is invented

1954
  • Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka declares that the “separate but equal” decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson was unconstitutional- schools must be desegregated.
  • The United States joins the SEATO alliance (South East Asian Treaty Organization)
/ 1959
  • Alaska and Hawaii become states

1960s

1960
  • John F. Kennedy is elected President
  • Greensboro “sit ins” occur (protesters refused to leave until segregation policies were overturned)
/ 1965
  • Medicare and Medicaid programs created to help provide healthcare to the elderly and poor
  • Voting Rights act passed preventing racial discrimination in voting

1961
  • Alan Shepherd becomes the first American in space
  • The United States joins in the Vietnam War conflict by sending advisors to South Vietnam
/ 1966
  • NOW (National Organization for Women) created
  • NBC, CBS and ABC announce complete color television line ups

1962
  • John Glenn becomes the first man to orbit the Earth
  • Cuban Missile Crisis occurs-threats of Soviets putting Nuclear weapons on Cuba led to a tense standoff; closest the world has come to Nuclear War
/ 1967
  • “Long Hot Summer of 1967” begins with the first race riots in Detroit; it will spread to 159 cities nationwide
  • “Summer of Love” begins in San Francisco where over 100,000 gathered to protest the Vietnam War and promote peace and the counterculture movement
  • Hand Held calculator invented

1963
  • During the March on Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream Speech”
  • John F. Kennedy is assassinated
  • Betty Friedan begins the Feminist movement with her publication of The Feminine Mystique
/ 1968
  • Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is signed by the U.S. recognizing the need to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons

1964
  • Lyndon Johnson announces his War on Poverty and creation of “The Great Society” program
  • 24th amendment bans poll taxes
/ 1969
  • Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the moon
  • Woodstock Music Festival held

1970s

1970
  • Earth Day Created
  • Kent State Tragedy- 4 college students are killed when the national guard is called upon to stop Vietnam War protesters
/ 1975
  • The Fall of Saigon marks the end of the Vietnam War, last American troops leave
  • Microsoft Corporation created

1971
  • Cigarette commercials (tv) are banned due to Surgeon General warnings
  • 26th amendment changes voting age to 18
/ 1976
  • America celebrates its Bi-Centennial
  • Jimmy Carter is elected president

1972
  • Nixon becomes the first sitting president to visit China; this visit is seen as easing tensions between the democratic U.S. and the communist China
  • Watergate Scandal begins with the announcement of the break in at the Democratic National Convention Headquarters
/ 1977
  • The first home computer “Commodore PET” announced
  • Atari video game system is released
  • Food Stamp program begins in the United States

1973
  • Roe vs. Wade declares that abortion is a legal right granted to women
  • The American Indian Movement (organization to promote the rights of Native Americans) occupy Wounded Knee in protest
  • Skylab, the first space station, is launched
/ 1978
  • Camp David Accords are facilitated by Jimmy Carter, and mark one of the earliest efforts at reaching a Middle East Peace Agreement
  • First test-tube baby is born

1974
  • Richard Nixon becomes the first president to resign amid accusations of involvement in the Watergate Affair
  • Gerald Ford becomes president (only president to not be elected to either the vice presidency or the presidency); during this year he pardons Richard Nixon
/ 1979
  • Three Mile Island Incident-a partial nuclear meltdown in Pennsylvania
  • Iranian Hostage Crisis begins when 52 Americans are taken hostage in Teheran

1980s

1980
  • The U.S. boycotts the Summer Olympics to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
  • Ronald Reagan is elected president
/ 1985
  • FDA approves a blood test for AIDS
  • Live Aid concert held to bring help to those starving in Ethiopia
  • Nintendo game system released

1981
  • MTV premieres
  • US space shuttle Colombia launched
  • Sandra Day O’Conner sworn in as the first female supreme court justice
/ 1986
  • The space shuttle Challenger, carrying the first teacher to travel to space, breaks apart 73 seconds after take off
  • Hands Across America-5 million stretch from NY to LA to bring awareness and raise money to end hunger and homelessness

1982
  • Construction of the Vietnam Wall Memorial begins
  • Equal Rights Amendment defeated (does not pass)
/ 1987
  • President Ronald Reagan calls on Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down that wall” (Berlin wall)
  • INF treaty is signed pledging a reduction in nuclear armaments between the US and the USSR

1983
  • Sally Ride becomes the first woman in space
  • Vanessa Williams becomes the first African-American Miss America
/ 1988
  • George H.W. Bush elected president
  • Oliver North indicted in the Iran Contra Affair (alleged misuse of government power and money without the consent of the American people)
  • Microsoft releases Windows 2.1

1984
  • Cesar Chavez gives his “What the future holds for Farmworkers and Hispanics” speech promoting protections and rights for migrant workers
  • Crack epidemic begins in Los Angeles and quickly becomes a national problem
/ 1989
  • President Bush declares a “War on Drugs”
  • The Exxon Valdez strikes a reef off of Alaska and spills somewhere between 11-38 million gallons of oil

1990s

1990
  • Hubble Space Telescope Launched
  • President Bush and Soviet Leader Gorbachev agree to a treaty against the use of chemical warfare
/ 1995
  • Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols cause the Oklahoma City Bombing which results in 168 deaths and hundreds injured
  • Pennsylvania Ave (in front of the White House) is officially closed to public traffic
  • Million Man March on Washington DC led to bring attention to racial issues in the United States

1991
  • The United States gets involved in the Persian Gulf War (following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait)
  • The Soviet Union dissolves officially ending the Cold War
/ 1996
  • Bombing at the Atlanta Olympics kills 2 and injures 111
  • NASA launches Mars Global Surveyor

1992
  • LA Riots occur following the not-guilty verdict in the Rodney King Police Brutality case; over 50 people are killed and much of Los Angeles is looted and/or destroyed
  • William Clinton elected president
/ 1997
  • Federal funding for cloning banned in the U.S.
  • Madeleine Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State

1993
  • A terrorist attack at the World Trade Center from a car bomb in the basement results in 6 deaths and over 1000 injured
  • The government institutes the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy in regards to homosexuals in the military
/ 1998
  • President Clinton is impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice
  • Search engine, Google, is created

1994
  • NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) allows free trade (no tariffs) between the United States, Canada and Mexico
  • First Satellite television service offered
  • President Bill Clinton becomes involved in the Whitewater Scandal involving previous real estate deals in the 70s and 80s
/ 1999
  • Columbine School Massacre results in the deaths of 12 students and 1 teacher in Littleton, Colorado
  • The U.S., and the rest of the world, prepare for Y2K

DECADE: ______

1.)Based on the information provided in the timeline what are TWO adjectives you would use to describe the decade? Explain your choices.

Adjective / Explanation

2.)What are TWO social issues/changes that were highlighted during the decade? Use the events on the timeline to support your claim.

Issue/Change / Supporting Events

3.)What are TWO political issues/changes that were characteristic of the decade? Use events on the timeline to support your claim.

Issue/Change / Supporting Events

Name: Date:

Comparing and Contrasting the Decades

1.)Using the Decade Timelines, identify at least TWO issues/ideas that carry through MOST/ALL of the second half of the 20th Century (1950-1999). Explain your choices using examples from the timeline. (How are these decades similar?)

Issue/Idea / Examples and Explanation

2.)Which decade (50s through the 90s) is most like our current decade? Explain.

3.)Which decade (50s through the 90s) is most different from our current decade? Explain.