history

WAHT THE HELL

Charles Lindbergh

An American aviator famous for making the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.

Lyndon Johnson (LBJ)

The 36th President of the United States who served from 1963 to 1969, known for his "Great Society" programs and escalating the Vietnam War.

Neil Armstrong

An American astronaut who was the first person to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

Fidel Castro

The communist leader of Cuba who led the Cuban Revolution and governed Cuba from 1959 to 2008.

Earl Warren

Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969, known for landmark decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education.

Upton Sinclair

An American writer and muckraker best known for his novel "The Jungle," which exposed the unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry.

Jimmy Doolittle

An American aviation pioneer and military general, famous for leading the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo during World War II.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

His assassination in 1914 sparked the beginning of World War I.

John D. Rockefeller

An American industrialist and philanthropist, founder of the Standard Oil Company, and considered the wealthiest American of all time.

Douglas MacArthur

A prominent American general during World War II and the Korean War, known for his role in the Pacific Theater.

Booker T. Washington

An influential African American educator, author, and advisor to multiple presidents of the United States.

Joseph McCarthy

A U.S. Senator known for alleging that numerous communists and Soviet spies had infiltrated the U.S. government, leading to the Red Scare.

Sitting Bull

A Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies.

Andrew Carnegie

A Scottish-American industrialist who led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became a leading philanthropist.

William Jennings Bryan

A three-time Democratic presidential candidate and noted orator, known for his Cross of Gold speech.

Henry Ford

Founder of the Ford Motor Company and pioneer of modern assembly lines used in mass production.

Theodore Roosevelt

The 26th President of the United States known for his progressive policies, conservation efforts, and the Panama Canal.

Jackie Robinson

The first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era, breaking the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Rosa Parks

An African American civil rights activist whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white person sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

John F. Kennedy

The 35th President of the United States, who served from 1961 until his assassination in 1963, known for the Cuban Missile Crisis and the space race.

Dr. Benjamin Spock

An American pediatrician whose book "Baby and Child Care" influenced generations of parents.

Lee Harvey Oswald

The assassin of President John F. Kennedy.

Jack Ruby

The nightclub owner who killed Lee Harvey Oswald.

Robert Kennedy

U.S. Senator and Attorney General, known for his advocacy on civil rights and his assassination during his 1968 presidential campaign.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

A leader in the American civil rights movement, known for his use of nonviolent civil disobedience and his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Richard Nixon

The 37th President of the United States, who resigned in 1974 following the Watergate scandal.

Sandra Day O’Connor

The first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, serving from 1981 to 2006.

Mario Savio

A key figure in the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1960s.

Little Rock 9

The nine African American students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957 under federal protection.

Muckrakers

Journalists in the early 20th century who exposed corruption, social injustices, and abuses of power.

Progressive Party

A political party founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 after a split in the Republican Party.

Rough Riders

A volunteer cavalry regiment led by Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War.

“Rosie the Riveter”

A cultural icon representing women who worked in factories during World War II.

Old Immigrants vs. New Immigrants

Old immigrants came to the U.S. before the 1880s primarily from Western Europe, while new immigrants arrived from Southern and Eastern Europe between 1880 and 1920.

Writers of the 1920s

Authors of the Lost Generation, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, who wrote about the disillusionment of post-World War I America.

Harlem Renaissance writers/poets

African American writers and poets, such as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, who were part of the cultural movement in the 1920s.

Flappers

Young women in the 1920s who defied traditional norms by wearing short skirts, bobbing their hair, and engaging in modern behaviors.

Political bosses & Machine politics

Leaders who controlled political machines, which were organizations that influenced city politics and governance through patronage and corruption.

Yuppies

Young urban professionals in the 1980s known for their affluent lifestyles and career-focused lives.

16th Amendment

Established the federal income tax in 1913.

17th Amendment

Allowed for the direct election of U.S. Senators by the people rather than state legislatures in 1913.

18th Amendment

Instituted the prohibition of alcohol in 1920 (later repealed by the 21st Amendment).

19th Amendment

Granted women the right to vote in 1920.

20th Amendment

Changed the dates for the beginning of presidential and congressional terms in 1933.

21st Amendment

Repealed the 18th Amendment, ending Prohibition in 1933.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

The 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Roe v. Wade

The 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

Plessy v. Ferguson

The 1896 Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine.

Pure Food and Drug Act

A 1906 law that required accurate labeling of ingredients in food and drugs and established the FDA.

Social Security Act

A 1935 law that created the Social Security program for retirees, the unemployed, and disabled.

Destroyers for Bases Deal

A 1940 agreement between the U.S. and the UK, where the U.S. provided destroyers in exchange for military bases.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Landmark legislation that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Selective Service Act

Authorized the federal government to raise a national army through conscription in World War I (1917).

Marshall Plan

A U.S. program providing aid to Western Europe following WWII to help rebuild economies.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Authorized President Lyndon Johnson to use military force in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war (1964).

War Powers Act

A 1973 law intended to check the president's power to commit the U.S. to an armed conflict without the consent of Congress.

Freedom of Information Act

A 1966 law that grants public access to government records.

Antitrust laws

Legislation aimed at promoting competition and preventing monopolies.

Meat Inspection Act

A 1906 law that established sanitary standards for meatpacking and required federal inspection of meat products.

Federal Highway Act

A 1956 law that funded the construction of the Interstate Highway System.

Sedition Act

A 1918 law that extended the Espionage Act to cover a broader range of offenses, including speech against the government.

Espionage Act

A 1917 law that prohibited interference with military operations and support for U.S. enemies during wartime.

Medicare

A federal program established in 1965 to provide health insurance for Americans aged 65 and older.

Dawes-Severalty Act

An 1887 law aimed at assimilating Native Americans by dividing communal lands into individual plots.

Pendleton Act

An 1883 law that established a merit-based system for federal employment to combat the patronage system.

Red Scare

A period of intense fear of communism and radical political ideas in the U.S. after World War I and during the Cold War.

Boxer Rebellion

An anti-foreign, anti-colonial uprising in China between 1899 and 1901.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

A civil rights protest in 1955-1956 where African Americans boycotted the buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to fight segregation.

Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-Ins

A series of nonviolent protests in 1960 that led to the desegregation of lunch counters in Greensboro, North Carolina.

End of WWI

Marked by the Armistice of November 11, 1918.

Start of WWII

Marked by Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939.

US entry into WWII

Occurred after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

D-Day

The Allied invasion of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944, during WWII.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

A surprise military strike by the Japanese Navy against the United States at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Operation Overlord

The codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during WWII.

Battle at Midway

A crucial naval battle in the Pacific Theater of WWII in June 1942, marking a turning point in favor of the Allies.

JFK Assassination

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.

Civil Rights movement in the 1950s & 1960s

A struggle for social justice and equality for African Americans in the United States, particularly in the South.

Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination

The civil rights leader was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

March on Washington

A massive protest in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963, where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Korean War

A conflict between North Korea (with support from China and the Soviet Union) and South Korea (with principal support from the United States) from 1950 to 1953.

Battle of Little Bighorn

An 1876 battle in which the Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne defeated the U.S. Army, also known as "Custer's Last Stand."

U-2 incident

The shooting down of an American U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union in 1960.

Scopes Monkey Trial

A 1925 trial in Tennessee that debated the legality of teaching evolution in schools.

USS Maine

An American battleship that exploded in Havana Harbor in 1898, leading to the Spanish-American War.

Election of Barack Obama

The election of the first African American president of the United States in 2008.

Spanish American War

A conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, resulting in the U.S. acquiring territories in the western Pacific and Latin America.

Blockade of Berlin, 1940s

Also known as the Berlin Blockade (1948-1949), when the Soviet Union blocked Allied access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

A failed 1961 invasion of Cuba by a CIA-sponsored paramilitary group intending to overthrow Fidel Castro.

Tet Offensive

A series of surprise attacks by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War in 1968.

My Lai Massacre

The mass murder of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by U.S. soldiers in 1968 during the Vietnam War.

Philippine Insurrection

Also known as the Philippine-American War (1899-1902), a conflict between the U.S. and Filipino revolutionaries.

Holocaust

The genocide of six million Jews and millions of others by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Cold War

The state of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Western Bloc (led by the U.S.) and the Eastern Bloc (led by the Soviet Union).

Democratic National Convention/Election of 1968

Marked by significant civil unrest and protests, particularly against the Vietnam War.

Moon Landing

The first manned mission to land on the Moon by NASA's Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969.

Kent State protests

Anti-Vietnam War protests at Kent State University in 1970, where the Ohio National Guard shot and killed four students.

Watergate Scandal

A major political scandal in the 1970s that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Gulf War 1991

A conflict between Iraq and a coalition force led by the United States to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.

Iran-Contra scandal

A political scandal in the 1980s involving the illegal sale of arms to Iran to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua.