history

PEOPLE

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.

GROUPS OF PEOPLE

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.

AMENDMENTS & COURT CASES

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.

ACTS OF CONGRESS

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.

EVENTS

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.
Election of 2000: The controversial presidential election where George W. Bush was declared the winner after a Supreme Court decision halted a Florida recount.
Election of 2008: The presidential election where Barack Obama was elected as the first African American president.

OTHER TERMS

Causes of WWI: Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism (often abbreviated as MAIN).
Lusitania: A British ocean liner sunk by a German submarine in 1915, contributing to the U.S. entering WWI.
Zimmerman Note: A secret German telegram proposing a military alliance with Mexico against the U.S. during WWI, intercepted and made public in 1917.
Fourteen Points: President Woodrow Wilson's proposal for post-WWI peace, including the formation of the League of Nations.
Allied strategy in WWII: Included defeating Germany first, followed by Japan, and strategic bombing, amphibious landings, and island hopping.
Axis powers: The coalition led by Germany, Italy, and Japan during WWII.
Aftermath of WWII: Included the establishment of the United Nations, the beginning of the Cold War, and the division of Germany.
US Battleships in WWII: Played crucial roles in battles like Pearl Harbor, Midway, and the Atlantic and Pacific campaigns.
Blitzkrieg: A German WWII military tactic of rapid, coordinated assaults combining air and ground forces.
Japanese Internment in WWII: The forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans in the United States during WWII.
Atomic Bomb: Nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. in 1945, leading to Japan's surrender in WWII.
Vietnamization: President Nixon's strategy for ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War by transferring combat roles to South Vietnamese forces.
Pentagon Papers: Classified documents leaked in 1971 revealing U.S. government deception in the Vietnam War.
Legacy of Vietnam: Included significant loss of life, social and political upheaval, and changes in U.S. military and foreign policy.
Sputnik: The first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, marking the start of the space race.
Containment policy: U.S. strategy during the Cold War to prevent the spread of communism.
Berlin Wall: A wall separating East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, symbolizing the Cold War divide.
Initiative: A process by which citizens can propose new laws or amendments.
Referendum: A direct vote by the electorate on a particular proposal or issue.
Recall: A procedure allowing voters to remove an elected official from office.
Panama Canal: A man-made waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, completed by the U.S. in 1914.
American Federation of Labor: A national federation of labor unions founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers.
Anti-Imperialism: Opposition to colonialism and empire-building, particularly prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Great Society: President Lyndon B. Johnson's set of domestic programs aimed at eliminating poverty and racial injustice.
Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact: A 1928 international agreement attempting to prevent war by renouncing it as a national policy.
The first “Talkie” movie: "The Jazz Singer" (1927), the first feature-length film with synchronized dialogue.
Causes of the Great Depression: Stock market crash of 1929, bank failures, reduced consumer spending, and drought conditions.
The Supreme Court and the New Deal: The Supreme Court initially struck down several New Deal programs as unconstitutional, leading to conflicts with President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Sharecropping: A system where farmers worked land owned by others in exchange for a share of the crops produced.
Dust Bowl: Severe drought and dust storms in the 1930s that devastated the central United States' agriculture.
United Nations: An international organization founded in 1945 to promote peace, security, and cooperation among nations.
NATO/Warsaw Pact: NATO is a military alliance formed in 1949 by Western nations, while the Warsaw Pact was a military alliance of communist nations formed in 1955.
Cross of Gold speech: A speech by William Jennings Bryan in 1896 advocating for bimetallism and criticizing the gold standard.
US Government policy towards Native Americans in the 19th century: Included forced relocation, assimilation policies, and treaties that were often broken.
Open Door policy: A U.S. policy advocating for equal trading rights for all nations in China, established in the late 19th century.
The Jungle: A novel by Upton Sinclair exposing the harsh conditions and unsanitary practices in the meatpacking industry.
Harlem Renaissance: A cultural, social, and artistic explosion centered in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s, celebrating African American culture.
Teapot Dome: A 1920s scandal involving the secret leasing of federal oil reserves by the Secretary of the Interior, Albert B. Fall.
Women’s Suffrage movement: The campaign for women's right to vote, culminating in the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
Buying stock on credit: A practice in the 1920s where investors purchased stock with borrowed money, contributing to the stock market crash.
Growth of the Suburbs: Post-WWII expansion of suburban areas due to economic prosperity, the GI Bill, and the desire for homeownership.
Iron Curtain: The metaphorical division between Eastern (communist) and Western (capitalist) Europe during the Cold War.
Desegregation: The process of ending the separation of races, particularly in public schools and other public places.
Reaganomics: President Ronald Reagan's economic policies, emphasizing tax cuts, deregulation, and reduction of government spending.
Supply side economics: An economic theory that lower taxes and decreased regulation will stimulate the economy.
Iranian Hostage crisis: The 444-day period (1979-1981) during which 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage in Iran.
Space shuttle Challenger: The NASA space shuttle that tragically exploded shortly after launch in 1986, killing all seven astronauts on board.
AIDS epidemic: The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS beginning in the 1980s, leading to significant public health challenges and activism.
“Triple Wall of Privilege”: President Woodrow Wilson's term for the banks, tariffs, and trusts he aimed to reform.
Technology/Weapons of WWI: Included machine guns, tanks, airplanes, poison gas, and trench warfare.
Technological advances of the 20th century: Major innovations such as the airplane, automobile, computer, and internet.
1994 Republican Revolution: The Republican Party's significant electoral gains in the 1994 midterm elections, leading to control of both houses of Congress.
Suppression of Civil Liberties: Instances where governments have limited freedoms, such as during the Red Scare or Japanese internment in WWII.
Panama Canal Treaties: Agreements signed in the 1970s that eventually transferred control of the Panama Canal from the U.S. to Panama.
End of the Cold War: Marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the easing of tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union.
Presidential Impeachment: The process by which a sitting president can be charged with misconduct, leading to potential removal from office.
League of Nations: An international organization established after World War I to promote peace, which ultimately failed to prevent WWII.
Terrorism on US soil: Incidents such as the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the September 11, 2001 attacks.
“Waving the bloody shirt”: A post-Civil War political tactic of reminding voters of the Union's victory over the Confederacy to gain political support.
Transcontinental Railroad: The railroad completed in 1869 that connected the eastern and western United States.

ACRONYMS TO KNOW

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance formed in 1949.
SEC: Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal agency regulating the stock market.
FDIC: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, insures deposits in U.S. banks.
CCC: Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal program providing jobs in natural resource conservation.
TVA: Tennessee Valley Authority, a New Deal agency that built dams and power plants.
NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement, a trade deal between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
AAA: Agricultural Adjustment Administration, a New Deal program to boost agricultural prices.
SSA: Social Security Administration, manages Social Security programs.
NRA: National Recovery Administration, aimed to eliminate unfair trade practices.
PWA: Public Works Administration, a New Deal agency that funded large infrastructure projects.
CWA: Civil Works Administration, a New Deal program for short-term jobs.
SEATO: Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, a regional defense pact.
WPA: Works Progress Administration, a New Deal agency that employed millions in public works.