| 1901 |
Louis Armstrong is born. |
| 1902 |
The first teddy
bear, named for President Roosevelt, is sold in a New York toy
store. |
| 1903 |
W.E.B. DuBois publishes The Souls of Black Folk. |
| 1904 |
Ice cream cones are introduced at the St. Louis World's
Fair. |
| 1905 |
Albert
Einstein proposes the theory of relativity. |
| 1906 |
Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel
Peace Prize. |
| 1907 |
Oklahoma enters the union as the 46th state. |
| 1908 |
The newest division of the Department of Justice, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, is formed. |
| 1909 |
The National Negro Committee, later renamed the NAACP,
is established in New York. |
| 1910 |
Russian novelist Leo
Tolstoy, author of War and Peace, dies. |
| 1911 |
The song "Alexander's Ragtime Band," by Irving
Berlin, popularizes ragtime for mass audiences. |
| 1912 |
The Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic, claiming
the lives of over half its passengers. |
| 1913 |
The first personal income tax is imposed in the U.S.
by the Sixteenth Amendment. |
| 1914 |
World War I begins in Europe. |
| 1915 |
A German U-Boat sinks the S.S. Lusitania, a British
passenger liner. |
| 1916 |
Jeannette Rankin becomes the first female elected to
Congress. |
| 1917 |
Puerto Rico is declared a U.S. Territory by the Jones
Act, granting citizenship to Puerto Ricans. |
| 1918 |
Jazz becomes an international phenomenon with the Original
Dixieland Jazz Band's European tour. |
| 1919 |
The signing of the Treaty of Versailles ends World War
I. |
| 1920 |
The 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote; the
League of Women Voters is established. |
| 1921 |
Franklin Delano Roosevelt contracts polio, leaving him
with only partial usage of his legs. |
| 1922 |
The Lincoln
Memorial is opened to the public in Washington, D.C. |
| 1923 |
U.S. President Warren G. Harding dies and is succeeded
by Calvin Coolidge. |
| 1924 |
George
Gershwin produces the musical Lady Be Good, starring Fred
Astaire. |
| 1925 |
F.
Scott Fitzgerald writes The Great Gatsby. |
| 1926 |
Langston
Hughes, a major leader of the Harlem Renaissance, writes The
Weary Blues. |
| 1927 |
The
Jazz
Singer debuts as one of the first motion pictures with sound.
|
| 1928 |
Herbert Hoover is elected president. |
| 1929 |
The biggest stock market crash to date marks the beginning
of the Great Depression. |
| 1930 |
Astronomers discover Pluto, the ninth and smallest planet. |
| 1931 |
Spanish surrealist Salvador
Dali paints The Persistence of Memory, with its infamous
melted clocks. |
| 1932 |
The Lindbergh baby, son of the first transatlantic aviator
Charles Lindbergh, is kidnapped and killed. |
| 1933 |
The 14-year Prohibition is repealed by the 21st Amendment. |
| 1934 |
The Dust Bowl blows topsoil from farmlands, ruining
families already destitute from the Depression. |
| 1935 |
The Asian country Persia is now officially renamed Iran.
|
| 1936 |
One-third of families in the U.S. have total incomes
below the poverty line. |
| 1937 |
Amelia
Earhart, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, disappears
while flying around the world. |
| 1938 |
Orson
Welles' radio broadcast of War of the Worlds causes national
panic and fear of alien invasions. |
| 1939 |
World War II begins in Europe when Britain and France
declare war on Germany. |
| 1940 |
Frank Sinatra joins the Tommy Dorsey Band and rises
in popularity. |
| 1941 |
Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbor, HI, on December
7, "a date which will live in infamy." |
| 1942 |
Casablanca wins the Academy Award for Best Picture
in Hollywood's Golden Age. |
| 1943 |
The Pentagon, the world's largest office building and
the U.S. Department of Defense, is completed. |
| 1944 |
The Allies invade the beaches at Normandy on June 6,
known as D-day. |
| 1945 |
World War II ends, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt dies
in suddenly his fourth term in office. |
| 1946 |
Dr. Benjamin Spock publishes The Commonsense Book
of Baby and Child Care. |
| 1947 |
Jackie
Robinson becomes the first black professional baseball player.
|
| 1948 |
Racial segregation in the U.S. Military is abolished
by President Truman. |
| 1949 |
African-American poet Gwendolyn Brooks wins the Pulitzer
Prize for her collection of poetry, "Annie Allen." |
| 1950 |
Korean War begins when North Korea invades South Korea;
U.S. troops are sent to aid South Korea. |
| 1951 |
Marlon Brando, a relatively unknown young actor, jumpstarts
his career in A Streetcar Named Desire. |
| 1952 |
The first episode of American Bandstand is hosted
by Dick Clark. |
| 1953 |
Twenty million American households have television sets. |
| 1954 |
Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education
ends tolerance of racial segregation. |
| 1955 |
America's first theme park, Disneyland, opens in Southern
California. |
| 1956 |
Martin
Luther King organizes a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. |
| 1957 |
Sputnik I, launched by the U.S.S.R., is the first satellite
to be released into space. |
| 1958 |
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
is established in the U.S. |
| 1959 |
The great modern jazz singer, Billie
Holiday, dies. |
| 1960 |
Students "sit in" at southern lunch counters in protest
of segregation. |
| 1961 |
The Berlin Wall is built to stop East Berlin refugees
from entering West Berlin. |
| 1962 |
John Glenn, a Marine Corps pilot, is the first American
to orbit the earth. |
| 1963 |
President John F. Kennedy is assassinated. |
| 1964 |
The Civil
Rights Bill, ordering an end to discrimination, is passed. |
| 1965 |
American troops are installed in Vietnam and a full-scale
offensive is begun. |
| 1966 |
The first endangered species list is written by the
U.S. Department of the Interior. |
| 1967 |
Thurgood Marshall is the first black man to become a
Justice of the Supreme Court |
| 1968 |
Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated
in Memphis, Tennessee. |
| 1969 |
Apollo 11 astronauts become the first men to
walk on the moon. |
| 1970 |
The first New York Marathon takes place in Central Park
with 126 entered runners. |
| 1971 |
John
F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opens as a living presidential
memorial. |
| 1972 |
Five men are arrested in Democratic Headquarters, galvanizing
the notorious Watergate scandal. |
| 1973 |
American troops withdraw from the Vietnam conflict. |
| 1974 |
Richard Nixon resigns from President of the United States in order
to avoid impeachment.
Louis Armstrong dies on July 6, 1971.
|
| 1975 |
Elton John's "Philadelphia Freedom" and Glen
Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy" top the charts. |
| 1976 |
Jimmy Carter is elected President, beating incumbent
Gerald Ford. |
| 1977 |
George Lucas's science fiction classic Star Wars
hits the box office. |
| 1978 |
In Jonestown, Guyana, 900 cult followers of Jim Jones
commit suicide and murder a Congressman. |
| 1979 |
Dallas, Three's Company, and The Dukes
of Hazzard are some of the most popular television shows. |
| 1980 |
Mount St. Helen's erupts in Washington, killing 65 people
and spewing lava 60,000 feet in the air. |
| 1981 |
Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first woman appointed
to a Supreme Court position. |
| 1982 |
The Vietnam
War Memorial opens in Washington, D.C., bearing the names of soldiers
lost or killed. |
| 1983 |
President Reagan deploys U.S. troops to Grenada to contest
a military coup and restore democratic rule. |
| 1984 |
Former Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan is re-elected President
of the United States. |
| 1985 |
Back to the Future is released, later becoming
one of the top-grossing films of all time. |
| 1986 |
The space shuttle Challenger explodes soon after
liftoff, inspiring nationwide mourning for its crew. |
| 1987 |
President Reagan and Soviet Secretary Gorbachev sign
the INF treaty to reduce nuclear stockpiles. |
| 1988 |
Republican Vice President George Bush wins the Presidential
election. |
| 1989 |
The Berlin Wall, which separated East and West Berlin
for 28 years, is torn down. |
| 1990 |
The space shuttle Discovery, bearing the Hubble
Space Telescope, is launched in Florida. |
| 1991 |
The Persian Gulf War begins after a 1990 invasion of
Kuwait by Iraq leads to U.S. bombing in both countries. |
| 1992 |
Riots ensue in Los Angeles following the policemen's
acquittal for beating Rodney King. |
| 1993 |
The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is implemented by
President Clinton for gays in the military. |
| 1994 |
Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis dies of
lymphoma cancer. |
| 1995 |
A Federal building bombing in Oklahoma City kills 168
people, prompting national mourning. |
| 1996 |
Actor and dancer Gene
Kelly and celebrated jazz singer Ella
Fitzgerald pass away. |
| 1997 |
The NASA probe Pathfinder lands on Mars to conduct
and transmit research. |
| 1998 |
The Internet reports between 30 and 60 million users. |
| 1999 |
NATO bombing begins in Kosovo when Albanians are forced
from their homes by repressive Serbs. |
| 2000 |
George W. Bush is President-elect, garnering enough
electoral votes but losing the popular vote. |
| 2001 |
The centennial of musician Louis Armstrong's birth is
celebrated! |
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