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Henry Ford introduced the affordable Model T automobile, revolutionizing mass production and making car ownership accessible to the average American.
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Germany sent a secret proposal to Mexico for an alliance against the U.S. in exchange for lost territories, which was intercepted and helped push America toward entering World War I.
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The armistice ending World War I was signed, bringing hostilities to a close at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
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The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, granting women the right to vote nationwide after decades of suffrage activism.
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Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis, becoming an international aviation hero.
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Panic selling on the New York Stock Exchange marked the beginning of the 1929 stock market crash, triggering the Great Depression.
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched the New Deal, a series of programs and reforms to provide relief, recovery, and reform amid the Great Depression.
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Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg, enabling the Nazis to begin consolidating power.
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Britain, France, Italy, and Germany signed the Munich Agreement, allowing Nazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia in an act of appeasement.
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Germany's invasion of Poland triggered the start of World War II as Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later.
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Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, prompting the United States to enter World War II.
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Allied forces launched the largest amphibious invasion in history on the beaches of Normandy, marking a turning point in the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control.
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The United Nations officially came into existence with the ratification of its charter, aimed at promoting international peace and cooperation after World War II.
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The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan's surrender and the end of World War II.
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U.S. diplomat George Kennan sent a pivotal cable from Moscow outlining the containment policy toward Soviet expansion, shaping early Cold War strategy.
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North Korea invaded South Korea, leading to a three-year conflict involving the U.N. (led by the U.S.) and communist forces, ending in an armistice without a formal peace treaty.
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The Soviet Union successfully tested its first atomic bomb, ending the U.S. nuclear monopoly and escalating the arms race in the Cold War.
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established as a military alliance to provide collective defense against Soviet aggression during the Cold War.
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The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, a landmark decision in the civil rights movement.
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December 1, 1955 — Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat
Rosa Parks sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, becoming a key figure in the civil rights movement. -
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, shocking the nation and leading to Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency.
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The U.S. confronted the Soviet Union over nuclear missiles in Cuba, bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war before a tense resolution.
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The U.S. became deeply involved in the conflict between communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam, resulting in massive casualties and domestic division before ending with communist victory.
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Congress passed the resolution authorizing President Johnson to escalate U.S. military involvement in Vietnam following reported attacks on American ships.
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Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon during NASA's Apollo 11 mission.
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Five men linked to President Nixon's re-election campaign were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex.
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President Richard Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal, becoming the first U.S. president to do so to avoid impeachment.
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The modern Internet became operational with the widespread adoption of TCP/IP protocols, laying the foundation for global digital connectivity.
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The Berlin Wall fell, symbolizing the end of the Cold War division of Europe and the beginning of German reunification.
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Terrorists hijacked four planes, crashing them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field, killing nearly 3,000 people and leading to the War on Terror.
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The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus, leading to widespread lockdowns, economic disruption, and millions of deaths worldwide.