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The Ford Model T was produced from October 1, 1908, when the first one rolled off the line, until May 26, 1927, when the last one was built, marking a nearly 19-year production run that made cars accessible to the middle class through mass production and the assembly line.
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The Zimmermann Telegram, which was sent by Germany on January 16 or 17, 1917, proposing an alliance with Mexico, was intercepted and deciphered by the British, presented to the U.S. on February 24, 1917, and publicly revealed in American newspapers on March 1, 1917, significantly influencing the U.S. entry into World War I in April 1917.
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The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1920, granted women the right to vote by prohibiting the denial or abridgment of voting rights based on sex, concluding a decades-long women's suffrage movement and changing the American electorate forever, though many women of color still faced barriers like poll taxes and literacy tests for years to come.
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The Armistice of World War I was the agreement signed on November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m. in a railway carriage in Compiègne, France, between the Allies and Germany, halting all fighting on the Western Front and effectively ending the Great War after four years of devastating conflict, with Germany agreeing to immediate evacuation of occupied territories and significant military surrenders, though formal peace wouldn't come until the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
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On May 20, 1927, Detroit-born Charles Lindbergh completed the first nonstop solo transatlantic flight. On this day, Charles Lindbergh, born in Detroit, Michigan, took off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, and began his legendary 3,600-mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean.
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Black Thursday started on October 24, 1929, marking the beginning of the 1929 stock market crash. The panic selling continued through Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, the worst day of the crash, concluding the intense four-day period of massive sell-offs that ushered in the Great Depression.
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The New Deal began in 1933 with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's inauguration and initial relief programs, generally considered to have two phases (First: 1933-1934, Second: 1935-1938), with its main legislative push ending around 1939, though its effects and some programs continued into the early 1940s and even today, with World War II ultimately ending the Depression.
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Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933, appointed by President Hindenburg, and remained in power until his death by suicide on April 30, 1945, marking the end of his rule and the Nazi regime. Within weeks of his appointment, he dismantled democracy through decrees like the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act, establishing a dictatorship.
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The Munich Agreement was signed on September 29-30, 1938, by Germany, Britain, France, and Italy, allowing Germany to annex Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, with occupation beginning October 1, 1938, and concluding by October 10, 1938, effectively ending the agreement's initial phase and starting the territorial transfer, though the pact's failure led to full German invasion in March 1939, ending any pretense of peace.
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Hitler's invasion of Poland began on September 1, 1939, starting World War II, and concluded with the last Polish forces surrendering on October 6, 1939, after which Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned the country, with the Soviet invasion starting September 17th.
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The surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began at 7:55 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 1941, and lasted for just over an hour, ending around 9:00 a.m., though a second wave struck after the first 30 minutes, bringing the U.S. into World War II the following day.
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Allied forces launched a massive beach invasion in Normandy, France, marking a turning point in World War II against Nazi Germany.
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The United Nations was established to promote international peace and cooperation following World War II.
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The United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of 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 telegram from Moscow outlining Soviet behavior and strategies, which shaped U.S. Cold War policy.
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created as a military alliance among Western nations to counter Soviet expansion.
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The Soviet Union successfully tested its first atomic bomb, ending the U.S. monopoly on nuclear weapons and escalating the arms race.
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North Korea invaded South Korea, leading to a conflict involving the U.S., China, and other nations, which ended in an armistice and division at the 38th parallel
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement.
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A long conflict between communist North Vietnam (supported by the Soviet Union and China) and South Vietnam (supported by the U.S.), ending with North Vietnam’s victory and the unification of Vietnam.
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Rosa Parks' arrest for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and became a symbol of the Civil Rights Movement.
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A 13-day confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba, bringing the world close to nuclear war before a peaceful resolution.
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U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, shocking the nation and the world.
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The U.S. Congress passed a resolution giving President Johnson authority to use military force in Vietnam, leading to deeper U.S. involvement.
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Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land and walk on the Moon during NASA’s Apollo 11 mission.
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Burglars connected to President Nixon’s re-election campaign broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, leading to a major political scandal.
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President Richard Nixon resigned due to the Watergate scandal, becoming the only U.S. president to do so.
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The adoption of common communication protocols (TCP/IP) allowed different computer networks to connect, creating the foundation for the modern Internet.
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The Berlin Wall, which separated East and West Berlin, was opened, marking the beginning of the end for communist rule in Eastern Europe.
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Terrorists hijacked four airplanes, crashing them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people and triggering major global consequences.
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A global pandemic caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, leading to widespread illness, millions of deaths, and major social and economic disruptions worldwide.