Winston Churchill
British prime minister during WWII who worked with the US to help defend democracy.
Adolf Hitler
Antisemitic leader of Germany and the Nazi Party during WIII. Called for Germany to expand and not abide by the treaty of Versailles. Responsible for the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust.
Japanese Americans
US government re-located them into interment camps starting in 1942 out of fear.
Douglas MacArthur
US commander in the Philippines during WWII.
Joseph Stalin
Dictator of the Communist party and of the USSR. Ruled during and after WWII. Industrialized the county. Internal Terrorism. Ruled until death.
Harry S. Truman
FDR's vice president who took office after the death of FDR. Responsible for deciding whether or not to drop an atomic bomb on Japan.
Appeasement
When British and French leaders gave into Hitler's demands to avoid him invading more countries.
D-Day
Invasion of Allied forces in France on the beaches of Normandy. Success for the Allies. Major turning point in the war. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Hiroshima
City in Japan where the United States dropped the first atomic bomb forcing Japan to surrender and end the war.
Holocaust
Time Period between 1939 and 1945 when six million Jews were murdered along with hundreds and thousands of others under the Nazi rule in Germany.
Lend-Lease Act
Allowed the US to lend or lease arms to any country considered to be "vital" to the defense of the US.
Manhattan Project
Secret name for the project to secretly build an American atomic bomb.
Neutrality Acts
Passed by Congress to avoid getting into another World War. Made it illegal for Americans to sell arms to any country at war.
Pearl Harbor
Japanese attacked this US Naval base in Hawaii. Many Killed. Caused the US to get involved in WWII.
United Nations
New International political organization formed to prevent another (possibly nuclear) world war.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
His Coldwar policies were: Massive Retaliation, Brinkmanship and, Covert Operations.
Nikita Krushchev
Leader of the Soviet Union during the cold war who was responsible for the Cuban Missile Crisis and building the Berlin Wall.
Mao Zedong
Leader of Communist China, founded the Communist people's republic of China.
George C. Marshall
Secretary of State in 1947 who was responsible for creating "The Marshall Plan".
Joseph McCarthy
Blamed the spread of Communism on traitors within the US government (list of 205 people) with little to no evidence to support his accusations.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Accused of selling information on atomic bomb to the Soviet Union (1950). Charged with espionage. Executed 1953.
Berlin Airlift
GB, US, France merged areas of Germany to form West Germany. Soviets Blocked off all routes into West Berlin. US and GB supply Berlin with supplies by air. Successful, called off blockade.
Blacklist
List of people viewed with suspicion or disapproval of being communist.
Containment
Effort to keep communism in a small area. Don't let them spread their ideas or expand their power.
Iron Curtain
Metaphorical barrier between eastern Europe (Communism) and Western Europe (Democracy).
Korean War
Conflict that occurred during the cold war at the 38th parallel (the most dangerous place in the world). Soviets = North = Communism. US = South = Democracy.
Marshall Plan
Recovery plan for western Europe to rebuild after WWII.
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Promised to aid each other if any were attacked.
Sputnik
History's first artificial satellite object to orbit the earth. Soviet Union launched in 1957. Caused the US to establish NASA.
Truman Doctrine
Pledged the US to fight communism worldwide
Yalta Conference
Divided Germany into 4 zones. (Divided between the "winners" of WWII: US, USSR, GB, and France)
Elvis Presley
The "King of Rock n Roll"
Jonas Sulk
Developed polio Vaccine
Baby Boom
Sharp Rise in the number of babies born between the end of WWII and 1961
Fair Deal
Program Truman presented to convert the economy from wartime to peacetime.
G.I. Bill of Rights
Serviceman's readjustment act
Neil Armstrong
First (American) Man to walk on the moon.
Fidel Castro
Communist Dictator of Cuba, alliance with the USSR.
John Glen
First man from the US to orbit the earth.
Lyndon B. Johnson
Became President after the death of JFK. Great Society. War on Poverty. Escalated US involvement in Vietnamese conflicts.
John F. Kennedy
Youngest President, Assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, New Frontier, Helped with Civil rights, Helped the Disabled.
22nd Amendment
Presidents can only serve 2 terms
Apollo 11
(First) Lunar module to land on the moon. United States.
Bay of Pigs
Eisenhower's secret plan carried out by JFK for 1500 cuban exiles to invade Cuba at the bay of pigs. Disaster! Reflected poorly on the JFK administration.
Berlin Wall
East Berliners were escaping to the west. JFK refused to leave west Berlin. Khrushchev had a wall built down the middle. Torn down in 1989.
Cuban Missile Crisis
Soviets armed Cuba with Missiles aimed at the US. Almost led to nuclear war. US naval ships blockaded Cuba until Soviet Union agreed to remove missiles.
Great Society
One of Johnson's domestic programs
Medicare
Gave aid to people ages 65+ (medical care/insurance)
New Frontier
Kennedy's new domestic policy proposals. Increase aid to education. Health Insurance to the Elderly.
Peace Corps
Organization that sent Americans to provide humanitarian services in less developed nations.
Warren Commission
Concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin of JFK.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Leader of the US African American civil rights movement. "I have a dream". March on Washington.
Thurgood Marshall
First African American Supreme court Justice.
Rosa Parks
Refused to move and sit in the "black section" of the bus and was put in jail for it, this incident started the Montgomery bus Boycott.
Brown v. Board of Education
Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson --> Segregation in schools = illegal & constitutional
Civil Disobedience
Disobeying an unjust law.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Made Segregation Illegal in Public Places
Freedom Rides
Made bus violence/issues known nationally. College Students rode together. Whites and Blacks rode together. Form of Civil Disobedience
Integration
To bring together two previously separated groups of people.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Peaceful and successful bus boycott lead by MLK that urged African Americans to not ride the bus.
Plessy v. Ferguson
Separate but equal
Cesar Chavez
The Mexican MLK. Nonviolent Protest. Latino Rights
Betty Friedam
Author of "The Feminine Mystique"
NOW
Nation Organization for women. Founded by Betty Friedam.
Ho Chi Minh
Communist leader of North Vietnam
25th Amendment
Provided for the filling of the VP position if a vacancy occurs.
26th Amendment
Lowered voting age from 21 to 18
Domino Theory
If one nation in southeast Asia falls to communism, the rest of Southeast Asia would also fall.
Tet Offensive
Jan 30, 1968. NVA and Vietcong launched a surprise attack on US forces throughout. Showed that communism forces still had strength and wanted to fight.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Gave Johnson the power to take all needed measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US without getting the approval of congress.
War Powers Act
Prevented undeclared wars. Required president Johnson to get approval from congress before sending US troops to an armed struggle.
Richard Nixon
First President to visit USSR since WWII.
Henry Kissinger
Nixon's Security Advisor
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
Journalists who broke the watergate story
Camp David Accords
An agreement between Israel and Egypt to end 30 years of war in the middle east.
Détente
A thawing of cold war tensions during the 1970's
EPA
Environmental protection agency set and enforced pollution standards, promoted research, directed anti(pollution) activities with state and local governments.
Iran Hostage Crisis
The ayatollah Klomeini led a revolution in Iran and took 60+ Americans hostage for 444 days
OPEC
Founded by oil exporting countries to set prices on oil.
SALT
Talks between the US and USSR that lead to a treaty limiting the numbers and types of long range missiles each country could have.
Silent Spring
Book; concluded hat DDT (insecticide) was harmful to the environment
Three Mile Island
Accident in a nuclear power plant, raised new questions about the safety of nuclear power. (Not Chernobyl).
Watergate
Scandal in which president Nixon authorized the cover-up of a break in at the Democratic National committee headquarters which led to his resignation.
Mikhail Gorbachev
Opened a new era of US-Soviet relations; Dismantled the Soviet "Empire" in Eastern Europe. "Tear Down this Wall"
Saddam Hussein
Dictator of Iraq. Trial in 2003. Executed in 2006.
Sandra Day O'Connor
First Female Supreme Court Justice
Ronald Reagan.
Conservative; republican --> won election of 1980 (beat Pres. Carter) --> Best Known as an actor --> Somebody tried to assassinate him.
AIDs
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
Iran-Contra Affair
Secretly sold weapons to Iran in exchange for American hostages and profits sent to the contras.
Glasnost
"openness" --> allowed more freedom of religion and speech, enabling people to discuss politics openly.
Perestroika
Reconstructing of Soviet Economy. Allowed some private enterprise and profit making.
Persian Gulf War
1990 Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Operation Desert Storm = UN invasion. Led by US to force Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
Reaganomics
Belief that the federal budget could be balanced by cutting taxes. More Military Spending.
Tiananmen Square
1989, Chinese Students and workers held demonstrations for democracy.
Madeline Albright
First woman to ever be appointed to Secretary of State.
George H.W. Bush
Republican nominated for president in 1988, Reagan Endorsed.
Bill Clinton
Elected in 1992 (re-elected 1996) (Democrat). 2nd president to be impeached (scandal). Whitewater.
Hillary Clinton
Chaired Healthcare committee. Senator in NY. Democratic Presidential Candidate in 2008. Current Secretary of State.
Bill Gates
Founder of Microsoft
Brady Bill
5 day waiting period for handgun purchases
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
Co-Founders of Apple Inc.
Global Warming
Potential Environmental threat caused by rising temperatures on Earth from heat trapped in the planet's atmosphere.
NAFTA
Trade Agreement between US, Canada, and Mexico.
World Wide Web
allows users to post information in the form of web pages and click on links to jump from website to website
Osama Bin Laden
Leader of Al-Queda. One of the main people responsible for the 9-11 attacks on America
George W. Bush
Elected President in 2000, Beat Al Gore. 8 months into his presidency American was attacked.
Barack Obama
Elected President in 2008. First African American President.
September 11, 2001
Terrorist attack on America. Four Planes hijacked. One plane into Pentagon. Two planes into world trade center. 1 plane into Shanksville PA.
War on Terror
Military action by the US on acts of terror.