Chapter 8 Timeline

1940's
1940	U.S. Department of Labor reports that less than 17% of all married women in the US are employed outside the home
1941-45	U.S. enters World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; women enter the workforce while men are at war (Rosie the Riveter): African-Americans pressure Roosevelt to establish Fair Employment Practices Committee.
1944	G.I.Bill of Rights is passed, paving way for masses of WWII veterans to attain college education at government expense.
1945	Thousands of white students walk out of classes in protest of integration in Gary, IN; this walkout becomes precedent for future integration resistance.
1945	U.S. destroys Hiroshima and Nagasaki with first use of atomic bomb, bringing end to WWII in the Pacific .
1948	Truman orders end to segregation in armed forces.
1949	Nuclear arms race between the US and USSR begins when Soviets test atomic bomb.
1950's
1950	Senator Joseph McCarthy whips up national fears of Communists in media, entertainment, government, and public life.
1953	Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed for atomic-secrets spying
1954	The US Supreme Court rules in Brown v Board of Education of Topeka that segregated schools are "inherently unequal" and thus unconstitutional, reversing Plessy v. Ferguson; Brown also establishes that other public facilities separated based on race are inherently unequal
1955	The US Supreme Court orders that the integration of schools proceed "with all deliberate speed"
1955	Montgomery bus boycott begins as result of Rosa Parks's refusal to sit in the back of the bus
1957	Launching of Sputnik I by the USSR leads Americans to believe that the Soviets are ahead of the US in missile technology; schools blamed for "technology gap"
1957	Southern Christian Leadership Conference forms; led by Martin Luther King, Jr., it is dedicated to non-violent protest of racial discrimination
1959 should be 1958	U.S. National Defense Education Act promotes teaching of sciences, foreign language, and mathematics
1959	Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba, forming the first communist government in Latin America
1959	James B. Conant publishes The American High School Today
1960's
1961	Michael Harrington publishes The Other America, revealing that millions of Americans live below poverty level
1962	Students for a Democratic Society leads student protests against Vietnam throughout the nation
1962	The All-African Organization of Women is founded to discuss the right to vote, activity in local and national governments, women in education, and medical services for women
1962	The Supreme Court orders the University of Mississippi to admit student James H. Meredith; Ross Barnett, governor of Mississippi tries unsuccessfully to block Meredith's admission
1963	Publication of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan revitalizes the feminist movement
1963	More than 200,000 marchers from all over the US stage the largest protest demonstration in the history of Washington, D.C.; the "March on Washington" procession moves from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial; Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, delivers his celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech
1963	Medgar Evers, field secretary for the NAACP, is assassinated outside his home in Jackson, MS
1963	Assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas
1964	Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed, granting equal voting rights to African Americans
1964	Martin Luther King is awarded Nobel Peace Prize
1964	Escalation of US troops in Vietnam following the alleged Gulf of Tonkin incident
1965	The Medicare Act, Housing Act, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a new immigration act, and voting-rights legislation are enacted
1966	National Organization for Women is formed