History - Reference by Credo: 20th Century

American clergyman and civil-rights leader.

US civil-rights activist.

Wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt. A symbol of American liberalism in the mid-20th century, Roosevelt was an important actor in the shaping of the modern Democratic Party and the American welfare state.

From 1945, with his first success, The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams has had a deep impact on the American theatre.

Musician, born in St Louis, Missouri, USA. As a singer-guitarist who drew from blues, rockabilly, and country-and-western styles, and wrote songs about teenage concerns, he was the biggest influence on pre-Beatles rock.

Popular singer and film actor, born in Tupelo, Mississippi, USA.

Flashing across the American scene like a comet, Marilyn Monroe employed her beauty and sexuality to become one of the most popular figures in America during the 1950s and through succeeding decades.

1925-68, American politician, U.S. Attorney General (1961-64), b. Brookline, Mass., younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and son of Joseph P. Kennedy.

Conductor and composer, born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA.

US lawyer, Democrat senator from 2001, former first lady 1993–2001, and secretary of state from January 2009.

A leading figure in the second wave of U.S. feminism.

US Democratic politician and environmentalist, vice-president 1993-2001.

US politician, national security advisor 2001-04 and secretary of state 2005-09.

US-led international campaign against terrorist organizations, declared in response to the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, DC, on September 11th, 2001 that killed around 3,000 people MORE

In economics, phase of the business cycle associated with a declining economy; Its manifestations are rising unemployment, contracting business activity, and decreasing purchasing power of consumers. Government policy, such as cuts in government spending or taxes, may be used to stimulate and expand the economy during a recession. If a recession is not checked, it can degenerate into a depression.

Demonstrations, marches, and acts of civil disobedience in protests to US involvement in the Vietnam War (1954-75), beginning around 1965. Anti-war sentiment arose from the question of the morality of participation in what many regarded as a civil war; the growing human and environmental costs; and doubts that the US war effort would succeed.

US movement especially active during the 1950s and 60s that aimed to end segregation and discrimination against blacks, as well as affirm their constitutional rights and improve their status in society.

Statutory limitations placed on the number of terms officeholders may serve; Focusing especially on members of the U.S. Congress, term limits became an important national political issue during the late 1980s and early 90s and have been vigorously debated.

Period of political persecution during the 1950s, led by US senator Joe McCarthy, during which many public officials and private citizens were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers.

Reduction of a country's weapons of war.

A movement to secure civil rights for homosexuals and lesbians.

War between the Central European Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and allies) on one side and the Triple Entente (Britain and the British Empire, France, and Russia) and their allies, including the USA (which entered in 1917), on the other side.

Oil reserve scandal that began during the administration of President Harding.

The New York Stock Exchange in 1929, where panic-selling of shares after a prolonged period of speculation brought about a worldwide economic crisis.

The severe economic crisis supposedly precipitated by the U.S. stock-market crash of 1929; Although it shared the basic characteristics of other such crises (see depression), the Great Depression was unprecedented in its length and in the wholesale poverty and tragedy it inflicted on society.

US Pacific naval base on Oahu island, Hawaii, USA, the scene of a Japanese aerial attack on 7 December 1941, which brought the USA into World War II.

War between Germany, Italy, and Japan (the Axis powers) on one side, and Britain, the Commonwealth, France, the USA, the USSR, and China (the Allies) on the other.

The wartime effort to design and build the first nuclear weapons (atomic bombs). With the discovery of fission in 1939, it became clear to scientists that certain radioactive materials could be used to make a bomb of unprecented power.

Ideological, political, and economic tensions from 1945 to 1989 between the USSR and Eastern Europe on the one hand and the USA and Western Europe on the other.

War from 1950 to 1953 between North Korea (supported by China) and South Korea, aided by the United Nations (the troops were mainly US).

War from 1954 to 1975 between communist North Vietnam and US-backed South Vietnam, in which North Vietnam aimed to conquer South Vietnam and unite the country as a communist state. North Vietnam was supported by communist rebels from South Vietnam, the Vietcong.

Demonstrations, marches, and acts of civil disobedience in protest to US involvement in the Vietnam War (1954-75), beginning around 1965.

Government study of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in June, 1967, the 47-volume, top secret study covered the period from World War II to May, 1968.

Case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954; Linda Brown was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka because she was black.

US legislation that outlawed discrimination on the grounds of a person's colour, race, national origin, religion, or sex.

A research programme, originally managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center, aimed at using large radio telescopes to detect artificially generated radio signals coming from interstellar space.

Watergate refers to the political scandal that broke in 1972 and forced Richard M. Nixon to resign the presidency two years later.

Case decided in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Along with Doe v. Bolton, this decision legalized abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Events following the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran by Iranian students on Nov. 4, 1979; The overthrow of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi of Iran by an Islamic revolutionary government earlier in the year had led to a steady deterioration in Iran-U.S. relations.

Secret arrangement in the 1980s to provide funds to the Nicaraguan contra rebels from profits gained by selling arms to Iran; The Iran-contra affair was the product of two separate initiatives during the administration of President Ronald Reagan.

War 16 January-28 February 1991 between Iraq and a coalition of 28 nations led by the USA; The invasion and annexation of Kuwait by Iraq on 2 August 1990 provoked a build-up of US troops in Saudi Arabia, eventually totaling over 500,000.