Charles Seeberger invented the modern escalator

1963 JFK Assassinated, Martin Luther King delivers his “I have a Dream Speech”

1964 Civil Rights Act passed

1965 Watts Riots break out in Los Angeles, Malcolm X assassinated, Vietnam war intensifies,

1966 Black Panther Party established, Mao Zedong launches cultural revolution.

1968 Martin Luther King assassinated, Robert F Kennedy assassinated

1969 On 20 July, American astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to set foot on the surface of the moon.

The Woodstock (New York) music festival in August, attending by over 500,000 people, features rock artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan and signals the presence of a widespread hippie culture.

“The chaotic events of the 60's, including war and social change, seemed destined to continue in the 70's.  Major trends included a growing disillusionment of government, advances in civil rights, increased influence of the women's movement, a heightened concern for the environment, and increased space exploration.  Many of the "radical" ideas of the 60's gained wider acceptance in the new decade, and were mainstreamed into American life and culture.  Amid war, social realignment and presidential impeachment proceedings, American culture flourished.  Indeed, the events of the times were reflected in and became the inspiration for much of the music, literature, entertainment, and even fashion of the decade.”

• “The chaotic events of the 60's, including war and social change, seemed destined to continue in the 70's.  Major trends included a growing disillusionment of government, advances in civil rights, increased influence of the women's movement, a heightened concern for the environment, and increased space exploration.  Many of the "radical" ideas of the 60's gained wider acceptance in the new decade, and were mainstreamed into American life and culture.  Amid war, social realignment and presidential impeachment proceedings, American culture flourished.  Indeed, the events of the times were reflected in and became the inspiration for much of the music, literature, entertainment, and even fashion of the decade.”

• 1970, 4 Kent State students killed by National Guard in protest of the Vietnam war. Signals the abrubt end of “flower power”, and protests take on a more serious role.

• 1970 April 22, First Earth Day

• 1970 June 28, First Gay Pride march held in New York

• 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre September 5. As the world watched, as Palestinian terrorist murdered 11 Israeli Olympians 

• 1973 ROE v. WADE legalized abortion

• 1973 After nearly 10 years of war in Vietnam 1973 was also the year that allied forces pulled out of Vietnam.

• Another significant factor in the 70's was the growth in women’s rights and women’s role in society including the ability to decide when where and if they wished to have children.

(1970’s Continued)

• (1970’s Continued)

• 1974 August 8, Richard Nixon forced to resigned as President of the United States amid pending impeachment proceedings due to the Watergate scandal.

• 1976 July 4, America celebrates 200 years of the Declaration of Independence

• 1977 Elvis Presley dies at age 42

• 1978 American religious cult leader Jim Jones and 900 People's Temple followers die in mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. 

• Mood rings, lava lamps, Rubik's cube, Sea Monkeys, smiley face stickers, string art, and pet rocks all captured the imagination of Americans during this decade.  The wildest fad surely was streaking nude through very public places!   Families vacationed in station wagons and everyone wanted an RV.

• 1978 On 17 September, the Camp David accords between US president Jimmy Carter, Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat provide the basis for the Middle East peace process.

• 1978 A committee of the US House of Representatives concludes that a second gunman was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.

• 1979 On 16 January, the shah of Iran flees the country. Ayatollah Khomeini returns from exile on 1 February to lead the government. An Islamic republic is declared on 1 April. On 4 November, more than 60 American hostages are taken at the US embassy in Iran (crisis ends on 20 January 1981).

The 1980s became the Me! Me! Me! generation of status seekers.   During the 1980s, hostile takeovers, leveraged buyouts, and mega-mergers spawned a new breed of billionaire. Labels were everything, even (or especially) for our children.  Tom Wolfe dubbed the baby-boomers as the 'splurge generation.'  Video games, aerobics, minivans, camcorders, and talk shows became part of our lives.   The decade began with double-digit inflation, Reagan declared a war on drugs, Kermit didn't find it easy to be green, hospital costs rose, we lost many, many of our finest talents to AIDS which before the decade ended spread to black and Hispanic women, and  unemployment rose.  On the bright side, the US Constitution had its 200th birthday, Gone with the Wind turned 50,  ET phoned home, and in 1989 Americans gave $115,000,000,000 to charity.  And, Internationally, at the very end of the decade the Berlin Wall was removed - making great changes for the decade to come!   At the turn of the decade, many were happy to leave the spendthrift 80s for the 90s, although some thought the eighties TOTALLY AWESOME.

• The 1980s became the Me! Me! Me! generation of status seekers.   During the 1980s, hostile takeovers, leveraged buyouts, and mega-mergers spawned a new breed of billionaire. Labels were everything, even (or especially) for our children.  Tom Wolfe dubbed the baby-boomers as the 'splurge generation.'  Video games, aerobics, minivans, camcorders, and talk shows became part of our lives.   The decade began with double-digit inflation, Reagan declared a war on drugs, Kermit didn't find it easy to be green, hospital costs rose, we lost many, many of our finest talents to AIDS which before the decade ended spread to black and Hispanic women, and  unemployment rose.  On the bright side, the US Constitution had its 200th birthday, Gone with the Wind turned 50,  ET phoned home, and in 1989 Americans gave $115,000,000,000 to charity.  And, Internationally, at the very end of the decade the Berlin Wall was removed - making great changes for the decade to come!   At the turn of the decade, many were happy to leave the spendthrift 80s for the 90s, although some thought the eighties TOTALLY AWESOME.

• 1980 Cable News Network (CNN) was launched

• 1980 John Lennon assassinated

• 1980 Black and Hispanic Barbie are introduced

• 1980 Bill Gates licenses MS-DOS, makes next to nothing on the deal.

• 1980 On 19 June, the Olympic games open in Moscow, boycotted by 45 nations because of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan

• 1980 On 4 November, former film actor Ronald Reagan sweeps to victory as the Republican 40th president of the United States, against the incumbent Jimmy Carter.

1981 Columbia, America’s first reusable spacecraft launched

• 1981 Columbia, America’s first reusable spacecraft launched

• 1981 The US Center for Disease Control recognizes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

• 1981 IBM launches its personal computer. This uses the Microsoft disk-operating system (MS-DOS), which soon becomes the industry standard.

• 1981 First woman elected to the Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor

• 1981 Wayne Williams arrested and convicted in 1982 for the multiple murders of 23 African American Children in Atlanta between 1979 and 1981

• 1981 The first DeLorean sports cars roll off the assembly line.

• 1981 Music Television (MTV) launched

• 1981 First reports of deaths at the time from disease what we now know to be called AIDS.

• 1981 50 year cultural news icon Walter Cronkite steps down from CBS, Dan Rather takes over.

• 1981 Computer game PAC MAN introduced

• 1982 Vietnam War Memorial build in Washington D.C.

• 1982 First compact disc player sold

• 1982 First issue of USA Today newspaper

• 1982 Trivial Pursuit was the hottest board game. Over 22 million games sold

• 1982 President Reagan’s “War on Drugs.” Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say NO” campaign launched.

• 1983 American writer Alice Walker publishes The Color Purple, a novel about the sexual abuse and self-fulfillment of a black woman.

1983 Sally Ride is the first woman in space

• 1983 Sally Ride is the first woman in space

• 1983 Dr. Martin Luther King Day is created as a national holiday.

• 1983 Friendship pins, Jelly shoes, Ray-Ban Wayfarers and parachute pants are some of the many fashion statements of the year.

• 1984 Geraldine Ferraro chosen as first female vice presidential candidate

• 1984 Jesse Jackson first Black presidential candidate

• 1984 On 6 November, Ronald Reagan is re-elected US president against Walter Mondale.

• 1984 The Apple Macintosh computer, with mouse, is marketed.

• 1984 American and French scientists independently discover HIV, the human immuno-deficient virus responsible for AIDS.

• 1984 Vanessa Williams is the first Black Miss America

• 1985 “Where’s the Beef” is the cultural saying of the year

• 1985 Rock Hudson dies of AIDS

• 1986 On 28 January, US space shuttle Challenger explodes on take-off, killing all its crew, including teacher Christa McAuliffe. It is later discovered that the disaster was caused by a faulty seal. Space shuttle flights are suspended for 2.5 years.

• 1986 Iran Contra scandal, Oliver “Ollie” North becomes a household name

• 1986 The Anti-Apartheid Act passed in the US imposes strict sanctions on South Africa and causes many multinational companies – for example, General Motors and Esso – to disinvest.

1987 Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, becomes the first microcomputer billionaire.

• 1987 Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, becomes the first microcomputer billionaire.

• 1987 Baby Jessica falls into a well October 14th.

• 1987 Liberace dies of AIDS but refuses to admit he has it.

• 1987 Condom commercials air on TV

• 1988 Research money allowed for studies and new treatments for heart, cancer, and other diseases.  Major advances in genetics research led to the 1988 funding of the Human Genome Project.  This project will locate the estimated 80,000 genes contained in human DNA.

• 1988 George Bush 1elected as president

• 1988 Martin Scorsese's film The Last Temptation of Christ attracts violent demonstrations from fundamentalist Christian groups.

• 1988 December 2, President Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union officially declare the end of the Cold War.

• 1988 Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” video causes controversy and is condemned by religious groups.

• 1988 “Oprah” is the hottest talk show host on television.

• 1989 First Black coach “Art Shell” to coach for NFL and win on Monday Night Football.

• Families changed drastically during these years.  The 80s continued the trends of the 60s and 70s - more divorces, more unmarrieds living together, more single parent families.  The two-earner family was even more common than in previous decades, more women earned college and advanced degrees, married, and had fewer children.

1990 The Hubble telescope was put into orbit

• 1990 The Hubble telescope was put into orbit

• 1990 Nelson Mandela is freed, and negotiates end of Apartheid.

• 1991Operation “Desert Storm” launched to liberate Kuwait from Iraq

• 1991Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the pop group Queen, dies of Aids on 24 November.

• 1992 William Jefferson Clinton, Governor of Arkansas defeats incumbent George H. Walker Bush during the Presidential election.

• 1992 Los Angeles riots over the Rodney King attack by LA police offices is caught on tape

• 1993 First World Trade Center bombing February 26.

• 1993 On 19 April, the FBI/AFT siege of the headquarters of the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas, ends after 51 days with the compound consumed by fire. Cult leader David Koresh is among those killed.

• 1993 The British pop group The Spice Girls promotes 'girl power'.

1994 OJ Simpson arrested for double murder.

• 1994 OJ Simpson arrested for double murder.

• 1994 Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa

• 1994 North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

• 1995 Federal building in Oklahoma City bombed by Timothy McVeigh a U.S. Army Veteran.

• 1996-1999 14 School Shootings including Columbine HS in Littleton Colorado April 20, 1999.

• 1996 President Clinton re-elected to second term, defeating Republican candidate Bob Dole.

• 1997 Princess Diana is killed in a high speed car accident

• 1997 Cloning is introduced when scientist clone a sheep

• 1997 Tiger Woods wins Masters

• 1998 Titanic most popular movie

• 1998 President Clinton Impeached for lying to Congress in regards to the Monica Lewinski scandal

• 1998 Sexual enhancement drug “viagra” hits the market.

• 1999 President Clinton acquitted on charges of lying to Congress

• 1999 JFK Jr. dies in plane crash

• 1999 Y2K

• 2000 Millennium begins

1903 Mary McCloud Bethune established secondary school that is now a 4 year accredited college “Bethune Cookman College.”

• 1903 Mary McCloud Bethune established secondary school that is now a 4 year accredited college “Bethune Cookman College.”

• 1910 Blanche Scott first woman to fly an aircraft

• 1916 Jeannette Rankin First woman in Congress (U.S. House of Representative)

• 1917 Kate Gleason First woman national bank president

• 1920 Florence E. Allen First woman judge

• 1924 Hallie “Ma” Ferguson First woman governor (State of Texas)

• 1931 Jane Addams first woman Nobel Peace prize winner

• 1933 Ruth Bran Owen first woman foreign diplomat

• 1939 Hattie McDaniel first African American of any gender to win an Academy Award.

• 1941 Linda Darnell First woman to sell securities on the NY Stock Exchange

• 1944 Georgia Nesse Clark first woman US Treasurer

• 1967 Muriel Siebert first woman to own a seat on the NY Stock Exchange

• 1978 Mary Clarke First woman Major General US Army

• 1981 Sandra Day O’Connor first woman Supreme Court Justice

• 1983 Sally Ride first American woman to reach outer space

• 1985 Penny Harrington first woman police chief (Portland Oregon)

• 1986 Christa McAuliffe first woman citizen passenger in space.

1995 Lt. Col. Eileen Collins first woman to pilot a space shuttle

• 1995 Lt. Col. Eileen Collins first woman to pilot a space shuttle

• 1997 Madeline Albright first woman Secretary of State and highest ranking woman in the U.S Govt.

• 2000 Hillary Rodham Clinton first former First Lady elected to the U.S. Senate.

• 2005 Condoleezza Rice first African American woman Secretary of State

• 2007 Nancy Pelosi first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives

• 2009 Michelle Obama first African American First Lady.

Culminating Project: Timeline

• Culminating Project: Timeline

Culminating Project: Timeline

• Culminating Project: Timeline

Culminating Project: Timeline

• Culminating Project: Timeline

Culminating Project: Timeline

• Culminating Project: Timeline

Culminating Project: Timeline

• Culminating Project: Timeline

Culminating Project: Timeline

• Culminating Project: Timeline

Culminating Project: Timeline

• Culminating Project: Timeline