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Moments In Time Special Issue January 2001
1901 President McKinley dies of gangrene eight days after being shot by Leo Czolgosz. Teddy Roosevelt, 42, is sworn in as this nation's youngest president. John Steinbeck is born. The first Nobel prizes are awarded. Queen Victoria dies at age 81 after reigning nearly 64 years as monarch of the British empire. The world population is 1.7 billion. Life expectancy for white males in the U.S. is 48 years, for white females, 51 years. Baseball's American League is created. Instant coffee is invented. The first Studebaker is introduced for sale to the public. Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States, dies. Up from Slavery, by Booker T. Washington, is published. I Love You Truly is a popular song. Obesity and heart disease are reported to be connected for the first time following a medical study.
1902 Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first transatlantic wireless message. The Locomobile, the first U.S. car to use heat-formed steel alloys, is introduced to the public for sale. J.C. Penney Co. is founded by James Cash Penney. Cuba gains independence from Spain. Tifffany & Co. founder, Charles Lewis Tiffany, dies at age 80. Buster Brown, a comic-strip adventure, debuts in the New York Herald. The first Rose Bowl football game is played on January 1 in Pasadena, California. Michigan defeats Stanford 48 to 0. The teddy bear is introduced for sale to the public. Willis Haviland Carrier designs an air-cooling system that pioneers modern air conditioning. Barnum's Animal Crackers are introduced for sale to the public. Pepsi Cola is founded in North Carolina by Caleb Bradharm.
1903 V.I. Lenin forms the Bolshevicks after renouncing membership in the Menshevicks. Massachusetts introduces the first automobile license plates. Singer Manufacturing sells 1.4 million sewing machines. Texaco drills its first oil-producing well in Sour Lake, Texas. The Chadwick, an automobile designed by Lee Sherman Chadwick, is introduced for sale to the public. The 24-horse-power vehicle exceeds speeds of 60 miles per hour and sells for $4,000. Wilbur and Orville Wright make the first sustained flight in an aircraft. A typhoid epidemic in New York is traced to Mary Mallon, "Typhoid Mary", a carrier of the disease who works at jobs handling food, often under an assumed name. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle is manufactured by William Harley and William Davidson. Ransom Olds drives an automobile a measured mile in 1 minute and 6 seconds. The Wizard of Oz, a musical, opens on Broadway.
1904 Montgomery Ward mails out more than 3 million catalogs. More than 1,000 die, when the paddle-wheeler S.S. General Slocum catches fire on the Hudson River. The captain is sentenced to 10 years hard labor for criminal negligence. The Cadillac Motor Company is created. Manuel Guerro is elected President of the new Republic of Panama. Marie Curie discovers radium in pitchlende (uranium) ore. Frankie and Johnny is a popular song. Helen Keller, 23, graduates magna cum laude from Radcliffe. The Olympics are held in St. Louis. The Gillette razor is patented. Fire destroys more than 1,000 buildings in Baltimore. Cy Young pitches the first major league no-hitter for the Boston Red Sox. The hamburger, chopped beef fried and sold by German immigrants, becomes popular at the St. Louis Exposition.
1905 A peace treaty between Russia and Japan, negotiated by President Roosevelt, is signed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Norway gains independence from Sweden. The Supreme Court rules a law limiting work in the baking industry to 60 hours per week unconstitutional. U.S. automakers produce 25,000 vehicles. The first taxicabs are introduced in Paris. The Wright brothers fly 24.5 miles in 38 minutes in an exhibition in Dayton, Ohio. Albert Einstein publishes his theory of relativity. Novocaine is introduced into medical use. Compulsory vaccination laws are ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court. Vick's Vapor Rub is introduced on the public market. L. C. Smith and Brothers sells its first typewriter to the New York Tribune for newsroom work. William Randolph Hearst buys Cosmopolitan for $400,000. Ty Cobb signs with the Detroit Tigers to begin his baseball career. Clair de Lune, by Claude Debussy, is published. The U.S. dancer Isodora Dungan gives birth to a child out of wedlock.
1909 Japanese forces occupy Korea after a state of insurrection. Two wire reports say Robert E. Perry reached the North Pole. Neither will ever prove he did. The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, granting an income tax, is submitted for ratification to the 46 states. General Motors buys the Cadillac Co. from Henry Leland for $4.5 million. George Pepperdine founds Western Auto Supply Company. Bakelite, the world's first polymer, is developed by Leo Bakeland, an American chemist. The 2,600 newspapers in the U.S. serve 90 million people. The London Symphony gives its first performance. The Pittsburg Pirates defeat the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. Writer Rose Cecil O'Neil patents the Kewpie Doll. Strawberries are frozen for transport to markets. A field goal in football is reduced from a value of 4 points to 3 points.
1910 The average salary of U.S. workers is less than $15 per week. The average worker labors 56 to 60 hours per week. Race riots occur in New York, Houston, and Boston after the "great white hope" James J. Jefferies challenges heavyweight champion Jack Johnson and loses. A bomb explodes at the Los Angeles Times, killing 20 people. James McNamara and his brother John are arrested and charged with setting the bomb to silence opposition to organized labor. Both men confess. A Constitutional amendment in Washington state grants women the right to vote. Barney Oldfield sets a 131.7 mile-per-hour speed record at Daytona Beach, Florida. Writer Daniel Carter Beard founds the Boy Scouts of America. Down By the Old Mill Stream is a popular song. Fathers' Day is observed for the first time. "Every day in every way, I'm growing better and better," proclaims Emile Coule, a pharmacist promoting auto-suggestive healing. The Miami Herald begins publication. Rewards and Fairies, by Rudyard Kipling, is published. 1911 Norwegian explorer Roland Armundsen reaches the South Pole. Women in California gain the right to vote. The U.S. Immigration Commission issues a report recommending the restriction of immigration. First transcontinental flight from New York to California is made by Calbraith P. Rodgers. U.S. orders 20,000 soldiers to Mexican border. China's Yangtze River floods, killing more than 100,000. American composer and musician W.C. Handy publishes first blues composition, The Memphis Blues. The Philadelphia Athletics defeat the New York Giants 4 games to 2 to win the World Series. Mack Sennett founds the Keystone Motion Picture Co. The Innocense of Father Brown, a detective mystery by G.K. Chesterton, is published. Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, is published. The New York Public Library opens. Hiram Bingham discovers the Inca city Marchu Picchu in Peru. Andre Jaeger-Smith circles the earth from Paris to Paris, by ship and rail, in 39 days and 19 hours. The first Indianapolis 500 is held. A Mormon Wasp wins with an average speed of 75 miles per hour. W. C. Durant founds Chev-rolet Motor Company.
1915 Congress establishes U.S. Coast Guard. England declares blockade of German ports. U.S. protests England's blockade of German ports as interfering with neutral trade. English passenger ship Lusitania is sunk by German submarine. U.S. protests German blockade around British Isles. German submarine sinks U.S. tanker Gulflight. German teacher Erich Muenter explodes bomb in U.S. Senate reception room. German Navy torpedoes U.S. vessel William C. Frye in route to England with wheat. Adolph Hitler, an Austrian sign painter, enlists in German Army. Long distance telephone service connects New York and California. U.S. demands end to attacks on unarmed merchant and passenger vessels. German submarine sinks U.S. merchant vessel Leelanow off coast of Scotland. Wireless communication between U.S. and Japan is completed. U.S. loans $500 million to England and France. President Wilson requests standing army of 142,000 and reserve of 400,000. Booker T. Washington dies. Austrian submarine sinks Italian liner carrying 27 American passengers.
1916 Automobile owners offer rides for a nickel. The Genius, a novel by Theodore Dreiser, is published. The Birth of a Nation, produced by D.W. Griffith, is shown in American theaters. President Wilson increases standing army to 175,000. Teddy Roosevelt declines nomination for president by the Progressive Party. Charles Evans Hughes is nominated as the Republican candidate for president. U.S. warns Germany that diplomatic relations will be severed if attacks on passenger vessels continue. Germany pledges not to sink merchant and passenger vessels. German submarine sinks French passenger vessel killing three Americans. Pancho Villa invades New Mexico with 1,500 soldiers killing 17 Americans. U.S. troops pursue Villa across Mexican border. U.S. troops are attacked at Carrizol, Mexico. U.S. troops retreat toward United States border. Congressional bill prohibits the transportation of goods produced by children across state lines. Jeanett Rankin of Montana becomes first woman elected to the House of Representatives. Woodrow Wilson is elected for second term. Submachine gun is invented.
1917 U.S. purchases Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million. German submarine sinks American ship Housatonic. U.S. troops along Mexican border recalled. Puerto Rico becomes part of U.S. German submarine sinks U.S. merchant ship Algonquin. Czar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates. German submarines sink American ships Illinois, Healdton, Vigilante and City of Memphis. President Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Germany. Ragtime composer and muscian Scott Joplin dies. U.S. declares war on Germany. Congress authorizes registration and draft of all men 21 to 30. Bolshevicks, under the leadership of V.I. Lenin, overthrow Russian government. U.S. declares war on Austria-Hungary. The Innocents, by novelist Sinclair Lewis, is published. Women in New York are given right to vote by state constitutional amendment. King Cool, by novelist Upton Sinclair, is published.
1921 Parker Brothers introduces the fountain pen Big Red. Butter prices fall to 29 cents a pound, from 75 cents during the war. Famine kills 3 million Russians. Secretary of the Navy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is stricken with polio. Heart disease becomes the leading cause of death in the U.S., pushing tuberculosis to second place. GM's share of the automobile market reaches 12 percent. Little Lord Fauntlaroy starring Mary Pickford, opens at movie theaters. Model T Fords account for 61 percent of automobile sales. Margaret Sanger founds the American Birth Control League. Samuel Gompers is elected President of the American Federation of Labor for the 40th time. Japanese primeminister Takashi Hara is assassinated. Southern Ireland gains dominion from Britain. An editorial in the New York Times explains that rockets cannot possibly work because there is nothing in outer space for a rocket's exhaust to push against. Novelist Agatha Christie introduces Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in the murder mystery The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Bullfighter Manuel Granero is killed in a ring in Madrid. I'm Just Wild About Harry, by songwriters Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, is a popular song.
1922 The Kingdom of Egypt is proclaimed following the termination of Britain as protectorate. Benito Mussolini forms a fascist dictatorship in Italy. Germany's stock market collapses, the marc falls from 162 to a dollar to more than 7,000 to the dollar. ¥Henry Ford makes more than $250,000 per day. Ford Motor Co. acquires the Lincoln Motor Co. from Henry M. Leland. Hudson introduces the first closed sedan. Army Air Corps lieutenant makes the first coast to coast flight in less than a day, flying from Florida to California in 21 hours and 28 minutes. Howard Carter and George Molyneux discover the tomb of Egypt's King Tut. The cancer death rate is 87 per 100,000, up from 63 in 1900. Insulin is created from the pancreatic juice of canines. The British Broadcasting Company is founded. The first Thom McCann shoe store opens. Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks, opens at movie theaters. Ulysses, by author James Joyce, is published. The first Readers' Digest is published. The New York Giants defeat the New York Yankees 4 games to 0 to win the World Series.
V.I. Lenin establishes the first Soviet forced-labor camp. Pan American World Airways is founded as a New York City plane taxi service. Hank Williams is born in Georgiana, Alabama. Wilhelm Messerschmitt establishes a German Aircraft manufacturing company. The autogyro, the first functioning helicopter, is invented by Juan de la Cierva. U.S. auto production reaches 3,780,358, up from 543,679 in 1914. Walter P. Chrysler becomes president of the Maxwell Motor Co. Zenith Radio is founded by Eugene F. McDonald Jr. The first edition of Time magazine is published. A.C. Nielson Co., a market research ratings corporation, is found by Arthur Charles Nielson. The Prophet, by mystic Kahilil Gibran, is published. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Lon Chaney, opens at American movie theaters. The New York Yankees' Stadium, built for $2.5 million, opens to a sell-out crowd. Babe Ruth hits a three-run homer in the third. The Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 4 to 1. Yes, We Have No Bananas, by Frank Silva and Irving Cohn, becomes a popular song.
1924 Republican Calvin Coolidge is re-elected president. Herman Melville's novel Billy Budd is published. Immigration Act lowers quota to two percent of nationalities already in U.S. Japanese immigrants are totally excluded. George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blues is recorded and distributed for sale. Roger Hornsby of the St. Louis Cardinals sets a National League batting average of .424. International Business Machines, IBM, is established. The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is held. Synthetic gasoline is invented. The first Chrysler automobile is built by Maxwell Motor Co. The car has four-wheel hydraulic brakes and a high compression engine. Ford produces nearly two million Model T's. More than half the cars in the world are Model T Fords. Metro-Goldwin-Mayer is founded. The comic strip Little Orphan Annie appears in the New York Daily News. The New York Herald-Tribune begins publication.
1925 Nellie Taylor Ross of Wyoming becomes first female governor in U.S. The Coconuts, starring the Marx Brothers, opens on Broadway. U.S. Marines leave Nicaragua after a 13-year occupation. More than 40,000 members of the Ku Klux Klan march down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. in political demonstration. Theodore Drieser's novel An American Tragedy is published. ¥Don Q Son of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks, opens at U.S. movie theaters. Chrysler Corp. is created by reorganization of Maxwell Motor Co. The first issue of Cosmopolitan is published. Mein Kempf by Adolph Hitler is published. A 35 millimeter camera is invented. Lou Gehrig joins the New York Yankees as first baseman. The Grand Ole Opry goes on the air as WSM Barn Dance featuring 22-year-old Roy Acuff. The Charleston is introduced and becomes a dance craze. F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby is published.
Greyhound Bus Corp. is established. The Pontiac automobile is introduced by General Motors. The Model T Ford sells for $350. The first successful demonstration of television is given. The first motion picture with sound is demonstrated. Norma Jean Baker is born. Norma Jean will become film star Marilyn Monroe. NBC is founded. Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne, is published. Painter Claude Monet dies at age 86. Screen star Rudolph Valentino dies. More than 100,000 mourners view his remains. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy star in Hal Roach's Putting Pants on Philip. Muskrat Ramble becomes a popular song. Miniature golf is invented in Tennessee by Frieda Carter. Charles Edward Anderson Berry is born in Wentzville, Missouri. Charles will become Chuck Berry, a founder of rock and roll. Illegal liquor traffic is a $4 billion business. The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the New York Yankees 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. Olympic champion Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel.
1927 The first Golden Gloves boxing tournament is held. The Supreme Court rules that illegal income is taxable. The Mississippi Valley floods, causing more than $250,000 in damages. Vitamin D is patented. Television gets its first U.S. demonstration. Wonder Bread is introduced by Continental Baking Co. Der Steppenwolf, by novelist Hermann Hesse, is published. Borden introduces homogenized milk. Herbert Hoover is elected president in a landslide victory with 58 percent of the vote to Al Smith's 41 percent. Plymouth automobiles are introduced by Chrysler. Floods in Vermont kill more than 100. Al Capone's income is $105 million. The Jazz Singer, the first full-length talky, opens at U.S. theaters. The General, starring Buster Keaton, opens at U.S. movie theaters. The first all-electric jukeboxes are introduced by Automatic Instrument Co.
1928 Amelia Earhart becomes first woman to make solo flight across Atlantic. CBS is founded. The first regularly scheduled television program is broadcasted. D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover is published. Strange Interlude, a play by Eugene O'Neill, opens at New York's John Golden Theater. The play is 2 hours and 40 minutes long with an 80 minute dinner intermission. Mickey Mouse is introduced in Steamboat Willie, an animated talking cartoon. Amos Ôn' Andy, starring white actors Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, premieres on radio. Lawrence Welk, 24, starts a small band. The Olympic Games at Amsterdam attract 3,905 contestants from 46 countries. Johnny Weissmuller wins 3 gold medals and sets 67 world records at the Olympic Games. Weissmuller will star in 19 Tarzan movies. The New York Yankees win the World Series by defeating the Cardinals 4 games to 0. Antonio Domino is born in New Orleans. Antonio will become Fats Domino, a founder of rock and roll. Seagram's Distillers Corp. is founded. Floods kill 450 in California. An estimated 1,600 Americans die from drinking bad liquor. A Florida hurricane kills an estimated 1,800. Bubble gum is test marketed in U.S. Peter Pan peanut butter is introduced on public market.
1929 Six Chicago gangsters are lined against a wall and gunned down in St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Stardust, by Hoagy Car-michael, is a popular song. Acting on a complaint by the Daughters of the American Revolution, New York City police raid Birth Control Research center established by Margaret Sanger. Richard E. Byrd makes first flight over South Pole. First house trailer is displayed in New York City. A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, is published. The U.S. has 20 million telephones. In annual message to Congress, President Hoover declares that confidence in big business has been reestablished. Look Homeward Angel, by Thomas Wolfe, is published. Popeye appears as cartoon for the first time. The average weekly wage for U.S. workers is $28. Joseph Stalin expels Leon Trosky from the Soviet Union. A Mississippi mob burns an accused black rapist alive. The death is attributed to unknown causes. Mississippi Governor Theodore Bilbo says the state doesn't have the time or money to investigate the matter. Ford Motor Co. introduces the first station wagon, nicknamed the Woody because of its wooden body.
1930 The Veterans Administration is established. Democrats gain control of the House. William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying is published. National Poll shows majority favors repeal of Prohibition. Congress passes bill authorizing $300 million for state road construction. Sixty branches of the Bank of the United States close in New York City. The Maltese Falcon, by author Dashiell Hammett, is published. State Department prohibits immigration of all foreign laborers. Customs officials seize James Joyce's novel Ulysses on the grounds that it is obscene. A weekly audience of 80 to 100 million attend U.S. movie theaters. The jobless and homeless begin gathering in makeshift shelters of cardboard and scrap wood and metal on the outskirts of major U.S. cities. ¥Ray Charles Robinson is born in Albany, Georgia. Ray will become Ray Charles, a founder of rock and roll.
1931 Thomas Edison dies. The Star-Spangled Banner is designated as the national anthem. Construction of the Empire State Building is completed. Hugh Herndon and Clyde Pangmorn make first non-stop Trans-Pacific flight from Japan to Washington state. Eugene O'Neill's play Morning Becomes Electra opens in New York City. In annual message to Congress, President Hoover requests emergency relief funds to establish programs for the homeless and the unemployed. Al Capone is convicted of income tax evasion and sentenced to 11 years in prison. Japan invades Manchuria. The Good Earth, by author Pearl Buck, is published. Felix the Cat makes his first appearance in a comic strip. The cat has appeared in animated cartoons since 1912. Alka-Seltzer is invented. The six-cylinder Chevrolet sells for $475. Dick Tracy makes his first appearance as a comic strip character. Gambling is legalized in Nevada. Football legend Knute Rockne dies in a plane crash. Little Orphan Annie premieres on the radio. U.S. movie theaters begin showing double features. Mood Indigo, by Duke Ellington, is a popular song.
1932 Japanese troops, warships, and bombers continue attack on China, killing thousands of civilians. Japanese leaders warn U.S. that any attempt to interfere with Japan's attack of China would be cause for war. Franklin Delano Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover in landslide victory in presidential election. Mahatma Gandhi begins fast to protest British treatment of India's lowest caste, the untouchables. After 6 days of fasting, Gandhi obtains an agreement that improves the status of that caste. U.S. automobile sales fall from 5 million to 1 million. Route 66 links Chicago and Los Angeles. Richard Pennimum is born in Macon, Georgia. Richard will become Little Richard, a founder of rock and roll. Dearborn, Michigan police fire into a crowd of men, women, and children demonstrating for higher wages and improved working conditions outside the Ford Motor Company plant. Four are killed. More than a hundred are wounded. More than 25,000 poverty stricken war veterans demonstrate outside the White House, demanding bonuses authorized by Congress in 1924. Army tanks, gas bombs, and armed infantry disperse the veterans. The violence results in more than 100 casualties, including women and children. ¥The average U.S. weekly wage falls to $17. More than 1,600 U.S. banks fail. U.S. unemployment reaches more than 16 million.
Congress submits 21st Amendment, for repeal of prohibition, to states for ratification. Ranger, the first U.S. aircraft carrier, is launched at Newport News, Virginia. Newsweek begins publication. Frances Perkins becomes first woman Cabinet member when she is appointed Secretary of Labor. ¥President Roosevelt declares nationwide embargo on gold, silver, and currency. Fay Wray stars in King Kong. Federal Emergency Relief Act authorizes grants to states for relief projects. Tennessee Valley Authority is established to construct dams and power plants along Tennessee Valley. U.S. Employment Service is created. U.S. abandons gold standard. Albert Einstein arrives in U.S. Germany withdraws from Disarmament Conference in Geneva. AFL boycotts all German-made products to protest Nazi treatment of labor. The Marx Brothers star in Duck Soup. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by novelist Gertrude Stein, is published.
1934 Bank of Washington establishes Civil Works Emergency Relief Act to provide funds for federal work programs. Henry Ford restores $5 per day minimum wage to workers. Public Enemy No. 1, John Dillinger, is gunned down by the FBI. Tender is the Night , by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is published. To escape the dust bowl, tens of thousands from Arkansas and Oklahoma migrate to California. Censorship of movies begins. Congress establishes the Federal Housing Administration. Security and Exchange Commission is established. John Hilton's novel Goodbye, Mr. Chips is published. U.S. Marines leave Haiti, ending a 19-year occupation. Philippine Islands is granted independence by U.S. Cuba is released from status of U.S. protectorate.
1935 Elvis Presley is born in a shack in Tupelo, Mississippi. His identical twin brother, Jessie, is stillborn. Elvis will become known as the "King of Rock and Roll." Works Progress Administration is established. Social Security Act is signed by president. Will Rogers dies in plane crash. Senator Huey Long of Louisiana is assassinated in Baton Rouge. Musical Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin, opens in New York City. Commonwealth of the Philippines inaugurates first president, Manuel Quezon. Of Time and the River, by novelist Thomas Wolfe, is published. Emergency Relief Appropriation authorizes $5 billion for work relief and to increase employment. Resettlement Administration is established to support farm families. Jerry Lee Lewis is born in Ferriday, Louisiana. Jerry will become an early innovator of rock and roll.
1936 Charles Hardin Holley is born in Lubbock, Texas. Charles will become Buddy Holly, a legendary innovator of rock and roll. Joe DiMaggio signs with the New York Yankees, beginning a 13-year career. Weejuns, introduced at $12 a pair, begins a fad for slip-on moccasin loafers. Charles "Lucky" Luciano is sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison after jury conviction for compulsory prostitution. Folk singer Woody Guthrie crosses U.S. urging people to vote against public power projects. Construction of the Boulder Dam is completed, creating 115-mile-long Lake Mead. The fictitious "Betty Crocker" is introduced by General Mills. The U.S. population is 127 million. Goodnight Irene, by former chain gang member Howie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, is published and becomes a popular song. The Ziegfield Follies, a musical starring Bob Hope and Eve Arden, opens on Broadway. The Petrified Forest, starring Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart, opens at American movie theaters. Absalomi Absalomi, by novelist William Faulkner, is published. Aldous Huxley's Eyeless in Gaza is published. How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie, is published. ¥Life magazine begins publication. BBC establishes the first electronic television system. Mercedes Benz introduces passenger car that operates on diesel fuel. The Ford V-8 is introduced. Forty percent of U.S. families have incomes of less than $1,000 per year. The U.S. poverty line is $1,330. Heinrich Himmles takes over the Nazi Gestapo.
Japanese forces invade China. Germany's Buchewald concentration camp opens. The first inmates are members of every religious belief. John D. Rockefeller dies at age 97. Japanese bombers attack U.S. and British ships near Nanking. Germany orders Jews to wear yellow badges displaying six-pointed star and bans them from all public places. Standard Oil drills its first offshore oil well. The German zeppelin Hindenburg burns on arrival at Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36, ending transatlantic travel by hydrogen gas airships. Amelia Earhart disappears on Pacific flight. The Golden Gate Bridge opens, linking San Francisco with Marin County. Isuzu Motors is founded in Tokyo. Diabetics are successfully treated with insulin for the first time. Xerography, a dry-copying process for duplication of office papers, is invented. Look magazine begins publication. To Have and Have Not, by Ernest Hemingway, is published. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is published. Color film in 35-millimeter cartridges is introduced. The Guiding Light, a radio soap opera, is broadcast on station WGN in Chicago. The first Bugs Bunny cartoon is released. Captains Courageous, starring Spencer Tracy and Freddie Bartholomew, opens at U.S. movie theaters. Harbor Lights is a popular song. Joe Louis wins the World Heavyweight boxing title by knocking out James J. Barrow in the eighth round. Possession and sale of marijuana is outlawed in the U.S.
1938 Chiang Kai-Shek blows up the Huanghe River dike to stop the invading Japanese. The flooding that follows kills an estimated 900,000 Chinese. Despite a conservation quota on the killing of whales instituted by an international convention, Japanese, Norwegian and Russian ships continue killing whales in unchecked amounts. Vitamin A is reported to prevent night blindness. A can of meat put up in 1824 is fed to rats with no ill effects. Fiberglass is introduced on the public market. The Yankees defeat the Cubs 4 games to 0 to win the World Series. The samba and the conga are introduced at U.S. dance clubs. Jeepers Creepers is published and becomes a popular song. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated cartoon, premieres at U.S. movie theaters. Orson Wells plays the role of Dracula on CBS radio. The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn, opens at American movie theaters. Physicians earn less than $5,000 per year. Lawyers average less than half that much. Homage to Catalonia, by novelist George Orwell, is published. The comic strip Nancy appears in newspapers. Superman, by cartoonists Jerry Siegal and Joseph Shuster, is introduced in comic books. The ballpoint pen is patented. The first demonstration of color television is given on a nine by twelve foot screen.
1939 England and France declare war on Germany. President Roosevelt gives radio speech promising parents of American servicemen that no U.S. soldier will fight in the European War. Black opera singer Marie Anderson tries to rent Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. for a concert and is refused because of her race by the Daughters of the American Revolution, who own the hall. Eleanor Roosevelt and other DAR members resign in protest. Seventeen percent of the U.S. work force remains unemployed. Only three percent of Americans earn enough money to pay income tax. U.S. Steel reports a net profit of $41 million. The average U.S. steel worker earns less than $20 per week. Thanksgiving is celebrated the fourth Thursday in November instead of the last to provide a longer shopping season before Christmas. An atom is split for the first time. General Electric introduces fluorescent lighting. Albert Einstein writes letter to President Roosevelt warning of possible dangers of nuclear energy. "This new phenomenon," Einstein writes, "would lead also to the construction of bombs." The first commercial transatlantic air service begins when a Boeing aircraft flies from Washington, D.C. to Lisbon. Edsel Ford introduces the Lincoln Mercury automobile. Nylon is introduced commercially. Hewlett-Packard is founded by engineers William Hewlett and David Packard. NBC televises the New York World's Fair. Comic book hero Batman appears in DC Comics. Finnegan's Wake, by James Joyce, is published. Gone With the Wind, a 3 hour and 42 minute movie, opens at U.S. movie theaters to sell-out crowds. The Wizard of Oz premieres at U.S. movie theaters.
1940 The world's first electron microscope, an instrument that can magnify up to 100,000 times, is demonstrated at RCA laboratory in New Jersey. John Winston Lennon, founder and leader of the musical rock group the Beatles, is born in Liverpool, England during German bombing raid. Eleanor Roosevelt publicly endorses birth control. Seventy percent of U.S. blacks live in the south. M & M Candies are created by Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie. "We shall fight in France," Prime Minister Winston Churchill says in speech to English parliament. "We shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender." German troops enter Paris. ¥Russia takes 16,000 square miles of Finland with German concurrence. An estimated 30,000 English and French troops are killed at Dunkirk. The first precooked frozen food is introduced for sale on the commercial market. The first U.S. food stamp program begins. The average U.S. farm family has an annual income of less than $1,000. The Axis joins Germany, Italy, and Japan in military alliance. Smoking is related to lung cancer in medical study. The first peacetime military draft begins in U.S. Italy declares war on England and France. Frank Sinatra joins the Harry James Band as a crooner.
1941 War bonds are introduced. Germany begins killing Jews in concentration camps with cyanine showers. President Roosevelt calls for a world with the four freedoms protected: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Hong Kong and Wake Island fall to the Japanese. Japan invades the Phillipines. Germany and Romania declare war on the U.S. Japan declares war on the U.S. The Japanese bombs Pearl Harbor. "I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant," said Admiral Yamato, who planned the attack. The U.S. declares war on Japan. The U.S. destroyers Reuben James and Kearny are sunk by German U-boats. Germany invades Russia. British air and naval units sink the German battleship Bismark in the North Atlantic. Less than 100 of 1,300-man crew survive. The world population is 2.3 billion. Nearly 25 percent inhabit China. I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire is a popular song. Stan Musial joins the St. Louis Cardinals. General Foods introduce Cheerios on the public market. Napalm and Dacron are invented. The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney Jr., opens at U.S. movie theaters. Parade magazine is founded. Claiming their mission is to gain independence from Great Britian, Jewish terriorists in Palestine assassinate officials and bomb oil refineries and military installations.
1942 The bazooka, an antitank weapon, is tested for the first time. U.S. troops surrender to Japan on Bataan in the Phillipines. Most of the 36,000 men are killed on a death march to interment camps. U.S. bombers attack Toyko. Three U.S. flyers died in crash landings. Eleven flyers are captured. The Japanese execute three. The U.S. Carrier Lexington is sunk in the battle of the Coral Sea. More than 1,000 British bombers attack German industrial targets. U.S. carrier planes stop the Japanese at the battle of Midway. Six German saboteurs are captured after being landed by a U-boat on a Florida beach. U.S. supports China in war against Japan. German tank commander Edwin Rommel and troops capture 25,000 British soldiers in Lybia. More than 35,000 Canadian soldiers are killed in raid on Dieppe on the French coast. The Russians lose 750,000 soldiers in battles against Germany. Germany loses 400,000. Cannabilism among surviving soldiers is reported. The WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) is established in U.S. An alied force of 400,000 commanded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower lands at Casablanca, Algiers, and Oran. Mahatma Gandhi demands independence for India from Britain. Gandhi is arrested and later released. ¥German troops occupy France. German engineer Wember von Braun launches the first surface-to-surface guided missile as part of Nazi war effort. The Germans execute every male in the Czech village of Lidice. The female population is raped and abused. The Germans round up thousands of Jews and transport them to Nazi concentration camps. President Roosevelt orders the determent of more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans living in the U.S.
1943 Liquor is banned from U.S. military bases. Food rationing in U.S. goes into effect. U.S. Marines capture Guadalcanal. U.S. begins bombing attacks on Germany. Wages and prices in U.S. are frozen by executive order. Shoe rationing in U.S. goes into effect. German troops retreat from Eastern Front. Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. Allied forces bomb Rome. Allied forces invade Italy. Italy surrenders. Italian Prime Minister Mussolini resigns. Italy declares war on Germany. More than 30 are killed and 500 injured in Detroit race riot. U.S. Supreme Court rules invalid West Virginia law requiring children to salute American flag. Jazz musician Fats Waller dies. Rogers and Hammerstein's musical Oklahoma opens on Broadway. Roosevelt, Churchhill, and Stalin meet to discuss strategy for Allied invasion of Europe. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by novelist Betty Smith is published. Rock and roll legends Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison are born. Each will die at age 27. Keith Richards is born in England. Richards will write many hit singles as lead guitarist of the Rolling Stones, a musical rock group.
1944 U.S. Marines capture Saipan. U.S. begins bombing raids on Berlin. Allies launch major offensive from Anzio beachhead. U.S. Army marches into Rome. Allied forces invade Normandy. U.S. forces defeat Japan in Battle of the Phillipines Sea. U.S. forces capture Guam. Allied troops liberate Paris. U.S. troops enter Germany. Roosevelt is elected President for the fourth term. His new Vice-President is Harry S. Truman. Battle of the Bulge begins. German forces begin surrendering to Allied forces. U.S. forces invade Marshall Island. Japanese Prime Minister Tojo resigns. German generals attempt to assassinate Hitler. G.I. Bill of Rights is signed into law. Control of U.S. railroads is returned to owners. Tennessee Williams' play The Glass Menagerie opens on Broadway. Meat rationing ends in U.S. A Bell for Adamo by novelist John Hersey is published.
1945 U.S. troops capture Manila. U.S. Marines capture Iwo Jima. U.S. forces capture Okinawa. First atomic bomb is detonated in New Mexico. U.S. bomber crashes into Empire State Building. President Roosevelt dies of heart failure in Warm Springs, Georgia. Harry S. Truman is sworn in as President. Germany surrenders. Adolf Hitler commits suicide. President Truman demands Japanese surrender, threatening attack with new weapon if Japan doesn't comply. Japanese refuse to surrender. U.S. Air Force drops atomic bombs on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders. Korea is divided at 38th parallel. General Douglas MacArthur is named Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Japan. ¥United Nations is established. President Truman orders restoration of free market. Mildred Pierce, starring Joan Crawford, opens at U.S. movie theaters. Nuremburg war trials begin. United Auto Workers go on strike. Cass Timerlane by novelist Sinclair Lewis is published. Carousel, a musical by Rogers and Hammerstein, opens on Broadway. Italian citizens kill Mussolini and hang his body upside down in public square.
1946 President Truman established the Central Intelligence Agency. United Auto Workers end strike. U.S. Supreme Court rules that buses must allow seating without regard to race on interstate trips. Writer Gertrude Stein dies in Paris. Electronical numerical computers are introduced in the engineering and business industries. U.S. continues atomic bomb tests. League of Nations meets for last time. United Nations meets in New York City. The Iceman Cometh, a six hour play by Eugene O'Neill, opens on Broadway. The Best Years of Our Lives opens at U.S. movie theaters. U.S. and China sign a friendship pact. All The King's Men by novelist Robert Penn Warren is published. Republicans regain control of Congress. Proclamation of formal cessation of World War II hostilities is issued by President Truman. Atomic Energy Commission is established. Arthur Miller's play All My Sons opens on Broadway.
1947 India gains independence from Great Britian. Jawahari Nehru becomes Prime Minister of Hindu India. Denmark King Christian X dies after a 35-year reign. His son, Frederick IX, succeeds him. The U.S. population is 146 million. The population of China is 555 million. Self-rising corn meal is introduced on public market. Pakastan is partitioned from India as Muslim state. Millions die in riots that follow. Jackie Robinson, the first black U.S. major league baseball player, signs with the Brooklyn Dodgers. A black list of alleged Communist sympathizers names more than 300 Hollywood writers, actors, and directors. B.F. Goodrich introduces the first tubeless tires. The tires seal when punctured. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier in a rocket plane. Sony Corporation begins in Japan. The Dead Sea Scrolls are discovered by a boy exploring a cave in Palestine. The documents contain Christian text, which were later eliminated by the Romans from the Christian Bible. Steve Canyon debuts as a newspaper cartoon. The Wayward Bus by novelist John Steinbeck is published. Edwin H. Land patents the Polaroid Land Camera, which produces photographs in 60 seconds. Nightmare Alley, starring Tyrone Power and June Allison, opens at U.S. theaters. The first Tony Awards, honoring outstanding Broadway plays, are presented.
1948 Harry Truman is elected President, defeating Republican Thomas Dewey. The World Health Organization is established in Geneva. British National Health Services law established taxpayer-financed cradle-to-grave medical care. This free medical service will lower Britian's infant mortality rates, maternal death rates, influenza death rates, tuberculosis death rates, and pneumonia death rates to levels far below U.S. rates. Cortizone is synthesized at the Mayo Clinic. One million U.S. homes have television sets. Pogo, an Okefenokee Possum, debuts in a newspaper comic strip. "We have met the enemy," Pogo says, "and he is us." The Heart of the Matter by novelist Graham Greene is published. Nikon, a 35-millimeter rangefinder camera, is introduced by Nippan Kogaku, a Japanese lens maker. Hopalong Cassidy, starring William Boyd, debuts as the first western on U.S. television. The Toast of the Town, with newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan as master of ceremonies, debuts on U.S. television. The show introduces Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in its first program. A 33-1/3 phonograph record is demonstrated by engineer Peter Goldmark. Leo Fender mass produces an electric guitar he names Broadcaster. The Broadcaster is renamed the Telecaster. Tennessee Waltz by Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King is a popular song. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, starring Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston, opens at U.S. movie theaters. The Olympics are held for the first time since 1936. The U.S. wins the majority of the medals. The Cleveland Indians defeat the Boston Braves 4 games to 2 to win the World Series. Scrabble is copyrighted by James Brunot, who invented the crossword game in 1931. Dial Soap, the first deodorant soap, is introduced on the public market.
1949 France acknowledges Vietnamese independence, but retains the right to maintain military bases in Vietnam. Siam is renamed Thailand. A U.N. report warns of a possible civil war in Korea. The U.S. War Department is renamed the U.S. Defense Department. The U.S.S.R. explodes the first Soviet atomic bomb. The bomb was chiefly developed by German scientists who worked on the bomb during the Nazi occupation of Germany. A South African apartheid program bans marriages between whites and blacks. The salary of President Truman is raised to $100,000 with a tax-free allowance of $50,000 for expenses. Unemployment in the U.S. reaches 6 percent. A new Cadillac is $5,000. A gallon of gas costs 25 cents. A bottle of Coke is 5 cents. Milk is 21 cents a quart. A loaf of bread is 15 cents. Eggs are 80 cents a dozen. A 10-inch TV sells for $300. Pork is 60 cents a pound. The average U.S. worker earns less than $2,500 per year. U.S. auto production exceeds five million for the first time since 1929. The German Volkswagen begins commercial production. Two Beetles are sold in the U.S. Saab is founded in Sweden. Powdered root from the tropical plant Wolf Bane is discovered to lower blood pressure. Radio Free Europe broadcasts its first transmission to listeners behind the Iron Curtain. Ninteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is published. "Big Brother is watching you," warns an Orwell character. Death of a Salesman by playwright Arthur Miller opens in New York City. Amos 'n Andy, starring black actors, becomes a weekly TV series. White Heat, starring James Cagney and Virginia Mayo, opens at U.S. movie theaters. "I made it to the top of the world, Ma," says Cagney's character. Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer becomes a popular Christmas song.
1950 Kellogg's introduces Sugar Pops. The average U.S. farmer produces enough food for 16 people. Smokey the Bear becomes a national symbol. The Korean War begins. The first elevators with self-opening doors are installed in office buildings, forcing operators to seek other employment. Sweden's King Gustav V dies at age 92 after reigning 43 years. The Yankees defeat the Phillies 4 games to 0 to win the World Series. Saxophonist Charlie Parker, a leading innovator of bebop, opens at the Birdland Theater on Broadway. Parker will become known as "Bird." If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd Ave Baked a Cake is a popular song. A newspaper columnist writes an unflattering review of a song recital by Margaret Truman. In a letter to the columnist, Margaret's father President Harry Truman writes, "Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens, you'll need a new nose, a lot of beef steak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below." Walt Disney's Cinderella opens at U.S. theaters. What's My Line debuts on U.S. television. Harvey, a movie about an invisible 6'3" rabbit starring Jimmy Stewart, opens at U.S. theaters. Nothing by novelist Henry Green is published. Peanuts by Charles Shultz begins appearing in U.S. newspapers. The first Japanese portable tape recorder, weighing 40 pounds, is introduced on the Japanese market. The first Xerox copying machine is produced. Orlon is introduced for sale on the public market. President Truman escapes an assassination attempt by two Puerto Ricans. One guard and one Puerto Rican are fatally wounded.
1951 The African Queen, starring Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, opens at movie theaters. The movie will win an Oscar for best motion picture. I Love Lucy debuts on television. From Here To Eternity, a novel by James Jones, is published. Color television programs are broadcast. Black and white TV sets are unable to pick up the signals. Dennis the Menace appears in U.S. newspapers. The Univac computer is introduced for sale to engineers and scientists. Power steering is installed in Chrysler Imperials. The first nuclear reactor is built by U.S. scientists. The U.S. budget includes $72 billion for the Korean conflict. The Twenty-Second Amendment, limiting presidential terms to two, passes. French soldiers battle Communist troops in Hanoi. North Korean troops are defeated at the battle of Heartbreak Ridge. President Truman relieves General MacArthur of his command after MacArthur publicly calls for air strikes on Chinese cities. Minute Rice is introduced by General Mills. Hundreds in France experience hallucinogenic effects after eating bread containing a compound used in the production of LSD. The Catcher in the Rye by novelist J.D. Salinger is published. Kukla, Fran & Ollie debuts on television. The King and I, a musical starring Yul Byrnner and Gertrude Lawrence, opens on Broadway. Jersey Joe Walcott knocks out Ezzard Charles to win the World Heavyweight boxing title. Willie Mays joins the New York Giants. Mickey Mantle joins the New York Yankees.
1952 The Communist witch-hunt, headed by Senator Joseph P. McCarthy, continues. U.S. Air Force bombs North Korea. Puerto Rico becomes a U.S. commonwealth. Elizabeth II becomes Queen of England after the death of her father, George VI. U.S. population is 153 million. The population of China is 583 million. A beef shortage in England leads to the consumption of more than 50,000 horses for food. ¥Kansas and Missouri floods kill 41. The "alligator" symbol appears on sport-shirts. Motorbuses replace streetcars in London. Polio cripples more than 50,000 Americans. Jonas Salk tests a vaccine against polio. The first transistor hearing aids are introduced. Sony introduces the first pocket-sized transistor radios. The Today Show, hosted by Dave Garroway, premiers on televison. Garroway is aided by chimpanzee J. Fred Muggs. More than 16 million U.S. homes have TV sets. Mad magazine begins publication. The name of the nitwit boy on the front is changed from Melvin Cowznofski to Alfred E. Newman. East of Eden, by novelist John Steinbeck, is published. Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White, is published. The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, opens at movie theaters. American Bandstand, hosted by Dick Clark, premiers on television. Your Cheatin' Heart, by Hank Williams, tops the country music charts. U.S. competitors win the most medals at the Olympics in Helsinki. Rocky Marciano wins the World Heavyweight boxing title by knocking out Jersey Joe Walcott. Jambalaya by Hank Williams tops the country music charts.
1953 Country music legend Hank Williams, 29, dies in the back seat of a Cadillac on his way to a concert. Freon gas is used for the first time to propel substances from aerosol cans. Canada becomes a leading supplier of uranium ore. The New York Curb Exchange is renamed the American Stock Exchange. A French army of more than 250,000 occupies South Vietnam in preparation for battle against North Vietnamese troops. The U.S.S.R. explodes its first known atomic weapons. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, convicted of relaying U.S. atomic secrets to Soviet agents, are executed. North Korean and Chinese casualties in the Korean conflict exceed 1.5 million. More than 2 million Korean civilians have been killed. More than 25,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed. Swedish Dag Hammarskold is elected Secretary-General of the United Nations. Soviet leader Josef Stalin dies. Nikita Khruschev becomes first secretary of the Communist party. Unemployment in the U.S. drops to its lowest point since 1945. The first IBM computer is sold on the public market. An investigation into the Piltdown Man Forgery reveals Charles Darwin manufactured the skull fragments he supposedly found in 1912. Discovery of the fraud destroys Darwin's missing-link theory. Tobacco induces cancer in mice. TV Guide begins publication. Playboy begins publication. James Bond, 007, is introduced in Casino Royale, by writer Ian Fleming.
1954 The Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, is launched by the U.S. Gasoline prices average 30 cents per gallon in the U.S. Hudson Motor Car Company and Nash-Kelvinator merge to form the American Motor Corporation. The first fuel-injection system for automobiles is introduced in the Mercedes 300SL. Texas Instruments introduces the silicon transistor, lowering the price of transistors from $17 to $2.25. The first mass polio immunization shots, developed by Jonas Salk, are given. The first successful kidney transplant is performed. Sung Myung Moon founds the Unification Church. Ron Hubbard founds the Church of Scientology. The first U.S. color television sets are introduced on the public market. A 19-inch black and white TV set costs $189. Veteran's Day becomes a national holiday. Sports Illustrated begins publication. Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, is published. Eastman Kodak introduces Tri-X film, a high speed black and white film that allows photography in dim light. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, starring Kirk Douglas and James Mason, opens at movie theaters. The musical Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin, premiers on Broadway. Shake, Rattle and Roll is a popular song. Elvis Presley, 19, records That's All Right Mama and Blue Moon of Kentucky at Sun Records in Memphis. Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records, will sell Presley's recording contract to RCA for $35,000. The Stratocaster, an electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, is introduced on the public market. Track star Roger Bannister breaks the 4-minute mile. The St. Louis Browns become the Baltimore Orioles. Hank Aaron signs with the Milwaukee Braves. The New York Giants win the World Series.
1955 Minimum wage in the U.S. rises from 75 cents to $1 per hour. H&R Block, an income tax accounting firm, is founded. More than 7 million cars are sold in the U.S. Ford introduces the Thunderbird, a two-seat sports car. The Chevrolet V-8 engine is introduced. The Salk vaccine against polio is judged highly effective. The National Review, edited by William F. Buckley Jr., begins publication. The Village Voice begins publication in New York City. The Reader's Digest refuses cigarette advertising. Ann Landers and Dear Abby, advice columns by twin sisters Esther Friedman Lederer and Abigail Van Buren Lederer, is syndicated to U.S. newspapers. The Guiness Book of World Records begins publication. The Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the New York Yankees, 4 games to 3, to win their first World Series. The Quiet American, by novelist Graham Greene, is published. Bus Stop, by playwright William Inge, opens on Broadway. No Time for Sergeants, starring Andy Griffith with Don Knotts, opens on Broadway. Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo, premiers at movie theaters. Disneyland opens in California. Captain Kangeroo and The Mickey Mouse Club debut on television. The musical Oklahoma, starring Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae, opens at movie theaters. Maybellene, by rock and roll legend Chuck Berry, scores an immediate hit.
1956 A Long Day's Jouney Into Night, a play about alcoholism and drug addiction written by Eugene O'Neill, opens on Broadway. Daytime soap operas As The World Turns and The Edge of Night premier on television. The Searchers, starring John Wayne and Jeffery Hunter, debuts at movie theaters. Elvis Presley is paid $60,000 for 3 appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. The Last Hurrah, by novelist Edwin O'Connor, is published. Profiles in Courage, by Senator John F. Kennedy, is published. The first videotape recorder is demonstrated. Canada begins efforts to help India develop nuclear energy. The slaughter of Chinese who resist Communism continues. By 1960, an estimated 26 million Chinese will be killed, making it the largest massacre in world history. "We will bury you," Nikita Khrushchev tells western ambassadors at a meeting in Moscow. President Eisenhower wins re-election by a 15 percent margin. Pakistan becomes an Islamic republic. Floyd Patterson knocks out Archie Moore to become World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Crest, a fluoride toothpaste, is introduced on the public market. Sudan is declared an independent republic. U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholds a law that compels witnesses to testify against themselves in cases involving national security. The Italian passenger liner S.S. Andrea Doria collides with Swedish liner S.S. Stockholm off the coast of Massachusetts, resulting in the loss of 52 lives. Lust for Life, starring Kirk Douglas as Vincent van Gogh and Anthony Quinn as Gaugin, opens at movie theaters. Quinn wins an Oscar for best supporting actor. Love Me Tender, Hound Dog, and Heartbreak Hotel, by Elvis Presley, top the musical charts.
The Soviet Union launches Sputnick I, the first man-made satellite. More than 20 percent of Americans live below the poverty line. German engineer Fritz Wankel produces the first rotary engine. Marine Corps pilot Major John Glenn flies across the United States in 3 hours and 20 minutes, setting a new speed record. The Edsel is introduced by Ford Motor Company. Years ahead of its time in construction and design, the Edsel is a monumental failure. The first transistorized computer is produced. The first battery-powered wrist watch is produced. Synthetic DNA is created. On the Road, by novelist Jack Kerouac, is published. Kerouac is credited with inventing the word beatnick. The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by Dr. Suess, are published. ¥Orpheus Descending, by playwright Tennessee Williams, opens on Broadway. The Bridge on the River Kwai, starring Alec Guinness and William Holden, opens at movie theaters. The musical West Side Story opens on Broadway. Berry Gordy Jr. founds Motown Corp., a musical recording company. The Milwaukee Braves defeat the Yankees 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. A Face in the Crowd, starring Andy Griffith, opens at movie theaters. The Frisbee is introduced on the public market. Killer bees imported into Brazil from Africa escape and start heading north at 200 miles per hour. Hundreds of people along their path are attacked and killed. Jailhouse Rock hits the top of musical charts. The Man With a Thousand Faces, starring Jimmy Cagney as Lon Chaney, opens at movie theaters. Doctor Zhivago by novelist Boris Pasternak, is published. Robert Whelch founds the John Birth Society. Whelch names the group in honor of a U.S. Army officer killed by the Communists in China at the end of World War II. Blue jeans are $3.50 a pair. The average price of gas in the U.S. is 30 cents per gallon. Newspapers sell for 5 cents. Leather shoes are $12 a pair. A family size Ford sells for $1,800. A week in the hospital costs $200. Steak is $1.02 per pound. Milk is 90 cents per gallon. Comic books are 10 cents each. A six-pack of Coca-Cola costs 30 cents. Deposits on bottles are 2 cents each. A candy bar costs 5 cents. John Lennon changes the name of his rock and roll group, the Quarrymen, to Johnny and the Moondogs. The group includes Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Stu Sutcliffe. The first public U.S. atomic power station is completed. The Boeing 707 is used for the first time in domestic flight. The M-14, a full automatic version of the M-1, becomes standard military issue. The first U.S. satellite is launched. The cost of the standard U.S. postage stamp increases from 3 cents to 4 cents. More than 40 million American homes have television sets. United Press International is founded. The Darma Bums, by Jack Kerouac, is published. Krapp's Last Tape, by Samuel Beckett, opens at London's Royal Theatre. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman, debuts at movie theaters. Buddy Holly and the Crickets tour the world playing rock and roll hits, including Peggy Sue and That'll Be The Day. The first Pizza Hut opens. Cocoa Puffs and Cocoa Krispies are introduced on the public market. More than 100 million hula hoops are sold in the U.S. The Brooklyn Dodgers become the Los Angeles Dodgers. Splish Splash, by Bobby Darin, is a popular song.
Bone fragments and stone tools found in Africa indicate that a man-ape lived approximately 2 million years ago. Sony introduces the first transistorized TV sets. A U.S. postal ban is lifted on Lady Chatterley's Lover, a 1928 novel by D.H. Lawrence. The Elements of Style, by E.B. White, is published. Following Buddy Holly's lead, John Lennon changes the name of his band, Johnny and the Moon Dogs, to the Silver Beatles, then to the Beatles. The five-man rock and roll band consists of Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe, and Pete Best. Nippon Kogasku introduces the Nikon F 35-mm, a single-lens reflex camera. Raisin in the Sun, starring Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee, opens on Broadway. Anatomy of a Murder, starring Jimmy Stewart and Lee Remick, premiers at movie theaters. Rock and roll legend Buddy Holly dies at age 22 in a plane crash. Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson knocks out Floyd Patterson to become World Heavyweight Champion. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Chicago White Sox 4 games to 2 to win the World Series. The Barbie doll is introduced on the public market. Frank Lloyd Wright dies at 89. The Naked Lunch, by novelist William Burroughs, is published. The microchip is invented. The Rambler and the Ford Falcon are introduced on the public market to compete with the Volkswagon. Volkswagon sales in the U.S. exceed 100,000. Vice-President Nixon debates Premier Khrushchev in Moscow. Tibet's Dali Lama escapes to India. Alaska and Hawaii become the 49th and 50th states.
1960 More than 2,000 electric computers are sold in the U.S. Librium, an anti-anxiety drug, is approved for sale in the U.S. U.S. launches the first communications satellite. John Fitzgerald Kennedy defeats Vice-President Richard Nixon by a narrow margin in the presidential race. Typesetting by computer is introduced in France. Pentel, the first felt-tip pen, is introduced on the public market. The Violent Bear It Away, by novelist Flannery O'Connor, is published. Period of Adjustment, by Tennessee Williams, opens on Broadway. The Apartment, starring Shirley Maclaine and Jack Lemmon, premiers at movie theaters. The musical Oliver debuts at London's New Theatre. The Twist is recorded by Chubby Checker. The Pittsburg Pirates defeat the Yankees 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. A title wave created by an earthquake in South America kills more than 1,000 in Hawaii and Japan. Farmers comprise 10 percent of the U.S. work force. Aluminum cans are used commercially for the first time. The first Domino's Pizza opens. The first oral contraceptive is introduced. The population of New York City is 8 million. Tokyo's population is 10 million. The world population is 3 billion. The population of China accounts for more than 25 percent of the 3 billion. Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini is a popular song. After shooting down a U-2 spy plane, Russians capture American pilot Francis Gary Powers. The Datsun is introduced for sale in the United States.
1961 Robert F. Kennedy is named Attorney General of the United States. President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps. Cuban exiles aided by U.S. trained agents invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. Cuban troops stop the invasion. The promise of U.S. fighter planes to assist in the invasion never occurs. Astronaut Alan Shepard is the first American in space. An armed hijacker diverts an Eastern passenger jet to Cuba. The Tropic of Cancer, by novelist Henry Miller, is released in the U.S. after being banned for more than 20 years. President Kennedy advises U.S. families to build fallout shelters. The National Council of Churches endorse birth control. The Misfits, starring Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, premiers at movie theaters. In a televised speech, President Kennedy commits the U.S. to landing man on the moon by the end of the decade. U.S. Supreme Court rules that illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in trials. President Kennedy meets with Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev in Austria. The American Medical Association publishes a report linking smoking with heart disease. U.S. begins underground nuclear testing. United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammerskjold is killed in a plane crash. The Twenty-Third Amendment, providing congressional representation of Washington, D.C., is ratified. Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin makes the first manned space flight that circles the earth. The U.S. has 12 million privately owned trucks. Tylenol, the first acetaminophen tablets, is introduced on the public market. FCC Chairman Newton Minnow calls television programming "a vast wasteland."
1962 Novelist William Faulkner dies. Communication satellite Telstar is launched into space. U.S. armed forces are sent to Laos to battle Communist troops. Film star Marilyn Monroe dies. The Supreme Court rules prayer in public schools in unconstitutional. Stu Sutcliffe of the Beatles dies of brain hemorrhage. Pete Best is replaced with drummer Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr). The rock and roll group, nicknamed the Fab Four, consists of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Poet E.E. Cummings dies. Richard Nixon loses election for governor of California. "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore,Ó Nixon says in a speech following defeat. Catch-22, by novelist Joseph Heller, is published. President Kennedy signs bill to protect public from harmful drugs. President Kennedy demands the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba and orders naval blockade of Cuba. Following a three-day stand off, Premier Krushchev agrees to remove the missile bases. Ship of Fools, by novelist Katherine Ann Porter, is published. Upon payment of $62 million worth of goods by the U.S., Cuba releases 1,113 prisoners captured during the Bay of Pigs invasion. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, debuts at movie theaters. President Kennedy signs bill prohibiting racial discrimination in federally funded housing. Novelist John Steinbeck's Travels With Charley, an account of his trip throughout the United States with his dog Charley, is published. Steinbeck wins the Nobel Prize for literature. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, by playwright Edward Albee, opens on Broadway. The first Wal-Mart opens. The first K-Mart opens. The lear jet is introduced by engineer William P. Lear. The first successful measles vaccine is produced. Nine out of ten American families own a television set. One out of ten owns at least two.
1963 The Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Yankees 4 games to 0 to win the World Series. Farmers account for 7 percent of U.S. population. Weight Watchers is founded. Tab is introduced by Coca Cola. Blue Bayou, by Roy Orbison, is a popular song. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, starring John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Lee Marvin, opens at movie theaters. Eastman Kodak introduces Instamatic cameras. The Bell Jar, by poet Silvia Plath, is published following her suicide. Touch-tone telephones are introduced on the public market. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that reading verses from the Bible in public schools is unconstitutional. Valium, 10 times more potent than librium, is introduced for sale in the U.S. U.S. Supreme Court rules that defendants in criminal cases who cannot afford an attorney be appointed one. More than 200,000 demonstrators, supporting civil rights, march outside the White House. U.S. unemployment is 6 percent. President Kennedy threatens to break the CIA into a million pieces. Gordon Cooper orbits the earth 22 times. President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The bullets that kill him are allegedly fired by Lee Harvey Oswald from a mail-order rifle. Two days after Kennedy's death, Oswald is shot to death by Jack Ruby while being led down a corridor in the Dallas jail. Details of an interview conducted by government agents shortly before Oswald's death are not released to the media. The Beach Boys record Surfin' USA. Poet Robert Frost dies. A telephone "hotline" linking Washington D.C. to Moscow goes into operation. A collection of pop art by Andy Warhol is exhibited at the Guggenhein Museum in New York City.
1964 Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States, dies. Lyndon Baines Johnson is elected President of the United States in a landslide victory over Republican Barry Goldwater. The Beatles stage their first American tour, which includes an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. More than 60,000 people, waiting in line outside CBS studios for tickets, are turned away after seating for the studio audience is filled. Less than 4,000 were turned away when Elvis made his first appearance on the show. General Douglas MacArthur dies. Olympic champion Cassius Clay defeats Sonny Liston to become World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Herzog, a novel by Saul Bellows, is published. Dr. Strangelove, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Peter Sellers, debuts at movie theaters. Gulf of Tonklin Resolution gives the President power to take measures to defend U.S. forces and to prevent further aggression in Vietnam. The Rolling Stones stage their first U.S. tour, frequently playing concerts in stadiums and auditoriums where more than half the tickets are unsold. An earthquake in Alaska kills more than 100 and causes an estimated half-billion dollars in damages. President Johnson begins "War on Poverty," requesting almost one billion dollars for the project. Where Did Our Love Go?, by the Supremes, is a popular song. Playwright Arthur Miller writes After the Fall, based on his marriage to Marilyn Monroe. Race riots erupt in Harlem and Philadelphia. The Surgeon General announces proof that cigarettes cause lung cancer. Sonar detects a large object in Scotland's Loch Ness. President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act. Carol Channing stars in Hello, Dolly! Soviets shoot down an USAF training jet over East Germany.
1965 Viet Cong troops attack U.S. military base in Plieku, killing 8 and wounding 126. President Johnson orders bombing of North Vietnamese bases. Government officials call for a network of bomb shelters in the U.S. Heart Full of Soul, by the British rock group Yard Birds, is a popular song. Total U.S. fighting force in Vietnam is 65,000 men. Johnson announces plan to increase force to 125,000 men. As the first of its kind in the U.S., a television broadcasting system is installed during the construction of a high school in Vero Beach, Florida. The system is designed to teach students how to create visual media presentations. U.S. Marines land in South Vietnam to protect Air Force base at Danang. U.S. Marines are sent to Dominican Republic to protect U.S. citizens during war. UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson dies. Race riot in Watts, a black section of Los Angeles, leaves 37 dead. Nationwide antiwar rallies are held. U.S. Medicare bill providing limited medical care for the disabled and the elderly passes. Department of Housing and Urban Development is established. Anti-pollution bill allowing the setting of emission standards on pollutants in new diesel and gasoline automobiles is instituted into U.S. law. President Johnson requests $1.7 billion for war effort in Vietnam. Tornadoes in midwest kill 271 and injure 5,000. Two-day major power blackout occurs in the northeast. Immigration act in U.S. abolishes quota system based on national origin. Members of the KKK allegedly kill civil rights workers in Alabama. U.S. Commissioner of Education announces that all public school districts are to desegregate by September 1967. Gemini 7 rendezvous in space with Gemini 6. Literacy, knowledge, and character tests for voter registration are suspended. Cassius Clay knocks out Sonny Liston in less than two minutes of the first round to retain the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship.
1966 U.S. troops in Vietnam increase to 215,000. Walt Disney dies. Strike grounds all major airline planes for six weeks. More than 15,000 anti-war protestors demonstrate in Washington, D.C. Truth-In-Packaging bill, requiring accurate labeling of supermarket items, passes. The Beatles release their Rubber Soul album. Republicans gain 47 seats in the House. Truman Capote's nonfiction novel In Cold Blood is published. Anti-war demonstrators hold rallies in major cities throughout the U.S. California Dreaming, by the Mamas and the Papas, is a popular song. Andy Warhol says, "If you want to know about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings. There's nothing behind it." Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes One Hundred Years of Solitude. The $30 million Houston Astrodome opens. Musician Jimi Hendrix exhibits his electric guitar skills during stage appearances in England. Alice's Restaurant, by folk singer Arlo Guthrie, is a popular song. Arlo's father, Woody, dies a year later at age 55. The musical It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Superman! opens on Broadway. The soap opera Dark Shadows premiers on ABC. The cult hit will continue until April 1971. Comedian Lenny Bruce dies of a heroin overdose. The U.S. Supreme Court defines obscene material as "any matter to which the average person applying contemporary standards, the standard theme taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest." Quotations of Chairman Mao is published. Responding to a quotation in the book: "The more books you read, the more stupid you become," China's universities close down. The U.S. infant mortality rate is 24 per thousand. The British rate is 20. The Swedish rate is 15.
More than 100,000 anti-war demonstrators hold rallies in New York City and San Francisco. The Panther and the Lash, by black poet Langston Hughes, is published. The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman, opens at movie theaters. The Beatles release their album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. During the Six-Day-Arab-War, the Israelis take Arab Jerusalem and incorporate it with the rest of the city. The Israelis reject a UN request to return control of Arab Jerusalem to the Arabs and retains the Golan Heights and the West Bank of the Jordan. Together with Arab Jerusalem, the three areas contain half the Arab population of Jordan and half the economic resources. Revolutionary Che Guevara is killed by Bolivian troops. Accusations of CIA involvement in Guevara's death are alleged but never proven. Guevara's hands are removed to verify his identity through fingerprint identification. New York City police arrest 260 anti-war demonstrators, including Dr. Benjamin Spock. Communist China explodes its first hydrogen bomb. Rosemary's Baby, by novelist Ira Levin, is published. In the Heat of the Night, starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, opens at movie theaters. Claiming conscientious objector status, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Mohammad Ali refuses induction into the U.S. Army and is arrested. Race riots throughout U.S. kill 80 people and injure more than 4,000. A Black Power conference adopts an anti-white, anti-Christian resolution. Black militant leader Stokely Carmichael calls for blacks to arm for revolution. Martin Luther King Jr. calls for a campaign of disobedience to force government leaders to meet black demands. Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first black U.S. Supreme Court Justice. The musical Hair opens off-Broadway. Light My Fire, by the Doors, is a popular song. Mickey Mantle hits his 500th home run. More than 100,000 anti-war demonstrators march on the Pentagon. Police arrest 650. A government mandate is issued stating that college students involved in anti-war demonstrations will lose their draft deferments. Sweden changes from driving on the left side of the road to the right. A new Chevrolet sells for $2,300. Rolling Stone magazine begins publication.
1968 More than 700 oil spills occur. U.S. soldiers are told by superiors to not report dead Communist Chinese soldiers among the Viet Cong killed in battle. Martin Luther King Jr. is shot to death by alleged assassin James Earl Ray. A black prosecutor is removed from the case after reporting the discover of evidence that indicates Ray did not act alone in the assassination. Until his death 30 years later, Ray will claim others were involved in the murder of King. President Johnson announces that he will not seek re-election as President. More than 10,000 anti-war demonstrators march outside the Democratic Convention in Chicago. More than 25,000 county, state, and federal police officers tear-gas and beat the protestors with night sticks. Responding to accusations by the news media of police brutality, Chicago Mayor Richard Dailey says, "The policeman isn't there to create disorder. The policeman is there to preserve disorder.Ó Democrats in Chicago nominate Vice-President Hubert Humphrey to run for President. The first album by British rock group Led Zeppelin is produced. Jumpin' Jack Flash, by the Rolling Stones, is a popular song. The Detroit Tigers defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. Republican Richard Nixon wins the Presidential election by a margin of less than one-half percent. ¥Race riots break out in Chicago. Mayor Richard Dailey orders police to shoot to kill. More than 500,000 U.S. soldiers are in Vietnam. Race riots erupt in Washington D.C., Boston, Baltimore, Kansas City, Newark, and Detroit. More than 40 deaths occur. More than 20,000 are arrested. The first automatic cash dispenser is installed. More than 500,000 Volkswagens are sold in the U.S. Microchip inventors Richard Noyce and Gordon Moore found Intel and begin designing the first microprocessor. Television's 60 Minutes debuts on CBS. Novelist Thomas Wolfe's Electric Kool Aid Acid Test is published. The Lion in Winter, starring Katherine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole, opens at movie theaters. The animated musical Yellow Submarine opens at movie theaters.
1969 Ford introduces the Maverick to compete with foreign compact cars. President Nixon coins the term silent majority. When asked by the media where this silent majority is, Nixon declines to comment. The comic strip Doonesbury appears in U.S. newspapers. In a decision declaring a state anti-pornography law unconstitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court states, "A state has no business telling a man, sitting along in his house, which books he may read or what films he may watch." Midnight Cowboy, starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, opens at U.S. theaters in large cities. Many small-town theater owners refuse to show the film, claiming it is too sexually explicit. Midnight Cowboy will become the first x-rated movie to win an Oscar for best picture. ¥Penthouse begins publication. The Godfather, by novelist Mario Puzo, is published. Butterflies Are Free opens on Broadway. Easy Rider, starring Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda, premiers at movie theaters. Monty Python's Flying Circus debuts on British television. Sesame Street debuts on U.S. public television. An estimated 500,000 youths attend the Woodstock Music Festival in Bethel, New York. Jimi Hendrix, Arlo Guthrie, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Country Joe and the Fish, and other rock stars perform on stage. The gathering is described as peace-loving and orderly. Members of the Hell's Angels beat an onlooker to death at a free Rolling Stones concert in San Francisco. Come Saturday Morning, from the film The Sterile Cuckoo starring Liza Minneli, is a popular song. Led by quarterback Joe Namath, the New York Jets defeat the Baltimore Colts to win the Superbowl. The New York Mets defeat the Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 1 to win the World Series.
1970 An explosion aboard Apollo 13 forces astronauts to move into a small lunar module designed for two men. The four astronauts return to Earth aboard the module safely. The U.S. unemployment rate is 5 percent. The poverty line for U.S. families is $3,900 per year. U.S. scientists discover an enzyme that can break up the structure of a tumor. A survey reports that less than 30 Americans in the U.S. are studying the Vietnamese language. A U.S. scholar says, "So what?" Deliverance, by novelist James Dickey, is published. The play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds opens off-Broadway. The Mary Tyler Moore Show debuts on NBC television. Five Easy Pieces, starring Jack Nicholson, opens at movie theaters. Deja Vu, by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, is a popular song. Rock legends Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix die of drug overdoses. Among 126 starters, Gary Muhrcke wins the first New York Marathon. Richard Nixon signs into law the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act. The RICO Act will be used to prosecute mafia leaders and Wall Street traders using privileged information. An earthquake in Peru kills more than 75,000 and injures an equivalent amount. Hurricane destroys downtown Corpus Christi, Texas. A cyclone in Pakistan kills an esti¥mated 350,000. Congress passes a law requiring safety tops to prevent children from opening containers of potentially dangerous products. The U.S. population is 228 million. The world population is 3.6 billion. The population of Communist China is 760 million.
1971 Soft contact lenses are introduced on the public market for sale. The lenses cost $300. A federal judge stops the Washington Post from publishing the Pentagon Papers, a classified report giving details of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Given to the media by former Defense Department official Daniel Ellsburg, the papers show that federal officials have lied to the American public about the war in Vietnam. Ellsburg is indicted on charges of espionage and conspiracy. Look magazine stops publication. Winds of War, by novelist Herman Wouk, is published. Two-Lane Blacktop, starring Warren Oats and singer-songwriter James Taylor, premiers at movie theaters. Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone?, by playwright Terrence McNally, premiers off Broadway. All in the Family, starring Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton as Archie and Edith Bunker, premiers on CBS television. Columbo, staring Peter Falk, premiers on NBC television. Jesus Christ Superstar makes its Broadway debut. Imagine, by John Lennon, is a popular song. Lt. William Calley is convicted of killing 20 Vietnam civilians and is sentenced to 10 years in prison. President Nixon pardons Calley 6 days later. Rock legend Jim Morrison dies in a Paris hotel. Although a probable drug overdose is suspected, no autopsy is performed. Morrison's death certificate lists heart failure as the cause of death. The Pittsburg Pirates defeat the Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. The Washington Senators, a major league baseball team, become the Texas Rangers. An earthquake hits Los Angeles, killing 51 and injuring approximately 900. An average American eats 110 pounds of beef per year. The album Runes, by rock group Led Zeppelin, is released on the public market. A riot at Attica State Prison in New York leaves 39 inmates dead, 4 guards dead, and more than 90 wounded. The Twenty-Sixth Amendment, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, is ratified. The U.S. population is 205 million. The population of Communist China is 760 million.
1972 During clashes between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, 470 are killed. Five burglars are arrested during a break-in at Democratic Headquarters in the Watergate Building Complex. The burglars are identified as Virgilio Gonzalez, James McCord, Eugenio Martinez, Bernard Baker, and Frank Sturgis. John Mitchell, Nixon's campaign manager, states, "They were not operating with our consent or on our behalf." President Nixon is re-elected in a landslide victory over George McGovern. While campaigning for the Democratic nomination for president, Governor George Wallace is shot by Arthur Bremer, leaving Wallace a paraplegic. The U.S. Supreme Court rules the death penalty unconstitutional, citing it as "cruel and unjust punishment." A Congressional bill is authorized to build a spacecraft that will lift off as a rocket and return as an airplane. The Sunshine Boys, by Neil Simon, opens on Broadway. The Waltons premiers on CBS television. Deliverance, starring Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds, opens at movie theaters. You Don't Mess Around With Jim, by Jim Croce, is a popular song. The Soviets land a spacecraft on Venus. The U.S. lands a manned spacecraft on the moon. The Dow Jones Average closes at more than 1,000 for the first time. Vietnam peace talks are suspended. More than 30 percent of U.S. petroleum is imported. A human skull found in Africa dates the first human to 2.5 million B.C. Second-hand cigarette smoke is reported as dangerous by the U.S. Surgeon General. Federal Express is founded in Memphis, Tennessee. Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward report a link between the Watergate break-in and the Committee for the Re-Election of the President, also known as CREEP. The Terminal Man, by Michael Crichton, is published.
1973 A recommendation by a U.S. grocery committee is issued to permit the design of electronic devices that scan the price of items at supermarkets. "A computer will record prices automatically," a report says, "eliminating human error." "Abortion should be a decision between a woman and her physician," the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Roe vs. Wade. Oil shortages and rising grain prices result in the worst depression since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Members of the media claim there is no real shortage of oil but that major oil companies are involved in a plot to increase prices. Gravity's Rainbow, by novelist Thomas Pynchon, is published. The Hot L Baltimore opens on Broadway. The Paper Chase opens at movie theaters. Give Me Love, by former Beatle George Harrison, is a popular song. Miami beats Los Angeles to win the Super Bowl. Israeli fighter planes shoot down 13 Syrian MIG jets. Fighting erupts and the fourth Israeli-Arab war since Israel was established in 1948 begins. Archibald Cox is named special Watergate prosecutor. The five Watergate burglars plead guilty to breaking and entering. Nixon's aides Halderman and Erlichman resign. Former White House counsel John Dean implicates other members of Nixon's private staff during testimony before a Senate committee investigating the break-in. America's combat death toll in Vietnam exceeds 50,000. U.S. troops leave Vietnam. U.S. bombing of North Vietnam continues. Members of the media report that hundreds of U.S. soldiers are being held prisoner by the North Vietnamese. Some reports claim that thousands of U.S. soldiers, listed as missing in action, have been left behind in POW camps. Vice President Spiro Agnew pleads no contest to income tax evasion and resigns from office. Nixon appoints Gerald Ford vice president. Breakfast of Champions, by novelist Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is published. Nixon discharges special investigator Archibald Cox when Cox insists that Nixon turn in tape recordings pertaining to the Watergate break-in. Sweden's King Gustavus VI dies at age 90. He is succeeded by his grandson, Carl Gustavus XVI.
1974 The Supreme Court rules that President Nixon must turn over White House tape recordings to a special prosecutor. The House Judiciary Committee votes to charge Nixon with three articles of impeachment, obstruction of justice, failure to uphold laws, and refusal to produce subpoenaed material. Nixon resigns from office, become the first U.S. president to do so. College students across the nation gather in large crowds to celebrate Nixon's resignation. At one of these celebrations, an anti-war activist calls Nixon's removal from office "the greatest event in this nation's history since Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence." Gerald Ford is sworn in as President of the United States. Ford grants Nixon a full pardon. Ford asks Congress to appropriate $850,000 to aide Nixon in his transition to private life. Congress reduces the amount to $200,000. The CAT scanner, developed by Electrical Musical Instruments Corp. with money from the sale of Beatle records, becomes widely used to detect cancer. People magazine begins publication. All the President's Men, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, is published. Grenada gains independence from British rule. India explodes its first atomic device. Race riots erupt in Boston when whites protest the integration of blacks into a completely white public school. The National Guard is called out to disperse the rioters. IRAs, Individual Retirement Accounts, are established. The tax-deductible accounts provide private pension plans. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hits a low of 570.01. Oil prices increase from $2.50 per barrel to $11.25 per barrel. Nuclear laboratory technician Karen Silkwood dies in an automobile crash on her way to meet with a newspaper reporter to document her claims that her employer falsified quality-control reports. Investigators discover high levels of radiation in Silkwood's residence. A nationwide speed limit of 55 mph is established by a presidential decree. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig, is published. Bad Habits, by playwright Terence McNally, premiers on Broadway. Chinatown, starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, opens at movie theaters. The Way We Were is a popular song.
1975 The United Nations votes to define Zionism as a "form of racism and racial discrimination.Ó Chiang Kai-shek dies at age 87. North Vietnamese forces capture Saigon. U.S. helicopters evacuate more than 1,300 Americans and more than 5,000 Vietnamese. More than 56,000 U.S. soldiers died in the war. Congress votes to appropriate $400 million to resettle an estimated 150,000 refugees into the United States. Coffee is $1.25 per pound. Sugar is 30 cents per pound. Bread costs 35 cents per loaf. Potatoes are 25 cents per pound. Milk is $1.25 per gallon. An earthquake in Pakistan kills more than 5,000. Tangled Up In Blue, by Bob Dylan, is a popular song. In what was termed the Thrilla in Manilla, Mohammad Ali knocks out Joe Frazier in the fourteenth round to retain the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship. A $12 million settlement is awarded 1,200 plaintiffs whose rights were violated four years earlier during anti-war demonstrations in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that students cannot be suspended from school for misconduct, unless their presence poses a physical threat. Crases of four commercial jetliners in a four-month period kill 499 people. William Gates, 19, founds Microsoft. The Altair is the first personal computer with microprocessor chips. Terms of Endearment, by author Larry McMurty, is published. Streaking is a popular fad. Saturday Night Live premiers on NBC television. Jaws opens at movie theaters. Shenandoah preiiers on Broadway. Disco, introduced in the late fifties, begins a resurgence.
1976 Apple Computer is founded with $1,500 by Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak. The two college dropouts begin producing personal computers in a garage. At the recommendation of President Ford, more than 50 million Americans are inoculated after reports of an impending swine flu epidemic. The warnings prove to be false. Less than 10 cases of swine flu are reported. More than 500 of those inoculated are paralyzed due to the vaccine. Law suits on behalf of the paralyzed victims are filed against the government. Legionnaire's disease, a rare form of pneumonia, kills 29 American Legion members who attended a meeting at a Philadelphia hotel. The Cincinnati Reds defeat the New York Yankees 4 games to 0 to win the World Series. A college student, suffering from epilepsy, dies of starvation after months of being exorcised of "demons" at the recommendation of a Catholic priest and a bishop. Facsimile (fax) machines are produced that reduce the transmission time of six minutes for a single page to three minutes. The MacNeil-Lerner report debuts on Public Broadcasting television. Ted Turner founds Atlanta's WTBS. The Boys From Brazil, by novelist Ira Levin, is published. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, by playwright Paulete Williams, opens on Broadway. Blind Ambition, by former White House counselor John W. Dean, is published. Bound for Glory, starring Keith Carradine as folk singer Woodie Guthrie, premiers at movie theaters. The Muppet Show premiers on P.B.S. The show's creator, Jim Henson, is told by critics that the show will flop. The show quickly gains popularity and is watched by more than 250 million viewers in more than 100 countries. Punk rock becomes popular among England's working-class youth. John Lennon's rendition of Stand By Me is a popular song. Overruling a 1972 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that the death penalty is cruel and unjust punishment, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the death penalty is not cruel and unjust punishment. Jimmy Carter defeats Gerald Ford to become the first Southern president in more than 100 years.
1977 President Carter pardons Vietnam draft evaders. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that criminal suspects who voluntarily enter a police station may be interrogated without informing them of their legal rights. The average price of gas in the U.S. is 69.9 cents per gallon. Five years short of its hundredth anniversary, the Orient Express makes its last trip from Istanbul to Paris. Two commercial jetliners collide, killing 582. Tagamet, an ulcer-treatment drug, is sold on the U.S. market with a prescription. The Dragons of Eden, by scientist Carl Sagan, is published. The Thorn Birds, by novelist Colleen McCollough, is published. The Elephant Man, by playwright Bernard Pomerance, opens at a London theatre. Approximately 175,000 Asian refugees are admitted into the U.S. A cyclone kills more than 10,000 in India. A medical study links saccharin to cancer in rats. Food coloring in bacon is reported to cause cancer. The Love Boat premiers on ABC television. Close Encounters of the Third Kind opens at movie theaters. Reports of an on-tour Beatle reunion end when John Lennon says, "No way." Charlie Chaplin dies at age 88. Little Orphan Annie opens on Broadway. Hotel California, by the Eagles, is a popular song. Elvis Presley, 42, dies at Graceland, his mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. Although reportedly attributed to prescription drugs, the cause of death is listed as "heart failure." Bing Crosby, 73, collapses and dies of a heart attack on a golf course. At his request, convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah. Son of Sam serial killer David Berkowitz is arrested in New York City. The 24-year-old postal worker claims his neighbor's dog told him to commit the murders. Canada stops granting licenses to carry handguns. Canada's crime rate increases. An earthquake in Romania kills an estimated 2,000.
1978 Disposable diapers appear on the public market. A tornado in India kills 600. An earthquake in Iran kills an estimated 25,000. Scores of residents are evacuated from Love Canal in New York; a toxic waste dump in the Ô40s and Ô50s. A high incident of birth defects and diseases causes the evacuation. A Soviet fighter jet fires on a commercial Korean jet airliner, killing 2 and injuring 10. The airliner crash-lands on a frozen lake. North Vietnamese troops invade Cambodia. Armed with Soviet-supplied weapons, the troops drive out Cambodia's political regime. President Carter signs into law a bill raising the mandatory age of most workers to 70. The world's first test-tube baby is born. A large number of Vietnam veterans are denied admission to major colleges because minority-admissions programs have reduced the number of places open to white applicants. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that reverse discrimination is unconstitutional but that colleges can consider race and ethnic origin to obtain diversity among students. Unsure of what the Supreme Court means, civil-liberty lawyers ask for a clarification of the ruling. None is given. The U.S. unemployment rate is 6 percent. President Carter signs a $19 billion tax-cut bill. Trying to see if it is commercially feasible to produce electricity from the hydrogen in seawater, scientists obtain a temperature of 60 million degrees Fahrenheit using nuclear technology, falling short of the 100 million degrees necessary to extract hydrogen from seawater. Dallas beats Denver to win the Super Bowl. Leon Spinks beats Mohammad Ali in a 15-round decision to win the Heavy Weight boxing title. The last of 20 million Volkswagen Beetles produced since 1949 in Germany rolls off the assembly line. Volkswagen plants in other countries will continue to produce Beetles. Commercial airliner crashes kill 582. The Director of Health Education and Welfare terms smoking "a slow-motion suicide." Garfield debuts in newspaper comics. More than 80 percent of U.S. households have color television. The World According to Garp, by novelist John Irving, is published. ¥Dallas begins a 13-year run on CBS television. The Deer Hunter, starring Robert DeNiro and Christopher Walken, premiers at movie theaters. The Buddy Holly Story, starring Gary Busey, premiers at movie theaters. Busey will win an Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of the legendary rock and roll star. Ain't Misbehavin', with music and lyrics by Fats Waller, who died in 1943, opens on Broadway.
1979 Mad Max, starring Mel Gibson, opens at movie theaters. Gold prices reach $400 per ounce. More than 140,000 people are evacuated following an accident at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Due to manipulated oil prices resulting in a purposely imposed decrease of gas transported to U.S. filling stations, motorists wait in long lines to obtain a few gallons at a time. Commercial airliner crashes kill 836. More than 5,000 die in U.S. as the result of motorcycle accidents. Congress passes a bill guaranteeing $1.2 billion in loans to Chrysler to prevent the company from going bankrupt. Jerry Falwell founds the Moral Majority. The group registers millions of voters in an effort to impede reform of the criminal code, block the Equal Rights Amendment, and disrupt the White House Family Conference. U.S. students' SAT scores begin declining significantly. Morning Edition premiers on PBS radio. Sony introduces the Walkman, a $200 pocket stereo. The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. An earthquake in Iran kills more than 1,000. Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) begins broadcasting political news events. Service begins to make the Internet accessible to the public. The Gnostic Gospels, by historian Elaine Hiesey, is published. A Bend in the River, by novelist V.S. Naipaul, is published. On Golden Pond, by playwright Ernest Thompson, premiers on Broadway. Knott's Landing, a spin-off from Dallas, begins a 14-year run on CBS television. Wise Blood, based on a story by Flannery O'Conner, opens at movie theaters. John Wayne dies at age 72. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat opens at Westminster
Theatre in London. Do Ya' Think I'm Sexy, by Rod Stewart, is a popular song. In a stampede for seats, 11 are crushed to death at a Who concert in Ohio.
1980 Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington state, killing hundreds of people. A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas kills 84. The flourishing drug smuggling trade makes banks in Miami, Florida, the largest users of $100 bills. Murders of black children in Atlanta resume. Twelve children are killed by an unknown assailant. Police have no clues. Canadian hockey player Scott Olsen founds Rollerblade Incorporated. The Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Kansas City Royals 4 games to 2 to win their first World Series. John Lennon produces the Double Fantasy album. The Empire Strikes Back opens at movie theaters. The Transit of Venus, by novelist Julian Barnes, is published. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the press and the public have the right to attend criminal trials. An act of Congress forbids unannounced searches of newsrooms. ¥Cable News Network goes on the air. SAT scores of high school students continue to decline. Educators claim television is a contributing factor to the lower scores. Commercial airliner crashes kill 662. A Philippine passenger ship collides with an oil tanker, killing more than 300. The captain of the passenger ship was reportedly drinking and gambling when the collision occurred. A Rolls-Royce sells for $120,000. More than 100 are killed or injured in a train wreck in Poland. Up from an average of 65.9 cents per gallon at the beginning of 1979, gas prices average $115.9 per gallon. Personal bankruptcies in the U.S. increase by 80 percent. The prime-interest rate for bank loans reaches 21.5 percent. Iraqi jets attack Iranian airfields, beginning an eight-year war. John Lennon is shot to death outside his New York City residence. More than 100,000 mourners in Central Park participate in a moment of silence to honor Lennon's memory. Two days before his death, Lennon bought bullet-proof vests for the New York City Police Department. "If only he had been wearing one," a reporter writes. Hurricane David kills more than 600 and leaves more than 200,000 homeless in the Caribbean. An earthquake in Italy kills more than 2,000. U.S. bans the use of hormones in cattle feed. Europe follows suit.
1981 Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first woman justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Actor Peter Sellers, 50, dies of a heart attack. U.S. armed Salvadorian troops open fire on unarmed civilians, killing and wounding more than 1,000. IBM introduces its first personal computer for sale on the public market. The Mosquito Coast, by novelist Paul Theroux, is published. Being There, starring Peter Sellers, is nominated for an Academy Award. Hill Street Blues and Miami Vice premier on NBC television. Dynasty premiers on ABC television. Bette Davis Eyes is a popular song. MTV debuts on cable television. First-class postage stamps in U.S. increase from 18 cents to 22 cents. Midnight's Children, by novelist Salman Rushdie, is published. A Soldier's Play, by playwright Charles Fuller, opens off-Broadway. Chariots of Fire premiers at movie theaters. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the New York Yankees 4 games to 2 to win the World Series. World population is 4.5 billion. Communist China's population is approximately 1 billion. U.S. population is 228 million. India's population is 675 million. Iran releases U.S. hostages taken prisoner in 1980. President Reagan and three others are shot during an assassination attempt. Small Afghan querilla groups continue to battle against Soviet occupation forces. More than 10,000 Russian casualities have occured since the conflict began in 1979. Christian and Jewish forces in Israel shoot down two Syrian helicopters. Egypt's President Anwar el-Sadat is assassinated.
1982 U.S. Marines evacuate more than 5,000 Palestinian soldiers from Beirut after Israel agrees to peace talks. Christian radicals massacre Palestinians in Beirut. A Vietnam War Memorial with the names of 57,692 killed or missing U.S. soldiers is dedicated in Washington, D.C. An estimated one million protesters gather in New York City's Central Park during demonstrations against the production of nuclear arms. Unemployment in the U.S. exceeds 10 percent. Jetliner crashes kill 431. Honda begins production of cars in the U.S. Seven die from bottles of Tylenol laced with cyanide. More than 30 million Tylenol capsules are recalled and destroyed. Tylenol is reintroduced on the public market in safety-sealed containers. Pump Boys and Dinettes opens off-Broadway. E.T. debuts at movie theaters. Henry Fonda, Grace Kelly, and Ingrid Bergman die. Little Shop of Horrors opens off-Broadway. Up Where We Belong is a popular song. Paul McCartney records Here Today as a memorial to John Lennon. The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Milwaukee Brewers 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. The conviction of Wayne B. Williams for murder clears 23 of the 30 killings of black youths in Atlanta, Georgia. An estimated one out of ten Americans smoke marijuana. President Reagan begins the "War on Drugs." Eating Raoul debuts at movie theaters. Chronical of a Death Foretold, by novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, is published.
1983 Terrorists blow up the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that life in prison with no chance of parole is unconstitutional. President Reagan signs into legislation a law increasing the tax paid by retirees. Crack, a smokeable form of cocaine, begins appearing in the U.S. Cellular phones, costing $3,000, are introduced on the public market. Mobile phones have existed since the early forties, but the limited transmission made sale on the public market impractical. Vietnam: A History, by journalist Paul Johnson, is published. Ironweed, by William Kennedy, is published. Glengarry Glen Ross, by playwright David Mamet, opens at a London playhouse. Terms of Endearment, starring Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson, opens at movie theaters. Disneyland opens in Tokyo. Every Breath You Take is a popular song. The Baltimore Orioles defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 4 games to 1 to win the World Series. An earthquake in Turkey kills more than 1,000. Commenting on the diversity of minorities on his advisory board, Secretary of the Interior James G. Watts says, "I have a black, a woman, two Jews, and a cripple." Watts resigns under pressure. U.S. farmers are paid $20 billion for not planting crops. Meditations in Green, by novelist Stephen Wright, is published. \ A terrorist in Lebanon drives a truck loaded with explosives into a building occupied by U.S. marines, killing 241. Ibuprofen appears on the public market in England.
1984 More than 1,000 are killed in India during riots between Moslems and Hindus. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights votes to stop quotas for the promotion of black workers. "Such racial preferences," the Commission says, "merely constitute another form of discrimination." The Macintosh, a personal computer, is introduced by Apple on the public market. A 3.5 inch diskette for storing computer information is introduced on the public market. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that home video tape recordings do not infringe on copyrights. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by novelist Milan Kundera, is published. The Foreigner, by playwright Larry Shue, opens on Broadway. The Killing Fields debuts at movie theaters. The first edition of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a comic book, is published. What's Love Got To Do With It is a popular song. U.S. athletes win 174 gold medals at the Olympic games in Los Angeles. The Detroit Tigers defeat the San Diego Padres 4 games to 1 to win the World Series. Trivial Pursuit is introduced on the public market. Sales of the board game exceed $750 million. Security guard Oliver Huberty enters a McDonald's, opens fire with an automatic rifle, a pistol, and a shotgun, killing 20 and wounding 16. Police kill Huberty. Bernhard Goetz shoots four black teenagers trying to rob him on a New York City subway. Public support rallies behind Goetz. Goetz is indicted for attempted murder and acquitted. He serves an eight-month jail sentence for illegal possession of a firearm. More than one million die of starvation in Africa.
1985 Actor Rock Hudson, 59, dies of AIDS. Flaubert's Parrot, by novelist Julian Barnes, is published. A Lie of the Mind, by Sam Shepard, opens on Broadway. Purple Rose of Cairo, starring Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, opens at movie theaters. Big River, with music and lyrics by Roger Miller, opens on Broadway. Live Aid, a rock concert organized by Bob Geldorf, raises more than $50 million for starving Africans. Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger are among the stars who perform. Centerfield, by John Fogerty, is a popular song. Compact disc players and compact discs are introduced on the public market. Steve Cram runs the mile in 3:46:31, setting a new world record. Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds, gets his 4,192 hit, breaking Ty Cobb's record. The Kansas City Royals defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. An earthquake in Mexico kills more than 5,000. More than 25,000 die in Columbia when a volcano erupts. Coca-Cola introduces the "New Coke." The "new and improved" beverage is a failure on the public market. Reports of a large hole in the ozone layer are made public. Cocoon opens at movie theaters. Lonesome Dove, by novelist Larry McMurty, is published. RCA merges with General Electric. U.S. officials arrest and deport guru Bhagwhan Shree Rajneesh to India. Commercial jetliner crashes kill 989. President Reagan ends tax credits for the development of alternative forms of energy, such as solar and wind. The U.S. becomes a debtor nation for the first time in more than 70 years.
1986 Since Reagan became President in 1981, the national debt has doubled from $1 trillion to $2 trillion. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Soviet Russia explodes, sending clouds of radioactive fallout over Europe and toward the U.S. An estimated 30,000 will die of cancer as the result of the fallout in the next 10 years. Millions of acres of Soviet land will be uninhabitable for 20,000 years. A U.S. law is passed making it illegal for hospitals to not treat patients who can't afford to pay. The Real Life of Alejando Mayta, by Mario Vargas Liosa, is published. Lend Me a Tenor, by playwright Ken Ludwig, opens in London. L.A. Law premiers on NBC television. The Mosquito Coast opens at movie theaters. Screen legend Cary Grant, 80, dies. Phantom of the Opera, starring Michael Crawford, opens at a London playhouse. Graceland is a popular album. Basketball celebrity Len Bias dies of a cocaine overdose. The New York Mets defeat the Boston Red Sox 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. Mike Tyson knocks out Trevor Berbick in the second round to become World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Nintendo video games appear on the U.S. public market. An estimated 150,000 pounds of cocaine are smuggled into the U.S. An underwater volcano explodes producing toxic gas that kills more than 1,500 in Cameroon. Iraqi missiles hit the U.S. ship Stark, killing 37. Reagan signs a law allowing millions of illegal aliens to remain in the country legally. A European pharmaceutical company dumps more than two million pounds of toxic waste into the Rhine, killing millions of fish and polluting water supplies.
1987 Commercial jetliner crashes kill 611. A passenger ship collides with a tanker off the Phillipine coast, killing more than 1,500. Praise the Lord minister resigns after admitting he cheated on his wife, Tammy Faye. Presumed Innocent, by novelist Scott Turow, is published. Driving Miss Daisy, by playwright Alfred Vhry, opens on Broadway. Raising Arizona, starring Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter, premiers at movie theaters. Somewhere Out There is a popular song. The Minnesota Twins defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. Wall Street businessman Ivan F. Boesky is sentenced to prison for insider trading. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Anderson is convicted of tax evasion. Saudi police fire on Shiites visiting Mecca, killing more than 500. Andy Warhol, 58, dies. ¥An avalanch in Columbia kills more than 100. An earthquake in Los Angeles kills 1 and injures more than 100. There are 12 million microwave ovens in the U.S. The war between Iran and Iraq continues. An estimated 200,000, many of them civilians, have died during the fighting. The Swedish film My Life as a Dog opens at movie theaters. Burn This, by playwright Lanford Wilson, opens on Broadway. Congress overrules President Reagan's veto of a highway appropriation bill.
The commander of a U.S. battleship mistakenly shoots down an Iranian passenger jet, killing 290. Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is indicted by U.S. Grand Juries on charges of bribery for reportedly accepting millions in pay-offs from drug traffikers. A trade agreement eliminating tariffs on Canadian goods exported into the U.S. is signed into law. U.S. unemployment is 5.5 percent. When asked if he plans to keep his pledge not to raise taxes, president-elect George Bush says, "Read my lips. No new taxes." Passenger jet crashes kill 514. Every modern industrial nation except the U.S. has a national health-care program. U.S. health care costs spiral out of control, accounting for more than 10% of the gross national product. Television evangelist Jimmy Swaggert admits to having sex with a prostitute. He is ordered to stay off TV for a year, but returns in three months. Ted Turner founds T.N.T., Turner Network Television. An earthquake kills more than 25,000 in the Soviet Union. Phillip Morris and Kraft merge. U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously that Hustler magazine's criticism of evangelist Jerry Falwell was within the rights protected by the First Amendment. The Consequences of American Economic Policy Under Reagan, by Benjamin Friedman, is published. The Satanic Verses, by novelist Salman Rushdie, is published. Speed-the-Plow, by playwright David Mamet, premiers on Broadway. Another Woman opens at movie theaters. The album Rattle and Hum is released by Irish rock group U2. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Oakland Athletics 4 games to 1 to win the World Series. U.S. athletes win 94 gold medals at the Olympic games in Seoul. Canadian Ben Johnson wins the 100-meter dash, but loses the gold medal for using steroids.
1989 Every Rose Has Its Thorn is a popular song. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that burning the American flag in public protests is a right protected by the First Amendment. Communist soldiers fire into a crowd of student protestors in Beijing, China's Tianamen Square, killing thousands. Leaders of the student movement for democracy are executed. The Supreme Court rules that a program requiring public works funds be set aside for minority-owned firms is unconstitutional, calling such programs "reverse discrimination.Ó Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, by novelist Allan Gurganas, is published. Surrealist painter Salvador Dali dies at age 84. ¥Nine passengers aboard a commercial airliner are sucked out over the Pacific Ocean when a cargo door is ripped off the jetliner. Driving Miss Daisy, starring Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman, premiers at movie theaters. City of Angels opens on Broadway. The largest oil spill in U.S. history occurs when the tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground off the coast of Alaska, spilling 240,000 barrels of oil. The captain of the tanker is fired for drinking on the job. Hurricane Hugo pounds the Carolinas, leaving thousands homeless. An earthquake in San Francisco kills more than 90 people, most of whom are crushed when the upper level of a highway collapses. Arab militants burn 2,000 acres of trees in a national park in Israel. The Oakland Athletics defeat the San Francisco Giants 4 games to 0 to win the World Series. Pete Rose is suspended from baseball for life for reportedly betting on baseball games. President Bush signs an act that bails out banks at the expense of taxpayers. Many elderly lose a life-time of savings that are never recovered. Buddy, starring Paul Hipp, as the legendary Buddy Holly, premiers at London's Palace Theatre. My Left Foot opens at movie theaters.
1990 Soviet citizens are given the right to own business enterprises. President Bush signs into law tax increases after being elected on a promise of no new taxes. The spiraling national debt created during the 1980s by the Reagan administration continues to massively increase. Iraq invades and seizes Kuwait. The world boycotts Iraqi oil. Passenger jet crashes kill 387. Manufactured by General Motors in Springhill, Tennessee, the Saturn automobile is introduced on the public market. Commercial Internet services begin. Rabbit at Rest, by novelist John Updike, is published. Ghost opens at movie theaters. The Simpsons, starring a cartoon family, opens on FOX TV. Buster Douglas knocks out Mike Tyson to become World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. The Reds defeat the A's 4 games to 0 to win the World Series. Evander Holyfield defeats Buster Douglas to become the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. A Cuban immigrant is charged with 87 counts of murder after a New York City social club is burned down, killing 87 people. The cost of housing a prisoner in the U.S. is more than a year's tuition at Yale. U.S. prisons house more than 1,225,000 inmates. Winds exceeding 100 miles per hour kill more than 140 on the coast of Britain. Earthquakes in Iran kill more than 50,000. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that a state can require a pregnant minor inform her parents before having an abortion. The FDA approves a contraceptive that is implanted beneath the skin and slowly releases a birth-control ingredient. Stores in Russia run out of bread, increasing the threat of famine.
1991 Iraqi missiles strike targets in Israel. Israel does not retaliate. The U.S. sends in surface-to-air missiles. Operated by U.S. servicemen, the missiles destroy airborne Iraqi missiles. Operation Desert Storm ends in less than five days, after more than a quarter million U.S., French, and British troops enter Iraq and defeat Iraqi troops. Saddam Hussein remains in power. Eastern and Pan Am Airlines cease operations. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that communities can prohibit nude dancing. The World Wide Web allows the exchange of images and messages through the Internet. The Substance of Fire opens on Broadway. Thelma and Louise premiers at movie theaters. The Twins defeat the Braves 4 games to 2 to win the World Series. A cyclone kills more than 150,000 in Bangladesh. More than 20,000 Americans are evacuated when a volcano erupts in the Philippines. Bread - 65 cents a loaf. Milk - $2.00 per gallon. Eggs - 90 cents a dozen. Ground beef - $1.49 per pound. Chicken - 69 cents per pound. World population is 5.5 billion, an increase of 2 billion in 20 years. U.S. population is 250 million. The population of Communist China is 1.2 billion. Welcome to the Jungle, by Guns N' Roses, is a popular song. No Children Here, a nonfictional account of life in a Chicago housing project by reporter Alex Kotlowitz, is published. Soviet troops seize a Russian television station, killing 15 and wounding more than 100.
1992 Incumbent George Bush is defeated by Democrat Bill Clinton in the presidential election. The Pentagon criticizes the Navy's inquiry into the Tailhook sexual harassment incident, charging that high-ranking Naval officers tried to cover up the facts about a convention of naval pilots at which more than 20 women, including 14 officers, while running a guantlet in the hall of a Las Vegas hotel, were surrounded by drunken male officers who sexually assaulted the women. Serbian troops in Bosnia open concentration camps and rape thousands of Muslem women as part of a military policy. More than 1,000 are killed during riots between Moslems and Hindus in India. From the beginning of the Reagan administration until the end of the Bush administration, the national debt increases from $725 million to more than $3 trillion. The U.S. is the only modern industrialized nation without a national health care system. More than 40 million Americans have no health insurance. Outerbridge Reach, by former Army officer and novelist Robert Stone, is published. Conversations With My Father opens on Broadway. Hero, starring Dustin Hoffman and Geena Davis, opens at movie theaters. Marlene Deietrich, 90, dies in France. Disneyland opens in Paris. U.S. athletes win 37 gold medals at the Olympics in Barcelona. The Toronto Blue Jays defeat the Atlanta Braves 4 games to 2 to win the World Series. Mafia leader John Gotti is convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Hurricane Andrew hits Miami, Florida, killing four and leaving more than 250,000 homeless. An estimated 5,000 are killed by earthquakes in Turkey.
1993 U.S. forces join UN troops in Bosnia to help stop Serbian aggression. ¥An earthquake in India kills an estimated 25,000. More than one million in Africa die of starvation. More than 2,000 children die of starvation each day. Increased by the closing of mental institutions and long-term health care facilities during the Reagan and Bush administrations, the number of homeless in the U.S. is estimated to be between three and five million. The Mississippi and the Missouri rivers flood, killing more than 50 and causing an estimated $8 billion in property damages. The Brady Bill requiring a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases is signed into law by President Clinton. During the next five years, background checks required as part of the bill will prevent seven known felons from purchasing handguns. Two new NFL teams, the Florida Marlins and the Colorado Rockies, begin their first season. The musical Kiss of the Spider Woman opens on Broadway. Audrey Hepburn, 63, dies of cancer. Jurassic Park, starring computer-enhanced dinosaurs, opens at movie theaters. A Perfect Ganesh opens off-Broadway. Lillian Gish, 99, dies. Streets of Laredo, by novelist Larry McMurty, is published. The pocket-size telephone craze begins in U.S. cities. Law-enforcement officers storm a fundamentalist-religious compound in Waco, Texas. The religious group's leader, David Koresh, plus more than 80 group members, including 24 children, are killed. Following the discovery of an Iraqi plot to kill President Bush on a visit to Kuwait, U.S. Navy ships hit Iraqi military quarters in Baghdad with cruise missiles.
1994 Voters reject democratic incumbents. Republicans gain control of Congress for the first time since the Eisenhower administration. Despite escalating human rights violations, President Clinton renews Communist China's most-favored-nation status. Dangerous conditions continue to exist in Chinese sweat shops that exploit women and children workers who are paid less than 80 cents per day. A fire in a toy factory in Bangkok kills 188 employees, 174 are women and children. Commercial airliner crashes kill 746. While in route to Stockholm on the Baltic Sea, a ferry carrying more than 1,000 passengers capsizes. Only 141 survivors are rescued. A railway under the English Channel, connecting France and England, opens. Poems 1968-1993, by Heather McHugh, is published. Broken Glass, by playwright Arthur Miller, opens on Broadway. Pulp Fiction, starring John Travolta and Samuel Jackson, opens at movie theaters. The musical Beauty and the Beast opens on Broadway. Kurt Cobain, singer-songwriter of the rock group Nirvana, recovers from a drug overdose and kills himself with a shotgun. Major league baseball players go on strike. The average player earns more than one million dollars per year. Many earn more than five million dollars per year. An agreement isn't reached. The World Series isn't played for the first time since 1904. ¥George Foreman, 45, knocks out Michael Moorer to become the oldest boxer to win the Heavyweight World boxing title or a world title in any weight division. Former professional running back O.J. Simpson is arrested following a high-speed chase and charged with killing his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman. An earthquake in Los Angeles kills more than 70, injures thousands, and leaves more than 25,000 homeless. The United Nations reports that the only way to avoid a global catastrophe caused by over population is to give women more choice in determining family size.
1995 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that programs which favor people on race are unconstitutional. President Clinton says, "Affirmative action has been good for America." Many corporations and universities vote to end preferential treatment of minorities. At the World Conference in Beijing, China, First Lady Hillary Clinton heads the U.S. delegation, despite complaints that Communist China has the most oppressive policies against women in the world. Chinese women aren't allowed to vote. Female infants are allowed to starve to death to provide room for male offsprings. Women and teenage girls are used as slave labor. O.J. Simpson is acquitted by a jury in California of killing his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman. A Jewish militant assassinates Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin following a peace rally in Tel Aviv. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that using race in determining Congressional districts is unconstitutional. The Dow Jones Industrial Average exceeds 5,000. After purchasing Lotus Development Corporation, a leading manufacturer of software, IBM challenges Microsoft for leadership in the computer software industry. Nuclear power plants produce 30 percent of Japan's electrical power. A train in India suddenly stops to avoid hitting a cow. A train coming from behind hits the first train, killing more than 300 people and injuring more than 400. President Clinton signs a law repealing the federally mandated 55-mile-per-hour speed limit. Microsoft introduces Windows 95. Fossils found in Spain indicate that humans were in Europe 800,000 years ago. The New Nationalism and the Fourth American Revolution, by nonfiction author Michael Lind, is published. Riding the Rap, by crime-fiction writer Elmore Leonard, is published. The Food Chain opens off-Broadway. Crumb opens at movie theaters. Grateful Dead guitarist and songwriter Jerry Garcia dies at age 53. A car bomb topples a nine-story building in Oklahoma City, killing 163. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are indicted for the crime. An earthquake in Japan kills more than 5,000, injures more than 20,000 and leaves more than 250,000 homeless. Prosecutors in Germany file three charges of murder and more than 5,000 charges of attempted murder against two executives who allegedly sold blood plasma contaminated with the AIDS virus. Let Her Cry, by the rock group Hootie and the Blowfish, is a popular song. A nerve-gas attack in a Tokyo subway kills 12 and injures more than 5,000. A 39-year-old quadriplegic dies of pneumonia after winning a court case allowing him to be removed from a ventilator then changing his mind.
1996 Jazz saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, who played with Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Dave Brubeck, dies at age 68. Things To Do When You're Dead opens at movie theaters. William Wilkinson, who scored the first touchdown in the first Orange Bowl, dies at age 82. A man with tuberculosis is removed from an Amtrac train. Officials say the search and testing of fellow passengers who might have been exposed could take months. The man dies several weeks later. The movie Pocahontas is released on video. A commercial jetliner crashes in Peru, killing all 123 aboard. Country comedy star Minnie Pearl dies at age 83. A federal appeals court rules for the first time in U.S. history that a terminally ill adult has the constitutional right to use a doctor's help in committing suicide. Tornadoes rip through Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, killing six and injuring dozens. Two-time leader of the National League in home runs, Bill Nicholson, dies at age 81. House Republicans fail to override Clinton's veto of a bill paying for environmental and Native American programs. Lawyers for Hillary Clinton release 116 pages of billing records as the Whitewater investigation continues. President Clinton visits U.S. soldiers in Bosnia. President Clinton names Army General Barry McGaffery as the new drug policy director. The Bosnian government arrests a Serb general and seven others in connection with war crimes. Bill Clinton is re-elected President, defeating Republican Bob Dole. Compaq and Packard Bell agree to drop lawsuits that accuse each other of selling used computers as new. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the government can seize property linked to crime, even if the owner is blameless. A computer consulting firm warns that consumers might have to spend $600 billion on their computers to prevent glitches that may occur in the year 2000.
1997 A Rwandon court sentences two men to death in the country's efforts to punish those responsible for the slaughter of 500,000 people in 1994. The two, one a former hospital aide, the other a former local administrator, will be hanged or executed by a firing squad for genocide, rape, and crimes against humanity. Billionaire Harry Helmsey, husband of Leona Helmsey, dies at age 87. President Clinton bestows the Presidential Medal of Freedom on his defeated campaign opponent, Bob Dole. Three-time All-Star and seven-time Gold Glove winner Curt Flood dies at age 59. The former major-league outfielder sued Major League baseball in 1970 to overturn a provision that bound players to their team for the length of their contracts. Divers searching for sunken treasure discover a World War II bomb off the coast of Vero Beach, Florida. Bungee jumper dies while practicing for the Super Bowl half-time show when she falls more than 100 feet, crashing head first on the Superdome floor. A Florida judge rules that a man in the final stage of AIDS has the right to commit suicide with the help of a doctor. Jazz guitarist Zachary Breaux dies while trying to rescue a drowning victim. Earthquake in Iran kills more than 3,000. ¥Train wreck in Pakistan kills more than 120. More than 400 passengers are injured. The American Red Cross celebrates its 80th anniversary. ¥Six U.S. Senators who fought in the Vietnam War gather to mark the 15th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington, D.C. The six include Chuck Hagel, John Kerry, Max Cleveland, Chuck Robb, and John McCain. The black granite memorial bears the names of 58,196 dead and missing. Trucking empire founder James Ryder dies at age 83. A speaker at Ryder's eulogy says, "He was a business legend who makes today's CEOs look like over-educated, bean-counting automatons who take themselves way too seriously to have any real fun." Six handcuffed and shackled prisoners die when a van transporting them along a Tennessee highway explodes, burning them to death. Poet Allen Ginsberg dies at age 70. A jury orders ABC to pay $5.5 million for sending two reporters undercover with hidden cameras for a story accusing a supermarket chain of selling spoiled meat. The jury rules that ABC committed trespassing and fraud. A jury fines O.J. Simpson $25 million in punitive damages for the slaying of his ex-wife and her friend. The judgement is in addition to $8.5 million in compensatory damages awarded by the jury.
1998 Accepting the Golden Globe Award for best actor for his performance in Boogie Nights, Burt Reynolds says, "Please remember, if you hang on to things long enough, they get back in style, like me." "Don't eat turkey. It's cruel!" says pop singer Fiona Apple. The rock group ZZ Top begins a U.S. tour. The Big Lebowski, starring Jeff Bridges, opens at movie theaters. Japan's economy faces one of the worst economic struggles since World War II. Linda McCartney, wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney, dies of cancer in California. Frank Sinatra dies at age 82. Linwood Dunn, the creator of the special effects of the original King Kong, dies at age 94. The renowned cartoon character Bugs Bunny celebrates his 75th birthday. Elmer Fudd turns 75 also. Sgt. Mitch Wright, who was declared functionally blind by Air Force doctors after being injured during a terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia, has his retirement pension reduced by the Department of Veteran Affairs. Although Wright cannot see well enough to drive or read, the VA reduces his disability pension from 100 percent to 60 percent. The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to reinstate a $452,000 award won, then lost, by a woman who was sexually assaulted by a central Florida policeman. The court rejects the woman's argument that the city should be held responsible for the officer's actions. The third annual awards for "Cellular Samaritans" are given to citizens who use their cell phones to help get drunk drivers off the road. Quarterback Stan Humphries retires from the San Diego Chargers. Every Day Is a Winding Road, by Sheryl Crow, is a popular song. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Domino's Pizza should be held responsible for the sexual harassment received by a male employee from a female supervisor. Domino's is ordered to pay $237,000 to the male employee. An ancient Buddhist healing cloth, known as The Mandala of the Soul of the Universe, is exhibited at a Unitarian Church in Miami, Florida. The cloth is thought to be more than 1,500 years old. Hugh Thompson Jr. and Lawrence Coburn are given the Soldier's Medal for landing their helicopter in the line of fire of Viet Cong who were killing Vietnamese civilians in the village of My Lai in 1968. A federal judge orders Iran to pay $248 million to the family of an American killed in a suicide bombing in Gaza in 1995. The ruling was the first under a new law allowing Americans to sue nations thought to support terrorism for damages caused by such attacks. The victim's family is unlikely to collect anytime soon.
1999 Stuart Little, starring a cartoon mouse with the voice of Michael J. Fox, opens at theaters. President Clinton proposes $690 million in housing vouchers to help families make the transition from welfare to work. President Clinton supports Pete Rose in his quest for reinstatement to Major League Baseball. U.S. and Cuba battle for the custody of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez, a Cuban boy whose mother drowned when a boat carrying illegal refugees capsized on the way to Florida. Hospital executives announce a nation-wide campaign to reduce mistakes made by doctors, such as putting a "XÓ on the spot where a surgeon is supposed to cut. U.S. Navy ends live-fire exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. Seattle, Washington police haul off more than 300 demonstrators against the World Trade Organization. The protestors were blocking streets and forcing stores to close. President Clinton signs a $390 billion budget. President Clinton admits his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Kathleen Willie, who accused President Clinton of groping her in the White House, marries a Florida businessman. The number of civilian casualties caused by the military crackdown in Chechnya continues to increase. Earthquake in Turkey kills thousands. A tornado hits Nashville, Tennessee, leaving a path of destruction. Moslem leaders accuse Israel of using poison gas on Palestinians. Music executives label Hong Kong the center of $5 billion piracy ring. Hong Kong authorities call the charges "unfair and simplistic." Whoopi Goldberg hosts the Academy Awards, replacing Billy Crystal. Mighty Joe Young, a remake of the 1949 film about an oversized gorilla, opens at movie theaters. Billy Joel begins what he calls "my final tour." Except for the rock band The Goo Goo Dolls, all the nominees for the Grammy Record and Album of the Year are women.
2000 OPEC raises oil production two percent to decrease gasoline prices. Republican leaders say they will negotiate but not capitulate to President Clinton's end-of-the-session budget proposals. Chinese promoters stage a cricket fight in Beijing. Thousands bet on the event. Matches, held inside an eight-inch wide container, end when one contestant tries to hop away or gets pinned by the competitor. National and state polls in October indicate that bush is favored by 47 percent of the voters, Gore by 46 percent, Nader by 4 percent and Buchanan by 1 percent. Undecided, 2 percent. Canadians charge Italian athletes with using drugs to increase their physical performance at the Olympic games in Sydney, Australia. No Italians fail drug tests. The New York Yankees win their third straight World Series title by defeating the New York Mets 4 games to 2. More than 150 are killed in clashes between Jews and Palestinians in Israel. The international community accuses Israel of using excessive force. Wind-swept fires destroy 10 apartment buildings in South Boston, sending more than 100 people into the street. The Supreme Court rejects a claim by a high school student that his First Amendment rights were violated when school officials suspended him for displaying a 4-inch by 4-inch Confederate flag during a Civil War reenactment. Commenting on popular music, Bono of Irish supergroup U2 says, ÒPop music nowadays is dominated by too many bubblegum bands and pretty young things. Gone are the days when the Beatles and the Rolling Stones ruled the hit parades of the world. People are sick to the teeth of processed and hyped pop bands. They want something real again." In an attack on the USS Cole, two suicide bombers kill 17 U.S. sailors and injure 39. One bomber is identified as Egyptian. Members of a Muslim militant group called Islamic Jihad are detained in connection with the bombing. Several groups go by the name Islamic Jihad, one Egyptian group and one Palestinian group. Detainees include Yemenis, Egyptians, and Arabs. The 17 sailors killed by the attack are honored by a standing ovation at the 4th game of the World Series at New York's Shea Stadium. The Persuasians, a black vocal-harmony group, produce an album of Grateful Dead songs. The 20th century ends at the last stroke of midnight on December 31.
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