76. In response to the creation of NATO, the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact in 1955, a defense agreement between Eastern Bloc nations and the Soviet Union (USSR.)

77. During the Korean War, the United States (and UN forces) protected South Korea from the aggressive invasions of North Korea and China. The war ended in a stalemate; General Douglas MacArthur had to be removed from command for publicly disagreeing with President Truman and encouraging the escalation of the war.

78. During the Cuban Missile Crisis President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev took the world to the brink of nuclear war, but eventually negotiated an agreement to remove missiles from Cuba.

79. The policy of containment was used by the United States during the Cold War to stop the spread of Communism: whether it be in a single city – like Berlin – or an entire continent – like Europe.

The Berlin Airlift

The Truman Doctrine

80. The domino theory was the belief that if one nation in a region fell to communism, that all nations nearby would also be threatened by communism. It was a major reason for US involvement in the Vietnam War. President Lyndon Johnson asked for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and escalated the war in 1964 to stop the spread of communism.

81. The Vietnam War ended when Americans agreed to a cease fire with the North Vietnamese and withdrew in 1975. Vietnam was unified under one communist government; Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of their former leader.

82. The Cold War ended in the late 1980s and early 1990s; the United States prevailed and the USSR collapsed. Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev met with

President Ronald Reagan repeatedly to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles.

Eastern European nations were allowed self government – the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989.

Germany reunified in 1990 as a capitalist, democratic nation.

Finally, the Soviet Union itself collapsed in 1991, ending the Cold War altogether.

83. In the case of Brown V. Board of Education, Topeka, KS, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was illegal in the United States and that integration must take place with all deliberate speed. The ruling overturned the Plessy V. Ferguson case of 1896.

84. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed in non-violence and civil disobedience. He encouraged passive resistance against unjust segregation laws.

85. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus, starting the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955.

86. The Freedom Riders challenged the bus segregation laws on the interstates in 1961 – riding from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans, LA and encountering much violence and danger along the way.

87. The Interstate Highway System was created by President Dwight David Eisenhower during the 1950s to improve the nation’s defense and to encourage easier transportation and trade.

88. Sit-in movements took place in order to demand the integration of lunch counters across the Deep South.

89. Marches to end segregation in Southern cities like or to demand the right to register to vote often ended in violent crackdowns, as in Birmingham, AL below.

90. The NAACP had been founded in 1909 by W.E.B. Dubois and others in order to protest against discrimination, segregation, and racial violence directed at African Americans. The group sponsored dozens of legal challenges against segregation, including Brown V. Board of Education, Topeka, KS, arguing that the 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship rights and “equal protection under the law.”

W.E.B DuBois, Founder of NAACP

Thurgood Marshall, lead lawyer of NAACP

91. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended discrimination based on race, sex, or religion. African-Americans, other minority groups, and women all benefited from the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

92. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 guaranteed that African-American men and women could register to vote by removing all racist barriers to gaining the franchise.

93. Despite laws like the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, women continued to receive less pay than men for the same work, and women were still denied promotions or job opportunities.

94. Bill Gates revolutionized the technology industry by developing the personal computer and the software to make office work easier.

95. Henry Louis Gates is a leading African-American historian who brought a new perspective to history by discussing the alternative perspectives of Americans of color.

96. Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect who changed the way building were created and expanded the possibilities for architectural design during the 20th Century.

97. Martha Graham was a dancer and choreographer who is considered the greatest contributor to modern dance in American history; her passion for her art was apparent on stage.

98. Ray Kroc turned McDonald’s restaurant into a national franchise by using the same ingredients and methods to produce hamburgers, french fries, and milkshakes the same way, in every city across the nation.

99. Dr. Charles Drew was a groundbreaking surgeon and pioneer of the blood banking system which stores blood and blood plasma to save lives in hospitals across the United States.

100. Maya Angelou is an African-American author and poet who produced volumes of literature during the late 20th and early 21st Century. She is still considered a literary icon today.

101. Richard M. Nixon was forced to resign as President of the United States because of the Watergate Scandal. He had ordered burglars to break into a Washington, D.C. hotel room to steal secrets from the Democratic National Committee – then lied about it before Congress.