Page 62 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

60  USA A T A GLANCE

during World War II, gained renewed
importance. The Cold War also encouraged
alliances with other nations. America’s
powerful influence, and investment
overseas was seen as a way to bind other
nations to the capitalist sphere. The
Marshall Plan of 1948 provided $13 billion
to aid reconstruction of postwar western
Europe and reduce Communist influence.
The battleships USS West Virginia and Tennessee burning after the Economic and social developments were
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor often overshadowed by the specter of
nuclear war. The Korean War (1950–53) was
The Cold War the first of many fought to stop the spread
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 of Communism. Fear on the domestic front
and the subsequent US entry into World War inspired years of anti-Communist “Witch
II marked the beginning of America’s new Trials,” such as those conducted by Senator
role in international politics. With the onset Joseph McCarthy. Cold War fears also led to
of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the numerous military operations around the
numerous US military bases, established world, including the CIA-led coup in
Guatemala in 1954, an ill-fated invasion
KEY DATES IN HISTORY of Cuba in 1961, the Cuban Missile Crisis
in 1962, and the Vietnam War of the 1960s
Dec 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
and 1970s, the longest and most costly
1945 The UN established in San Francisco
of attempts to contain the perceived
Aug 14, 1945 After US bombing of Hiroshima and Communist threat.
Nagasaki, Japan surrenders, ending WW II
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in
1961 Alan Shepard is the first American in outer space;
the Soviets erect the Berlin Wall 1979 revived the Cold War for another
1962 Naval blockade against Soviet missile bases decade, but with the collapse of the
in Cuba Soviet Union in 1991, the United States
1963 Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Dallas became the world’s only superpower.
1968 Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated
Postwar Prosperity
1969 Neil Armstrong walks on the moon
1974 Richard Nixon resigns after Watergate Unlike much of the rest of the world, this
1989 Fall of Berlin Wall; end of Cold War was one of the most prosperous periods
in US history. The economy, stimulated by
1990–91 The Gulf War
mobilization of industry during World War II,
Sept 11, 2001 Terrorist attacks on New York City &
Washington, DC and the arms race with the Soviet Union
2003 Space shuttle Columbia explodes, killing all were key factors in creating unprecedented
on board affluence. As manufacturing switched to a
2003 George W. Bush declares war on Iraq peacetime mode, consumer durables flowed
2005 Hurricane Katrina wreaks havoc in New Orleans into the marketplace. America’s position at
and other cities of Louisiana and Mississippi, displacing
more than 500,000 people the hub of the international trading system
gave her access to crucial foreign markets.
2008 Banking collapse triggers recession
Home ownership was brought within
2012 Barack Obama is re-elected to a second term as
president of the United States reach of middle-class Americans, thanks to
2014 One World Trade Center opens in Manhattan, government supports and mass-production
New York City, at the site of the 2001 terrorist attack construction techniques. Most adults owned
2015 Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage a car, and consumer products, such as
2015 Pope Francis visits the US refrigerators, washers, dryers, and dish-
washers, multiplied within the home.

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