Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
President Woodrow Wilson enters US into WWI. The US mobilizes 4.7 million troops, and suffers
around 110,000 of the war's nine million military deaths.
1919
The temperance movement champions the 18th amendment, which bans alcohol. Prohibition is
unsuccessful, leading to bootlegging and organized crime. The amendment is repealed in 1933.
1920s
Spurred by massive African American migration to northern cities, the Harlem Renaissance in-
spires an intellectual flowering of literature, art and music.
1933-38
Roosevelt's New Deal establishes federal programs and legislation including Social Security, the
Fair Labor Standards Act and the Civilian Conservation Corps to provide unemployment relief.
1941-45
WWII: America deploys 16 million troops and suffers 400,000 deaths. (Overall, civilian deaths
outpace military deaths two to one, and total 50 to 70 million people from over 50 countries.)
1948-51
The US-led Marshall Plan funnels $12 billion in material and financial aid to help Europe recover
from WWII. The plan also aims to contain Soviet influence and reignite America's economy.
1954
The Supreme Court rules that segregation in public schools is 'inherently unequal' and orders
desegregation 'with all deliberate speed.' The fight to integrate schools spurs the civil rights
movement.
1963
On November 22, President John F Kennedy is publicly assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald
while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas.
1964
Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, outlawing discrimination on basis of race, color, religion,
sex or national origin. First proposed by Kennedy, it was one of President Johnson's crowning
achievements.
1965-75
