Moments which changed the world

The surrender of Japan marks the end of World War II amid one of the most tumultuous years of the 20th century. Though the surrender of Japan was inevitable, the prospect of a horrific Allied assault on the Japanese mainland convinces the United States to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The atomic bomb attacks, along with the entry of the Soviet Union in the war against Japan, compel the Japanese to surrender.

More American babies are born — 3. The number of births grows to 4 million per year from to , the last year of the baby boomer generation, the biggest generation at that point in history. The sun sets on the British Empire in India in , as the Asian nation becomes the world's largest democracy.

Independence is the culmination of decades of work by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Indian nationalists committed to throwing off the yoke of British colonialism. The transition to independence comes at a price. The subcontinent is partitioned into two nations, Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. It is estimated that 1 million people die during the migration.

With the Cold War worsening, the Soviet Union detonates its first nuclear bomb and quickly exerts its influence over Eastern Europe.

To respond to the Soviet threat, U. Three years later, a ceasefire would halt the war. The uneasy relations between North Korea and South Korea last to this day.

Husband and wife Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of espionage for their part in passing along atomic secrets to the Soviet Union during and after World War II. They are executed two years later. Not everyone is convinced of their involvement in the scheme.

Supporters claim they are scapegoats swept up in the Cold War hysteria of the time. Documents revealed decades later would show the detailed extent of Julius Rosenberg's involvement in the spy ring, though Ethel's participation in the scheme remains inconclusive. The United States successfully detonates its first hydrogen bomb, a second generation thermonuclear device, in the Marshall Islands as part of Operation Ivy, one of a series of nuclear bomb tests.

From to , the United States used the remote Pacific Marshall Islands as its nuclear weapons testing site, detonating a total of 67 nuclear tests. Cambridge University scientists James Watson and Francis Crick announce they have discovered the fundamental behavior and double-helix structure of DNA.

Though scientists had been aware of DNA since the s and its role in genetic inheritance since , Watson and Crick were the first to explain how DNA works to replicate itself and pass on genes from one generation to the next. In a landmark case involving Linda Brown of Topeka, Kansas, who had to cross a railroad track to reach an all-black elementary school even though an all-white school was closer, the U.

Supreme Court rules that the segregated school system was unconstitutional on the basis of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The clause would be used again by the courts to reverse state-level racial segregation practices and ordinances. Rosa Parks makes history by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus.

Cold War tensions escalate when Hungarians take to the streets, demanding democratic reforms. Three days later, Red Army troops invade Hungary, killing thousands. Nine days after the incursion, Budapest is occupied by the Soviet troops in one of the largest and most aggressive actions taken by the Soviet Union since the end of World War II.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower orders federal troops to protect nine African American high school students as they start classes at the all-white Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas.

This would become one of the first high-profile actions by the federal government against state-level racial segregation. The United States successfully launches Explorer 1, three months after the Soviet Union sent its first satellite, Sputnik, into orbit. The two superpowers would go on to send more satellites into space, creating a Cold War space race to build ever more sophisticated orbital communications devices.

When four African American college students — Ezell A. Blair, Franklin E. McCain, Joseph A. McNeil and David L. The young men refuse to leave, leading to a larger six-month protest that results in the desegregation of the lunch counter by that summer. By the late summer of , the loss of skilled workers such as teachers, engineers, and doctors to the West reaches crisis levels in East Germany. On Aug. The next day, with the approval of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, East Germany builds a wall that would extend 27 miles through Berlin, dividing families and friends for the next 28 years.

The wall would serve as an enduring symbol of the Cold War, used by presidents John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan to inspire a divided city. When the United States learns that the Soviet Union is building nuclear missile installations 90 miles south of Miami in communist Cuba, the Kennedy administration starts a naval blockade around the island, which is at times tested, and Kennedy demands the removal of the missiles. The standoff is widely considered to be the closest the two nuclear superpowers come to direct military confrontation.

Cooler heads prevail. The Soviet Union offers to remove the missiles in exchange for a guarantee that the United States will not invade Cuba. In secret, the administration also agrees to withdraw U.

As President John F. Kennedy prepares for his re-election bid, he embarks on a multi-state tour starting in September Oswald himself is murdered two days later by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. Johnson struggles constantly to pivot away from the war to focus on his stated goals of reducing poverty, ending segregation, and establishing the social programs many Americans rely on to this day, including the immensely popular Medicare program. As the activists cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge, police attack the protesters with tear gas and billy clubs, hospitalizing Lewis would pass away in July , his body crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge for the last time in a horse-drawn carriage.

At the end of a weeklong session of the Communist Party Central Committee of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao Zedong condemns the political elites, calling on China's youth to rebel against the entrenched political hierarchy. It is the beginning of the decade-long Cultural Revolution that fundamentally transforms Chinese society. Intellectuals, members of the former Nationalist government, and people with ties to Western powers are persecuted, sent to re-education labor camps, or killed by the factions of Red Guards formed in the wake of Mao's call to action.

Amid escalating tensions with its neighbors, Israel launches a pre-emptive strike that destroys most of Egypt's air force. Syria, Jordan, and Iraq also attack Israel. A ceasefire went into effect on June Martin Luther King, Jr. King's influence in words and actions touch and move not only the nation, but the world, and resonate to this day.

Two months later, on June 4, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy and brother of John F. Kennedy, is fatally shot by Sirhan Sirhan, an Arab Christian from Jerusalem, who believes Kennedy is "instrumental" in oppressing Palestinians. After three days of travel, Armstrong and Aldrin land the Eagle module on the lunar surface as Collins remains in lunar orbit to pilot the module. Upon their return to Earth, the three astronauts are put in day quarantine to ensure they do not bring back any lunar contagions.

Although the United States should be scaling back U. The Cambodian incursion inflames anti-war protests in the United States as it is perceived to be an escalation of U.

The wave hit Indonesia with little advance warning, wiping out entire communities and killing an estimated , people. Television news stations broadcast jaw-dropping images of the disaster and its aftermath, interspersed with graphics and commentary that explained the "how" of the disaster to viewers across the globe [source: Bolton Council of Mosques ].

And those viewers responded. Within days, scores of charities and aid groups were flooded with donations and offers of help. Highly advertised fundraisers and celebrity telethon events made people aware of both the disaster and the generous donations to its victims. Without live international broadcasts and widespread viewership of cable news programming, it's possible that word of the tsunami's devastating effects would have taken much longer to reach across the world, slowing the aid response.

Television may receive a bad rap for promoting a sedentary lifestyle and exposing people to violent or misleading images, but it can also be a powerful instigator for positive change [source: DoSomething. Many Americans kept up on news from the front lines of World War II through government-mediated film-reel news updates that played in movie theaters during the war.

Two decades later, when America went to war in Vietnam, the new technologies of color TV and mobile news broadcasting painted a very different picture -- one that had a major influence on the nation's sentiment about the war.

TV news crews in Vietnam were equipped with relatively portable TV cameras that allowed them to go to war with the troops. For the first time, reporters could "embed" with American soldiers and quickly share their front-line experiences with the rest of the world. American viewers saw firsthand the frustration, danger and destruction their loved ones had to face in the jungles of Southeast Asia. As a result, American attitudes toward the war shifted. Many protested, and the unflinching broadcasts fanned a massive antiwar movement across the country.

After Vietnam, the U. While broadcasters lost the ability to send their news crews into the field with the freedom they had had in Vietnam, military media officials understood that American viewers would not allow a return to the propaganda and limited news of earlier wars. The striking of this balance continues today, as reporters embed with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan [sources: Kahn and Mair ].

There may be few -- if any -- TV moments that fired the world's imagination like the televised broadcast the night of July 20, , when astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Ed "Buzz" Aldrin landed on the moon. For the first time in history, humans set foot on another celestial body. NASA pilots and astronauts, and their counterparts in the USSR, had already accomplished a number of feats: breaking the sound barrier, flying into space and performing work in orbit.

But the lunar landing was one of the most significant undertakings in the space race, and NASA wanted to make sure that the event was broadcast to as wide an audience as possible. The effect was striking. An entire generation of Americans -- the Baby Boomers -- marked the late-night broadcast as a pivotal moment in their childhoods. If America could put a man on the moon, they reasoned, anything would be possible.

That optimism has marked that generation for decades, and it stands as living proof of the power of the live broadcast.

Reality TV programs are an extremely popular segment of modern TV broadcasting. But in the late s, the concept of TV with no scripts, no "real" actors and no plot beyond a general theme was a foreign idea. Barbour-Langley Productions, a TV production company that focused on nonfiction programming, was looking for an opportunity to expand off its successful series of crime- and police-themed documentaries.

In , Fox Broadcasting bought into the production company's concept for a new kind of show: one that would follow real police as they patrolled their communities and fought crime. The show focused on the more dramatic aspects of police work, like car chases , violent arrests and offbeat characters.

Shaky, handheld camera work, intense situations and impromptu interviews in which the subjects reflected on the incidents made "COPS" an addictive hit that, as of April , has filmed more than 2, episodes. More significantly, the reality formula inspired a new genre of television, and critics and supporters alike admit that reality programming has changed the face of modern TV. Elizabeth Fenn is department chair and associate professor of history at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The Americans With Disabilities Act formally recognized the fact that people who are disabled, physically as well as mentally, are part of society. Toward the end of the 20th century, the United States came face to face with the fact these people cannot simply be ignored. This is a very personal observation, because we have a daughter who was born with some brain damage. In the midterm elections, Republicans—led by Newt Gingrich—took control of Congress for the first time since Their victory opened up the Republican Party to more conservative elements, and shaped the generations of Republicans who have dominated Capitol Hill since that time, even during the period of Democratic control.

But the outcome of that election was not just important in terms of who controlled the majority of Congress, but also because it launched an era when conservatism would make the legislative branch, rather than the White House, the base of their power. Through legislative control and partisan tactics that had once been considered impermissible, the post congressional Republicans made it much more difficult for liberal ideas to succeed in the United States.

Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, is the author and editor of numerous books on American political history.

History 25 Moments That Changed America. The Great Migration Begins The Prophet Is Published Sept. Thomas Dorsey Invents the Gospel Blues Harry Hopkins Starts Work May 22, By Linda Gordon About two months after he took office, Franklin Roosevelt appointed a former social worker to head an emergency program of aid to the unemployed.

Truman Replaces Wallace July 21, By Richard Stewart The signing of the North Atlantic Treaty meant that, after intervening twice in the previous 32 years to restore peace in Europe, the U.

Barbara Johns Walks Out April 23, By Clayborne Carson On April 23, , sixteen-year-old Barbara Johns led a walkout by four hundred black students to protest inadequate facilities at segregated Robert R.

Emmett Till Is Murdered Aug. By Annette Gordon-Reed The birth control pill was one of the most significant achievements of the 20th century. The Children March in Birmingham May 2, Ronald Reagan Speaks to Conservatives Oct. Alcatraz Is Occupied Nov. By Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz While organizing for self-determination within Native Americans communities and nations had proceeded throughout the s, few in the general public were aware until the November seizure and month occupation of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.

Affirmative Action Goes Unchallenged Oct. By Khalil Gibran Muhammad For much of the 20th century, unions, private employers and government agencies affirmatively discriminated based on race—until, through workplace protests, public demonstrations and political negotiation, African Americans compelled Congress and President Richard Nixon to adopt affirmative action policies. California Passes Proposition 13 June 6, By Lizabeth Cohen In June of the voters of California overwhelmingly passed Proposition 13, limiting local property taxes and making it harder for communities to raise them in the future.

By Tony Horwitz The takeover of the U. The Pneumocystis Pneumonia Report June 5, By Elizabeth Fenn June 5, By Akira Iriye The Americans With Disabilities Act formally recognized the fact that people who are disabled, physically as well as mentally, are part of society.

By Julian Zelizer In the midterm elections, Republicans—led by Newt Gingrich—took control of Congress for the first time since Related Stories. Already a print subscriber? Go here to link your subscription. Need help? Visit our Help Center. Unlike Jesus, Mohammed was very influential during his lifetime and Islam spread quickly throughout the Middle East and all the way to Spain in its early days. It was discovered in China when alchemists were trying to create an elixir of life, but instead created one of the deadliest substances on earth.

After that, it would become the basis for rifles, cannons, and grenades around the world. A ruler who imposed no religious obligations on his subjects and let free trade thrive, Ghengis Khan reigned over the entirety of the Silk Road which people used to transport not just goods like spices and animals but also ideas and even diseases, like the Black Death.

Still, he is responsible for connecting the world in a way that no one else had yet accomplished. The plague is important not just for the effect it had on the population, but because of the religious, social, and economic upheavals it brought with it.

It was seen as a punishment from God, but monks and priests fled infested areas instead of staying to deliver last rites. Sometimes it was blamed on specific groups of people, leading to genocidal rampages in cities with immigrant populations. While this might not sound like a big deal, it touched off a massive landslide of literature and art in which humans would value their own views on history, the world, religion, and nature as well as a rediscovery of and appreciation for ancient texts many of which has been destroyed during wars but saved by Muslims who stored them away for centuries.

The Age of Exploration touched off the colonization of North and South America and sub-Saharan Africa, leading to the infamous slave trade. While moveable type had been invented in China in and in Korea in , the press itself allowed for books to be created quickly and uniformly. The first mass-produced book? The Gutenberg Bible in Now Christians could read scripture themselves instead of depending on a priest to interpret it.

Of course, any empire that falls marks a turning point in world affairs, but this gave new life and power to a large swath of the world covering southeastern Europe, southwest Asia, the Middle East, and northern Africa. When the Turks defeated this Empire is was a major defeat of Christianity and a triumph for Islam. The resulting schism would result in various sects of Christianity separating themselves from the Catholic Church for the first time. The Virginia Company of England was the first to set sail to the land eventually named Virginia in honor of Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen and the settlers eventually grew enough tobacco in Jamestown to make it a successful colony for England.

There is so much to unpack about the importance of this episode, which marked the real start of the colonization of what is now America, but not before genocide, slavery, starvation, and violence preceded it.

In he published The Starry Messenger which put him on a path to clash with the Catholic Church over whether or not the Earth was at the center of the universe. The mass production of British iron and the harnessing of steam power were the main thrusts behind the revolution and the economic impact of machinery was staggering.

For the first time, the population began to increase consistently as factories opened, jobs became available, and people could afford to sustain a family. Of course, this also brought long hours, hard labor, and overwork — hallmarks of our daily life in a capitalist society. Fed up with high British taxes on tea brought to America, the colonists dumped entire shiploads of the stuff into the Boston harbor to show the British king that the colonies would not stand for taxation without appropriate representation in the British government.

While it would be another 2 years before the revolution would start with the battles of Lexington and Concord and 3 years before the Declaration of Independence, this event is often seen as a tipping point towards American independence. The Bastille was a fortress used by French kings to imprison political prisoners and the common people saw it as a symbol of an oppressive monarchy. Despite support, it would be a long time before women would gain the right to vote.

In fact, in Susan B. Anthony would be arrested while trying to vote in a presidential election. New Zealand was the first country to grant suffrage the right to vote to its women in and the U.

But Australia, Finland, and part of the Russian Empire would all grant suffrage to women before the 19th Amendment was finally added to the U. Constitution in Up until that point, more soldiers tended to die from infections than from battle wounds. WWII was the first war that allowed those infections to be treated successfully, thanks to penicillin.

Sadly, our abuse of antibiotics has led to even worse infections that are resistant to modern interventions. The Jewish population has never recovered from the Holocaust.