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Constitution of the United States of America (1787)

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Constitution of the United States of America (1787)

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With the war won, independence secured, and the Articles of Confederation proving inadequate, the Founding Fathers laid down the law by which the new country would be governed in the elegantly crafted Constitution, which, depending upon one’s perspective, was meant to either evolve to meet changing circumstances or to be strictly interpreted to adhere to the Founders’ “original intent.”

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In July 1863, the year of the Emancipation Proclamation, in the small Pennsylvania crossroads town of Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee’s invading Army of Northern Virginia sustained a defeat so devastating that it sealed the fate of the Confederacy and its “peculiar institution.” Within two years the war was over, and before the end of the decade the South was temporarily transformed by Reconstruction.

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The wealth-concentrating practices of the “robber barons” who oversaw the burst of industrial activity and corporate growth during the Gilded Age of the late 19th century was countered by the rise of organized labor led by the Knights of Labor. However, when a protest meeting related to one of the nearly 1,600 strikes conducted during 1886 was disrupted by the explosion of a bomb that killed seven policeman at the Haymarket Riot, many people blamed the violence on organized labor, which went into decline until the turn of the century.

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A group of revolutionaries in southern China led a successful revolt against the Qing Dynasty, establishing in its place the Republic of China and ending the imperial system.

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The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945)

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The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945)

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Having again stayed out of the initial stages of another worldwide conflict, the U.S. entered World War II on the side of the Allies following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941). In August 1945, with the war in Europe over and U.S. forces advancing on Japan, U.S. Pres. Harry S. Truman ushered in the nuclear era by choosing to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in the hope that the terrible destruction unleashed would prevent an even greater loss of life that seemed likely with a protracted island-by-island invasion of Japan.

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The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.

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March 1946 Winston Churchhill's "Iron Curtain" speech

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March 1946 Winston Churchhill's "Iron Curtain" speech

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Mr.Churchhill stressed the necessity for the United States and Britain to act as the guardians of peace and stability against the menace of Soviet communism. The title of his speech was “The Sinews of Peace," but its primary message was that the United States and Great Britain needed to confront an increasingly aggressive Soviet Union.

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The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, was a U.S. program providing aid to Western Europe following the devastation of World War II. It was enacted in 1948 and provided more than $15 billion to help finance rebuilding efforts on the continent.

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The crisis began on June 24, 1948, when Soviet forces sieged rail, road, and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin. The USA and UK retaliated by airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from Allied airbases in the west of Germany.

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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. NATO was the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere.

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Korean War, fight between North Korea and (South Korea in which at least 2+ million persons died. The conflict got as far to international proportions in June 1950 when North Korea, supplied and advised by the Soviet Union, invaded the South.

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In this milestone decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. It signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the separate but equal principle set forth in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case.

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The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half of the dead were Vietnamese civilians.

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The Suez Crisis was a global disaster in the Middle East that occured on July 26, 1956 when the Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, took control of the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal Company held possession of the Canal, which was controlled by French and British interests.

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The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a civil rights protest during which African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating. The boycott took place from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, and is regarded as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation.

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Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) 1957- 

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Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) 1957- 

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The SCLC is a civil rights organization founded in 1957, as an offshoot of the Montgomery Improvement Association, which successfully staged a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery Alabama's segregated bus system.

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Sputnik 1 launched and set foot in Earth's orbit. Thus, began the space era. The victorious launch shocked the globe, giving the former Soviet Union the idea of putting the first human-made object into space. The word 'Sputnik' originally meant 'fellow traveler,' but has become synonymous with 'satellite' in modern Russian

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Freedom Riders were groups of white and African American civil rights activists who participated in Freedom Rides, bus trips through the American South in 1961 to protest segregated bus terminals. Freedom Riders tried to use “whites-only” restrooms and lunch counters at bus stations in Alabama, South Carolina and other Southern states.

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During the evening of August 12-13, 1961, Eastern German soldiers put down 30 miles of barbed wire barrier through the soul of Berlin. The people were not allowed to pass through Western Berlin, and the number of inspections in which Westerners could cross the border was drastically reduced.

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The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. The crisis was unique in a number of ways, featuring calculations and miscalculations as well as direct and secret communications and miscommunications between the two sides.

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1962 Creation of the United Farm Workers (UFW)

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1962 Creation of the United Farm Workers (UFW)

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The UFW stands for the United Farm Workers. The National Farm Workers Association, U.S. labour union founded in 1962 as the National Farm Workers Association by the labour leaders and activists Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. This started during World War II as a program to provide Mexican agricultural workers to growers

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Publication of the Feminine Mystique 1963 February 19, 1963

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Publication of the Feminine Mystique 1963 February 19, 1963

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The Feminine Mystique was published in 1963 and was an immediate success. It is a feminist text that questions societal views of the 1950s and 60s on women and femininity. The book is still relevant in modern society as women continue to struggle against pressures to conform to the social definition of femininity and as they fight to be treated with respect.

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March on Washington 1963  August 28, 1963

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March on Washington 1963  August 28, 1963

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The March on Washington was a major  march that happened on August 1963, when 200,000+ people stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial in DC. The purpose was to bring awareness to the (at the time) troubles and unfairness.

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During the JFK tragedy after investigations we found that the man that killed him was named Lee Harvey Oswald. Lee was then shot by a club owner named Jack Ruby.

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The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which concluded segregation in public locations and prohibited employment discrimination on the assumption of race, color, religion, sex or nationality, and is regarded one of the most significant legislative accomplishments of the civil rights movement.

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This act was signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting.

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In late January, 1968, North Vietnamese and communist Viet Cong military initiated a premeditated strike against a number of targets in the South of Vietnam. The United States and South Vietnamese military took heavy hits before finally retaliating against the communist assault.

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The occupation of Alcatraz Island galvanized a movement through which Native Americans won back much of their sovereignty. But its legacy carries on in modern protests over land and water rights and the treaties whose broken promises remain unresolved.

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Stonewall riots, a series of violent conflicts that started in premature hours of June 28, 1969. This took place with the police and gay rights people near the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City.

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President Richard Nixon orders an invasion of Cambodia-1970

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President Richard Nixon orders an invasion of Cambodia-1970

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Nixon believed North Vietnam was transporting troops and supplies through neighboring Cambodia into South Vietnam. He hoped that bombing supply routes in Cambodia would weaken the United States' enemies. The bombing of Cambodia lasted until August 1973.

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Title IX of the Educational Amendments passed 1972- 

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Title IX of the Educational Amendments passed 1972- 

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The title of IX  is enacted by Congress and is signed into law by President Richard Nixon, prohibiting sex discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving any type of federal financial aid.

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On June 17, 1972, police arrested burglars in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Evidence linked the break-in to President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign.

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Roe v. Wade 1973 was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.

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August 9, 1974 Resignation of Richard Nixon

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August 9, 1974 Resignation of Richard Nixon

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In an evening televised address on August 8, 1974, President Richard M. Nixon announces his intention to become the first president in American history to resign. With impeachment proceedings underway against him for his involvement in the Watergate affair, Nixon was finally bowing to pressure from the public and Congress to leave the White House.

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Reagan received the highest number of electoral votes ever won by a non-incumbent presidential candidate. In the simultaneous Congressional elections, Republicans won control of the United States Senate for the first time since 1955.

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In 1982, Argentina's ruling military junta was facing an economic crisis and General Leopoldo Galtieri hoped an invasion would bolster his fading popularity at home. Meanwhile, in Argentina, the military junta led by Lieutenant General Leopoldo Galtieri was suffering criticism for its oppressive rule and economic management, and planned the Falklands invasion as a means of promoting patriotic feeling and propping up its regime.

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The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the law enforcement siege of the compound that belonged to the religious sect Branch Davidians.Waco is also home to the Waco Mammoth National Monument, a 100-plus acre stretch of wooded parkland along the Bosque River.

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On April 20, 1999, two teenage gunmen kill 13 people in a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, south of Denver. At approximately 11:19 a.m., Dylan Klebold, 17, and Eric Harris, 18, dressed in trench coats, began shooting students outside the school before moving inside to continue their rampage. By 11:35 a.m., Klebold and Harris had killed 12 fellow students and a teacher and wounded another 23 people. Shortly after noon, the two teens turned their guns on themselves and died by suicide.
The crime prompted a national debate on gun control and school safety, as well as a major investigation to determine what motivated the teen gunmen. In the days immediately following the shootings, it was speculated that Klebold and Harris purposely chose jocks, minorities and Christians as their victims.
It was initially reported that one student, Cassie Bernall, was allegedly asked by one of the gunmen if she believed in God. When Bernall said, “Yes,” she was shot to death. Her parents later wrote a book titled She Said Yes, honoring their martyred daughter. Apparently, however, the question was not actually posed to Bernall but to another student who had already been wounded by a gunshot. When that victim replied, “Yes,” the shooter walked away.
Subsequent investigations also determined that Harris and Klebold chose their victims randomly. Their original plan was for two propane bombs to explode in the school’s cafeteria, potentially killing hundreds of people and forcing the survivors outside and into the gunmen’s line of fire. When the bombs didn’t work, Harris and Klebold went into the school to carry out their murderous rampage.
There was speculation that Harris and Klebold committed the killings because they were members of a group of social outcasts called the “Trenchcoat Mafia” that was fascinated by Goth culture. Violent video games and music were also blamed for influencing the killers. However, none of these theories was ever proven.
Columbine High School reopened in the fall of 1999, but the massacre left a scar on the Littleton community. Mark Manes, the young man who sold a gun to Harris and bought him 100 rounds of ammunition the day before the murders, was sentenced to six years in prison. Carla Hochhalter, the mother of a student who was paralyzed in the attack, killed herself at a gun shop. Several other parents filed suit against the school and the police. Even Dylan Klebold’s parents filed notice of their intent to sue, claiming that police should have stopped Harris earlier. And when a carpenter from Chicago erected 15 crosses in a local park on behalf of everyone who died on April 20, parents of the victims tore down the two in memory of Klebold and Harris.
The shootings at Columbine were among the worst school shootings in U.S. history until April 16, 2007, when 32 people were shot and many others wounded by a student gunman on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. Subsequent school shootings, including in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012 and in Parkland, Florida in February 2018, continued to pain the nation. A March 2018 analysis by the Washington Post found that since the Columbine shootings in 1999, there have been 10 school shootings each year on average in the United States.
READ MORE: Columbine High School Shooting

Citation Information
Article Title
Teen gunmen kill 13 at Columbine High School
Author
History.com Editors
Website Name
HISTORY
URL
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-massacre-at-columbine-high-school
Access Date
June 3, 2022
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
April 22, 2021
Original Published Date
November 13, 2009
EDUCATION CRIME
BY HISTORY.COM EDITORS

FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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September 11 Attacks  September 11, 2001 

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September 11 Attacks  September 11, 2001 

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Although terrorist attacks had been directed at the United States at the end of the 20th century, a new sense of vulnerability was introduced into American life on September 11, 2001, when Islamist terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the Pennsylvania countryside, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.