American combat troops arrive on the ground, escalating a conflict that had been building for decades. America stepped onto the “slippery slope” on a quiet stretch of beach just northwest of the Vietnamese

The British chart topping band embarked on a world tour that saw their celebrity status shoot into the stratosphere, attracting massive crowds of screaming fans wherever they performed. By the time the

A pivotal year in the campaign for black rights, which saw hundreds of thousands take part in the March on Washington led by Martin Luther King, as well as acts of violence, political theater and direct

A confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over nuclear-tipped missiles based on Cuba was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. After seizing power in

East German authorities begin building the Berlin Wall to permanently close off access to the West

As the first black student to attend an all-white school, 6 year old Ruby Bridges is escorted by US Marshalls during her first year at William Frantz Elementary in Louisiana. Bridges was one of six black

After years of fighting in the mountains, Fidel Castro leads a band of guerrilla campesinos into Havana

World famous ock n roll singer is drafted and joins the US Army as a regular soldier.

First dog in space launched in a Soviet satellite - she didn't make it back alive :(

Hungarian Revolution: nationwide revolt against Soviet policies is crushed after bitter fighting

Government instigated anti-Greek riots see widespread destruction of property, violent attacks and rape against non-Muslim minorities. In what some refer to as the “Kristallnacht in Constantinople,” 71

A tumultuous year in the life of global celebrity Marilyn Monroe. Aside from her showbiz life, she toured South Korea and had a short-lived and volatile marriage to baseball star Joe Dimaggio. The famous

A wave of strikes and protests turns into a widespread uprising against the communist German Democratic Republic government, which was violently suppressed by Soviet troops. The East German uprising began

A military coup d'etat by the 'Free Officers' forces the Egyptian King Farouk to abdicate, removes remnants of British influence in the government, and creates a republic in Egypt. Prior to 1952 Egypt

Korean War - the intervention of Chinese troops forces UN troops into a retreat back to the 38th parallel, followed by stalemate as neither side proves capable of a decisive breakthrough. Following the

Nationalist rebels rise up in Puerto Rico seeking independence from the USA. Martial law was declared and the uprising crushed with widespread arrests. In response an assassination attempt was made on

A V2 rocket carries Albert II, a rhesus monkey, into space, at an altitude of 83 miles. During the early years of the Space Age the US launched several V2 rockets into space with a mission to test various

A massive airlift of supplies is undertaken by Western allies in response to Soviet blockade of west Berlin. The Berlin Blockade was the firing pistol that began the Cold War. The Second World War allies

August 15th, 1947, inaugurated one of the cruelest and most enduring ironies of decolonization. India, a British property with over 4,500 years of civilization and a population of 415 million, finally

In the aftermath of war millions of refugees and former inmates of Nazi concentration camps were scattered far from home. DP camps in Germany, Austria and Italy were set up to house them before they could