* October 29: The stock market crashes, signaling the beginning of the Great Depression.
* December: President Herbert Hoover orders the construction of the Hoover Dam to create jobs and stimulate the economy.
1930:
* The U.S. Congress passes the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which raises tariffs on imported goods and worsens the Depression.
* President Hoover signs the Agricultural Marketing Act, which creates the Federal Farm Board to help farmers struggling with low prices.
1932:
* Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected president, defeating Hoover in a landslide.
* Roosevelt takes office and begins implementing his New Deal program, a series of measures designed to relieve suffering and stimulate the economy.
1933:
* The U.S. economy begins to recover from the Great Depression.
* President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, which creates a social safety net for the elderly, the unemployed, and the disabled.
1934:
* The U.S. Congress passes the Securities Exchange Act, which regulates the stock market and prevents fraud.
* President Roosevelt signs the National Labor Relations Act, which protects the rights of workers to unionize and bargain collectively.
1935:
* The U.S. Congress passes the Works Progress Administration Act, which creates jobs for the unemployed.
* President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act Amendments, which expand Social Security coverage to include farm workers and domestic workers.
1936:
* Franklin D. Roosevelt is reelected president, defeating Republican Alf Landon in a landslide.
* The U.S. economy continues to recover from the Great Depression.
1937:
* The U.S. economy falls into recession.
* President Roosevelt proposes the Second New Deal, a series of measures designed to further stimulate the economy.
1938:
* The U.S. government passes the Fair Labor Standards Act, which sets a minimum wage and a maximum 40-hour workweek.
* President Roosevelt signs the Civil Aeronautics Act, which creates the Civil Aeronautics Board to regulate the airline industry.
1939:
* World War II begins in Europe.
* The U.S. remains neutral but begins to prepare for war.
1940:
* Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected president for a third term, defeating Republican Wendell Willkie.
* The U.S. begins to provide aid to the Allies.
1941:
* The U.S. enters World War II after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor.
* The U.S. and the Allies begin to turn the tide of the war against the Axis Powers.
1942:
* The U.S. and the Allies defeat the Axis Powers in North Africa.
* The U.S. and the Allies invade Italy.
1943:
* The Allies defeat the Axis Powers in Sicily and mainland Italy.
* The Allies invade Normandy and begin to liberate France.
1944:
* The Allies liberate France and continue to advance into Germany.
* The D-Day landings take place on June 6, 1944.
* The Battle of the Bulge takes place in December 1944.
1945:
* The Allies defeat the Axis Powers and end World War II.
* The Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
* The United Nations is founded.
1946:
* The U.S. begins to demobilize and return to a peacetime economy.
* The U.S. provides aid to Europe through the Marshall Plan.
1947:
* The Truman Doctrine is announced, committing the U.S. to aid free peoples resisting communist aggression.
* The Marshall Plan goes into effect.
1948:
* The Korean War begins.
* The U.S. sends troops to help South Korea.
1949:
* The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is founded.
* The People's Republic of China is founded.
1950:
* The Korean War ends.
* The U.S. and the Soviet Union begin the Cold War.
1951:
* Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected president, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson.
* Eisenhower takes office and begins to end the Korean War.
1952:
* The Korean War ends with an armistice.
* Eisenhower is reelected president.
1953:
* The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation of public schools is unconstitutional.
* The civil rights movement begins to fight for equality for African Americans.
1954:
* The Vietnam War begins.
* The U.S. begins to support South Vietnam.
1955:
* Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
* Martin Luther King Jr. emerges as a leader of the civil rights movement.
1956:
* The U.S. Interstate Highway System is created.
* The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is created.
1957:
* The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.
* The civil rights movement continues to gain momentum.
1958:
* Alaska and Hawaii become the 49th and 50th states, respectively.
* The U.S. launches its first satellite, Explorer 1.
1959:
* Fidel Castro comes to power in Cuba.
* The U.S. and the Soviet Union sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
1960:
* John F. Kennedy is elected president, defeating Republican Richard Nixon.
* Kennedy takes office and announces his New Frontier program of domestic reforms.
1961:
* The Bay of Pigs Invasion takes place in Cuba.
* Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into space.
1962:
* The Cuban Missile Crisis occurs when the U.S. and the Soviet Union come close to war over the Soviet Union's missiles in Cuba.
* The crisis is resolved peacefully, but the Cold War continues.
1963:
* President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
* Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president.
1964:
* Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
* Barry Goldwater becomes the first Republican nominee for president since 1948.
1965:
* Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965, wh