| A | B |
|---|
| Sputnik | First artificial satellite to orbit Earth, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. |
| Cold War | State of hostility without actual warfare that existed between the US and USSR after WWII until the collapse of the USSR. |
| Iron Curtain | Winston Churchill's term for the extension of communist control over Eastern Europe. |
| Containment | American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world. |
| NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) | Alliance between the US, Canada and Western European nations formed in 1949. |
| Beatnik | In the 1950s, a person who criticized American society as apathetic and conformist. |
| Marshall Plan | Program if American economic assistance to Western Europe, announced in 1947. |
| Warren Commision | Committee headed by Cheif Justice Earl Warren, that investigated the assassination of President Kennedy. |
| Watergate Scandal | Incident involving illegal activities that led ultimately to the resignation of President Nixon in 1974. |
| Montgomery Bus Boycott | Protest in 1955-1956 by African Americans against racial segregation in the bus system of Montgomery. |
| Integration | Process of bringing together of differnt races. |
| Freedom Ride | Civil rights protest in which a racially mixed group of protesters challenged racially segregated bus terminals. |
| Civil Rights Act 1964 | Law that outlawed discrimination in a number of areas, including voting, schools and jobs. |
| Sit-ins | Form of protest in which protesters seat themselves and refuse to move. |
| Tet Offensvie | 1968 attack by Viet Cong and North Vietnam forces throughout South Vietnam. |
| Woodstock Festival | 1969 musical festival in upstate New York. |
| Napalm | Highly flammable chemical used in firebombing attacks: dropped from U.S. planes during Vietnam War to burn away vegetation and expose Viet Cong hideouts. |
| My Lai Massacre | Killing of several hundred Vietnamese civilians, children, elderly, women, by American soldiers in 1968. |
| Ho Chi Minh Trail | Supply route that carried troops and supplies from North Vietnam to South Vietnam. |
