1953: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed for passing secrets about U.S. atomic weapons to the

soviets.• The Rosenbergs

1954: The U.S. Supreme Court decides that racial segregation is

unconstitutional.

1957: President Eisenhower sends federal troops to Little Rock,

Arkansas to enforce integration.

1959: Alaska becomes the 49th state and Hawaii the 50th.

1961: Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba fails.

1962: In the Cuban Missile Crisis the U.S. and the Soviets have a

showdown over Soviet missiles in Cuba. World destruction is averted.

1963: President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas.

1964:President Johnson signs Civil Rights Act.

1966: In Miranda v. Arizona, U.S. Supreme Court rules that accused persons must be informed of their

rights.

1968: Vietnam War takes turn for the worse as North Vietnamese

launch Tet Offensive. U.S. Troops kill 300 villagers in My Lai

Massacre.