United States 1964

Synopsis

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the most significant piece of civil rights legislation since the Civil War, bans discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, and gender in the areas of public accommodation, federally funded programs, and employment. The act created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce the employment provisions of the act.

Timeline

• 1944: Allies land at Normandy on 6 June, conducting the largest amphibious invasion in history.
• 1949: Soviets conduct their first successful atomic test. This heightens growing cold war tensions, not least because the sudden acquisition of nuclear capabilities suggests that American spies are passing secrets.
• 1954: The French military outpost at Dien Bien Phu falls to the communist Vietminh. France withdraws after decades of trying to suppress revolt; meanwhile, the United States pledges its support for the non-communist government in the south.
  Whitney M. Young...