While watching a documentary last night on Operation Valkyrie and the attempt to assassinate Adolph Hitler, an interviewee stated July 20, 1944, as one of the top 10 dates in German history in the 20th century. It got me to thinking what the same criteria would result in for American history. Some are very obvious, but others I think are more subtle in their lasting effects on our current society.
The following are a list of 10 dates I believe to be monumental in our history set between January 1, 1901 and December 31, 2000. The list is in chronological order as I didn’t want to try and rank them in ascending order of consequence.
September 25, 1926: Henry Ford employs the 40-hour workweek
Though certainly not a saint and the reasons for doing so were self-serving, Henry Ford’s decision to go to an eight-hour, five-day a week work schedule revolutionized America’s labor force. The idea of working six days is hardly fathomable today and instead is seen as going far above and beyond the call of duty. This date also serves as a symbol of Ford’s other influences on the working class such as paying double the standard wage a decade earlier and implementing the assembly line, which began in 1908.
October 29, 1929: Black Tuesday
If there is any singular date in American history that defined a century, this would likely be it for the twentieth. The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, began a decade-long Great Depression in America, leading to an unemployment rate of 25 percent by 1933, rapid rise in crime, mass migrations, and realization of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. Not a single person could avoid feeling the effects of Black Tuesday and many were never able to fully recover from the financial ruin the country had suffered.
December 7, 1941: “A date which will live in infamy.”
As Roosevelt put it, “the United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” Said attack sent America headlong into World War II, which had already been going on for two years among European and Asian countries. The attack on Pearl Harbor represents several important dates throughout the timeline of the Second World War, including D-day’s June 6, 1944, but what brought the war to a monstrous conclusion has its own spot on this list.
August 6/August 9, 1945: Dropping Little Boy and Fat Man
Although the conclusion of World War II was officially brought about by the Japanese Emperor’s declaration of surrender on August 12, it was the setting off of two atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki a week prior that signifies the end of the war. It is estimated that approximately 240,000 casualties were reported following the bombings. The decision to use atomic weapons on Japan was obviously not universally accepted and it has been debated ad nauseum as to whether President Harry Truman was justified in doing so. The effects of nuclear armament would create a Mexican standoff for centuries to come between America and the U.S.S.R.
December 1, 1955: Rosa Parks takes a stand by staying seated
Her defiant act against a ridiculous command to give up her seat to a white passenger because she was black wasn’t the first of its kind, but it was a symbol of the ongoing African-American Civil Rights Movement that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. There are plenty of moments from this period of our history I could have chosen, including Martin Luther King’s August 28, 1963 “I have a dream speech,” the desegregation of the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963, or King’s assassination on April 4, 1968, but Rosa Parks rebelliousness and the resulting boycott gave the Civil Rights Movement its initial victory and made King a standout leader of the cause.
November 22, 1963: Kennedy assassination
Not being born until 1980, I’ve never understood the fascination America had with the Kennedy family. The president's record as a leader was a bit underwhelming, but he was able to quell the Cuban missile crisis and he had a charisma that exuded security giving the American people a spirit of idealism. The allure of Camelot and a stable family life was rocked when Lee Harvey Oswald shot two bullets into the president while traveling through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. It is said people can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard of the assassination, some even crying, losing their appetites, or suffering nausea.
February 9, 1964: The British are coming!
Some might think I’m over-estimating the influence the Beatles had in America on rock and roll music, but when Nielsen ratings show that 45 percent of televisions in the United States were tuned in to the band’s performance on The Ed Sullivan Show it is safe to assume that a large portion of the country were interested in the new sound. Beatlemania paved an international path for other UK bands like The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Kinks, The Who, and countless others from the same era of music up to today’s hit musical acts.
July 20, 1969: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Neil Armstrong’s message to earthlings was the culmination of a mission by President Kennedy to win a peaceful, but intense, space race between the United States and Soviet Union, hard work among the nation’s top scientists and aviators, and a national dream that mankind would travel above the heavens and explore outer space. It was a good feeling to be American because of NASA’s accomplishment and it made science fiction a reality. Everything going on in the country from the Vietnam War to the debate over free love could be forgotten for a moment and national pride reigned.
August 15-18, 1969: Woodstock/Vietnam War
The Woodstock Festival that featured such acts as Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, The Band, and Janis Joplin isn’t here simply because of what it was, but more because of the time period it represents. With the Vietnam War lasting nearly a full two decades and numerous monumental historic events taking place during that time period, including the Tet offensive on January 31, 1968, the June 17, 1972, Watergate scandal, or Nixon’s resignation on August 9, 1974, the Woodstock Festival encapsulates the varied mindsets Americans had at the time. These attitudes included the idea of peace, love, and rock and roll, fighting the man, and disapproval of the war. The concert became a symbol of the decade.
November 9, 1989: A city divided no more
As Woodstock was a symbol of an entire decade, the Berlin Wall was a symbol of an undefined war between capitalism and communism. Once the wall began construction in 1961, for nearly three decades the city of Berlin was split in two and it remained that way until after peaceful demonstrations beginning in September 1989 and mass departures by East German refugees the Socialist Unity Party of Germany declared the checkpoints along the Wall open for private travel. The fall of the Berlin Wall represented the downfall and end to communism for Eastern Germany and surrounding countries. Although not the complete end of communism and not an event that directly involved the United States, it was a major moment in American history nonetheless.
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