Most Important Events in United States History

[Mayor Quimby]

A friend of mine is doing a paper on this topic, consisting of the ten most important events in the US's history since 1865. I was wondering if most people would have a consensus ten, so I figured it would spark an interesting debate. Personally my list is far from complete but I have come up with some to choose from.

D-Day
Neil Armstrong lands on the moon
Assasination of Martin Luther King
9-11
Woodstock
Pearl Harbor
The dropping of the A-Bomb
When the US entered WWI
Titanic
Richard Nixon's resignation
The Kent State campus shootings
Either Kennedy assasinations
Treaty of Versaille
The End of the Cold War
Jackie Robinson breaks the color barrier
Miracle on Ice
End of reconstruction
Brown vs. Board of Education

[Dead Nigga Storage]

how is the sinking of the titanic REMOTELY comparable to those other events in U.S. history?

i would put the creation of the constitution up somewhere between 0 and 2. also, you can pretty much merge "pearl harbor" and "U.S. entering world war II"

[SideshowTim]

nipplegate.

[Mayor Quimby]

i would put the creation of the constitution up somewhere between 0 and 2. also, you can pretty much merge "pearl harbor" and "U.S. entering world war II"

I would agree with you on the constitution, but seeing as its post 1865....... and also I meant entering World War I not II.

[Dead Nigga Storage]

ah, ok. i didn't see the 1865 part, just the thread title. as far as precedent setting, you definitely want to include:
the new deal
gulf of tonkin resolution
american imperialism (spanish american war)
executive order 9981 (military integration)
great depression
women's suffrage

most of those should come before the miracle on ice, jackie robinson, or woodstock. and like i said before, DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY take the titanic out.

[Wasteland]

Vietnam
The Challenger and Columbia disasters
Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson's impeachment trials
V-E and V-J day
Three Mile Island
2000 election
Inventing of the light bulb
Wright brothers first flight

[kevin]

cuban missle crisis

[Gatorgod]

The Fatty Arbuckle death by rape trial (1921)
...and maybe that O.J. thing also :silly:

[Thomas]

Wow. No one mentions how the assasination of William McKinley changed the American political scene forever.

[mr. broom]

Miracle on Ice
You really need to be kidding about this one. Cool, maybe (maybe) but not the least bit important. Pick just about any other well-publicized event having to do with the Cold War other than this.

[caribou]

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/miscgfx/covers2/kenburnscivilwardvd.jpg

[Wasteland]

Can't believe no one mentioned The Great Depression.

[Dead Nigga Storage]

ah, ok. i didn't see the 1865 part, just the thread title. as far as precedent setting, you definitely want to include:
the new deal
gulf of tonkin resolution
american imperialism (spanish american war)
executive order 9981 (military integration)
great depression
women's suffrage

most of those should come before the miracle on ice, jackie robinson, or woodstock. and like i said before, DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY take the titanic out.

.

[America: Fuck Yea!]

this thread makes my head hurt.

[Ignignot]

When ignignot made this post. 11:00 pm april 7th, 2006.

[Binky]

Immigration in the 1800s
The "I Have a Dream" speech
The McCarthy era
Invention of motion pictures
Invention of the binary computer
and possibly rock and roll music

[phil]

no inventions.
the origins of inventions are as not clear cut as one would think.

[Sex Cauldron]

Pick just about any other well-publicized event having to do with the Cold War other than this.

http://sportsmed.starwave.com/i/magazine/new/rockyIV.jpg

[Haoie]

The final of M*A*S*H.

Seriously.

[Dead Nigga Storage]

no.

seriously.

[Simpsons Forever!]

Moon Landing
Kennedy Assassination
Watergate Scandal
Sinking of the Lusitania
Sept. 11
Atom Bomb
Luther King Assassination
D-Day
Pearl Harbor
The Depression

[blueduck37]

My Top 10 as I see it:

The Great Depression
Bombing of Pearl Harbor/Enter in WWII
JFK assassinated
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Brown v. Board of Education
Gulf Of Tonkin/U.S. war in Vietnam
Watergate scandal/Resignation of Richard Nixon
Berlin Wall comes down (Cold War ends)
2000 election/Bush v. Gore
9/11

[Kuje]

I'd never heard of the Miracle on Ice, so I looked it up... what the hell guys? I'm glad I wasn't around to see the US media reaction to that.

[Homer Jay]

Do you people know anything about American history or are you just repeating what the textbooks tell you? There’s more to history than just political and military history, but it would be hard to know it from looking at this thread.

[box elder]

Do you people know anything about American history or are you just repeating what the textbooks tell you? There’s more to history than just political and military history, but it would be hard to know it from looking at this thread.


i'm not saying i necessarily disagree with you, but do you care to back this up or just leave it hanging out there? what’s more important than the things mentioned, and how do you qualify the term?

[Lisa's First Word]

Assasination of JFK

Landing of Beatles on USA

Woodstock Fest

Moonlanding

Vietnam war protesting

[mohammed jafar]

xiu xiu - fabulous muscles

[DotheBartman]

Well that was a pretty important song, but top ten Jafar?

Luke, I had to look that up too. Boy did those commies suck ass. Good thing we kicked their ass at hockey nearly half the time. But yeah, not exactly that significant.

[Mayor Quimby]

Do you people know anything about American history or are you just repeating what the textbooks tell you? There’s more to history than just political and military history, but it would be hard to know it from looking at this thread.


Which is why I tried to throw in social aspects as well. Miracle on Ice may not be a vitaly important event in the United States, but it was soically significant in some aspects. Jackie Robinson on the surface probably isn't as big as pearl harbor, but socially it was huge to the black society. I have not made a set list, but I simply threw in some events that were significant. Also I agree with Bob, it would be nice for you to back up that statement.

Scopes Monkey Trial probably belongs somewhere too.

[The mayor of Albuquerque]

Original publication of the Scofield Reference Bible.
The spread of network television - yes, it's hard to call it an event, but my how it has changed us.
Henry Ford and the use of assembly line manufacturing.

[Simpsons Forever!]

What about Kitty Hawk in 1903 and the start of human flight? That's a pretty big global/humanity event, although it could be included in this list, too.

[My Little Needle]

just putting some out there

14th amendment
sedition act
corporate personhood
prohibition
founding of UN

[Dead Nigga Storage]

in order to count prohibition, you should probably include the repealing of it as well, since that sort of "completes the cycle" of the effect of it.

[do what donny dont does]

Metallica changes heavy metal music forever in 1983 with the release of "Kill 'Em All". :headbang

The birth of the hip hop DJ in the mid '70's by legends such as Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Hollywood, Grand Wizard Theodore, and Grandmaster Flash.
:dj:

[Homer Jay]

Here are some events I think are important but unlikely to be mentioned by other people:
Leland Stanford driving the golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah in 1869, completing the first transcontinental railroad
KDKA delivering the results of the 1920 Presidential election, the first use of commercial radio

Something like the incorporation of GM might be just as important to US history as when Henry Ford rolled off that first Model T. The breakups of the Standard Oil and AT&T monopolies had profound impacts on regular people, much more than something like Woodstock. But are such events among the ten most important in US history? I don’t know, but they had profound impacts on the way that people lived, which is how history should be judged.

Other things are even harder to find a single event for. How do you come up with a singular event to symbolize changes in American culture, such as the impact that movies and later television had on the family? What event best shows the growth of suburbia, perhaps the greatest change in the lives of middle class America? What about the Third Great Awakening in the 1890s and 1900s or the Fourth Great Awakening that we are presently experiencing?

[Dead Nigga Storage]

I don’t know, but they had profound impacts on the way that people lived, which is how history should be judged.this statement, in conjunction with the previous post, seems to imply that the other events listed to this point have NOT had a profound impact on people. just going back to the ones that i posted earlier, since i remember what i posted better than what others did, i don't see what ISN'T profoundly important about them or how the DIDN'T impact the lives of individuals? if the impact of people's lives is the true gauge of importance, than surely something like the cuban missile crisis should be near the top, since a lesser president may have turned that into a nuclear holocaust. women's suffrage gave more than half of our country a type of power and voice they had never had before, and there's no telling how much that has changed the entire political landscape, and therefore the entire direction of our country (and the world) to this day. sometimes those "text book" answers are there in text books for a reason...BECAUSE of the impact they have had. that said, i definitely agree with the significance of things like the completion of the transcontinental railroad, or the first radio broadcasts, but with a small handful of exceptions, there is NOTHING wrong with the events chosen thus far.

[gravymaster]

You really need to be kidding about this one. Cool, maybe (maybe) but not the least bit important. Pick just about any other well-publicized event having to do with the Cold War other than this.
United States SPORTS History it would be in the Top 3...maybe even #1.

[Homer Jay]

this statement, in conjunction with the previous post, seems to imply that the other events listed to this point have NOT had a profound impact on people. just going back to the ones that i posted earlier, since i remember what i posted better than what others did, i don't see what ISN'T profoundly important about them or how the DIDN'T impact the lives of individuals? if the impact of people's lives is the true gauge of importance, than surely something like the cuban missile crisis should be near the top, since a lesser president may have turned that into a nuclear holocaust. women's suffrage gave more than half of our country a type of power and voice they had never had before, and there's no telling how much that has changed the entire political landscape, and therefore the entire direction of our country (and the world) to this day. sometimes those "text book" answers are there in text books for a reason...BECAUSE of the impact they have had. that said, i definitely agree with the significance of things like the completion of the transcontinental railroad, or the first radio broadcasts, but with a small handful of exceptions, there is NOTHING wrong with the events chosen thus far.What I'm saying is that ten most important things in US History since 1865 should be the ten events that most impacted people's lives. I think it’s a mistake to look at political acts and see how they drive culture. With very few exceptions, it’s the other way around. The underlying societal changes that effect the action of government are usually more important than the act of government they caused. It’s much harder to find the causes of the societal changes, than it is to find their results, yet the results are put into the history books. Yes there are singular acts, like the attack on Pearl Harbor, that profoundly impact the way that people look at the world.

What impact did D-Day, impeachments of Presidents, the Spanish-American War, the 2000 Presidential Election have on the lives of every American? They had an impact, but other events were more important

Was the Moon Landing more important than Sputnik is determining how people looked at the world? I don't know, but the easy answer is to say yes.

Did Roe v. Wade change the way most people live more than the invention of the pill? Probably not, the use of contraceptives has effected more people than the right to an abortion

What impact did Brown v. Board of Education have until Eisenhower forced a school in Little Rock to integrate? Was the start of the civil rights movement more important than the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 or the assassination of Dr. King? What event shows the start of the civil rights movement to most Americans?

[phil]

What about Kitty Hawk in 1903 and the start of human flight?

nah. the first human flight was by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and Francois d'Arlandes in Paris 1783.

[billi vanilli]

probably been said before, but the invention of the a-bomb is, in my humble opinion, one of the top three (if not the) most important things to happen in american history.

history nerdz start your engines.

[gravymaster]

probably been said before, but the invention of the a-bomb is, in my humble opinion, one of the top three (if not the) most important things to happen in american history.
And Japanese history ;)

[Mayor Quimby]

United States SPORTS History it would be in the Top 3...maybe even #1.


Has my vote for #1.

[Homer Jay]

Wouldn't that be the first baseball game in 1845?

[Dead Nigga Storage]

What impact did D-Day, impeachments of Presidents, the Spanish-American War, the 2000 Presidential Election have on the lives of every American? They had an impact, but other events were more important

Was the Moon Landing more important than Sputnik is determining how people looked at the world? I don't know, but the easy answer is to say yes.

Did Roe v. Wade change the way most people live more than the invention of the pill? Probably not, the use of contraceptives has effected more people than the right to an abortion

What impact did Brown v. Board of Education have until Eisenhower forced a school in Little Rock to integrate? Was the start of the civil rights movement more important than the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 or the assassination of Dr. King? What event shows the start of the civil rights movement to most Americans?
with the exception of the spanish-american war (although i specifically referred to our imperialism, and which i would FURTHER say "manifest destiny), i didn't list any of these events because they didn't mean as much as the other people, but many of them did shape our culture or were at least major catalysts in changing it. but also, the question simply asks "what are the most important events in american history?" what "american history" means in itself is not set in stone. the definition you're aiming for is about what the became of the individiual american because of it. some other people are taking the equally acceptable path in interpreting it to mean "how the event shaped american law and government" or "how it served as a precedent for other events" or even "how it caused america to obtain the standing it has in the world today". in that sense, i don't think anything that has been said (again, with 1 or 2 exceptions) is necessarily WRONG.

oh, and i wouldn't go off and say the first baseball game was in 1845. the first KNOWN game was. that debate has been going on forever.

[bob lobster]

homested strike
mexican war
elvis on ed sullivan
scups monkey trail
haymarket riot

[Mr. Sparkle]

no particular order

the spread of the internet- seriously, think how much every person's life has changed since the internet

Atom bombs dropping on Japan- think of the Cold War if we didn't know the true destruction of them. we would probably all be dead.

Millions Man March/I Have a Dream- everything with civil rights summed up to the moment

Watergate- stopped politics and showed the US that the politicians aren't all powerful

U.S entering the Vietnam War- Had its own domino effect in American culture as well in foreign relations

U.S entering Spanish-American War- the gaining of territories shifted us into a position of world power that was not recognized before.

1929 Stock Market Crash- great depression and new deal as a result.

14th Amendment- for obvious reasons

Womens Sufferage- once again, kind of obvious

Kennedy Assasination- world came crashing down for many Americans. had myriad ripple effect

[mr. broom]

"The spread of the Internet" is about as American as this:
Berlin Wall comes down (Cold War ends)
"The world" does not equal "America." Morrissey said so.

[Curtis]

U.S entering Spanish-American War- the gaining of territories shifted us into a position of world power that was not recognized before.

We did not enter that war we created it and because of Yellow Journalism got the nation to believe the Spanish attacked us (Forgot the name of the ship) but it exploded in a Cuban harbor from mechanical problems, but was blamed on the Spanish. This war was caused by the imperialism around the world at the time, the U.S. wanted a piece of the pie. Interesting fact: There was actually talk of making Cuba a state after the end of the war.

[Mayor Quimby]

This war was caused by the imperialism around the world at the time, the U.S. wanted a piece of the pie. Interesting fact: There was actually talk of making Cuba a state after the end of the war.


According to my history teacher and TR, we were only protecting our little brown brothers from the dangers of others.

Not that I exactly believe that either.

[box elder]

Millions Man March/I Have a Dream- everything with civil rights summed up to the moment




perhaps i'm misunderstanding this, but you don't think the "i have a dream" speech was delivered at the million man march, right?

[Homer Jay]

"The world" does not equal "America." Morrissey said so.
Although the ending of the Cold War was probably more important to US history than the ending of WWI or WWII, because at that point, the US became a hyperpower, which as profoundly impacted US foreign policy

[mohammed jafar]

Well that was a pretty important song, but top ten Jafar?


number of times its been mentioned on this board: 453,218
number of times the voting rights act has been mentioned on this board: oh i dunno...lets say 4

i rest my case

[vinceq]

didn't read the whole thread but here's my opinion in no order (not like I live in the states though)
- invention of television
- civil rights movement
- great depression
- world war ii
- jfk's assassination
- 9/11
- suffrage
- moon landing
- proliferation of the internet
- creation of womd

[mr. broom]

Although the ending of the Cold War was probably more important to US history than the ending of WWI or WWII, because at that point, the US became a hyperpower, which as profoundly impacted US foreign policy
I think we're having a problem of defining what constitutes United States history specifically as opposed to world history in general, or of having different opinions on what constitutes it. In fact, I'd chalk 90% of the disagreements in this thread up to that.

[QuimbyD'ohPimp]

The Civil War

[Dead Nigga Storage]

as has already been said, it's from 1865 onward, quimby.

[box elder]

in all seriousness, i think it should include the launching of MTV. nothing has had a more immense (negative) impact on American culture in the last 50 years.

[Nebuchanezzar]

I suppose the election of a new president for a country, no matter who they are could be regarded as an incredibly important event, for that country. That'd be my only addition to what I've seen...unless it's already been added, in which case I should probably read more when responding to subjects outside of the Simpsons area of this forum.

[Dead Nigga Storage]

in all seriousness, i think it should include the launching of MTV. nothing has had a more immense (negative) impact on American culture in the last 50 years.not disagreeing, persay...but what about woodstock or the british invasion?

[box elder]

hmm. i don't think Woodstock had all that huge an effect on culture. it's kind of the best example or something to point at as a representative of the 60s counter-culture, but the music and the hippies already existed, and probably didn't proliferate all that much as a result of the festival. in that sense, i think Altamont was probably more important as a cultural event, because it kind of killed the whole peace and love hippie thing to some extent. and the British invasion is a little too broad to call an event, i would say. perhaps you can point to the Beatles' arrival as a specific event that sums it up, but that's sort of all over the place in terms of actual influence. for instance, would the Beatles be the Beatles without Buddy Holly dying a few years earlier (which put a huge dent in rock and roll and made the Beatles arrival all the more important), or without the influence of Bob Dylan et al pushing them away from the clichéd pop-rock of their first few albums? it's just too hard to pin something specific down there as a great alteration of culture.

but MTVs mark can be seen on almost every piece of shit that exists now -- from train wreck television where whiney self-absorption passes as entertainment, to image and marketing becoming more important than music in the mainstream scene, to the shrinking of play lists and second-wave payola state of modern radio.

of course, that's just how i see things.

[The mayor of Albuquerque]

To further Bob's point, I think MTV has also been a major factor in the increasingly short attention spans that many Americans have. Certainly TV in general could be blamed, but MTV has really made it the standard. Quick images rather than pans or still shots are now how we view and think about almost everything, from politics to comedy to sports to romance.

[Mayor Quimby]

1. Stock Market Crash
2. Pearl Harbor
3. Resignation of Richard Nixon
4. 14th Amendment
5. 19th Amendment
6. 9/11
7. Integration of public schools in Little Rock
8. Neil Armstrong lands on the moon
9. President Kennedy is assassinated
10. USS Maine Sinks

This is the list my friend used for the paper. I think Kennedy is probably to high, other than that I think its a relatively good list.

[Dead Nigga Storage]

now that i think about it...barry goldwater's impact on the conservative american party has pretty much entirely changed the political landscape of today. he would have been a good "sleeper pick".

[box elder]

wait a second, logan. i'm liberal, but to a degree. i want everbody to be free, but if you think i'll let barry goldwater move in next door and marry my daughter, you must think i'm crazy. i wouldn't let him do it for all of the farms in Cuba!