The Post WWII Twentieth Century: A Timeline of Some of the Events that Defined Each Decade

However familiar (or unfamiliar) you are with American Literary history, or with the canon of American writers, I think you will agree that literature--like any expressive art--mirrors the time in which it is created. Artists of all stripes respond to the world around them, whether it be to national events, global events, or the way their personal and intimate experiences are shaped by those events. Below is a list (by no means comprehensive) of some of the major events in political, economic, global, and pop culture history that have influenced the lives and art of writers and artists across the spectrum.

German soldiers march into occupied Warsaw, Poland, 1939. (Photo: CNN.com)

1945-1950

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Dies, 1945

Germany Surrenders, End of WWII in Europe

Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa

Yalta Conference

Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Japan surrenders

World War II ended; Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union (nuclear arms race)

Independence in India, led by pacifist, Mahatma Ghandi

Assassination of Mahatma Ghandi

South African Apartheid begins

UFO Crash at Roswell, NM, 1947

Jackie Robinson breaks color barrier in baseball, 1947

NATO formed

Soviet Union tests first atomic bomb

The Marshall Plan introduced to aid war recovery in Europe

Germany divided into East and West, 1949

President Harry S Truman in office 1945-53

Photo: Charm Boys

1950s:

Dwight D. Eisenhower in office 1953-61

McCarthy Hearings, Red Scare

Korean War 1950-53

Suburban Sprawl

Television

Interstate System

Automobiles

Rock n’ Roll: Elvis Presley

Jim Crow South/Segregation

1955: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS

Emmett Till

Photo from The Atlantic

1960s:

John F. Kennedy President 1961-63

Lyndon B. Johnson President 1963-69

Bay of Pigs Invasion (Conflict with Cuba/Castro Regime): American CIA colluded with anti-Castro militants in the U.S. to invade Cuba.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Civil Rights Movement

Assassination of President John. F. Kennedy

Assassination of Robert Kennedy

Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Assassination of Malcolm X

Viet Nam Conflict 1955-1975

Rise of Hippie Counter-Culture

Manson Family Murders, 1969

Photo: CNN.com

1970s

American Indian Movement

Kent State (Mass shooting of Kent State student protestors by Ohio National Guard) Students had been protesting the bombing of Cambodia, 1970

Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in exhibition tournament, 1973

Black Panthers

Equal Rights Amendment/Women’s Movement

Rise of Feminism

Soviet War in Afghanistan

Rise and Fall of Disco

Diplomatic Ties to China Reopened 1972

Troops removed from Viet Nam 1974

Watergate Scandal 1972

President Nixon Impeached

Gerald Ford becomes president 1974-77

Pardons Nixon 1974

Jimmy Carter becomes president 1978-81

Sexual Revolution

Saturday Night Live premieres, 1975

Elvis Presley dies, 1977

Photo: BBC

1980s

U.S. Olympic Hockey Team defeats Soviet Union in the semifinals at the Winter Olympics, Lake Placid, NY

Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer

Space Shuttle Columbia’s first launch

52 Hostages released from Iran

President Ronald Reagan in Office 1981-89

Assassination attempt of President Reagan by John Hinckley, 1981

Press Secretary James Brady wounded, Brady Bill introduced

Sally Ride becomes the first woman to travel to space during Challenger mission 1983

Prime Minister Indira Ghandi assassinated by body guards

Prayer in Schools

Iran-Contra Affair

Reaganomics

Martin Luther King Day

War on Drugs

AIDS Epidemic

Rubik’s Cube

PacMan

John Lennon Assassinated, 1981

Mount St. Helen’s Erupts

Empire Strikes Back

Mikhail Gorbachev becomes prime minister of Soviet Union

Fall of the Berlin wall unites Germany

George H.W. Bush President 1989-93

Photo: The Dissolve

1990s

1993: Bill Clinton inaugurated; Maya Angelou recites “On the Pulse of Morning”

Hubble Space Telescope launched during space shuttle Discovery mission

Branch Davidians (David Koresh) standoff in Waco, Texas

NAFTA goes into effect

Oklahoma City bombing 1995

O.J. Simpson Trial

Monica Lewinsky Scandal 1998-99

Columbine High School Shooting (Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris)

Popular in Media/Pop Culture: Television Shows: Friends, Frasier, the X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Films included Clueless, Jurassic Park, Silence of the Lambs, and Pulp Fiction 

Photo: The Irish Times

2000s

George W. Bush elected president, 2001

September 11 Terrorist Attacks on Pentagon, World Trade Center, field in Pennsylvania

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (film) debuts

No Child Left Behind Education Reform Bill Passed

Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates upon reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere. All crew members are killed and the space program is suspended for 29-month period.

Myspace prototype launches, 2003

Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” premieres

Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, 2004

Hurricane Katrina, 2005

Virginia Tech Massacre, 2005

First book of Twilight series debuts, 2005

YouTube founded, 2005

Mel Gibson arrested for DUI, 2006

North Illinois University shooting, 2008

Global Financial Crisis

Stock Market Crash

Barak Obama elected, 2008

Twilight film debuts, 2008

Michael Jackson dies, 2009