Cold War

Throughout history there has been many events that have changed the way we all live. In this essay, I will take one event from each decade that I think has had an impact on our way of living. There are many events that have had an impact on everyone in the world. Some may be small events but have a huge effect. We are all aware of some of the major events but are we aware of some of the smaller events in history?

History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball, weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race.

The Sputnik functioned for 21 days. Its on-board radio transmitter sent out a beeping signal that was heard all around the world. The Sputnik was launched by the R-7 Rocket aka Vostok Rocket at Baikonour, Soviet Union. Today the modern derivative is called Soyuz Rocket. (Vic S, 2008)

The story begins in 1952, when the International Council of Scientific Unions decided to establish July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958, as the International Geophysical Year because the scientists knew that the cycles of solar activity would be at a high point then. In October 1954, the council adopted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be launched during the International Geophysical Year to map the Earth's surface. (N.A.S.A, 2007)

The Sputnik launch changed everything. As a technical achievement, Sputnik caught the world's attention and the American public off-guard. Its size was more impressive than Vanguard's intended 3.5-pound payload. In addition, the public feared that the Soviets' ability to launch satellites also translated into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the U.S. Then the Soviets struck again; on November 3, Sputnik II was launched, carrying a much heavier payload, including a dog named Laika. (N.A.S.A, 2007)

Immediately after the Sputnik I launch in October, the U.S. Defense Department responded to the political furor by approving funding for another U.S. satellite project. As a simultaneous alternative to Vanguard, Wernher von Braun and his Army Redstone Arsenal team began work on the Explorer project. (N.A.S.A,2007)

On January 31, 1958, the tide changed, when the United States successfully launched Explorer I. This satellite carried a small scientific payload that eventually discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the Earth, named after principal investigator James Van Allen. The Explorer program continued as a successful ongoing series of lightweight, scientifically useful spacecraft. (NASA,2007)

The Sputnik launch also led directly to the creation of National Aeronautics and Space Administration . In July 1958, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which created NASA as of October 1, 1958 from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and other government agencies.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the pivotal leaders of the American civil rights movement. King was a Baptist minister, one of the few leadership roles available to black men at the time. He became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955вЂ"1956 and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference , serving as its first president. His efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Here he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.

At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, a shot rang out. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who had been standing on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN, now lay sprawled on the balcony's floor. A gaping wound covered a large portion of his jaw and neck. A exceptional man who had spent 13 years of his life dedicating himself to nonviolent protest had been felled by a sniper's bullet. (Jennifer R, 2006)

At the age of 35, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turnover the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement. (Frederick W ,1951)He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a national holiday in the United States in 1986. In 2004, King was posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.

Under President Nixon, the United States followed a foreign policy marked by dÐ"©tente with the Soviet Union and by the opening of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Nixon successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam, effectively ending the longest war in American history. Domestically, his administration faced resistance to the Vietnam War. In the face of likely impeachment by the United States House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate for the Watergate scandal. On August 9th, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first U.S. President to resign his office rather than become the first to be removed via impeachment. (Patrick M, 1995)

Nixon suffered a stroke on April 18, 1994 and died four days later at the age of 81.

He died on April 22, 1994 in New York City and was buried on the grounds of the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, at the side of his First Lady, on April 27, 1994. (The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace Foundation, 2008)

Throughout the 1980s, the Soviet Union fought an increasingly frustrating war in Afghanistan. At the same time, the Soviet economy faced the continuously escalating costs of the arms race. Dissent at home grew while the stagnant economy faltered under the combined burden. Attempted reforms at home left the Soviet Union unwilling to rebuff challenges to its control in Eastern Europe. During 1989 and 1990, the Berlin Wall came down, borders opened, and free elections ousted Communist regimes everywhere in eastern Europe. In late 1991 the Soviet Union itself dissolved into its component republics. With stunning speed, the Iron Curtain was lifted and the Cold War came to an end. (The National Museum of American History, 2000)

The economies of nations behind the Iron Curtain were in