The Ups and Downs of History

Just two days after the U.S. Senate votes 82 to 6 to declare war against Germany, the U.S. House of Representatives gives the final decision by a vote of 373 to 50, thus giving the United States the okay to enter the war. Originally, when World War I erupted in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson stated that the United States would stay out of the war, thus making them neutral. With Britain being one of the Untied States allies, the pressure was on to have the United States join the Brits and help them against constant enemy attack made by Germany. The United States had managed to remain neutral until May 7, when the British-owned Lusitania ocean liner was torpedoed without warning thus sinking the ship. Of the 1,959 passengers, 1,198 were killed, including 128 Americans. This was one of the many factors that finally persuade the United States Military to finally get involved in WWI.

After the end of WWI, the Allies had come together to discuss what to do with Germany after the war ended. The main part of the treaty declared that Germany was to accept full blame for the start of WWI. Many of the other sections include Germany to pay back all the damage done and to cut the size of their military by huge numbers. Germany was enraged because they were neither invited or allowed at the meeting, thus creating resentment against the two forces.

Rosa Parks, a young African-American woman was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white male on a public city bus. According to a Montgomery city ordinance law, African-Americans were required to sit at the back of public buses. If a white rider would happen to tell them to move because the front of the bus was filled up, they would then have to oblige thus giving their seat up. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white male, thus making the bus driver inform the authorities to have her removed and taken to jail . Afterwords, the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott was organized by a Baptist Minister named, Martin Luther King Jr.

At the end of WWII in 1945, Germany was divided into four Allied occupation zones. The zones were controlled by the French, British, Soviets, and the Americans. The capital city, Berlin, was divided into four sections as well. The Soviets, who wanted revenge on the Germans, built a wall separating east and west Germany and east and west Berlin. The east Germans, being controlled by the Soviets, were not allowed to travel to the west side. However, the west Germans were allowed to travel to the east side. This wall would continue to stand for almost three decades later.

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were at a never ending, non-physical war with each other.

John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated during a trip to Dallas, Texas. Sitting in a Lincoln convertible contained Mrs. Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally, Mrs. Connally, and the President himself. As they made their way through the parade route, they passed the Texas School Book Depository Building at 12:30 p.m. Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired three shots from the sixth floor, fatally wounding the President, and seriously injuring the Governor. Kennedy was later pronounced dead 30 minutes after arriving at Dallas' Parkland Hospital.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an African-American Civil rights leader. He was visiting Memphis, Tennessee to speak with the poorly treated African-American sanitation workers. He was in the city on March 28 to speak to the sanitation workers, but left due to young African-American boy being shot during the protest march. He left the city and promised to come back in early April. He was on his way to the dinner when a bullet punctured him right in the jaw, and severed his spinal cord thus killing MLK. The man who was later revealed to have shot and killed King, was a man whose name was James Earl Ray.

In the early morning of June 17, several burglars were apprehended inside the office of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) located in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. After consulting with the intruders, it was later found out that they were from the Republican Party. Not only were they from the Republican Party, they were also connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign. President Nixon swore up and down that he had no involvement with the prowlers caught at Watergate. The police report that the prowlers had been caught while attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents. It