Forrest Gump

The Vietnam War had begun in 1954 through some conflict that stretched back to the mid 1940s. The Vietnam war lasted for about 20 years, and in 1975, Saigon was captured by the North Vietnamese army and that marked the end of the war. The war killed about 2 million Vietnamese civilians, 1.1 million north Vietnamese troops, 200,000 south Vietnamese troops, and over 58,000 US troops. Tens of thousands of who were in combat were severely wounded. The bombings of North and South Vietnam left the country in ruins, and it took many years for the people in Vietnam to restore nearly everything they have lost. The Vietnam War has been dubbed "the most terrible war" and is still the most historically problematic war today.

Elvis Presley is one of the most well-known pop musicians in the world. He began his singing career in 1954, by singing with Sun Records label in Memphis. He sold his recording contract to RCA Victor and by 1956, he was an international sensation. In the late 1950s, one of his most popular dance moves were considered "inappropriate", even the police said he wasn't allowed to dance like that on stage, but during most of his performances he would dance however he felt was appropriate. Because of those so called "inappropriate" dance moves, it made Elvis Presley the most impersonated celebrity today.

John Lennon was born in England on October 9, 1940, Lennon’s parents went through a divorce, so he went to go live with his aunt. Lennon's mom often came to visit them, and even taught Lennon how to play the banjo, piano, and even bought him his own guitar. In high school, he was in a band called The Quarrymen, named after his school, Quarry Bank High. After Lennon graduated from high school in 1957, he formed the Beatles and made their first single, “Love Me Do,” in October of 1962, soon it was on the British charts at #17. In the mid 1960s, The Beatles became the world’s biggest band, and they toured all over the world. Lennon soon left the band in 1969 because he wanted to start writing his own music with his wife. He continued to write songs until a crazed fan shot and killed Lennon in 1980.

The hippie movement occurred after the Vietnam War, the hippies wore floral fabrics and would hand out flowers to the public and the soldiers, they would hold rallies around town protesting about freedom of speech and about ending the war, slowly the hippie era ended, because hippies were protesting the same thing over and over again, so the media had lost interest in them. So the hippies started making way for the yuppies, which was a new generation where people could make their own careers.

The Smiley was created in 1963 by a man named Harvey Ross Ball, who was an American graphic artist and an ad man. He came up with the smiley face when he was told to create a picture to raise enthusiasm among employees of a company who were going through hard times. Harvey Ross Ball finished the design in 10 minutes and was paid $45. He then decided to put the background color as yellow because it mainly meant happiness. Later in 1970, Bernard and Murray Spain got inspired and added the phrase: “Have a nice day” to the smiley face. Today, the smiley face company makes more than $130 million a year and is at one of the top 100 licensing companies of the world.

The Black Panther party was founded in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, and it was founded for Self Defense for black people. The Black Panthers caused a great deal around the world, for example, they had organized many community programs such as creating free breakfast for the black children, which fed 10,000 kids a day. The Black Panthers were mostly good influences, but had a few flaws such as making some black people fear them because they thought the Black Panthers were mostly violent. In the beginning of the 1980s, people started attacking the Black Panther party and internal degradation and divisions, which caused the party to fall.

The Ping Pong Diplomacy had started on 1970, when the American team was playing in Japan for the 31st World Championships. One year later, they recieved an invitation from the Chinese Government to play some Ping Pong in China. So on April 10, 1971, 9 American players went to China, they spent a week in China playing ping pong, but also toured around China’s historical landmarks and soaking themselves into the Chinese culture. The Ping Pong Diplomacy turned out successful, and even though the Ping Pong Diplomacy didn't last very long, it had a a great impact on the future, because the after the Ping Pong Diplomacy, the US had lifted the conflict against China on June 10, 1971. In 1988, Ping Pong had become an official Olympic Sport.

The Watergate Scandal was a major political scandal that took place in American in the 1970s, five men attempted to break into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate hotel and tried wiretap phones and steal some secret documents, fortunately, a security guard caught them and immediately called the police, the next morning of June 17, 1972, those five men were caught and arrested. There was a long list of accusations and convictions towards people who worked in the White House, but the Public had also turned on President Nixon thinking he was responsible for the break-in. Nixon got impeached and he resigned as president on August 8, 1974. The Watergate Scandal had a big impact on the world and the future of politics, it changed the way people looked at presidency, politics, and the Congress.