Media, Democracy, and Youth Culture Timeline:

1850s

Penny papers: end of partisan journalism and beginning of for-profit newspapers featuring “straight” news (nonpartisan news designed to appeal to people across various political views).

Advertising replaces political parties as newspapers’ primary source of support.

New York Times begins as The Daily Times

Reuters news agency established

260 magazines published in the U.S.

U.S. has recently taken over northern parts of Mexico from the Spanish, creating U.S. southwest (Mexican War, 1846-1848)

Gold Rush brings thousands to California; California Land Act enacted to settle property disputes between Mexican Americans and Anglos. Silver Rush brings thousands to Colorado

Potato famine in Ireland brings more than 100,000 Irish to U.S.; large numbers of Chinese immigrate to U.S. for employment

First women’s rights conference organized in Seneca Falls, NY

Beginning of Republican party (established to abolish slavery, impose high protective tariffs, and support the building of a transcontinental railroad)

1860s

U.S. Civil War

Web offset press prints both sides of a continuous roll at once, making newsprint much cheaper and faster than ever before.

Morrill Land Grant Act establishes universities offering affordable education throughout the U.S.

Civil Rights Act is passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto, granting citizenship to all native-born residents of the United States except Native Americans.

The 14th Amendment provides equal protection under the law to all citizens.

The first reservations for Native Americans are established in Oklahoma.

Congress enacts an eight-hour work day for federal employees, but workers in private industry continue to work 10-12 hours or more per day.

The Wyoming Territory grants women the right to vote and to hold office, becoming the first area in the world to do so.

1870s

Telephone and phonograph invented
1876
Colorado becomes the 38th state

1880s

Portable camera invented

First photos in newspapers

First moving images

First advertising agencies

Joseph Pulitzer buys New York World

Commercial book publishing becomes profitable

1890s
Era of “yellow journalism” as Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst compete to sell the most sensational news (yellow was used as a color in a comic strip known by its audience as “The Yellow Kid”)
Telegraph connects most of world: 3 million miles
Public relations begins as railroads hire “press agents” to interpret workers’ strikes
Mail order catalogs published by large department stores
Recorded music sales grow
Native Americans forced to reservations.
In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court rules that "separate but equal" facilities for Anglos and African Americans are constitutional. The ruling marks the start of the Jim Crow era, legalizing segregation.
Spanish-American war; Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines become U.S. territories

1900s
the term "adolescence" first enters U.S. use
Jacob Riis photography alerts public to horrible conditions of urban slum life
Kodak’s $1 Brownie puts photography into everyone’s reach
Newspapers begin switching from wood engravings to photos
Estimated 1800 magazines published in the U.S.
The Great Train Robbery runs at new and immediately popular nickelodeons (1909).
Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law protects authors and composers (1909).
Workers, primarily immigrant women, organize the International Ladies Garment Workers Union to improve conditions for seamstresses, many of whom work up to 14 hours a day and earn no more than $2.50 a week. In 1909, Women in the garment industry stage a three-month strike in New York City, demanding a 52-hour work week and wage increases.
W.E.B. DuBois, Jane Addams, and others help to establish the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which strives to fight segregation, end lynchings, and discourage inequalities in employment opportunities.

Freud publishes works on “Screen Memories” and “Id, Ego, and Superego”

1910
Radio hobbyists build receivers and talk with one another.
The Mexican Revolution begins, forcing many Mexicans to cross the border for safety and employment. U.S. railroad companies recruit nearly 2,000 Mexican workers every month.

1911
More than 11,000 immigrants arrive at Ellis Island in one day.
Journalist and owner of the New York World Joseph Pulitzer establishes the Pulitzer Prizes.
The publication of W.E.B. DuBois's The Souls of Black Folk portrays the use of patriotic, nonviolent activism to bring about social reform.

1913
Hollwood becomes center for U.S. film production.
More than 2,000 suffragettes march down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., while angry crowds of men spit at them and jeer.

1914
Grand cinema houses built in urban areas.
World War I in Europe; President Woodrow Wilson declares U.S. neutrality (1914-1917). Opponents use media for propaganda.

1915
Charlie Chaplin stars in films of social commentary (The Tramp)
Margaret Sanger publishes alternative newspaper on birth control.
Labor unions gain legal right to strike as a means of addressing grievances

1917
U.S. joins the war, which ends in 1918.

1920
KDKA-Pittsburgh begins regular radio programming schedule, ushering in new era of radio listening.
Women granted the right to vote
Harlem Renaissance
Jazz music increases in popularity across the U.S.
Chicago Defender publishing
Era of social reforms among women, socialists, labor, new immigrants, African Americans

1921
World Series reported by radio
Western Union wirephoto service begins

1922
40 million movie tickets sold weekly
Hays Office established, a move for self-censorship in Hollywood meant to avoid social reformers’ efforts at censoring films.

1923
A.C. Nielsen company begins to measure radio audiences for advertisers.
Time begins publication
National Association of Broadcasters formed
Half a million radios sold, a five-fold increase over the previous year

1925
First soap opera broadcasts begin

1926
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) becomes the first nationwide entertainment radio broadcasting network (buys AT & T “red”).

1927
NBC begins second radio network, NBC “blue”
CBS is formed
Radio Act of 1927: Federal Radio Commission regulates radio transmission, not content, but declares public ownership of the airwaves and establishes the broadcast “public interest” mandate
The Jazz Singer is first popular “talkie”
Movietone offers newsreels with sound

1928
Electricity becomes common in middle class homes
Radio operates with electrical current instead of batteries

1929
On October 29, 1929, stock values fall by more than 40 percent, triggering the Great Depression.

1930
All Quiet on the Western Front, an anti-war movie, wins the Oscar
Decade sees labor strikes, political marches, race riots
lynchings of Blacks continues in South

1931
Little Orphan Annie is one of children’s popular radio programs

1932
Severe drought causes dust storms in the Great Plains, creating the Dust Bowl and starting an exodus of farmers to California.
Farm Security Administration established; Dorothea Lange, Walter Evans employed to photograph struggles of the Depression era

1933
Hitler and Nazis use radio for propaganda
The heart of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, the National Industrial Recovery Act, encourages fair business practices by providing for a minimum wage, limiting the length of a work day, and prohibiting child labor.

1934
Communications Act of 1934 renames the FRC as the Federal Communications Commission, extends reach beyond radio to telephones, fax lines, cable, and telegraph.
People are receiving news from radio and from newsreels before features.

1935
The National Labor Relations Board establishes the right of workers to bargain collectively.

1937
Decades of reporting finally result in establishment of child labor laws.

1938
More than 80 million movie tickets sold each week.
More than 50 million radios in U.S. homes.

1939
NBC starts regular daily broadcasts on television, following more than a decade of experimentation.
World War II begins as Hitler invades Poland; Roosevelt declares U.S. neutrality

1940
Chaplin’s The Great Dictator parodies Hitler and Mussolini

1941
Citizen Kane breaks new ground in film production.
FCC sets technical standards for TV, authorizes TV broadcasting; one million TV sets are sold by the end of the year.
U.S. enters the war with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. FDR war declaration has largest radio audience in history: 30 million.

1942
U.S. establishes Office of War Information: oversees and approves Hollywood scripts; funnels money toward favored patriotic films; outlaws man-in-the-street and ad-lib interviews.
bracero program begins – Mexicans can work temporarily in U.S. (normalizes low wages for migrant workers; in effect until 1964)

1943
NBC Blue becomes ABC
Wire recorders help journalists report on the war
Comic book publishing has taken off; selling 25 million copies/month
Zoot Suit riots in LA: servicemen injure Mexican American teens; Navy ordered by federal government to stay out of Mexican districts in Los Angeles

1944
NBC presents first televised nightly newscast

1945
World War II ends; black and Mexican American veterans return, seeking equal rights in country they defended

1946
Dr. Spock writes best-selling Baby and Child Care, influencing a generation of child-rearing practices.

1947
World series is telecast.
Commercials aired on television for the first time.
Congress enacts the Taft-Hartley Labor Act over President Truman's veto, limiting the power of labor unions and restricting the use of strikes, closed shops, and political activities.
Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American in major league baseball when he signs with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1948
CBS and NBC begin 15-minute nightly newscasts
LP (“long-playing”) 25 minute records replace 4 minute records

1949
Supreme Court decision splits movie production houses from theater chains
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) begins sit-ins in St. Louis, Missouri, to protest discrimination against African Americans; the sit-ins continue until 1953.

1950
More than 3 billion tickets sold at movie theaters.
FCC Fairness Doctrine states that radio and television stations must carry opinions on both sides of political issues.
Nielsens begin tracking television audiences.
Senator Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin charges that the State Department has been infiltrated by Communists.
U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee creates a “black list” in Hollywood, limiting the ability of writers, producers, actors, and others suspected of “communist” activities.
After a general invasion by the Communists of North Korea, President Truman announces his decision to send air and sea forces to support South Korea. The United Nations Security Council calls on its members to give armed assistance.
The FCC authorizes the first color television broadcasting. CBS is the first network to gain a license, over the objections of RCA, which claims to have a more sophisticated system.

1951
Color television sets go on sale
“Top 40” radio format is created; disc jockeys become popular personalities among young people.
One and a half million tv sets in the U.S.; a tenfold jump in one year

1952
American Bandstand broadcasts begin
The Supreme Court grants movies First Amendment protection
J. Edgar Hoover orders FBI agents to collect evidence that would justify listing the Asociación Nacional México-Americana (ANMA) as a security threat under the Internal Security Act of 1950. Despite an appeal, ANMA is listed as a subversive organization, and many members are deported.
The University of Tennessee admits its first African-American student.

1953
FCC adopts NTSC color standard for television
Voice of America increases broadcasts to Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) begins sit-ins in Baltimore, Maryland, to protest discrimination against African Americans in public facilities.

1954
54% of US homes have television sets.
In Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court declares that maintaining separate-but-equal segregated schools violates the 14th Amendment and is unconstitutional. In the Brown II decision later that month, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that school desegregation must take place "with all deliberate speed."

1955
Movie studios open their vaults for television rentals and sales
Research shows that television viewing correlates inversely with education and
Household income
On December 1, an African-American domestic worker named Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give her seat on a bus to an Anglo man. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is elected to head the Montgomery Improvement Association and leads a 381-day boycott of buses in Montgomery, Alabama.
Ray Kroc starts the first McDonald's fast-food restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California.
U.S. advisers take responsibility for helping to train soldiers in the new Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).

1956
Cars built with car radios
Ampex builds a videotape machine for use with tv broadcast news
In November, the Supreme Court rules that bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, is illegal, ending the boycott.
Elvis Presley achieves national fame.

1957
Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road establishes the beat generation
Quiz show fraud evokes standards in tv programs
Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas calls out the state National Guard to prevent integration of Central High School in Little Rock. President Eisenhower sends federal troops to enforce court-ordered desegregation, and nine African-American students enter school guarded by the troops.
Jerome Robbins directs West Side Story, with music by Leonard Bernstein; this retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story depicts a tragic romance between a Puerto Rican teen girl and an Anglo teen boy.

1958
Live tv drama is replaced by videotaped programming
Defense Department creates ARPA, forerunner of the Internet
Ten thousand students, led by Jackie Robinson, Harry Belafonte, and A. Philip Randolph, participate in the Youth March for Integrated Schools in Washington, D.C.

1959
From Ampex, a mobile videotape recorder
The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) is formed to endorse candidates, register voters, and implement voter education programs.
Alaska becomes the 49th state and Hawaii the 50th.
At the request of the Republic of Vietnam, the United States sends additional military advisors.
Cuban immigration to the United States begins to increase when Fidel Castro overthrows Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship in Cuba.
Vice President Richard Nixon engages in the famous "kitchen debate" with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Moscow.
Rock-and-Roll stars Ritchie Valens (Ritchie Valenzuela) and Buddy Holly are killed in a plane crash.

1960
90% of US homes have television sets
African Americans stage sit-ins throughout the South to force the desegregation of lunch counters and other public places.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is organized at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The U.S. Supreme Court determines that segregated bus terminals are unconstitutional.

1961
FCC Chairman Newton Minow calls television a “vast wasteland”
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) sponsors the Freedom Riders, an interracial group that tries to end segregation on interstate bus routes.
Black Muslims, under the leadership of Malcolm X, promote black power and a separate racial identity.
President Kennedy announces that the United States will help the Republic of Vietnam increase its military strength but will not commit combat forces; shortly thereafter, the number of U.S. advisors is increased.

1962
Telstar satellite sends signal across the Atlantic.
FCC requires UHF tuners on tv sets
César Chávez organizes the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in Delano, California.
The U.S. Supreme Court vacates a lower court ruling and decides that the University of Mississippi must admit James H. Meredith as its first African-American student. After being blocked by Governor Ross Barnett and Lieutenant Governor Paul Johnson, James Meredith is finally escorted to registration by a large force of federal marshals.

1963
NBC and CBS nightly newscasts expand to 30 minutes in color
TV news comes of age with coverage of the John F. Kennedy assassination
The first phase of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, begins with a series of sit-ins. On April 6, about 45 demonstrators march to city hall and are arrested.
Civil rights demonstrations occur throughout the country. Medgar W. Evers, Field Secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is shot and killed in Jackson, Mississippi. Riots break out as a reaction to the killing.
Feminist Betty Friedan publishes her best-selling book The Feminine Mystique, which attacks the image of the happy housewife.
In August, more than 250,000 people participate in the March on Washington; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
On November 22, President John F. Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas; Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson is sworn in as president. While in police custody, Oswald is murdered by nightclub owner Jack Ruby.
One day after Kennedy's assassination, President Johnson reaffirms the U.S. commitment to defeat the Communists who have recently overthrown the government in South Vietnam; he authorizes clandestine operations against North Vietnam.

1964
First televised negative political ad: skewers Barry Goldwater as potentially abusing US access to nuclear power to the detriment of all
First personal computer produced
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) members organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). Its Mississippi Freedom Summer Project launches voter registration campaigns, "freedom schools" educate local people, and four MFDP congressional candidates qualify for the Democratic Party primary.
The bracero program is finally repealed, and Mexican-American labor leaders see an opportunity to work toward unionizing the farmworkers.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, gender, creed, or ethnic background and establishes affirmative action programs to remove discrimination in advertising, recruitment, hiring, job classification, promotion, wages, and conditions of employment.
President Johnson initiates the War on Poverty program to combat the causes of poverty, including illiteracy and unemployment, and to combat racial discrimination.
"Beatlemania" spreads worldwide as the British rock group becomes the most popular music group in history.
After three North Vietnamese PT boats attack a U.S. destroyer in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin, U.S. jets bomb bases and an oil depot in North Vietnam. Congress passes the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, giving President Johnson the power to use any action necessary to repel an armed attack on U.S. forces. The number of U.S. advisers in Vietnam is now 23,000.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1965
“Bobo doll” study attempts to prove that television watching induces violent behavior
Vietnam war becomes first war to be televised.
Commercial communications satellite is launched
Malcolm X is assassinated in New York City.
The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 limits immigrants from countries in the Western Hemisphere to 120,000 per year, down from a high of 500,000 a year in the 1920s and 1930s. For the first time in U.S. history, Mexico has an immigration quota.
On September 8, Filipino farmworkers from the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee strike the Di Giorgio Corporation in the San Joaquin Valley of California.
On September 16, César Chávez and Dolores Huerta lead the National Farm Workers Association in a vote to join the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee strike.
Thousands of demonstrators, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., complete a five-day march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. At the state capital, King addresses a rally of about 50,000 people. After the rally, an Anglo housewife, Mrs. Viola Liuzzo, is shot to death; three Klansmen are later convicted of the crime.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 expands the registration of African-American voters, especially in the South, and federal offices are established to prevent abuses by registrars. Although this legislation is targeted primarily to African Americans, it addresses obstacles to voter registration faced by all minorities, including Mexican Americans.
As the United States sends combat troops to Vietnam, nationwide student protests begin. U.S. forces number 184,000 by the end of the year.
César Chávez and the National Farm Workers Association begin a grape boycott.The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is created; Dr. Robert C. Weaver is appointed its secretary, becoming the first African-American cabinet member.
Luis Valdez creates El Teatro Campesino to support the National Farm Workers Association with political theater.

1966
Hollywood adopts an age-based ratings system: G, PG, R, X
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) issues a policy statement condemning U.S. involvement in Vietnam; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. publicly denounces the Vietnam conflict as "rapidly degenerating into a sordid military adventure."
From March 17 to April 11, César Chávez and the National Farm Workers Association march from Delano to Sacramento, California, arriving on Easter Sunday.
On April 29, Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales establishes the Crusade for Justice in Denver, Colorado.
On August 22, the United Farm Workers (UFW) is formed from the combined membership of the National Farm Workers Association and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee and is admitted to the AFL-CIO.
Betty Friedan founds the National Organization for Women (NOW); the group coins the phrase "women's liberation."
Truth-in-packaging laws requires clear and accurate lists and amounts of ingredients on drug, cosmetic, and food products.
The Black Panther Party is founded in Oakland, California, by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. By the end of the year, 385,000 U.S. troops are in Vietnam.

1967
Congress creates Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Newspapers introduce computers into their operations
ABC joins NBC and CBS, offering 30 minute nightly newscasts
Rolling Stone begins publication
Muhammad Ali is stripped of the world heavyweight boxing title for refusing military service.
The Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) is formally organized at St. Mary's College in San Antonio, Texas; it includes José Angel Gutiérrez, Ignacio "Nacho" Pérez, Mario Compeán, and Willie Velásquez among its leadership. Although the initiative for MAYO has come from college students, the organization does not limit itself to campuses; chapters are formed throughout the Southwest.
Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court.
Luis and Daniel Valdez produce the first Chicano film, an adaptation of Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales's epic poem "Yo Soy Joaquin" (I Am Joaquín).
On May 13, about 250 Chicano students from Los Angeles colleges and universities meet to form the United Mexican American Students (UMAS).
Chicano poet Alurista (Alberto Baltazar Urista) organizes the Movemiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), a Chicano student movement.
More than 1,000 people attend the first Black Power Conference in Newark, New Jersey.
Racial riots in Detroit leave 43 dead, more than 2,000 injured, and more than 5,000 arrested. Federal troops are called out; the riot proves to be the largest rebellion in a U.S. city during the 20th century.
David Sánchez forms the Brown Berets, a self-defense group that supports Chicano community action. The group begins to picket law enforcement offices.
The independent Chicano press Quinto Sol begins publishing books by Chicano authors. It also publishes a monthly journal, El Grito, to provide a forum for Mexican-American cultural expression.
Jacques Derrida’s philosophy deconstructs Western rationalist thinking
485,000 U.S. troops are in Vietnam.

1968
News videographers lug 2-inch videotape “portable” machines
US movie attendance drops to 20 million tickets/week (10% of population)
In January, North Vietnam conducts a major offensive action on Saigon during the Tet offensive, marking a turning point in public opinion about the war and fueling antiwar demonstrations in the U.S.
On February 15, César Chávez begins a 25-day fast at Forty Acres, near Delano, California. He proclaims that the fast is to show penitence for morale problems in the United Farm Workers and to discourage threats of violence among his followers.
On February 29, President Johnson's 1967 National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (called the Kerner Commission) issues its report, warning that the nation is "moving toward two societies, one black, one white -- separate and unequal." It recommends sweeping reforms in federal and local law enforcement, welfare, employment, housing, and education.
On March 1, the Chicana Welfare Rights Organization is formed, with Alicia Escalante as director.
On March 3, teacher Sal Castro joins more than 10,000 students as they begin a one-and-a-half-week walkout of five East Los Angeles High Schools: Lincoln, Roosevelt, Garfield, Wilson, and Belmont. Students demand a Board of Education response to their ten-point plan for better education.
On March 31, President Johnson orders a partial bombing halt in Vietnam, calls for peace talks, and announces that he will not seek reelection.
On April 4, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by an Anglo sniper in Memphis, Tennessee. His assassination precipitates riots in more than 100 cities, including Washington, D.C., and Chicago. President Johnson designates Sunday, April 6, as a national day of mourning.
On April 9, Chicano students walk out of high schools in San Antonio, Texas.
On April 11, President Johnson signs a civil rights bill that bans racial discrimination in the sale or rental of 80 percent of the nation's housing and makes it a crime to interfere with civil rights workers or to cross state lines to incite a riot.
Preliminary peace talks for the Vietnam War begin in Paris.
On June 5, Robert Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles after winning the California primary with massive Chicano support.
Richard M. Nixon is elected president; Spiro T. Agnew is his vice president.

1969
Sony introduces 3/4” U-Matic videotape – the first videocassette editing system.
Atronauts send live pictures from the moon
Department of Defense commissions ARPANET for testing (forerunner of the Internet)
FCC bans television broadcast advertising of tobacco
Woodstock brings young people together for a soggy yet peaceful rock conert
Gay and lesbian patrons of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resist police brutality and disruption, claiming their civil rights
José Angel Gutiérrez forms La Raza Unida (The United People) in Crystal City, Texas.
From March 27 to 31, the Crusade for Justice sponsors the first national Chicano Youth Liberation Conference. During the week-long conference, the poet known as Alurista (Alberto Baltazar Urista) presents his poem on the myth of Aztlán, which captures the imagination of the conference by defining a symbolic Chicano homeland within the borders of the United States.
Chicano students in Santa Barbara, California, draft El Plan de Santa Barbara, promising to apply their education to the benefit of their communities.
The peak of U.S. troop strength in Vietnam is reached, numbering 543,000.
The Chicano newspaper El Malcriado (The Brat), begins publication as the official voice of the United Farm Workers (UFW). In addition to covering the labor struggles of the farmworkers, the newspaper also publishes poems, short stories, and corridos (ballads).
In August, over 400,000 people attend the Woodstock music festival near Bethel, New York.
In September, Ho Chi Minh dies in North Vietnam. President Nixon announces the withdrawal of 35,000 troops, the beginning of a steady withdrawal from Vietnam; bombing raids are intensified in Cambodia.
A federal grand jury indicts eight antiwar protestors for conspiring to incite a riot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The trial of the "Chicago 8" ends with acquittals.
Diana Palacios challenges a ruling at a Crystal City, Texas, high school that allows only one Mexican American to be chosen for the cheerleading squad. When her petition is rejected, more than 1,700 high school students walk out of classes on December 9 to demand Mexican-American cheerleaders, teachers, counselors, and representation in the curriculum

1970
The U.S. Census reports a total population of 203.3 million people.
FCC forces television networks out of syndication business with “fin-syn” rules
On March 6, police respond violently to a peaceful student protest at Roosevelt High in East Los Angeles, arresting 37 students; many other students are injured.
Chicanas establish the Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional, Inc. (CFMN) at the Mexican American National Issues Conference in Los Angeles to promote Chicanas in policymaking matters at all levels and focus attention on issues pertaining to Chicanas and their families. They also hold a separate caucus at the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) National Convention in Sacramento, California, to explore ways to include more Chicanas in the leadership of the organization.
On May 1, a joint U.S.-South Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia begins; massive protests occur in the United States in response to the invasion. An anti-Vietnam War protest at Kent State University in Ohio ends with a National Guard attack that kills four students and wounds nine.

1971
E-mail is available, to the limited few who have access (22 university and government affiliations)
On April 20, the U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education that busing is a constitutionally acceptable method of integrating public schools where geographical and demographic segregation have existed.
In May, the First National Conference of La Raza Women meets in Houston, Texas, attracting more than 600 Chicanas from 23 states.
The FBI Counter-Intelligence Program (CINTELPRO) infiltrates Chicano and black organizations and provokes acts of violence.
David García releases the film Requiem-29, a documentary of the East Los Angeles riot of 1970 and the death of Chicano reporter Ruben Salazar.
The 26th Amendment lowers the minimum voting age from 21 to 18.
The U.S. Congress votes to end the draft in 1973.

1972
Washington Post begins Watergate reporting that will bring down the President
Pong, the first home video game, is introduced
HBO starts pay-service for cable
Feminists, including Gloria Steinem, lead the drive for the Equal Rights Amendment, which falls three states short of ratification.
In March, the Paris peace talks on the Vietnam War are suspended indefinitely; by May 1st, the number of U.S. troops has been reduced to 69,000.
Police arrest five men for breaking into the Democratic Party National Headquarters in the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C.; Republicans deny charges that the burglars were supported by President Nixon's campaign officials. Attorney General John N. Mitchell resigns as head of the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP).

1973
People magazine begins
In January, the United States and Hanoi agree to a final peace accord to end the Vietnam War.
The last U.S. troops are withdrawn from Vietnam.
The Senate Watergate hearings begin to unravel the White House involvement in the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters.
The United States and South Vietnam sign a cease-fire with North Vietnam, ending the Vietnam War.

1974
Punk rock music emerges in Britain with themes of anarchy and nihilism
Congress passes the Equal Educational Opportunity Act, making bilingual education available to Latino youth and providing special programs to students who need to learn English.
On August 8, Richard M. Nixon resigns rather than face impeachment for his involvement in the Watergate break-in.
The Bilingual Press, an independent Chicano press, starts publishing.
President Ford issues an unconditional pardon to Richard Nixon for any federal crimes he may have committed as president.
The Mexican-American Women's National Association (MANA) is established to advance the status of Mexican-American women, promote leadership opportunities, and work toward parity in the workplace.
President Ford offers a conditional amnesty to draft evaders and deserters of the Vietnam War.

1975
Microcomputer reaches the U.S. home market
The Agricultural Labor Relations Act is signed into law in California. Despite early union victories, farmworkers face complicated enforcement battles with growers, the state legislature, and governors.
John Mitchell, John Ehrlichman, and Bob Haldeman are found guilty of perjury, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice in the Watergate cover-up. Judge John Sirica sentences them to prison.
Amendments to the 1965 Voting Rights Act ban literacy tests permanently and make bilingual ballots a requirement in certain areas.
The National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) is founded to represent educators, parents, business people, college and university officials, and paraprofessionals working to promote bilingual education for linguistic minority populations.
In April, the United States evacuates troops, civilians, and refugees from South Vietnam; Saigon is captured by northern forces, and Vietnam falls to Communist control.

1976
Steve Jobs creates the Apple I computer
Supreme Court rules that “Family Hour” on television is unconstitutional; networks no longer restricted in what can be shown
Barbara Walters is the first woman to anchor a nightly newscast
US Copyright Act extends protection for 50 years
Jimmy Carter elected president
Press declares this the “Year of the Evangelical”

1977
The Apple II home computer is a best seller
As a TV miniseries, Roots draws 130 million viewers over 8 nights
Nintendo begins to sell computer games
Games like Space invaders draw young teens to arcades

1979
52 Americans held hostage in Iran crisis

1980
Ronald Reagan elected President; Moral Majority credited with grass-roots organization that fueled right wing
Backlash against La Raza begins; large agribusinesses take back their rights. Workers’ concerns about the health problems from pesticides go unheard
Boycott of 1980 U.S. summer Olympics in Moscow in protest of USSR invasion of Afghanistan

1981
MTV begins

1982
Drought in Africa triggered famine and starvation

1985

An American recording, “We Are the World,” raised $50 million for famine in Africa and led to British Band Aid Live Aid concert, which raised $70 million. Live telecast on MTV from New York and London

1986
US space shuttle Challenger explodes just after takeoff, killing all 7 aboard

1988
George H.W. Bush elected President

1987

Black Monday stock market plunge

1989
Berlin Wall comes down
Chinese government crushes student protests with troops and tanks in Tainanmen Square
Oliver North convicted of involvement Iran-Contra affair, involving sale of guns to contras (Reagan had lifted the sanctions on dealing with Iran in 1981, and despite calling Iran a "terrorist state," had not stopped aides from selling weapons to Iranian gov't; profits on the sale were used to support the contras, a mercenary force in Nicaragua attempting to overthrow the socialist government there. The support was without Congressional input or knowledge and was against the law).
Exxon Valdez oil spill; largest spill in history(nearly 1.3 million barrels)

1990
Iraq invaded, annexed Kuwait

1991
Soviet Union dissolved
U.S. enters Gulf War

1992
Bill Clinton elected President.
Serbia initiates ethnic cleansing against Muslims and Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Riots in South Central LA after the acquittal of LA police in the Rodney King incident (in which an amateur captured police brutality on videotape)
First Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro; agreement to reduce greenhouse gases

1996
Bill Clinton elected for a second term as President

2000
George Bush elected President by ruling of the Supreme Court, after winning the electoral college votes but failing to win the popular vote.
Dot.com bust begins; stock market experiences decline; largest shift of wealth from middle to upper classes in U.S. history

2001
Suicide bombing of World Trade Center towers in New York City; simultaneous crashes in Pentagon and field in Pennsylvania; more than 3500 killed

2003
Supreme Court considers University of Michigan case that could outlaw admission policies that grant minority students points on an admission scale. Although meant to ensure campus diversity for the benefit of all students, Bush administration files brief in support of relinquishing the points system.

This Timeline compilation has drawn upon:

http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/time

http://chicano.nlcc.com/timeline.html