African Independence

After the second world war the major colonial powers of Europe were weakened. They could not maintain their colonies in Africa and were forced to grant them independence. Some countries tried to prepare them for Independence like Great Britain, others tried to maintain control, like the French and the Portuguese. The first colony to gain Independence was Ghana. Its first president was Kwame Nkrumah. He was the ruler of Ghana until 1966. The countries has been in civil war ever since. Other countries in Africa who gained Independence were Algeria (France 1962 lead by Ahmed Ben Bella), Kenya (Britain 1963 led by Jomo Kenyatta), The Congo (Belgium 1960 led by Mobutu Sese Seko), and Angola (Portugal 1975 led by the MPLA)

The Neolithic Revolution

The Neolithic Revolution was a point in history about 10,000 years ago that humans started to grow plants and domesticate animals. This was important because Humans could settle down in one place. This allowed the population to expand, and cities to grow. Most Cities were near river valleys because they had easy access to drinking water and water to grow food.

The European Union

The European Union is an alliance between 25 European nations. Members of the EU can cross the borders of other member nations easily, they have a common military, and a common currency. The EU is a good thing because it will prevent war in Europe.

The Right Stuff

In the movie "The Right Stuff" the U.S and The Soviet Union were competing to become the first in space. The Russians were winning the competition because they sent the first man in space in 1961. The scene that will help me remember the cold war best was when they showed the 2 soviet rockets being fired because it shows the soviets as cold and dark.

The Cuban Missle Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day period between October 15 1962 and October 28 1962 when the U.S and the U.S.S.R almost fought a nuclear war. It started when the soviets decided to install nuclear missiles in Cuba to attack the U.S in case of war. On the 15th the missile sites were found. On the 22nd president John F. Kennedy told the American People of the situation. On the 26th Nikita Khrushchev sent a letter telling Kennedy that he'll remove the missiles if he promises not to invade Cuba. The crisis ended in October 28, when Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles and return them to the Soviet Union.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

NATO and the Warsaw pact are military alliances. NATO was founded by the United States in 1949, to protect Western Europe from a Soviet invasion. The founding countries included the U.S, Canada, Great Britain, and France. In response the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact to defend Eastern Europe against NATO. Its members included the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Albania.