Chances are your students covered many of these stories that make our list of 100 Biggest News Events.

1. May 4, 1970
2. 9/11
3. #MeToo
4. Adolf Hitler named Chancellor of Germany: Nazi Party begins to seize power. 1933.
5. Alan Shepard becomes first American in space. 1961.
6. Alexander Fleming discovers the first antibiotic, penicillin. 1928.
7. American astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to walk on the moon. 1969.
8. American scientists patent the computer chip. 1959.
9. Apartheid ends in South Africa: law to treat races equally. 1993.
10. Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs — a single-season record that would last for 34 years. 1927.
11. Berlin Wall falls as East Germany lifts travel restrictions. 1989.
12. Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” inaugurates modern women’s rights movement. 1963.
13. Bill Gates and Paul Allen start Microsoft Corp. to develop software for Altair computer. 1975.
14. Black Lives Matter movement
15. British rock group The Beatles takes the United States by storm after debut on the Ed Sullivan show. 1964.
16. Brown vs. Board of Education ends “separate but equal” school segregation. 1954.
17. Bush/Gore election
18. Charles Lindbergh crosses the Atlantic in first solo flight. 1927.
19. Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion results in deaths of an estimated 7,000. 1986.
20. China begins “Great Leap Forward” modernization program: estimated 20 million die in ensuing famine. 1958.
21. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. 1968.
22. Civil rights march converges on Washington, D.C.: Martin Luther King gives “I Have A Dream” speech. 1963.
23. Climate change
24. Communists build wall to divide East and West Berlin. 1961.
25. Congress passes “GI Bill of Rights” to help veterans. 1945.
26. Congress passes interstate highway bill. 1956.
27. Congress passes landmark Civil Rights Act outlawing segregation. 1964.
28. Congress passes Voting Rights Act, outlawing measures used to suppress minority votes. 1965.
29. COVID pandemic
30. Cuban Missile Crisis threatens World War III. 1962.
31. D-Day invasion marks the beginning of the end of World War II in Europe. 1944.
32. Deadly AIDS disease identified. 1981.
33. Death of Queen Elizabeth
34. Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt beats incumbent President Herbert Hoover. 1932.
35. Dr. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine proven effective in University of Pittsburgh tests. 1953.
36. Electric automobiles
37. ENIAC’ becomes world’s first computer. 1946.
38. FDA approves birth control pill. 1960.
39. FDR launches “New Deal:” sweeping federal economic, public works legislation to combat depression. 1933.
40. First jet airplane takes flight. 1941.
41. First mass market personal computers launched. 1977.
42. Freedom March
43. George Floyd death
44. Germany invades Poland: World War II begins in Europe. 1939.
45. Germany surrenders: V.E. Day celebrated. 1945.
46. Hitler launches “Kristallnacht,” ordering Nazis to commit acts of violence against German Jews. 1938.
47. Horrors of Nazi Holocaust, concentration camps exposed. 1945.
48. Israel achieves statehood. 1948.
49. Israel-Hamas War
50. Jackie Robinson breaks baseball’s color barrier. 1947.
51. January 6 Insurrection
52. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor: United States enters World War II. 1941.
53. John Glenn becomes first American to orbit the earth. 1962.
54. Joseph Stalin begins forced modernization of the Soviet Union: resulting famines claim 25 million. 1928.
55. Louise Brown, first “test-tube baby,” born healthy. 1978.
56. Major media debunking misinfo
57. Manhattan Project begins secret work on atomic bomb: Fermi triggers first atomic chain reaction. 1942.
58. Mao Tse-tung establishes Peoples Republic of China: Nationalists flee to Formosa (Taiwan). 1949.
59. Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet Premier: begins era of “Glasnost.” 1985.
60. Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott begins after Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white person. 1955.
61. North Atlantic Treaty Organization established. 1949.
62. North Vietnamese boats reportedly attack U.S. ships: Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin resolution. 1964.
63. North Vietnamese forces take over Saigon. 1975.
64. Oct. 7 invasion of Israel
65. Pathfinder lands on Mars, sending back astonishing photos. 1997.
66. President John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas. 1963.
67. President Richard M. Nixon resigns after Watergate scandal. 1974.
68. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy assassinated in California. 1968.
69. Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” stimulates environmental protection movement. 1962.
70. Regular TV broadcasting begins in the United States. 1941.
71. Rise of AI and ChatGPT
72. Roe vs. Wade decision legalizes abortion. 1973.
73. Scientists at Bell Labs invent the transistor. 1948.
74. Scientists clone sheep in Great Britain. 1997.
75. Sec. of State George Marshall proposes European recovery program (The Marshall Plan). 1947.
76. Social Media
77. Soviets blockade West Berlin: Western allies respond with massive airlift. 1948.
78. Soviets launch Sputnik, first space satellite: space race begins. 1957.
79. Space travel by private companies
80. Structure of DNA discovered. 1953.
81. Teacher John Scopes’ trial pits creation against evolution in Tennessee. 1925.
82. Television debuts in America at New York World’s Fair. 1939.
83. The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes killing crew including school teacher Christa McAuliffe. 1986.
84. The U.S. Surgeon General warns about smoking-related health hazards. 1964.
85. U.S. combat troops arrive in South Vietnam: U.S. planes bomb North Vietnam. 1965.
86. U.S. stock market crashes: The Great Depression sets in. 1929.
87. U.S.S.R dissolves, Mikhail Gorbachev resigns: Boris Yeltsin takes over. 1991.
88. United Nations is officially established. 1945.
89. United States drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima, Nagasaki: Japan surrenders to end World War II. 1945.
90. United States sends troops to defend South Korea. 1950.
91. United States withdraws last ground troops from Vietnam. 1973.
92. Violence erupts at Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 1968.
93. War in Ukraine
94. Watergate scandal engulfs Nixon administration. 1973.
95. White House sex scandal leads to impeachment of President William Jefferson Clinton. 1998.
96. Wikileaks and founder Julian Assange
97. Winston Churchill designated Prime Minister of Great Britain. 1940.
98. Women’s March
99. World Wide Web revolutionizes the Internet. 1989.
100. Yuri Gagarin becomes first man in space. 1961.