President Harry Truman Timeline
Important Dates, World and National Events During His Lifetime |
1884 |
(May 8) Born in Lamar, Mo. |
1917-1919 |
Served in the U.S. Army during World War I. |
1919 |
(June 28) Married Elizabeth Virginia Wallace. |
1922 |
Elected judge of Jackson County, Missouri. |
1924 |
Daughter Mary Margaret is born |
1934 |
Elected to the United States Senate. |
1941-1944 |
Served as chairman of the Truman Committee. |
1944 |
Elected Vice-President of the United States. |
1945 |
(April 12) President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in Warm Spring, Georgia |
1945 |
(April 12) Became the 33rd President of the United States. |
1945 |
The Atomic Age opened when American forces tested the atomic bomb. |
1945 |
(May 7) The German surrender ended World War II in Europe. |
1945 |
(Aug, 14) Japan surrendered, ending World War II. |
1945 |
Many wartime economic controls ended. |
1945 |
The United Nations was organized in San Francisco. |
1946 |
Congress created the Atomic Energy Commission. |
1946 |
Communist leaders began the Cold War with the West. |
1946 |
The Philippines became a republic. |
1947 |
Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act after the President had vetoed it. |
1947 |
Unification put the armed forces under a single Secretary of Defense. |
1947-1948 |
India, Pakistan, and Ceylon won independence in the British Commonwealth; Burma became a republic. |
1948 |
Elected President of the United States. |
1948 |
The Marshall Plan began giving economic aid to war-torn countries. |
1948 |
Israel became a republic in Palestine. |
1948 |
Scientists began using cortisone to treat arthritis. |
1948-1949 |
An Allied airlift supplied blockaded West Berlin. |
1948-1952 |
Workmen renovated the White House. |
1949 |
The U.S. and its allies set up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). |
1949 |
Mao Zedong announces the establishment of the People's Republic of China. |
1950 |
Two Puerto Ricans tried to kill the President. |
1950 |
Truman signs the 1950 Social Security Amendments that expands coverage and increases benefits. |
1950 |
North Korea invades South Korea |
1951 |
A Senate committee investigated U.S. crime. |
1951 |
Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur as UN commander in Korea. |
1951 |
Americans saw the first nationwide telecast. |
1951 |
22nd Amendment to the Constitution limits the President of the United States to two four-year terms. |
1952 |
A hydrogen bomb was tested. |
1952 |
Elizabeth II became Queen of England. |
1952 |
Puerto Rico became a commonwealth. |
1952 |
United Nations moves to New York City. |
1952 |
Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected President. |
1953 |
U.S. population was 159,700,000. |
1972 |
(Dec. 26) Died in Independence, Missouri. |