World events Contemporary Voices

Korean War begins 1950 First color broadcasting on TV 1953 Sputnik(first artificial satellite) is launched 1957 Fidel Castro takes control of Cuba 1959 Cuban missile crisis ends 1962 US is leading outside power in Vietnam War 1964-1975 Neil Armstrong walks on the moon 1969 Berlin wall falls 1989 Oslo peace agreement is signed 1993 Nelson Mandela becomes South African president in nation’s first all-race election 1994

Key Events George VI dies and is succeeded by daughter, Elizabeth II in 1952 In 1957, Britain granted independence to Gold Coast which is now Ghana. First African colony south of Sahara to achieve such status. South Africa withdraws from British Commonwealth.(1961) British attempts to join Common Market rejected.(1963) Violence in Northern Ireland following attempt to grant civil rights to Catholic minority.(1969) In 1970, Equal Pay Act passed. Means that British women’s wages will equal those of men with same jobs. In 1973, Britain and Ireland allowed into Common Market which is now European Union (EU). In 1979, Margaret Thatcher becomes 1st female prime minister. Racial tensions and unemployment lead to riots in London, Charles, heir to the throne, marries Lady Diana Spencer (1981) In 1982, Britain defeats Argentina in Falklands War Construction begins on 31-mile long “Chunnel” joining Britain to France under English Channel in 1987. Finished in 1994. In 1991, Britain joins with US and other nations in Persian Gulf War In 1997, Britain returns Hong Kong to China after 155 years of colonial rule; Princess Diana dies in Paris because of an auto incident.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding was published in 1954 and reflected the war happening in reality In 1956 Six Feet of the Country and Other Stories, a collection of short stories by Nadine Gordimer that depict the racial struggle in South Africa was published Published in 1962, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is an intense novel about a futuristic society, misguided youth, and government repression. African Stories by Doris Lessing was published in 1965 and is a collection of 11 stories about the prejudice of white African settlers. Ted Hughes (an English poet and children’s writer) was named poet laureate in 1984 a position in which the poet is appointed by the government and is expected to write poems for state events. Margaret Atwood’s collection Morning in the Burned House, which covers topics from feminism to loss, was published in 1995.