1. World events Contemporary Voices

2. 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
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

3. 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 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.

4. 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 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.