20 Most Infamous Moments in U.S. History
40 items ranked
This is a look at the worst events our great nation has seen. This list is not compiled to bring up pain, but rather to show that no matter what happens, America will always be strong in the face of tyranny.
Click on up and down arrows to affect item's ranking
1.
Using the atomic bomb on Japan
It may have ended World War II, but it brought in a new age of fear.
1051 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz - 4 comments
Comments:
Hiroshima would not have happened if Pearl Harbor had not happened, and Nagasaki would not have happened if Japan would have surrendered. We had no beef with Japan. They sucker-punched a sleeping giant, which as you might have guessed, is a very very stupid thing to do. I hate that it happened, I'm glad it wasn't a decision I had to make, and it's true that it ushered in a new era of fear, but the Japanese had no one to blame but their own government/military. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a miscalculation of titanic proportions. And lest you forget, back then, Japan was nowhere even remotely close to what they are today. Everyone always wants to paint the Nazis as the ultimate evil, but let me tell you a story about a little thing called Unit 731...
Added 7 years ago by guest, 9 points
The US had to invent them because other enemy countries were trying to invent them, who ever got it first, wins.
Added 10 years ago by ibew98, 23 points
What are you on about? Hitler was already dead by this point! Maybe read a book sometime?
Added 10 years ago by guest, -13 points
Hitler was a bout 55 gallons short of "heavy water" and he would have had many nukes. if we didnt nuke Japan, millions more would have died. Truman did what he had to do.If the stupid Japanese Ruler would have surrendered after Hiroshima, Nagasaki would have never happened.
Added 12 years ago by redbarron80, 17 points
2.
The trail of tears
785 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
3.
The Bombing of Pearl Harbor
F.D.R. said it best that "This day will live in infamy." Yet while it is one of our worst moments in history, it mobilized a giant and thrust us into becoming a world power.
526 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
4.
September 11th, 2001
We are still seeing the aftermath of this horrible moment. In fact we still have a while before we really truly understand how the ramifications of this event will shape your future.
493 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
5.
The assasination of J.F.K.
251 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
6.
The Jonestown Massacre
249 points - added 13 years ago by guest -
7.
The Oklahoma City bombing
242 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
8.
Bay of Pigs
240 points - added 13 years ago by guest -
9.
The assasination of Martin Luther King Jr.
179 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
10.
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln
168 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
11.
Tuskegee syphilis experiment
150 points - added 13 years ago by guest -
12.
The Cuban Missle Crisis
147 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
13.
Roe v Wade Decision
Histories second "slaughter of the innocents."
145 points - added 14 years ago by tboneya - 2 comments
Comments:
When they made the decision, they chose WRONG!
Added 6 years ago by guest, 1 point
The second slaughter of the innocents are the lives of the women who were forced to have unsafe, illegal abortions because they were denied their rights.
Added 10 years ago by guest, -8 points
14.
Columbine High School Shooting
In a few moments of chaos we realized that even our own children could become monsters if we did not care for them properly.
141 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
15.
Waco
132 points - added 13 years ago by guest -
16.
The fall of Saigon
132 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
17.
Iran Contra
131 points - added 13 years ago by guest -
18.
Hurricane Katrina
125 points - added 13 years ago by guest -
19.
My Lai massacre
US soldiers killed 504 unarmed South Vietnamese villagers, mostly women and children.
117 points - added 13 years ago by guest -
20.
The Massacre at Virginia Tech
116 points - added 14 years ago by tboneya -
21.
University of Texas massacre
103 points - added 13 years ago by guest -
22.
The 1999 November Florida Presidential Ballot problems
99 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
23.
The assassination of Harvey Oswald
94 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
24.
Dred Scott Decision
88 points - added 14 years ago by tboneya -
25.
The treachery of Benedict Arnold
83 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
26.
Sinking of the U.S.S. Maine
69 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
27.
Shock and Awe
61 points - added 13 years ago by guest -
28.
Shooting at Kent State
a bunch of kids with guns shot a bunch of kids with flowers. Shows us just how easily tyranny can sneak into our lives.
54 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
29.
The sinking of the Titanic
As my father used to say, "Let this be a lesson to you."
50 points - added 12 years ago by Jfgibson -
30.
The McCarthy witch hunt
49 points - added 13 years ago by guest -
31.
The Battle of Gettysburg
45 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
32.
Sinking of the Lusitania
41 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
33.
Susan Smith Killing her own children
37 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
34.
Watergate
14 points - added 14 years ago by tboneya -
35.
April 19, 1775
I cannot, for the life of me, even begin to fathom as to why this date is not number one! Not only is it not number 1 - It's not even on the list!
It was Wednesday morning, on the 19th day of April, in the year 1775, that 800 British Regulars marched on Concord, Mass. to sieze the arms and sustenence of the American colonists. Just so happens, instead of preventing conflict - They inadvertly lit the match that would set the continent ablaze with an eight year war. Resulting in our independance from Britan, and ultimately the very nation that we now call The United States of America. This question would not even exist, were it not for the events at Lexington, Concord and the length of the road betwixt them and Boston, on April 19th, 1775. Have we really forgotten? Have we lost our heritage? Sad it is, that we have fallen this far.
4 points - added 13 years ago by guest - 1 comment
Comments:
I see, I have added it to the list. Well it's a start. Just a follow up note from a great man:
"Unhappy it is ... to reflect that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a brother's breast, and that the once happy and peaceful plains of America are either to be drenched with blood or inhabited by slaves. Sad alternative! But can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice?" -George Washington, May 1775
Added 13 years ago by guest, 0 points
36.
Iran-Iraq war
Selling arms to both sides. A bit naughty but somewhat understandable.
3 points - added 13 years ago by guest -
37.
Las Vegas Shooting of 2017
0 points - added 5 years ago by guest -
38.
First Gulf War
-20 points - added 13 years ago by guest - 1 comment
Comments:
saddam killed more people than milochovitch,Mussolini and idi amin combined!
Added 12 years ago by guest, 25 points
39.
Secong Gulf War
-21 points - added 13 years ago by guest - 8 comments
Comments:
"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..."
-- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003
Added 12 years ago by redbarron80, 36 points
"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members ... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."
-- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002
Added 12 years ago by redbarron80, 25 points
"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force -- if necessary -- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
-- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002
Added 12 years ago by redbarron80, 29 points
"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."
-- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
-- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
Added 12 years ago by redbarron80, 22 points
"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
-Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998
Added 12 years ago by redbarron80, 22 points
"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
Letter to President Clinton, signed by:
-- Democratic Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others, Oct. 9, 1998
Added 12 years ago by redbarron80, 24 points
"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
--President Bill Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."
--President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998
Added 12 years ago by redbarron80, 17 points
Sorry - second gulf war
Added 13 years ago by guest, 0 points
40.
Invasion of Normady
-56 points - added 15 years ago by thegrizz -
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