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Senator Joseph McCarthy Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957) was an American senator, and was senator of the state of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1957. From 1950, McCarthy became widely known as the public face of a period of fear over communism in America. He was known for claiming that there were large amounts of Communists and Soviet spies in the American government and elsewhere. However, he was later unable to prove his claims and this led to him being censored by the government. The term McCarthyism was applied to anti-communist activities and is used today, usually in reference to allegations that are unable to be proved. The Red Menace The Red Menace, also known as The Red Scare, was a period of American history known for it's strong anti-Communist feeling. During 1947 - 1957, the fear was centred upon the thought of foreign communists infiltrating American society. The Korean War The war lasted between 1950 and 1953, and was a war between The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, supported by the USA, and the People's Republic of China, supported by the Soviet Union. The House Committee on un-American activities The House Committee on Un-American Activities was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee investigated ideas that are often confused with those of Senator Joseph McCarthy, about communism threatening to invade the USA. In fact, after McCarthy's downfall the committee began a gradual decline and was disbanded in 1975. The rise of feminism (late 1950s/early 1960s First wave feminism focused more on overturning legal obstacles facing women, such as voting rights, property etc. Second wave feminism focused on changing the face of Western culture, with the introduction of things such as marital rape laws, establishment of battered women's shelters, significant changes in custody and divorce law and widespread integration of women into sports activities. Terrorist attacks on the US/US citizens since 2000 September 11th 2001 - hijacked planes crashed into the twin towers of the world trade centre, the Pentagon and one crashed into a rural field. Total dead and missing was 2992. 2002 June 14, Karachi, Pakistan: bomb explodes outside American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12. Linked to al-Qaeda. 2003 May 12, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: suicide bombers kill 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners. Al-Qaeda suspected. Global Pandemics 2009 flu pandemic - swine flu Avian flu