1918-1925: The formation of the Nazi Party, including Hitler's rise to power within the party.
1925-1933: The rise of the Nazi Party's power over Germany, under Hitler's leadership.
September 1, 1939: The date that is considered the start of WWII.
April 30, 1945: Adolf Hitler dies.
September 2, 1945: The date that is considered the end of WWII.
October 10, 1945: The Nazi Party is formally abolished by the Allied Control Council.
1947: U.S. President Truman passes an executive order establishing a loyalty program for federal employees. Anyone seen as displaying immoral or disgraceful conduct is a target. The language of this executive order is used to single out LGBTQ+ people and separate them from federal service.
1947: The Truman Doctrine is announced and put into effect. It is a foreign policy that pledges American "support for democracies against authoritarian threats." The doctrine stems from the primary goal of containing Soviet geopolitical expansion.
1948: Alfred Kinsey’s Sexual Behavior in the Human Male is published. It brings up evidence that homosexual urges are natural, but this information doesn't have much of an effect on popular opinion about homosexuality.
1948: Truman signs into the law the Marshall Plan, which focuses on providing financial aid to Western Europe.
1948(-1962): The most prominent era of the Cold War. The Soviet Union and America are in open hostility and utilizing espionage against one another.
February 9, 1950: Joseph McCarthy delivers his now-famous speech in which he claimed to have a list of 205 known Communists working at the State Department. This begins the Red Scare.
February 20, 1950: McCarthy speaks at length on the Senate floor, offering more specifics about some of the aforementioned individuals, this time characterizing them more broadly as "unsafe risks." Two cases concerned homosexuality. This begins the Lavender Scare.
June 1950: An investigation by the Senate begins into the government's employment of homosexuals. Federal job losses due to allegations of homosexuality increase greatly, rising from approximately 5 to 60 per month.
Early 1953: During the final months of the Truman administration, the State Department reports that it had fired 425 employees for allegations of homosexuality.
April 29, 1953: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order to ban homosexuals, whom he considers a national security risk, from being employed by the federal government.
1961: Illinois becomes the first American jurisdiction to repeal its law against consensual sodomy.
1962: The Model Penal Code recommends all states repeal laws against consensual sodomy.
(1948-)1962: The most prominent era of the Cold War. The Soviet Union and America are in open hostility and utilizing espionage against one another.
1967: Sodomy is decriminalized in England and Wales.