1964-1989 Decades Project
By Alex Chen (just to clarify my
name if you didn’t know it yet)
Plummer/P1
June 12th, 2003
WAKE UP!!!
• You do understand, that you all need to wake up
and be taking notes, because my presentation will
be superior in quality, content, succulence,
tastiness, and in LENGTH compared to every
other presentation so far. (just kidding). But still, I
highly urge that you should take notes for the sake
of your own developing brains. Ok, so now the
presentation starts; be very afraid!!
Ho Chi Minh
Famous Quote:
You can kill 10 of my
men for every one I kill
of yours, yet even at
those odds, you will
lose and I will win
As you can probably see, Ho Chi Minh was an old man during this
period. He was already 74 years old in 1964, and died at 79 in
1979. Coincidentally, his lifespan covered the same years as
Dwight D. Eisenhower; I’m sure both were quite wary of each
other though. ;)
Ho Chi Minh
•He was a passionate nationalist; obsessed with the idea of the independence of
Vietnam; as well as the Communist domination of Vietnam later on. He was the
president of North Vietnam from 1945 to 1969, and was a leader in the
independence of Vietnam.
•Born 1890; a son of a poor county scholar, and had a wretched childhood.
•Worked in relatively simple, mundane jobs during his early life; and moved to
Europe, where he became drawn into the teachings of Karl Marx and
Communism.
•He later became a leader of many Vietnamese Nationalists who wanted to free
their country from French Rule. He founded the Indochinese Communist Party
in 1930, as well as its successor, the Viet Minh, in 1941; both advocated
Vietnamese independence.
Ho Chi Minh
•During World War II, the French were driven out of Indochina by the Japanese,
who eventually had to surrender. Seizing the opportunity, Minh declared
independence.
•France refused to recognize the independence of Vietnam, and eventually waged
war on Vietnam. Minh, however, used guerilla warfare against the unaccustomed
French, and was willing to sacrifice people in huge numbers, which brought
upon the immortal quote “You can kill 10 of my men for every one I kill of
yours, yet even at those odds, you will lose and I will win.”
At the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, Minh’s Vietnamese defeated the
French and stormed the fort. France had to recognize the legitimacy of
Vietnam now, but the Geneva Accords dictated that Vietnam was to be
divided into two: Communist North Vietnam, and Democratic South
Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh

The Viet Cong, rebels from South Vietnam, eventually led a rebellion
against South Vietnam, which was later supported by Ho Chi Minh. The
rebellion led to the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam War, and
lasted from 1959-1975.

Ho Chi Minh still held power in Vietnam in the war, but his health began
to fail. When the United States decided to intervene in the war, Minh
still fought on valiantly, and flatly refused a peace request from Lyndon
B. Johnson in the late 1960s. Protests over the war in the U.S.
followed, but Minh died in Hanoi in 1979, before the war would end in a
Communist victory in 1975.

Minh was a hero among many Vietnamese, due to his perseverance
and his dedication to achieve his goals at any costs possible.
Additionally, he was largely responsible for the only major war that did
not end in an American victory.
Minh’s Importance
• Ho Chi Minh was included in Billy Joel’s song
because he was such a major player in the Vietnam
War. His spirit during wartime was exemplary,
although costly, and he still remains highly
venerated among many Vietnamese. While his role
in the Vietnam War was not as important as his
role was in the French Indochina War, he was still
a major leader during the late 1960s, and his spirit
lived on to help the Communists win the Vietnam
War. He was a good choice for the song because
he was a major character during the time, whose
plans were even significant enough to outwit the
United States.
Woodstock
Date: August 15th-17th, 1969.
Woodstock
• Woodstock was a festival near the city Woodstock,
NY in August 1969 which symbolized the rise of
American counterculture in the 1960s as well as a
milestone in the history of rock music.
• It was originally a place to stage a concert to
promote the studio’s image.
• Members of American counterculture were called
hippies due to their unorthodox lifestyles,
• Audience of around 400,000 people; much larger
than the anticipated audience of 50-100,000
people.
Woodstock
• Festival was marked by many shortages and
problems, but were still not enough to discourage
people from coming to the festival.
• Many unknown bands who had shown at
Woodstock became stars overnight due to the
immense audience.
• Local residents were alarmed at the festival and
the “hippy customs”
• Woodstock wasn’t such a great idea to be put into
the song; the lasting effects of Woodstock were
not as great as the effects of other events of the
similar period; such as the Chernobyl explosion or
advances in science and technology.
Begin, Menachem
1913-1992 Lifespan.
1977-1982 Prime Minister of Israel
Begin
• Begin negotiated the Camp David Accords with
Anwar el-Sadat and Jimmy Carter in 1978.
• The Accords provided a framework for peace
between Israel and the first Arabic country.
• As a result, he was awarded the Novel Peace Peize
along with Anwar el-Sadat in 1978.
Begin
• The Camp David Accords, however, did not
establish peace with other Arabic nations, which
Israel continued to be hostile towards. It even
invaded Lebanon under Begin in 1982, which
failed and drew international criticism..
• Due to the failed invasion of Lebanon as well as
his wife’s death in 1982, Begin resigned his office
in 1983.
• Begin was a relatively good person to mention in
Billy Joel’s song, but Sadat and Carter were also
good people to mention in the song. The Camp
David Accords certainly did mark a milestone in
precarious Middle East politics.
China’s Under Martial Law
•China Declared Martial Law on May 20th, 1989
•The reason behind the declaration of martial law was due to
Tiananmen Square protests started after the death of Hu Yaobing on
April 1989.
•The protests started out peacefully as a display of mourning, but
quickly gathered up steam from students and workers, and became a
massive pro-democracy movement. Over 1 million people per day
were protesting at Tiananmen Square at the peak of the
demonstration.
•The government wavered between the approaches of Zhao Ziyang
and Li Peng in the suppression of the rebellion, but eventually chose
Li Peng’s more radical method. Deng Xiaoping, China’s paramount
leader, also supported Li Peng..
China’s Under Martial Law
• Once Martial Law was declared, the government
sent troops to crush the demonstrators.
• June 3rd-4th, 2003: The People’s Liberation Army
reached Tiananmen Square in Beijing, and crushed
the demonstration. Hundreds were killed;
thousands wounded; and hundreds more arrested.
• Chinese government condemned widely for the
act; although Chinese leaders thought that their
government would be overthrown if not for the
declaration of martial law.
China’s Under Martial Law
• This was one of the major events of the time period which I
am doing research on, and covered headlines on newspapers
everywhere. It symbolized the strength those who held
power in China, as well as the fact that China would never
be democratic for many years to come due to the nationwide
crackdown afterwards.
Deng Xiaoping
Li Peng
DON’T FALL ASLEEP YET!!
CONTINUE LISTENING AND
TAKING NOTES; FOR THEY
WILL PROVE BENEFICIAL
TO YOU IN THE LONG RUN!
Hubble Space Telescope
•Launched from the Discovery Space Shuttle on April 15th,
1990.
•Was repaired December 2nd-13th, 1993; the telescope then
produced absolutely stunning pictures
Hubble Space Telescope
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The telescope had a major advantage over land based telescopes, as light doesn’t
have to pass through an obstructive atmosphere, which distorts light.
The telescope has also provided scientists with many new discoveries, as well as
evidence to support many theories, especially ones relating to the early universe.
The telescope is also versatile, covering objects as intimate as Mars to early quasars
12 billion light years away.
Not only does it help scientists; but the telescope has also produced stunning
pictures for the public to view with complete awe.
The Hubble Space Telescope has provided people with over 100,000 photographs
before 1997, and many more ever since.
The Hubble Space Telescope should be put into Billy Joel’s song because it really
marks a new revolution in the science of Astronomy. The discoveries of the
telescope are impossible to summarize, and it is hard to imagine how much
knowledge that we would have gained through the telescope. Without it,
Astronomy would be in an earlier stage
During the telescope’s launch, I was 1 year old, and cared about the telescope as
much as a spider monkey would care about the stock market.
Images from the Hubble Space
Telescope
Deep Blue
•An ingenious Chess-Playing Computer which defeated
world chess champion Gary Kasparov in a series of
chess matches in May, 1997.
Deep Blue
• Deep Blue was built by IBM, built to replace Deep Thought.
• It originally shocked the world by defeating Gary Kasparov in
the first game of a six game February, 1996 series. Kasparov
eventually changed his strategy; and was victorious over Deep
Blue with 4 points to 2 points.
• In a May, 1997, a rematch was offered; and Deep Blue defeated
Kasparov in the series with a ratio of 3.5 to 2.5 points (draws are
worth 0.5 points to both).
• This event symbolizes how far artificial intelligence has gone so
far in a short amount of time. Additionally, this should be the
basis for the reasoning why Deep Blue should be in Billy Joel’s
song, since advances in artificial intelligence are now so famous
that it’s almost impossible to not encounter mentions of artificial
intelligence in the media.
Polio Synthesized
According to a magazine article of Science
published in July, 11th, scientists have
created the polio virus – from scratch!!
Synthesis Definition: To combine chemicals to form a
new, complex product
Polio Synthesized
• The DNA of the polio virus was retrieved from an online
public website, and the chemicals for the virus were simply
retrieved from a mail order catalog.
• The virus was then injected into two mice; both became
paralyzed and died (sad ).
• The synthesis of the Polio virus caused alarm to many
people, since it proves that a virus can be created from
scratch.
• Due to this experiment, fears about the synthesis of a
smallpox virus are now real, which is one reason why
people are so concerned about smallpox now
Polio Synthesized
• The synthesis of polio also raises yet another question: Could
life forms arise from non-life forms?
• Jeronimo Cello; one of the scientists who helped out with the
synthesis stated that the polio virus was easy to create; but very
few people would know how to synthesize a virus, especially
smallpox, which is much more complex.
• I was 13 years old at the time; and I never heard about the
incident until I did research on this project. This event wasn’t
one that darkened headlines world wide, but it certainly can be
considered a major event in the history of biology;as it marks
the creation of a live virus from scratch.
• Before I heard about the synthesis, I simply thought that
Americans were simply way too paranoid of a smallpox attack;
but the risk could be greater than I previously thought.
THE END: WHAT A
LACKADAISICAL
PRESENTATION!!
• You have just endured the last presentation
of the year! Breathe a sigh of relief, because
you will never have to watch presentations
again, and your (probably low) grades are
now going to be final; while your parents
will probably be screaming at you now.
Have a great summer (or winter if you’re
going to the Southern Hemisphere)!
NOW BOW BEFORE YOUR
MASTER
• Oh, and pay him a tribute of 1 dollar each as
he is such a great teacher who you’ll never
have again!