HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY
Part Twelve: History before our eyes

Wilma Rudolph
PHOTO: Library of Congress
A lot of things have happened in Tennessee during the last 50 years that are not covered elsewhere in the high school history section. Here are a few of the more important things, arranged by year:

1960 -- A young woman from Montgomery County becomes the first American to ever win three gold medals at the Olympics. Her name is Wilma Rudolph. Today she is considered one of the greatest female athletes of all time. Click here to read more about her.
James Davis
1961 -- James Davis, a native of Overton County, dies on military duty in a faraway Asian country (South Vietnam) that few Americans have ever heard of at that time. Eventually America fights a war to stop South Vietnam from becoming a communist country. More than 55,000 Americans die in that war, and throughout its duration, James Davis is considered to be the first American to die in it. Click here to read more about him, and click here to learn more about his status.
Baker on the cover of a 1982 magazine
1966 -- In one of the most important elections in Tennessee history, Howard Baker of Scott County is elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating former Tennessee Governor Frank Clement. Baker thus becomes the first Republican Senator from Tennessee since Reconstruction, and his election signals the return to the Volunteer State of a viable two-party political system. (Prior to that time the only real drama in Tennessee elections was who would win the Democratic nomination.) Baker later rises to be U.S. Senate Majority leader, Chief of Staff under President Ronald Reagan and American ambassador to Japan. To learn more about Howard Baker, click here.
1973 -- A movie loosely based on the life of late McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser becomes a hit. The film, Walking Tall, tells the story of a Southern sheriff who takes on corruption, bootleggers, gambling dens and other undesirable elements with little more than a large stick. (Like many movies, it is full of inaccuracies about Pusser's life, but that doesn't stop it from making a lot of money at the box office.) Eventually two sequels are made in the 1970s. And in 2004 another version of Walking Tall is made starring the former wrestler who goes by the name "The Rock."

By the way, there is a museum devoted to Buford Pusser in Adamsville.
Haley (left) on the set of Roots
PHOTO: ABC
January 1977 -- A 12-hour miniseries called Roots airs on network television. It is incredibly popular; in fact, an amazing 85 percent of American homes with television sets see part or all of the miniseries (such ratings would be impossible today, a world dominated by cable television). Roots is based on a historical fiction novel by Lauderdale County native Alex Haley. It tells the saga of his ancestors starting with Kunta Kinte, a West African youth captured by slave traders in 1700s and shipped to the United States.
Haley's grave in Henning
It is important to remember that Roots is fictionalized; it is based not so much on facts as it is on family stories, plus Haley's perception of what his ancestors might have endured. But the book and the TV miniseries has an incredible impact on American culture. Thousands of Americans became interested in geneology because of Roots; and today it is believed to be the first time that television executives recognized the impact of the African American audience.

Presley
August 1977 -- Elvis Presley dies at Graceland, his Memphis home, at the age of 42. To this day Elvis fans migrate to Memphis on the anniversary of his death.
Blanton
1979 -- Governor-elect Lamar Alexander is sworn in as Tennessee's chief executive three days before he is supposed to take office because of concerns that outgoing governor Ray Blanton is selling pardons. Click here to read more about this event.
The Nissan groundbreaking
PHOTO: State of Tennessee
1980 -- After months of looking at sites all over the country, Nissan announces it is building a truck assembly plant in Rutherford County. It is the first foreign-owned car assembly plant in the South and one of the greatest industrial recruitments ever for Tennessee. The early success of the Nissan plant also helps the state recruit the General Motors Saturn plant to Maury County a few years later.
The World's Fair Park in Knoxville
1982 -- The Knoxville World's Fair is attended by eleven million people. Click here (and scroll down a bit) to read more about this event.

1987 -- The University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team wins its first national championship under Coach Pat Head Summitt. (The Lady Vols have won five more since then, and are today one of the dominant dynasties in college sports.)
Gore
1992 -- Former Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton is elected president of the United States. His running mate is Tennessee Senator Al Gore, who becomes the second vice president from the Volunteer State. (The first, by the way, was Andrew Johnson.) Click here to read a detailed biography of Gore.

1994 -- The same day Republican Don Sundquist is elected governor, two Tennessee Republicans (physician Bill Frist and attorney/actor Fred Thompson) are elected to the U.S. Senate (both Senate seats were vacant because former Senator Gore had become vice president two years earlier).
Steve McNair of the Tennessee Titans
PHOTO: Associated Press
1996 -- Nashville residents vote to build a stadium for the NFL's Houston Oilers (soon thereafter to be renamed the Tennessee Titans). By the end of the decade the Titans have become one of three big-time professional sports teams to either move to Tennessee or be started in Tennessee, the others being the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies and the NHL's Nashville Predators. And on January 30, 2000, the Titans play in the Super Bowl -- and lose to the St. Louis Rams in a game that comes down to the final play.
2002 -- Al Gore loses the closest U.S. presidential election in American history to George Bush. Although most of the focus of the election coverage is on Florida, many reporters point out that Gore would have won the election had he prevailed in his home state of Tennessee, which Bush won.

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