The Laotian Civil War was fought between the Royal Lao Government and the communist Pathet Lao, who were backed by North Vietnam and the Soviet Union. It was bound up with the wider Vietnam War, because North Vietnam used eastern Laos for the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and the United States responded with a vast secret bombing campaign and with support for the royal army and for Hmong forces led by Vang Pao. Laos became one of the most heavily bombed countries in the world, and unexploded ordnance still kills people there. After the American withdrawal from Indochina in 1975, the Pathet Lao took over the government, abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the Lao People's Democratic Republic in December 1975.
Before and after
- 15 April 1959Birth of Emma Thompson
- 20 April 1959Founding of European Court of Human Rights
- 30 April 1959Birth of Stephen Harper
- 13 May 1959Establishment of Torres del Paine National Park
- from 23 May 1959 to 2 December 1975Laotian Civil War
- 27 May 1959Birth of Donna Strickland
- 28 May 1959Creation of COBOL
- 7 June 1959Birth of Mike Pence
- 17 July 1959Mary Leakey finds Zinjanthropus at Olduvai Gorge
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The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.