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Mt. St. Helens Erupts
The Mt. St. Helens volcano, in Washington State, erupts, killing fifty-seven people and economic devastation to the area with losses near $3 billion. The blast was estimated to have the power five hundred times greater than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. -
Ronald Reagan Assassination Attempt
President Ronald Reagan withstands an assassination attempt, shot in the chest while walking to his limousine in Washington, D.C. -
Sally Ride
Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman to travel into space. -
Windows
The first version of the Windows operating system for computers is released. -
Hands Across America
Five million people make a human chain across the United States in the Hands Across America campaign to fight hunger and homelessness. -
Nicaraguan Contras
The United States House of Representatives rejects the request of President Reagan for $36.25 million to fund the Nicaraguan Contras. -
Berlin Wall Collapses
The Berlin Wall, after thirty-eight years of restricting traffic between the East and West German sides of the city, begins to crumble when German citizens are allowed to travel freely between East and West Germany for the first time. One day later, the influx of crowds around and onto the wall begin to dismantle it, thus ending its existence. -
Hubble Telescope
The Hubble Telescope is placed into orbit by the United States Space Shuttle Discovery. One month later, the telescope becomes operational. -
OJ Simpson Case
The bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman are found outside her home in Los Angeles, California. Five days later, her husband, former football star O.J. Simpson is arrested for the crime but is later acquitted on October 3, 1995. The Simpson case was one of the highest profile murder cases in the nation's history. -
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is created, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) formed from a series of post-war treaties on trade. The World Trade Organization is more highly structured than the previous GATT and counted seventy-six nations among its members in 1995. -
Iraqi Threats
Iraq states that it will begin to shoot down U-2 surveillance planes used by United Nations UNSCOM inspectors attempting to mandate Saddam Hussein meeting the provisions of surrender in the 1991 Gulf War. -
Iraq Liberation Act
The United States Congress passes legislation, the Iraq Liberation Act, that states the U.S. wants to remove Saddam Hussein from power and replace it with a democracy. -
Hilary Clinton wins US Senate
Hillary Rodham Clinton wins a seat for the United States Senate from New York. It is the first time a former First Lady wins public office. -
9/11
Islamic fundamentalist terrorists hijack four U.S. airliners and crash them into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York City.