United States Important Events 1980s-2000s

U.S. Withdraws from the Olympics

Jan 20, 1980

The olympics were held in Moscow that year. The United States decided that they would not participate unless the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan.

Mount St. Helens Eruption

May 18, 1980

This volcanic eruption killed 57 Americans in the stated of Washington.

MTV Release Date

Aug 1, 1981

This was the first television station dedicated to showing music videos. This is important because it affects modern day entertainment.

Sandra Day O'Connor

Aug 19, 1981

Becomes the first woman on the United States Supreme Court. This is important because it starts gender equality.

McMartin Preschool

Aug 5, 1983

Judy Johnson reported that her 2 1/2 year old son was abused sexually by Raymond Buckey at the McMartin Preeschool in California. This is important because it brought attention to sexual assault of children. There was also accusations of satanic abuse. This was the costliest trial in U.S. history.

First version of Windows operating system is released

Nov 20, 1985

This was an important event in history because it started the technology that is used in every day life today.

First Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Jan 20, 1986

This is an important event for America because it is now an official holiday.

Halley's Comet

Mar 8, 1986

The comet circles the earth every 75 years. This means a human can see the comet a total of two times within their lifetime. It is said to be the most famous comet.

Black Monday

Oct 19, 1987

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost almost 22% in a single day. This is important because it affected Americans significantly.

Rebecca Shaeffer's Death

Jul 18, 1989

Rebecca was shot by Robert John Bardo. Bardo was Rebecca's obsessive stalker for three years. This was important because it brought attention to dangerous stalkers.

Hubble Telescope

Apr 24, 1990

The Hubble Telescope was released into low Earth orbit. This was an important development in outer space sciences.

World Wide Web

Aug 7, 1991

The world wide web is publicly debuted as internet service. This is important because this was the start of a new, very important technology.

Hurricane Andrew

Aug 16, 1992

Hurricane Andrew was a big natural disaster. In total, 65 people were killed. This was very impactful in American history.

Don't Ask Don't Tell

Jul 19, 1993

President Clinton signs, "Don't ask, don't tell." This prohibits homosexuals from serving in the military.

Jeffrey Dahmer's Death

Nov 28, 1994

Jeffrey Dahmer was known as the Milwaukee serial killer. He comitted rape, murder, dismemberment, and was charged for necrophilia, cannibalism, and permanent preservation of body parts.His targets were usually males. This was important because Jeffrey Dahmer left fear in Americans, causing them to be more cautious around strangers.

Selena's Death

Mar 31, 1995

Selena was an upcoming music artist. She had a fan club in which the president was Yolanda Saldivar. Saldivar was Selena's murderer. This was a huge story in the 90s because it showed that even a celebrity is not safe from their own fans.

O.J. Simpson

Oct 2, 1995

O.J. Simpson was a retired football player. His wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman were found killed in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. O.J. was the main suspect. However in his trial, he was found not guilty. This made a big impact on all of his fans.

Lewinsky Scandal

Jan 25, 1998

Bill Clinton, president at the time, told the U.S., "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." This was a lie. It is important because it gave Americans a look into the private life of politicians.

Matthew Shepard's Death

Oct 12, 1998

Matthew Shepard was a homosexual student at the University of Wyoming. He was beaten, tortured, and left to die by fellow students. This is an important event because it showed the hatred that there was for homosexuals in the 90s.

Columbine High School Massacre

Apr 20, 1999

In Columbine High School, two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed a total of 12 students and one teacher. They also planted random bombs to divert the attention of the fire department. They did this all before committing their own suicide. In letters they had left, they stated that they wished this would rival the Oklahoma City Bombing. Sadly, this began a tragic trend for school shootings.

George W. Bush's Inauguration

Jan 20, 2001

This was important to American history because George Bush made big decisions as president (just like any other president) such as sending troops to Iraq.

Terrorist Attack on the Twin Towers

Sep 11, 2001

9/11 was a big event in the 2000s. This was a terrorist attack by Al Qaeda on the United States. This resulted in many injuries and deaths of Americans. First the twin towers of the world trade center were attacked by two planes on a suicide mission. Then, the Pentagon was attacked. This event affected Americans the most.Many innocent people were injured and killed for no reason other than terrorism.Many Americans today still knew someone involved in 9/11.This is what makes it the most important

American Airlines Flight 587

Nov 12, 2001

This flight crashed in Queens, New York. The crash killed 265 people.

Operation Iraqi Freedom

Mar 20, 2003

The United States invaded Iraq. Saddham's forces fell almost immidiately. Iraqi leaders went into hiding.

MySpace

Jul 1, 2003

MySpace was founded in 2003. This was a social networking website, popular for teenagers to communicate with their friends. This really began the huge social network that exists today.

Same-Sex Marriage Legalized

May 17, 2004

Massachusetts legalizes gay marriage. This was the first state in the United States to do so. This was the beginning of homosexual marriage rights in the United States.

Hurricane Katrina

Aug 23, 2005

This was a terrible natural disaster. This was the costliest natural disaster, and also it was one of the most dangerous hurricanes in the history of the United States. This occured in New Orleans. This affected America since it was so costly when it came to the repairs.

Nancy Pelosi- First Woman Speaker

Jan 4, 2007

Nancy Pelosi was the first female House Speaker in U.S. history. This was an important step for women's equality in America.

Barack Obama Inaugurated

Jan 20, 2009

Barack Obama was inaugurated as the first African-American president of the United States. This was a huge step in American history becuase of the fact that it involved a new president, and it showed progress for racial equality in America.

Michael Jackson's Death

Jun 25, 2009

Michael Jackson was a very big part of American entertainment. His death caused many Americans to mourn. His death was said to be the largest public mourning since the death of Elvis Presley.