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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 Regan is elected President
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Assassination attempt on President Regan
President Ronald Reagan withstands an assassination attempt, shot in the chest while walking to his limousine in Washington, D.C.by John Hinckley -
First Launch of the Space Shuttle Program
The first launch of the Space Shuttle from Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center occurs as Columbia begins its STS-1 mission. The Space Shuttle is the first reusable spacecraft to be flown into orbit, and it returned to earth for a traditional touchdown landing two days later. -
Star Wars Program launched
The initial proposal to develop technology to intercept incoming missiles, the Strategic Defense Initiative Program, or Star Wars, is made by President Ronald Reagan. -
President Regan wins the election for a second term
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Challenger Disaster
The Challenger Space Shuttle explodes after liftoff at Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing seven people, including Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire school teacher. -
Iran-Contra Affair
Near the end of hearings into the Iran-contra affair, President Reagan admits to a policy that went astray but denied knowledge of the diversion of funds to the contras. -
Black Monday
he stock market crash known as Black Monday occurs on the New York Stock Exchange, recording a record 22.6% drop in one day. Stock markets around the world would mirror the crash with drops of their own. -
Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
The United States and the Soviet Union sign an agreement, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, to dismantle all 1,752 U.S. and 859 Soviet missiles in the 300-3,400 mile range. -
George H. W. Bush wins the Presidential election
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Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
The Exxon Valdez crashes into Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound, causing the largest oil spill in American history, eleven million gallons, which extended forty-five miles. -
Savings and Loan Bailout
The Savings and Loan Bailout is approved by Congress and signed into law by President George Herbert Walker Bush. The total cost of the bill would approach $400 billion over thirty years to close and merge insolvent Savings and Loans. -
Berlin Wall comes down
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. -
Fall of the USSR
The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party gives up its monopoly of power, continuing the trend, since the beginning of the Berlin Wall coming down, that the Cold War was about to end. The ending of the Cold War was completed, in many ways, by the strong policies of U.S. President Ronald Reagan toward the Soviet block. Six days later, a plan to reunite Germany was announced. -
Iraq Invades Kuwait
Iraq invades its neighbor, Kuwait, setting into motion the beginning of U.S. involvement in the Gulf War. Four days later, the United Nations begins a global trade embargo against Iraq. On November 29, the United Nations passes a resolution, #678, stating that Iraq must withdraw its forces from Kuwait by January 15, 1991 or face military intervention. -
Operation Desert Storm
U.S. Congress passes a resolution authorizing the use of force to liberate Kuwait. Operation Desert Storm begins four days later with airstrikes against Iraq. Iraq responds by sending eight Scud missiles into Israel. -
The 27th Amendment Passes
The 27th Amendment to the Constitution is passed two hundred and two years after its initial proposal. It bars the United States Congress from giving itself a midterm or retroactive pay raise. This amendment had been originally proposed by James Madison in 1789, as part of twelve amendments, of which ten would become the original Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791. -
Bill Clinton is elected President
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World Trade Center Bombing
The World Trade Center is bombed by Islamic terrorists when a van parked below the North Tower of the structure explodes. Six people are killed and over one thousand are injured. -
NAFTA goes into effect
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect, creating a free trade zone between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. -
Oklahoma City Bombing
Anarchists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols explode a bomb outside the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing one hundred and sixty-eight people in a domestic terrorism attack. -
Bill Clinton is elected to a second term as President
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Monica Lewinsky Scandal
The Monica Lewinsky scandal begins when U.S. President Bill Clinton denies his relationship with the White House intern in a televised interview. This denial, and other denials to a grand jury investigation, would lead to the impeachment of the president. -
Attacks on US Embassies in Africa
Attacks on two United States embassies in Africa, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya kills two hundred and twenty-four and injures four thousand five hundred. The attacks are linked to Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda organization. On August 13, the United States launches cruise missile strikes against Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan. -
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. -
George W. Bush is elected President
George W. Bush, son of the former President, and Vice President Al Gore hold a virtual dead-heat for the presidency, with a disputed vote in Florida holding off the naming of the winner of the Presidential Election until the Supreme Court of the United States voted in favor of Bush on December 12. This ruling gave Florida to the Bush camp by a 527 vote majority and a victory in the Electoral College, 271-266, despite gaining less popular votes than Gore. -
Multiple Terrorist Attacks in the U.S.
Islamic fundamentalist terrorists hijack four U.S. airliners and crash them into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York City. The attack of two planes levels the World Trade Center and the crash of one plane inflicts serious damage to the Pentagon causing nearly 3,000 deaths. The fourth plane crashed by passengers into a Shanksville, Pennsylvania cornfield when they learn of the plot. The plot is attributed to the Al-Qaeda organization led by Osama Bin Laden. -
War on Terrorism
In response to the tragedy of September 11, the United States military, with participation from its ally the United Kingdom, commence the first attack in the War on Terrorism on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. By November 12, the Taliban government leaves the capital, Kabul.
