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Iran-Iraq War
Protracted war between Iran and Iraq that resulted in at least half a million casualties and several billion dollars’ worth of damages, but no real gains by other side. Started by Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein in September 1980, the war was marked by indiscriminate ballistic-missile attacks, extensive use of chemical weapons and attacks on third-country oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. The end came in July 1988 with the acceptance UN Resolution 598. -
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Ronald Reagan Presidency
Ronald Reagan, originally an American actor and politician, became the 40th President of the United States. His term saw a restoration of prosperity at home, with the goal of achieving “peace through strength” abroad. -
Invasion of Grenada
President Ronald Reagan, citing the threat posed to American nationals on the Caribbean nation of Grenada by that nation’s Marxist regime, orders the Marines to invade and secure their safety. There were nearly 1,000 Americans in Grenada at the time, many of them students at the island’s medical school. In little more than a week, Grenada’s government was overthrown. -
Challenger Space Shuttle Explodes
At 11:38 a.m. EST, on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and explodes seventy-three seconds later. Millions witnessed the tragic incident both in person and on television. There were no survivors. -
Abortion Pill Invented
French researchers developed mifepristone, also known as RU-486, a pill that could be taken in sequence with misoprostol to induce an abortion. France legalized this regimen, and China, Great Britain and Sweden soon followed suit. -
Iraqi invades Kuwait
Iraqi forces invade Kuwait, Iraq’s tiny, oil-rich neighbor. Kuwait’s defense forces were rapidly overwhelmed, and those that were not destroyed retreated to Saudi Arabia. Within hours of the invasion, Kuwait City had been captured and the Iraqis had established a provincial government. By annexing Kuwait, Iraq gained control of 20 percent of the world’s oil reserves and, for the first time, a substantial coastline on the Persian Gulf. -
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Bill Clinton Presidency
Bill Clinton is an American politician from Arkansas who served as the 42nd President of the United States. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first baby-boomer generation President. -
Kosovo War
Conflict in which ethnic Albanians opposed ethnic Serbs and the government of Yugoslavia (the rump of the former federal state, comprising the republics of Serbia and Montenegro) in Kosovo. The conflict gained widespread international attention and was resolved with the intervention of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).