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The United States boycotts the Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan;
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U.S. presidential election, 1980: Ronald Reagan is elected president, with George H. W. Bush elected vice president
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Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr.
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– The Space Shuttle Columbia is launched, marking America's first return to space since 1975.
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241 U.S. Marines are killed by a suicide bomb in Lebanon.
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The United States invades Grenada.
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The Reagan Administration creates the Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed Star Wars, to block nuclear missile attacks.
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U.S. presidential election, 1984: Ronald Reagan is re-elected president, with George H. W. Bush re-elected as vice president.
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Gramm Rudman Hollings Balanced Budget Act
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The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven aboard
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Tax Reform Act of 1986
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During a visit to Berlin, Germany, President Reagan challenges Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall!"
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The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C. by President Reagan and Soviet Premier Gorbachev.
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U.S. presidential election, 1988: George H. W. Bush is elected president, Dan Quayle vice president.
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The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty goes into effect.
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Hurricane Hugo strikes the Caribbean and U.S. Southeast Coast, causing $7 billion in damage.
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President Bush declares a "War on Drugs."
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President Bush and Soviet Premier Gorbachev release statements indicating that the Cold War between their nations may be coming to an end.
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The Cold War ends as the USSR is dissolved.
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Los Angeles riots result in over 60 deaths and $1 billion in damage, spurred by the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King.
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U.S. presidential election, 1992: Bill Clinton elected president, Al Gore elected vice president.
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A truck bomb explodes in the parking garage under the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six people and injuring over a thousand
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Branch Davidians standoff and fire near Waco, Texas, resulting in the deaths of 81 people including their leader, David Koresh.
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The United States hosts the FIFA World Cup which is won by Brazil
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Oklahoma City bombing kills 168 and wounds 800.
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Retired professional football player O. J. Simpson is acquitted of two charges of first-degree murder in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson,
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TWA Flight 800 explodes off Long Island killing all 230 aboard
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U.S. presidential election, 1996: Bill Clinton is re-elected president, Al Gore is re-elected vice president.
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Clinton-Lewinsky scandal: President Clinton is accused of having a sexual relationship with 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
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Teenage students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murder 13 other students and teachers at Columbine High School, sparking an international debate on gun control and bullying.
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U.S. presidential election, 2000: Initial result inconclusive and the result in Florida is disputed. George W. Bush is certified president after a Supreme Court ruling.
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September 11 attacks; 19 terrorists hijack four planes and crash them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring over 6,000.