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US invasion of Panama
The US invaded Panama in order to overthrow the dictator, Manuel Noriega. This was very controversial because it seemed like the US invaded because the dictator stopped being an informant. This is following a series of the US getting involved in foreign affairs that it didn't seem like it needed to. -
1992 Los Angeles Riots
Rodney Glen King was an American activist. On March 3, 1991, King was beaten by LAPD officers during his arrest, after a high-speed chase, for driving while intoxicated on I-210. An uninvolved individual, George Holliday, filmed the incident from his nearby balcony and sent the footage to local news station KTLA. The footage showed an unarmed King on the ground being beaten after initially evading arrest. The incident was covered by news media around the world and caused a public furor. -
Hurricane Andrew
Though Andrew was a small tropical cyclone for most of its lifespan, it caused extreme damage, especially in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. The vast majority of the damage was as a result of extremely high winds, although a few tornadoes spawned by Andrew caused considerable damage in Louisiana. -
Passage of NAFTA
This controversial trade agreement eliminated most tariffs and trade barriers between the US, Mexico, and Canada. This was important because it made trade between the three countries very easy. 5 million jobs were also created. This act seemed to be only positive. -
O.J. Simpson Trial
Criminal trial of former college and professional football star O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted in 1995 of the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. This was one of if not the most controversial trials of all times. -
Explosion of TWA Flight 800
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31 p.m. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport on a scheduled international passenger flight to Rome, with a stopover in Paris. All 230 people on board died in the crash; it is the third-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history. -
Olympic Park Bombing
The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a domestic terrorist pipe bombing attack on Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 27, 1996, during the Summer Olympics. The blast directly killed one person and injured 111 others. This also started a very public and controversial trial accusing a non-guilty security guard of the bombing. -
Murder of Jon Benet Ramsey
JonBenét Patricia Ramsey was an American child beauty queen who was killed at the age of six in her family's home in Boulder, Colorado. A long handwritten ransom note was found in the home. Her father, John, found the girl's body in the basement of their house about seven hours after she had been reported missing. -
NATO bombing in Yugoslavia
The NATO bombing killed about 1,000 members of the Yugoslav security forces in addition to between 489 and 528 civilians. It destroyed or damaged bridges, industrial plants, hospitals, schools, cultural monuments, private businesses as well as barracks and military installations. This went against what people thought NATO stood for when it bombed citizens. -
Columbine Massacre
The Columbine shooting on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, occurred when two teens went on a shooting spree, killing 13 people and wounding more than 20 others, before turning their guns on themselves and committing suicide. This planted the seeds for anti-gun movements