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U.S. Invasion of Panama
The invasion of Panama was an attempt to overthrew the dictator, Manuel Noriega on specific crimes, such as drug trafficking. At first, Noriega was an ally of the CIA during the 70s to prevent the spread of Communism. Noriega was praised by the U.S. government but due to the drug trafficking and the election scam, Noriega was beginning to be put under the scope. Eventually, this insurgency led to the surrender of Noregia in Panama City on January 3, 1990. -
Passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act
Passed by Congress on July 26, 1990, under President George H.W. Bush, the Americans With Disabilities Act. This Act with its Title I addresses the issue of discrimination against disabled people in public, workforce, etc. Before this law was passed, there needed to be 62 public meetings to discuss terms of agreement with employers. In the end, this Act helped give benefits to people with disabilities. -
Arrest and Trial of Jeffrey Dahmer
At first, Milwaukee, Wisconsin officers spotted Tracy Edward's running down the street in handcuffs and through that, they uncovered Jeffrey Dahmer's apartment. There was an altercation with Edward's stating that Dahmer was harming him and that polaroid evidence led to his arrest. Upon further investigation, they found horrific sights all over Dahmer's apartment. During the trial, the Jury rejected Dahmer's insanity plea and ended up with 15 life terms and killed in prison by another inmate. -
Magic Johnson's HIV Announcement
On November 7, 1991, famous L.A. Lakers basketball star Magic Johnson made an announcement that he had the HIV virus. At the time, many didn't know the difference between AIDS and HIV and any were dumbfounded by Johnson's announcement. Many thought that he was going to die, but instead, doctors made the discovery of the HIV virus not being through sweat contact and etc. In retiring Johnson swore to help young people understand the importance of safe sex. -
Rodney King Beating/ L.A. Riots
This whole ordeal started when four Los Angeles Police Department, Officers decided to beat a black motorist Rodney King on tape. They eventually were held in court and their verdict was an acquittal. Eventually, this verdict resulted in over 5 days of rioting that left 50 dead and many more injured. It got to the point that 9,800 National Guard Troops were required to restore order. -
U.S. Soldiers in Somalia/Blackhawk Down
In October 1993, the U.S. elite forces tried to launch covert operations to raid the Somalian capital of Mogadishu and to capture critical allies, but this did not go according to plan. Two Black Hawks were shot down along with the deaths of U.S. and UN troops. Despite the hundreds of Somalians dead, the U.S. didn't bat an eye and withdrew from Somalia. This would change the way in which the U.S. would negotiate with Africa. -
Passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA was signed into effect by President Clinton. This agreement eliminated all tariffs and trade restrictions on the countries of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. in North America. NAFTA was one of his great successes and the first Democratic President in 12 years to take on this partisan issue (formerly Republican). However, NAFTA received criticism from the Reform Party, but despite that, it made a precedent for free-trade. -
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O.J. Simpson Trial
This trial was concerning a famous football star, O.J. Simpson and his alleged murder of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. On the night of June 12, 1994, the pair were stabbed in Nicole Simpson's condo, and Simpson was given an arrest of impending charges. Rather than surrendering though, there was a chase for O.J. Simpson on June 17, and he was eventually put into custody. For months on end, there was a trial and thanks to his "Dream Team" of attorneys, and he was innocent. -
Olympic Park Bombing
In Atlanta Georgia, during the XXVI Summer Olympiad was eventually disrupted by a pipe bomb in Centennial Olympic Park. The police were warned of the bombing beforehand, but it was too late and injured a hundred or so people. Richard Jewell was suspected, but due to a lack of evidence was dismissed. After that, the bombings continued, and Eric Rudolph was held responsible and given four consecutive life sentences. -
Heaven's Gate Cult Suicide
The mass suicide was found out after an anonymous tip and led the police to a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California with the death of 39 victims. The attempt was surrounded the Heaven's Gate cult led by Marshall Apple White. His Cult gained prominence through recruitment and the convincement of an alien spacecraft coming to Earth. In late March of 1997, as the Hale-Bopp comet reached Earth's orbit, the cult committed suicide in hopes to get on the spacecraft attached to the comet. -
Murder of James Byrd
On June 7, 1998, African American James Byrd was killed by three white supremacists (John King, Lawrence Brewer, and Shawn Berry). At that evening, Byrd was walking home, presumably intoxicated when he was approached by the three men and offered a ride. They spent most of the night together drinking some more and looking at women and instead of taking Byrd home, they had other plans. They murdered Byrd and Brewer and King was given the death sentence while Berry received life in prison. -
Murder of Matthew Sheppard
While walking to an LGBT group meeting at the University of Wyoming when he stopped by the Fireside Lounge. Then he was eventually approached by Aaron Mckinney and Russell Henderson and finally went with them, with the pretense thinking they were gay. Mckinney and Henderson's motive was to rob Sheppard, and during the ordeal, they beat Sheppard to near death. Eventually, the trial of Sheppard's death became a national phenomenon. -
NATO Bombing of Yugloslavia
The NATO bombing against Yugoslavia was due to the intentions of taking out Serbian military propositions in that province of Kosovo. This came to light due to the ethnic cleansing campaign of the Serbian's against the Kosovar Albanian's. Aggressions became worse and worse with the KLA and eventually led to the threats by NATO. The bombing was a way to remove Kosovar refugees out of Yugoslavia. -
Columbine Massacre
One of the worst high school shootings at its time, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold approached Columbine High School armed on April 20th, 1999. They went around the school shooting at students and administrators in the period of 11:19 am-12pm. Their reign of terror ended when they turned the guns on themselves at noon. This incident brought to the attention the influences of violence on teens due to media and this event leaving a scar on Littleton. -
Y2K Scare
The Y2K bug scare was the issue surrounding the date shift from December 31, 1999, to January 1, 2000. The fear was surrounding the abbreviation of most of the systems and caused a problem surrounding how the abbreviation of 00' would be interpreted as 1900. This fear caused a stir around critical hardware systems such as banking, administrative records, etc. Despite the hysteria, the dates switched with little to no hardware or software issues worldwide.
