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Jimmy Carter Elected President
This election was between Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican Gerald R. Ford. Ford was put into office after the Watergate incident, which caused Nixon to resign. Even though many doubted Carter's campaign abilities, he was elected and served one term. -
Star Wars Movie Premier
Being a big hit and spreading across many different movie theaters, Star Wars: A New Hope began the rave over the series. -
Three Mile Island Meltdown
One of the reactors in a nuclear power plant. This caused gases to be released into the air. It is still considered radioactive, but the small releases had no big health effects on humans or the environment around it. This is considered the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history. -
Mount. St. Helens Eruption
After almost 2 months of earthquakes, Mount. St. Helens erupted. It ripped up millions of trees and many miles of soil. The ash spread for miles because of the wind. -
Iran Hostages Released
This event, nicknamed the "Iran Hostage Crisis," was an attack by Iran soldiers. They attacked the American embassy in Tehran, taking 53 Americans. The Americans were held for around 14 months, with some being wounded and one even killed. This caused many to dislike and harass those from Iran in America. -
Assassination Attempt on President Reagan
While walking back to his limousine, President Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. He was only seriously wounded with a broken rib, punctured lung, and serious internal bleeding. -
Iran/ Contra Affair
This was considered President Reagan's scandal. The U.S. government sent weapons to a known enemy and financial aid to a rebel force in secret. -
Challenger Shuttle Explosion
The Challenger, a space shuttle on a mission to launch a data-tracking satellite, broke apart only 73 seconds after its launch. It killed all seven crew members on board when it disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean. -
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
The nuclear power plant went out of control during a low-power test. This led to a fire and explosion, which released large amounts of radiation into the air. Over 30 people died over the following years because of exposure. -
George H.W. Bush Elected President
This election was between Republican George H.W. Bush and Democrat Michael Dukakis. Bush, who already had a reputation from his Vice President days, won in a landslide. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
This was when transit restrictions were discarded. The media failed to report that some restrictions would still be in place, so many rushed to the borders to cross them. The impact of this weakened East Germany. This was the first step to the reunification of Germany. -
Start of the Persian Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War, also called The Gulf War, was between 35 nations led by the United States and Iraq. The reason for this war was Iraq invading and annexing Kuwait. -
Original U.S.A. Olympic Basketball Dream Team
This was the first Olympic team to have actual NBA players. The team won the Olympic gold medal and had a perfect record at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. -
Rodney King Decision & L.A. Riots
Rodney King was an African American man who was a victim of police brutality. The four police officers were found not guilty, causing the riots. Thousands of people protested and rioted on the streets of L.A. for five days. -
Bill Clinton Elected President
Despite his praise for the Gulf War, Republican President Bush eventually lost his fame when his economy failed right at the end of his term. On top of this, Democrat candidate Bill Clinton had some scandals that made him unwanted as well, which led to the independent Ross Perot getting a surprising amount of votes. In the end, Bill Clinton won the election. -
Launch of Google
Created by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford, first developed the search engine "BackRub." They did this to create a more accurate search engine. After success with this, they created Google. Google has since become the most-used search engine. -
Bill Clinton Impeached by the House of Representatives
Clinton's actions after being accused of sexual assault led to this. The reason for impeachment was perjury to a grand jury and obstruction of justice. -
World Trade Center/Pentagon/Shanksville, PA Attacks
On this day, terrorists from the group Al Qaeda took over airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in PA after the passengers fought the terrorist off. Around 2,800 people died in New York, around 200 at the Pentagon, and around 40 at the PA field. This caused many people to avoid taking planes and advanced security measures across the United States.