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National Rifle Associate (NRA) Lobbying Begins
On February 7, 1872, the NRA created a committee to lobby for legislation in the interest of the organization. Its first lobbying effort was to petition the New York State legislature for $25,000 to purchase land to set up a range -
Conservative Resurgence (1981)
Its initiators called it the Conservative Resurgence while its detractors labeled it the Fundamentalist Takeover. It was launched with the charge that the seminaries and denominational agencies were dominated by liberals. The movement was primarily aimed at reorienting the denomination away from a liberal trajectory. -
“Trickle Down Economics”
Trickle-down economics, also called trickle-down theory, refers to the economic proposition that taxes on businesses and the wealthy in society should be reduced as a means to stimulate business investment in the short term and benefit society at large in the long term. -
• War on Drugs (1981)
The War on Drugs is a phrase used to refer to a government-led initiative that aims to stop illegal drug use, distribution, and trade by dramatically increasing prison sentences for both drug dealers and users. The movement started in the 1970s and is still evolving today -
AIDS Epidemic (1981)
The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), found its way to the United States as early as 1960, but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in gay men in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco in 1981. -
Sandra Day O’Connor Appointed to U.S. Supreme Court
Sandra Day O'Connor is an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 until her retirement in 2006. She was the first woman to serve on the Court -
Marines in Lebanon
On October 23, 1983, two truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon, a military peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War -
Iran-Contra Affair (1985)
The Iran–Contra affair, popularized in Iran as the McFarlane affair, the Iran–Contra scandal, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration. -
The Oprah Winfrey Show First Airs
On Sept. 8, 1986, the first edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show aired nationally. -
“Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!” (1987)
"Tear down this wall", also known as the Berlin Wall Speech, was a speech delivered by United States President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin on June 12, 1987 -
End of Cold War
During 1989 and 1990, the Berlin Wall came down, borders opened, and free elections ousted Communist regimes everywhere in eastern Europe. In late 1991 the Soviet Union itself dissolved into its component republics. With stunning speed, the Iron Curtain was lifted and the Cold War came to an end.
