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Social Security reform becomes law
"The Social Security Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. In addition to several provisions for general welfare, the new Act created a social insurance program designed to pay retired workers age 65 or older a continuing income after retirement." -
Water Quality Control Act
"The Clean Water Act establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters." -
Fifty-two American hostages held in Iran released.
52 American civilians were held hostage by Iranian college students and were released on January 21st, 1981 after 444 days. -
Soviet grain embargo lifted
The United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union was enacted by Jimmy Carter in January 1980 in response to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. -
Reagan shot
March 30, 1981, United States President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C. -
Reagan and air-traffic controllers strike
On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired 11,359 air-traffic controllers striking in violation of his order for them to return to work. -
Sandra Day O’Connor nominated to Supreme Court
"Sandra Day O'Connor was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Reagan on August 19, 1981, thus fulfilling his 1980 campaign promise to appoint the first woman to the highest court in the United States" -
Tax Equity & Fiscal Responsibility Act
"The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, also known as TEFRA, is a United States federal law that rescinded some of the effects of the Kemp-Roth Act passed the year before." -
Reagan delivers his first State of the Union
Ronald Reagan delivers his first State of the Union address as president of the United States -
Reagan addresses Parliament in England
the first speech by an American president to a meeting of both houses of the British Parliament -
Suicide bombers attack U.S. Marines in Lebanon (1983)
"Tragedy struck again in Beirut on October 23, 1983, when a suicide bomber drove a truck underneath the four-story building housing the U.S. Marine barracks and detonated 12,000 pounds of TNT. The explosion reduced the building to rubble and killed 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers." -
Invasion of Grenada
"The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The U.S. and a coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, 100 miles north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, it resulted in a military occupation within a few days" -
Strategic Defense Initiative
"The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), nicknamed the "Star Wars program", was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons" -
Farm credit crises (Feb 1985)
"The early 1980s saw a farm recession where the financial crisis affected many Midwest farmers with heavy debt loads. Tight money policies by the Federal Reserve caused farmland value to drop 60% in some parts of the Midwest from 1981 to 1985" -
Reagan inaugurated
Reagan was inaugurated a second-time January 20, 1985, at the Grand Foyer of the white house and a second-time January 21, 1985, at the West Front. -
Embargo on Nicaragua
The United States embargo against Nicaragua was declared by the-U.S. President Ronald Reagan on May 1, 1985, and prohibited all trade between the U.S. and Nicaragua. -
Reagan, Gorbachev hold summit in Switzerland
the first meeting between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev was held on November 19 and 20, 1985 -
U.S. illegally sells arms to Iran (Iran-Contra Affair)
Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to the Khomeini government of the Islamic Republic of Iran -
Space Shuttle Challenger explosion (Reagan Speech)
The explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger Address to the Nation, January 28, 1986. by President Ronald W. Reagan. -
.South African sanctions
"The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 was a law enacted by the United States Congress. The law imposed sanctions against South Africa and stated five preconditions for lifting the sanctions that would essentially end the system of apartheid, which the latter was under at the time." -
Reagan and Gorbachev meet in Iceland Democrats gain seats (Nov 1986)
"The Reykjavík Summit was a summit meeting between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, held in Reykjavík, Iceland, on 11–12 October 1986" -
Gorbachev, Reagan sign treaty (1987)
"A landmark agreement proposed to eliminate all intermediate and short-range ground-based missiles and launchers from Europe." -
Sanctions on Poland
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Tower Commission concludes report (1987)
"The Commission's report, published on February 27, 1987, concluded that CIA Director William Casey, who supported the Iran-Contra arrangement, should have taken over the operation and made the president aware of the risks and notified Congress as legally required." -
Berlin Wall Speech in West Berlin (1987)
a speech delivered by United States President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin on June 12, 1987. -
Reagan prohibits abortion assistance (1988)
prohibiting abortions and abortion counseling by family planning programs that receive Federal funds -
Reagan visits Soviet Union (1988)
declared that the Cold War with the Soviet Union had ended. -
Reagan says farewell
Reagon gives his farewell speech before leaving office
