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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
This establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters -
52 American Hostages held in Iran released
Only a few minutes after Ronald Reagan became president, 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran, are released, ending the 444 day Iran Hostage Crisis. -
Ronald Reagan inaugurated
It was the first inauguration of Ronald Reagan as the 40th president of the United States. -
Reagan Shot
President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C. -
Reagan and Air-Traffic Controllers Strike
The PATCO workers' refusal to return to work, Reagan fired the 11,345 striking air traffic controlled who had ignored the order, and banned them from federal service for life. -
Sandra Day O'Connor nominated to Supreme Court
Sandra Day O'Connor was nominated to the Supreme Court by president Reagan, fulfilling his 1980 campaign promise to appoint the first woman to the highest court in the United States. -
Military Buildup (B-1 Bomber and MX missiles)
Reagan announced that he will seek Congress' approval to build 100 MX land-based missiles and 100 B-1 bombers under a $180.3 billion program to upgrade the nation's nuclear forces. -
Spending Speech (increase defense, decrease taxes)
In 1981, Reagan significantly reduced the maximum tax rate, which affected the highest income earners and lowered the top marginal tax rate from 70% to 50%. In 1986, he further reduced it to 28%. -
Soviet Grain Embargo Lifted
The U.S. grain embargo against the Soviet Union was enacted by Jimmy Carter in response to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. It remained in effect until Ronald Reagan ended it in 1981 upon taking the office of president. -
Reagan addresses Parliament in England
The first speech by an American president to a meeting of both houses of the British Parliament, Ronald Reagan presents his hope for the future that would "leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history." -
Tax Equity & Fiscal Responsibility Act
Tax Equity & Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 is a federal legislation passed in 1982 to cut the budget deficit through federal spending cuts, tax increases, and reform measures. -
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. -
Suicide bombers attack U.S. Marines in Lebanon (1983)
A suicide bomber drives a truck packed with explosives into the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. military personnel. On April 18, 1983, a suicide bomber driving a van devastated the U.S. embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people, including 17 Americans. -
Invasion of Grenada
President Ronald Reagan, citing the threat posed to American nationals on the Caribbean nation of Grenada by that nation’s Marxist regime, orders the Marines to invade and secure their safety. -
Farm credit crises (Feb 1985)
Agricultural markets severely deteriorated in the 1980s, with attendant effects on agricultural banks. -
Embargo on Nicaragua
President Reagan imposed a trade embargo against Nicaragua Wednesday with the hope of bringing pressure on the Sandinista government to ''mend their ways. -
U.S. illegally sells arms to Iran (Iran-Contra Affair)
The Iran-Contra Affair was a secret U.S. arms deal that traded missiles and other arms to free some Americans held hostage by terrorists in Lebanon, but also used funds from the arms deal to support armed conflict in Nicaragua. -
Reagan, Gorbachev hold summit in Switzerland
The Geneva Summit, the first meeting between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, was held on November 19 and 20, 1985. ... Hosted in Geneva, Switzerland, the meeting was the first American-Soviet summit in more than six years. -
Space Shuttle Challenger explosion (Reagan Speech)
“The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives,” Reagan said. “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God. '” -
Reagan delivers his first State of the Union
The 1986 State of the Union Address was given by the 40th president of the United States,Ronald 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)
In the meeting, the second between the two leaders, was intended not as a summit but as a session in which the leaders explored the possibility of limiting each country’s strategic nuclear weapons to create momentum in ongoing arms-control negotiations. -
Sanctions on Poland
Reagan lifts sanctions on Poland -
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)
. President Ronald Reagan spoke near the wall in front of Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate. Reagan's speech echoed the message of another famous American at the Berlin Wall some 24 years before -
Gorbachev, Reagan sign treaty (1987)
In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF Treaty. This landmark agreement proposed to eliminate all intermediate and short-range ground-based missiles and launchers from Europe. -
Reagan prohibits abortion assistance (1988)
Despite the certainty of a legal challenge, President Reagan will soon announce rules prohibiting abortions and abortion counseling by family planning programs that receive Federal funds. -
Reagan visits Soviet Union (1988)
President Ronald Reagan, while walking through Red Square and the Kremlin in Moscow, declared that the Cold War with the Soviet Union had ended. -
Reagan says farewell
After eight years, Ronald Reagan says farewell to the nation.
