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Y2K Fiasco
Y2K, was a computer bug related to the formatting and storage of calendar data. Problems arose, because twentieth-century software often represented the four-digit year with only the final two digits—making the year 2000 indistinguishable from 1900. The assumption of a twentieth-century date in such programs caused various errors, such as the incorrect display of dates and the inaccurate ordering of automated dated records or real-time events. -
Hanging “Chads” in Florida
On election night in 2000, TV networks jumped the gun and called Florida for Bush. That led Gore to concede to Bush, as is the tradition, because without Florida's electoral votes it was over for the Democratic nominee despite the fact that he ended up winning the popular vote by nearly 544,000 votes. Networks later realized their mistake and announced it was actually was too close to call and Gore took back his concession. -
Bush/Gore Race
The United States presidential election of 2000 was the 54th presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000. Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-incumbent governor of Texas and the eldest son of the 41st President George H. W. Bush, narrowly defeated the Democratic nominee Al Gore, then-incumbent vice president and former Senator for Tennessee, as well as third-party candidates including Ralph Nader. -
Bush v Gore
A divided Supreme Court ruled that the state of Florida's court-ordered manual recount of vote ballots in the 2000 presidential election was unconstitutional. The case proved to be the climax of the presidential race between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush. The outcome of the election hinged on Florida, where Governor Bush led Vice President Gore by about 1,800 votes the morning after Election Day. Florida law called for an automatic machine recount of ballots. -
Bush Inaugurated as POTUS
The first inauguration of George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States took place on January 20, 2001. The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of George W. Bush as President and Dick Cheney as Vice President. -
Timothy McVeigh put to death
Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in American history. He was executed for his crimes. Was executed on June 11, 2001. -
9-11 Terror Attacks
The Islamic extremist group Al-Qaeda, hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. 2 of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a 3rd plane hit the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks resulted in death and destruction. Over 3,000 people were killed in New York City and Washington, D.C. Plus more than 400 police officers and firefighters. -
Patriot Act passed
The USA Patriot Act is an antiterrorism law enacted by the U.S. Congress in October 2001, at the request of then-President George W. Bush in response to the terrorist attacks that took place on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York and Washington, D.C. Often referred to simply as the Patriot Act, it was signed by Bush on Oct. 26, 2001. -
The hunt for Osama in Afghanistan
In a March 2002 press conference President Bush referred to bin Laden as "a person who's now been marginalized." Although it is certainly the case that the global jihadist movement will carry on whatever bin Laden's fate, it would be dangerously wrong to assume that it doesn't really matter whether he is apprehended. -
Enron Scandal
The Enron scandal, publicized in October 2001, eventually led to the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas, and the de facto dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which was one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world. In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in American history at that time, Enron was cited as the biggest audit failure. -
North Korea admits testing nuclear weapons
North Korea revealed that it has a clandestine nuclear weapons program during an early October meeting with a high-ranking U.S. official. The admission, which the United States made public October 16, indicates that Pyongyang has violated several key nonproliferation agreements, raising concern worldwide. -
War in Iraq begins
Began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. -
Shuttle Columbia Explosion
On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentering Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crew members.
The disaster was the second tragedy in the Space Shuttle program after Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, which exploded and killed the seven-member crew shortly after liftoff. -
Capture of Saddam Hussein
On December 13, 2003, U.S. soldiers found Saddam Hussein hiding in a six-to-eight-foot deep hole, nine miles outside his hometown of Tikrit. The man once obsessed with hygiene was found to be unkempt, with a bushy beard and matted hair. He did not resist and was uninjured during the arrest. A soldier at the scene described him as “a man resigned to his fate.” -
Former President Reagan Dies
Reagan died of pneumonia, complicated by Alzheimer's disease, at his home on the afternoon of June 5, 2004. A short time after his death, Nancy Reagan released a statement saying, "My family and I would like the world to know that President Ronald Reagan has died after 10 years of Alzheimer's disease at 93 years of age. We appreciate everyone's prayers." President George W. Bush declared June 11 a National Day of Mourning, and international tributes came in from around the world. -
Hurricane Katrina Hits New Orleans
Early in the morning on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. When the storm made landfall, it had a Category 3 rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale–it brought sustained winds of 100–140 miles per hour–and stretched some 400 miles across. The storm itself did a great deal of damage, but its aftermath was catastrophic.
