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Ronald Reagan became the 40th President of the United States on January 20th, 1981. He served for two terms, winning his second term by an incredibly large margin of victory. He reformed the economy with his supply-side economics and was one of the most popular presidents of the modern era. -
In 1986 the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded during takeoff killing all seven crew members. The incident was caused by the failure of rubber O-rings in the space shuttle's right booster. This caused NASA to take a 32-month break in the space shuttle program. -
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was a slow internal power struggle that eventually led to the resignation of President Mikhail Gorbachev and the collapse of the Soviet Union. This process began with Estonia declaring state sovereignty and ended with the Soviet Union dissolving and becoming separate nations.
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On November 9th, 1989 hordes of East Germans flocked the gates of the Berlin Wall demanding that they be opened. Finally, shortly before midnight, the Soviets yielded and the gates were opened and people were allowed to pass freely. This marked the fall of the Iron Curtain and started the reunification process in Germany. -
George H.W. Bush was inaugurated as the 41st U.S president in 1989. He served only one term, losing to Bill Clinton in the 1992 Presidential Election. -
Bill Clinton was sworn into office in January of 1993 and served until 2001. He held a high approval rating, however many allegations of sexual misconduct and his own conduct have led to scandal and public shame. -
The Oklahoma City bombing was a truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The bombing occurred at 9:02 am and killed 168 people. It damaged over 300 buildings in a 16-block radius and led to an investigation by the FBI. It was done as a protest to the Ruby Ridge and Waco sieges. -
The terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 were a set of four terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists. These attacks involved the hijacking of four commercial airliners and the destruction of the World Trade Center. These devastating attacks shook America to its core and changed the aviation industry forever.