1980-2001 By Josh Allen 1980 Tensions are high between Soviet Union and US due to Soviet involvement in Afghanistan 1980 Mt. St. Helen erupts 1980 Carter pulls American Athletes out of the Olympic sports in Moscow 1981 Reagan becomes President 1981 Attempted assassination of Reagan 1981 First US space shuttle launch 1982 Knoxville World's Fair opens on the topic of energy 1982 Highest unemployment rate since 1940 1983 Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space 1984 US astronauts become first to free fly in orbit 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games begin 1985 Reagan reelected 1986 Challenger explodes, killing all 7 crew 1987 Reagan and Gorbachev sign INF treaty 1989 George W. Bush becomes President 1990 Iraq troops invade Kuwait leading to the Persian Gulf War 1991 US begins Operation Desert Storm and ends the Persian Gulf War 1991 U.S. and Soviet Union sign START I treaty, agreeing to further reduce strategic nuclear arms 1991 Soviet Union is broken 1992 Bush and Yeltsin officially end the Cold War 1993 Bill Cinton becomes President 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement passes 1994 Lawsuit against President Clinton for sexual harassment 1995 Budget disagreement results in partial US government shutdown 1997 Clinton reelected 1998 More sexual harassment alegations on Clinton 1998 House votes to impeach Clinton 1999 Columbine High School shooting 2000 Al Gore and W Bush election too close to call 2001 Bush is declared President 2001 Two hijackers successfull crash planes into the World Trade Center 2001 War on Terrorism begins