The United States boycotts the Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan;
U.S. presidential election, 1980: Ronald Reagan is elected president, with George H. W. Bush elected vice president
Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr.
– The Space Shuttle Columbia is launched, marking America's first return to space since 1975.
241 U.S. Marines are killed by a suicide bomb in Lebanon.
The United States invades Grenada.
The Reagan Administration creates the Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed Star Wars, to block nuclear missile attacks.
U.S. presidential election, 1984: Ronald Reagan is re-elected president, with George H. W. Bush re-elected as vice president.
Gramm Rudman Hollings Balanced Budget Act
The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven aboard
Tax Reform Act of 1986
During a visit to Berlin, Germany, President Reagan challenges Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall!"
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C. by President Reagan and Soviet Premier Gorbachev.
U.S. presidential election, 1988: George H. W. Bush is elected president, Dan Quayle vice president.
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty goes into effect.
Hurricane Hugo strikes the Caribbean and U.S. Southeast Coast, causing $7 billion in damage.
President Bush declares a "War on Drugs."
President Bush and Soviet Premier Gorbachev release statements indicating that the Cold War between their nations may be coming to an end.
The Cold War ends as the USSR is dissolved.
Los Angeles riots result in over 60 deaths and $1 billion in damage, spurred by the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King.
U.S. presidential election, 1992: Bill Clinton elected president, Al Gore elected vice president.
A truck bomb explodes in the parking garage under the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six people and injuring over a thousand
Branch Davidians standoff and fire near Waco, Texas, resulting in the deaths of 81 people including their leader, David Koresh.
The United States hosts the FIFA World Cup which is won by Brazil
Oklahoma City bombing kills 168 and wounds 800.
Retired professional football player O. J. Simpson is acquitted of two charges of first-degree murder in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson,
TWA Flight 800 explodes off Long Island killing all 230 aboard
U.S. presidential election, 1996: Bill Clinton is re-elected president, Al Gore is re-elected vice president.
Clinton-Lewinsky scandal: President Clinton is accused of having a sexual relationship with 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Teenage students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murder 13 other students and teachers at Columbine High School, sparking an international debate on gun control and bullying.
U.S. presidential election, 2000: Initial result inconclusive and the result in Florida is disputed. George W. Bush is certified president after a Supreme Court ruling.
September 11 attacks; 19 terrorists hijack four planes and crash them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring over 6,000.