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Gulf War Begins
The Persian Gulf War occurred when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. This was the first major conflict post cold war. The United States' involvement in the war set a precedent for military involvement. The US helped to defeat Iraq and regain some peace in the region. This war had a good amount of support in the US compared to others. I picked this event because of its global impact, which continued to effect our relationship with the Middle East for years. (Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia.) -
Bill Clinton is Elected President
When Bill Clinton was elected as president in 1992 it was a generational shift to a much younger president. Clinton was only in his early 40s when he was elected president. He had some very controversial positions and his policies had a lasting effect on this time period. I picked this event because Bill Clintons presidency was a defining part of the 1990s, as he was president from 1993-2001. Many of his campaigns made large impacts and continued into the 2000s. (Britannica) -
NAFTA took effect
The North American Free Trade Agreement was passed with mostly republican support in 1992 and took effect in 1994. This agreement eliminated most tariffs on trade between the US, Canada, and Mexico. Since labor costs were cheaper in Mexico some companies moved their operations there after NAFTA took effect. This was controversial because people were upset that jobs were being taken away from Americans. I picked this because of the effect that it had on companies in America. (Bondarenko, P) -
Summer Olympics is Hosted in Atlanta
In the summer of 1996 in US hosted the summer olympics. This was the largest event the city has ever held and it brought a lot of attention to the city. There also was a bombing at Centennial Park on July 27th. This was a domestic terrorist attack that killed one mother and injured over 100 other people. I chose this event because of its importance for the country and also globally. This was the last time that the US hosted a summer olympics. (Newman, Harvey.) -
Y2K
Y2K was a computer bug that would have a problem after the date December 31, 1999. This caused much panic going into the year 2000 as many people were terrified that computers would just stop working or blow up. There was a solution though and many people were over concerned about this issue. I picked this event because showed how much technology really started to play a role in people lives in the 1990s going into the 2000s. If an event like this happened today it would be chaos. (Nancy Wynne) -
9/11
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 were the deadliest in US history, with over 3000 people being killed. Four US planes out of Boston were hijacked by members of Al Qaeda, an Islamic terrorist group. Two planes crashed into the twin towers, one into the pentagon, and another crashed in a field in PA. The leader of Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden took credit for this attack. I picked this event because of its huge impact on the country and our airport security. (Bergen, P. L) -
Creation of Facebook
Facebook was one of the first social media networks that really became popular and is still popular today. It was invented by Mark Zuckerberg and 3 others, all students at Harvard University. Facebook really broke the mold and was of benefit to government agencies because they were able to collect information on people. Facebook is still the most popular social networking platform today with almost 3 billion active users and it has has a lasting impact on modern technology. (Hall, M) -
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a category 4 hurricane that hit New Orleans. This hurricane brought flooding and destruction to the city because of its low elevation. It is estimated that over 2000 people died, mostly from drowning. The president was highly criticized for the event because he was on vacation at the time and all he did was a fly by. A large amount of the people who died were people of color which angered many, and led people to believe Bush didn't care about people of color. (Britannica) -
Financial Crisis
The financial crisis of 2007 started as a housing crisis which spiraled out of control. This created a massive financial panic and a huge recession. Many banks closed because of this. The US government had to resolve this crisis by creating programs like TARP that stabilized the market by adding billions of dollars to it. I chose this event because it is one that impacted many Americans and was a very stressful time financially. (Duignan, B.) -
Obama Elected
Former President Barack Obama was elected in 2008 right at the end of the financial crisis. This made history as Obama was the first ever African American president in the United States. This was a positive shift as we are still moving towards complete racial equality. Obama had many very importance achievements like the Affordable Care Act. I picked this event because I think that the election of Obama was a very important event in our recent history. (Britannica)