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US invasion of Panama
The United States invades Panama in an attempt to overthrow military dictator Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges and was accused of suppressing democracy in Panama and endangering U.S. nationals. Noriega's Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) were promptly crushed, forcing the dictator to seek asylum with the Vatican anuncio in Panama City, where he surrendered on January 3, 1990. -
Passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act
The Americans With Disabilites Act or ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental activities. The ADA is actually similar to the Civil RIghts act of 1964. It basically gives everyone the same oppoutunities without discrimination for jobs, public transport and so on. It was first introduced to the Senate in 1989 by Tom Harkin and was signed by George H W Bush in 1990. -
Rodney King Beating/ L.A. Riots
Rodney King was an African Americanworker who got in a police chase and was pulled from his car and brutally beaten. His beating was video taped and gained national attention. The beating was supposedly the start of the L.A riots where 58 were killed and 2,000 were injured. The riots only stopped when the military was called in. -
Arrest and Trial of Jeffery Dahmer
Jeffery Dahmer was a serial killer who killed at least 17 men. He would rape and dismember his victims, and later had caniballistic tendencies. He was arrested in his apartment after one of his victims escaped. He confessed to all of the murders he was tried on. He ended up being beaten to death in a correctional facility. -
Hurricane Andrew
At the time Hurricane Andrew was the costliest hurricane in United States history. It was classified as a category 4 and 5 through out its entierty. It first hit the Bahamas and then moved to Florida and moved inward. Overall, Andrew caused 65 fatalities and $26 billion in damage, and it is currently the fifth costliest hurricane in Atlantic hurricane history. -
Passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement
This agreement was between the US, Canada, and Mexico. This would bring Mexico into the free trade one that was already started by the US and Canada. The supporters of NAFTA believed it would help all three of the countries economies and create new jobs. It had its critics too but the treaty was ratified by all three of the countries legislatures and soon after trade with Mexico increased. -
O.J. Simpson Trial
O.J. Simpson who at the time was a professional football player was tried on accont of two murders. It was believed he killed his ex wife and a waiter. The whole trial/investigation lasted more than eight months. He was found not guilty for either of the murders. The case was called the most publicized case in American history. -
Olympic Park Bombing
An anonymous 911 call warns that a bomb will explode in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, during the Olympic Games. Two people died during a terrorist bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympic games in Atlanta, Georgia.
Eric Robert Rudolph was convicted of placing the 40-pound bomb, filled with nails and screws, in Centennial Olympic Park -
Murder of Jon Benet Ramsey
JonBenét Ramsey was a six year old beuaty pagent queen who was found murdered in her home here in Boulder, Colorado. Her body was found six hours after she went missing. There was a randsom note for $118,000 that was found and thats how they knew she was missing. The initail suspects were her brother and parents but the case has never been solved. It has been re opened numerous times but the case is still not closed -
Murder of James Byrd
James Byrd, Jr. was an African-American who was murdered by three men, of whom at least two were white supremacists, in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998. Byrd's lynching-by-dragging gave impetus to passage of a Texas hate crimes law. -
Murder of Mattew Shepard
Matthew was a student at Universtity of Wyoming who was found beaten and tortured outside of Laramie. He died six days after he was found. During the trails of his attackers it was brought to attention that the reason he was targeted was because he was gay. This act of violence brought national attention to hate crimes. He inspired the Matthew Shepard Act that was signed in 2009 -
NATO bombing in Yugoslovia
The strikes lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999. The NATO bombing marked the second major combat operation in its history. In the course of the campaign, NATO launched 2,300 missiles at 990 targets and dropped 14,000 bombs over 2,000 civilians were killed, including 88 children, and thousands more were injured. -
Columbine Massacre
Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, enacted an all-out assault on Columbine High School during the middle of the school day. The boys' plan was to kill hundreds of their peers. With guns, knives, and a multitude of bombs, the two boys walked the hallways and killed. When the day was done, twelve students, one teacher, and the two murderers were dead; plus 21 more were injured. -
Y2K Scare
The scare was that all of our computer systems around the world would just stop working. People also were nervous that our luxuries would be destroyed and that we would go back to living like the old days without any electricity, heat or running water. In other words, people saw the new millennium as the apocalypse. They feared that the end of the world was near. But when the clocks changed there were no problems with the clocks changing excpet for a few minor ones.
