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During the Panamanian election of 1989, Manuel Noriega lost, attacked supporters of his opponent, and cancelled the election. The U.S. wanted Noriega overthrown because he had become a dictator and was destroying democracy in Panama. The U.S. military beat the Panama military, forcing Noriega to surrender. Later, the CIA hired Noriega to help the U.S. fight communism in Central America. He was fired for interfering in Panama’s election again and acting as a spy between Cuba and the Sandinistas. -
On March 3, 1991, an intoxicated Rodney King was in an 8 mile car chase in L.A. When the cops caught him, they told the three people in the car to lie down. When King did not do so, the cops tasered King, who then got up and ran towards them. The cops then beat King and handcuffed him, while someone was videotaping. The publishing of the video led to the L.A. riots, which lasted for three days. 60 people were killed, there was $1 billion of damages, and the military had to settle the riots. -
After testing positive for HIV, Magic Johnson had to retire from his basketball career, where he played for 13-seasons in the NBA. Johnson was the NBA’s MVP three times, and on the All-Star team 12 times. After he tested positive, Johnson stayed involved with basketball by playing in the Olympics and coaching for the Lakers. Johnson now promotes awareness for HIV and AIDS and is an example of being able to survive and have a normal life with HIV. -
Hurricane Andrew was a category five hurricane, which lasted from August 16, 1992 to August 28, 1992. Hurricane Andrew was the most destructive natural disaster in history, with $26.5 billion in damages. During the hurricane, there were 141 mph winds and there was a 17 ft storm surge. The hurricane destroyed 250,000 homes and 82,000 businesses. -
NAFTA was an agreement between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico which prevented the three countries from creating tariffs or trade barriers on each other. The agreement was signed on December 8, 1993, and went into effect on January 1, 1994. NAFTA was intended to promote trade in North America and help small businesses by making it easier for them to import and export goods. The agreement created the largest free-trade zone in the world, with the economies of the three countries worth $6 trillion. -
O.J. Simpson, an NFL player, was married to Nicole Brown. Simpson was abusive in this relationship and in 1992 his wife filed for divorce. On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman were stabbed to death in Brown’s front yard. Simpson hired the best lawyers to defend him and his trial lasted 252 days. When the police went to arrest Simpson, they found him driving away and a car chase took place. When the police finally pulled them over, they found out he was trying to flee the country. -
During the Olympic Games in Atlanta, a bomb was released in Centennial Park, killing one person and injuring 112. The main suspect was a security guard, Richard Jewell, who found the bomb before it went off, but there was no strong evidence of it. After he refused to admit to the crime, the FBI released his name to the media. When he still refused to admit to the crime, they realized he was innocent. In 1998, the FBI found the actual bomber, Eric Rudolph, who also commited three other bombings. -
In 1999, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization bombed Yugoslavia in an effort to stop the ethnic cleansing that occured. After Kosovo became an independent state, Serbians started persecuting Kosovar Albanian Muslims. Eventually, the Serbians came to a peace agreement with NATO, which said that they would replace the Serbian military in Kosovo with NATO peacekeeping troops. No one from NATO died during this, except for two pilots who died during their training. -
The Columbine Massacre took place in Littleton, Colorado, at Columbine High School, when two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, committed one of the first major school shootings in the U.S. At 11:10 a.m., the two students put two bombs in the cafeteria, but they did not explode. This caused the students to start shooting, killing twelve students and one teacher. At the end, Harris and Klebold then killed themselves. The Columbine Massacre caused the U.S. to question gun laws and safety. -
Y2K, was a bug which prevented computers from processing dates in the new millennium. Since computers labeled years by the last two digits, programmers were worried that computers would think 2000 was 1900, which would mess up the calendars. Since many banks calculated their interest on computers, they were worried that in the new millennium, computers would calculate -100 years of interest. Once the new millennium began, the scare amounted to nothing, which brought people great relief.