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Us invasion of Panama
On December 20, 1989, President George H.W Bush sent more than 20,000 soldiers and marines into Panama to overthrow and arrest General Manuel Antonio Noriega on charged of drug trafficking. The US invasion of Panama was nicknamed Operation Just Cause and happened just ten years after the Torrijos–Carter Treaties were ratified, to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama. After General Manuel Antonio Noriega was indicted by a Miami grand jury, he was taken by force -
Passage of the Americans with Disabilites Act
The ADA is a wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on disability. It was enacted by the U.S Congress in early 1990, and signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H.W. Bush. The ADA states that a covered entity (employment agency, labor organization ect) shall not discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability. It also prohibits such discrimination in Public entities at the local and state level. -
Rodney King Beating/ LA riots
Rodney King became nationally known after being beaten by Los Angeles police officers, following a high-speed car chase on March 3, 1991. Footage shows five officers surrounding King, several of them striking him repeatedly, while other officers stood by. This beating is believed to be what triggered the 1992 LA riots. The riots had caused 53 deaths, 2,383 injuries, more than 7,000 fires, damage to 3,100 businesses, and nearly $1 billion in financial losses, came to an end with the military. -
US soldiers in Somalia/ Blackhawk down
The Battle of Mogadishu, or Black Hawk Down, was part of Operation Gothic Serpent and was fought on 3 and 4 October 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia, between forces of the United States, supported by UNOSOM II, and Somali militiamen loyal to the self-proclaimed president-to-be Mohamed Farrah Aidid who had support from armed civilian fighters. -
Passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement
NAFTA is an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral rules-based trade bloc in North America. As of 2007, It’s the largest trade bloc in the world. The goal of NAFTA was to eliminate barriers with trading and investment between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. MAFTA brought the immediate elimination of tariffs on more than one-half of Mexico's exports to the U.S. and more than one-third of U.S. exports to Mexico. -
O.J Simpson Trial
: O. J. Simpson was a former professional football star and actor, who was tried on two counts of murder after the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and a waiter, Ronald Lyle Goldman, in June 1994. The trial was held at the Superior Court in Los Angeles County, California, that spanned November 2, 1994, to October 3, 1995. At 10 a.m. on October 3, 1995, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. -
Menendez Murder Trial
Brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez shot and killed their wealthy parents in the back of the head on August 20, 1989 in their home. At first, the brothers were not convicted until after Erik’s told his psychiatrist, and he told the police. On July 2, 1996, Judge Weisberg sentenced Lyle and Erik Menendez to life in prison without the possibility of parole. -
Explotion of TWA Flight 800
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31 p.m. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport. The flight was headed to Rome, with a stopover in Paris. It was believed that the probable cause of the accident was due to an explosion of flammable fuel/air vapors in a fuel tank, and, although it could not be determined with certainty, the most likely cause of the explosion was -
Olympic Park Bombing
The Olympic Park bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia on July 27 during the 1996 Summer Olympics. It was the first of four bombings committed by Eric Robert Rudolph. Richard Jewell, a security guard at the park, found the bombs before they detonated and cleared most of the spectators out of the park. However, the blast claimed 1 life and injured 111 people, while another person died of a heart attack. Rudolph was sentenced to life imprisonment w -
Murder of JonBenét Ramsey
JonBenét Patricia Ramsey was an American child beauty pageant queen who was murdered in her home in Boulder, Colorado, in 1996. The six-year-old's body was found about eight hours after she was reported missing, in the basement of the family home, during a police search of the home. She had been struck on the head and strangled. The case remains unsolved, even after several grand jury hearings, and continues to generate public and media interest -
Heaven's Gate Cult Suicide
Heaven's Gate was an American UFO religious group based in San Diego, California, founded in the early 1970s and led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. Heaven's Gate members believed the planet Earth was about to be "recycled", and the only chance to survive was to leave it immediately. On March 19–20, 1997, Marshall Applewhite taped himself speaking of mass suicide and asserted "it was the only way to evacuate this Earth." After claiming that a spacecraft was trailing the comet Hale–Bop -
Murder of James Byrd
James Byrd, Jr was an African-American man who was murdered by Shawn Berry, Lawrence Russell Brewer, and John King in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998. Byrd was dragged for three miles behind a pick-up truck along an asphalt road. He remained conscious throughout most of the ordeal, but was killed when his body hit the edge of a culvert, severing his right arm and head. The murderers drove on for another mile before dumping his torso in front of an African-American cemetery in Jasper. Lawrence R -
Murder of Matthew Sheppard
Matthew Shepard was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured and left to die near Laramie, Wyoming on the night of October 6, 1998. He died six days later at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, on October 12 from severe head injuries. It was reported that Matthew was targeted because he was gay. Matthews murderers were Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson who, according to one of the attackers girlfriends, didn’t like gays. -
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, also known as Operation Allied Forces, was NATO's military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. In the course of the campaign, NATO launched 2,300 missiles at 990 targets and dropped 14,000 bombs, including depleted uranium bombs and cluster munitions. Over 2,000 civilians were killed, including 88 children, and thousands more were injured. The strikes lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999, and led to the withdrawal of -
Columbine Massacre
The Columbine Massacre was a deadly school shooting that took place at Columbine High School in Colorado, on April 20, 1999. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered a total of 12 students and one teacher. They injured 24 additional students, with three other people being injured while attempting to escape the school. The pair then committed suicide. The massacre sparked debate over gun control laws, the availability of firearms within the United States and gun violence invo
