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Twenty-Second Amendment
The Twenty-second Amendment of the United States Constitution sets a term limit for the President of the United States, providing that "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once." Prior to the adoption of the amendment, the constitution set no li -
Puerto Rico becomes a U.S. commonwealth
On June 4, 1951, Puerto Rican voters approved in a referendum a U.S. law that granted them the right to draft their own constitution. The constituent assembly began its deliberations in the following September. In March 1952 the electorate approved the new constitution, and on July 25 Governor Muñoz proclaimed the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. -
Bombing of federal office building in Oklahoma City
http://okcbombing.net/ OnApril 19, 1995, around 9:03 a.m. A massive bomb inside a rental truck exploded, blowing half of the nine-story building into oblivion.A stunned nation watched as the bodies of men, women, and children were pulled from the rubble for nearly two weeks. -
The first American satellite is launched
<ahref='http://http://www.aerospaceguide.net/satellite/explorer.html' >http://www.aerospaceguide.net</a> Explorer 1, the first U.S. spacecraft launched into orbit, was carried by a modified Army Ballistic Missile Agency Jupiter C missile named Juno 1 on January 31, 1958 from LC-26 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellite was built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. -
Alaska becomes the 49th state
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/bartlett/49state.html Alaska became the 49th State of the Union on January 3, 1959. The United States congress signed the bill authorizing a vote for statehood by Alaska residents in the summer of 1958. -
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=97 The Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. This document was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. -
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated
At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, a shot rang out. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who had been standing on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN, was shot. Our nation was shocked and devastated. To this day no one has forgotten about this horrible day and what a difference he made in America. -
President Kennedy is assassinated
http://www.jfk.org/ John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m.on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was fatally shot while traveling with his wife Jacqueline, Texas governor John Connally, and the latter's wife Nellie, in a Presidential motorcade. -
Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr., become the first men to land on the Moon
"Houston, Monday, July 21--Men have landed and walked on the moon. Two Americans, astronauts of Apollo 11, steered their fragile four-legged lunar module safely and smoothly to the historic landing yesterday at 4:17:40 P.M., Eastern daylight time. Neil A. Armstrong, the 38-year-old civilian commander, radioed to earth and the mission control room here: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
- New York Times 1969 -
Nixon makes historic visit to Communist China
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1877.html On Monday, February 21, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon arrived in Beijing, China. -
U.S. establishes diplomatic ties with mainland China
U.S. establishes diplomatic ties with mainland China for the first time since Communist takeover in 1949. -
Sandra Day O'Connor is sworn in as the first woman Supreme Court Justice.
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Space shuttle Challenger explodes ..
http://history.nasa.gov/Biographies/challenger.html American space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff. Killing all seven crew members that were on it. -
Exxon Valdez oil spill
Oil tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound, spilling more than 10 million gallons of oil. -
Persian Gulf War Ends
On January 16 U.S. leads international coalition in military operation (code named “Desert Storm”) to drive Iraqis out of Kuwait. -
Bomb explodes in basement garage of World Trade Center
Bomb explodes in basement garage of World Trade Center, killing 6, injuring 1,000, and causing more than $500 million in damage -
School shooting at Columbine High School
http://vanessawest.tripod.com/columbine-4.html The School shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorad, 14 students (including the 2 shooters) and 1 teacher died and 23 others were wounded. -
U.S. and Britain launch air attacks against targets in Afghanistan
U.S. and Britain launch air attacks against targets in Afghanistan after Taliban government fails to hand over Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks -
President Bush signs legislation creating a new cabinet department of Homeland Security
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Space shuttle Columbia explodes
Space shuttle Columbia explodes upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts on board. -
Population of the United States has reached 300 million
http://articles.cnn.com/2006-10-17/us/300.million.over_1_total-population-households-census-bureau?_s=PM:US The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the population of the United States has reached 300 million -
Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives
http://usliberals.about.com/od/liberalpersonalprofiles/p/RepPelosi.htm Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco was first elected to the House of Representatives in a 1987 special election -
Obama igns executive orders closing all secret prisons and detention camps run by the CIA.
President Obama signs executive orders closing all secret prisons and detention camps run by the CIA, including the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, and banning coercive interrogation methods. -
Senate approves the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court
The Senate approves, 68 to 31, the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. She's the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice and the third woman to serve on the Court. -
Explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico
rig in the Gulf of http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-deep-water-horizon-blowout-and-fire-worst-oil-pollution-disaster-usa-history
An explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon oisends millions of gallons of oil into the sea. The spill kills 11 and is the largest off-shore spill in U.S. history as well as one of the largest spills in world history.
