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Jimmy Carter Elected President
Jimmy Carter won the 1976 US presidential election against Gerald Ford, securing the Democratic nomination and becoming the 39th president. He was inaugurated on January 20, 1977. Carter won the election with 50.1% of the popular vote and 297 electoral votes, while Ford had 48% of the popular vote and 240 electoral votes. He served one term, leaving office in 1981. -
Star Wars Movie Premier
The original "Star Wars" film, now known as "Episode IV: A New Hope," premiered in US theaters on May 25, 1977. The film quickly became a major cultural phenomenon, launching the Star Wars franchise. -
Iran Hostages Released
The 52 American hostages held captive at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran were released on January 20, 1981, after 444 days of captivity. This event marked the end of the Iran Hostage Crisis, which had begun on November 4, 1979. The hostages were released minutes after Ronald Reagan took office as the 40th President of the United States. -
Three Mile Island Meltdown
The Three Mile Island incident, a partial nuclear meltdown at Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, occurred on March 28, 1979, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It was a major event in U.S. nuclear power history, though it didn't result in widespread health effects or injuries. -
Mount. St. Helens Eruption
The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was a cataclysmic event, the deadliest and most destructive volcanic eruption in U.S. history. It began with a magnitude 5.1 earthquake at 8:32 a.m. on May 18, triggering a massive landslide and a lateral blast that devastated the surrounding area. -
Assassination Attempt on President Reagan
Ronald Reagan, the President of the United States, was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C., as Reagan was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton hotel. Hinckley believed the attack would impress the actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had developed an erotomanic obsession after viewing her in the 1976 film Taxi Driver. -
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
The Chernobyl disaster, which occurred on April 26, 1986, at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine (now Ukraine), was a severe nuclear accident resulting from a steam explosion and fire that released a large amount of radioactive material into the environment. It is considered one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, and is one of only two nuclear accidents ever rated at the highest level on the International Nuclear Event Scale. -
Iran/ Contra Affair
The Iran-Contra affair was a major scandal during the Reagan administration, involving the secret sale of arms to Iran to secure the release of American hostages, and the diversion of profits from those sales to support the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. This action violated the Boland Amendment, which prohibited government funding of the Contras. -
Challenger Shuttle Explosion
The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff on January 28, 1986, killing all seven astronauts on board, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. The disaster occurred due to the failure of O-ring seals in one of the solid rocket boosters, which allowed hot exhaust gases to escape and damage the external fuel tank. -
George H.W. Bush Elected President
Bush, a Republican from Texas and the incumbent vice president for two terms under President Ronald Reagan, took office following his landslide victory over Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989, marking a pivotal moment in history. East German border guards opened the border, allowing East Berliners to cross into West Berlin and, by extension, to visit West Germany. This symbolized the end of the Cold War and the beginning of German reunification, which was officially completed on October 3, 1990. -
Start of the Persian Gulf War
The Gulf War was an armed conflict between Iraq and a 42-country coalition led by the United States. -
Bill Clinton Elected President
Clinton was elected president in the 1992 election, defeating the incumbent Republican Party president George H. W. Bush, and the independent businessman Ross Perot. He became the first president to be born in the Baby Boomer generation and the youngest to serve two full terms. -
Rodney King Decision & L.A. Riots
In 1992, the Rodney King beating and the subsequent L.A. Riots sparked widespread outrage and violence, highlighting racial tensions and police brutality. The acquittals of four Los Angeles police officers in the beating of King, a Black man, led to six days of unrest, causing damage, injuries, and deaths across Los Angeles. -
Original U.S.A. Olympic Basketball Dream Team
Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler, and Christian Laettner -
Launch of Google
Google officially launched its search engine on September 4, 1998, after being incorporated on that date. The company was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and their initial investment came from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems. The search engine was initially developed at Stanford University as a project called "BackRub" -
Bill Clinton Impeached by the House of Representatives
Bill Clinton was indeed impeached by the House of Representatives on December 19, 1998. The charges were perjury before a grand jury and obstruction of justice. While impeached, he was subsequently acquitted on both charges in a Senate trial, and remained in office. The impeachment stemmed from the Monica Lewinsky scandal, where Clinton's testimony in a sexual harassment lawsuit was later found to be inconsistent with his actions. -
World Trade Center/Pentagon/Shanksville, PA Attacks
On September 11, 2001, nineteen members of Al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airliners, resulting in deadly attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a crash field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The attacks caused the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York City, a partial collapse of the Pentagon, and the loss of 2,977 lives.