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Jimmy Carter Elected President
Carter, a Democrat from Georgia, took office following his narrow victory over Republican incumbent president Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election. His presidency ended following his landslide defeat in the 1980 presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan, after one term in office. -
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 -
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.Helen
The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was a catastrophic event that caused widespread destruction and death. The eruption, which occurred on May 18, 1980, at 8:32 am, was preceded by a series of smaller eruptions and a massive landslide on the volcano's north side. The eruption resulted in a lateral blast, mudflows, and a large ash cloud that devastated the surrounding area -
Iran Hostages Released
An agreement having been made, the hostages were released on January 20, 1981, minutes after the inauguration of the new U.S. president, Ronald Reagan -
Assassination Attempt on President Reagan
On March 30, 1981, 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. -
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" -
Iran/ Contra Affair
The Iran-Contra affair was a 1980s scandal that involved the U.S. government secretly selling weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages held in Lebanon. Profits from these arms sales were then funneled to support the Contras, a rebel group fighting against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, despite a Congressional ban on such assistance -
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. -
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
The Chernobyl disaster, which occurred on April 26, 1986, was a catastrophic nuclear accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. It was the result of a steam explosion and fire that released radioactive materials into the environment, leading to a major health crisis and lasting environmental contamination -
George H.W. Bush Elected President
George H.W. Bush was elected President of the United States on November 8, 1988. He was inaugurated on January 20, 1989. -
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 -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Fall of the Berlin Wall, which occurred on November 9, 1989, marked a pivotal moment in history, symbolizing the end of the Cold War division between East and West Germany. The wall, erected in 1961 to prevent East Germans from fleeing to the West, had become a powerful symbol of communist repression and political division. -
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Start of the Persian Gulf War
The invasion of Kuwait led to a United Nations Security Council embargo and sanctions on Iraq and a U.S.-led coalition air and ground war, which began on January 16, 1991, and ended with an Iraqi defeat and retreat from Kuwait on February 28, 1991. -
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
The Rodney King riots exploded a few hours after the verdicts as both African Americans and Latinos vented their rage at the police, white pedestrians and motorists, and Korean American businesspeople as well as their shops and stores -
Original U.S.A. Olympic Basketball Dream Team
The "Dream Team," the original U.S. Olympic men's basketball team from the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, was a roster of NBA superstars that dominated the competition. This team, which included Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird, was the first American Olympic team to feature active professional players from the NBA. -
World Trade Center/Pentagon/Shanksville, PA Attacks
The attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and Shanksville, PA, occurred on September 11, 2001. These attacks involved hijacked commercial airliners crashing into the targets, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people