-
On December 20, 1989 the US with George H. W. Bush as president invaded Panama in an effort to overthrow Manuel Noriega who was a military dictator. He had suppressed democracy in Panama and had drug trafficking charges in the US. The Panamanian Defence Forces were defeated which forces Noriega to surrender on January 3, 1990. The conflict ended on January 31 after which President-elect Guillermo Endara was put into office and the Panama Defense Forces were disbanded. -
In California, 4 Los Angeles Police officers were witnessed beating unarmed African American people without any pretense. Protests began after the news got out through LA and people began to raid stores and start fires. On March 3, 1991 the released felon, Rodney King, started a police chase as he was intoxicated and when caught he resisted. He was beaten by the police while a video was being taken and when the video was released it caused national outrage and debate over police brutality. -
On November 7, 1991, Earvin Johnson, or Magic Johnson, retired from his position on the Los Angeles Lakers shockingly. He had been positive for HIV the precursor virus to AIDS which was known to be contracted by homosexual men despite him being heterosexual. As the first publicly HIV-positive heterosexual well-known people he was very influential to people's perspective on AIDS. He became a well-known spokesman for AIDS and he helped develop drug treatments making the virus survivable. -
After finding Tracy Edwards escaping from Jeffery Dahmer’s apartment in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, they were able to locate Dahmer’s apartment and find evidence with images of dismembered bodies leading to his arrest. They later found photo albums, dismembered body parts, full dead bodies, and evidence of him eating his victims. On January 30, 1992, he was tried and sentenced to 15 life sentences. After surviving an attempt on his life in 1994 he was killed by an inmate on November 28 of that year. -
NAFTA was signed into law by Bill Clinton on January 1, 1994. It was a trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico that got rid of trade barriers and tariffs between the countries. It was one of the first Democratic victories in some time but was also was disputed by the Reform Party who thought American companies would go to Mexico where work was cheaper. The agreement established the largest free trade zone with hopes of encouraging more nations to work together. -
O.J. Simpson, a former football star was reported and charged for abuse and spousal battery. After leaving him, his past wife and Ronald Goldban were stabbed to death and Simson was charged for the murders on June 17 of 1994. He refused to be taken in and when he was finally caught he pleaded not guilty. It became a nationally viewed trial and he was forced to award $33.5 million to the families. On October 3, 2008, after being found guilty of 12 charges, he was sentenced to 33 years in prison. -
The Heaven's Gate cult was let by Marshall Applewhite, a near-death experience survivor in 1972 who persuaded 20 people to leave their lives and come to Colorado. In March of 1997, after an anonymous tip, the police found 39 dead in Rancho Santa Fe. They were found in matching clothes with no visible signs of trauma leading to the discovery that it was the “Heaven’s Gate” religious cult. They were thought to have believed that in death they would enter an extraterrestrial spaceship in space. -
NATO initiated airstrikes on Yugoslavia from March 24 to June 10 of 1999 due to the ethnic cleansing that the Serian forces were doing. They were massacring Kosovar Albanians and removing them from their homes causing NATO to threaten them with airstrikes. They agreed to let 10,000 refugees go but soon after peace negotiations broke down in Paris and the airstrikes began. Slobodan Milosevic was removed from power in October of 2000 after being charged with war crimes and popular revolution. -
On April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Colorado, the Columbine Massacre wounded more the 20 people and killed 13. Two teens, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, went on a shooting spree before committing suicide. It was the most catastrophic school shooting at the time and lead to a national conflict over gun laws. Later school shootings such as at Sandy Hook Elementary School and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School continued to raise issues around control which are still under debate. -
At the XXVI Summer Olympiad, a nail-laden pipe bomb was set off while a convert was going on. It killed a mother, a cameraman, and injured over 100 more. The Police knew about the bombing beforehand but the bomb went off prior to when they thought it would. It occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, and Richard Jewell, a security guard, was suspected for some time before being cleared. Eric Rudolph was later found to be the perpetrator in 2003 in North Carolina.
Want to make a timeline like this?
Use Timetoast to turn dates, events, milestones, and phases into a clear visual timeline you can build and share. Timetoast is a timeline maker for work, school, research, and stories.