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Gulf War (What was the Gulf War? Imperial War Museums. (n.d.). https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-was-the-gulf-war)
Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq had forces invade Kuwait. Since Kuwait is a part of UN, there was a demand for Iraqi withdrawal and stopped trade with Iraq. When Iraqi forces refused to withdraw, a US-led collation force went to fight off Iraqi forces. The war ended in 1991 with the defeat and retreat of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. -
Los Angeles Riots (Krbechek, A. S., & Bates, K. G. (2017, April 26). When La erupted in anger: A look back at the Rodney King Riots. NPR.)
Tension between minority communities and police had been building up in Los Angles with eventually leading to an outbreak of violence, looting, and arson in Los Angeles after the acquittal of three white police officers for the severe beating of African American Rodney King in March 1991. When news broke of the trial verdict, chaos abrupt with a week of rioting that led to 50 killed, 2,300 injured, and thousands arrested. Over 1,000 buildings were damaged causing $1 billion. -
OJ Simpson Trial (Britannica)
On June 12th 1994, Simpson's ex-wife and her friend Ronald Goldman were killed at her home in Los Angeles. OJ Simpson was made the prime suspect and led police on a car chase that lasted an hour. It ended with OJ returning to his home where he was placed under arrest and put on trial. OJ entered a plea of not guilty and during the trial, his defense team said many of the evidence was mishandled especially a bloody glove that appeared to be too small for OJ's hand. The jury found OJ innocent. -
Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal (Kruse and Zelizer 225-227)
In 1997, Linda Tripp sent tapes of Monica Lewinsky's speaking of her affair with President Bill Clinton to Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr who was investigating the Clinton administration for illegal activity where Starr found that President Bill Clinton lied under oath about the affair which spread to the public by Matt Drudge, who ran the gossip site the Drudge Report. The scandal fueled the campaign for Bill Clinton's impeachment but he was ultimately acquitted. -
Columbine Shooting (Cahill, E. (2020). Events of the shooting. The Columbine High School Shooting)
In Little Town, Colorado, two students named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered Columbine High School with semiautomatic rifles, pistols, and explosives. The two shooters went on a 50-minute shooting spree killing 12 students, a teacher, and injuring 21 others. The mass shooting ended with both shooters ending their lives. The news of this tragedy shocked the country and opened the conversation of better police response and gun control in schools with security and metal detection. -
George W. Bush is elected president (The United States Government. (2022, December 23). George W. Bush. The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/george-w-bush/ )
The election of 2000 was between Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush and previous Democratic Vice President Al Gore. Al Gore beat Bush in the popular vote by 540,000 but during the night of the election, neither had enough votes electoral votes to declare victory and the tiebreaker would be coming from Florida. Florida's vote went back and forth between Bush and Gore lasted weeks but on December 12th, 2000 the court decided on a 5-4 Supreme Court decision that led to Bush winning Florida. -
September 11th, 2001 (Kruse and Zelizer 249)
At 8:45 am in New York City, an airplane hijacked by al Qaeda terrorists flew into the North World Trade Center. 18 minutes later, a second hijacked plane hit the South Tower when it became clear that America was under attack. At 9:45, a third hijacked plane hit the Pentagon and 15 minutes later the South Tower collapsed with the North Tower following at 10:30. A fourth plane was hijacked planning on hitting the White House but passengers planned an insurrection and crashed the plane in a field -
Invasion of Iraq
The Iraq War began in 2003 and ended in 2011 with the United States-led coalition to end the regime of Saddam Hussein. There were two phases of the war with the first being the United States and United Kingdom swiftly invading Iraq and defeating Iraqi military forces. The second phase was of United States occupation in Iraq with a gradual decline of troops in 2007 and finally a withdrawal in 2011. 4,500 American service members were killed and 32,000 were injured during the war. -
Hurricane Katrina (US Department of Commerce, N. (2022, September 7). Hurricane Katrina - August 2005. National Weather Service)
Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of the U.S. affecting states such as Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and western Florida. Louisiana and Mississippi were affected the most from the storm with the most reported damage coming from New Orleans with being covered by 80% under flood water by August 31st. There were a reported 1,8000 deaths after Hurricane Katrina which left many people homeless with homes being destroyed. Overall, there was $ 81 billion in damage and it took $160 billion to rebuild. -
The Great Recession (Rich, R. (n.d.). The great recession. Federal Reserve History)
The financial crisis began in 2007 as a result of the increase of housing pricing fueled by the accessibility to credit and low interest rate. This led to a raise in mortgages that people couldn't afford anymore making banks loose money, businesses closing, and people to loose their job. The poverty rate increased from 12.5 percent in 2007 and eventually 15 percent in 2010. Under President Obama, Congress passed the $789 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that had end the recession. -
Barack Obama is elected President (Barack Obama Presidential Library. (n.d.). https://www.obamalibrary.gov/obamas/president-barack-obama)
In November 2008, Barack Obama was elected as the first African American president and won both popular and electoral college votes by a significant margin. President Obama would go on to help create the Affordable Care Act that helped increase accessibility to healthcare, improve Cuba relations, and come to an agreement with Iran Nuclear Deal. -
Death of Osama bin Laden (FBI. (2022, May 13). Osama bin Laden. FBI. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/osama-bin-laden)
Osama bin Laden was the militant leader of the terrorist organization "al-Queda" and was the main leader behind the terrorist attacks of 9/11. In August 2010, U.S. Intelligence acquired information that bin Laden was living in a compound in norther Pakistan. On May 2, 2011, under the orders of President Obama, a special operations unit raided the compound and killed Osama bin Laden. -
Legalization of Same-sex marriage (The journey to marriage equality in the United States - HRC. Human Rights Campaign. (n.d.). https://www.hrc.org/our-work/stories/the-journey-to-marriage-equality-in-the-united-states)
On June 26th, 2015, the US Supreme Court decided to take down all bans against same-sex marriage in all states and required all states to honor out-of-state same-sex marriage after the ruling of Obergefell vs. Hodges.