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The Hubble Space Telescope was named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble. It is a large, space-based observatory. Clear views of the universe are seen through the telescope. It is able to observe some of the furthest stars, galaxies, and planets in our solar system. This event is important because it changed the way astronomers were able to capture pictures of space. It also helped scientists understand the formation of galaxies and planets. This changed the future of science and space. (nasa.gov) -
The Soviet Union started to unravel in Poland in June 1989. Dictatorships began to fall apart in Eastern Europe. East and West Germans began tearing down the Berlin Wall in 1989. The Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 and the war came to an end. The end of this war was important because American foreign policy, the domestic economy, and the political ideology were changed. Americans' personal lives were affected because they grew up in an era of the cold war while staying prepared. (ushistory.org) -
An Army veteran, Timothy McVeigh, set off the bombs in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. A third of the building was destroyed. 168 people died in the bombing, including 19 children, while injuring hundreds of others. At the time, this was the worst act of homegrown terrorism. This bombing changed the way the FBI worked and began training for ant-terrorists. Everyone in Oklahoma was affected. Coworkers, family, and friends were lost that day. (FBI.gov) -
Clinton's impeachment came from a civil suit involving sexual harassment claims. It was on an alleged encounter before he was president. When reelected, there was evidence of an affair with Monica Lewinsky. She was a White House intern at the time. He was found committing perjury before a jury and obstructed justice. He was acquitted in February 1999. His impeachment was important because presidents are held to a high standard and he needed to be held accountable for lying. (Library of Congress) -
Columbine High School in Colorado was struck when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 12 students, 1 teacher, and themselves. It was marked the deadliest school shooting at the time. It all happened within a 30-minute timeline. They entered the school with duffle bags filled with weapons and began the massacre. Since then, questions about gun violence and mental health among teens began to rise. School shootings happen often and there has been little change to prevent them. (Bowdoin College) -
19 Islamic Terrorists took over 4 American planes. Two of the planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in NYC. One plane crashed into the Pentagon outside Washington D.C. The 4th plane was meant to target the White House, but passengers took control and crashed it into a field in Pennsylvania. This event changed America and led to questions about privacy and security in airports and triggered the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. (Kruse & Zelizer 249-254). -
The US and primarily the UK begins the war on Iraq. President Bush had a belief that Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq, was in the process of building weapons for mass destruction. Saddam was found after he went into hiding. He was found guilty of his crimes and executed by hanging. Once Obama was in office, he vowed to get troops out of Iraq. The final troops left Iraq in December 2011. It caused massive death, political instability in Iraq, and destruction. (Council on Foreign Relations) -
Katrina is known as the most expensive natural disaster as well as one of the deadliest in American history. Katrina killed just short of 2,000 people and caused over $100 billion in damage. There was a warning about this storm and the damage that could be caused, but those warnings were ignored. Katrina caused so much damage to New Orleans, they never fully recovered from it. The population stays less than it was in 2005. It also damaged Bush's standing in the polls. (Kruse & Zelier 280-283) -
Nancy Pelosi was 52nd the first female Speaker of the House. Along with being the first woman, when returning to this position in 2019, she was second-in-line to the presidency and the first to do this in more than 6 decades. She led the House of Democrats for 20 years and was fighting for the people. She was working to lower costs, increase paychecks, and create jobs for American families. She was and still is an influential political icon for women in Congress. (Pelosi.house.org) -
Barack Obama was the 44th US President and the first African American to hold office. His first term was won in the 2008 election against John McCain. He faced many challenges when becoming president including wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and terrorism. He had overseen the killing of bin Laden and made a treaty with Iran stopping nuclear weapons. He left office in 2017. By being the first African American, there was hope that race relations in the US would improve among black voters. (WH.gov)