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My first day of school
St. Joseph Elementary School -
Heavy earthquake strikes China
Heavy earthquake strikes China, 1,000s die -
Viking 2 soft lands on Mars
The craft was launched on September 9, 1975. Following launch using a Titan/Centaur launch vehicle and a 333 day cruise to Mars, the Viking 2 Orbiter began returning global images of Mars prior to orbit insertion. The orbiter was inserted into a 1500 x 33,000 km, 24.6 h Mars orbit on August 7, 1976 and trimmed to a 27.3 h site certification orbit with a periapsis of 1499 km and an inclination of 55.2 degrees on 9 August. Imaging of candidate sites was begun and the landing site was selected base -
Apple produced the Apple II
Apple produced the Apple II, the first pre-assembled, mass-produced -
The Oakland Raiders win the Super Bowl
The Oakland Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings in the Super Bowl 32-14 at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. -
President Jimmy Carter sworn in as President
Carter was elected over Gerald Ford and Eugene McCarthy in 1976. His tenure was a time of continuing inflation and recession, as well as an energy crisis. On January 7, 1980, Carter signed Law H.R. 5860 aka Public Law 96-185 known as The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 bailing out Chrysler Corporation. He led the plan to deregulate the airline industry. He canceled military pay raises during a time of high inflation and government deficits. He declared amnesty to Vietnam draft do -
130 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims
More than 130 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims were freed after ambassadors from three Islamic nations joined the negotiations. -
The musical play "Annie" opened on Broadway
The musical play "Annie" opened on Broadway, the 1st of 2,377 performances. -
Blizzard of 1978
The Great Blizzard of 1978 was a historic blizzard which struck the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes from January 25–27, 1978. The 28.28 inches (958 millibars) barometric pressure measurement recorded in Cleveland, Ohio remains the lowest non-tropical atmospheric pressure ever recorded in the mainland United States. -
The State Supreme Court ruled that Nazis can display the Swastika
The State Supreme Court ruled that Nazis can display the Swastika in a march in Skokie, Illinois. -
Leon Spinks beat Muhammad Ali
Leon Spinks beat Muhammad Ali for the world heavyweight crown. -
Ayatollah Khomeini Returns as Leader of Iran
Khomeini had refused to return to Iran until the Shah left. On 17 January 1979, the Shah did leave the country (ostensibly "on vacation"), never to return. Two weeks later, on Thursday, 1 February 1979, Khomeini returned in triumph to Iran, welcomed by a joyous crowd estimated at least six million by ABC News reporter Peter Jennings, who was reporting the event from Tehran. -
Nuclear Accident at Three Mile Island
The Three Mile Island accident was a partial core meltdown in Unit 2 (a pressurized water reactor manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox) of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg. The plant was owned and operated by General Public Utilities and the Metropolitan Edison Co.. Metropolitan Edison plead guilty to falsifying reactor leak rates right before the emergency. In fact, if the reactor was shut down for repairs as per regulations, the parti -
Margaret Thatcher First Woman Prime Minister of Great Britain
Thatcher became Prime Minister on 4 May 1979. Arriving at 10 Downing Street, she said, in a paraphrase of St. Francis of Assisi: Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.
Thatcher was incensed by one contemporary view within the British Civil Service that its job was to manage the UK's decline from the days of Empire[58] and she wanted the country to assert a hi -
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States wherein 66 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in support of the Iranian Revolution.[1] -
Mother Theresa Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitutes a threat to peace." She refused the conventional ceremonial banquet given to laureates, and asked that the $192,000 funds be given to the poor in India,[67] stating that earthly rewards were important only if they helped her help the world's needy. When Mother Teresa received the prize, she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" She answered -
Mount St. Helens Erupts
The eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 was the worst volcanic disaster in U.S. history; however, it offered scientists an exceptional opportunity to examine and study a large volcanic eruption, which has enriched scientific knowledge of volcanoes. -
Reagan Sworn in as President
Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981 to January 20, 1989. Reagan was the first U.S. president since Dwight D. Eisenhower to be re-elected and serve two complete terms in office. Domestically, the administration favored reducing government programs and introduced the largest across-the-board tax cuts in American history. The economic policies enacted in 1981, known as "Reaganomics," were an example of supply-side economics. Reagan aimed to encourage entrepreneurship and limit the growth of social -
Reagan assassination attempt
The Reagan assassination attempt occurred on Monday, March 30, 1981, just 69 days into the presidency of Ronald Reagan. While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr. Reagan suffered a punctured lung, but prompt medical attention allowed him to recover quickly. -
Assassination Attempt on the Pope
The first attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II took place on Wednesday, May 13, 1981, in St. Peter's Square at Vatican City. The Pope was shot and critically wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a trained sniper from Turkey, while he was entering the square. The Pope was struck 4 times, and suffered severe blood loss. Ağca was apprehended immediately, and later sentenced to life in prison by an Italian court. The Pope later forgave Ağca for the assassination attempt. -
Personal Computers (PC) Introduced by IBM
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981. It was created by a team of engineers and designers under the direction of Don Estridge of the IBM Entry Systems Division in Boca Raton, Florida. -
IBM Personal Computer
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981. It was created by a team of engineers and designers under the direction of Don Estridge of the IBM Entry Systems Division in Boca Raton, Florida. -
First Woman Appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court
On July 7, 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to be the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. On September 21, the United States Senate confirmed O'Connor in a vote of 99 for and zero against. Sandra Day O'Connor was officially sworn in and took her seat on the U.S. Supreme Court on September 25, 1981. -
1982 World's Fair
The 1982 World's Fair, formally known as the Knoxville International Energy Exposition, was held in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. The theme of the exposition was "Energy Turns the World." -
Vietnam War Memorial Opened in Washington, DC
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C. It honors U.S. service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for (Missing In Action) during the War. -
Michael Jackson Releases Thriller
Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall. Thriller was a different album than its predecessor by adding harder funk, hard rock, softer ballads and smoother soul.[1] Other reviews say that it includes funk, soul, pop, easy listening, R&B, rock and post-disco music.[2][3] -
Sally Ride Becomes the First American Woman in Space
On June 18, 1983, she became the first American woman in space as a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger for STS-7. (She was preceded by two Soviet women, Valentina Tereshkova in 1963 and Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982.) -
New Coke Hits the Market
New Coke is the reformulation of Coca-Cola introduced in 1985 by The Coca-Cola Company to replace the original formula of its flagship soft drink, Coca-Cola (also called Coke). Properly speaking, New Coke had no separate name of its own, but was simply known as "the new taste of Coca-Cola" until 1992 when it was renamed Coca-Cola II. -
Mikhail Gorbachev Calls for Glasnost and Perestroika
In the final years of the Soviet Union attempts were made by the Politburo under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev to reform the political system (first instigated by Yuri Andropov, successor of Leonid Brezhnev). Calls were made for glasnost (transparency or openness) and perestroika (rebuilding), which also included economic reforms. A somewhat representative legislative body was created, the Congress of People's Deputies, and major reform of the executive branch of the government and the eco -
Shuttle Columbia carries Spacelab into orbit
STS-61-A (also known as D-1) was the 22nd Space Shuttle mission. It was a scientific Spacelab mission funded and controlled by West Germany - hence the non-NASA name of D-1 (for Deutschland 1). It was also the last successful mission of the Space Shuttle Challenger. STS-61-A holds the record for the largest crew, eight people, aboard any single spacecraft for the entire period from launch to landing.
The Space Shuttle mission carried the NASA/ESA Spacelab module with 76 experiments, and was dec -
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida, United States, at 11:39 a.m. EST -
Chernobyl Nuclear Accident
The Chernobyl disaster (Ukrainian: Чорнобильська катастрофа, Čornobyľśka katastrofa) was a nuclear accident that occurred on 27 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (then in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the former Soviet Union). It is considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history and is the only level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale. -
"Black Monday"
In finance, Black Monday refers to Monday, October 19, 1987, when stock markets around the world crashed, shedding a huge value in a very short time. The crash began in Hong Kong, spread west through international time zones to Europe, hitting the United States after other markets had already declined by a significant margin. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 508 points to 1738.74 (22.61%).[1] -
Bobby McFerrin tells everyone "Don't worry, be happy"
You tube"Don't Worry, Be Happy" is the title and principal lyric of a song by musician Bobby McFerrin. Released in September 1988, it became the first a cappella song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it held for two weeks. On the UK Singles Chart, the song reached number 2 during its fifth week on the chart. At the 1989 Grammy Awards, "Don't Worry Be Happy" won the awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. -
George H.W. Bush sworn in as President
the 41st President of the United States (1989–1993). He was also Ronald Reagan's Vice President (1981–1989), a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence. Bush was born in Massachusetts to Senator and New York Banker Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941, at the age of 18, Bush postponed going to college and became the youngest aviator in the US Navy at the time.[1] He served until the end of the war, then attended Yale Univer -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
November 9 is considered the date the Wall fell, but the Wall in its entirety was not torn down immediately. Starting that evening, and in the days and weeks that followed, people came to the wall with sledgehammers or otherwise hammers and chisels to chip off souvenirs, demolishing lengthy parts of it in the process and creating several unofficial border crossings. These people were nicknamed "Mauerspechte" (wall woodpeckers). -
Graduation
