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Period: to
The 1980s
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The First IBM-PC is released
This was the very first personal computer ever released. It was developed by the company IBM, and used Microsoft's MS-DOS operating system and was based on a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor. -
Ronald Reagon sworn into office
Ronald Reagon won the republican nomination, with his vice president of George H.W Bush. Reagan had a personality that citizens were not used to, he was personable man with, star power, and political skills.He won the presidential race by a land slide and won nearly 51% in the popularity vote. Making him the oldest president to be elected, at 69. At Reagans enogoral adress he famously said, “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.” -
CDC identifies new disease: AIDS
By the late 1970's, Gays were open about their sexuality. However, five young men in Los Angeles were killed from a new bacterial infection even with healthy immune systems. These five men were homosexuals, and as gays were more openly accepted at the time, they began celebrating. HIV, the virus which causes AIDS and destroys ones body defense, ended up spreading rapidly across the nation. As AIDS was mainly spread from homosexuals, people began to become homophobic, afraid of gay men and women. -
Ronald Reagan's re-election
After Reagan's impressive term and people warming up to him, he won by another landslide against the democratic nominee Walter Mondale, in the presidential race. During his second term he performed very small but influential pieces such as the The Gramm-Rumdan Bill, Tax Code revision. In Reagan's second term he also had some very controversial decisions such as embargo act agains Nicaragua,and illegally selling arms to Iran, and issues in the Iran Contra affair. -
Gorbachev becomes Soviet Premier
In March of 1985, Gorbachev takes the role of Premier. He seems more leinient and tends to encourage political debates and critizism, called "glasnost" or openness. He also had the policy of "perestroika" which was a policy or practice to help the economic and political systems. He listened to American agreements like SALT II, which helped limit the guns race. -
Challenger Explosion
The tenth flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all 7 of the crew members on board. A seal became loose in the unusually cold conditions which caused an external leak of fuel from the external fuel tank. This was the first Space Shuttle crew that included a civilian school teacher. The Challenger Explosion put the space program on a temporary hold. This made the government & nation realize Reagan's "Star Wars" idea was not realistic and very expensive. -
Hands Across America
The Hands Across American movement was an attempt to form a chain of people holding hands from New York to San Fransisco to raise money for the homeless. -
Gorbachev allows Eastern European Nations to become independent
Eastern European nations pushed for similar liberalization like America, so Gorbachev decides to not use force to keep communist governments in power. Over the course of one night, many nations got rid of their repressive regimes and created their own independent government. With soviet pressures now gone, the Cold War is over. -
George HW Bush elected as president
Ronald Reagan's former Vice President, George HW Bush ran for President of the United States with the Vice President of Dan Quayle. A main key of Bush's presidency was foreign policy. He improved the relations between the US and the Soviet Union. Bush also overthrew Panama's awful dictatorship. He signed the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Clean Air Act Amendments. However, he did not win the election in 1992 -
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services
A Supreme Court decision upheld a Missouri law restricting abortions. The court decided that parts of the Missouri law violated Roe v. Wade and put restrictions on the states use of these provisions. The court backed the idea that Missouri law could limit the use of state funds, facilities and employees in helping in abortions. individual states do not have to completely allow abortion as long as it does not interfere with Roe v. Wade. This was a major step back in reproductive rights for women.
