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Assassination Attempt on U.S. President Reagan
Around 2:25 p.m. President Ronald Reagan emerged via a side door from the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. He had just finished giving a speech to a group of trade unionists at the National Conference of Building and Construction Trades Department. When Reagan got close to his car, John Hinckley Jr. pulled out his .22-caliber revolver and fired six shots in quick succession. The entire shooting took only two to three seconds. -
Personal Computers (PC) Introduced by IBM
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, 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. -
E.T. Movie Released
The movie E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial was a hit from the day it was released and quickly became one of the most beloved movies of all time. The storyline of E.T. had its beginnings in director Steven Spielberg's own past. When Spielberg's parents divorced in 1960, Spielberg invented an imaginary alien to keep him company. Reportedly, the look of E.T. was based on Albert Einstein, Carl Sandburg, and a pug dog. -
Reagan Announces Defense Plan Called Star Wars
President Reagan proposed the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), an ambitious project that would construct a space-based anti-missile system. This program was immediately dubbed "Star Wars." The SDI was intended to defend the United States from attack from Soviet ICBMs by intercepting the missiles at various phases of their flight. -
U.S. Embassy in Beirut Bombed
The April 18, 1983 United States embassy bombing was a suicide bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 63 people, mostly embassy and CIA staff members, several soldiers and one Marine. 17 of the dead were Americans. It was the deadliest attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission up to that time, and is thought of as marking the beginning of anti-U.S. attacks by Islamist groups. -
Michael Jackson Releases Thriller
Michael Jackson - Thriller - YouTube Michael Jackson's Thriller is a 13-minute-and-43-second-long music video for the song of the same name released on December 2, 1983 and directed by John Landis, who also cowrote the screenplay with Michael Jackson.Voted as the most -
Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes
Challenger articleAt 11:38 a.m. on Tuesday, January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. As the world watched on TV, the Challenger soared into the sky and then, shockingly, exploded just 73 seconds after take-off. All seven members of the crew, including social studies teacher Sharon "Christa" McAuliffe, died in the disaster. An investigation of the accident discovered that the O-rings of the right solid rocket booster had malfunctioned. -
U.S. Bombs Libya
After several days of diplomatic talks with European and Arab partners, President Ronald Reagan ordered a strike on Libya on 14 April. At 02:00 on 15 April, with the stated objective that their destruction would send a message and reduce Libya's ability to support and train terrorists. Reagan warned that "if necessary, [they] shall do it again." -
Mikhail Gorbachev Calls for Glasnost and Perestroika
When Mikhail S. Gorbachev became general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985, he launched his nation on a dramatic new course. His dual program of "perestroika" ("restructuring") and "glasnost" ("openness") introduced profound changes in economic practice, internal affairs and international relations. On 11 October 1986, Gorbachev and Reagan met in Reykjavík, Iceland at Höfði to discuss reducing intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe. -
Iran-Contra Scandal Unfolds
Reagan meets with (left to right) Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of State George Shultz, Attorney General Ed Meese, and Chief of Staff Don Regan in the Oval Office. The scandal began as an operation to free seven American hostages being held by a group with Iranian ties connected to the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. It was planned that Israel would ship weapons to Iran, and then the United States would resupply Israel and receive the Israeli payment.
