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Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as the fortieth President of the United States. -
Ronald Reagan appoints Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female Justice of the Supreme Court. -
Ronald Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), referred to as "Star Wars". It is a proposed attempt to make use of space technology to fight enemies. Due to claims of the proposal's impossibility, it never comes into existence. -
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, in which the Soviet Union and the United States agreed to discard their intermediate-range nuclear weapons, is signed. -
George H.W. Bush is inaugurated as the forty-first President of the United States. -
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union and reduces the nuclear arsenals of both nations. -
Bill Clinton is inaugurated as the forty-second President of the United States. -
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), in which the nations of Canada, the United States, and Mexico agree upon free trade, comes into effect. -
The World Trade Organization (WTO) comes to take the place of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It exists to regulate international trade. -
George W. Bush is inaugurated as the forty-third President of the United States. -
The terrorist group Al-Qaeda attacks the World Trade Center at the Twin Towers in New York City as well as the Pentagon, claiming many lives.