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Cold war conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces on Korean Peninsula.
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Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech before a crowd of 200,000 during the civil rights march on Washington, DC
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Nixon makes historic visit to Communist China
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Jimmy Carter is inaugurated as the 39th president (Jan. 20)
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Space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members. It is the worst accident in the history of the U.S. space program
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U.S. leads international coalition in military operation (code named “Desert Storm”) to drive Iraqis out of Kuwait (Jan. 16–Feb. 28). Iraq accepts terms of UN ceasefire, marking an end of the war (April 6).
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Two hijacked jetliners ram twin towers of World Trade Center in worst terrorist attack against U.S.; a third hijacked plane flies into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashes in rural Pennsylvania. More than 3,000 people die in the attacks (Sept. 11)
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Space shuttle Columbia explodes upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts on board (Feb. 1).
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Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected President, with 52.8% of the vote. In Congress, Democrats retain majorities in both the House and the Senate, with 57 Senators and 178 Representatives (Nov. 4).
