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President Jimmy Carter announces the embargo on sale of grain and high technology to the Soviet Union due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
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In Washington State, Mt. St. Helens erupts killing fifty-seven people. The blast was estimated to have the power five hundred times greater than the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
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Ronald Reagan beats Jimmy Carter in a landslide.
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The Hostages were released just a few hours after President Ronald Reagan made his inauguration speech.
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President Ronald Reagan survives a shot in the chest during an assassination attempt.
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The highest unemployment rate since 1940 is recorded at 10.4%.
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Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman to travel into space.
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President Ronald Reagan wins reelection and starts his second term.
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Martin Luther King Day is officially observed for the first time as a federal holiday in the United States.
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The Challenger Space Shuttle explodes after lift off at Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing seven people, including Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire school teacher.