-
Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as the 40th president of the United States.
-
73 seconds after liftoff, the space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing all seven crew members. It was the worst accident in the history of the U.S. space program.
-
President Reagan's most famous speech where he challenges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall and open Eastern Europe back up again.
-
The U.S. led military operation (also called Operation Desert Storm) to drive the Iraqis out of Kuwait.
-
President Bush and Russian president Boris Yeltsin meet at Camp David and formally declare an end to the Cold War.
-
The North American Free Trade Agreement was signed into law by President Clinton, creating a trilateral trade deal between the U.S, Canada, and Mexico.
-
A federal office building in Oklahoma City was bombed, killing 168 people and resulting in the deadliest act of homegrown terrorism in U.S. history.
-
The House of Representatives impeaches President Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. However, he is acquitted two months later by the Senate.
-
School shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado that left 14 students (including the 2 shooters) and 1 teacher dead.
-
Two hijacked jetliners crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in worst terrorist attack against U.S. A third hijacked plane flew into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania. More than 3,000 people died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.