American History Timeline: August 1, 1945 – December 2016

1945 .............. 1 1960 ............. 6 1975 ............ 14 1990 ............ 18 2005 ............ 23
1946 .............. 2 1961 ............. 6 1976 ............ 14 1991 ............ 18 2006 ............ 23
1947 .............. 2 1962 ............. 7 1977 ............ 14 1992 ............ 18 2007 ............ 23
1948 .............. 2 1963 ............. 7 1978 ............ 15 1993 ............ 19 2008 ............ 24
1949 .............. 3 1964 ............. 8 1979 ............ 15 1994 ............ 19 2009 ............ 24
1950 .............. 3 1965 ............. 8 1980 ............ 15 1995 ............ 19 2010 ............ 24
1951 .............. 3 1966 ............. 9 1981 ............ 15 1996 ............ 21 2011 ............ 25
1952 .............. 4 1967 ............. 9 1982 ............ 16 1997 ............ 21 2012 ............ 25
1953 .............. 4 1968 ............. 9 1983 ............ 16 1998 ............ 21 2013 ............ 26
1954 .............. 4 1969 ............10 1984 ............ 16 1999 ............ 21 2014 ............ 26
1955 .............. 4 1970 ............10 1985 ............ 16 2000 ............ 22 2015 ............ 26
1956 .............. 5 1971 ............12 1986 ............ 17 2001 ............ 22 2016 ............ 27
1957 .............. 5 1972 ............13 1987 ............ 17 2002 ............ 22
1958 .............. 5 1973 ............13 1988 ............ 17 2003 ............ 22
1959 .............. 6 1974 ............14 1989 ............ 18 2004 ............ 23

1945

August 1 Potsdam Conference: Truman, Stalin and British prime minister Clement Attlee signed the
Potsdam Agreement, dissolving the European Advisory Commission and establishing the Allied Control
Council to govern Germany with a view to establishing a single, disarmed, democratic German state.
August 6 Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The United States dropped an atomic bomb
on Hiroshima, killing some ten thousand soldiers and thirty thousand civilians. More would die in the
following months from burns and radiation sickness.
August 9 Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The United States dropped an atomic bomb
on Nagasaki, killing some twenty thousand civilians.
Michigan train wreck: A train collision in Michigan City, North Dakota killed some thirty people.
Battle of Mindanao: The last Japanese resistance on Mindanao was wiped out.
August 16 The Soviet Union accepted an American proposal to divide Korea into two zones of
occupation divided at the 38th parallel north.
September 1 USA vs. USSR radio chess match 1945: A chess tournament between the United States and
the Soviet Union began which would see the latter win by a margin of eleven games.
September 2 Surrender of Japan: Japan and nine other states signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender
in Tokyo Bay, calling for the return of all Allied prisoners of war and subordinating the authority of the
emperor and the Japanese government to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.
September 4 The Japanese garrison on Wake Island surrendered to the United States.
September 17 The United States and the Soviet Union signed the Wanfried agreement, transferring territory
between the American and Soviet occupation zones so that the Bebra–Göttingen railway did not cut through
Soviet occupied territory.
October 5 Hollywood Black Friday: Forty people were injured in a violent confrontation between
striking set directors and strikebreakers in Burbank, California.
December 5 Flight 19: Five torpedo bombers disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle.
December 20 The United Nations Participation Act was signed into law, establishing processes for United
States participation in the UN.
December 24 Sodder children disappearance: A fire destroyed the home of George Sodder in Fayetteville,
West Virginia. Four of the nine children living in the home were rescued; the bodies of the other five were
not found.
1946

Automobile production in the United States for private consumers resumed.

July 4 The Philippines regained independence from the United States.
July 14 Benjamin Spock's The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care was published.
1947

March 12 The Truman Doctrine was declared, establishing "the policy of the United States to support
free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."
March 21 President Truman signed executive order 9835; establishing the Federal Employee Loyalty
Program to search out the "infiltration of disloyal persons" in the U.S. Government.
April 15 Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers broke the color line in Major League Baseball.
June 5 The Marshall Plan was announced by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall.
June 23 The Taft Hartley Act was enacted, with the House and Senate overriding President Truman's
veto of the bill.
July 7 The Roswell UFO incident occurred near Roswell, New Mexico.
July 18 The Presidential Succession Act was signed into law.
July 26 The National Security Act of 1947 was signed into law, establishing the Central
Intelligence Agency.
October 30 The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was signed in Geneva.
1948

April 30 The Charter of the Organization of American States was adopted.

June 8 Texaco Star Theater, the first top-rated United States network television show, debuted on
television.
June 24 The Berlin Blockade, the first major crisis of the Cold War, took place.
The Selective Service Act of 1948 was signed into law.
July 26 President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, leading to the desegregating the United
States Armed Forces.
November 2 U.S. presidential election, 1948: President Harry S. Truman was reelected to a second
term, defeating New York Governor and 1944 Presidential nominee Thomas E. Dewey, and South Carolina
Governor Strom Thurmond, in what is regarded as one of the biggest upsets in American political history.
November 26 The Polaroid camera was first offered for sale.
1949

January 5 In the 1949 State of the Union Address, President Truman proposed the unsuccessful Fair
Deal; his administration's agenda for economic and domestic policy.
Allied-occupied Germany was divided into East and West Germany.
April 4 North Atlantic Treaty: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was founded.
April 13 The Nuremberg Trials ended, with the convictions of 24 major Nazi political and military
leaders, among others.
August 29 First Lightning: The Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb.
1950

Second Red Scare: McCarthyism, the term to describe "the practice of making unfair allegations or using
unfair investigative techniques, especially of pro-Communist activity" of Senator Joseph McCarthy began
after heightened fears of Communist influence in America.
January 21 A grand jury found former State Department official and President of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace Alger Hiss guilty on two counts of perjury in connection with charges
that he was a Soviet spy.
February 9 Senator McCarthy came to national prominence after claiming to have a list of 205 State
Department employees who were members of the Communist Party and "helping to shape [the U.S.'s]
foreign policy."
June 25 Korean War: The North Korean military began the Communist lead invasion of South
Korea.
June 27 President Truman ordered U.S. air and naval support to aid South Korea against the Northern
lead invasion; prompting the beginning of the U.S. involvement in the Korean War.
October 2 The comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz, was first published.
November 1 Truman assassination attempt: Two Puerto Rican nationals attempted to assassinate President
Harry S. Truman while he stayed at Blair House.
1951

February 27 The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, establishing term
limits for President, was ratified.
April 11 President Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his commands after criticizing the
limited war efforts of the Truman administration, and starting unauthorized talks with China in the Korean
war.
September 1 The ANZUS Treaty was signed.
September 8 The Japanese Peace Treaty Conference was held San Francisco.
October 10 The Mutual Security Act was signed into law.
1952

June 27 The McCarran–Walter Act was enacted, with the House and Senate overriding President
Truman's veto of the bill.
November 4 United States presidential election, 1952: Five-Star General and former Chief of Staff of the
United States Army Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected President, defeating Illinois Governor Adlai
Stevenson II.
1953

April 25 Molecular biologists James Watson and Francis Crick published their paper on the discovery
of the molecular structure of DNA.
June 19 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed on conspiracy to commit espionage after they
were found guilty of giving U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.
July 19 The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, ending the Korean War.
August 15 Operation Ajax: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi returned to power after the CIA conducted a coup
d'état in Iran.
1954

January 1 Tournament of Roses Parade: The parade was the first national color television broadcast.
April 26–July 20 Geneva Conference: A conference was held where the United States attempted to
find a way to unify Korea and restore peace in Indochina.
May 17 Brown v. Board of Education: The Supreme Court declared that state laws establishing
separate public schools for black and white students, and denying black children equal educational
opportunities, were unconstitutional.
June 9 Army-McCarthy hearings: Senator McCarthy was nationally discredited after failing to
provide credible evidence supporting accusations of communist activity in the U.S. government amid the
two months of televised hearings.
June 18–27 Operation PBSUCCESS: The CIA organized the overthrow of Guatemala's democratically
elected President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán.
September 8 The United States became a member of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
November 23 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at an all-time high of 382.74, the first time it closed
above its peak set before the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
December 2 The United States and the Republic of China signed the Sino-American Mutual Defense
Treaty, amid the First Taiwan Strait Crisis.
December 23 The first successful kidney transplant on a human was performed in Boston.
1955

The African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) began.

April 12 The announcement that the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk was found to be "safe,
effective and potent" was made by the University of Michigan.
April 15 Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's fast food restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.
May 14 The Warsaw Pact was signed, establishing a mutual defense arrangement subscribed to by
eight Communist states in Eastern Europe, including the Soviet Union.
July 17 Disneyland opened at Anaheim, California.
August 28 Emmett Till was kidnapped, beaten and murdered in Money, Mississippi after reportedly
flirting with a white woman; with the pictures of his open casket funeral, and the acquittal of his captors, the
public reaction of Till's death helped spark the Civil Rights Movement.
September 30 Actor James Dean was killed in a highway collision in Salinas, California.
November 1 Vietnam War: President Eisenhower deploys the first American personnel from the Military
Assistance Advisory Group to South Vietnam after the First Indochina War.
December 1 Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama after refusing to give up her bus seat to a
white passenger, inciting the 386-day Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.
December 5 The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations merged into the
AFL-CIO, becoming the largest labor union in the United States.
1956

June 29 The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, authorizing the construction of 41,000 miles of the
Interstate Highway System over a 20-year period, was signed into law.
Hungarian Revolution of 1956: The United States refused to support the revolution.
November 6 United States presidential election, 1956: President Dwight D. Eisenhower was reelected to
a second term, defeating 1952 Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson II in the rematch election.
1957

January 5 The Eisenhower Doctrine, wherein a country could request American economic assistance
or military aid if threatened by outside armed aggression, was proclaimed.
January 10 Dr. King, Rustin, Lowrey, Shuttlesworth and Abernathy founded the Southern Christian
Leadership Council (SCLC).
September 4 Little Rock Integration Crisis: Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus deployed members of the
Arkansas National Guard to prevent African-American students from integrating in the Little Rock Central
High School.
September 9 The Civil Rights Act of 1957, primarily a voting rights bill, was signed into law.
September 23 President Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent members of the
101st Airborne Division to escort the Little Rock Nine to their classrooms in response to Governor Faubus'
efforts preventing school desegregation.
October 4 Space race: The Soviet Union launched Sputnik.
December 2 Atoms for Peace: The Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the first commercial nuclear
power plant, went into service.
1958

January 31 Explorer 1: The first U.S. satellite was launched into space.
July 29 The National Aeronautics and Space Act was signed into law; establishing the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit.
September 2 The National Defense Education Act was signed into law.
1959

January 3 Alaska was admitted to the Union, becoming the 49th state.
February 4 The Day the Music Died: Musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J. P. "The Big Bopper"
Richardson, and pilot, Roger Peterson, were killed in a plane accident.
May 4 The First Grammy Awards was held.
July 8 U.S. Army Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand and Major Dale M. Buis were killed in South Vietnam,
being the first two official American casualties of the Vietnam War.
August 21 Hawaii was admitted to the Union, becoming the 50th state.
1960

February 1 The Greensboro sit-ins, sparked by the refusal of four African American college students to
move from a segregated lunch counter, began similar widespread acts of civil disobedience to protest Jim
Crow laws.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was founded.
May 1 U-2 incident: A CIA U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission
over Soviet airspace.
May 6 The Civil Rights Act of 1960, establishing federal inspection of local voter registration polls
and penalties for those attempting to obstruct the right to vote, was signed into law.
July 4 The 50-star flag is adopted.
September 26 The first ever general election debate between presidential candidates was held between
Democratic nominee John F. Kennedy and Republican nominee Richard M. Nixon.
November 8 United States presidential election, 1960: Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy was
elected President, defeating Vice President Richard M. Nixon and becoming the youngest person to be
elected to the office of the Presidency.
December 5 Boynton v. Virginia: In a 7–2 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that African-Americans were
protected from racial segregation on buses by the Interstate Commerce Act.
December 20 The National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam was formed.
1961

January 3 The United States broke diplomatic relations with Cuba.

January 17 President Eisenhower gave his farewell address which warned of the "military–industrial
complex".
February 7 The United States embargo against Cuba came into force.
March 1 President Kennedy signed Executive Order 10924, establishing the Peace Corps.
March 29 The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted electors
to the District of Columbia, was ratified.
April 17 –19 Bay of Pigs Invasion: The failed U.S. led invasion and attempted coup d'état of Cuban Prime
Minister Fidel Castro took place.
May 4 The Freedom Rides began in Washington D.C. after the failure to enforce the Supreme
Court's ruling in Boynton v. Virginia.
May 5 Alan Shepard piloted the Freedom 7 capsule to become the first American in space.
May 25 President Kennedy proposed the Apollo program, with the goal of "landing a man on the
moon and returning him safely to the earth."
June 16 Vietnam War: President Kennedy deployed an additional 400 U.S. military advisors (900
total) to South Vietnam; totaling 3,200 American troops by 1963, and more than 11,000 by mid-1964.
1962

February 20 John Glenn orbited the Earth.

June 11 Three inmates go missing on an escape from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on June 11, 1962.
June 25 A decision in Engel v. Vitale determined that it was unconstitutional for state officials to
compose an official school prayer and require its recitation in public schools.
August 5 Marilyn Monroe died of an apparent overdose from acute barbiturate poisoning at age thirty-
six.
October 14–27 Cuban missile crisis: A nuclear confrontation took place between the United States
and the Soviet Union.
1963

February 19 Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, attributed to sparking Second-wave feminism, was
published.
March 18 Gideon v. Wainwright: In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to
counsel is protected under the Sixth Amendment.
April 3 Birmingham campaign: The nonviolent led protests against racial segregation in
Birmingham, Alabama was launched by the SCLC.
April 16 Letter from a Birmingham Jail: Dr. King was arrested amid the Birmingham campaign,
writing an open letter defending the strategy nonviolent protest.
June 10 The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was signed into law.
June 12 NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers was assassinated at his home in Mississippi by white
supremacists, hours after President Kennedy gave his Civil Rights Address.
August 28 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., among other
notable civil rights leaders, spoke on the Lincoln Memorial, giving his historic "I Have a Dream" speech at
the march that drew over 200,000 demonstrators.
September 15 The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, carried out by a KKK splinter group, killed four
African-American girls in what was seen as a turning point for the Civil Rights Movement.
October 7 The Atomic Test Ban Treaty was signed.
November 22 President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper in Dallas, Texas while traveling in
an open presidential motorcade with Texas Governor John Connally, who was injured in the incident.
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President, hours after the assassination of President
John F. Kennedy.
November 24 Lee Harvey Oswald, the sniper who assassinated President Kennedy, was killed after being
fatally shot by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby.
November 29 The Warren Commission was established by President Johnson to investigate the
assassination of President Kennedy.
December 17 The Clean Air Act was signed into law.
1964

January 23 The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting both
Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or
other types of tax, was ratified.
February 7 British Invasion: The Beatles arrived in the United States.
May 22 President Johnson proposed the Great Society, a set of social reforms aimed at the
elimination of poverty and racial injustice.
The Freedom Summer began, aimed to increase voter registration for African Americans.
July 2 The Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlawing both segregation and major forms of discrimination against
blacks and women, was signed into law.
August 2 Tonkin Gulf incident, a false flag operation with 'deliberately skewed' intelligence to expand
U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, occurred.
August 4 Mississippi civil rights workers' murders: The bodies of three missing civil rights activists,
working to register voters as a part of the Freedom Summer, were found near Philadelphia, Mississippi.
August 10 The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, not a formal declaration of war in Vietnam, was signed by
President Johnson
November 3 United States presidential election, 1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Arizona
Senator Barry Goldwater.
December 10 Dr. King became the youngest person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for his
'nonviolent campaign against racism'.
1965

Vietnam War: Johnson escalates United States military involvement in the war, with the number of U.S.
troops totaling more than 184,000.
February 21 African American Muslim minister and human rights activist Malcolm X was assassinated at
the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, New York.
March 2 Operation Rolling Thunder began in the Vietnam War.
March 7 The Selma to Montgomery marches, known as "Bloody Sunday", drew national outrage
after Alabama State Troopers severely beat and used tear gas against the nonviolent demonstrators.
March 25 In a third attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery, 3,200 civil rights demonstrators
reached the Alabama State Capitol, where they were joined with a crowd of 25,000, after four days of
marching.
April 17 March Against the Vietnam War: The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the
SNCC led the first major anti-war demonstration against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C., with over
25,000 protesters.
July 30 The Social Security Amendments of 1965 was signed into law, establishing Medicaid and
Medicare in the United States.
August 6 The Voting Rights Act was signed into law.
August 11 -17 The Watts riots began in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, resulting in the
deaths of 34 people.
September 9 The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was
established, after the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 was signed into law by President
Johnson.
October 3 The Immigration Act of 1965 was signed into law, abolishing the National Origins Formula.
November 8 The Higher Education Act of 1965 was passed.
1966

January 18 Robert C. Weaver was sworn in as the first United States Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development, becoming the first African American to hold a cabinet-level position.
June 13 Miranda v. Arizona: The Supreme Court ruled that not informing suspects held in custody
on their right to counsel and silence violated protection against self incrimination, establishing what later
became known as "Miranda Rights".
June 30 The feminist group the National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed.
July 4 The Freedom of Information Act was signed into law.
September 9 The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was passed.
1967

January 3 Jack Ruby died of a pulmonary embolism at Parkland Hospital, where Oswald had died and
where President Kennedy had been pronounced dead after his assassination.
January 8 Operation Cedar Falls, the largest ground operation of the Vietnam War, began; with over
500,000 with the number of U.S. troops totaling more than 500,000 by the end of 1967.
January 15 Super Bowl I: the first Super Bowl took place between the Green Bay Packers and the
Kansas City Chiefs.
February 23 The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, establishing succession
to the Presidency and procedures for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, was ratified.
April 15 National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam: 400,000 demonstrators
march in New York City from Central Park to the United Nations Headquarters against the Vietnam War;
with 100,000 protesting the war in San Francisco, being one of the largest demonstrations against the
Vietnam War.
The Summer of Love took place, marking a defining period for the counterculture movement in the U.S.
June 12 Loving v. Virginia: The Supreme Court overruled the prohibition of interracial marriage.
July 1 American Samoa became self-governing under a new Constitution.
October 2 Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; becoming
the first African-American Justice to serve on the court.
1968

January 30 The Tet Offensive, a campaign of surprise attacks by the Viet Cong, began.
April 4 Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by a sniper at the
Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
April 4 -May 29 King assassination riots: The assassination of Dr. King prompted mass riots in
Chicago, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Kansas City and Louisville; leaving 36 people dead.
April 11 The Civil Rights Act of 1968, providing equal housing protection, was signed into law.
June 5 Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles by Sirhan
Sirhan, after winning the California primary while campaigning for President.
July 1 The United States signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
August 25–29 Chicago City Police clashed with anti-war protesters at the 1968 Democratic National
Convention in Chicago.
October 22 The Gun Control Act of 1968 was signed into law.
November 5 United States presidential election, 1968: Former Vice President Richard Nixon was elected
President, defeating incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Alabama Governor George Wallace.
Shirley Chisholm of New York became the first African-American woman elected to Congress.
December 21 Apollo 8: The first manned spacecraft to leave Earth's orbit occurred.
1969

March 18 Operation Menu: The United States began its covert bombings of North Vietnamese
positions in Cambodia and Laos.
June 29 The Stonewall riots took place, beginning after police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York
City, which would mark the start of the modern gay liberation movement in the United States.
July 18 Chappaquiddick incident: Senator Edward M. Kennedy drove off a bridge on his way home
from a party on Chappaquiddick Island, killing his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne.
July 20 Apollo 11: Americans astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins became
the first men to land on the moon, with Armstrong becoming the first man to walk on the moon's surface.
August 8, 1969 Members of the Manson Family murder Sharon Tate and four others in the Tate
Murders.
August 15–19 The Woodstock Festival took place in White Lake, New York, proclaimed as "three days of
peace and music", it became one of the defining events representing counterculture movement.
November 3 Vietnamization: President Nixon outlaid his administration's Vietnam policy in response to
the Tet Offensive.
November 10 Sesame Street premiered on National Educational Television.
November 15 Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam: Over 500,000 peaceful demonstrators protested
the Vietnam War in Washington D.C., being the largest anti-war protest in U.S. history.
December 15 President Nixon announces the withdrawal of 50,000 U.S. troops from Vietnam; reaching the
peak level of U.S. troops in Vietnam at 541,000.
1970

January 1 The National Environmental Policy Act, which required federal agencies to consider the
environmental impact of their decisions and established the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) within
the Executive Office of the President, was signed into law.
February 16 San Francisco Police Department Park Station bombing: A pipe bomb probably planted
by the Black Liberation Army killed one officer of the San Francisco Police Department and wounded nine
others.
March 6 Greenwich Village townhouse explosion: An accidental explosion in New York City killed
three members of the Weather Underground.
Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320: A flight from Newark, New Jersey to Boston was hijacked and the
copilot killed before the hijacker was subdued.
U.S. postal strike of 1970: Nixon deployed the National Guard to deliver mail in New York.
March 25 U.S. postal strike of 1970: The strike ended.
April 1 The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which banned tobacco advertising on radio
and television and changed the verbiage of tobacco packaging warning messages, was signed into law.
Operation Texas Star: American and South Vietnamese forces entered the A Sầu Valley.
April 5 Newhall massacre: Two criminals killed four officers of the California Highway Patrol
following a traffic stop in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California.
In a decision in Waller v. Florida, the Supreme Court held that the Double Jeopardy Clause protects
defendants from successive prosecutions by states and municipalities for offenses based on the same
criminal conduct.
April 30 Cambodian Campaign: Nixon announced the beginning of American military operations in
Cambodia with the objective of destroying the Central Office for South Vietnam, the North Vietnamese
military headquarters in South Vietnam.
2 May The Jackson 5 First National Tour: The Jackson 5 held the first concert of their first tour, in
Philadelphia.
ALM Flight 980: Some twenty passengers were killed and forty injured after a flight from New York City
to Sint Maarten ran out of fuel and was forced to make a water landing.
4 May Kent State shootings: The Ohio Army National Guard fired on a crowd of students
protesting the Cambodian Campaign at Kent State University, killing four and injuring nine others.
8 May Student strike of 1970: Some three hundred thousand students, largely in Washington, D.C.
and San Francisco, joined in protest of the Vietnam War.
Hard Hat riot: A violent confrontation took place between student anti-war protesters and members of the
AFL–CIO in the Financial District and City Hall in New York City.
11 May 1970 Lubbock tornado: A tornado in Lubbock, Texas killed some thirty people.
1970 Augusta riot: Protests over the suspicious death of a young inmate in police custody in
Augusta, Georgia devolved into rioting.
12 May Killing of Henry Marrow: A young black man was murdered by a white mob in Oxford,
North Carolina.
15 May Jackson State killings: The Jackson Police Department and Mississippi Highway Patrol fired
on a group of students at what is now Jackson State University, killing two and injuring twelve.
19 May Operation Freedom Deal: The Seventh Air Force began providing air support to Cambodian
forces against North Vietnam and the Khmer Rouge.
June 13 Nixon called the President's Commission on Campus Unrest.
July 1 Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord: The North Vietnamese army began placing an American
support base in the A Sầu Valley under mortar fire.
August 23 Salad Bowl strike: Farm workers represented by the United Farm Workers went on strike
after lettuce growers in the Salinas Valley agreed to allow the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to
represent their workers.
August 24 Sterling Hall bombing: Student radicals detonated a bomb at the University of Wisconsin–
Madison, killing physics researcher Robert Fassnacht and injuring three others.
August 26 Women's Strike for Equality: Some twenty thousand women took part in a protest in New
York City led by feminist organization the National Organization for Women.
September 11 Operation Tailwind: American and South Vietnamese forces covertly invaded southeastern
Laos in pursuit of North Vietnamese forces.
October New Haven Black Panther trials: Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, went
on trial for ordering the torture and murder of fellow Panther Alex Rackley.
October 2 Wichita State University football team plane crash: Some thirty people were killed and nine
injured in a plane crash in Clear Creek County, Colorado.
October 6 The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in a decision in Aronow v.
United States that the presence of the phrase "In God We Trust" on American currency does not violate the
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
October 15 The Organized Crime Control Act and its subsection the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act were signed into law, extending penalties to organizations involved in illegal activities
and banning their involvement in gambling.
October 27 The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 and its subsection
the Controlled Substances Act were signed into law, establishing security and recordkeeping requirements
in the pharmaceutical industry and classifying drugs into schedules with varying criminal penalties for their
consumption and possession.
November 3 United States elections, 1970: The Democratic Party retained its majority in the Senate and
increased its majority in the House.
November 14 Southern Airways Flight 932: A plane crash in Ceredo, West Virginia killed some eighty
passengers and crew.
November 23 The Supreme Court held in a decision in North Carolina v. Alford that a judge may accept
an Alford plea, in which the defendant claims innocence but concedes that the evidence against him could
produce a conviction.
1971

April 1 The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act was signed into law, banning cigarette
advertisements on radio and television and issuing a Surgeon General's warning on tobacco products.
June 13 Pentagon Papers: The New York Times publishes its first story on the classified 7,000-page
Department of Defense study, leaked by study participant Daniel Ellsberg, on the U.S.'s political-military
involvement in Vietnam since 1945.
June 17 President Nixon declares a "War on Drugs", stating that drug use in the U.S. is "public
enemy number one."
June 30 New York Times Co. v. United States: The Supreme Court ruled that the Pentagon Papers
may be published, rejecting government injunctions as unconstitutional prior restraint.
July 1 The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the voting age
from 21 to 18, was ratified.
August 15 Nixon Shock: Nixon ended the gold standard in the United States.
September 13 Attica Prison riot: After four days of holding 39 prison staff members hostage, a raid that led
to a riot at the Attica Correctional Facility was launched by New York State Police; leaving 43 staff and
prisoners dead and being the deadliest prison riot in U.S. history.
1972

February 21–28 1972 Nixon visit to China: President Nixon became the first U.S. President to visit the
People's Republic of China, marking the end of 25 years of isolation between the U.S. and China.
May 26 SALT I Treaty: The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was signed between the Soviet Union and
United States at the Moscow Summit.
June 9–10 Black Hills flood: Flooding in the Black Hills region of Western South Dakota killed 238
people.
June 17 Watergate burglaries: Five men were arrested for the burglary of the Democratic National
Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.
June 23 The Education Amendments of 1972, enacting Title IX and prohibiting gender based
discrimination of educational institutions, was signed into law.
June 29 Furman v. Georgia: The Supreme Court ruled that application of the death penalty outside
of cases of homicide violated protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
November 7 U.S. presidential election, 1972: President Nixon was reelected to a second term, defeating
South Dakota Senator George McGovern.
December 14 Apollo 17 became the final mission of the Apollo program and last human spaceflight to the
moon.
December 18 Operation Linebacker II: The final major U.S. bombing campaign in North Vietnam began.
1973

January 22 Roe v. Wade: The Supreme Court ruled that state laws banning abortion before 24 weeks as
unconstitutional.
January 23 The Paris Peace Accords was signed, ending the United States' direct involvement in the
Vietnam War.
May 3 The Sears Towers opened in Chicago, becoming the World's tallest building.
May 14 The space station Skylab was launched by NASA.
May 17 The United States Senate Watergate Committee held its first hearing.
October 10 Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned in disgrace as part of a plea bargain after being
charged with tax evasion, extortion and conspiracy.
October 20 Saturday Night massacre: President Nixon fired three top legal advisers over the disposition
of secret tapes and the actions of the Special Prosecutor in regard to the Watergate scandal.
October 1973 oil crisis: Gasoline prices in the U.S. quadrupled over a three-month period in response
to reduced supply of gasoline and heating oil.
December 6 House Minority Leader Gerald Ford of Michigan was sworn in as Vice President after the
resignation of Spiro Agnew; becoming the first Vice President to be appointed under the Twenty-fifth
Amendment.
1974

April 3–4 1974 Super Outbreak: An outbreak of 148 tornadoes hit thirteen states, killing 330 people.
June 30 The House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Nixon over his actions in the
Watergate Scandal.
August 9 President Richard Nixon becomes the first and only President to resign from office. After
submitting his resignation in an address to the nation the evening before, Nixon stated that "the interest of
the Nation must always come before any personal considerations."
Vice President Gerald Ford is sworn in as President after the resignation of President Nixon.
September 8 President Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon for any crimes he may have
committed as President during the Watergate Scandal.
1975

January 27 The Church Committee, Chaired by Idaho Senator Frank Church, was established in the
aftermath of the Watergate Scandal; investigating the illegal activities of the CIA, NSA and FBI.
April 4 Bill Gates founded Microsoft Corporation.
April 30 Fall of Saigon: Saigon, the capitol of South Vietnam, was captured by the People's Army of
Vietnam and the Viet Cong, causing the South to surrender and officially ending the Vietnam War.
July 15 Apollo–Soyuz Test Project: The first joint U.S.–Soviet space mission began in
Kazakhstan.
September 5 President Ford was uninjured after a failed assassination attempt by Manson Family cult
member Lynette Fromme in Sacramento, California.
1976

April 1 Steve Jobs founded Apple Inc.

July 2 Gregg v. Georgia: The Supreme Court affirmed that the death penalty did not violate the
Eighth Amendment.
July 4 United States Bicentennial: Americans celebrated the United States bicentennial
November 2 U.S. presidential election, 1976: Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter was elected President,
defeating incumbent Gerald Ford.
1977

May 25 Star Wars is released and goes on to become the highest-grossing film of its time.
July 13–14 New York City blackout of 1977: A twenty-five-hour blackout, resulting in looting and
other disorder, took place.
August 16 Elvis Presley, the "King of Rock and Roll", died at his home in Graceland.
September 7 The Torrijos–Carter Treaties between the U.S. and Panama, relinquishing U.S. control of the
Panama Canal, were ratified.
Mid-October The Commodore PET, the first personal computer for retail sale, was released.
1978

September 17 The Camp David Accords were signed by Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of
Egypt at Camp David.
November 18 Jonestown massacre: The mass-suicide of 909 American citizens who were members of the
religious cult the Peoples Temple, led by Jim Jones, occurred in Guyana. With the addition murders of nine
others, including Congressman Leo Ryan, the 918 deaths were the largest loss of American life in a single
incident and in a non-natural disaster at the time.
November 27 Moscone–Milk assassinations: Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person elected to public
office, and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, were assassinated by Dan White in San Francisco.
1979

March 28 Three Mile Island accident: The partial nuclear meltdown and release of small amounts of
radioactive gases and iodine of a nuclear power plant in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania began; considered to
be the worst commercial nuclear power accident in U.S. history.
May 21 White Night riots: After the lenient sentence of Moscone-Milk assassin Dan White, over
5,000 demonstrators in San Francisco's gay community staged what turned into a violent protest.
May 25 American Airlines Flight 191 flight crashed shortly after takeoff from O'Hare International
Airport, killing all 271 aboard and two on the ground; being the deadliest aviation accident on U.S. soil.
November 4 Iran hostage crisis: The U.S. embassy in Tehran was raided by student activists of the
Iranian Revolution after overthrown CIA instated Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was allowed into the U.S.;
beginning the 444-day capture of the embassy and the holding of fifty-two American embassy personnel.
1980

March 21 1980 Summer Olympics boycott: Protesting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President
Carter announces the U.S. would boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow.
April 24 Operation Eagle Claw: Eight U.S. military personnel were killed after the failed attempt to
rescue the fifty-two American hostages held at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
May 18 Eruption of Mount St. Helens: The eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington killed fifty-
seven people.
June 1 CNN, the first 24-hour cable news channel, was founded.
November 4 U.S. presidential election, 1980: California Governor Ronald Reagan was elected President,
defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter and Illinois Representative John B. Anderson.
December 8 Musician John Lennon was assassinated outside of The Dakota in New York City.
1981

January 20 Iran releases the 52 U.S. hostages held in Tehran after 444 days (the day of the swearing in
of President Ronald Reagan); signing the Algiers Accords.
March 30 Reagan assassination attempt: President Reagan and three others were injured after an
assassination attempt of the President by John Hinckley, outside of the Hilton Washington in Washington
D.C.
April 12 STS-1: The Space Shuttle Columbia was launched, being the first flight of NASA's Space
Shuttle program.
July 17 Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: A hotel walkway collapsed in Kansas City,
Missouri, killing 114 and injuring over two hundred.
August 1 MTV, the first 24-hour cable network dedicated to airing music videos, was launched.
August 4 Reaganomics: The Kemp-Roth Tax Cut was signed into law.
September 21 Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court,
becoming the first woman to serve on the court.
November 16 President Reagan signed NDSS 17, authorizing the beginning of CIA support for contra
rebels in Nicaragua.
1982

June 12 Anti-nuclear protests were held at Central Park in New York City, with nearly one million
peaceful demonstrators protesting the arms race.
August 25 Multinational forces, including 800 Marines, were deployed to Lebanon to oversee the
withdrawal of Palestine Liberation Organization after Lebanese Civil War.
1983

March 23 President Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative.

April 18 1983 United States embassy bombing: The U.S. embassy in Beirut was bombed by
members of the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO), killing 63 people, including 17 U.S. government
personnel.
October 23 Beirut barracks bombing: 241 United States Marine Corps personnel were killed in a
suicide bombing by members of the IJO in Lebanon.
October 25 Operation Urgent Fury: Under executive action from President Reagan, the U.S. deployed
1,900 military personnel in the Invasion of Grenada.
1984

April 23 U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Margaret Heckler announces Dr. Robert Gallo
and fellow NCI researcher's discovery of HTLV-III as the virus that causes AIDS.
May 8 1984 Summer Olympics boycott: The Soviet Union, later joined by most of the Eastern
Bloc, announced the boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles.
July 18 San Ysidro McDonald's massacre: A mass shooting in San Ysidro, California left 22
(including the perpetrator) dead and injured 19 others; being the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at
the time.
November 6 U.S. presidential election, 1984: President Reagan was reelected to a second term, defeating
former Vice President Walter Mondale.
1985

July 13 Live Aid, a concert attended by 100,000 people and watched by 1.9 billion viewers in
150 countries at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, was held, raising global awareness of famine
in Ethiopia.
Arrow Air Flight 1285, carrying U.S. Army personnel to Egypt, crashed in Newfoundland, Canada, killing
all 256 passengers on board and being the deadliest single aviation accident in the history of the U.S.
military.
1986

January 20 The first Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is observed.

January 28 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster: The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded due to a leak in
the shuttle's solid rocket booster 73 seconds after departing from the Kennedy Space Center, killing all seven
crew members aboard, including school teacher Christa McAuliffe.
April 15 Operation El Dorado Canyon: The U.S. began air strikes against Libya after the Berlin
discotheque bombing.
May 25 Hands Across America: Over five million Americans formed a human chain across the
contiguous United States, holding hands for 15 minutes to raise awareness of hunger and homelessness.
October 1 The Goldwater–Nichols Act was signed into law.
October 9 The Fox Broadcasting Company was founded.
October 21 The Compact of Free Association was signed by the U.S., giving Independence to the
Marshall Islands.
November 3 Iran–Contra affair: The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa first revealed that the United States
had secretly sold weapons to Iran in exchange for American hostages, amid a U.S. arms embargo.
November 25 After the resignation of National Security Advisor John Poindexter, Attorney General Edwin
Meese revealed that the profits from the U.S. arms trade with Iran were illegally diverted to support
contra groups in Nicaragua.
November 26 The Tower Commission is established by President Reagan to investigate the Iran-Contra
affair.
1987

May 5 Joint special House and Senate hearings on the Iran-Contra affair began.
June 12 During a visit to Berlin, President Reagan challenged Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to
"tear down this wall", referring to the Berlin Wall.
October 19 Black Monday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 508 points in a single session, losing
22.6% of its value.
October 23 The U.S. Senate rejects President Reagan's Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork.
November 18 A joint congressional report investigating the Iran-Contra affair found that the "ultimate
responsibility for the events in the Iran-contra affair must rest with the President."
December 8 The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C. between
the U.S. and Soviet Union.
1988

May 14 Carrollton bus collision: A drunk driver crashed into a church bus near Carrollton, Kentucky,
killing twenty-seven people.
The Yellowstone fires of 1988 burned 793,880 acres of Yellowstone National Park.
August 30 STS-41-D: The Space Shuttle Discovery was launched.
November 2 Morris worm, the first computer worm distributed via the Internet, was launched.
November 8 U.S. presidential election, 1988: Vice President George H. W. Bush was elected President,
defeating Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.
1989

March 24 Exxon Valdez oil spill: An oil tanker struck a reef in Prince William Sound, spilling over 11
million gallons of crude oil in the Gulf of Alaska.
May 31 Speaker of the House Jim Wright becomes the first House Speaker to resign amid
scandal; he was succeeded by Tom Foley.
September 10–22 Hurricane Hugo struck the East Coast, killing 49 people and causing $7 billion in
damage.
October 17 The Loma Prieta earthquake, striking the San Francisco Bay Area and interrupting the 1989
World Series, killed sixty-three people.
December 3 Malta Summit: President Bush and Soviet Premier Gorbachev met in Malta weeks after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, releasing statements indicating that the war may be coming to an end.
December 20 Operation Just Cause: 26,000 U.S. military personnel were deployed in the U.S. invasion of
Panama, removing Military Governor Manuel Noriega from power and restoring Panama's democratically
elected government.
1990

January 13 Douglas Wilder was elected Governor of Virginia, becoming the first African American to
become governor of a U.S. State.
April 24 The Hubble Space Telescope was launched during a mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery.
August 2 Gulf War: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein leads the deployment of 140,000 Iraqi troops in
the invasion of Kuwait.
1991

January 17 Operation Desert Storm: The United States leads 34 coalition nations in the invasion of
Ba'athist Iraq; deploying over 500,000 U.S. military personnel in response to Iraq's annexation of Kuwait.
February 28 President George H.W. Bush announces that a cease fire was reached between in the Gulf
War, stating that "Kuwait is liberated. Iraq's army is defeated."
July 31 START I was signed between the United States and the Soviet Union.
December 26 The dissolution of the Soviet Union, recognizing the independence of twelve Soviets states
after the resignation of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who declared his office extinct, formally ended
the Cold War.
Confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas were held by the Senate Judiciary
Committee, after allegations regarding sexual harassment charges were pressed by former aide Anita Hill.
1992

April 29–May 4 1992 Los Angeles riots: Riots in Los Angeles, spurred by the acquittal of four Los
Angeles Police Department officers accused in the beating of Rodney King, took place, which resulted in
over fifty deaths and $1 billion in damage.
May 7 The Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting changes to
Congressmen's salaries from taking effect until after an election of Representatives, was ratified.
August 16–28 Hurricane Andrew: A Category 5 hurricane killed sixty-five people and caused $26 billion
in damage to Florida and other areas of the Gulf Coast.
August 21 The Siege of Ruby Ridge is begun by United States Marshals, lasting ten days. The incident
would end with the acquittal of all but one minor charge against the Weaver family and lead to
admonishment of the handling of the incident by Federal authorities.
November 3 United States presidential election, 1992: Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton was elected
President, defeating incumbent George H. W. Bush and Texas businessman Ross Perot.
1993

January 3 START II was signed between the United States and the Russian Federation.
February 13–April 19 Waco siege: After the ATF failed to raid the compound of members of the
religious sect the Branch Davidians, the FBI prompted a 51-day standoff; resulting in the deaths of 72
Branch Davidians after a fire broke out in the compound.
February 26 1993 World Trade Center bombing: A truck bomb exploded in the parking garage under
the World Trade Center in Manhattan, killing six people and injuring 1,042 others.
March 12 – 15 Storm of the Century strikes the Eastern Seaboard, with blizzard conditions and severe
weather, killing over 300 people and causing $6 billion in damage.
June 27 President Bill Clinton orders a cruise missile attack on the Iraqi intelligence
headquarters in Baghdad, responding to the attempted assassination attempt cultivated by the Iraq Secret
Service on former U.S. President George H.W. Bush during his visit to Kuwait two months before.
October 3–4 Battle of Mogadishu: 18 U.S. military personnel, as a part of Operation Gothic Serpent, were
killed and 84 wounded after a seventeen-hour assault was prompted by Somali militiamen.
November 30 The Don't ask, don't tell policy, prohibiting openly gay and bisexual people from serving in
the military, was signed into law.
November 30 The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
December 8 The North American Free Trade Agreement was signed by the United States.
Great Flood of 1993: Massive flooding along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers killed 48 people and
caused $30.2 billion in damage; being the costliest flood in U.S. history.
1994

January 17 The 1994 Northridge earthquake, striking the Northridge, Los Angeles area, killed fifty-
seven people and leaving 20,000 others homeless; causing $20 billion in damage and being the costliest
earthquake in U.S. history.
September 13 President Bill Clinton signs the Assault Weapons Ban, which bars the use of these weapons
for ten years.
September 14 For the first time since 1904, the World Series of Major League Baseball is cancelled, this
time due to a player's strike begun in August by the Major League Baseball Players Association.
November 8 Republican Revolution: The Republican Party picked up 54 seats in the House and 8 seats in
the Senate, being one of the largest shifts in party balance in U.S. congressional history.
1995

January 9 Operation United Shield: The Navy, joined by the navies of Italy and Pakistan, began
withdrawing UN forces from Somalia.
January 11 1994–95 NHL lockout: A lockout by the National Hockey League against its players ended.
January 31 Mexican peso crisis: The Exchange Stabilization Fund contributed twenty billion dollars to an
International Monetary Fund-organized bailout of the Mexican government.
February 6 STS-63: The space shuttle Discovery approached the Russian space station Mir in orbit.
February 25 1st Screen Actors Guild Awards: An awards ceremony for acting in movies and television
was held in Los Angeles.
March 31 Murder of Selena: Singer Selena was murdered by her fan and employee Yolanda Saldívar in
Corpus Christi, Texas.
April 2 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike: A strike by the Major League Baseball Players
Association ended after a district court supported an unfair labor practices complaint of the National Labor
Relations Board.
April 14 1995 Marathon earthquake: An earthquake took place in western Texas.
April 19 Oklahoma City bombing: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols bombed a federal
government building in Oklahoma City, killing nearly two hundred.
5 May 1995 Mayfest Storm: A two-day storm began in and around Fort Worth, Texas which would
kill thirteen people.
8 May 1995 Louisiana flood: A flood began in and around New Orleans after heavy rainfall which
would kill six people over the next two days
May 11 One hundred and seventy nations decide to extend the Nuclear Non-proliferation
Treaty indefinitely.
27 May May 1995 tornado outbreak sequence: The outbreak ended, after leaving thirteen dead across
the country.
June 29 For the first time, the Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian space station Mir.
July 11 The United States restored full diplomatic relations with Vietnam.
July 12 1995 Chicago heat wave: A heat wave began in the Midwest which would kill more
than seven hundred people in Chicago over the next four days.
August 2 Hurricane Erin: A hurricane made landfall in Florida which would cause some seven
hundred million dollars in damage in the United States over the next four days.
August 28 Markale massacres: The Army of Republika Srpska (BPC) shelled an open-air market in
Sarajevo, killing forty civilians.
September 20 Operation Deliberate Force: The operation was concluded following the withdrawal of BPC
artillery from an area around Sarajevo.
October 3 Retired professional football player O. J. Simpson is acquitted of two charges of first-degree
murder in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman. The trial, which
lasts nine months, receives worldwide publicity.
October 4 Hurricane Opal: A hurricane made landfall in the Florida Panhandle which would kill
thirteen Americans before dissipating two days later.
October 16 Million Man March: Several hundred thousand black men gathered in Washington, D.C. for
a prayer event called by Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam and organized by the National African
American Leadership Summit.
October 25 1995 Fox River Grove bus–train collision: A train crashed into a stopped school bus in Fox
River Grove, Illinois, killing seven students.
November 14 United States federal government shutdowns of 1995–1996: Nonessential operations of the
federal government ceased after the failure of Clinton and the Congress to agree to a budget.
1996

June 25 Khobar Towers bombing: A bombing left nineteen American servicemen dead in
Saudi Arabia.
July 5 At the Roslin Institute in Scotland, Dolly, the sheep, becomes the first mammal to be cloned.
This begins a rampant debate on the ethics of the procedure in animals and the viability and morality of
cloning in human beings.
July 17 TWA Flight 800: A flight exploded off Long Island, killing all 230 aboard.
July 27 Centennial Olympic Park bombing: A bombing in Atlanta killed one and injured 111.
August 22 The Welfare Reform Act of 1996, replacing the AFDC with TANF, was signed into law.
U.S. presidential election, 1996: Bill Clinton was reelected to a second term as President of the United
States, defeating presidential candidates Bob Dole and Ross Perot.
United States federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996: The shutdown ended.
1997

March 4 Federal funding for any research into human cloning is barred by President Bill Clinton.
1998

Former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones accused Clinton of sexual harassment.
January 26 The Monica Lewinsky scandal begins when U.S. President Bill Clinton denies his
relationship with the White House intern in a televised interview. This denial, and other denials to a grand
jury investigation, would lead to the impeachment of the president.
August 7 Attacks on two United States embassies in Africa, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and
Nairobi, Kenya kills two hundred and twenty-four and injures four thousand five hundred. The attacks are
linked to Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda organization. On August 13, the United States launches cruise
missile strikes against Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in the Sudan.
September 29 The United States Congress passes legislation, the Iraq Liberation Act, that states the U.S.
wants to remove Saddam Hussein from power and replace it with a democracy.
1999

February 12 President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the U.S. Senate in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. The
Senate trial, which began January 7 and needed a 2/3 majority to convict, ended with a 55-45 not guilty vote
on the charge of perjury and 50-50 vote on the charge of obstruction of justice.
April 20 Two teenage students murdered 13 other students and teachers at Columbine High School.
May 2–8 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak: A violent tornado outbreak in Oklahoma killed fifty people
and produced a tornado which caused $1 billion in damage (the greatest damages ever recorded until then).
October 31 EgyptAir Flight 990: The first officer deliberately crashed a plane south of Nantucket,
Massachusetts, killing 217.
November 30 The first major mobilization of the anti-globalization movement occurs in Seattle,
Washington, during the days before the 1999 World Trade Organization meetings (Battle of Seattle). The
protests and rioting caused the cancellation of the WTO opening ceremonies.
Along with the rest of the world, the United States prepared for the possible effects of the Y2K bug in
computers, which was feared destined to cause computers to become inoperable and wreak havoc.
2000

October 12 USS Cole bombing: The USS Cole was bombed in Yemeni waters, killing seventeen United
States Navy sailors.
November 7 Texas governor George Walker Bush wins by 537 votes in Florida in a highly contested
election against the incumbent Vice President Al Gore. He is thus elected 43rd President of the United
States.
2001

January 20 First inauguration of George W. Bush: George W. Bush was inaugurated the forty-third
President of the United States.
April 1 China-U.S. incident. An American spy plane collides with a fighter plane of China and
makes an emergency landing in Hainan, China. The U.S. crew is detained for ten days.
September 11 September 11 terrorist attacks: Nineteen terrorists hijacked four planes and crashed
them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and an
open field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing 2,996 people and injuring over 6,000.
September 18 2001 Anthrax attacks: Anthrax attacks killed five and infected seventeen more through the
mail system.
October 7 War in Afghanistan: The United States launched an invasion of Afghanistan.
October 26 The USA PATRIOT Act, increasing law enforcement agencies' ability to conduct searches in
cases of suspected terrorism, was signed into law.
November 12 American Airlines Flight 587: A flight crashed in Queens, New York, killing 265.
2002

June 13 The United States officially withdraws from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
January 8 The No Child Left Behind Act education reform bill was signed into law.
May 21 The United States State Department issues its report in the War on Terror. It
states that there are seven nations that a State-Sponsors: Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and
Syria.
October 2–22 Beltway sniper attacks: Ten people were killed and three were injured in attacks around the
Washington, D.C. area.
November 8 The United Nations passes Resolution 1441 in a unanimous Security Council vote. It forces
Saddam Hussein and Iraq to disarm or face serious consequences.
November 25 The Department of Homeland Security is created in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
2003

February 1 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster: The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on reentry into
the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
February 17 2003 E2 nightclub stampede: A nightclub stampede in Chicago, Illinois killed twenty-one.
February 20 The Station nightclub fire: A fire caused by pyrotechnics at a nightclub in West Warwick,
Rhode Island killed 100 people and injured over 230.
March 19 Invasion of Iraq: The United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq.
December 13 Capture of Saddam Hussein: In Iraq, deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured
by United States special forces.
2004

February 3 The Central Intelligence Agency admits that the imminent threat from weapons of mass
destruction was not present before the 2003 Iraq war began.
February 4 The social networking website Facebook was launched.
2004 Atlantic hurricane season: Four deadly and damaging hurricanes impacted Florida, killing a combined
one hundred people in the United States and producing over $50 billion in damage.
November 2 U.S. presidential election, 2004; President George W. Bush was reelected.
December 26 The southeast Asian tsunami occurs following a 9.3 Richter scale earthquake in the Indian
Ocean. Two hundred and ninety thousand people die from Sri Lanka to Indonesia, creating one of the
greatest humanitarian tragedies in history. A worldwide relief effort, led by the United States and many
other nations, is mobilized to assist.
2005

August 23–30 Hurricane Katrina: A hurricane devastated the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama
coastlines killing at least 1,836 people and causing $81 billion in damage.
October 24 Civil Rights activist, Rosa Parks, dies.
2006

October 17 The population of the United States reaches the milestone of three hundred million,
taking only about forty years to gain one hundred million people since the two hundredth million person was
added in 1967. At the same time, a vibrant debate on immigration policy, particularly illegal immigration,
ensues across the nation.
November 7 In the mid-term elections, both houses of Congress change back to Democratic hands for the
first time since 1994. This is seen as a referendum by many on the Iraq policy of the Bush administration as
well as personal Republican scandals among some House and Senate members.
2007

January 3 Democrat Nancy Pelosi became the first woman to become Speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives.
January 10 Iraq War troop surge of 2007: George W. Bush ordered the substantial increase of the number
of United States troops in Iraq.
April 16 Virginia Tech massacre: A South Korean student shot and killed thirty-two other students
and professors before killing himself.
August 1 The I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed, killing thirteen
people.
December Late-2000s recession: A recession began.
2008

February 5–6 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak: An outbreak of tornadoes killed over sixty people and
produced $1 billion in damage across Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama.
September 1–14 Hurricane Ike: A hurricane killed 100 people along the Texas coast, producing $31
billion in damage and contributing to rising oil prices.
July 11 Oil prices in the United States hit a record $147 per barrel.
September Global financial crisis: The stock market crashed.
September 14 Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers: Investment bank Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy,
the largest in U.S. history.
October 3 The United States Congress passes legislation, signed by President Bush, for a $700 billion
bailout, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, giving the Treasury Department authority to assist
distressed Wall Street and banking businesses of the United States due to the housing, banking, and
subprime mortgage crises caused by excessive greed and speculation among Wall Street firms. This
economic distress, coupled with oil prices above $140 per barrel during the summer, deepened the world
economic crises that had been brewing all year. The bailout was supported by current President George W.
Bush and both presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain.
November 4 U.S. presidential election, 2008: Barack Obama was elected the forty-fourth President of the
United States.
2009

January 20 Inauguration of Barack Obama: Obama was inaugurated the forty-fourth President of the
United States.
February 17 President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a
$787 billion economic stimulus package.
April After a succession of big government spending projects beginning in the Bush administration
and expanded under President Obama, 750 grass roots Tea Party protests spring up across the nation. More
than one half million citizens concerned with increased deficits due to actions such as the bailout of the
banking industry, car industry, potential cap and trade legislation, and other administration projects that
project a ten trillion dollar deficit over the next decade take part.
June 25 Death of Michael Jackson: Pop icon Michael Jackson died.
August 8 Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; becoming the
first Latino Justice.
November 5 Fort Hood shooting: Nidal Malik Hasan killed twelve servicemen and injured thirty-one.
2010

March 25 The U.S. House of Representatives finalizes the Health Care legislation approved by the
Senate, extending health benefits and insurance to most Americans. The legislation, the Affordable Care
Act, passed on a partisan basis by the Democratic Majority, has caused a significant rift within the public,
who disapproved of the bill, and is expected to test the Democratic Party's hold on both houses of Congress
during the mid-term elections in November.
April 20 Deepwater Horizon oil spill: The BP oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of
Mexico, killing 11 workers and spilling 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf over an 87-day period; being
the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.
November 2 United States House of Representatives elections, 2010: The Republican Party gained sixty-
two seats, giving them an absolute majority of 242 in the House and reducing the Democratic presence to
193.
November 28 United States diplomatic cables leak: WikiLeaks began to release classified diplomatic
documents to the international press.
December 22 The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 was signed into law, ending the Don't ask,
don't tell policy regarding homosexuals in the United States Armed Forces.
2011

January 8 2011 Tucson shooting: A gunman targeting Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords
critically injured Giffords and killed six others, including federal judge John Roll, in Tucson, Arizona.
March 19 Operation Odyssey Dawn: The United States began air and cruise missile attacks against
Libya.
April 25–28 April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak: The largest tornado outbreak ever in United States
history occurs in the American Midwest and Southern United States killing 348 People and causing 11
Billion Dollars in Damage.
May 2 Death of Osama bin Laden: Al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden was killed by United States
forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
May 22 Joplin Tornado: An EF-5 tornado tore through Joplin, Missouri, killing 161, and causing
$2.8 Billion in damage, including the destruction of a large portion of the main retail strip, a hospital, the
high school, a middle school, and several elementary schools.
July 21 The final shuttle flight lands at the Kennedy Space Center, signifying the end of the NASA
shuttle space program. The program, which began in 1981 and included 135 missions, was completed when
the Shuttle Atlantis flew its final mission to the International Space Station.
August 2 United States debt-ceiling crisis: The Budget Control Act of 2011 was signed into law,
increasing the legal limit on federal government debt in order to prevent default and establishing the United
States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.
August 5 United States federal government credit-rating downgrade, 2011: The credit-rating arm of
Standard & Poor's reduced the rating of United States federal government debt from AAA to AA+.
August 8 August 2011 stock markets fall: Major United States stock market indices dropped in value
by some two and a half trillion dollars.
September 17 The first of many Occupy Wall Street protests begin in New York City, protesting the big
money interests on Wall Street and their relationship to the recession and world economy.
December 18 Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq: The last United States troops withdrew from Iraq
under the terms of the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement.
2012

July 20 A gunman kills 12 and injures 58 at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.

September 11 2012 Benghazi attack: An attack that was coordinated against two United States government
facilities in Benghazi, Libya by members of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Sharia.
October 25–30 Hurricane Sandy: A devastating hurricane wreaks havoc for the Eastern United
States coast. There were many states severely impacted by the hurricane, especially New York and New
Jersey, which took a direct hit from the storm.
November 6 United States presidential election, 2012: Barack Obama is reelected as president.
December 14 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Occurs in Newtown, Connecticut killing 20
Children and 6 Staff Members in Sandy Hook Elementary School, perpetrated by a 20 Year Old, Adam
Lanza.
2013

April 15 Boston Marathon bombings: Two pressure cooker bombs explode during the Boston
Marathon.
May 20 A tornado devastates suburbs near Oklahoma City, killing at least 51 (Moore tornado)
June 26 The Supreme Court strikes down the Defense of Marriage Act, which banned the federal
recognition of same-sex marriages and refused to recognize the legal standing of proponents of Proposition
8, which resulted in the re-legalization of same-sex marriage in California.
June Global surveillance disclosures: The revelations of the NSA's PRISM, Boundless
Informant and XKeyscore domestic surveillance programs were first published by The Guardian and
Washington Post newspapers.
2014

April 16 Flight MH370 of Malaysian airlines went missing and was never found over the months and
months of searching even with the modern technology and thousands of not just Americans but people
around the world.
May 23 2014 Isla Vista killings occurs, killing 6, and wounding 14 others, perpetrated by Elliot
Rodger.
June President Obama orders the return of a small number of troops to Iraq to help bolster Iraqi
and Kurdish military forces in their war with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
August 9 Michael Brown was shot and killed, in what was ruled by a grand jury to be self-defense, by
police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, igniting protests and riots in the following months.
November 3 New building, 1 World Trade Center, opens in New York City.
November 4 In national elections, Republicans take control of the U.S. Senate and maintaining a majority
in the House of Representatives.
December 17 President Obama announces a restoration of full diplomatic relations with Cuba for the
first time since 1961.
2015

April 27 2015 Baltimore protests: Protests and rioting occur in Baltimore, Maryland after the death of
Freddie Gray in police custody.
June 17 Charleston church shooting: A gunman killed 9, including a state senator in a church in
Charleston, South Carolina.
June 26 Obergefell v. Hodges: Gay marriage is fully legalized in all 50 states.
July 20 Restoration of relations with Cuba.
December 2 2015 San Bernardino attack: Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married radical Muslim
couple, kills 14 people at a center for the developmentally disabled.
2016

January 2 Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge: an armed standoff in Oregon
between armed anti-government militants and county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies takes
place.
June 11 2016 Orlando Nightclub Shooting: A self-proclaimed Islamic State fighter, Omar Mateen,
kills 49 and injures 53 at a gay nightclub in Orlando, before being shot and killed by an officer.
July 7 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers: Micah Xavier Johnson ambushed and fired upon a
group of police officers in Dallas, Texas, killing five officers and injuring nine others. Two civilians were
also wounded. Johnson was an Army Reserve Afghan War veteran who was reportedly angry over police
shootings of black men and stated that he wanted to kill white people, especially white police officers. The
shooting happened at the end of a peaceful protest against police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, which had occurred in the preceding days.
August 2016 Louisiana floods: Prolonged rainfall in southern parts of the U.S. state of Louisiana
resulted in catastrophic flooding that submerged thousands of houses and businesses. Louisiana's governor,
John Bel Edwards, called the disaster a "historic, unprecedented flooding event" and declared a state of
emergency.
August 13 2016 Milwaukee riots: A riot began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sparked by the fatal police
shooting of 23-year-old Sylville Smith. During the three-day turmoil, several people, including police
officers, were injured and dozens of protesters arrested.
September 17–19 2016 New York and New Jersey bombings: Three bombs exploded and several
explosive devices were found in the New York metropolitan area. The events occurred in Seaside Park, New
Jersey; Manhattan, New York; and Elizabeth, New Jersey. On September 19, the sole suspect — Ahmad
Khan Rahimi, of Elizabeth — was captured, following a shootout with police in the neighboring Linden,
New Jersey. Rahimi's actions were allegedly influenced by the extremist Islamic ideology espoused by al-
Qaeda.
November 2 2016 World Series: The Chicago Cubs win the 2016 World Series for the first time since
1908, defeating the Cleveland Indians in seven games and ending the longest championship drought in
North American sports history.
November 8 United States presidential election, 2016: Donald Trump wins the 2016 presidential
election, and becomes the forty-fifth president of the United States. The Republicans also regained the
majority of both the House and Senate; an election in which the Republican candidate wins the election
while the majority in Congress maintains a Republican control hasn't happened since the 1920s.