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Watergate Scandal
Five men with shady backgrounds hired to break into the Democratic National Committe headquarters.
The robberies did not draw much attention at first.
The Spring of 1973 is when it really became an issue.
Finally, on August 9, 1974, Nixon became the first president to resign.
Gerald Ford then became president. -
Saigon Falls
The war in Vietnam ends suddenly for Americans.
There was chaos and trouble evacuating people from the city. There was no place to put them.
Many South Vietnamese were brought to the South China Sea and put on air carriers. After a South Vietnamese helicopter had been unloaded, the sailers would dump it into the sea to make more room.
Saigon is now Ho Chi Minh City. -
Jimmy Carter
On this day, Jimmy Carter became the 39th president of the United States. His vice president was Walter Mondale.
At the time Carter was elected, America was struggling with raising inflation as well as an energy crisis. -
Radioactive Steam Leak
At the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, a water pump broke. This allowed radioactive steam to leak from the plant, and contaminate the surrounding air. The public did not find out about the event until 5 hours after the fact. A large number of the plant's workers were contaminated. -
Ronald Reagan
He is considered by some to be the God Father of modern day conservative movement.
“Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?” Ronald Reagan asked of the American people before he was elected.
At the time when he became president, America had plenty of problems for him to solve. For example, inflation was high, there was an energy crisis, and 50 hostages were being held in Iran.
He did his best to bring about the solutions his country needed. -
Aids
At first, no one knew what it was. At one point, the disease was thought to be a type of cancer. It began in gay communities, affecting mostly men. There was a lot of fear surrounding the communicable disease. Ryan White, a young boy who got AIDS, gave it a new face, because people had previously thought that the disease could not effect them.
Magic Johnson tested positive for the HIV virus. This shocked people. He brought the disease to a new light, and drastically rose awareness. -
Gorbachev and The Cold War
President Reagan worked with Gorbachev. Gorbachev was more modern than all other Russian leaders that we had dealt with up too that point. He intrigued the West.
December 8, 1987 - INF Treaty signed - for the elimination of medium range nuclear missiles. Cold War kind of evaporated after several decades Ronald Reagan had a large part in this, he stood up for the western side. -
Challenger Explosion
The Challenger was the 25th space shuttle mission by NASA.
school teacher, Christa McAuliffe, along with 6 regular astronauts, were killed in the explosion. On board were Judith Resnik, Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Dr. Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, and Gregory B. Jarvis. -
Pan American Flight Crash
Pan American Airline flight 103 lost radio contact and went down in Southern Scotland. The plane was destroyed by a bomb. -
Tiananmen Square
Gorbachev's visit to Beijing was the beginning of this event.Students protested, they went on a hunger strike with no food and very little sleep. Chinese military moved in one night. Students taunted the young soldiers. Tanks were used to control the students. -
The Berlin Wal
The Berlin wall was built in 1961.
Gorbachev visited East Germany - the people thought he would save them. November 9, 1989 was the day when it became possible for the people to move freely from one side of the wall to the other. Germans were climbing up and over the wall. They were celebrating freedom. It was a street party. They took hammers and chisels to chip away at the wall. They danced and drank on the wall all night. -
Desert Storm
Iraq invaded Kuwait. August 20, 1990 - in Saudi ArabiaJanuary 16, 1981 - attack begins, bombs begin to fall. (in Iraq) Feb. 24, 1991 - 24 hour long battle (Iraq) One day, 18,000 prisoners captured and 2 Americans wounded in action at beginning of war. Iraq ended up surrendering to the U.S., and we determined the terms of surrender. -
Los Angeles Riots
3 white police officers faced criminal charges after beating up a black man. They were found not guilty. The city was very angry - riots were everywhere In the end, 38 were dead, and 1,400 more injured. This event was a reminder to the country that racism was still a big problem. -
Nelson Mandela
South Africa had a black president-elect on this day. It was a joyus day, coming after 300 years of racial suppression. -
Oklahoma City
A massive car bomb exploded outside of a large federal building in downtown Oklahoma City. This shattered the building, and killed children, federal employes, military men, and civilians. Timothy McVeigh, a “homegrown terrorist”, was to blame. -
Impeachment of the President Clinton.
A scandal involving the president, Bill Clinton, and a woman on his staff, Monica Lewinsky was discovered. The American people were fascinated by the unfolding events, and a book called "The Starr Report" was published, outlining the details of the scandal and trial.
Eventually, President Clinton was impeached. -
9/11
The World Trade Center in New York City is hit by two separate terrorist planes. -
Floods in the Midwest
The floods of '93 were devastating to many Midwestern communities.
Both the Missippi and Missouri Rivers escaped their banks and covered large parts of land in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The water left behind around 15 billion dollars in damages. 50 lives were lost due to the flood.
The Great Flood of 1993 set the way for inprovement in flood protection, as many levees had failed during this natural disaster.
