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Jimmy Carter became president after beating Gerald Ford. He was seen as a fresh face after Watergate. A lot of people liked that he wasn’t from Washington. -
The first Star Wars movie hit theaters and blew people’s minds. It was something no one had seen before. Now it’s one of the biggest movie franchises ever. -
A nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania had a big problem. There was a partial meltdown, and it scared a lot of people. It made folks rethink how safe nuclear power really is. -
A volcano in Washington state blew its top. It wiped out trees, animals, and homes. Ash from the eruption went all over the country. -
52 Americans were held hostage in Iran for over a year. They were finally released the same day Ronald Reagan became president. People were watching it all over the country on TV. -
A man tried to shoot President Reagan outside a hotel. Reagan got hit but survived. He even joked about it while in the hospital. -
The space shuttle Challenger blew up right after takeoff. Everyone on board died, including a teacher who was going to space. It shocked the whole world. -
A power plant in Ukraine exploded and leaked radiation everywhere. It messed up the land and made people sick. The area is still dangerous today. -
The U.S. secretly sold weapons and used the money to help rebels. It was a big mess and kind of shady. Reagan said he didn’t know all the details. -
He was vice president before, then won the presidency. He promised “no new taxes” but later raised them. That made some people mad. -
The wall that split East and West Germany came down. People from both sides ran to tear it apart. It was the start of freedom for a lot of folks. -
Iraq invaded Kuwait, and the U.S. jumped in to stop it. The war was fast and used a lot of high-tech weapons. It was all over TV back then. -
Cops beat up Rodney King and it was caught on video. They were found not guilty, and people got really angry. That started days of riots in L.A. -
This was the first time NBA players got to play in the Olympics. The team had legends like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. They destroyed every other team and won gold. -
He was young, cool, and played the saxophone on TV. People wanted change after years of older presidents. He beat George H.W. Bush and became the 42nd president. -
Google started as a search engine in a garage. At first, no one knew it would change the internet forever. Now it’s the main place people go to look stuff up. -
President Clinton got impeached for lying under oath. It was about his relationship with a White House worker. He stayed in office because the Senate didn’t remove him. -
Terrorists hijacked planes and crashed them into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Another plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. It was one of the darkest days in American history.