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Jimmy Carter, a Democrat and former Governor of Georgia, was elected the 39th President of the United States on November 2, 1976, narrowly defeating incumbent Republican Gerald Ford. Inaugurated on January 20, 1977, his single term (1977–1981) was defined by the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, and the Iran hostage crisis -
The original Star Wars (Episode IV: A New Hope) premiered in theaters on May 25, 1977. Initially released in fewer than 32 theaters, it became an immediate blockbuster, defying low expectations to become a massive cultural phenomenon and launching a franchise that included sequels in 1980 and 1983. -
The Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor, near Middletown, Pa., partially melted down on March 28, 1979. This was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public -
In March 1980, a series of volcanic explosions and pyroclastic flows began at Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, United States. The phreatic blasts escalated for nearly two months until a catastrophic explosive eruption took place on May 18, 1980, at 8:32 a.m. -
The Iran–Contra affair, also referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the Contragate, Iran Initiative, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that centered on arms trafficking to Iran between 1981 and 1986, facilitated by senior officials of the Reagan administration -
The 52 American hostages held in Tehran were released on January 20, 1981, ending a 444-day crisis that began on November 4, 1979. The captives were freed moments after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, following the negotiation of a deal that unfroze billions in Iranian assets -
On March 30, 1981, Ronald Reagan, the president of the United States, was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C., as Reagan was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton hotel -
On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated 46,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 16:39:13 UTC. -
On 26 April 1986, reactor no.4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, exploded -
George H.W. Bush was elected the 41st President of the United States on November 8, 1988, defeating Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis. As the incumbent Vice President under Ronald Reagan, he won with 53.4% of the popular vote and 426 electoral votes. He was inaugurated on January 20, 1989, and served until 1993. -
On December 19, 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Bill Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. The Republican-led House approved two of four articles regarding false testimony in a grand jury and obstruction. He was acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999 -
The Berlin Wall fell due to a combination of growing popular protest in East Germany, a wave of emigration, and a crucial, accidental announcement by an East German official on November 9, 1989, who mistakenly stated that new travel regulations allowing immediate passage to the West were in effect -
The Persian Gulf War began with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, prompted by oil disputes, leading to the U.S.-led coalition's defensive Operation Desert Shield. The combat phase, Operation Desert Storm, commenced on January 17, 1991, with massive airstrikes followed by a ground assault on February 24, 1991. -
The 1992 U.S. Olympic Basketball "Dream Team" was the first American Olympic squad to feature active NBA players, dominating the Barcelona Games to win gold with an 8-0 record, winning by an average of 44 points. Competing in 1992, this iconic team included 11 future Hall of Famers like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird -
The 1992 Los Angeles riots (also called the Rodney King Riots)[5] were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, United States, during April and May 1992. Unrest began in South Central Los Angeles on April 29, after a jury acquitted four officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) charged with using excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King. -
Bill Clinton, a Democrat and former Governor of Arkansas, was elected the 42nd President of the United States on November 3, 1992. He defeated incumbent Republican President George H.W. Bush and independent candidate Ross Perot with 370 electoral votes to Bush's 168. This historic, three-cornered race centered on economic issues -
Google was founded on September 4, 1998, by Larry Page and Sergey Brin to market their search engine, which evolved from the "BackRub" research project (1996) at Stanford University. Incorporated in California on September 7, 1998, the company grew from a garage in Menlo Park into a global technology leader, launching major products like Gmail (2004), Maps (2005), and Chrome (2008) -
On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes, launching coordinated attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Two planes destroyed the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City, a third struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, following a passenger revolt