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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. -
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 -
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 -
Jimmy Carter, a Democrat and former Governor of Georgia, was elected the 39th President of the United States on November 2, 1976, defeating incumbent Republican Gerald Ford with 297 electoral votes to 241. Running with Walter Mondale, Carter’s campaign focused on honesty following the Watergate scandal. He served one term from 1977 to 1981. -
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 -
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 -
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 -
Overview
See the Berlin Wall fall 30 years ago
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 -
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 organize the world's information, following the registration of the google.com domain on September 15, 1997. Operating out of a garage in Menlo Park, California, the search engine grew from a Stanford project called "Backrub" into a dominant technology company -
On December 19, 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Bill Clinton, making him the second president in U.S. history to face this, following investigations into his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. The House approved two articles: perjury (lying under oath to a grand jury) and obstruction of justice. Clinton was later acquitted by the Senate in February 1999 -
On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four U.S. commercial airliners, killing nearly 3,000 people in coordinated attacks. Two planes struck the World Trade Center in New York, one hit the Pentagon in Virginia, and a fourth crashed in Shanksville, PA, after passengers fought back, marking the deadliest terror attack in U.S. history -
Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965 – June 17, 2012) was a victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was severely beaten by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) during his arrest after a high speed pursuit for driving while intoxicated on Interstate 210.