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Oklahoma City Bombing
In 1995 a bombing caused by Timothy McVeigh occurred and was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the U.S. Timothy broke a truck full of explosives to a building called the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. He set off the explosives which killed 168 people, and injured around 600. Since Timothy went to jail for many years after this attack, and the attack is know as one of the worst terrorist attacks in American history. -
Columbine High School Shooting
This school shooting took place in Littleton, Colorado in 1999. Two students who attended Columbine High School named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. On April 20th, they brought weapons to school where they decided to fire on the students and staff. This ultimately killed 13 people and more than 20 were injured. The two students then killed themselves after the attack to avoid charges.This shooting impacted America and inspired many new policies for future shooting safety and police approaches. -
Bush v. Gore & Contested Election
In November to December in 2000 the presidential election, between George W. Bush and Al Gore was extremely close. Florida's 25 electoral votes was just a few hundred votes, due to a narrow margin, Florida law triggered an automatic machine recount. People thought ballots were fake which made, the case escalated to the U.S. Supreme Court where the Court ruled in a 5–4 decision to halt the Florida recount. This decision made George W. Bush the 43rd President of the United States. -
9/11 Terrorist Attack
Terrorists from a group called al-Qaeda hijacked 4 airplanes.Two planes crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one plane hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C, and the fourth plane, crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back. This attack killed 3,000 people, and is known as the deadliest terrorist attack in the U.S. Major changes in airport security took place after this terrorizing attack. (Kruse and Zelizer, 241) -
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was an extreme storm that hit New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005. The storm trapped many people in their homes and destroyed many buildings. The storm killed 1,800 people, and left thousands with no homes. The city of New Orleans was left with billions of dollars in damage. It showed Americans how serious natural disasters can be, and led to changes in the disaster response due to all the criticism the government received from their response time.(Kruse and Zelizer, 280) -
No Child Left Behind Act Revision
The original No Child Left Behind Act was written in 2001. It was an act made to ensure every child got an equal education no matter what background they may come from. In 2001 the act experiences criticism due to the high significance for standardized testing. In 2006 backlash about the act was an issue because unfunded schools didn't receive the same test scores as better funded schools. The curriculums each school was looked at and revised so that the test scores were equal for all schools. -
Election of Barack Obama
The election of 2008 was between Barack Obama and John McCain. Barack Obama was the democratic candidate while John McCain was the republican candidate. Both of them were senators, but Obama was from Illinois and McCain from Arizona. The election was a clear win for Obama as he got 53% of the popular vote. He was America's 44th president and was the first ever African American president elected. This was a historical moment in history because it showed civil rights progression. -
Great Recession
Since the Great Depression in 2007-2009 the Great Recession was known as the worst economic crisis in the U.S. It started when the housing market crashed and banks lost money on loans. People were buying homes they couldn’t afford, and banks were giving out loans to anyone. When housing prices dropped, many people lost their homes, and banks started to fail. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, and people had less money to spend. New laws were then made to regulate banks more strictly. -
Affordable Care Act Signed
The Affordable care act was signed on March 23rd in 2010. Barack Obama was resident and signed this law which is referred mostly as "Obamacare". The goal of this law is to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to any individuals no matter what background they may have. Healthcare is a huge issue for individuals who have troubles homeliness and tend to get denied by insurance companies. Obama had a goal to change this and allow healthcare and insurance policies to benefit Americans. -
Same-Sex Marriage Legalized Nationwide
Same Sex marriage was legalized in June 2015. The case titled, Obergefell v. Hodges discussed whether same sex marriage should be legal in the U.S and ended up getting passed on the 26th. Gay marriages have the same and equal rights as any other marriage in all 50 states. Same-sex marriage being legalized was known as a major civil rights victory for the LGBTQ+ community in America.