APUSH Period 9 Timeline of Major Events and Ideas (1980-Present)

Economic Recovery Act of 1981

Also known as the Kemp-Roth Tax Cuts, this was a federal law signed into law by President Ronald Reagan which included an across-the-board decrease in federal income tax rates.

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Also known as the Simpson-Mazzel Act, this was into law by President Ronald Reagan as an Act of Congress which reformed United States Immigration laws established by the Quota Acts in the 1920s.

Fall of the Berlin Wall (November 9, 1989)

As the Cold War began to thaw throughout Eastern Europe, East Berlin's Communist spokesperson announced that citizens of both divisions were free to cross its borders, leading to the destruction of the wall.

World Wide Web goes Public (1991)

As the internet became available in August of 1991, this established an orderly system for distribution and easy retrieval of electronically processed information.

World Trade Center Terrorist Attack (1993)

Carried out on February 26, 1993, this occurred when a truck transporting bombs was detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.

Invasion of Panama (1989)

Codenamed Operation Just Cause, this occurred between 1989 and 1990 led by President George W. Bush's administration into the Central American nation.

Boston Marathon Bombings (2013)

During this annual race, two homemade pressure cooker bombs detonated 14 seconds and only 210 yards apart near the finish line of the marathon, killing three and injuring several hundred.

Affordable Care Act (2010)

Nicknamed Obamacare, this was a United States federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress, providing government subsidies for medical assistance to middle-class families.

Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster (January 28, 1986)

On January 28, 1986, the NASA Shuttle Orbiter mission STS-51-L brome apart only 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members, which consisted of five NASA astronauts, one payload specialist, and a civilian school teacher.

9/11 Terrorist Attacks (September 11, 2001)

On September 11, 2001, four American planes were hijacked by members of the Islamic terrorist organization, Al Qaeda, one, aimed for The White House, crashing in a field outside of Washington D.C., another crashing into The Pentagon, and the most detrimental being the two that crashed into New York City's two World Trade Centers.

Recession of 1982

One cause for this was the Federal Reserve's contractionary monetary policy, which sought to rein in the high inflation in the wake of the 1973 Oil Crisis.

Iran-Contra Affair (1986-1987)

Popularized as the McFarlane Affair, this was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Ronald Reagan Administration involving conclusions of secret weapon purchases from Iran used to finance the Contra War.

First Personal Computer (1981)

The Altair 8800 is a microcomputer that was designed in 1974 by MITS, which was featured on the cover of the January 1975 edition of Popular Electronics and was sold by mail order through advertisements in magazines and television.

Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003)

The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States led coalition that overthrew the corrupt and brutal government of Saddam Hussein, a military endeavor that would continue for the greater part of a decade.

Lebanon, Israel, and the PLO (1982-1984)

The Israeli-Lebanon Conflict was a series of military clashes involving Lebanon, Israel, and Syria, also referred to as the Palestine Liberation Organization, acting from within the armed military conflict.

Clinton's Anti-Crime Bill (1994)

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act is an Act of the United States Congress concerned with crime and law enforcement, not officially put into effect until late 1994.

Collapse of the Soviet Union (December 25, 1991)

The dissolution of this prominent government officially granted self-governing independence to the Republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, resulting from the Soviet declaration number 142-H.

Osama Bin Laden Killed (May 1, 2011)

The founder and first leader of the Islamic terrorist organization, Al Qaeda, who orchestrated the September 11 terror attacks was killed in Pakistan on May 1, 2011, by United States Navy SEALs of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group.

President Bill Clinton Impeached (1998)

The impeachment of the 42nd president was initiated in December of 1998 by the House of Representatives and led to a trial by the United States Senate on account of two charges, one of perjury- lying under oath- and one of obstruction of justice.

Last US troops leave Iraq (December 2011)

The withdrawal of United States military forces from Iraq was completed by December of 2011, bringing an end to the Iraq War with the peak of military troops reaching 170,300.

US Embassy Bombings in Kenya and Tanzania (1998)

These were attacks in which more than 200 people were killed in nearly simultaneous truck bomb explosions in two East African cities, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya.

START I and II (1991-1992)

These were bilateral treaties signed between the United States and the Soviet Union on the reduction of and limitation of strategic offensive arms, not officially entered into force until December of 1994.

27th Amendment (1992)

This amendment states that no law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

Obama announces date for Afghan withdrawal (May 1, 2014)

This declared that the United States combat operations in Afghanistan would end in December of 2014 and that troop levels in the foreign country would be reduced to only 9,800 by that time.

Disputed Election of 2000

This election was hinged on the outcome of Florida when networks first said Al Gore had carried the state, however stating that the state's election was too close to call. It led to several recounts of votes due to inaccurately punched ballots.

Invasion of Grenada (1983)

This invasion was led by the United States on the Caribbean island nation which had a population of approximately 91,000 and was located 160 kilometers north of Venezuela, ultimately resulting in a United States victory within a matter of days.

No Child Left Behind Act (2001)

This is a United States Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, including Title I provisions that applied to disadvantage students and students from low-income families.

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010)

This is a United States federal law enacted on July 21, 2010, charged with protecting consumers against abuses related to credit card fraud, mortgages, and other financial products.

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (1996)

This is a United States law of the federal government passed by the 104th United States Congress, designed as a major welfare reform which instituted the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act in the late 1990s.

Office of Homeland Security (2001)

This is a cabinet department of the United States Federal Government with responsibilities of maintaining public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of some other foreign nations.

Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

This is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination under circumstances of disabilities. Today, we still recognize its prominence as seen through handicapped parking spaces and braille lettering.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

This is a landmark United States constitutional law, campaign finance, and corporate law case dealing with regulation of political campaign spending by federal organizations.

European Union (2002)

This is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe established upon the aim of ending the frequent and bloody wars between neighboring foreign nations, such as those seen through both World Wars.

Oslo Accords (1993)

This is a set of agreements signed between the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, signed as a Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Governing Arrangements.

Brady Handgun Bill (1993)

This is an act of the United States Congress that mandated federal background checks on all firearm purchasers in the United States, impairing a five-day waiting period for some purchases.

NAFTA- North American Free Trade Agreement (1993)

This is an agreement signed between Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc across North America. Although the agreement encourages trade, it is criticized by many conservative Americans for stealing U.S. job opportunities.

WTO- World Trade Organization (1994)

This is an intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between worldwide countries.

Tiananmen Square (1989)

This is the city square located at the center of Beijing, China, most well-known for the protests that occurred there in 1989 that ultimately resulted in the massacre of thousands of innocent civilians.

AIDS First Reported (1981)

This is when the formal tracking of this disease began. The decision was made when scientists discovered the virus that causes the disease which was first name HTLV-III/LAV by an international scientific committee. The disease was originally thought to only affect homosexuals, however scientists have since discovered that all are susceptible to its affects.

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (1989)

This occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, when Exxon Valdez, and Oil Tanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company, struck a reef, leading to the spillage of over 11 million gallons of oil in the Atlantic Ocean.

Bush Tax Cuts (2001)

This refers to the many changes to the United States tax codes passed originally during the presidency of George W. Bush and ultimately extending into the Barack Obama presidency through the early 2000s.

Black Monday Stock Market Crash (October 19, 1987)

This term refers to the day when stock markets around the world crashed, beginning in Hong Kong and spreading westward into Europe and eventually hitting the United States after other markets had already sustained significant declines.

Defense of Marriage Act (1996)

This was a United States Federal law that, prior to being ruled unconstitutional, define marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman, authorizing state officials the refusal of same-sex marriage.

Arizona v. United States (2012)

This was a United States Supreme Court case involving Arizona's S.B. 1070, a state law intended to increase the powers of local law enforcement who wished to further enforce federal immigration laws.

Persian Gulf War (1990-1991)

This was a conflict, codenamed Operation Desert Shield, between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations, led up to by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Dot-Com Boom (1997-2000)

This was a historic speculative bubble and period of excessive speculation mainly in the United States occurring roughly between 1994 and 2000, a period of expedient growth in the use and adoption of the internet.

Shelby County v. Holder (2013)

This was a landmark United States Supreme Court case regarding the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, particularly that of Section 5.

United States v. Windsor (June 26, 2013)

This was a landmark civil rights case in which the United States Supreme Court held that restricting federal interpretation of "marriage" and "spouse" to one man and one woman was to be deemed unconstitutional. Ultimately, the case was a major step toward receiving the right to same-sex marriage.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

This was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States upholding affirmative action which allowed race to be one of the factors in the college admission process.

National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)

This was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld Congress' power to enact most provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Genocide in Rwanda (1994)

This was a mass slaughter of Tutsi in Rwanda during the Rwandan Civil War, causing worldwide shock due to its utter scale and brutality.

Operation Uphold Democracy (1994-1995)

This was a military intervention designed to remove the military regiment installed by Haitian coup that led to the overthrow of the elected President Jean-Bertran Aristide.

Moral Majority (1980)

This was a political party formed in the 1970s to further a conservative and religious agenda, including the allowance of prayer in schools and strict laws against abortion.

TARP- Troubled Asset Relief Program (2008)

This was a program of the United States federal government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector passed by a Democratic Party.

Strategic Defense Initiative SDI (1983)

This was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attacks by ballistic strategic nuclear weaponry in which the concept was first announced by President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983.

Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act (1985)

This was a series of acts aimed to cut the United States federal budget deficit- the act of spending more money than is being brought in- which at the time was the largest in history in terms of the U.S. dollar currency.

Great Recession of 2007

This was a severe financial crisis combined with a deep recession, taking several years for the economy to recover to post-crisis levels of employment and product output.

American Recover and Reinvestment Act of 2009

This was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama, ending the Great Recession officially by June of 2009.

Bombing of the USS Cole (2000)

This was a terrorist attack against the USS Colt, a guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy, while the ship was being refueled in Yemen's Aden Harbor.

INF Treaty (1987)

This was a treaty signed between the United States and the Soviet Union on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles, agreed upon between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Proposition 13 (1978)

This was an amendment to the Constitution of California enacted with the initiative to enforce the ruling of the United States Supreme Court Case of Nordlinger v. Hahn, 505 U.S. 1.

Hurricane Katrina (2005)

This was an extremely deadly and disastrous Category 5 hurricane that made landfall in the southern states of Florida and Louisiana, causing catastrophic damage to much of the southern United States but most notably in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (2010)

This was an industrial disaster than began on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered to be the largest marine oil spill in American history.

Kyoto Protocol (1997)

This was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that commits state parties to reduce the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the environment.

Dayton Peace Accords (1995)

This was the Framework Agreement for Peace in Boznia and Herzegovina, signed to officially end the war in Boznia, outlining a basis for peaceful transaction among the two Eastern European nations.

Operation Enduring Freedom (October 7, 2001)

This was the official name given to the Global War on Terrorism used by the United States government in response to the September 11 terror attacks on New York City's Twin Towers.

Boland Amendment (1982)

This was the term used to describe the three Untied States legislative amendments enacted between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting the United States government assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua.