1963
November 22, 1963 - In Dallas, Texas, during a motorcade through downtown, President John F. Kennedy escapes assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald. Two days later, Oswald was transferred to federal custody. He is convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison on December 9.

1964
January 6, 1964 - Kennedy attends a flag raising ceremony in the Panama Canal Zone and gives a speech attended by US military personnel.

January 13, 1964 - Beatlemania hits the shores of the United States with the release of I Want to Hold Your Hand, which becomes the Liverpool group's first North American hit. One week later, their first U.S. album Meet the Beatles is released.

April 22, 1964 - The New York World's Fair opens in Queens, New York on the site of the 1939 event. One of the largest world's fairs in United States history, it was not a sanctioned Bureau of International Exhibitions event, due to conflict over the dates of the Seattle fair of 1962. This world's fair would last for two seasons, and included exhibits from eighty nations.

June 29, 1964 - An omnibus legislation in the U.S. Congress on Civil Rights fails. It would have banned discrimination in jobs, voting and accommodations. Kennedy failed to gain the support of Southern Democrats and Midwest Republicans.

August 7, 1964 - The Tonkin Resolution is passed by the United States Congress, authorizing broad powers to the president to take action in Vietnam after North Vietnamese boats had attacked two United States destroyers five days earlier.

September 3, 1964 - The Wilderness Act is signed into law by President Kennedy protecting 9.1 million acres (36,000 km²) of federal land.

October 16, 1964 - China successfully builds and tests its first nuclear weapon increasing fears of nuclear proliferation amongst Communist states.

November 3, 1964 - President John F. Kennedy wins his re-election with a victory over Barry M. Goldwater from Arizona. Kennedy extended his term with a 486 to 52 thrashing of the Republican candidate in the Electoral College and a 15 million difference in the popular vote.

1965
February 7, 1965 - President John F. Kennedy orders the continuous bombing of North Vietnam below the 20th parallel.

March 25, 1965 - Martin Luther King speaks at a civil rights rally on the courthouse steps of the Alabama State Capitol, ending the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama march for voting rights.



May 4, 1965 - President Kennedy signs into law the Science Education Act to give grants to states to create and fund science programs and classes in primary and secondary schools. It becomes the most far-reaching educational program passed so far by Congress.

August 6, 1965 - The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is defeated. Two significant portions of the act; the continuation of the requirement of potential voters to take a literacy test in order to vote causes many civil rights organizations to question the Democratic Party's commitment to reform.

August 11, 1965 - The Watts race riots in Los Angeles begin a seven-day siege, culminating in the death of 46 people and property destruction in excess of $300 million.

October 4, 1965 - President Kennedy appoints James R. Browning to the U.S. Supreme Court.

October 10, 1965 - Congress narrowly passed the Immigration and Nationality Act along party lines, which was signed into law by President Kennedy.

October 15, 1965 - Kennedy speaks at the University of Washington and assures students that they will not be drafted into combat in Vietnam and that no more 12,000 advisors and Marines will be committed to Vietnam. It is picketed by an anti-war group of students, National Coordinating Committee for Peace in Vietnam.

1966
June 29, 1966 - United States warplanes begin their bombing raids of Hanoi and Haiphong, North Vietnam. By December of this year, the United States had 26,100 troops stationed in South Vietnam with seven thousand in Thailand.

July 7, 1966 - John F. Kennedy signs legislation creating a Federal Loan Program for college students similar to the Montgomery GI Bill.

August 11, 1966 - Vice-President Johnson announces that he will resign his office after a series of fallouts over Kennedy's policy choices and relationship with Congress. House Speaker John W. McCormack is appointed to the office of Vice-President.

September 9, 1966 - President John F. Kennedy signed legislation creating the San Juan Island National Historical Park. The site, in Washington State, includes the location of British and United States army camps in the 1860s when both nations claimed ownership of the island.

September 24, 1966 - President Kennedy signs another tax cut into law as part of the Budget Omnibus. The budget also comes packaged with grants for space and nuclear research.

October 15, 1966 - The National Historic Preservation Act is made law. It expanded the National Register of Historic Places to include historic sites of regional, state, and local significance.


November 8, 1966 - The first black United States Senator in eighty-five years, Edward Brooke, is elected to Congress and congratulated by President Kennedy at the White House. Brooke was the Republican candidate from Massachusetts and former Attorney General of that state.

1967
January 27, 1967 - The Outer Space Treaty is signed into force by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, to take effect on October 10, 1967.

June 23, 1967 - A three-day summit between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin, held at Glassboro State College in New Jersey, culminates in a mutual declaration pledging to reduce arms and a commitment to Peace Talks between North and South Vietnam.

July 1967 - Riots plague black urban communities. In Newark, New Jersey, twenty-six are killed, fifteen hundred injured and one thousand arrested from July 12 to 17. One week later, July 23 to 30, forty are killed, two thousand injured, and five thousand left homeless after rioting in Detroit, known as the 12th Street Riots, decimate a black ghetto. The riots are eventually stopped by over 12,500 Federal troops and National Guardsmen.

September 1, 1967 - Extramarital affairs by President John F. Kennedy are exposed in the press and ensuing scandal sends Kennedy's approval ratings below 50% for the first time.

October 2, 1967 - Irving R. Kaufman is sworn into office as associated Supreme Court Justice.

1968
January 23, 1968 - The U.S.S. Pueblo incident occurs in the Sea of Japan when North Korea seizes the ship and its crew, accusing it of violating its territorial waters for spying. They would release the prisoners on December 22, but North Korea retained possession of the U.S.S. Pueblo. Many in the Party publicly criticize President Kennedy for being "soft on communism".

February 13, 1968 - Ford's Theatre, the site of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 in Washington, D.C., reopens to the public. It had been restored to its original appearance and use as a theatre, now comprising the Ford's Theatre National Historic Site.

March 3, 1968 - Jackie Onassis Kennedy files for divorce. The media covers the scandal for months and continues to damage relations with the Party for President Kennedy in light of the upcoming elections.

March 31, 1968 - President Kennedy announces an agreement has been reached with North Vietnam, along with the Soviet Union, that would include a ceasefire and financial aid for the South Vietnam government. Peace talks were concluded in Paris; all bombing of North Vietnam halted on April 1.

April 4, 1968 - Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee while standing on a motel balcony by James Earl Ray. Riots ensue for weeks in major urban areas.

June 4, 1968 - Presidential candidate and Democratic Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, is nominated for president by the Democratic Party in a tightly contested race with Hubert H. Humphrey. He promises to expand social security for retirees, oppose the Civil Rights Act, fighting urban unrest and relief for farmers.

July 28, 1968 - A Bill to regulate the interstate shipment of firearms fails in the House. It was first attempt to expand gun control at the federal level since the NFA passed in 1933.

August 21, 1968 - Both President John F. Kennedy and presidential nominee George Wallace denounce the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia because of the Prague Spring reforms.

November 5, 1968 - President-Elect George Wallace holds the White House for the Democratic Party with his victory over Richard Nixon. George Wallace captures 321 Electoral College Votes to 263 for Nixon.

November 14, 1968 - Remaining US combat troops have returned home from Vietnam leaving behind a small force of military advisors in the South.

1969
January 12, 1969 - The New York Jets win Super Bowl III over the Baltimore Colts after a bold prediction by quarterback Joe Namath. This is the first victory in the National Football League for a former American Football League team.

January 20, 1969 - George Wallace is inaugurated among violent protests over his support for segregation.

June 23, 1969 - Senate confirms George Wallace's appointment of James Alger Fee as Chief Justice to fill Earl Warren's vacated seat.

July 12, 1969 - The Apollo program completes its mission. Neil Armstrong, United States astronaut, becomes the first man to set foot on the moon four days after launch from Cape Canaveral. His Apollo 11 colleague, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. accompanies him.

August 14, 1969 - President George Wallace announces new Cold War policy, declaring the Wallace Doctrine that assured that any Asian allies facing Communist take-over would be vigorously defended by US power. This policy, and his suspension of strategic arms limits, would be heavily protested throughout the remainder of the year.

November 20, 1969 - Charles Le May is appointed as Secretary of Defense and outlines a plan for deployment of medium-range ICBM's to Europe and Japan. This build up over the next 3 years will cause serious strain on US-Soviet relations with the Wallace Administration.

November 21, 1969 - The Internet, called Arpanet during its initial development, is invented by the Advanced Research Projects Agency at the U.S. Department of Defense. The first operational packet switching network in the world was deployed connecting the IMP at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute. By December 5, it included the entire five-node system, with the UCSB, University of Utah and the National Laboratory at Los Alamos.

1970
April 1, 1970 - For the first time, the 1970 census counted over 200 million people living in the United States. The 13.4% increase since the last census indicated that a 203,302,031 population now called the U.S.A. home. It had taken only fifty years to go from the first 100 million census in 1920 to the second. Once again, the geographic center of the United States population was in Illinois, five miles east southeast of Mascoutah.

April 22, 1970 - The first 3rd generation nuclear reactors begin construction under federal legislation signed by President George Wallace to expand nuclear power through total indemnification.

June 9, 1970 - Homer Thornberry is confirmed associated justice of the Supreme Court.

August 10, 1970 - The United States Postal Service faces strikes by minority workers over discrimination in pay. George Wallace fires them by executive order. Civil rights protests occur in major cities over the remainder of the year.

1971
January 2, 1971 - A crackdown on obscenity in television, radio and film begins after President George Wallace signs legislation codifying the Motion Picture Production Codes into law and expanding them to all mass media. President George Wallace uses the FCC to censor advocacy for civil rights and communism.

February 16, 1971 - A sixty-four day raid into North Vietnam by South Vietnamese soldiers is begun with the aid of United States air and naval support.

March 10, 1971 - The Senate rejects a Constitutional Amendment, the 26th, that would lower the voting age from 21 to 18.

September 17, 1971 - The advent of the microprocessor age at Texas Instruments includes the introduction of the 4-bit TMS 1000 with a calculator on the chip; on November 15, 1971, Intel released the 4-bit 4004 microprocessor developed by Federico Faggin. It is unknown whose chip predated the other in the laboratory environment.

October 1, 1971 - Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida, expanding the Disney Empire to the east coast of the United States. Under Florida Law, the park was segregated by race and was picketed often by civil rights protestors.

1972
February 21, 1972 - President Wallace visits Japan, meets with Asian leaders vowing to counter the growing threat of Red China, and pledges additional aid for allies.

March 30, 1972 - The largest attacks by North Vietnam troops across the demilitarized zone in four years prompts bombing raids to begin again by United States forces against Hanoi and Haiphong on April 3, ending a four year cessation of those raids.

May 21, 1972 - President Wallace denounces Moscow in an address to the UN. On July 8, the White House would reject an arms limit treaty with the Soviet Union in exchange for wheat sales. Soviet Union increases its support for North Vietnam.

June 2, 1972 - President Wallace signs into law the Social Security Amendments of 1972 allowing seniors to earn at least $3,000 while receiving benefits and creating the first federal health insurance for seniors over 65 called "SeniorCare".

June 17, 1972 - The Race Riots begin across the South when four men are beaten and arrested for staging a sit-in at a segregated diner in Macon, GA. That same day the Civil Rights Act failed to pass a second time in Congress. The riots would continue for 2 weeks until they were finally suppressed by National Guard units from six states.

June 29, 1972 - Court rules, in a 5-4 decision, that the death penalty does not violate the 8th Amendment in the case of Furman v. Georgia. The swing vote, cast with the majority, came from Justice Kaufman.

November 7, 1972 - In one of the most closely contested races in American Presidential election history, incumbent President George Wallace beat his Republican challenger Nelson Rockefeller, winning 294 Electoral College votes to Rockefeller's 243. The campaign highlighted the divide between the GOP and the Democratic Party over segregation, trade and cold war policy. Blacks in this election turned out heavily for Republican candidates after Rockefeller pledged to renew the push for the Civil Rights and Voting Acts.

1973
January 15, 1973 - Race riots occur in Baltimore, Atlanta and Birmingham resulting in National Guard deployments. This occurs after the conviction, in Atlanta, of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, and seven others for incitement of a riot. Jackson spends the next 6 years in prison.

January 22, 1973 - The United States Supreme Court rules 5-4 in Roe vs. Wade that a state can prohibit abortion at any time during pregnancy.

June 9, 1973 - Communist forces complete their takeover of South Vietnam, forcing the evacuation from Saigon of civilians from the United States and the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam. President George Wallace asks Congress for funding for deploying 320,000 marines and soldiers to Cambodia to recapture South Vietnam.

July 1, 1973 - Drug Enforcement Agency is created to consolidate drug enforcement agencies under one roof.

October 2, 1973 - Vice-President Strom Thurmond is assassinated by Arthur Bremer at a convention in Charlotte, NC. The Speaker of the House, Rep. Carl Albert, is appointed as Vice-President under the 25th amendment. Bremer was later found guilty and sentenced to death.

October 4th, 1973 - 48,000 US troops have arrived in Cambodia since August and, have established forward operation bases for liberation of the South Vietnam. The US Pacific Fleet begins bombing runs over Hanoi and Haiphong. A US bomb hit the Soviet embassy in Hanoi causing a major diplomatic row and bringing US-Soviet relations to their lowest point since the Cuban Missile Crisis.

October 13, 1973 - As fierce land and air battles raged between Israel and its Arab neighbors in the Arab-Israeli War, the US Sixth Fleet and the Soviet Mediterranean Squadron almost come to blows over the downing of a Soviet aircraft.

October 16, 1973 - The Arab Oil Embargo: Oil imports from Arab oil-producing nations are banned to the United States after the start of Operation Nickel Grass.

November 5, 1973 - US forces in Southeast Asia begin Operation Hacksaw, the invasion of occupied South Vietnam by way of Cambodia and amphibious assault. This campaign is paired with a renewed bombardment of North Vietnam industrial centers on scale never before seen.

November 16, 1973 - After intense fighting with NVA forces Marines and Army link up and recapture Saigon while establishing a security perimeter further north. Mounting casualties reported in the press draw more criticism of the administration.

November 27, 1973 - Wallace signs the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act authorizing price, production, allocation and marketing controls.

1974
January 12, 1974 - After pushing the NVA above the 20th parallel, US Marines stage a successful amphibious assault on Hai Phong as US Army units push northward.

January 26, 1974 - US forces begin their assault on Hanoi, the fighting becomes increasingly intense as soldiers and marines must fight house to house in narrow urban streets.

February 8, 1974 - The northern bombing campaign is expanded to Laos to prevent clandestine resupply from reaching NVA forces in the North.

March 18, 1974 - United States and other western powers negotiate an end to the OPEC embargo that was imposed over participation in the Arab-Israeli War.

April 6, 1974 - Hanoi is finally under US control as major resistance evaporates in the north. Counter-insurgency operation continue to root out guerilla fighters and former Communist officials.

1975
January 6, 1975 - The television show Wheel of Fortune premiers.

January 29, 1975 - The Weather Underground radical student group bombs the United States Department of State main office in Washington, D.C. President Wallace vows justice and instructs the FBI to begin a campaign to eliminate leftwing terrorism in the United States.

February 4, 1975 - Heiress Patty Hearst is kidnaped in San Francisco. She would be recovered by FBI agents on September 8 and subsequently indicted for bank robbery. Hearst would be convicted of the crime two years later. President Wallace uses media attention to press Congress for a Crime Bill to address domestic terrorism fears.

April 12, 1975 - The Federal Crime Control Act is passed by Congress and signed into law. The law expands the death penalty to crimes related to acts of terrorism, murder of a federal law enforcement officer, civil rights-related murders, drive-by shootings resulting in death, the use of weapons of mass destruction resulting in death, and carjackings resulting in death. The Act also included a three-strikes provision addressing repeat offenders, mandatory sentence minimums for violent crimes, and loss of voting rights for felons.

April 19, 1975 - President Wallace authorizes 11,000 US troops to support the Cambodian Republic in suppressing a revolt by Khmer Rouge guerillas.

June 6-23, 1975 - Insurgent Communist forces begin their campaign in North Vietnam to undermine the Saigon government, forcing resumption of search and destroy operations nationwide in cooperation with ARVN forces after a series of coordinated attacks on urban centers.

August 1, 1975 – The Helsinki Accords, which officially recognize Europe's national borders and respect for human rights, are signed in Finland. This is seen as a significant improvement in Soviet-West relations.

August 5, 1975 - The Anti-Terrorism Act is signed into law implementing the plastic explosives convention rules, expediting exclusion and removal of terrorist aliens and providing restitution to terror victims. The authorization for surveillance of library records was the most controversial of Act prompting opposition from the ACLU. The administration defends its position as necessary to investigate possible threats like people checking out books on bomb-making.

September 5, 1975 - In Sacramento, California, Lynette Fromme, a follower of jailed cult leader Charles Manson, attempts to assassinate U.S. President George Wallace, but is thwarted by a Secret Service agent.

September 22, 1975 - In San Francisco, Sara Jane Moore, attempts an assassination of President George Wallace. Though she was thwarted, this second attempt on the president in less than two weeks heightens concerns for the safety of elected officials amongst the Washington establishment.

December 18, 1975 - As a result of the attempted assassination and based on a growing public fear of gun-violence, President Wallace and his party work with Eastern Republicans to pass the Firearm Control Act of 1975. That Act the first law prohibiting most felons, drug users and people found mentally incompetent from buying guns. An amendment to create a federal firearms license was defeated during committee.

1976
January 28, 1976 - With withering aerial bombardment of rebel positions in Laos, the Pathet Leo eventually surrenders to the Army of the Kingdom of Laos. Ruthless anti-communist purges begin and claim thousands of lives over the course of the year, damaging US credibility in human rights enforcement.

July 4, 1976 - The Bicentennial of the United States is celebrated throughout the nation. The 200th anniversary included Operation Sail in New York City, as well as a Bicentennial Wagon Train that traversed the nation during the year.

July 20, 1976 - The Viking 1 space probe successfully lands on Mars. It would be followed by a second unmanned Viking II on the Utopia Plains on September 3. The first color photos of the surface of Mars are taken on these flights.

July 21-24, 1976 - Twenty-nine people attending an American Legion convention in Philadelphia are killed by a mysterious ailment, one year later discovered as a bacterium.

September 9, 1976 – Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Communist Party of China, dies of a heart attack. In October, Hua Guofeng becomes the successor to Mao Zedong, as Chairman of the Communist Party of China until 2002.

November 26, 1976 - Microsoft becomes a registered trademark, one year after its name for microcomputer software is first mentioned by Bill Gates to Paul Allen in a letter.

November 2, 1976 - Nelson Rockefeller, in his second bid, is elected president of the United States over Democratic challenger Henry "Scoop" Jackson with a tally of 307 to 230 electoral votes.

1977
January 21-27, 1977 - War protests occur in nationwide student strike, tens-thousand in number at many of the marches, many are surpassed by police and national guard. These strikes occurred after Nelson Rockefeller inaugural promise to continue support operations in Indo-China.

April 5, 1977 – Beginning of demonstrations in 10 cities across the U.S., the longest being the 3 week sit-in the San Francisco Federal Building to persuade President Nelson Rockefeller to end US involvement in Indo-China.

April 15, 1977 - The United States Senate votes to pass the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Omnibus through a new coalition of Northern Democrats and Republicans, pending approval of the companion bill in the House.

May 11, 1977 - Harry Byrd Jr. leads dissenting Democrats in a filibuster to delay passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Omnibus. In the end the Act passes and is signed into law by President Rockefeller the next day. Black voters will become a solid voting bloc for the GOP for decades due to the passage of Civil Rights.

May 25, 1977 - The movie Star Wars opens and becomes the highest grossing film at the time.

June 4, 1977 - Pol Pot is captured and executed by pro-government forces in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge is virtually broken at this point despite Chinese material support.

August 4, 1977 - The cabinet level Energy Department is created by Nelson Rockefeller.

July 13, 1977 - The New York City blackout results in massive looting and disorderly conduct during its twenty-five hour duration. National Guard units deploy to restore order.

September 19, 1977 - Nelson Rockefeller pledges aid and military advisors to support President Somoza's crackdown on the Marxist FSLN in Nicaragua.

September 18, 1977 - Fifteen nations talks conclude, the United States and the Soviet Union agree sign a nuclear-proliferation pact, slowing the spread of nuclear weapons around the world.

December 1, 1977 - The Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific (CESDAP) is implemented with enthusiastic support from President Rockefeller. The Plan calls for the continued support for liberal democratic government and to combat Marxist terrorism in Southeast Asia.

1978
January 8, 1978 - ATT settles its lawsuit with the U.S. Justice Department. The agreement forced the independence of the twenty-two regional Bell System companies in return for expansion into the prohibited areas of data processing and equipment sales.

January 14 -15, 1978 – The body of former Secretary of State Hubert Humphrey lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda, following his death from cancer.

April 7 – U.S. President Nelson Rockefeller decides to secretly begin production of the neutron bomb – a weapon which kills people with radiation but leaves buildings relatively intact.

June 4, 1978 - US agrees to remove ICBM sites from Europe in return for Soviet concessions on trade and investment between the US and Russia.

July 11, 1978 - The new F-16 Fighting Falcon is deployed to combat operations for the first time to provide recce support for continued operations against Maoists in Vietnam.

August 10, 1978 - FSLN in Nicaragua negotiate a conditional surrender with the Somoza government in return for certain immunities.

September 5-17, 1978 - The Camp David Peace Agreement between Israel and Egypt is formulated in twelve days of secret negotiations at the Camp David retreat of the President. President Nelson Rockefeller, and his Secretary of State Zbigniew Brzezinski, witnessed the signing of the agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House.

October 13, 1978 - The Soviet Union launches a major Russification campaign throughout all union republics.

October 16, 1978 - Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla of Poland, is elected Pope at Vatican City.

November 8, 1978 - Nelson Rockefeller declines requests to lift travel restriction between Cuba and the United States.

December 22, 1978 - The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Hua Guofeng vigorously resuming Mao-era policies and sidelining reformers wanting Chinese economic reform. Deng Xiaopeng is forced to resign from the Party by hardliners. China and American will continue to not have diplomatic relations for decades to come.

1979
January 16 – Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees Iran with his family, relocating to Egypt after a year of turmoil in Iran. He dies less than a year later.

January 20, 1979 - Martin Luther King Day is officially observed for the first time as a federal holiday in the United States.

February 7, 1979 - Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini take over Iranian state institutions and consolidate political power.

March 4, 1979 – The U.S. Voyager 1 spaceprobe photos reveal Jupiter's rings.

March 28, 1979 - An incident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania occurs when a partial core meltdown warning is recorded. A tense situation ensued for 6 hours until the reactor was deemed under control. No radiation leakage or injuries occurred.

April 1, 1979 - Iran official becomes an Islamic Republic under Khomeini after winning a popular referendum, officially ending the Pahlavi Dynasty.

May 4, 1979 - Margaret Thatcher become the UK's first woman Prime Minister on the Conservative Party ticket.

May 25, 1979 - Nelson Rockefeller embargoes agricultural sales to China over their continuing support for Maoist insurgents in Vietnam.

June 18, 1979 – Nelson Rockefeller and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT Agreement in Stockholm. This was the first nuclear arms treaty which assumed real reductions in strategic forces for all categories of delivery vehicles on both sides.

September 1, 1979 - The American Pioneer Eleven passes the planet Saturn, becoming the first spacecraft to visit the ringed planet, albeit at a distance of 21,000 kilometers.

October 6, 1979 - The Federal Reserve system changes increase interest rates by half a point to combat inflation scares.

November 1, 1979 - The Chrysler Bailout is denied by the federal government. The third largest car maker in the United States goes out of business. Some Chrysler assets are bought up by American Motors Corporation.

November 4, 1979 - The Iran Hostage Crisis begins when sixty-three Americans are among ninety hostages taken at the American embassy in Tehran by three thousand militant student followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, who demand that the former Shah return to Iran to stand trial.

November 7, 1979 –U.S. President Nelson Rockefeller issues an Executive Order freezing all Iranian assets in the United States and U.S. banks in response to the hostage crisis and imposing an embargo against the Islamic Republic.

1980
January 4, 1980 - President Nelson Rockefeller denounces the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but insists on a commitment to work on improving economic relations between the two nations. Brezhnev insists that the US stay out of Soviet affairs in Central Asia in light of the continued US presence in Southeast Asia.

January 27, 1980 - Ian Smith refuses the Lancaster House agreement and promises to continue his campaign against the ZANU-PF in Rhodesia.

February 13, 1980 - The opening ceremonies of the 1980 Winter Olympics Games are held in Lake Placid, New York. One of the most thrilling moments include the Miracle on Ice when a team of U.S. amateur ice hockey players defeated the vaunted Soviet Union professional all-star team in the semi-final game, then won the gold medal over Finland. U.S. speed skater Eric Heiden also concluded one of the most amazing feats in sports history when he won all five speed skating medals from the sprint at 500 meters to the marathon 10,000 meter event.

April 1, 1980 - The 1980 census shows a population in the United States of 226,542,203, an 11.4% increase since 1970. For the first time, one state had over 20 million people living within its borders, the state of California with 23.7 million. Due to a trend of western migration, Missouri now contained the geographic population center of the United States, one quarter mile west of De Soto in Jefferson County.

July 18, 1980 - The United States team arrives in Moscow to compete in the Summer Olympic Games despite uneasy relation between the two powers. During this year PepsiCo becomes the first American company to sell products in the Soviet Union.

May 18, 1980 - The Mt. St. Helens volcano, in Washington State, erupts, killing fifty-seven people and economic devastation to the area with losses near $3 billion. The blast was estimated to have the power five hundred times greater than the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

August 14, 1980 – Senator Walter Mondale narrowly defeats Senator Ernest Hollings to win the Democratic nomination, at the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York City.

September 22, 1980 - The Iran-Iraq War begins with an invasion of Iran. Saddam Hussein will receive considerable aid from the United States over the course of the war.

October 10, 1980 - President Rockefeller signs legislation establishing Boston African American National Historic Site, which includes the oldest black church in America and other historic sites of the Black Heritage Trail in Boston, Massachusetts.

November 4, 1980 - President Nelson Rockefeller, beats challenger Walter Mondale and independent candidate Ted Kennedy, former Democrat, in a landslide victory due to vote splitting on the left. The victory in the Electoral College, 344 to 193, as well as a 3 million vote margin in the popular vote over Mondale, ensured a mandate for the President.

1981
January 20, 1981 - The second inauguration of Nelson Rockefeller occurs in Washington, D.C. It was followed by the release of the fifty-two Americans still held hostage in Tehran. The Iranian hostage crisis, which lasted four hundred and forty-four days, was negotiated for the return of $11 billion in frozen Iranian assets.

February 17, 1981 - Nelson Rockefeller responds to the AIDS epidemic by rallying the newly sworn Congress to pass legislation to fund AIDS research and prevention programs.

March 12th, 1981 - The last US Peacekeeping troops return from Vietnam after almost 20 years of stability and support operations. The pro-western regime in Vietnam becomes an important US ally and trade partner in region.

March 30, 1981 - President Nelson Rockefeller is mortally wounded an assassination attempt, shot in the chest while walking to his limousine in Washington, D.C. He dies 2 days later at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Vice President George W. Romney is sworn in as America's 38th president. The assassin, John Hinckley Jr., is taken into custody and charged with the assassination.

April 12, 1981 - The first launch of the Space Shuttle from Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center occurs as Columbia begins its STS-1 mission. The Space Shuttle is the first reusable spacecraft to be flown into orbit, and it returned to earth for a traditional touch down landing two days later.

April 15, 1981 – The first Coca-Cola bottling plant in the Soviet Union is opened.

July 7, 1981 –President George Romney nominates the first woman, Sandra Day O'Connor, to the Supreme Court of the United States.

July 29, 1981 - Tax cut legislation promised by the late President Rockefeller passes in both houses of the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Romney. It would reduce taxes by $450 billion over the next five years.

August 12, 1981 - IBM introduces the IBM-PC personal computer, the IBM 5150. It was designed by twelve engineers and designers under Don Estridge of the IBM Entry Systems Division. It sold for $1,565 in 1981.

December 14, 1981 - In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union agree to intermediate-range nuclear weapon stockpile reductions over the next 5 years.


1982
March 10, 1982 - The United States places an embargo on Libyan oil imports, alleging Libyan support for terrorist groups.

April 2, 1982 – The Falklands War begins: Argentina invades and occupies the Falkland Islands.

May 1, 1982 - The Knoxville World's Fair opens on the topic of energy by President Romney. A special category exposition sanctioned by the Bureau of International Exhibitions, the Knoxville event would draw over eleven million people to the Tennessee valley over the next six months.

June 8, 1982 - President George Romney becomes the first American chief executive to address a joint session of the British Parliament.

June 30, 1982 - After several summit with Asian leaders over Asian security concerns, President Rockefeller arranges an agreement to expand SEATO to include South Korea, Japan and the ROC. This results in angry denouncement by both the Chinese and North Korean governments.

August 12, 1982 – Mexico announces it is unable to pay its large foreign debt, triggering a debt crisis that quickly spreads throughout Latin America.

November 5, 1982 - The lowest unemployment rate since 1940 is recorded at 8.4%. By the end of November, over nine million people would be unemployed.

November 13, 1982 - The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated by President Romney in Washington, D.C., holding the names of the more than 28,000 killed or missing in action during the conflict.

1983
January 1, 1983 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the true Internet).

March 23, 1983 - President Romney sign legislation moderately increasing the size of the Air Force and Navy to contain Chinese influence in Asia.

April 20, 1983 - President Romney signs legislation meant to rescue the Social Security System from insolvency.

May 5, 1983 - President Romney signs legislation, narrowly passed by Congress, to create a Federal Firearms License system and to prevent interstate sales of firearms by unlicensed parties. The act also creates record-keeping requirements by FFL dealers of gun sales. The law is named the "Nelson Rockefeller Gun Control Act" in memoriam of the assassinated 37th president.

June 18, 1983 - Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman to travel into space.

July 15, 1983 - Nintendo's Family Computer, also known as the Famicom, goes on sale in Japan. It never catches on in the US due to complications in trade law.

September 26, 1983 - Soviet nuclear false alarm incident: Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov averts a worldwide nuclear war by correctly identifying a warning of attack by U.S. missiles as a false alarm.

October 23, 1983 - A terrorist truck bomb kills two hundred and forty-one United States peacekeeping troops in Lebanon at Beirut International Airport. A second bomb destroyed a French barracks two miles away, killing forty there.

October 25, 1983 - The United States invasion of Grenada occurs at the request of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States to depose the Marxist regime.

1984
February 7, 1984 - Navy Captain Bruce McCandless and Army Lt. Colonel Robert Stewart become the first astronauts to fly free of a spacecraft in orbit during a space shuttle flight that began four days earlier.

May 12, 1984 - The Louisiana World Exposition of 1984 opens along the Mississippi River waterfront in New Orleans. The event, the last world's fair held in the United States, was plagued with financial trouble, and drew significantly fewer visitors than predicted over the next six months, 7.3 million, although it was regarded as the catalyst in the recovery of the waterfront and warehouse district to public use.

July 12, 1984 - Democratic candidate for President, and former astronaut, John Glenn selects Geraldine Ferraro as his Vice Presidential running mate, the first woman chosen for that position. At the convention: John Glenn promises to make the Democrats the party of small government, promises to negotiate tougher with the Soviet Union and will fight corporate interests to keep jobs from going to Japan.

July 28, 1984 - The opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympic Games is held. The games run by Peter Ueberroth, proves a financial boon as the US takes home most Gold Medals, despite a very strong showing by the USSR Olympic team.

November 6, 1984 - President George Romney lose his first election to Democratic challenger, John Glenn, with an Electoral College victory of 325 over 213.

1985
July 13, 1985 - A famine relief concert organized by British artist Bob Geldof and held simultaneously in London and Philadelphia is seen in one hundred and fifty-two countries. The seventeen hour concert raised $70 million for relief efforts in Ethiopia and other African nations.

September 11, 1985 - Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's record for most career hits in Major League Baseball history. He would be banned from baseball in 1989 for gambling, thus making him ineligible for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

November 19, 1985 - The first meeting between Mikhail Gorbachev and John Glenn begins. They engage in a five hour summit conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

November 20, 1985 - The first version of the Windows operating system for computers is released.

December 11, 1985 - General Electric Corporation agrees to buy RCA Corporation for $6.28 billion in what would be the largest corporate merger ever outside the oil industry, President Glenn persuades the Federal Trade Commission to deny the merger. RCA instead sells its 50% interest in then-RCA/Ariola International Records to GE.

1986
January 28, 1986 - The Challenger Space Shuttle explodes after liftoff at Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing seven people, including Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire school teacher. President John Glenn gives a tearful address at Cape Canaveral hours after the tragedy.

May 25, 1986 - Five million people make a human chain across the United States in the Hands Across America campaign to fight hunger and homelessness. President John Glenn proposes the Food Stamp Act to Congress to fight hunger in America.

September 18, 1986 - A tentative agreement on a world-wide ban on medium-range missiles is scrapped when President Glenn refused capitulation to the demand from Mikhail Gorbachev to limit development anti-ballistic missiles.


1987
June 12, 1987 - President John Glenn, at an address at Brandenburg Gates calls for Gorbachev to accelerate Glasnost and to tear down the Berlin Wall once and for all.

October 19, 1987 - The stock market crash known as Black Monday occurs on the New York Stock Exchange, recording a record 22.6% drop in one day. Stock markets around the world would mirror the crash with drops of their own.

October 23, 1987 - The President's nominee to the Supreme Court, Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy, is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, 58-42. She becomes the second woman to be appointed to the high court.

December 14, 1987 - The United States and the Soviet Union sign an agreement, the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, to dismantle all 1,752 U.S. and 859 Soviet missiles in the 300-3,400 mile range.

December 31, 1987 - El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico is established by legislation. It preserved a natural volcanic area, a seventeen mile lava tube system, and remains from the Pueblo Indian culture.

1988
February 2, 1988 - The United States Congress accepts the request of President Glenn for $36.25 billion to fund the Food Stamp and School Lunch Act.

Mar 3, 1988 - Mieczysław Rakowski accomplishes a deal to form a coalition with Solidarity in response to his successful implementation of "market socialism" reforms in return for Communist Party primacy in government.

April 12, 1988 - The first patent for a genetically engineered animal is issued to Harvard University researchers Philip Leder and Timothy Stewart.

May 4, 1988 - The deadline for amnesty application, created by the Immigration Reform Act of 1988, of illegal aliens is met by 1.4 million applications. It is estimated that 71% of those who applied had entered the United States from Mexico.

October 31, 1988 - Poverty Point National Monument in Louisiana is established by President John Glenn in order to preserve some of the most extensive earthworks from prehistoric times in North America.

November 8, 1988 - The incumbent President John Glenn defeats GOP challenger, John Chafee, handedly for re-election. The Electoral College vote tallied 426 for Glenn and 111 for Chafee.


1989
January 6, 1989 - Economic reports on the previous year from the Labor Department indicate a growth rate of 3.8%, the largest in four years and an unemployment rate of 4.7%, a low of sixteen years.

March 24, 1989 - The Exxon Valdez crashes into Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound, causing the largest oil spill in American history, eleven million gallons, which extended forty-five miles. Exxon is heavily fined by the Glenn administration for illegal dumping.

August 9, 1989 - The Savings and Loan Bailout, passed by Congress, is vetoed by President John Glenn. The total cost of the bill would have approached $400 billion over thirty years. Without passage many of the of the insolvent Savings and Loan banks fold.

August 10, 1989 - Army General Colin Powell is elevated to the position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, becoming the first African American to be nominated to that post.

November 9, 1989 - The Berlin Wall, after thirty-eight years of restricting traffic between the East and West German sides of the city, begins to crumble when German citizens are allowed to travel freely between East and West Germany for the first time. One day later, the influx of crowds around and onto the wall begin to dismantle it, thus ending its existence.


1990
February 7, 1990 - At the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party plenum, Gorbachev suggested a new policy of "Demokratizatsiya" throughout Soviet society. He proposed that future Communist Party elections should offer a choice between multiple candidates, elected by secret ballot. However, the CPSU delegates at the Plenum agreed to Gorbachev's proposal, and democratic choice within the Communist Party was implemented with massive public support. Many demonstrations would continue however to improve economic conditions and civil rights in the Soviet Union.

February 24, 1990 - The Ceaușescu regime survives possible deposition by popular revolt. With the aid of Soviet Spetnaz and air support the revolt was crushed by government forces after 2 months of fighting. The brutality of the crackdown draws international criticism of Romania's abyssmal human rights record.

March 18, 1990 - The largest art theft in U.S. history occurs in Boston, Massachusetts, when two thieves posing as policemen abscond twelve paintings worth an estimated $100-200 million from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

April 1, 1990 - The 1990 census is conducted, counting 248,718,301, for an increase of 9.8% over the 1980 census. This is the smallest increase in the population rate since 1940. The geographic center of the United States population is now ten miles southeast of Steelville, Missouri.

April 24, 1990 - The Hubble Telescope is placed into orbit by the United States Space Shuttle Discovery. One month later, the telescope becomes operational. A dedication speech is given by President John Glenn as he advocates for more funding to begin manned missions to the Moon and Mars by the end of the century.

June 1, 1990 - U.S. President John Glenn and his Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to eliminate chemical weapon production and begin the destruction of each nation's current inventory.

August 1, 1990 - After intense diplomatic intervention by President John Glenn, Saddam Hussein is persuaded not to invade Kuwait after the US diplomats make clear that the US will intervene militarily against the Iraq regime. Iraq and Kuwait resume negotiations over contested oil resources in the Persian Gulf.

August 6, 1990 - Tumacacori National Monument is enlarged and re-titled a Historical Park by legislation signed into law by President John Glenn. The site, including the historic Spanish mission church of San Jose de Tumacacori, was founded by Padre Eusebio Kino in 1691.

October 3, 1990 - West and East Germany enact the re-unification agreement ending the Communist regime in the East and creating one German republic for the first time since WW2.

1991
January 8, 1991 - U.S. Congress endorses a treaty for sharing oil rights in the Gulf between the Iraq and Kuwait governments.

July 29, 1991 - Bank of Credit and Commerce International is indicted in New York for the largest bank fraud in history.

November 21, 1991 - The Yugoslavian communist party agrees to multi-party elections and economic reforms to build on their already strong relations with Western markets fostered by the John Glenn administration.

1992
January 13, 1992 - In a show of trust, built on improving relations, Mikhail Gorbachev announces that the Soviet Union will stop targeting the cities of the United States with nuclear weapons. John Glenn assures the Soviets the US will reciprocate after verification.

February 24, 1992 - The Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve is established through legislation signed by President John Glenn. The park in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands is the only location under the jurisdiction of the United States where the men of Christopher Columbus are known to have been.

May 7, 1992 - The 26th Amendment to the Constitution is passed two hundred and two years after its initial proposal. It bars the United States Congress from giving itself a midterm or retroactive pay raise. This amendment had been originally proposed by James Madison in 1789, as part of twelve amendments, of which ten would become the original Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791.

July 16, 1992 - Vice-President Geraldine Ferraro is nominated by the DNC as the first woman and Italian-American to run for United States president. She later selects former candidate Walter Mondale as her running mate.

November 3, 1992 - Geraldine Ferraro narrowly wins against Republican challenger Richard Luger in and electoral victory of 307-234 to become the first women elected President of the United States. Her husband, John Zaccaro, becomes the first "First Gentleman" of the United States. John Zaccaro's business dealings were controversial during the campaign and throw a pall over the incoming administration.

1993
February 28, 1993 - The fifty-one day Waco standoff begins when the FBI attempts to arrest the Branch Davidian leader David Koresh on NFA weapons violations. Four agents and five members of the cult are killed in the raid. The siege would end on April 19 when a fire, started by the Davidians, killed seventy-five members of the group, including the leader.

April 9, 1993 - South Africa has revealed they have completed several nuclear bombs after extensive underground testing. The fissile material and technical expertise from Israel greatly assisted the South African nuclear weapons program.

November 20, 1993 - The Senate Ethics Committee censures California Senator Alan Cranston for his participation with Charles Keating in the Savings and Loan scandal. The scandal had begun in the 1980s due to a wave of mismanagement, failed speculation, and fraud within the industry. Former President John Glenn is embarrassed by his revealed relationship with Charles Keating.

November 30, 1993 - The Gun Violence Prevention Act is signed into law by President Geraldine Ferraro requiring background checks through the FBI for all FFL purchases.

1994
January 1, 1994 - The US-Canada Trade Agreement (USCTA) goes into effect, creating a free trade zone between Canada and the United States.

June 12, 1994 - The bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman are found outside her home in Los Angeles, California. Five days later, her husband, former football star O.J. Simpson is arrested for the crime, and is later found guilty on October 3, 1995 despite lingering doubts by some of the public. The Simpson case was one of the highest profile murder cases in the nation's history opening lingering racial divides in America.

September 13, 1994 - A proposed Assault Weapons Ban, which bars the purchase of these weapons for ten years, is narrowly defeated in Congress despite White House support.

September 14, 1994 - For the first time since 1904, the World Series of Major League Baseball is cancelled, this time due to a player's strike begun in August by the Major League Baseball Players Association.

November 8, 1994 - The Republican revolution concludes with the midterm elections when for the first time in eight years, the party gains control of both the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

1995
January 1, 1995 - President Geraldine Ferraro signs the renegotiated General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), formed from a series of post-war treaties on trade, to create better protections for domestic jobs and against currency manipulation, primarily with the Soviet Union.

March 5, 1995 - Pushback against reforms, by Soviet hardliners, enforces strict censorship controls over the growing internet service inside the Soviet Union. Promises for multi-party elections are downplayed in official media.

April 19, 1995 - Militant anarchists Michael Fortier and Terry Nichols explodes a bomb outside the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing one hundred and sixty-two people in a domestic terrorism attack.

May 14, 1995 - Brazil becomes the world's newest nuclear power after a secret test was revealed.

June 29, 1995 - For the first time, the Space Shuttle Columbia docks with the Soviet space station Mir.

July 27, 1995 - The Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C. is dedicated in ceremonies presided by President Geraldine Ferraro and South Korean President Choo Doo-Hwan.

1996
July 5, 1996 - At the Roslin Institute in Scotland, Dolly, the sheep, becomes the first mammal to be cloned. This begins a rampant debate on the ethics of the procedure in animals and the viability and morality of cloning in human beings.

July 19, 1996 - President Ferraro opens the Summer Olympics Games in Atlanta, GA. The games are positively known for the achievements of American track and field athlete Michael Johnson, who won both the 200 and 400 meter races, setting a new World Record in the 200, and for the victory of the American women's gymnastics team. These games would be marred, however, by the Centennial Park bombing of Olympic tourists on July 27, which killed one person and injured one hundred and eleven.

November 5, 1996 - President Geraldine Ferraro re-elected over GOP challenger Bob Dole in a close electoral victory of 279-259.

1997
February 9, 1997 - The Simpsons, a ribald cartoon about a family of misfits, becomes the longest running prime-time cartoon television series in history, surpassing the Flintstones.

March 4, 1997 - A federal funding bill for research and low-income assistance for reproductive services, including in-vitro fertilization, is signed into law by President Ferraro.

1998
February 23, 1998 - Osama bin Laden publishes his fatwa that announced a jihad against all Jews and Apostates. This announcement would push forward the Islamic fundamentalist agenda toward terrorism against western-aligned Muslim regimes.

May 18, 1998 - The United States Department of Justice and twenty states file the anti-trust case, U.S. versus Microsoft. On November 5, 1999, a preliminary ruling stated that Microsoft had monopoly power.

May 28, 1998 - Weeks after India conducts nuclear tests of its own, Pakistan tests its first nuclear bomb as the newest member of the growing nuclear club.

August 19, 1998 - Attacks on two Iranian embassies, one in Cairo, Egypt and another in Amman, Jordan kills one hundred and twenty-six and injures one thousand five hundred. The attacks are linked to Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda organization.

October 29, 1998 - John Glenn, thirty-six years after becoming the first American astronaut to orbit the earth, becomes the oldest astronaut in space at seventy-seven years old. His role on the Space Shuttle Columbia flight tests the effect of space travel on aging. It is a historical achievement for a former President.

1999
January 1, 1999 - The Euro currency is introduced as a competitive tool to stem the power of the dollar and maximize the economic power of the 18 European Union nations.

April 15, 1999- Soviet Union announces multi-party democratic elections amongst massive civil disobedience and an attempted coup. Geraldine Ferraro, while visiting Prague, calls on Soviet premier Gorbachev to make good on his promise to hold free elections.

May 3, 1999 - A series of tornadoes strikes Oklahoma, including an F5 category storm that slams Oklahoma City, killing thirty-eight. The fastest wind speed ever recorded on earth is measured by scientists at 509 km (318 mph) during this tornado.

November 30, 1999 - The first major meeting of the World Trade Organization occurs in Seattle, Washington. Many attending members advocate for a liberalization of trade practices in contrast to the current protectionist environment. They also discuss the role of developing technology in shaping the global economy in the next century.

2000
April 1, 2000 - The 2000 census enumerates a population of 281,421,906, increasing 13.2% since 1990. As regions, the South and West continued to pick up the majority of the increase in population, moving the geographic center of U.S. population to Phelps County, Missouri.

April 3, 2000 - The ruling in the case of the United States versus Microsoft states that the company did violate anti-trust laws by diminishing the capability of its rivals to compete.

June 1, 2000 - Geraldine Ferraro visits the 2000 Millennial World Expo in Hannover, with a record number, 187, of international participants. Information technology remains at the forefront of industry development and is reflected in the exposition.

November 7, 2000 - Gary Bauer, the staunchly conservative GOP candidate, wins over the incumbent Vice President Walter Mondale in another narrow election, 276-261, despite gaining less popular votes than Walter Mondale.

December 28, 2000 - Montgomery Ward, the retail giant since its founding one hundred and twenty-eight years before, announces their intentions to purchase K-Mart. FTC hearings on the merger rumored but then are dropped with the incoming administration.

2001
January 20, 2001 - Gary Bauer is inaugurated as the President of the US, with Pat Buchanan as his Vice-President. He has the lowest approval rating for any modern President upon inauguration.

April 1, 2001 - China-U.S. incident. An American spy plane collides with a fighter plane of China and makes an emergency landing in Hainan, China. The U.S. crew is detained for thirty days. US and China expel each others' diplomats in response to heightened rhetorical denouncement by both sides. The following months see heightened antagonism between each others navies in Asia.

April 8, 2001 - Tiger Woods becomes the first golfer to hold all four major golf titles simultaneously by winning the Master's tournament in Augusta, Georgia. This followed a remarkable run in 2000 when Woods claimed victory at the final three majors of that season; the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship.

April 28, 2001 - President Bauer signs an executive order to expend funds in support of bolster democratic opposition to the Chinese regime and expanded surveillance of Chinese political leadership.

May 16, 2001 - Belligerent actions by a Chinese fighter jet result in the aircraft being downed by a US destroyer. The Chinese respond with increasing board and search operations against US commercial vessels in the Pacific in violation of international waters.

June 6, 2001 - A tense standoff ends between US and Chinese navies in the Straight of Formosa after a right-of-way dispute is settled by high-level discussions between President Bauer and Premier Hua Guofeng.

July 1, 2001 - President Bauer signs into law a major a Farm Bill that also increases subsidies for ethanol production. This artificially increasing grain prices, especially corn.

September 11, 2001 - President Bauer attends a summit in Yokohama, Japan to discuss trade reform with Asian trading partners and security concerns regarding the China-North Korean axis in East Asia.

November 9, 2001 - President Bauer sign into law the controversial Religious Freedom Protection Act the permits businesses and organizations to discriminate based on sexual orientation and prevents funding of family planning by the federal government.

2002
February 8, 2002 - The Winter Olympic Games are opened by President Gary Bauer in Salt Lake City, Utah. They would continue until the closing ceremony on February 24.

May 24, 2002 - The United States State Department issues its report on Communist nations and their belligerent proxies. It states that there are five nations that are the primary supporters of left-wing insurgencies and terrorist organizations: North Korea, Soviet Union, Romania, China and Cuba. President Bauer recommits to using US soft-power to reverse global communism and military force to prevent insurgencies against US allies.

November 3, 2002 - The United Nations passes Resolution 1441 in a unanimous Security Council vote. It calls on Saddam Hussein and Iraq to face inspections of their chemical weapons stockpiles as result of human rights violations that occurred during the Iran-Iraq War. However, the resolution was vetoed by security councilmembers US and the Soviet Union.

November 21, 2002 - NATO considers additional members of the former Communist bloc nations to join its membership. The four nations included in the invitation; Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia; where ultimately rejected by a majority of NATO as an unwarranted provocation of the Soviet Union and a threat to the liberalization of the remaining Communist bloc. US, Canada and UK were for the expansion with the remaining European states opposing it.

2003
February 1, 2003 - A tragedy at NASA occurs when the Space Shuttle Columbia explodes upon reentry over Texas. All seven astronauts inside are killed. US space missions are placed on indefinite hold. In the following weeks, many in congress discuss whether domestic priorities should mean ending space programs.

May 1, 2003 - The Soviet Union hold its first multi-party elections resulting in the Communist Party losing majority power over the Soviet parliament for the first-time in its history. The Communist Party still retains a considerable base of supporters amongst state-workers and pensioners.

May 26, 2003 - After another aborted coup by radical anti-reformers in the military and Communist Party; the parliament votes to force the resignation of the government. Premier Gorbachev resigns his office to be replaced by populist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and a new coalition cabinet.

July 2, 2003 - The International Olympic Committee votes in Prague that the Winter Olympic Games are coming back to North America, selecting Vancouver, Canada as host of the XXI Olympic Games in 2010.

August 10, 2003 - President Bauer visits Moscow to meet with Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the new DFSR president, and to congratulate the Russian people on enacting real democratic reforms in the face of Communist resistance.

October 8, 2003 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 10,000 for the first time.

2004
February 9, 2004 - Soviet Union is officially dissolved and reformed as the Democratic Federation of  Socialist Republics (DFSR). The republics of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are granted secession by the State Duma after popular pressure within the Muslim majority Republics. The newly adopted flag includes a single yellow star in the center surrounded by a yellow sunburst over a crimson field.

March 2, 2004 - Mars rover MER-B (Opportunity) confirms to NASA that the area of their landing was once covered in water.

July 4, 2004 - President Bauer holds a re-election fundraising event at the Windows to the World restaurant at the World Trade Center to woo several corporate donors away from Democrats into his campaign.

November 2, 2004 - President Gary Bauer lose reelection over Democratic Senator Joe Biden from Delaware. Biden wins 51.7% of the popular vote and 298 votes in the Electoral College. In addition, both houses of Congress change back to Democratic hands for the first time since 1994.

December 26, 2004 - The southeast Asian tsunami occurs following a 9.3 Richter scale earthquake in the Indian Ocean. Two hundred and ninety thousand people die from Sri Lanka to Indonesia, creating one of the greatest humanitarian tragedies in history. A worldwide relief effort, led by the United States in conjunction with SEATO, is mobilized to assist. Chinese naval vessels offer assistance in a rare gesture of cooperation with SEATO forces.


2005
March 6, 2005 - The US congress reverses the Bauer Rule banning family planning funding by the federal government and President Biden signs it into law.

July 26, 2005 - In the first Space Shuttle flight since the tragedy of 2003, Discovery goes into orbit on a mission that returns to earth safely on August 9.

August 29, 2005 - Hurricane Katrina strikes the Gulf Coast, inundating the city of New Orleans when the levees that maintain the below sea level city break. Over one thousand three hundred people perish from Alabama to Louisiana in one of the worst natural disasters to strike the United States. This becomes the first major crisis to be faced by the newly inaugurated Biden administration.

October 24, 2005 - Civil Rights activist, Rosa Parks, dies. Joe Biden gives a speech in a public memorial ceremony and apologizes for the Democrat Party's historic resistance to the Civil Rights movement. Joe Biden also discusses how more must be done to advance civil rights protections for the gay and lesbian community.

October 26, 2005 - A statement from the newly elected Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calls for the destruction of Israel and condemns the peace process and the United States support for Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Israel. The US responds with a new round of weapons sales to Israel and Saudi militaries.

December 15, 2005 - First active service in the United States Air Force for the new F22-A plane constructed by Lockheed Martin and Boeing. This F-22 raptor was a one-pilot plane that changed the course of military aviation design.

2006
February 22, 2006 - In a continuing shift of the retail industry to new platforms, it is announced that the one billionth song is downloaded from the internet music store, Apple iTunes. This shift comes at the expense of many brick and mortar chains, including Tower Records.

March 5, 2006 - The US passes the first online retail tax to balance competition with brick and mortar retail. This shift in internet taxation remains unpopular among most Americans.

September 25, 2006 - In New Orleans, the Louisiana Superdome reopens after repairs caused by Hurricane Katrina damage. The repairs included the largest re-roofing project in U.S. history and took thirteen months following the destruction to the Gulf Coast region. Mismanagement of relief efforts place the Biden administration and FEMA in a negative light.

October 17, 2006 - The population of the United States reaches the milestone of three hundred million, taking only about forty years to gain one hundred million people since the two hundredth million person was added in 1967. At the same time, a vibrant debate on immigration policy, particularly illegal immigration, ensues across the nation.

December 1, 2006 - United States manufacturing capacity and esteem wanes, signaled by the sale of the last shares of his General Motors stock by U.S. billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.


2007
January 10, 2007 - Secession movements against the Belgrade government in Yugoslavia have led to open conflict in the states of Croatia and Slovenia. Serb nationalist forces have declared intention to suppress the insurrection.

June 2, 2007 - A bomb explodes JFK International Airport in New York City killing 16 people. Later, four Guyanese separatists are arrested and charged with murder and terror related offenses.

July 4, 2007 - The fifty star flag of the United States of America becomes the longest flying flag in American history after flying over forty-seven years.

December 13, 2007 - The Mitchell Report on the Steroids Scandal in baseball is published. It recounted a year long investigation into the use and abuse of performance enhancing drugs over a two decade period, including steroids and human growth hormone. Nearly ninety players were named, and blame for the scandal was spread among players, the union, and the commissioner's office. Headed by former Senator George Mitchell, the report urged enhanced testing to stem the problem and a look forward attitude to restore the integrity of the game and its statistics. The report comes after a season when Barry Bonds broke the home run record of Hank Aaron amid suspicion of steroid use.

2008
August 17, 2008 - Michael Phelps, the United States swimmer from Baltimore, wins his 8th Gold Medal of the Osaka Summer Olympic Games, surpassing the record of seven won by Mark Spitz.

October 3, 2008 - The United States Congress passes legislation, signed by President Joe Biden, for a $900 billion bailout, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, giving the Treasury Department authority to assist distressed Wall Street and banking businesses of the United States due to the housing, banking, and subprime mortgage crises caused by excessive greed and speculation among Wall Street firms. This economic distress, coupled with oil prices above $100 per barrel during the summer, deepened the world economic crises that had been brewing all year. The bailout was also supported by the GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney.

November 4, 2008 - Mitt Romney, Republican governor from Michigan, and son of former President George Romney, wins a landslide margin in the Electoral College, 365 to 173 in the election for President of the USA over incumbent President Biden, making him the second Mormon president in the history of the United States of America.


2009
January 20, 2009 - Mitt Romney takes the oath of office for President of the United States. The Republican Governor from Michigan comes into the office on a message of Recovery and Competence.

April 15, 2009 - After a succession of big government spending projects beginning in the Biden administration and expanded under President Romney, 750 grass roots Tea Party protests spring up across the nation. More than one half million citizens concerned with increased deficits due to actions such as the bailout of the banking industry, car industry, potential dollar devaluation, and other administration projects that project a fifteen trillion dollar deficit over the next decade take part.

June 11, 2009 - The H1N1 virus, named the Swine Flu, is deemed a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. This is the first such designation since the Hong Kong flu in 1967-1968. China responds by destroying porcine livestock on nationwide scale resulting in a shortage of meat for the winter of 2009-2010. This, coupled with record grain shortages for three straight years, increases pressure on the State by increasingly malnourished and impoverished citizens.

October 31, 2009 - The economic recession continues to deepen as jobless claims climb above 10.8%, breaching 12% with October's monthly figures. The greatest since the Great Depression. This occurs despite efforts by the Romney administration to ramp up massive government spending pushed by the $650 billion economic stimulus package passed earlier in the year.

December 1, 2009 - President Romney announces a deployment of 10,000 troops to Yugoslavia as part of a NATO peacekeeping force mentoring the peace talks involved regarding the almost two-year civil war and to investigate possible ethnic cleansing occurring in Muslim areas of Bosnia.


2010
January 12, 2010 - General strike occurs across China, the situation becomes even more precarious when reports of conflicts between protesters and military units occur in major cities. Desertions also hamper government response to the unprecedented civil unrest. The current food shortage combined with diminished Russian fuel aid and the 2009 global economic downturn has greatly contributed to the precarious state.

February 9, 2010 - A massacre in Wuhan against anti-government protestors results in global condemnation and many nations enact blockades against the regime. Public opinion in China decisively turns against the regime.

March 3, 2010 - After two straight months of general strike that has paralyzed the economy and stymied the power of the Communist party of China. Premier Li Peng resigns his office and the CCP approves constitutional changes to permit multi-party elections, as early as 2012, and immediately strengthens the freedoms of speech and the press

March 25, 2010 - The U.S. House of Representatives finalizes the Health Care legislation approved by the Senate, extending health benefits and insurance to most Americans. The legislation, the Affordable Insurance Act, passed on a bi-partisan basis by Congress, has caused a significant rift within the GOP. The legislature is later to be more well-known as RomneyCare.

April 1, 2010 - The U.S. Census of 2010 is conducted, showing a 9.7% increase from the 2000 census for a total of 308,745,538 people. The geographic center of the population is now 2.7 miles northeast of Plato, Missouri.

April 20, 2010 - A Texaco deep water oil rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, causing the largest oil spill in the history of the United States and killing nine workers. It also severely damaged the fishing and tourism industries of gulf states.


2011
January 14, 2011 – Arab Spring: The Tunisian government falls after a month of increasingly violent protests instigated by the self-immolation of bereaved merchant; President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali flees to Saudi Arabia after 23 years in power.

February 11, 2011 – Arab Spring: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigns after widespread protests calling for his departure, leaving control of Egypt in the hands of the military until a general election can be held. Similar protests are spreading in order middle-east countries.

April 14, 2011 - Congress votes to pass the 2010-2011 budget after six months of negotiations, including $52 billion in tax cuts. GOP coalition splits between liberal and conservative factions.

March 15, 2011 - Syrian civil war begins after widespread crackdown on protests by the Assad regime.

March 18, 2011 - A crackdown similar to the Syrian regime, against protests in Iraq, instigate a revolt against the Saddam Hussein regime by Shia and Kurdish insurgents. Iran has begun funneling assistance to anti-Regime elements in Iraq, while also providing logistical support for the Assad regime in its battle against a primarily Sunni uprising.

July 1, 2011 – U.S. President Mitt Romney announces that combat operations will commence to depose the Gadhafi regime will commence after serious human rights abuses in the ongoing civil in Libya motivated by Arab Spring protests. 22,000 troops are deployed, along with air assets, to liberate Libya.

July 21, 2011 - The final shuttle flight lands at the Kennedy Space Center, signifying the end of the NASA shuttle space program. The program, which began in 1981 and included 135 missions, was completed when the Shuttle Atlantis flew its final mission to the International Space Station.

August 28, 2011 - The Gadhafi regime collapses after NATO forces seize Tripoli and capture Gadhafi. The former dictator is to be transported to the Hague to be tried for war crimes.

September 17, 2011 - The first of many Occupy Wall Street protests begin in New York City, protesting the big money interests on Wall Street and their relationship to the recession and world economy.

December 15, 2011 - The war in Yugoslavia continues to try popular opinion over support for the ongoing NATO mission after casualties among US forces climb to a total of 82 as fighting intensifies along the Bosnia-Serb front. Romney assures the nation that there will be no escalation of forces and is committed to the peace talk time-table.

2012
May 7, 2012 - The first licenses for cars without drivers is granted in the state of Nevada to Google. Autonomous cars were first introduced in concept during the 1939 World's Fair in New York City in the General Motors exhibit Futurama by Norman Bel Geddes. By September of 2012, three states had passed laws allowing such vehicles; Nevada, California, and Florida.

May 19, 2012 - Israel enters Syria to topple the Assad regime with air support from US naval-based fighters. In response, Iranian troops intervene in Iraq's civil war to topple Saddam Hussein.

June 8, 2012 - Similar to the Arab Spring, an uprising by the black majority finally evicts the minority government in the Republic of Rhodesia after many weeks of intense fighting.

September 11, 2012 - Saddam and other Baathists are captured by Shia forces backed by the Iranian army; they are eventually executed following a summary court-martial. The regime effectively collapses and Iran begins a de-facto occupation of Iraq. The Syrian civil war deepens as Sunni forces in Iraq and Syria unify in opposition to Iranian influence in the region. Ansar al-Islam forms, alongside the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda, as influential players in Sunni Islamist insurgencies across MENA.

October 29, 2012 - Hurricane Sandy, taking an unusual track up the East Coast and coming to landfall on the New Jersey coast near Atlantic City and Long Island coasts of New York creates significant damage to coastal towns as well as the boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island, to the estimated cost of $65.6 billion. The hurricane, at its peak a Category 2 storm, was the largest storm in recorded history by diameter at 1,100 miles.

November 6, 2012 - President Mitt Romney wins a significant re-election victory, 332 electoral votes to 206, for his second term in office against the Democratic senator from Minnesota, and former comedian, Al Franken. The Senate switches back to Democratic hands in a surprising upset.

2013
February 12, 2013 - Supreme Court rules that growing of cells in-vitro for reproduction of human parts is a violation of the Human Cloning Act. The ruling is considered a major blow, chilling biotech research in the United States.

April 15, 2013 - Two bombs explode near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring hundreds in a terrorism attack coordinated by two brothers associated with radical Islam. The attack caused the shutdown of the city as police and federal officials searched and apprehended the suspects within four days of the attack. This in light of recent radical Islamic insurgencies resulting from the Arab Spring begin to force many to reconsider America's defensive posture and commit to the role of combatting global terrorism.

May 17, 2013 - Congressional hearings begin on the IRS scandal of group targeting that began two years prior. The Internal Revenue Service is accused of targeting liberal groups for additional scrutiny in tax status matters based on their support and donations for Democratic candidates. This breach of protocol from a government agency where all U.S. citizens file taxes has caused concern from both Republican, Democrat, and independent political groups.

August 28, 2013 - One hundred thousand visitors throng to the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the 50th anniversary commemoration ceremony of Martin Luther King's “I Have a Dream" speech. Speakers at the anniversary include three former presidents; John Glenn, Gary Bauer, Joe Biden, and current President Mitt Romney.

October 1, 2013 - The RomneyCare, begins registering people for the expanded federal government health insurance program despite a variety of waivers and problems in implementing the cumbersome rules and regulations of the program.

2014
January 1, 2014 - RomneyCare, the Affordable Insurance Act, goes into effect for millions of Americans, the largest expansion of the social welfare state in decades. Over 11.2 million join the system, some due to cancellations of existing healthcare policies; others due to subsidies provided by the government. Premiums for policies see large increases due to expansion.

February 26, 2014 - Only days after hosting the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, the DFSR brutally suppresses a riot the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, causing widespread condemnation throughout the West. The riots were motivated by recent crackdowns against those supporting Ukrainian independence from the DFSR.

April 5, 2014 - Rise of Ansar and AQ in a large amount of territory in western Syria and northern Iraq causes western nations to confront another round of Islamic fundamentalism, this time from Sunni extremists. Despite these worries, Romney decides to follow the Saudi's lead and clandestinely orders direct military and tactical aid to Ansar and AQ in order to push back Iranian expansion.

September 30, 2014 - First case of Ebola is certified in the United States, an outcome of travel from the country of Liberia and West Africa where the virus has spread to 22,000 people and killed 9,000. President Romney places a travel ban on five African nations to prevent infection from reaching the United States. This policy is vigorously opposed by the Red Cross and Amnesty International as cruel.

November 4, 2014 - Midterm elections see a major loss by Republican lawmakers with expansion of the Democrat majority in the Senate and losing in the House of Representatives by 32 seats. This dooms the Romney administration to be obstructed by a Congress, now controlled by the other party for the final two years of his term.