Timeline of United States history (1970-present)
This section of the Timeline of United States history concerns events from 1970 to the present.
| Table of contents |
|
2 1980s 3 1990s 4 2000s |
1970s
- 1970 - Environmental Protection Agency enacted
- 1971 - 26th Amendment ratified
- 1972 - U.S. presidential election, 1972 (including Watergate burglary)
- 1973 - Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling over-turns state laws against abortion
- 1973 - Skylab, USA's first space station launched
- 1974 - Richard
Nixon resigns Presidency over Watergate
advertisement
- 1974 - Gerald R. Ford becomes President (by succession rather than election)
- 1976 - U.S. presidential election, 1976
- 1977 - Jimmy Carter becomes President
- 1978 - Humphrey Hawkins Full Employment Act
- 1978 - Camp David Accords (1978)
- 1979 - Three Mile Island nuclear accident
- 1979 - Iran
hostage crisis begins
1980s
- 1980 - Refugee Act
- 1980 - Mount St Helens eruption in Washington kills 57
- 1980 - U.S boycotts Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
- 1980 - U.S. presidential election, 1980
- 1981 - Ronald Reagan becomes President (Iran releases hostages)
- 1981 - Kemp-Roth Tax Cut
- 1983 - 241 U.S. Marines killed by suicide bomb in Lebanon
- 1983 - United States invades Grenada
- 1984 - Most of Eastern Bloc boycotts Summer Olympics in Los Angeles
- 1984 - U.S. presidential election, 1984 (Ronald Reagan is re-elected)
- 1986 - Space Shuttle Challenger accident
- 1986 - Tax Reform Act of 1986
- 1986 - Gramm Rudman Hollings Balanced Budget Act
- 1987 - Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 22.6% in single session on Black Monday
- 1988 - Discovery launched as first post-Challenger space shuttle flight
- 1988 - U.S. presidential election, 1988
- 1989 - George H. W. Bush becomes President
- 1989 - Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound
1990s
- 1990 - Hubble Space Telescope placed in orbit
- 1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait leading to 1991 Gulf War
- 1990 - Loma Prieta earthquake kills 63 in greater San Francisco Bay Area
- 1991 - Gulf War
- 1991 - Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3469 homes and apartments
- 1992 - Los Angeles Riots kill 50-60 people and causes nearly $1 billion damage
- 1992 - 27th Amendment ratified
- 1992 - Hurricane Andrew kills 23 and causes $26.5 billion in damage as it strikes Florida and later Louisiana
- 1992 - U.S. presidential election, 1992
- 1993 - Bill Clinton becomes President
- 1993 - World Trade Center bombing kills 6 and injures at least 1040
- 1993 - Branch Davidians standoff and fire in Waco, Texas
- 1994 - Northridge earthquake kills 57 in Los Angeles area
- 1995 - Following the 1994 elections, Republicans gain control of both the House and Senate for the first time since 1955.
- 1995 - 168 killed in Oklahoma City bombing
- 1995 - TWA flight 800 explodes off of Long Island killing all 230 aboard
- 1996 - Khobar Towers bombing leaves 19 U.S. servicemen dead in Saudi Arabia
- 1996 - Centennial Olympic Park bombing at Summer Olympics in Atlanta kills 1 and injures 11
- 1996 - U.S. presidential election, 1996 (Bill Clinton is re-elected)
- 1997 - President Clinton bars federal funding for any research on human cloning.
- 1998 - 224 killed in 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya
- 1999 - President Clinton is acquitted in impeachment trial by U.S. Senate
2000s
- 2000 - USS Cole bombing in Yemen
- 2000 - U.S. presidential election, 2000
- 2001 - George W. Bush becomes President
- 2001 - Democrats gain narrow control of Senate after James Jeffords defects from Republicans
- 2001 - September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon
- 2001 - Invasion of Afghanistan
- 2002 - Department of Homeland Security enacted
- 2003 - Republicans retake narrow control of Senate following 2002 elections
- 2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
- 2003 - Invasion of Iraq
| 1950-1969 | 1970-present
History of the United States |