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	1960s
1960	John F. Kennedy elected 35th President (defeats Richard Nixon); Nonviolent sit-ins protest desegregation in the South
1961	Peace Corps established; Freedom Riders protest desegregation in the South
1962	Cuban missile crisis; Kennedy sends advisors to Vietnam
1963	President Kennedy assassinated (November); Lyndon Johnson becomes President; Supreme Court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright guarantees legal representation to criminal defendants
1964	Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin resolution authorizing retaliation against North Vietnam; Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey elected President and VP (defeat Barry Goldwater)
1965	Vietnam War escalates with 200,000 troops on the ground; First antiwar rally in Washington, DC; Martin Luther King leads Selma march for voting rights
1966	Supreme Court decision, Miranda v. Arizona guarantees rights to criminal defendants
1968	Martin Luther King assassinated; Robert Kennedy assassinated in the midst of campaign for Democratic nomination for President; Lyndon Johnson announces he will not run for reelection; Richard Nixon elected President (defeats Hubert Humphrey); America has over 500,000 troops in Vietnam
1969	American astronauts land on the moon; Major antiwar demonstrations in Washington, DC; Military begins lottery for the draft (December 1)
	1970s
1970	Nixon announces Cambodia invasion; Kent State/Jackson State student protesters killed; First Earth Day celebration; Congress begins troop withdrawals from Vietnam; National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger begins secret peace negotiations with North Vietnamese
1971	26th Amendment lowers voting age from 21 to 18; Greenpeace founded
1972	Richard Nixon reelected President (defeats George McGovern); Nixon resumes bombing North Vietnam after three-year hiatus; Watergate break-in at headquarters of Democratic National Committee; DDT banned; Tobacco companies agree to put health warning on tobacco products
1973	Watergate cover-up becomes public; Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade guarantees women right to privacy in decision on abortion
1974	House Judiciary Committee approves articles of impeachment against Nixon; Nixon resigns and Gerald Ford becomes President
1975	Last Americans leave Vietnam; Vietcong and North Vietnamese take South Vietnam
1976	Jimmy Carter elected President (defeats Gerald Ford)
1978	Civil war in Nicaragua (secret American aid causes Iran-Contra scandal in 1980s and influx of refugees in United States)
1979	Soviets invade Afghanistan (and leave in 1988); Iranian militants hold American hostages in Teheran (until President Reagan's inauguration Jan 1981)
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	1980s
1980	Ronald Reagan elected 40th President (defeats Jimmy Carter); First cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome/AIDS virus appear in United States.
1981	Civil war in El Salvador (continues until 1992); Democracy movement begins in Poland with formation of independent trade union Solidarity; Sandra Day O'Connor appointed first woman on Supeme Court
1982	Equal Rights Amendment fails (35 of required 38 states ratify); Vietnam Veterans Memorial installed in Washington, DC
1983	Martin Luther King birthday declared a National Holiday (3rd Monday of January)
1984	Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush re-elected (defeat Walter Mondale); America reports 7,000 cases of AIDs and 3,300 deaths; Union Carbide plan explosion in Bhopal, India
1986	Space shuttle Challenger explosion kills American astronauts including teacher in space; Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in the former USSR (now Ukraine, north of Kiev); Iran-Contra affair
1988	George H. W. Bush elected 41st President (defeats Michael Dukakis); Libyan terrorists kill 270 people in Pan Am 103 bombing above Lockerbie, Scotland (December 21)
1989	Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska; Berlin Wall falls; East European countries move toward democracy; Pro-democracy protesters killed in Tiananmen Square Massacre in Bejing
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	1990s
1990	Americans with Disabilities Act becomes law; East and West Germany reunite; Mikhail Gorbachev elected President of Soviet Union (and resigns at the end of 1991 after Soviet Union breaks apart)
1991	First Gulf War: United States/coalition attack Iraq after Iraq invades Kuwait (Jan 16-Feb 27); Rodney King beating in Los Angeles; Clarence Thomas joins U.S. Supreme Court after allegations of sexual harassment; Yugoslavia breaks up in separate countries (followed by ethnic cleansing against Muslims in 1995)
1992	Bill Clinton elected 42nd president (defeats George H.W. Bush); Riots in Los Angeles follow acquittal of white police officers in Rodney King beating
1993	First terrorist bombing of World Trade Center leaves six dead and 1,000 injured; Czechoslovakia breaks into Czech Republic and Slovakia
1994	Nelson Mandela elected President of South Africa; Genocide in Rwanda leaves 500,000 dead
1995	Oklahoma City Bombing/Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building (April 19); Genocide in Bosnia
1996	Bill Clinton and Al Gore reelected (defeat Robert Dole)
1999	Clinton impeachment trial ends in acquittal; School shooting in Columbine, Colorado; U.S. and NATO air attacks on Yugoslavia stop ethnic cleansing against ethnic Albanians

	2000s
2000	George W. Bush elected 43rd President (Al Gore wins popular vote); Supreme Court resolves lawsuits over ballot count in Florida
2001	9/11 terrorist attacks NYC, DC, Pennsylvania leave 3,000 people dead
2002	United States attacks Afghanistan in retaliation for 9/11 attacks (Oct 7)
2003	United States invades Iraq (March 19)
2004	George W. Bush reelected (defeats John Kerry); 9/11 Commission Report released to the public; Indian Ocean tsunami kills nearly 300,000 people and triggers massive international aid.
2005	Hurricane Katrina devastates City of New Orleans and Gulf Coast of United States with a million people displaced from their homes and nearly 1,000 dead. Earthquake in Pakistan region of Kashmir in October causes 80,000 fatalities.
2008	Barack Obama elected 44th President; worldwide economic recession

1960s

1960

John F. Kennedy elected 35th President (defeats Richard Nixon); Nonviolent sit-ins protest desegregation in the South

1961

Peace Corps established; Freedom Riders protest desegregation in the South

1962

Cuban missile crisis; Kennedy sends advisors to Vietnam

1963

President Kennedy assassinated (November); Lyndon Johnson becomes President; Supreme Court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright guarantees legal representation to criminal defendants

1964

Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin resolution authorizing retaliation against North Vietnam; Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey elected President and VP (defeat Barry Goldwater)

1965

Vietnam War escalates with 200,000 troops on the ground; First antiwar rally in Washington, DC; Martin Luther King leads Selma march for voting rights

1966

Supreme Court decision, Miranda v. Arizona guarantees rights to criminal defendants

1968

Martin Luther King assassinated; Robert Kennedy assassinated in the midst of campaign for Democratic nomination for President; Lyndon Johnson announces he will not run for reelection; Richard Nixon elected President (defeats Hubert Humphrey); America has over 500,000 troops in Vietnam

1969

American astronauts land on the moon; Major antiwar demonstrations in Washington, DC; Military begins lottery for the draft (December 1)

1970s

1970

Nixon announces Cambodia invasion; Kent State/Jackson State student protesters killed; First Earth Day celebration; Congress begins troop withdrawals from Vietnam; National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger begins secret peace negotiations with North Vietnamese

1971

26th Amendment lowers voting age from 21 to 18; Greenpeace founded

1972

Richard Nixon reelected President (defeats George McGovern); Nixon resumes bombing North Vietnam after three-year hiatus; Watergate break-in at headquarters of Democratic National Committee; DDT banned; Tobacco companies agree to put health warning on tobacco products

1973

Watergate cover-up becomes public; Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade guarantees women right to privacy in decision on abortion

1974

House Judiciary Committee approves articles of impeachment against Nixon; Nixon resigns and Gerald Ford becomes President

1975

Last Americans leave Vietnam; Vietcong and North Vietnamese take South Vietnam

1976

Jimmy Carter elected President (defeats Gerald Ford)

1978

Civil war in Nicaragua (secret American aid causes Iran-Contra scandal in 1980s and influx of refugees in United States)

1979

Soviets invade Afghanistan (and leave in 1988); Iranian militants hold American hostages in Teheran (until President Reagan's inauguration Jan 1981)

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1980s

1980

Ronald Reagan elected 40th President (defeats Jimmy Carter); First cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome/AIDS virus appear in United States.

1981

Civil war in El Salvador (continues until 1992); Democracy movement begins in Poland with formation of independent trade union Solidarity; Sandra Day O'Connor appointed first woman on Supeme Court

1982

Equal Rights Amendment fails (35 of required 38 states ratify); Vietnam Veterans Memorial installed in Washington, DC

1983

Martin Luther King birthday declared a National Holiday (3rd Monday of January)

1984

Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush re-elected (defeat Walter Mondale); America reports 7,000 cases of AIDs and 3,300 deaths; Union Carbide plan explosion in Bhopal, India

1986

Space shuttle Challenger explosion kills American astronauts including teacher in space; Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in the former USSR (now Ukraine, north of Kiev); Iran-Contra affair

1988

George H. W. Bush elected 41st President (defeats Michael Dukakis); Libyan terrorists kill 270 people in Pan Am 103 bombing above Lockerbie, Scotland (December 21)

1989

Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska; Berlin Wall falls; East European countries move toward democracy; Pro-democracy protesters killed in Tiananmen Square Massacre in Bejing

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1990s

1990

Americans with Disabilities Act becomes law; East and West Germany reunite; Mikhail Gorbachev elected President of Soviet Union (and resigns at the end of 1991 after Soviet Union breaks apart)

1991

First Gulf War: United States/coalition attack Iraq after Iraq invades Kuwait (Jan 16-Feb 27); Rodney King beating in Los Angeles; Clarence Thomas joins U.S. Supreme Court after allegations of sexual harassment; Yugoslavia breaks up in separate countries (followed by ethnic cleansing against Muslims in 1995)

1992

Bill Clinton elected 42nd president (defeats George H.W. Bush); Riots in Los Angeles follow acquittal of white police officers in Rodney King beating

1993

First terrorist bombing of World Trade Center leaves six dead and 1,000 injured; Czechoslovakia breaks into Czech Republic and Slovakia

1994

Nelson Mandela elected President of South Africa; Genocide in Rwanda leaves 500,000 dead

1995

Oklahoma City Bombing/Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building (April 19); Genocide in Bosnia

1996

Bill Clinton and Al Gore reelected (defeat Robert Dole)

1999

Clinton impeachment trial ends in acquittal; School shooting in Columbine, Colorado; U.S. and NATO air attacks on Yugoslavia stop ethnic cleansing against ethnic Albanians

2000s

2000

George W. Bush elected 43rd President (Al Gore wins popular vote); Supreme Court resolves lawsuits over ballot count in Florida

2001

9/11 terrorist attacks NYC, DC, Pennsylvania leave 3,000 people dead

2002

United States attacks Afghanistan in retaliation for 9/11 attacks (Oct 7)

2003

United States invades Iraq (March 19)

2004

George W. Bush reelected (defeats John Kerry); 9/11 Commission Report released to the public; Indian Ocean tsunami kills nearly 300,000 people and triggers massive international aid.

2005

Hurricane Katrina devastates City of New Orleans and Gulf Coast of United States with a million people displaced from their homes and nearly 1,000 dead. Earthquake in Pakistan region of Kashmir in October causes 80,000 fatalities.

2008

Barack Obama elected 44th President; worldwide economic recession

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