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History Since 1984: A List of Stuff Part A

 




Today and tomorrow I will present a timeline of the last 38 years. Just one event per year. With little organization. Just think of this as a lot of stuff that happened. If we try to think of them as the "most important events" of their respective years, some of the choices will seem a tad eccentric. 

1984, The Sino-British Joint Declaration sets out plans for a transition of Hong Kong to PRC sovereignty.

1985, Microsoft releases Window 1.0

1986, The launch of the Fox Broadcasting Co.

1987. The US FDA approves the marketing of Prozac.

1988. This was the year of the peak of the insider trading scandal that made Rudolph Giuliani a person of importance.  Drexel Burnham pleaded guilty this year. 

1989. This was the year of the SATANIC VERSES controversy involving the Ayatollah Khomeini and Salman Rushdie.

1990. East and West Germany re-unite after decades of separation.

1991. The Soviet Union dissolves itself.

1992. The European Union comes into being, as a stronger and more political unity than the "common market" by which it had been preceded.

1993. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is confirmed by each of the three national legislatures involved.

1994. The US Supreme Court announces an important "establishment of religion" case, Kiryas Joel Village.

1995. The Washington Post and the New York Times publish the Unabomber's manifesto. 

1996. The year the Olympics came to Atlanta, Georgia, with disastrous consequences for one private security guard, who was wrongly charged with the bombing of Centennial Olympic Park.

1997. The death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

1998. The collapse of Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) puts hedge funds into the vocabulary of the common folk. 

1999. the Euro is established as a currency, and the European Central Bank assumes full powers throughout the currency's zone. 

2000. The US Supreme Court for the first time in its history intervenes decisively in the outcome of a Presidential election, in BUSH v. GORE. 

2001. Al Qaeda attacks US targets and kills thousands.

2002. The US Dept of Homeland Security is brought into existence.

2003.  The United States forces an end to the Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein. Most Americans are likely under the impression that this had something to do with the Al Qaeda attack two years before. It does not. 

TO BE CONTINUED.  

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