United States TimeLine of Liberty 1900's . . . PoetPatriot.com

TimeLines of Liberty
American History - 20th Century

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United States of America - 20th Century
TimeLine - 1900s

1600 - 1799

1800

1900

2000

Last updated March, 2005.
Categories are general with over-lapping jurisdictions.

1901

Pres.

President William McKinley is begins his second term as president.

1901

Pres.

President William McKinley is shot by an anarchist.

1901

Pres.

Theodore Roosevelt becomes the 26th President upon the death of President McKinley.

1901

Immigr.

Resulting from the assassination of President McKinley, by a Polish anarchist, Congress enacts the Anarchist Exclusion Act. The Anarchist Act allows the excluding of immigrants based on their political opinions.

1901

Politics

The Socialist Party of America is formed.

1902

War

Cuba's occupation by the United States ends.

1905

Pres.

President Theodore Roosevelt retains the Presidency for a second term.

1907

Rights

The Expatriation Act nullifies the citizenship of an American woman who marries a foreign national (Asian).

1907

Immigr.

The United States agrees not to restrict Japanese immigration and Japan promises not to issue passports to Japanese laborers for travel to the continental U. S. Japanese laborers can go to Hawaii, but an executive order prevents migration from Hawaii to the mainland.

1907

State

Oklahoma is the 46th state admitted to the Union.

1908

Pres.

Nelson Rockefeller was born, He became the 41st U.S. Vice President under Pres. Gerald Ford.

1909

Pres.

William H. Taft is the 27th President.

1911

Pres.

Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois. He become a film actor, governor of California and the 40th president of the United States. He is also credited with ending the Cold War.

1912

State

- New Mexico is admitted to the Union on January 6th as the 47th state.
- Arizona becomes the 48th State of the Union.

1912

Vote

The campaigns of 1912 are the first to address the issue of women voting. Woodrow Wilson won the election.

1913

Pres.

Woodrow Wilson serves as the 28th President of the United States.

1913

Pres.

- Richard M. Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. He was the 37th president of the United States (1968-1974) and the first President to resign from office.
- Gerald Ford was born as Leslie King, Jr. in Omaha, Nebraska. He became the 41st Vice-President and 38th President of the United States.

1913

Gov. $

The Federal Reserve Act is enacted creating the first "central bank" in America.

1913

Rights

Addressing Chinese and Japanese the California Alien Land Law prohibits the owning of property in the state by "aliens ineligible for citizenship". Providing the model other states follow suit.

1914

War

World War I Begins when Germany invades Belgium. America enters the war in 1917, one year before it ends.

1917

War

America enters World War I. Woodrow Wilson lobbied against entry for the first three years.

1917

Immigr.

Congress over-rides President Woodrow Wilson's veto enacting a literacy requirement for immigrants, requiring immigrants to be able to read 40 words in some language. Immigration from Asia, except Japan and the Philippines is prohibited by the same act.

1917

Pres.

Woodrow Wilson is retains the Presidency for a second term.

1918

Rights Vote

The Nineteenth Amendment passes in the U.S. House but fails to win the required 2/3 majority in the U.S. Senate.

1918

Pres.

Spiro Agnew was born. He later became governor of Maryland and vice-president under Nixon.

1918

War

1919

Vote

The House of Representatives passes women's right to vote (19th) amendment, 304 to 89; the Senate passes it by just two votes, 56 to 25.

1919

Politics

The Communist Party of America is organized.

1920

Vote

The 19th Amendment is ratified. “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

1921

Pres.

Warren G. Harding in 1921 is inaugurated as the 29th U.S. President.

1921

First

Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback is the first U.S. state governor. He became Louisiana's governor when his predecessor was impeached. PBS Pinchback served as a Republican governor for one month.

1921

War

The "Unknown Soldier" is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

1921

Immigr.

European immigration is limited, by the Quota Act, to 3 percent of the number of a nationality group in the United States in 1910.

1922

Rights

The Cable Act effectively repeals the Expatriation Act, but maintains the revoking of citizenship to an American woman who marries an Asian.

1922

Pres.

The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated.

1923

Pres.

Calvin Coolidge, upon President Harding's death becomes the 30th American President.

1923

Rights

- What became later in 1943 as the Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed in 1923.
- Indians from the Asian subcontinent cannot become naturalized U.S. citizens was the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case of United States vs. Bhaghat Singh Thind.

1924

Pres.

Jimmy Carter was born in Plains, Georgia. (James Earl), He became the 39th president of the United States.

1924

Rights

- Indians became United States citizens, also to be recognized as a citizens of their tribe.
- Annual European immigration is limited to 2 percent of the number of nationality group in the United States in 1890 by the Johnson-Reed Act.
- Immigration from Asia, including foreign-born wives and children of U.S. citizens of Chinese ancestry is prohibited by the Oriental Exclusion Act.

1925

Pres.

Calvin Coolidge retains the presidency for a second term.

1925

Vote

In an act of Congress Indians are given the right to vote.

1925

First

Edith Nourse Rogers, Republican from Massachusetts, is the first woman to serve in the U. S. House of Representatives. She was the longest serving woman in House. She introduced the GI Bill of Rights.

1927

History

On May 21 Charles Lindbergh lands his airplane the "Spirit of St. Louis" in Paris, France.

1928

First

Octaviano Larrazolo becomes the first Hispanic Senator in U. S. History.

1929

Pres.

Herbert C. Hoover is the 31st President.

1929

Econ.

- The Stock Market crashes.
- The Great Depression Begins.

1932

First

Having first served being appointed in 1931 to fill the remaining term of her deceased husband, Hattie Carraway of Arkansas in 1932 is the first Woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

1933

Pres.

The 32nd U.S. President is Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1933

First

Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints Frances Perkins as secretary of labor, the first woman cabinet member.

1934

Immigr.

Filipinos are denied the status as U.S. nationals and are severely restricted from immigrating to the United States by an established annual quota of 50 but are granted Philippine independence effective July 4th, 1946 by the Tydings-McDuffie Act.

1935

Gov.

The Social Security Act is approved by Congress.

1935

First

Mary McLeod Bethune served as an advisor on African American affairs to four presidents. She was the first Black woman to such a high office in the federal government.

1937

Pres.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt retains the presidency for a second term.

1938

Gov.

Congress approves a Federal minimum wage act.

1939

War

1940

First

- Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., becomes the first black general in the U. S. Army.

1940

Immigr.

Registration and fingerprinting of all aliens in the United States over the age of 14 is required by the Alien Registration Act, that also classifies Korean immigrants as subjects of Japan.

1941

Pres.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt begins a third term. "We do not retreat. We are not content to stand still. As Americans, we go forward, in the service of our country, by the will of God." - President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Third Inaugural Address.

1941

Rights

Discrimination in defense industries is for bidden in an executive order by President Franklin D. Roosevelt after lobbying efforts led by A. Philip Randolph.

1941

Pres.

Dick Cheney was born in Lincoln, Neb. He was chief of staff for President Ford, a US Rep., Sec. of Defense for President George H.W. Bush and in 2000 was chosen to be the running mate by Gov. George W. Bush.

1941

War

Pear Harbor is attacked by the Japanese, prompting the entry of America into World War II.

1942

Rights

- Filipinos are reclassified as U.S. citizens, allowing them to register for the military.
- Executive Order 9066 allows for the evacuation of 112,000 Japanese Americans from the Pacific coast, placing them in ten internment camps.

1943

First

Uilliam Dawson a Black, becomes democratic Party vice-presidential candidate.

1943

Rights

All restrictions on Asians acquiring U.S. citizenship are abolished by the end of the 1940's beginning when the Chinese Exclusion Act is repealed.

1943

Immigr.

Congress creates a guest worker program, the Bracero Program, that brings temporary agricultural workers into the U. S. from Mexico. The program ended in 1964.

1944

Pres.

U.S. Senator Harry S Truman of Independence, Missouri is elected Vice President.

1944

Rights

The U.S. Navy allows enlistment of black women.

1944

Rights

The internment of Japanese Americans is upheld by the Supreme Court as constitutional, in the case of United States v. Korematsu.

1945

Pres.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt begins his fourth term as president.

1945

Pres.

U.S. Vice President Harry S Truman becomes the 33rd President upon the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

1945

Rights

The Equal Pay for Equal Work bill is introduced in Congress a second time, again it does not pass.

1945

War

- The first A- bomb (atomic) is detonated in New Mexico.
- America drops the Atomic Bomb on Japan. The Japanese accept surrender terms on August 14.
- World War II ends. Copyright 2005 Roger W Hancock c)

1945

Immigr.

The War Brides Act allows foreign-born wives of U.S. servicemen to enter the United States.

1946

Gov.

The National School Lunch Act was passed in the 79th Congress.

1946

Pres.

George Walker Bush Jr. was born. He becomes governor of Texas and 43rd President of the United States.

1946

War

Immigr.

- The fiancés of American soldiers are allowed to enter the United States.
- The Luce-Cellar Act gives the right to become naturalized citizens to Filipinos and Asian Indians. An immigration quota is set at 100 people a year.

1946

Pres.

Bill Clinton was born as William J. Blythe III in Hope, Arkansas. He became the 42nd President of the United States.

1947

Pres.

Dan Quayle was born in Indianapolis. He later became vice-president under George H. W. Bush.

1947

Pres.

Presidential Succession Act of 1947 says should a President die in office the following is the order of succession: Vice President, Speaker of the House, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, and Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health, Housing, Transportation, Energy, Education, and Veterans Affairs.

1947

Gov.

States are allowed to enact "Right to Work" laws, by the Taft-Hartley Act.

1948

War

- The Foreign Assistance Act (Marshal Plan) was enacted allowing the American rebuilding of Europe after World War II.
- The term "Cold War" is coined to describe ongoing diplomatic tensions between America and the USSR.

1948

Immigr.

- Europeans displaced by the war are allowed entry to the states without consideration of established quotas by the Displaced Persons Act.

1948

Politics

- The Progressive Party is organized.
- The Republican national convention opens in Philadelphia on June 21st.
- The democratic national convention opens in Philadelphia on July 12.
- On June 25th, at the Republican national convention, California Gov. Earl Warren is chosen to be Thomas E. Dewey's running mate.
- On July 15th President Truman is nominated for another term of office at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
- President Harry S. Truman's second term is his first as an elected President of the United States of America.
- New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey is nominated for president on June 24th, at the Republican National Convention, in Philadelphia.

1948

Rights

- Religious education is barred in public schools, although it had been the foundation of public education since the implementation of public schooling.
- President Harry S. Truman bans discrimination in the Armed Forces.

1948

First

Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican from Maine, becomes the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate, without first serving an appointed term. She serves from 1949 until 1973. Becoming a Senator made her the first woman to serve in both the House and Senate.

1949

Pres.

President Harry S. Truman is retains the Presidency for a second term.

1950

War

- The Korean War begins.
- America's first Victory in Korea was won by the Black troops of the 24th Infantry Regiment.

1950

First

Harry S. Truman appoints Edith Sampson as the first Black American delegate to the United Nations.

1950

Immigr.

The Internal Security Act is passed over President Harry Truman's veto, bars admission to any foreigner who is a Communist or who might be a threat to national security.

1952

Race

After keeping statistics for 71 years, Tuskegee reports that 1952 is first year with no lynching.

1952

Immigr.

McCarran Walter Immigration Act is passes over President Harry Truman's veto. It affirms the national-origins quota system of 1924 and limits total annual immigration to one-sixth of one percent of the population of the continental United States in 1920, exempting spouses and children of U.S. citizens and people born in the Western Hemisphere.

1952

War

The 1st H-bomb (hydrogen) is made.

1953

Pres.

Dwight D. Eisenhower is the 34th President.

1953

First

1953

First

Jane Morrow Spaulding as Assistant Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare is the first black woman in a sub-cabinet position.

1953

Immigr.

Refugee status is extended to non-Europeans by the Refugee Relief Act.

1953

War

The Korean War officially ends.

1954

Rights

In Kansas, the Supreme Court overturns legal school segregation at all levels. (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka)

1954

The PoetPatriot is born in Auburn, Washington on April 4th.
All Rights reserved © Copyright 2005 Roger W Hancock

1954

War

The 1st nuclear powered sub goes into operation.

1954

Immigr.

Operation Wetback requires deportation of undocumented workers to Mexico.

1955

Rights

Rosa Parks refuses to change seats to sit at the back of the bus, triggering a bus boycott by Blacks, in Montgomery, Alabama, that continues through the next year.

1955

First

E. Frederic Morrow Becomes the first black named to an executive position in the White House. He was the administrative aide to President Eisenhower.

1956

June 14 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law that places the words "under God" to the United States' Pledge of Allegiance.

1956

July 30 - A Joint Resolution of the United States Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing "In God We Trust" as the U.S. national motto.

1956

Rights

Bus segregation is outlawed in Montgomery by the United States Supreme Court.

1957

Pres.

Dwight D. Eisenhower begins a second term as President.

1957

Vote

- Civil Rights Act expands the right to vote. The bill created the Commission on Civil Rights. The commission investigates allegations of Americans being deprived of their voting rights due to their race, religion, or ethnicity. The bill's only explicitly prohibition was attempting to deny an individual the right to vote through intimidation or coercion.
- For the first time men and women vote in relatively equal numbers.

1958

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is established by the 85th Congress.
The satellite Explorer II is launched

1959

State

Alaska becomes the 49th state in 1959.

1959

State

Hawaii is admitted as the 50th State of the Union on Aug. 21.

1960

Vote

Civil Rights Act further protects the right to vote. Penalties are toughened up for violent acts to coerce or intimidate individuals from voting based on race or color.

1960

Vote

1960 had the highest turnout of voters; comparing elections between 1924 and 2000.

1960

Politics

The Republican national convention in Chicago. Vice President Nixon was nominated for president. He lost in the general election to John F. Kennedy.

1961

Pres.

John F. Kennedy serves as the 35th President from 1961 until his assassination.

1961

First

Andrew Hatcher becomes the first Black Associate Press Secretary to President-elect J. F. Kennedy.

1961

Rights

Bus loads of people called the "Freedom Riders" wage a cross-country campaign for the end of bus terminal segregation.

1962

Vote

1962

NASA

- The Mariner 2 Venus probe is launched.
- John Glenn orbits earth.

1962

First

Samuel L. Gravely is the first Black to become an Admiral in the US Navy, 1962.

1963

Pres.

Lyndon Baines Johnson serves as the 36th U.S. President from 1963 to 1969. Johnson was a democrat from Texas.

1963

Rights

- The 88th Congress passes the Equal Pay Act in that promises equitable wages for the same work, regardless of the race, color, religion, national origin or sex.
- As Civil rights protests take place in major Cities across the Nation, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington. The march is the largest civil rights demonstration ever assembled.

1964

Vote

- Civil Rights Act of 1964 focused on voter registration requiring states to hold all potential voters to the same standards. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act includes language that prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.
- The poll tax is outlawed when the 24th Amendment is ratified.

1964

NASA

The first close-up photos from the moon are taken by Ranger VII.

1964

War

In retaliation for the Gulf of Tonkin attack the U.S. Bombs North Vietnam setting the state for the beginning of the Vietnam War.

1964

Politics

- The Republican National Convention was held in San Francisco, CA. Barry Goldwater is elected the Republican presidential candidate.
- The first woman nominated for the presidency in either the democrat or Republican parties was Margaret Chase Smith who came in second to Barry Goldwater at the Republican Convention in 1964.
- The democratic national convention is held in Atlantic City, N.J. President Johnson was nominated for another term of office.

1965

Pres.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) begins a second term as President.

1965

Vote

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 suspended the use of literacy tests and other conditions to voting for five years.

1965

Rights

The Thirteenth Amendment is ratified, slavery constitutionally abolished.

1965

Politics

The Black Panther Party is founded in Oakland, California.

1965

Immigr.

The Immigration and Nationality Act repeals the national origins quota system to give priority to family reunification.

1965

First

Patricia Roberts Harris becomes the first black ambassador when assigned as Ambassador to Luxembourg.

1966

Rights

The Poll Tax is declared unconstitutional.

1966

NASA

Astronaut Aldrin of the Genini 12 mission makes a space walk.

1966

First

- Andrew F. Brimmer began an eight-and-a-half year term as the first Black on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
- Robert C. Weaver is the first Black cabinet member when he becomes Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs in the Johnson Administration.
- Lucius D. Amerson is the first Black since Reconstruction to be elected Sheriff in the south.
- Edward W Brooke is the first Black U.S. Senator in 85 years when elected as a Republican from Massachusetts.

1967

First

- Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first Black Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Carl Stokes, a Democrat, was elected the first black mayor of a major city when elected mayor of Cleveland, Ohio.

1967

Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that a state cannot ban interracial marriages.

1967

Pres.

The 25th Amendment regarding presidential succession, was ratified.

1967

NASA

3 American astronauts are killed on the launching pad.

1968

Rights

Over 124 Race Riots break out across the county following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in Memphis, Tennessee.

1968

First

- Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Mae Watson is the first Woman and the first Black to hold the position.
- Shirley Chisholm, a democrat from New York, is the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress.

1968

Politics

- The Republican National Convention is held in Miami Beach, Florida. Richard M. Nixon was nominated for president. That same day Nixon picked Maryland Gov. Spiro T. Agnew to be his running mate. Nixon and Agnew win in the general election.
- The democratic national convention is held in Chicago, Illinois. Vice-President Hubert Horatio Humphrey was nominated the US Presidency. Three times the number of Blacks, 300, were in attendance than at the 1964 Democrat convention.

1969

Pres.

Richard M. Nixon is seated as the 37th President of the United States serving from 1969 until he resigns in 1974. "Our destiny offers, not the cup of despair, but the chalice of opportunity. So let us seize it, not in fear, but in gladness-- and, "riders on the earth together," let us go forward, firm in our faith, steadfast in our purpose, cautious of the dangers; but sustained by our confidence in the will of God and the promise of man." - President Richard Milhous Nixon, First Inaugural Address. Nixon was a Republican from California.

1969

Rights

The U. S. Supreme Court rules racial segregation in schools is to end immediately.

1969

NASA

- Neil Armstrong is the 1st man on the moon.
- The Mariner space probe sends photos from Mars.
- Astronaut Charles Conrad walks on the moon during the Apollo XII mission.

1970

Vote

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is extended to suspend the use of literacy tests and all similar preconditions to voting for 7 years.

1970

First

In Newark, New Jersey Kenneth Gibson becomes the first black mayor of an Eastern city.

1970

Roger W Hancock, the PoetPatriot, while still attending Auburn Senior High School becomes involved with the Jesus People movement. He is one of the few to still remain fast in his faith thirty-plus years later.
All rights reserved © Copyright 2005 Roger W Hancock

1971

Vote

The voting age is reduced to 18.

1971

War

Beginning of detante International relations between the US & China begin to soften.

1971

Politics

The Congressional Black Caucus is organized.

1972

Rights

The ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) passes in the US Senate.

1972

First

Barbara Jordan, a democrat from Texas, is the first black woman elected to Congress from the Southern states.

1972

War

World detante softens the Cold War.

1972

Politics

- The Republican National Convention met in Miami Beach, Florida. Nixon and running mate, Spiro T. Agnew, were nominated and subsequently won their second term.
- George McGovern wins the democrat candidacy.
- Richard M. Nixon is elected President over George McGovern by the widest margin of any American Presidential election.

1972

Rights

The Death Penalty is declared unconstitutional.

1972

NASA

The Venus 8 probe sends photos from Venus.

1972

Roger W Hancock, the PoetPatriot, begins attending a home fellowship, Family Circle Fellowship, that met in the pastor's (Thomas Simms) home.
All rights reserved © Copyright 2005 Roger W Hancock

1973

Pres.

Richard M. Nixon begins a second term as President of the United States.

1973

Pres.

- Vice President Spiro T. Agnew became the first Vice president to resign from office.
- President Richard Nixon appoints Gerald Ford as the new Vice President after Spiro T.Agnew resigned. The Senate voted 92-3 to confirm Gerald R. Ford as vice president.

1973

First

Thomas Bradley is first Black elected mayor of Los Angeles.
Maynard H. Jackson is the first Black to be elected mayor of Atlanta.

1973

Rights

In Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973): The U.S. Supreme Court rules the Constitution protects women’s right to terminate an early pregnancy, effectively making the killing of the unborn legal in America.

1973

NASA

Photos of Jupiter are received from Pioneer 10 and the Skylab missions are completed.

1973

War

The SALT-1 Treaty is signed to limit production of nuclear weapons.

1973

The PoetPatriot, Roger W Hancock, graduates HighSchool and begins college at Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington. Believing he had not the aptitude to write he avoids journalism while taking all other communication courses, advertising, layout, photography, broadcasting, but not journalism.

1974

Rights

Housing and credit discrimination on the basis of sex is banned by Congress.

1974

Pres.

President Richard Nixon becomes the first President to resign from office.

1974

Pres.

Gerald R. Ford is sworn in as the 38th US President when Nixon resigns.

1974

First

Ella Grasso of Connecticutt is the first woman elected to a governorship.

1974

First

Barbara W. Hancock was the first Black woman named a White House fellow.

1975

Vote

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is extended to suspend the use of literacy tests and all similar preconditions to voting for 7 years.

1975

War

The Vietnam War ends when the United States pulls out of Vietnam leaving the President of South Vietnam to surrender to North Vietnam.

1975

NASA

The Apollo & Sojuz spacecrafts link up in space.

1976

Politics

The Republican National Convention is held in New York City. President Ford won the Republican presidential nomination over Ronald Reagan by a narrow margin.

1976

First

At the Republican National Convention, Mary Louis Smith, chair of the Republican National Committee, is the first woman to organize and call to order a major US political party convention.

1976

NASA

The US Viking probe lands on Mars

1976

Politics

1976

Roger W Hancock, the PoetPatriot, having ran out of funds to remain a student looks for a job and hires on with Pacific Northwest Bell as a Clerk. He later becomes a Telephone Installer/Repairman. He is in communication but not that which he had studied.
All rights reserved © Copyright 2005 Roger W Hancock

1977

Pres.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th President serves from 1977 until 1981. "... I have just taken the oath of office on the Bible my mother gave me a few years ago, opened to a timeless admonition from the ancient prophet Micah:
'He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.' (Micah 6: 8)" - President Jimmy Carter, Inaugural Address. Carter was a democrat from Georgia.

1977

First

Clifford Alexander Jr. is the first Black American to be Secretary of the Army.

1977

NASA

The U.S. Enterprise takes off on the first space shuttle flight.

1978

Rights

On December 13, 1978, the Philadelphia Mint begins stamping the Susan B. Anthony dollar, the 1st US coin to honor a woman, which went into circulation the following July.

1979

NASA

Voyager 1 photographs reveal a ring around Jupiter.

1980

Politics

- The Republican National Convention is held in Detroit, Michigan. Ronald Reagan wins the Republican Presidential nomination. George Bush for Vice President.
- The democratic national convention is held in New York. President Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale were nominated for a second term but lose to Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

1980

Immigr.

In response to the boat people fleeing Vietnam the Refugee Act is enacted granting asylum to politically oppressed refugees.

1980

War

Commandos attempt a rescue of hostages in Teheran and fail.

1980

NASA

Voyager 1 photographs the planet Saturn

1981

Pres.

Ronald Reagan becomes the 40th President.

1981

First

Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

1981

Gov.

Ronald Reagan fires Air Traffic Controllers who refused to return to work during an illegal strike.

1982

Vote

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is extended to suspend the use of literacy tests and all similar preconditions to voting for 25 years.

1982

After a contest to choose a "nick-name" for Seattle the city becomes known as the "Emerald City".

1982

First

Lee P. Brown is the first Black named police commissioner of Houston, Texas.

1983

Gov.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 20, is established as a federal holiday.

1983

First NASA

Lt. Col. Guion S. Bluford, Jr, becomes the first Black American astronaut in space.

1983

War

- The U.S. gives backing to Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
- The U.S. Embassy in Beirut is bombed by Shiite Moslems.
- American troops invade Grenada.

1984

Rights

A 1984 law required that polling places be made handicapped accessible.

1985

Pres.

Ronald Reagan begins a second term as President.

1986

First

- A bronze bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is the first of any black American to be placed in the halls of Congress.
- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, from Florida, becomes the first Hispanic woman elected to the U. S. House in 1986. Becoming the Chair of the Africa Subcommittee makes Ros-Lehtinen the first Hispanic woman to chair a House subcommittee.

1986

Immigr.

Amnesty to approximately three million illegal immigrants is granted by the Immigration Reform and Control Act that also implements penalties for employers who hire the illegal workers.

1986

NASA

- Ten moons over Uranus are discovered by photographs taken by Voyager.
- All 7 crew members are killed when the space shuttle "Challenger" explodes.

1987

First

Under President Ronald Regan, General Colin Powell becomes the first black to be National Security Advisor.

1987

First NASA

Frederick Drew Gregory is the first Black to become a commander of a space shuttle.

1988

Politics

- The Republican national convention convenes in New Orleans, Louisiana. Vice President George Bush receives the nomination. He selects Dan Quayle to be his running mate. Republicans win the Whitehouse.
- The democratic national convention was held in Atlanta, Georgia. Michael Dukakis wins the nomination. Jesse L. Jackson received 1,218 of the delegate's votes.

1988

- The PoetPatriot looks at both Party Platforms and asks himself "Why am I a Democrat?"
- The PoetPatriot becomes a Republican Activist and attends his first caucus meetings and attends the Washington State Republican Convention.

1989

Pres.

George Herbert Walker Bush is the 41st President of the United States.

1989

First

- Under President George H. W. Bush, General Colin L. Powell becomes the first Black named as Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff.
- President George H. W. Bush names the first Black Woman, Condolezza Rice, director of Soviet and East European affairs on the National Security Council. She was later promoted to senior director of Soviet and East European Affairs. Rice was later named a special assistant to the president for national security affairs.
- President George H. W. Bush names Antonia Coello Novello as the first Hispanic as Surgeon General.

1989

War

The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) begins to dissolve into individual
republics effectively ending the Cold War.

1990

Rights

- Black women in elective offices have increased to 1,950, up from 131 in 1970.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is designated a legal holiday (3rd Monday in January).

1990

First

- Douglas Wilder is the first Black elected to a U.S. governorship when elected governor of Virginia.
- Carole Gist is the first Black to be crowned Miss USA.

1991

First

- Clarence Thomas is appointed the youngest member of the U. S. Supreme Court.
- General Colin L. Powell becomes the first Black to be named Secretary of State.

1991

War

- The Gulf War liberates Kuwait from Iraq in Operation Desert Storm.
- Excluding women from the draft is declared constitutional, by the U.S. Supreme Court.

1992

Politics

The Republican National Convention is held in Houston. Then President Bush secures the nomination but will loose the election.

1992

First

- Linda Copple Trout, of Indiana, becomes the first woman appointed to the Idaho Supreme Court.
- Lucille Roybal-Allard from California is the first Mexican-American woman elected to the U. S. House.
- Nydia Velazquez of New York State is the first Puerto Rican woman in the U.S. House.
- Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois is the first Black woman elected to the United States Senate.
- Ron Brown is the first Black named to the executive post of Commerce Secretary.

1992

First NASA

As a member of the space shuttle Endeavor crew, Mae C. Jemison becomes the first Black American woman in space.

1992

Vote

Women run for public office in record numbers, many of them win. 24 elected to the House of Representatives and 6 to the Senate.

1992

Politics

The democratic national convention Is held in New York City. Bill Clinton wins the nomination and subsequently the 42nd Presidency. Al Gore becomes vice president.

1992

NASA

First mission of space shuttle Endeavor

1993

Pres.

William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton becomes the 42nd. President.

1993

First

- Janet Reno becomes the first woman Attorney General.
- Joycelyn Elders is the first black and first woman to be named United States Surgeon General.

1993

War

World Trade Center is bombed by terrorists.

1993

Gov.

1994

War

U.S. troops are sent into Haiti.

1995

First NASA

Bernard Harris is the first Black American astronaut to take a spacewalk.

1995

History

The Oklahoma City bombing occurs in 1995.

1996

Politics

- Alan Keyes, a Black radio talk show host and a conservative leader, runs for the Republican nomination for president. In 2000 he will again announce his candidacy.
- The democratic national convention Is held in Chicago. Bill Clinton wins nomination for re-election.

1996

Vote

83% of the American electorate were White, 10% Black, and 5% Hispanic.

1996

War

President Clinton sends U.S. troops to Bosnia.

1996

First

Gary Locke is elected Governor of Washington State becoming the first Chinese-American governor in the history of the U. S.

1997

Pres.

Bill Clinton begins a second term as President.

1997

Politics

Newt Gingrich becomes the first Republican re-elected Speaker of the House in 68 years. He received 95% of the Republican House vote.

1997

NASA

NASA lands a spacecraft on Mars to collect data.

1998

Rights

Tax Reform puts more of the "burden of proof" upon the IRS.

1998

Pres.

William Jefferson Clinton is impeached. The impeachment will not conclude with removal from office. President Andrew Johnson was the first to be impeached who also received acquittal.

1998

NASA

John Glenn becomes the oldest American to fly in Space.

1998

Vote

Only one in five, Less then 20 percent of 18-24 years-olds chose to vote.

1999

First

General Beth Nolan is the first female chief legal advisor of the President when she joins the Chief White House Counsel.

1999

NASA

Air Force Colonel Eileen Collins is the first woman to Command a US Space Shuttle mission.

1999

Roger W Hancock, the PoetPatriot, begins looking for another church when his pastor Thomas Simms moves to Colville, Washington. Having narrowed the prospects down to the Four Square, Life Gate Fellowship and Bible Chapel of Auburn, he kept visiting during special holiday programs and did not view a regular service at either church. Leaving a service at Bible Chapel he turns to his wife and says, "I just got the impression that this is where we should be attending." His wife, Tracie Lynn replies, " I just got the same feeling."
All rights reserved © Copyright 2005 Roger W Hancock

Index

Sources

1600 - 1799

1800

1900

2000

One Votes Counts	Political Firsts	TimeLine Index	State TimeLines	Flag TimeLine
Presidency TimeLine		American Wars	The Early Presidents