US History 1990 to 1999 Chronology

More Chronologies

1990

Ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrenders to US forces, ten days after taking refuge in the Vatican's diplomatic mission.

Ref: 5

Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is transferred to a Miami jail.

Ref: 5

Former Exxon Valdez skipper Joseph Hazelwood went on trial in Anchorage, Alaska, on charges stemming from the nation's worst oil spill.

Ref: 70

The Exxon Corporation and Exxon Shipping were indicted on five criminal counts relating to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill which had gooed up Alaska pretty good.

Ref: 4

A jury in Anchorage, Alaska, found former tanker captain Joseph Hazelwood innocent of three major charges in connection with the Exxon Valdez oil spill, but convicted him of a minor charge of negligent discharge of oil.

Ref: 70

Former Exxon Valdez Captain Joseph Hazelwood ordered to help clean up Prince William Sound & pay $50,000 in restitution for 1989 oil spill.

Ref: 5

It becomes illeagal in Salem Oregon to be within 2' of nude dancers.

Ref: 5

Michael Milken pleads innocent to security law violations.

Ref: 5

Maximum New York State unemployment benefits raised to $260 per week.

Ref: 5

Wash DC mayor Marion Barry announces he will not seek a 4th term,

Ref: 5

US House of Reps vote 254-177 to stop US flag burning, doesn't pass

Ref: 5

Florida passes a law prohibits wearing a throng bathing suit.

Ref: 5

The House of Representatives reprimanded Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., for ethics violations.

Ref: 70

McMartin pre-school child molestation, longest U.S. criminal case, ends in mistrial after 7 yrs.

Blackout hits Chicago.

Ref: 5

A jury finds Marion Barry, former mayor of Washington, D.C., guilty of possession of crack-cocaine.

President Bush accepts delivery of a modified 747-200B as Air Force One.

President George H.W. Bush told a news conference that a "new world order" could emerge from the Gulf crisis.

Ref: 70

George Bush & Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Helsinki.

Ref: 5

Florida lottery goes over $100,000,000.

Ref: 5

Former savings and loan chief executive Charles H. Keating is jailed in Los Angeles in lieu of $5 million bail after he is indicted on criminal fraud charges.(XDG, p. 4A, 9/18/2000)

The Mustang Ranch, a famous Nevada brothel, was shutdown by the IRS for past due taxes. A motion to have the government run the lucrative business fails for some reason. :-)

Ref: 62

South African president F.W. de Klerk meets Pres Bush in Wash DC.

Ref: 5

President Bush signs the Clear Air Act of 1990.

Ref: 5

Manuel Noriega claims US denied him a fair trial.

Ref: 5

Four of the so-called "Keating Five" went before the Senate Ethics Committee to deny any wrong-doing in helping failed savings-and-loan owner Charles Keating, Jr. (XDG, p 4A, 11/16/2000)

Signing of Declaration of "End of Cold war" in Paris.

Ref: 5

U.S. Census Bureau officials reported that the U.S. population stood at 249,632,692 people.

Ref: 4

1991

US Congress begins debate on Persian Gulf crisis.

Ref: 5

Manuel Noriega is given access to assets frozen by US government.

Ref: 5

Nadine Strossen is first female president of the ACLU.

Ref: 5

US forgives $2 billion in loans to Poland.

Ref: 2

27 lost at sea when 2 US Navy anti-submarine planes collide.

Ref: 5

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney announces plans to close 31 major US military bases, including Fort Ord in California and Fort Dix in New Jersey.

Ref: 5

Maximum New York State unemployment benefits raised to $280 per week.

Ref: 5

The Census Bureau estimated its 1990 census had failed to count up to 6.3 million people.

Ref: 5

The government reported the nation had sunk deeper into recession in the first quarter of 1991 as the gross national product shrank at an annual rate of 2.8 percent.

Ref: 64

Exxon Corporation and the state of Alaska withdrew from a one billion-dollar settlement of the "Exxon Valdez" oil spill (another settlement was reached later).

Ref: 6

Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.

Ref: 70

The Commerce Department reported the US trade deficit had narrowed sharply in March 1991 to $4.05 billion, the lowest level in nearly eight years.

Ref: 6

The United States and the Soviet Union resolved differences over the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, clearing the way for a superpower summit.

Ref: 6

President Bush tapped former Democratic national chairman Robert S. Strauss to be the new US ambassador to the Soviet Union.

Ref: 6

The government reported the nation's unemployment rate had worsened to a four-year high of 6.9 percent in May, up 0.3 percent from April.

Ref: 64

Mother of All Parades-NYC welcomes desert storm troops

Ref: 5

The Louisiana Legislature enacted a strict anti-abortion law, overriding a veto by Governor Buddy Roemer.

Ref: 6

Newly elected Russian President Boris Yeltsin lobbied Congress during a Washington visit as he sought closer ties.

Ref: 6

�I�m very pleased to welcome to the White House the newly-elected President of the Russian Republic, Boris Yeltsin,� said (41st) U.S. President George Bush (George I), greeting Yeltsin in the Rose Garden. �We will be interested in his views on the critical issues confronting the U.S.S.R. and its place in the world.�

Ref: 4

Secretary of State James Baker visited Yugoslavia, where he pleaded for a peaceful solution to multiethnic conflicts that were threatening to erupt into civil war.

Ref: 64

An estimated 200,000 Albanians turned out in the capital Tirana to cheer visiting US Secretary of State James Baker.

Ref: 64

The US Senate voted 53-to-45 to give itself a $23,200 pay raise while at the same time banning outside speaking fees.

Ref: 6

The Senate voted to impose a long list of strict new conditions on renewal of China's normal trade status in 1992; however, the 55-to-44 vote fell short of the two-thirds majority later needed to override President Bush's veto.

Ref: 6

The Justice Department joined forces with the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue in fighting a federal judge's order to keep two abortion clinics in Wichita, KS, open.

Ref: 6

Court rules Manuel Noriega, may access some secret US documents

Ref: 5

Lebanese kidnappers release American hostage Edward Tracy after holding him captive for over five years.

Ref: 5

Prominent Washington figure Clark Clifford resigns as chairman of First American Bankshares Inc. in the wake of the BCCI scandal.

President Bush signed an order calling up reservists to bolster the US military buildup in the Persian Gulf.

Ref: 6

President Bush announced that he and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev would meet in Helsinki, Finland, for a "free-flowing" one-day summit on the Persian Gulf crisis and other issues.

Ref: 6

President Bush returned to Washington from his Maine vacation home to prepare for his summit in Finland with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Ref: 6

US trial of former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega begins

Ref: 5

President Bush left for his one-day Finland summit with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Ref: 6

President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev arrived in Helsinki, Finland, for a one-day summit sparked by the Persian Gulf crisis.

Ref: 6

US trial of Panamanian leader Noriega begins.

Ref: 5

SAC forces stand down from Alert status.

Ref: 50

Top leaders of Congress and the Bush administration began closed-door negotiations in an attempt to reach an eleventh-hour budget agreement.

Ref: 6

President Bush and congressional leaders forged a $500 billion five-year compromise package of tax increases and spending cuts.

Ref: 6

President George H.W. Bush strongly condemned the military coup in Haiti, suspending U.S. economic and military aid and demanding the immediate return to power of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Ref: 70

The US House of Representatives rejected a $500 billion budget agreement forged by congressional leaders and the Bush administration.

Ref: 6

President Bush told a news conference he would be willing to consider higher income tax rates for the wealthy, but later appeared to back off that stand. (Ref 6)

Ref: 6

The U.S. House of Representatives sustained President Bush's veto of a bill that would have lifted his ban on federally financed abortion counseling.

Ref: 64

President Bush signed a civil rights bill, then sought to calm a storm of controversy by withdrawing a tentative order to end government hiring preferences for blacks and women.

Ref: 70

President George H.W. Bush threatened to veto anti-crime legislation heading for a final vote in Congress, accusing Democrats of producing a bill that would actually weaken law enforcement. Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev suffered a setback in his bid to hold the Soviet Union together when leaders of seven republics refused to endorse a treaty creating a new political union.

Ref: 64

The Stars and Stripes were lowered for the last time at Clark Air Base in the Philippines as the United States abandoned one of its oldest and largest overseas installations, which was damaged by a volcano.

Ref: 64

Embattled White House chief of staff John H. Sununu resigned; he was succeeded by Samuel K. Skinner.

Ref: 5

President George H.W. Bush spoke by telephone with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, after which a senior Bush administration official said the United States would extend diplomatic recognition to the Russian republic.

Ref: 64

Amid strained U.S.-Philippine relations, the Philippine government ordered the U.S. to close its Subic Bay naval base near Manila by January 12, 1992.

Ref: 4

1992

32 Cubans defect to the US via helicopter.

Ref: 5

President Bush, visiting Singapore as part of a Pacific trade tour, announced plans to shift to Singapore the Navy logistics command that was being evicted from the Philippines.

Ref: 64

President Bush arrived in Japan on a tough-talk trade mission.

Ref: 64

President Bush returned home from his grueling 12-day journey to Australia, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, boasting of "dramatic progress" on trade issues.

Ref: 64

Macy's files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed an agreement of general principles that concluded decades of East-West rivalry and encouraged a future relationship of cooperation. The signing in Washington DC marked the official end of the �Cold War�.

Ref: 4

Defense opens calling Noriega "our ally in the war on drugs".

Ref: 5

John Frohnmayer announces his resignation as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. (XDG, p 4A, 2/21/2002)

Sen. Brock Adams, D-Wash., abandoned his re-election campaign after eight women accused him in a Seattle Times report of sexual abuse and harassment.

Ref: 70

President Bush apologizes for raising taxes after pledging not to.

Ref: 5

Ethic committee votes to reveal congressmen who bounced checks.

Ref: 5

The FBI established a Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division. CJIS consolidated existing FBI services provided to law enforcement and criminal justice agencies. The Division incorporated the FBI's NCIC Program, the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), and the Uniform Crime Reports Program.

Ref: 14

Greek frogmen and US Marines evacuate hundreds of foreigners trapped in Albania by that country's descent into anarchy. (XDG, p 4A, 3/15/2002)

Battleship USS Missouri (on which, Japan surrendered) decommissioned.

Ref: 5

Former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega was convicted in Miami of eight drug and racketeering charges.

Ref: 70

Financier Charles Keating Jr is sentenced to nine years in prison for swindling investors when his Savings and Loan collapsed. (Keating's convictions were later overturned.) (XDG, p 4A, 4/10/2002)

A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise was ratified when Michigan became the 38th state to approve it.

Ref: 70

Former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev addressed members of the U.S. Congress, appealing to them to pass a bill aiding the people of the former Soviet Union.

Ref: 70

The 27th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting Congress from giving itself mid-term pay raises, went into effect.

Ref: 70

New Jersey senate overrides Governor Florio's veto & lowers sales tax to 6%.

Ref: 5

President Bush orders Coast Guard to intercept boats with Haitian refugees.

Ref: 5

Navy Secretary H. Lawrence Garrett III resigned for a "leadership failure" that resulted in the Tailhook sex abuse scandal. (XDG, p 4A, 6/26/2002)

The Mall of America opened in Bloomington, Minnesota. It was the largest retail and entertainment complex in the United States.

Ref: 4

A judge in Orlando, Fla., ruled in favor of Gregory Kingsley, a 12-year-old boy seeking a "divorce" from his biological parents.

Ref: 70

A New York City jury acquits 17-year-old Lemrick Nelson of murdering Yankel Rosenbaum, an Australian Hasidic scholar who was killed in rioting that erupted in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn in August 1991 following the traffic death of a black child who was hit by a Hasidic driver. (In February 1997, a jury convicted Nelson and Charles Price of violating Rosenbaum's civil rights.) (XDG, p 4A, 10/29/2002)

President George H.W. Bush ordered American troops to lead a mercy mission to Somalia, threatening military action against warlords and gangs who were blocking food for starving millions.

Ref: 70

Americans saw live television coverage of U.S. troops landing on the beaches of Somalia as Operation Restore Hope began.

Ref: 70

U.S. Marines land in Somalia to ensure food and medicine reaches the deprived areas of that country. (Operation Restore Hope)

Ref: 2

FCC vote 4-1 to allow Infinity to purchase Cook Inlet stations.

Ref: 5

President Bush arrived in Australia as part of a 12-day Pacific trip.

Ref: 64

1993

Marine PFC Domingo Arroyo becomes the first US serviceman killed in Somalia. (XDG, p 4A, 1/13/2003)

Retreating from a campaign promise, President-elect Clinton said he would continue President Bush's policy of forcibly returning Haitian boat people to Haiti. (XDG, p. 4A, 1/14/2003)

US Attorney-General designate Zoe Baird and her husband paid a $2900 fine for employing illegal aliens in their honme. Regardless, the controversy over the hirings derailed Baird's nomination. (XDG, p 4A, 1/16/2003)

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 states for the first time.

Ref: 70

Congressman Mike Espy of Mississippi is confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

Ref: 2

FBI Director William S Sessions dismisses a Justice Department report accusing him of ethical abuses. He, in turn, accuses former Attorney General William Barr of a "crassly calculated attack". (XDG, p 4A, 1/23/2003)

Puerto Rico adds English as its 2nd official language.

Ref: 5

The Commerce Department imposed temporary tariffs on steel imports from 19 countries, drawing sharp criticism from the affected nations. (XDG, p 4A, 1/27/2003)

President Clinton told reporters he was ordering the drafting of a formal directive by July 15 to end the long-standing ban on homosexuals in the US military. (XDG, p 4A, 1/29/2003)

The �Family and Medical Leave Act� was passed by the U.S. Congress this day. The law gives employees unpaid leave in the event of a birth or a medical emergency in their family.

Ref: 4

Federal judge Kimba Wood, President Clinton's expected choice for attorney general, withdrew from consideration, saying her baby sitter had been an illegal alien for seven years.

Ref: 70

US officially backs peace plan in Bosnia.

Ref: 5

President Clinton announced his choice of Miami prosecutor Janet Reno to be the nation's first female attorney general.

Ref: 70

President Clinton orders the Pentagon to mount an airdrop of relief supplies into Bosnia-Herzegovina. (XDG, p 4A, 2/25/2003)

Authorities near Waco TX continue to negotiate with Branch Davidians holed up in their bullet-scarred compound, a day after a furious gun battle between Davidians and federal agents that left 10 people dead.

The White House sought new ways to inflict what a spokesman called "real pain and real price" on Serb aggressors in Bosnia by tightening the UN blockade on supplies and money to the region. (XDG, p 4A, 3/05/2003)

Authorities said David Koresh, the leader of the Branch Davidians, was becoming irratable and had rejected proposals to end a week-long standoff at his compound near Waco TX. (XDG, p 4A, 3/07/2003)

Janet Reno was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to be the nation's first female attorney general.

Ref: 70

Janet Reno was sworn in as the nation's first female attorney general.

Ref: 70

President Clinton promises a "full-court press" against Bosnian Serbs to secure their agreement to a United Nations peace plan endorsed by the Bosnian Muslims and Croats. (XDG, p 4A, 3/26/2003)

An 11-day seige at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville ends after rioting inmates reach an agreement with prison officials. (XDG, p 6A, 4/21/2003)

300,000 homosexuals march on Washington, DC demanding freedom from discrimination.

Millions of pagers nationwide stopped working when a communications satellite, the Galaxy 4, suddenly lost track of earth. (XDG, p 4A, 5/19/2003)

The US House of Representatives approves a massive deficit-reduction, tax-increase bill by a vote of 219-213. (XDG, p 4A, 5/27/2003)

A jury in Orlando FL acquits Miami police officer William Lozano of manslaughter in the 1989 shooting death of of a black motorcyclist and the resulting fatal crash of the cyclist's passenger. Lozano had been convicted in an earlier trial but that verdict was overturned. (XDG, p 4A, 5/28/2003)

President Clinton abandons his nominatino of Lani Guinier to head the Justice Department's civil rights division, agreeing with critics who'd accused her of far-out views on minority rights. (XDG, p 4A, 6/03/2003)

Vice-President Gore cast the tie-breaking vote as the Senate approves a record deficit-reduction plan. (XDG, p 4A, 6/25/2003)

President Clinton, with several Cabinet members in tow, traveled to Arnold MO where he heard governors of eight flood-stricken states appeal for more financial assistance. The President held out little hope the government could offer a total bailout. (XDG, p 4A, 7/17/2003)

FBI Director William Sessions continued to resist White House suggestions that he step down, saying he would resign only if President Clinton asked him to. Sessions was fired by Clinton the next day. (XDG, p 4A, 7/18/2003)

Ref: 1

President Clinton announced a compromise allowing homosexuals to serve in the military, but only if they refrained from homosexual activity.

Ref: 70

In a dramatic scene shown on national television, Jessica, a 2�-year-old girl at the center of a custody battle, is removed from the Michigan home of Jan and Roberta DeBoer and turned over to her biological parents, Dan and Cara Schmidt of Iowa. (XDG, p 4A, 8/02/2003)

The Senate approves a $5.8B disaster relief bill for Midwestern flood victims. (XDG, p 4A, 8/04/2003)

In Somalia, four US soldiers are killed when a land mine in detonated underneath their vehicle, prompting President Clinton to order Army Rangers to try to capture Somalian war lord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. (XDG, p 4A, 8/08/2003)

The US applies limited sanctions against China and Pakistan after concluding that China had sold missile technology to the Pakistanis. (XDG, p 4A, 8/25/2003)

Louis J. Freeh was sworn in as FBI Director. As an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York, he was instrumental in the Pizza Connection prosecutions.

Ref: 14

The Pentagon unveils a five-year defense plan to further shrink the US military in favor of a lean, high-tech force. (XDG, p 4A, 9/01/2003)

President Clinton previews his health care reform package in an address to a nationally broadcast session of Congress. (XDG, p 4A, 9/22/2003)

Three US soldiers are killed in Somalia when their helicopter was downed by a rocket propelled grenade. (XDG, p 4A, 9/25/2003)

Dozens of cheering, dancing Somalis dragged the body of an American soldier through the streets of Mogadishu.

Ref: 70

President Clinton, appearing on NBC's "Meet The Press", assails labor leaders who oppose the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), accusing them of using "naked pressure" to try to kill the pact. (XDG, p 4A, 11/07/2003)

The US House of Representatives passes the so-called "Brady Bill", which calls for a five-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns. (XDG, p 4A, 11/10/2003)

Residents of Puerto Rico voted in a plebiscite to maintain the islands's existing US Commonwealth status, derailing efforts of those favoring statehood. (XDG, p 4A, 11/14/2003)

The US State Department announces Secretary Warren M Christopher would travel to the Mideast to try to mediate differences between Israel and the PLO. (XDG, p 4A, 11/15/2003)

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), by a vote of 234 to 200. The Senate voted 60 to 38 for approval of the legislation on November 20. The bill was signed into law by President Clinton on December 8, 1993. It took effect on January 1, 1994. Under NAFTA, the U.S., Canada, and Mexico become a single, integrated market with $6.5 trillion worth of goods and services annually.

Ref: 4

The US House of Representatives joined the Senate in approving legislation aimed at protecting abortion facilities and staff. (XDG, p 4A, 11/18/2003)

President Reagan meets with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. (XDG, p 4A, 11/19/2003)

The US Senate approves a sweeping $22.3B anti-crime measure. (XDG, p 4A, 11/19/2003)

The US Senate ends a filibuster against the Brady Bill, which imposed a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases, and passes it by a 63-36 vote. (XDG, p 4A, 11/20/2003)

The US House of Representatives voted 277-153 against making the District of Columbia the 51st state. (XDG, p 4A, 11/21/2003)

The Brady bill was passed by the U.S. Congress. The battle over the bill had been long and loud since its introduction in 1987, dividing gun-control supporters and opponents. The major issures were background checks of would-be handgun purchasers, bans on semi-automatic assault weapons and �Saturday night specials�, and the licensing and registration of handguns.

Ref: 4

President Bill Clinton signs the Brady handgun control bill into law. The law requires a prospective buyer of a handgun to wait five business days while the authorities check on his or her background, during which time the sale is approved or prohibited, based on an established set of criteria.

Ref: 3

The Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos marked for elimination under an arms control treaty.

Ref: 70

A Colorado judge struck down as unconstitutional the state's voter-approved ban on gay rights laws.

Ref: 70

Lee Aspen resigns as Secretary of Defense.

Ref: 5

US officials said that Strobe Talbott, who had served as the Clinton administration's chief Russian policy architect, would take over the Number 2 spot in the State Department. (XDG, p 4A, 12/27/2003)

1994

The 104th Congress convened, the first entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era; Newt Gingrich was elected speaker of the House.

Ref: 70

President Clinton begins the first European trip of his administration in Belgium. (XDG, p 4A, 1/09/2004)

President Clinton held marathon talks in Greece with Syrian President Hafez Assad, who offered Israel "normal, peaceful relations" in exchange for land. (XDG, p 4A, 1/16/2004)

President Clinton visits quake-stricken Los Angeles, where he pledges fast and aggressive federal help. (XDG, p 4A, 1/19/2004)

President Clinton promoted William J Perry, the Pentagon's No. 2 man, to the post of defense secretary. (XDG, p 4A, 1/24/2004)

A judge in Ft Worth TX orders Senator Kay Baily acquitted of eithics charges after prosecutors refuse to present their case. (XDG, p 4A, 2/11/2004)

President Clinton and Japanese PM Morihiro Hosokawa, meeting at the White House, fail to resolve key differences on trade. (XDG, p 4A, 2/11/2004)

US asks Aristide to adopt a peace plan from Haiti.

Ref: 5

Brady Law, imposing a wait-period to buy a hand-gun, went into effect.

Ref: 5

Senate rejectes a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution (four votes shy of the necessary 2/3 majority).

Ref: 5

William Natcher, (Representative-Democrat-KY), casts his 18,401 & last consecutive vote.

Ref: 5

Amid continuing trade tensions with Japan, President Clinton issues an executive order reviving an expired provision of US trade law known as Super 301, which provides a strict timetable for results. (XDG, p 4A, 3/03/2004)

Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell announces he would not seek re-election. (XDG, p 4A, 3/04/2004)

American troops completed their withdrawal from Somalia.

Ref: 70

President Clinton warns Americans against "demagogues of division" in his weekly radio address, while calling for greater personal responsibility and cooperation to overcome the nation's problems. (XDG, p 4A, 4/02/2004)

The chiefs of the nation's seven largest tobacco companies spent more than six hours being grilled by the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee about the effects of smoking.

Ref: 6

Libertarian party nominates Howard Stern for Governor of New York.

Ref: 5

Four strokes with a cane on the buttocks was the punishment for Michael Fay. Fay, an American teenager, was charged along with eight others for vandalism in Singapore. Fay's original sentence was four months in jail, a large fine and six caning strokes. With the enormous amount of media coverage in the United States and the intervention of US President Clinton, this was reduced to approximately 3 months in jail, and four strokes. Although, in the US, this is considered unusual and harsh punishment for vandalism, US public support for the whacking was overwhelming (running 90% in Fay's home town of Dayton, Ohio).

Ref: 4

President Clinton announces US will no longer repatriate boat people.

Ref: 2

President Clinton renewed trade privileges for China, and announced his administration would no longer link China's trade status with its human rights record.

Ref: 70

A jury in Anchorage, Alaska, blamed recklessness by Exxon Corp. and Capt. Joseph Hazelwood for the Exxon Valdez disaster, allowing victims of the nation's worst oil spill to seek $15 billion in damages.

Ref: 70

The US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) announced it would begin experimenting with a UV (ultraviolet) Index, �To enhance public awareness of the effects of overexposure to the sun�s ultraviolet rays, and to provide the public with actions they can take to reduce harmful effects of overexposure, which may include skin cancer, cataracts and immune suppression.�

Ref: 4

Viacom Inc. was having a very good year. The movie, publishing and sports company bought Paramount Communications Inc. this day for $10 billion. The company that became Viacom was spun off from CBS in the 1970s because of government rules (later repealed), that prevented networks from owning their own programming. Since then, Viacom has grown to become a major player in media and cable, forming the pay channel Showtime in 1978 And acquiring MTV in 1986.

Ref: 4

President Clinton visited the eastern sector of Berlin, the first president to do so since Harry Truman.

Ref: 70

A federal jury awarded $286.8 million to some 10,000 commercial fishermen for losses as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Ref: 70

Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman resigned under pressure, the latest Clinton administration official felled by the Whitewater controversy.

Florida Governor Lawton Chiles declared an immigration emergency and demanded federal help to cope with the largest surge of Cuban refugees since the 1980 Mariel boatlift.

President Clinton abruptly halted the nation's three-decade open-door policy for Cuban refugees.

Ref: 70

Rosa Parks, who helped touch off the civil rights movement in 1955 by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, AL, was robbed and beaten in her Detroit apartment. (Joseph Skipper later pleaded guilty to assault and robbery and was sentenced to prison.)

U.S. troops peacefully entered Haiti to enforce the return of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Ref: 70

More than 350 Republican congressional candidates signed the "Contract with America," a 10-point platform they pledged to enact if voters sent a GOP majority to the House.

Ref: 70

Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy announces his resignation because of questions about gifts he had received. He was charged with corruption, but was acquitted of all charges in December 1998.

Ref: 70

For the first time in forty years, the Republican Party wins control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in midterm congressional elections.

Ref: 3

Reputed "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss is convicted in Los Angeles of three counts of pandering.

Ref: 5

Jubilant Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be the first GOP speaker of the House in four decades.

Ref: 70

1995

The 104th Congress convened, the first entirely under Republican control since Eisenhower era; Newt Gingrich was elected Speaker of the U-S House of Representatives.

Ref: 4

Worker accidentally cuts electrical wires at Newark Airport.

Ref: 5

Southern Alabama begins using new area code 334.

Ref: 5

Western Washington begins using new area code 360.

Ref: 5

Worker accidentally cuts electrical wires at Newark Airport.

Ref: 5

Arizona begins using new area code 520 outside of Phoenix.

Ref: 5

The House of Representatives passed a welfare reform package calling for the most profound changes in social programs since the New Deal.

Ref: 70

The House of Representatives rejected a constitutional amendment that would have limited terms to 12 years in the U.S. House and Senate.

Ref: 70

Carlson Wagonlit Travel Agency begins charging $15 service fee.

Ref: 5

North & Western Colorado begins using new area code 970.

Ref: 5

Houston Post folds after 116 years.

Ref: 5

After 120 years the last 15 Abraham and Strauss (A & S) department stores close.

Ref: 5

A two-block stretch of Pennsylvania Av in front of the White House would be permanently closed to motor vehicles as a security measure. (XDG, p 4A, 5/20/2000)

Southwestern Florida outside of Tampa begins using new area code 941.

Ref: 5

A U.S. Air Force F-16C was shot down by Bosnian Serbs while on a NATO air patrol in northern Bosnia; the pilot, Capt. Scott F. O'Grady, was rescued six days later.

Ref: 70

US Marines rescued Captain Scott O'Grady, whose F-16C fighter jet had been shot down by Bosnian Serbs on June 2nd.

Ref: 2

U.S. Marines rescued Capt. Scott O'Grady, whose F16-C fighter jet had been shot down by Bosnian Serbs on June 2.

Ref: 70

The International Law Enforcement Academy graduated its first class of 33 law enforcement officials from former East Bloc nations.

Ref: 14

The U.S. Senate votes against the nomination of Dr. Henry W. Foster for Surgeon General.

Ref: 2

Webster Hubbell, the former No. 3 official at the Justice Department, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for bilking clients of the law firm where he and Hillary Rodham Clinton were partners.

Ref: 70

Shannon Faulkner became the first female cadet in the history of The Citadel, South Carolina's state military college. She quit the school less than a week later.

Ref: 70

James B. McDougal, McDougal's ex-wife, Susan H. McDougal, and Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker were indicted by the Whitewater grand jury. (James McDougal was convicted on 18 of 19 counts of fraud and conspiracy; Tucker was found guilty on one count of fraud and one count of conspiracy; Susan McDougal was convicted on four fraud-related charges.)

Ref: 6

ABC News settled a $10 billion libel suit by apologizing to Philip Morris for reporting the tobacco giant had manipulated the amount of nicotine in its cigarettes. (XDG, p 4A, 8/21/2000)

Congressman Mel Reynolds (D-IL) is convicted in Chicago of sexual misconduct involving an underage campaign volunteer. He is later convicted of lying to obtain loans and of illegally siphoning campaign money for personal use. Reynolds is sentenced to 6.5 years in prison. (XDG, p 4A, 8/22/2000)

Secretary of the Treasury Robert E. Rubin announced that the U.S. would issue a $100 note that had been redesigned to incorporate numerous security features. The most noticeable feature was a large, off-center Ben Franklin. Rubin commented, �We are improving the security of the currency, and maintaining its integrity and global reputation.�

Ref: 4

Three U.S. servicemen were indicted in the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawa girl and handed over to Japanese authorities.

Ref: 70

The ambush-rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl, an attack that outraged the Japanese and strained security ties between Japan and the U.S.

Ref: 70

More than 2 million people march in Cuba demanding the return of Elian Gonzales. (XDG, p 4A, 12/10/2000)

The U.S. government instituted a partial shutdown, closing national parks and museums while government offices operated with skeleton crews.

Ref: 70

Northwestern South Carolina begins using new area code 864.

Ref: 5

Amendment to make it illegal to physically desecrate the flag turned down by senate 63-36 (need 2/3 vote).

Ref: 5

1996

Both houses of the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly approved a rewrite of the 1935 Communications Act. Some highlights: allowed local and long-distance telephone companies, as well as cable TV providers, to offer a mixture of goods and services; Deregulate cable TV rates; allowed consumers access to a greater variety of cable, telephone and other communications services; and, in one of the most controversial changes, it revised the National Multiple Radio Ownership Rule and Local Radio Ownership Rule, allowing most of the stations in the U.S. to be snatched up by a few corporations.

Ref: 4

In a ceremony at the Library of Congress, President Clinton signed legislation revamping the telecommunications industry, saying it would "bring the future to our doorstep."

Ref: 70

New toll-free 888 area code introduced.

Ref: 5

Three U.S. servicemen were convicted in the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl and sentenced by a Japanese court to up to seven years in prison.

Ref: 70

World leaders, including President Clinton, held a summit in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, where they vowed unequivocal support for the Mideast peace process.

Ref: 6

The US introduces a new, more counterfeit-resistant $100 bill. (TWA, 2000)

An 81-day standoff by the antigovernment Freemen began at a ranch near Jordan, Mont.

Ref: 70

Congress passed the line-item veto, giving the president power to cut government spending by scrapping specific programs.

Ref: 64

Congress passed, and President Clinton quickly signed, a 12th stopgap spending bill to avert a partial federal shutdown.

Ref: 64

President Clinton signs legislation severing the link between crop prices and government subsidies.

Ref: 64

A sorrowful President Clinton was on hand at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to greet the arrival of 33 flag-draped caskets carrying the remains of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and other victims of a plane crash in Croatia.

Ref: 64

President Clinton signs a line-item veto bill into law. (The US Supreme Court will strike down this law as unconstitutional in 1998.) (XDG, p 4A, 4/09/2002)

President Clinton named US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor to succeed the late Ron Brown as commerce secretary.

Ref: 6

President Clinton used his weekly radio address to call on Congress to pass an anti-terrorism bill that had languished for a year despite a promise of quick action after the Oklahoma City bombing.

Ref: 6

President Clinton and his wife, Hillary, arrived in Japan for a three-day visit after a brief stopover in South Korea.

Ref: 6

Seeking to calm Pacific security jitters, President Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto signed a joint declaration establishing new US-Japan ties for a "stable and prosperous" Asia.

Ref: 6

President Clinton, visiting Russia, paid tribute to the hundreds of thousands of Russians who died in the Nazi siege of Leningrad -- and to the victims of the Oklahoma bombing as well.

Ref: 6

The Senate passed, 97-to-3, an immigration bill to tighten border controls, make it tougher for illegal aliens to get US jobs and curtail legal immigrants' access to social services.

Ref: 6

President Clinton signed a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in. Megan's Law was named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka, who was raped and killed in 1994.

Ref: 70

President Clinton, seeking to deflect Republican criticism that he was weak on welfare reform, endorsed Wisconsin's welfare-to-work plan in his Saturday radio address. "Louis Quatorze" won the Preakness.

Ref: 6

The House approved, by a vote of 281-to-144, election-year legislation to raise the minimum wage by 90 cents an hour.

Ref: 6

President Clinton, honoring the men and women who died in military service, used his weekly radio address to defend America's global military role, saying it "is making our people safer and the world more secure."

Ref: 6

Mark Van Thillo & Abigail Alling, former biospherian win $100,000 lawsuit against Biospheric Development for Space Biospheres Ventures.

Ref: 5

During joint war games in the Pacific, a Japanese destroyer mistakenly shoots down an American attack plane; two US Navy aviators ejected safely.

Ref: 6

Joseph Waldholtz, the ex-husband of US Rep. Enid Greene, R-Utah, pleaded guilty to providing his wife false information for her taxes and to falsifying spending reports from her congressional campaign.

Ref: 64

The Senate narrowly rejected a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution as outgoing Majority Leader Bob Dole and the Democrats clashed over deficit reduction.

Ref: 6

The Clinton White House acknowledged it had obtained the FBI files of House Speaker Newt Gingrich's press secretary, former Bush chief of staff James A. Baker III and other appointees from Republican administrations, calling it "an innocent bureaucratic mistake."

Ref: 70

A panel of federal judges in Philadelphia blocked a law against indecency on the Internet, saying the 1996 Communications Decency Act would unlawfully chill adults' free-speech rights.

Ref: 6

Senate Republicans overwhelmingly choose Trent Lott of Mississippi to succeed Bob Dole as majority leader.

Ref: 70

The FBI disclosed the White House had obtained bureau background reports on at least 408 people without justification.

Ref: 5

President Clinton and other Group of 7 leaders meeting in Lyon, France, pledged solidarity against terrorism following a truck bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 Americans.

Ref: 64

The Citadel in SC, which had fought to keep one woman from enrolling as a cadet in its all-male military academy in 1993, abruptly ended its opposition to enrolling qualified female cadets. The change of policy happened after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a similar all-male policy at the Virginia Military Institute was unconstitutional. The court said the school could not refuse to accept women while receiving federal or state tax dollars. Had the Citadel decided to retain its 153-year-old men-only policy, it would have lost public tax dollars. As usual, money talked.

Ref: 4

The House voted overwhelmingly to define marriage in federal law as a legal union of one man and one woman -- no matter what states might say.

Ref: 6

Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole tapped NY congresswoman Susan Molinari to deliver the keynote address at the upcoming GOP convention.

Ref: 6

President Clinton told the National Governors Association he was granting states new powers to deny benefits to recipients who refuse to move from welfare to work.

Ref: 6

The Senate passed a welfare overhaul bill.

Ref: 6

In a political victory for President Clinton, a federal jury in Little Rock, Arkansas, acquitted two Arkansas bankers of misapplying bank funds and conspiracy to boost his political career. (The jury deadlocked on seven other counts.)

Ref: 6

Officials announced the Air Force had punished 16 officers in connection with the crash that killed Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and 34 others the previous April.

Ref: 6

President Clinton belittled Bob Dole's tax plan, vowing to oppose tax cuts that he said the country couldn't afford.

Ref: 6

Shannon Faulkner, who'd won a two-and-a-half-year legal battle to become the first female cadet at The Citadel, quit the South Carolina military college after less than a week, most of it spent in the infirmary.

Ref: 6

Congressman Mel Reynolds (Democrat, IL) was convicted in Chicago of sexual misconduct involving an underage campaign volunteer. (Reynolds was sentenced to five years in prison; he was later convicted of lying to obtain loans and of illegally siphoning campaign money for personal use, and sentenced to six and a-half years in federal prison.)

Ref: 6

President Clinton signed welfare legislation ending guaranteed cash payments to the poor and demanding work from recipients.

Ref: 70

During a memorial service at Fort Myer, Virginia, President Clinton eulogized three US diplomats killed in a road accident near Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and vowed to carry on the struggle for peace in the Balkans.

Ref: 6

In his weekly radio address, President Clinton explained his decision to impose a two-year moratorium on mining claims on 4500 acres of federal land near the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park, saying the land was "more priceless than gold."

Ref: 6

American and Chinese officials agreed to begin planning a fall summit between President Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

Ref: 6

President Clinton's chief political strategist, Dick Morris, resigned amid a scandal over his relationship with a prostitute.

Ref: 70

The Senate Ethics Committee voted unanimously to recommend expulsion of Senator Bob Packwood, accused of sexual and official misconduct.

Ref: 6

After 27 years in the Senate, Bob Packwood (Republican, Oregon) announced he would resign, heading off a vote by colleagues to expel him for allegations of sexual and official misconduct.

Ref: 6

President Clinton began a five-day re-election campaign fund-raising tour that got off to a rocky start after a deal to convert the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard to civilian use collapsed at the last minute.

Ref: 2

US ambassador and the commander of American forces in Japan apologized for the rape of an Okinawan schoolgirl committed by three US servicemen.

Ref: 2

The Senate passed a welfare overhaul bill.

Ref: 2

President Clinton announced his signing of a bill outlawing homosexual marriages, but said it should not be used as an excuse for discrimination, violence or intimidation against gays and lesbians. (The actual signing came a little past midnight.)

Ref: 64

In a wide-ranging interview aboard Air Force One, President Clinton admitted he had tended in the past to get hung up on details, and pledged to do a better job in providing reassuring leadership to Americans confused by tumultuous times.

Ref: 6

House Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be speaker for a second term.

Ref: 70

On the eve of an Asia-Pacific trade conference in the Philippines, President Clinton met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Both sides signaled their troubled relations were on the mend, and agreed to exchange presidential visits over the next two years.

Ref: 64

President Clinton won a victory on the trade front by getting Pacific Rim leaders meeting in the Philippines to accept the year 2000 as a deadline for cutting tariffs on information technology.

Ref: 64

Defense Secretary William Perry joined U.S. soldiers in the mud and freezing rain of Bosnia-Herzegovina to deliver a Thanksgiving message of discipline and patience for their peacekeeping mission.

Ref: 64

The Justice Department bars 16 Japanese army veterans suspected of World War II atrocities from entering the United States.

Ref: 64

President Clinton nominated Bill Daley to be commerce secretary. (TWA, 1998)

Aides to President Clinton disclosed that Asian-American businessman Charles Yah Lin Trie, who delivered $460,000 in questionable donations to the Clintons' legal defense fund, had been to the White House at least 23 times since 1993.

Ref: 64

President Clinton selected Federico Pena as energy secretary, Rodney Slater as transportation secretary, Andrew Cuomo as housing secretary and Alexis Herman as labor secretary. (TWA, 1998)

61 law enforcement officers killed by felons in US this year.

Ref: 5

1997

President Clinton, in his weekly radio address, took credit for policies reducing teen-age pregnancy, and said he would work for even greater reductions over the next four years.

Ref: 64

House Speaker Newt Gingrich met behind closed doors with Republican lawmakers, answering questions about his admitted ethics violations as he appealed for support in the speaker's election to be held the next day.

Ref: 64

Newt Gingrich overcame dissension in the GOP ranks to become the first Republican re-elected House speaker in 68 years.

Ref: 70

Madeleine Albright becomes first woman Secretary of State in the U.S.A. (TWA, 1998)

Secretary of State Margaret Albright announces she just discovered that her grandparents were Jewish.

Ref: 5

US & Russia announce summit set for Helsinki, March 20-21.

Ref: 5

Dr. David Satcher was confirmed by the Senate to be surgeon general.

Ref: 70

FCC makes available 311 for non-emergency calls & 711 for hearing or speech-impaired emergency calls.

Ref: 5

Smokers must prove they are over 18 to purchase cigarettes in US.

Ref: 5

A federal judge strikes down the Line-Item Veto Act, a law that let the president strike specific items from bills passed by Congress. (The US Supreme Court later set aside the ruling and later still declared it unconstituional.) (XDG, p 4A, 4/10/2002)

Kelly Flinn, the Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepted a general discharge, thereby avoiding court-martial on charges of adultery, lying and disobeying an order.

Ref: 70

Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., became the longest-serving senator in U.S. history, marking 41 years and 10 months in office.

Ref: 70

Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, who had admitted that he'd had an adulterous affair years earlier, gave up his fight to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Ref: 70

The Treasury Department unveiled a new $50 bill meant to be more counterfeit-resistant.

Ref: 70

President Clinton, visiting Poland, told cheering Poles in Warsaw that "never again will your fate be decided by others." (XDG, p 4A, 7/10/2002)

German businessman Thomas Kramer was slapped with a record $323,000 penalty by the Federal Election Commission for making illegal US political contributions. (XDG, p 4A, 7/18/2002)

President Clinton made the first use of the line-item veto approved by Congress, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills.

Ref: 70

The Justice Department decided not to prosecute senior FBI officials in connection with an alleged cover-up that followed the deadly 1992 Ruby Ridge siege in Idaho.

Ref: 70

Beth Ann Hogan became the first coed in the Virginia Military Institute's 158-year history.

Ref: 70

Former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy was charged with seeking and accepting more than $35,000 dollars in trips, sports tickets and favors from companies that did business with his agency. He was acquitted of all charges in December 1998.

Ref: 70

Arizona Gov. Fife Symington was convicted of lying to get millions in loans to shore up his collapsing real estate empire. His conviction was overturned in 1999.

Ref: 70

The Army issued a searing indictment of itself, asserting that "sexual harassment exists throughout the Army, crossing gender, rank and racial lines."

Ref: 70

The Senate Finance Committee opens hearings on alleged abuses by the Internal Revenue Service. (XDG, p. 4A, 9/23/2002)

The US introduces a new, more counterfeit-resistant $50 bill. (TWA, 2000)

The Supreme Court let stand California's groundbreaking Proposition 209, a ban on race and gender preference in hiring and school admission.

Ref: 70

Attorney General Janet Reno said there was no evidence that President Clinton broke the law with White House coffees and overnight stays for big contributors.

Ref: 70

WorldCom Inc. and MCI Communications Corp. agreed to a $37 billion merger.

Ref: 70

Westinghouse formally changes its name to CBS.

Ref: 5

Attorney General Janet Reno declined to seek an independent counsel investigation of telephone fund-raising by President Clinton and Vice President Gore.

Ref: 70

Iran's new president, Mohammad Khatami, called for a dialogue with the people of the United States a nation reviled by his predecessors as "The Great Satan."

Ref: 70

US Agriculture Department estimates it costs $149,820 to raise a child to 18.

Ref: 5

76 law enforcement officers killed by felons in US this year.

Ref: 5

1998

US Census Bureau estimates population at 268,921,733.

Ref: 5

Mary Bono, widow of singer/politician Sonny Bono, announced that she would run for the congressional seat held by her late husband -- to represent the 44th Congressional District in California, which includes Palm Springs.

Ref: 4

A U.S. Marine jet sliced through a ski gondola cable in Italy, sending the car plunging hundreds of feet, killing all 20 people inside.

Ref: 70

Democratic fund-raiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie pleaded innocent in Washington to charges he'd raised illegal donations to buy influence in high places.

Ref: 70

US district judge T Hogan declares line-item veto law unconstitutional

Ref: 5

US Secretary of State Madeline Albright, speaking in Rome, said the US would not tolerate any more violence in Kosovo, which she blamed on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. (XDG, p 4A, 3/07/2003)

The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) announced that food stamps were issued to nearly 26,000 dead people in 1995-1996; food stamps valued at $8.5 million were issued to 25,881 deceased people during that period. Who says you can�t take it with you?

Ref: 4

President Clinton acknowledged during his Africa tour that "we did not act quickly enough" to stop the slaughter of one million Rwandans four years earlier.

Ref: 70

Mary Bono, the widow of entertainer-turned-politician Sonny Bono, won a special election to serve out the remainder of her husband's congressional term.

Ref: 70

The US, Canada and Mexico agreed to eliminate tariffs on items accounting for $1B in trade at a meeting in Paris on NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement). (XDG, p 6A, 4/29/2003)

A man sets himself on fire and shoots himself to death on a Los Angeles area freeway in a scene captured on live television. (XDG, p 4A, 4/30/2003)

President Clinton urges Congress to renew normal trade benefits to China, saying good relations with Bejing were crucial amid fears of a nuclear arms race in south Asia. (XDG, p 4A, 6/03/2003)

The National Rifle Association elected actor Charlton Heston its president.

Ref: 70

President Clinton visited Thurston High School in Springfield OR, where two students were killed and 22 others wounded the previous month. (XDG, p 4A, 6/13/2003)

President Clinton appoints UN ambassador Bill Richardson to replace Energy Secretary Federico Pena and named Bosnian peace architect and diplomatic troubleshooter Richard Holbrooke as the new representative to the UN. (However the Holbrooke nomination was held up for a year because of ethics questions.) (XDG, p 4A, 6/18/2003)

The Cincinnati Enquirer apologized to the Chiquita banana company and retracted stories questioning the company's business practices; the paper agreed to pay more than $10 million to settle legal claims.

Ref: 70

The Congressional Budget Office estimates federal surpluses of $1.55T over the next decade. (XDG, p 4A, 7/15/2003)

U.S. President Bill Clinton signed a bill designed to mold the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) into a friendlier, fairer tax collector. Democrat and Republican lawmakers attended the bill-signing ceremony at White House. Now that it�s been a few years, what do you think of this fuzzy, warm IRS?

Ref: 4

The US Capitol was reopened, a day after a gunman killed two police officers. (XDG, p 4A, 7/25/2002)

A world-record Powerball jackpot of $295.7 million was won by a group of 13 machinists who worked together in Westerville, Ohio. The group chose the cash option, and received a lump-sum payment of $161.5 million dollars.

Ref: 4

A House committee voted to cite Attorney General Janet Reno for contempt of Congress for her refusal to turn over reports recommending that she seek an independent counsel to investigate campaign fund-raising.

Ref: 70

President Clinton, in his Saturday radio address, vows the bombers of two U.S. embassies in Africa would be brought to justice, "no matter how long it takes or where it takes us."

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announces a $2 million reward for information leading to the conviction of terrorists who bombed U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people, including 12 Americans.

A federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., rules that the Food and Drug Administration had no authority to regulate tobacco, striking down FDA rules making it harder for minors to buy cigarettes; the Clinton administration said it would appeal.

Retaliating 13 days after the deadly embassy bombings in East Africa, US forces launched cruise missile strikes against alleged terrorist camps in Afghanistan and what was described as a chemical plant in Sudan.

Ref: 70

Samuel Bowers, a 73-year-old former Ku Klux Klan leader, was convicted in Hattiesburg, Miss., of ordering a 1966 firebombing that killed civil rights activist Vernon Dahmer.

Ref: 70

Attorney General Janet Reno reopened the investigation of the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., focusing on two allegations of a conspiracy beyond James Earl Ray.

Ref: 70

President Clinton visited Omagh, Northern Ireland where he walked down the street where a car bombing had claimed 29 lives, and offered his condolences to families of the victims. (XDG, p 4A, 9/03/2003)

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, responding to a report in an Internet publication, Salon Magazine, admitted to "indiscretions" with a woman in the 1960s at a time when both were married. (XDG, p 4A, 9/16/2003)

The US and Russia agreed to help Russia privatize its nuclear program and stop the export of scientists and plutonium. (XDG, p 4A, 9/22/2003)

The government began releasing the new, harder-to-counterfeit 20-dollar bill.

Ref: 6

Minnesotans elect former pro wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura to be their governor.

Ref: 70

House Speaker Newt Gingrich resigned following election results in which the Republican House majority shrunk from 22 to 12.

Ref: 70

House Republicans endorse US Representative Bob Livingston of Louisiana to be their next speaker, succeeding Newt Gingrich. (However, Livingston later resigned from the House before he could take over the speakership after admitting to marital infidelities.) (XDG, p 4A, 11/18/2003)

Forty-six states embrace a $206B settlement with cigarette makers over health costs for treating sick smokers. (XDG, p 4A, 11/20/2003)

Former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy is acquitted of all counts in a corruption case involving sports tickets and travel that he'd accepted from companies that did business with his department.

Ref: 70

Attorney General Janet Reno declined to seek an independent counsel investigation of President Clinton over 1996 campaign financing.

Ref: 70

President Clinton begins a three-day visit to the Middle East aimed at rescuing the Wye River Peace Accords. (XDG, p 4A, 12/12/2003)

Voters in Puerto Rico reject statehood. (XDG, p 4A, 12/13/2003)

President Clinton stood witness as hundreds of Palestinian leaders renounced a call for the destruction of Israel.

Ref: 70

President Clinton concluded his three-day Middle East journey on a disappointing note as Israel refused to resume the West Bank troop withdrawals called for under the Wye River peace accord. Nevertheless, Clinton called the trip a success. (XDG, p 4A, 12/15/2003)

Two days after his confession of marital infidelity, Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., told the House he wouldn't serve as its next speaker.

Ref: 70

1999

Minnesota inaugurated pro wrestler Jesse Ventura as its 38th governor. The only Reform Party candidate to ever win statewide office, Ventura had shocked the political establishment by defeating Attorney General Hubert H. (Skip) Humphrey III and St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman in an upset victory.

Ref: 4

The 106th Congress convenes with Dennis Hastert taking over as the new House speaker. (XDG, p 4A, 1/06/2004)

President Clinton calls for $2.8B to protect the nation from cyberterrorism and chemical and germ warfare. (XDG, p 4A, 1/22/2004)

Attorney General Janet Reno rejects a special prosecutor investigation of former White House deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes. (XDG, p 4A, 1/29/2004)

In Somalia, a convoy of US soldiers opens fire on hundreds of Somali civilians outside a food distribution center, killing at least eight people. (XDG, p 4A, 1/31/2004)

In his weekly radio address, President Clinton said as many as 4000 American troops would go to Kosovo as part of a NATO peacekeeping force if warring Serbs and ethnic Albanians reached a political settlement. (XDG, p 4A, 2/13/2003)

President Clinton, accompanied by his wife, Hillary, begin a quick visit to Mexico to encourage its struggle against narcotics and government corruption, and grow its markets for US products. (XDG, p 4A, 2/14/2004)

In a satellite-linked address to college campuses across the country, President Clinton made his case for shoring up Social Security and Medicare. (XDG, p 4A, 2/17/2004)

Outraging Italian authoritiesk a military jury in North Carolina clears a Marine pilot of charges he was flying recklessly when his jet sliced through a ski gondola cable in the Alps, sending 20 people plunging to their deaths. (XDG, p 4A, 3/04/2004)

Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema meets at the White House with President Clinton, a day after a military jury in North Carolina acquittes a Marine pilot in an Italian cable car accident that killed 20 people. D'Alema demands justice while Clinton expresses profound regred. (XDG, p 4A, 3/05/2004)

RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp, the food and tobacco conglomerate, announces it is getting out of the cigarette business. (XDG, p 4A, 3/09/2004)

An American Stealth F117 Nighthawk is shot down over northern Yugoslavia during the NATO air strikes against Serbs attacking Kosovo.

Ref: 2

A jury in Portland, Ore., ordered Philip Morris to pay $81 million to the family of a man who died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros for four decades.

Ref: 70

Three US Army soldiers are captured by Serb forces near the Yugoslav-Macedonia border. (Staff Sergeant Andrew Ramirez, Staff Sergeant Christopher Stone and Specialist Steven M. Gonzales were released more than a month later.)

Ref: 70

General Wesley Clark, NATO's commander, bluntly told Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to change his policies or see his military machine destroyed. (XDG, p 4A, 4/17/2004)

The House rejected on a tie vote of 213-213 a measure expressing support for NATO's five-week-old air campaign against Yugoslavia. The House also voted to limit the president's authority to use ground forces in Yugoslavia.

Ref: 70

The Rev. Jesse Jackson met with three U.S. soldiers being held prisoner by Yugoslavia.

Ref: 70

NATO jets struck the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three people and injuring 20; President Clinton called the attack a "tragic mistake." (TWA, 2001)

FBI personnel traveled to Kosovo to assist in the collection of evidence and the examination of forensic materials in support of the prosecution of Slobodan Milosevic and others before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Ref: 14

A U.S. Air Force cargo jet dropped off emergency medical supplies at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Research Center for a physician at the center who had discovered a lump in her breast.

Ref: 70

Race-based school busing in Boston ended after 25 years.

Ref: 70

President Clinton lifted restrictions on trade, travel and banking imposed on North Korea a half-century earlier.

Ref: 70

Lawrence Russell Brewer was convicted in the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas.

Ref: 70

A damage award to State Farm auto insurance customers swelled to nearly $1.2B after a judge ruled that the nation's largest auto insurer committed fraud by using generic auto-body repair parts. (XDG, p. 4A, 10/8/2000)

Five-year-old Elian Gonzalez was found clinging to an inner tube off the coast near Fort Lauderdale, Florida by a pair of sport fishermen. The boy, his mother, stepfather, and eleven other Cubans had boarded a small boat in Cuba and attempted to cross the ocean to the U.S. Elian was one of three to survive (his mother and stepfather both drowned). He lived with relatives in Miami until he was seized by the INS in an early morning raid on April 22, 2000. He returned to Cuba with his father on June 28.

Ref: 70

The opening of a 135-nation trade gathering in Seattle was disrupted by at least 40,000 demonstrators, some of whom clashed with police.

Ref: 70

Fidel Castro demands the return of 5-year-old Elian Gonzales, who was rescued at sea, to his father in Cuba within 72 hours. (XDG, 12/5/2000)

The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples were entitled to the same benefits and protections as wedded couples of the opposite sex.

Ref: 70

2002

Bob Livingston (Cong-R-LA) predicted he would succeed Newt Gingrich as House Speaker. (However, Livingston later resigned before he could become speaker after admitting marital infidelities.) (XDG, p 4A, 11/08/2003)

Last Update: October 27th, 2005
© 2000-2005 Kenneth Fussichen