List of former Communist states (24/174 total)
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Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)
Mongolian People's Republic (1924–1992)
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1943–1992)
People's Republic of Bulgaria (1946–1990)
People's Socialist Republic of Albania (1946–1992)
Polish People's Republic (1947–1989)
Socialist Republic of Romania (1947–1989)
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1948–1990)
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (1948–1992)[1]
Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989)
German Democratic Republic (1949–1990)
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (1967–1990)
Somali Democratic Republic (1969–1991)
People's Republic of the Congo (1969–1992)
Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia (1974–1987)
People's Republic of Mozambique (1975–1990)
People's Republic of Benin (1975–1990)
People's Republic of Angola (1975–1992)
Democratic Republic of Madagascar (1975–1992)
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1978–1992)
People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada (1979–1983)
People's Republic of Kampuchea (1979–1989)
People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (1987–1991)
National Council for the Revolution (Burkina Faso) (1984–1987)
Presidency of George H. W. Bush (1989-1993)
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1990 — Hubble Space Telescope launched during a Space Shuttle Discovery mission
1991 — The Gulf War is waged in the Middle East, by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from
thirty-four nations, led by the U.S. and United Kingdom, against Iraq.
1991 — The World Wide Web publicly debuts as an Internet service.
1991 — Cold War ends as the USSR dissolves
1992 — Los Angeles riots result in over 60 deaths and $1 billion in damage, spurred by the
acquittal of four Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of
black motorist Rodney King
1992 — U.S. presidential election, 1992: Bill Clinton elected president, Al Gore elected vice
president
1992 — Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 hurricane, kills 65 people and causes $26 billion in
damage to Florida and other areas of the U.S. Gulf Coast, and will be the costliest natural
disaster until Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Presidency of Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
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1993 — Bill Clinton becomes the 42nd President, Al Gore becomes Vice President.
1993 — A truck bomb explodes in the parking garage under the World Trade Center in New York
City, killing six people and injuring over a thousand.
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1993 — Branch Davidians standoff and fire near Waco, Texas, resulting in the deaths of 81
people including their leader, David Koresh.
1993 — The "Storm of the Century" strikes the Eastern Seaboard, with blizzard conditions and
severe weather, killing 300 people and causing $6 billion in damage.
1993 — Massive flooding along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers kill 50 people and devastate
the Midwest with $15–$20 billion in damage.
1993 — President Clinton signs 'Don't ask, don't tell' into law which prohibits openly gay or
bisexual people from serving in the military.
1994 — North American Free Trade Agreement goes in effect.
1994 — 1994 Northridge earthquake kills 72 and injures 9,000 in the Los Angeles area and
causes $20 billion in damage.
1994 — Former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones accuses President Clinton of sexual
harassment
1995 — Oklahoma City bombing kills 168 and wounds 800. The bombing is the worst domestic
terrorist incident in U.S. history, and the investigation results in the arrests of Timothy McVeigh
and Terry Nichols
1995 — Retired professional football player O. J. Simpson is acquitted of two charges of firstdegree murder in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman.
The nine month trial receives worldwide publicity.
1995 — A heat wave kills 750 in Chicago, bringing to attention the plight of the urban poor and
the elderly in extreme weather conditions.
1995-1996 — A budget crisis forces the federal government to shut down for several weeks.
1996 — TWA Flight 800 explodes off Long Island killing all 230 aboard.
1996 — Khobar Towers bombing leaves 19 U.S. servicemen dead in Saudi Arabia
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1996 — Centennial Olympic Park bombing at Summer Olympics in Atlanta kills 1 and injures 111
1996 — U.S. presidential election, 1996: Bill Clinton is re-elected president, Al Gore is reelected
vice president
1997 — President Clinton and Vice President Gore begin their second terms.
1997 — Sparked by a global economic crisis scare, the Dow Jones Industrial Average follows
world markets and plummets 554.26, or 7.18%, to 7,161.15
1998-1999 — Clinton-Lewinsky scandal: President Clinton is accused of having a sexual
relationship with 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky. This leads to the
impeachment of Clinton later in the year by the U.S. House of Representatives. Clinton is
acquitted of all impeachment charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in a 21-day Senate
trial
1999 — The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark for the first time, at
10,006.78
1999 — Teenage students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murder 13 other students and teachers
at Columbine High School, sparking an international debate on gun control and bullying.
1999 — A violent tornado outbreak in Oklahoma kills 50 people and becomes the first to
produce a tornado that causes $1 billion in damage.
1999 — The first officer deliberately crashes EgyptAir Flight 990 south of Nantucket,
Massachusetts, killing 217.
1999 — Along with the rest of the world, the U.S. prepares for the possible effects of the Y2K
bug in computers, which was feared to cause computers to become inoperable and wreak
havoc. The problem isn't as large as theorized, preparations are successful, and disaster is
averted
2000s
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2000 — The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the USS Cole (DDG-76) is bombed in Yemeni waters,
killing seventeen U.S. Navy sailors.
2000 — U.S. presidential election, 2000: Initial result inconclusive and the result in Florida is
disputed. George W. Bush is certified president after a Supreme Court ruling. Vice President Al
Gore wins the nationwide popular vote but loses the electoral college.
Presidency of George W. Bush (2001-2009)
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2001 — George W. Bush becomes the 43rd President, Dick Cheney becomes Vice President.
2001 — Democrats gains narrow control of Senate after James Jeffords defects from the
Republican Party.
2001 — No Child Left Behind Act education reform bill passed.
2001 — Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 institutes the smallest tax
cut in U.S. history.
2001 — September 11 attacks; 19 terrorists hijack four planes and crash them into the World
Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people
and injuring over 6,000. All civilian air traffic is suspended for three days, the first time an
unplanned suspension had occurred in U.S. history.
2001 — Congress passes an emergency bailout package for the airline industry as a result of the
attacks
2001 — Anthrax attacks kill five and infect a further 17 through the U.S. Mail system.
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2001 — The United States launches the invasion of Afghanistan marking the start of Operation
Enduring Freedom.
2001 — Patriot Act, increasing law enforcement agencies' ability to conduct searches in cases of
suspected terrorism. Agencies were enforced.
2001 — American Airlines Flight 587 crashes in Queens, New York, killing 265.
2002 — The Department of Homeland Security is created in the wake of the September 11
attacks.
2002 — The United States withdraws from Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
2002 — 10 people are killed and three are injured in the Beltway sniper attacks around the
Washington D.C. area.
2003 — Republicans retake narrow control of the Senate following 2002 elections.
2003 — Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates upon re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere, killing all
seven astronauts and resulting in a 29-month suspension of the Space Shuttle program.
2003 — A series of incidents occur that institute a crackdown on building, fire, and safety code
violations across the United States, including the E2 nightclub stampede which killed 21, The
Station nightclub fire which killed 100, and a porch collapse which killed 13.
2003 — The United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invades Iraq marking the start
of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
2003 — U.S. forces continue fighting an insurgency in Iraq while helping the Iraqis build a new
army of their own and develop a democratic form of government
2003 — In Iraq, deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is captured by U.S. special forces.
2004 — The social networking website Facebook is launched.
2004 — The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season produces four deadly and damaging hurricanes
which impact Florida, Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne, which kill a combined 100 people in
the U.S. and produce over $50 billion in damage
2004 — Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in compliance with
a ruling from the state's Supreme Court ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
2004 — Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan dies from complications resulting from
Alzheimer's Disease. He lies in state at the U.S. Capitol building before being interred.
2004 — George W. Bush is re-elected president, Dick Cheney is reelected vice president.
2005 — President Bush and Vice President Cheney begin their second terms
2005 — Hurricane Katrina devastates the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama coastlines killing
at least 1,836 people and causing $81 billion in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster
in U.S. history. Weeks later, Hurricane Rita causes $10 billion damage along the Louisiana and
Texas coastlines. In October, Hurricane Wilma kills 35 and causes $20 billion in damage in
Florida.
2006 — The Democratic Party retakes control of both houses of Congress, and gains a majority
of state governorships (28-22).
2007 — Democrat Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives
2007 — George W. Bush orders a troop surge which substantially increases the number of U.S.
troops in Iraq and ultimately leads to reductions in casualties and major victories for coalition
and Iraqi forces, against the insurgency.
2007 — A South Korean student shoots and kills 32 other students and professors in the Virginia
Tech massacre before killing himself. It stands as the worst mass shooting in U.S. history until
2012 and spurs a series of debates on gun control and journalism ethics.
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2007 — The I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapses, killing 13
people. The bridge collapse brings to national attention the need to rehabilitate the aging U.S.
infrastructure system.
2007 — The late-2000s recession officially begins in December.
2008 — The Super Tuesday tornado outbreak kills over 60 people and produces $1 billion in
damage across Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama.
2008 — A student kills five, injures 21, and then kills himself in the Northern Illinois University
shooting. After this incident, calls are made for more focus on mental health services and
interest grows substantially in the group Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.
2008 — Hurricane Ike kills 100 people along the Texas coast, produces $31 billion in damage,
and contributes to rising oil prices.
2008 — U.S. oil prices hit a record $147 per barrel in the wake of—among other factors—
international tensions and the falling U.S. dollar vs. the Euro.
2008 — A global financial crisis begins as the stock market crashes. In response, U.S. President
George W. Bush signs the revised Emergency Economic Stabilization Act into law to create a 700
billion dollar Treasury fund to purchase failing bank assets.
2008 — U.S. presidential election, 2008: Barack Obama is elected president, and Joe Biden vice
president.