Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
US involvement in the Vietnam War tears the nation apart as 58,000 Americans die, along with
four million Vietnamese and 1.5 million Laotians and Cambodians.
1969
American astronauts land on the moon, fulfilling President Kennedy's unlikely 1961 promise to
accomplish this feat within a decade and culminating the 'space race' between the US and
USSR.
1973
InRoe v Wade,the Supreme Court legalizes abortion. Even today this decision remains contro-
versial and socially divisive, pitting 'right to choose' advocates against the 'right to life' anti-
abortion lobby.
1989
The 1960s-era Berlin Wall is torn down, marking the end of the Cold War between the US and
the USSR (now Russia). The USA becomes the world's last remaining superpower.
1990s
The world wide web debuts in 1991. Silicon Valley, CA, leads a high-tech internet revolution, re-
making communications and media; overvalued tech stocks drive the massive boom (and sub-
sequent bust).
2001
On September 11, Al-Qaeda terrorists hijack four commercial airplanes, flying two into NYC's
twin towers and one into the Pentagon (the fourth crashes in Pennsylvania); nearly 3000
people are killed.
2003
After citing evidence that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction, President George W
Bush launches a preemptive war that will cost over 4000 American lives and some $3 trillion.
2005
On August 29, Hurricane Katrina hits the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, rupturing poorly
maintained levees and flooding New Orleans. More than 1800 people die, and cost estimates
exceed $110 billion.
2008-09
