Interactive Timeline – 1988-2001

correct incorrect Nov Vice President George H. W. Bush defeats Michael Dukakis for the presidency

correct incorrect Dec Mikhail Gorbachev addresses United Nations in New York, signaling a thaw in the Cold War; meets President Ronald Reagan and president-elect Bush

correct incorrect Aug Congress begins to tackle mounting savings and loan banking crisis

correct incorrect Dec United States occupies Panama, a sign of U.S. dominance in international affairs

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Jun Chinese troops crush pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, Beijing

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Jun Mikhail Gorbachev declares eastern European Communist nations are free to choose their own form of government without fear of Soviet intervention; announcement hastens peaceful end of Communist rule

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Nov Fall of Berlin Wall marks symbolic end of Cold War

correct incorrect Jun David Souter is confirmed as justice of Supreme Court

correct incorrect Jul Congress passes Americans with Disabilities Act, recognizing the rights of people previously excluded from full participation in society

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Feb Nelson Mandela freed from South African prison

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Aug Iraq invades Kuwait

correct incorrect Oct Clarence Thomas confirmed as justice of Supreme Court; his confirmation hearings spark anger among many women and their supporters who are convinced he engaged in sexual harassment during the 1980s

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Jan-Mar U.S. leads UN coalition in Gulf War to force Iraq out of Kuwait

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Dec Collapse of Soviet Union

correct incorrect Apr Riots takes place in Los Angeles

correct incorrect Nov Bill Clinton defeats George H. W. Bush and H. Ross Perot to win presidency, a triumph for New Democrats

correct incorrect Feb Al Qaeda operatives use truck bombs to attack New York's World Trade Center

correct incorrect Jun Ruth Bader Ginsberg confirmed as justice of Supreme Court

correct incorrect Sep President Clinton hosts White House signing ceremony of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization

correct incorrect Nov Congress ratifies the North American Free Trade Agreement

correct incorrect Jun Stephen Breyer confirmed as justice of Supreme Court

correct incorrect Sep U.S. forces out military government in Haiti; President Jean Bertrand Aristide is restored to power

correct incorrect Sep Congress fails to enact health care reform

correct incorrect Nov Republicans win control of House and Senate, severely constraining Bill Clinton's presidency

correct incorrect Nov California adopts Proposition 187 denying state benefits to undocumented foreign residents

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Apr Mandela elected president of South Africa

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Apr–Jul Rwandan genocide

correct incorrect Apr Domestic terrorists bomb federal building in Oklahoma City

correct incorrect Jul–Aug United States, British, and French planes bomb Serb forces

correct incorrect Nov Dayton peace accords for Bosnia are signed

correct incorrect Nov–Dec Congressional Republicans force shutdown of federal government

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Jul Serb forces massacre 4,000 Muslims in Srebrenica, Bosnia, and provoke a NATO bombing campaign against Serbia

correct incorrect Jul Congress enacts welfare reform

correct incorrect Nov Bill Clinton is reelected president over Bob Dole and H. Ross Perot

correct incorrect Dec Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warns that "irrational exuberance" could lead to unsustainable stock market bubble

correct incorrect Oct Federal government reports surplus

correct incorrect Apr United States mediates peace agreement between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland

correct incorrect Aug Al Qaeda bombs U.S. embassies in East Africa; United States launches airstrikes against Al Qaeda in Sudan and Afghanistan

correct incorrect Dec House of Representatives impeaches President Clinton

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Mar-Jun U.S. and NATO forces bomb Serbia to force it to remove troops from Kosovo

correct incorrect Feb Senate acquits Clinton of impeachment charges

correct incorrect Dec Showing limits of the appeal of globalization, antiglobalization demonstrators protest meeting of World Trade Organization in Seattle

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Dec Vladimir Putin becomes Russian president

correct incorrect Jul President Clinton hosts Camp David meeting of Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an unsuccessful effort to resolve their conflict

correct incorrect Nov Close presidential election takes place; results are contested

correct incorrect Dec Supreme Court declares George W. Bush winner of the presidential election over Al Gore

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Oct Al Qaeda attacks USS Cole

correct incorrect Jan Bush takes office; many Gore voters believe presidency is illegitimate