columbine
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Jefferson Countynear Littleton, Colorado, United States. Two teenage students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, executed a planned shooting rampage killing 12 other students and a teacher before committing suicide. It is considered to be the third worst school shooting in U.S. history, the worst being the Virginia Tech massacre and the second being the Sandy Hook shooting.
oklahoma city bombing
On April 19, 1995, a truck-bomb explosion outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, left 168 people dead and hundreds more injured. The blast was set off by anti-government militant Timothy McVeigh, who in 2001 was executed for his crimes. His co-conspirator Terry Nichols received life in prison. Until September 11, 2001, the Oklahoma City bombing was the worst terrorist attack to take place on U.S. soil.
man in glacier
Ötzi the Iceman is a well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived about 5,300 years ago. The mummy was found in September 1991 in the Ötztal Alps, near Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy.[2] The nickname comes from the Ötztal (Ötz valley), the Italian Alps in which he was discovered. He is Europe's oldest natural human mummy, and has offered an unprecedented view of Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Europeans. His body and belongings are displayed in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, northern Italy (Alto Adige, also known as Southern Tyrol).
death of princess diana
In August 1997, the Dodi and Diana set sail for Sardinia, the the paps followed. On the 30th of August, they flew to Paris and dined at the Ritz, which belongs to Dodi's father. Shortly after midnight, trying to evade the lurking paparazzi, the couple exited the hotel's back door and got into a Mercedes. Inside the car were driver Henri Paul and bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones.
A group of photographers had chased the Mercedes along Place de la Concorde, and into the tunnel Pont de l'Alma. Running at 180km/hr (speed limit was 80km), the an intoxicated Henri Paul crashed the Mercedes into the tunnel's 13th post. None of the four occupants wore a seat belt. Dodi and Henri Paul died on the spot. Diana and the bodyguard were alive. A doctor who witnessed the crash came to give first aid, and an ambulance shortly arrived, but it would take an hour before Diana could be pulled out of the wrecked car. At 1:30am of August 31, Princess Diana was brought into La Pitié-Salpêtriére Hospital. They discovered she was bleeding massively internally and tried lengthy resuscitation attempts, including an internal cardiac massage. Ultimately, she was proclaimed dead at 4:00am Paris time. The world woke up to the shocking news of Diana's death.
A group of photographers had chased the Mercedes along Place de la Concorde, and into the tunnel Pont de l'Alma. Running at 180km/hr (speed limit was 80km), the an intoxicated Henri Paul crashed the Mercedes into the tunnel's 13th post. None of the four occupants wore a seat belt. Dodi and Henri Paul died on the spot. Diana and the bodyguard were alive. A doctor who witnessed the crash came to give first aid, and an ambulance shortly arrived, but it would take an hour before Diana could be pulled out of the wrecked car. At 1:30am of August 31, Princess Diana was brought into La Pitié-Salpêtriére Hospital. They discovered she was bleeding massively internally and tried lengthy resuscitation attempts, including an internal cardiac massage. Ultimately, she was proclaimed dead at 4:00am Paris time. The world woke up to the shocking news of Diana's death.
fear of y2k
January 1, 2000, that is the day that was to change all of our lives. That was the day that the computers on which we all depended would fail us. That was the day that all of our “luxuries” of daily life would crumble, and we would be once again forced to live without electricity, running water, heat. The great Y2K scare is what it was called. The scare was that all of our computer systems around the world would cease to function on December 31, 1999. Computer memory space was expensive early on, and space was saved by using two digits for the date rather than four. Hence, when the year turned “00” the fear was that most computers would be unable to distinguish between 2000 and 1900. In fact, problems had already begun occurring in situations that involved future dates later than 2000. So, the assumption was that all the world’s computers would crash.
Nelson Mandela Freed
Nelson Mandela, as a leader in the African National Congress, an organization dedicated to protesting the South African government’s policy of apartheid, had been arrested in 1956 on treason charges, but was acquitted. On June 12, 1964, Nelson Mandela received a life sentence for committing sabotage against South Africa’s apartheid government, avoiding a possible death sentence.In the 1980s, exiled ANC leader Oliver Tambo, Mandela’s former law partner, led an international movement to free Mandela. Many countries imposed sanctions on South Africa for its apartheid policies.In 1985, President P.W. Botha offered to release Mandela, who had been moved to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town, on the condition that he renounced violence, writes the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Mandela refused, saying, “Prisoners cannot enter into contracts Only free men can negotiate". F.W. de Klerk became president in 1989 and began to dismantle the policies of apartheid and release the ANC prisoners. On Feb. 12, 1990, Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison.
He was named president of the ANC and in 1993 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
He was named president of the ANC and in 1993 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
rodney king and l.a. riots
Rodney Glen King was an African-American construction worker who while on parole for robbery became nationally known after being beaten with excessive force by Los Angeles police officers following a high-speed car chase on March 3, 1991. Day 1
The riots happened quickly. Liquor stores, chain stores, fast-food places, and white people were the main targets of looting, fire, and violence. On the first day of the riots, the most infamous event took place. Reginald Denny, a white truck driver, was crossing Florence and Normandie. He was pulled out of his car by Damian Williams, a resident of the area. He was severely beaten while a helicopter recorded the incident. Williams took a piece of concrete and slammed it against Denny’s head and then celebrated. Denny barely survived. The police were withdrawn from South Central, and the 110 Freeway was closed from Century to King. The media concentrated on this attack throughout the riots. They did not report that Fidel Lopez, an immigrant from Guatemala, suffered similar brutality.
Day 2
The riots were more organized and South LA began to burn. Korean store owners came to defend their stores and had gunbattles with rioters. There were not any police or National Guard present at this point as LA burned.
Day 3
Rodney King was put on TV and asked LA, “can we all get along?” People could not at this point. The police and National Guard continued to let the city burn as a huge power outage hit South Central.
Day 4 and 5
The National Guard enters South Central and begins to restore order. There are random areas of violence for days on end.
Result
In the end, 53 people were killed, most all were rioters or innocent victims. Over $1 billion in damages were done. People rioted because of the built up anger and frustration of recent events. Riots also occurred in San Francisco, Oakland, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Chicago. The riots were not just a collection of random acts. People were speaking out against oppression; against being held down for so long. The only way they were finally heard was through the extreme acts that came to be called the LA Riots.
Source: southcentralhistory.com
The riots happened quickly. Liquor stores, chain stores, fast-food places, and white people were the main targets of looting, fire, and violence. On the first day of the riots, the most infamous event took place. Reginald Denny, a white truck driver, was crossing Florence and Normandie. He was pulled out of his car by Damian Williams, a resident of the area. He was severely beaten while a helicopter recorded the incident. Williams took a piece of concrete and slammed it against Denny’s head and then celebrated. Denny barely survived. The police were withdrawn from South Central, and the 110 Freeway was closed from Century to King. The media concentrated on this attack throughout the riots. They did not report that Fidel Lopez, an immigrant from Guatemala, suffered similar brutality.
Day 2
The riots were more organized and South LA began to burn. Korean store owners came to defend their stores and had gunbattles with rioters. There were not any police or National Guard present at this point as LA burned.
Day 3
Rodney King was put on TV and asked LA, “can we all get along?” People could not at this point. The police and National Guard continued to let the city burn as a huge power outage hit South Central.
Day 4 and 5
The National Guard enters South Central and begins to restore order. There are random areas of violence for days on end.
Result
In the end, 53 people were killed, most all were rioters or innocent victims. Over $1 billion in damages were done. People rioted because of the built up anger and frustration of recent events. Riots also occurred in San Francisco, Oakland, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Chicago. The riots were not just a collection of random acts. People were speaking out against oppression; against being held down for so long. The only way they were finally heard was through the extreme acts that came to be called the LA Riots.
Source: southcentralhistory.com
U.S. President Clinton Impeached
After nearly 14 hours of debate, the House of Representatives approves two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, charging him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice. Clinton, the second president in American history to be impeached, vowed to finish his term.
O.J. SImpson trial
On the date of June 17th 1994, O.J. Simpson was leading police in a slow car chase in his infamous white Bronco truck, in the car with O.J. Simpson was a long-time friend Al Cowlings. When police tried to get close to the car Al yelled out the window the O.J. was carrying a gun to his own head. After chasing the car for 5 hours O.J. finally returned home almost a heartbeat later O.J. was arrested for the double homicide of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman. The trial in itself was a circus especially O.J. Lawyer's (Johnnie Cochran) would talk for the trial had been speak to the court room trying to convince everyone that O.J. was innocent by sometimes playfully ridiculing saying things like O.J.'s head is to big for the knit cap found at the murder scene and the most memorable quote " If the gloves don't fit, you must acquit". In the end O.J. was set free and was aquitted for DNA evidence was new during this time especially in a major case involving murder such as this.