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This section of thetimeline of United States history includes major events from1990 to 2009.

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• 1990 —Hubble Space Telescope launches duringSTS-31, aSpace ShuttleDiscovery mission.^[1]
• 1991 — TheGulf War is waged in theMiddle East, by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from thirty-four nations, led by the U.S. andUnited Kingdom, againstIraq.
• 1991 — TheWorld Wide Web first debuts as anInternet service.^[2]
• 1991 — TheCold War ends as theUSSR isdissolved. TheUnited States becomes the onlysuperpower in the world.^[3]
• 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 motoristRodney King.
• 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 untilHurricane Katrina in 2005.
• 1992 —Hurricane Iniki is the strongest hurricane ever to hitHawaii.
• 1992 —U.S. presidential election, 1992:Bill Clinton elected president;Al Gore elected vice president.

• January 20, 1993 — Clinton becomes the 42nd president; Gore becomes the 45th vice president.
• 1993 —A truck bomb explodes in the parking garage under theWorld Trade Center inNew York City, killing six people and injuring over a thousand.^[4]
• 1993 —Branch Davidians standoff and fire nearWaco, Texas, resulting in the deaths of 81 people including their leader,David Koresh.^[5]
• 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 theMidwest with $15–$20 billion in damage.
• 1993 — President Clinton signs 'Don't ask, don't tell' into law which prohibits gay or bisexual people from serving openly in the military.^[6]
• 1994 —North American Free Trade Agreement goes in effect.
• 1994 —1994 Northridge earthquake kills 72 and injures 9,000 in theLos Angeles area and causes $20 billion in damage.
• 1994 — Former Arkansas state employeePaula Jones accuses President Clinton of sexual harassment.
• 1994 — The United States hosts theFIFA World Cup, which is won byBrazil.
• 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 ofTimothy McVeigh andTerry Nichols.
• 1995 — Retired professional football playerO. J. Simpson is acquitted of two charges of first-degree murder in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife,Nicole Brown Simpson, andRonald Goldman. The nine-month trial receives worldwide publicity.
• 1995 —A heat wave kills 739 in Chicago, bringing to attention the plight of the urban poor and the elderly inextreme weather conditions.
• 1995-1996 — Abudget crisis forces thefederal government to shut down for several weeks.
• 1996 —TWA Flight 800 explodes offLong Island killing all 230 aboard.
• 1996 —Khobar Towers bombing leaves 19 U.S. servicemen dead inSaudi Arabia.
• 1996 —Centennial Olympic Park bombing atSummer Olympics inAtlanta kills 1 and injures 111.
• 1996 —U.S. presidential election, 1996:Bill Clinton is re-elected president,Al Gore is re-elected vice president.
• January 20, 1997 — President Clinton and Vice President Gore begin their second terms.
• 1997 — Sparked by a global economic crisis scare, theDow Jones Industrial Average follows world markets and plummets 554.26, or 7.18%, to 7,161.15.
• 1998 — In the1998 United States elections, the Republicans hold both the House and the Senate.
• 1998-1999 —Clinton–Lewinsky scandal: President Clinton is accused of having a sexual relationship with 22-year-old White House internMonica Lewinsky. This leads to the impeachment of Clinton later in the year by the U.S. House of Representatives. Clinton is acquitted of allimpeachment 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 studentsEric Harris and Dylan Klebold murder 12 other students and one teacher atColumbine High School, sparking an international debate on gun control and bullying.
• 1999 — Aviolent tornado outbreak inOklahoma kills 50 people, becoming the first one to produce $1 billion in damage.
• 1999 — The first officer deliberately crashesEgyptAir Flight 990 south ofNantucket, Massachusetts, killing 217.
• 1999 — Along with the rest of the world, the U.S. prepares for the possible effects ofthe 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.

• 2000 — TheArleigh Burke-class destroyer, theUSSCole (DDG-67) isbombed 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 aSupreme Court ruling.Al Gore wins the nationwide popular vote but loses theelectoral college.Dick Cheney is certified vice president.

• January 20, 2001 — Bush becomes the 43rd president; Cheney becomes the 46th vice president.
• 2001 —Democrats gain narrow control ofSenate afterJim Jeffords defects from theRepublican Party.
• 2001 —No Child Left Behind Act education reform bill passed.
• 2001 —Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 institutes large tax cuts.
• 2001 —September 11 attacks; 19 terrorists hijack four planes and crash them into theWorld Trade Center,The Pentagon, and a field inShanksville, 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 5 and infect a further 17 through the U.S. Mail system.
• 2001 — The United States launches theinvasion of Afghanistan marking the start ofOperation Enduring Freedom.
• 2001 —Patriot Act, increasing law enforcement agencies' ability to conduct searches in cases of suspectedterrorism. Agencies were enforced.
• 2001 —American Airlines Flight 587 crashes inQueens, New York, killing 265.
• 2002 — TheDepartment of Homeland Security is created in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
• 2002 — The United States withdraws fromAnti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
• 2002 — 10 people are killed and 3 are injured in theBeltway sniper attacks around the Washington D.C. area.
• 2003 —Republicans retake narrow control of theSenate following 2002 elections.
• 2003 —Space ShuttleColumbia 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 theE2 nightclub stampede which killed 21,The Station nightclub fire which killed 100, anda porch collapse which killed 13.
• 2003 — The United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Polandinvades Iraq marking the start ofOperation Iraqi Freedom.
• 2003 — U.S. forcescontinue 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 presidentSaddam Hussein is captured by U.S. special forces.
• 2004 — The social networking websiteFacebook is launched.^[7]
• 2004 — The2004 Atlantic hurricane season produces four deadly and damaging hurricanes which impact Florida,Charley,Frances,Ivan, andJeanne, which kill a combined 100 people in the U.S. and produce over $50 billion in damage
• 2004 —Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalizesame-sex marriage in compliance with a ruling from the state's Supreme Court ruling inGoodridge v. Department of Public Health
• 2004 — Former PresidentRonald Reagandies from complications resulting fromAlzheimer's disease. Helies in state at theU.S. Capitol building before being interred.
• 2004 —George W. Bush is re-elected president,Dick Cheney is re-elected vice president.
• January 20, 2005 — President Bush and Vice President Cheney begin their second terms.
• 2005 —Hurricane Katrina devastates theLouisiana,Mississippi, andAlabama 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 andTexas coastlines. In October,Hurricane Wilma kills 35 and causes $20 billion in damage in Florida.

• 

• 2006 — TheDemocratic Party retakes control of both houses of Congress, and gains a majority of state governorships (28-22).^[8]
• 2007 — DemocratNancy Pelosi becomes the first femalespeaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.^[9]
• 2007 —George W. Bush orders atroop 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 theVirginia Tech shooting before killing himself. It stands as the worstmass shooting in U.S. history until 2016 and spurs a series of debates on gun control and journalism ethics.
• 2007 — The firstIPhone is released for sale in the U.S.
• 2007 — TheI-35W Mississippi River bridge inMinneapolis, Minnesota collapses, killing 13 people. The bridge collapse brings to national attention the need to rehabilitate the aging U.S. infrastructure system.
• 2007 — TheGreat Recession officially begins in December.^[10]
• 2008 — TheSuper Tuesday tornado outbreak kills over 60 people and produces $1 billion in damage acrossArkansas,Kentucky,Tennessee, andAlabama.
• 2008 — A student kills five, injures 21, and then kills himself in theNorthern Illinois University shooting. After this incident, calls are made for more focus on mental health services and interest grows substantially in the groupStudents 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 fallingU.S. dollar vs. theEuro.
• 2008 — The2008 financial crisis begins as the stock market crashes. In response, U.S. President George W. Bush signs the revisedEmergency Economic Stabilization Act into law to create a700 billion dollar Treasury fund to purchase failing bankassets.
• 2008 —U.S. presidential election, 2008:Barack Obama is elected president, andJoe Biden elected vice president.

• January 20, 2009 — Obama becomes the 44th president, Biden becomes the 47th vice president. Obama is the first African-American to hold the office.^[11]
• 2009 — The first of a series ofTea Party protests are conducted across the United States, focusing on smaller government, fiscal responsibility, individual freedoms and conservative views of the Constitution.
• 2009 — President Obama obtains Congressional approval for the$787 billion stimulus package, the largest since PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower.^[12]
• 2009 — Pop iconMichael Jacksondies, creating the largest public mourning for an entertainer since the death ofElvis Presley.
• 2009 —Nidal Hasan kills 12 servicemen and injures 31 in the2009 Fort Hood shooting.^[13]

• History of the United States (1980–1991)
• History of the United States (1991–2016)
• History of the United States (2016–present)

• Postwar United States travel guide from Wikivoyage

• Timelines of United States history by period
• 1990s in the United States
• 2000s in the United States
• 1990s timelines
• 2000s timelines
• Presidency of George H. W. Bush
• Presidency of Bill Clinton
• Presidency of George W. Bush
• Presidency of Barack Obama

• Source attribution
• Articles with short description
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• Articles needing additional references from June 2022
• All articles needing additional references
• Use mdy dates from April 2025