American History Events

In the presence of members of Congress and the media, the Northrop B-2 "stealth" bomber is shown publicly for the first time at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The aircraft...

Acting on the policy of the Carter Doctrine, and out of fear the Iraqi army could launch an invasion of Saudi Arabia, U.S. President George H. W. Bush quickly announced that the U.S. woul...

On 23 August 1990 President Hussein appeared on state television with Western hostages to whom he had refused exit visas. They were seen as human shields, though Saddam Hussein denied the...

Although there were human rights abuses committed in Kuwait by the invading Iraqi military, the ones best known in the US were an invention of the public relations firm hired by the gover...

On 12 January 1991 the United States Congress authorized the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. The votes were 52-47 in the US Senate and 250-183 in the US House of Repres...

A day after the deadline set in Resolution, the coalition launched a massive air campaign which began the general offensive codenamed Operation Desert Storm with more than 1,000 sorties l...

Shortly after the SCUD attack which killed 28 US troops in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the U.S. VII Corps assembled in full strength and, spearheaded by the 3rd Squadron of the 2nd Armored Cav...

Planning his revenge for the second anniversary of the Waco disaster, McVeigh enlisted his friend Terry Nichols and several others to help him pull off his plan. In September 1994, McVeig...

In Atlanta, Dr. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, issued a statement that said: ''This is a tragedy, not only for Mr. Ray and his family but also for the entire nation. America will ne...

This was one of those events where I remembered exactly where I was and what I was doing. I had arrived at my office at 541 N. Fairbanks in Chicago when my wife called to tell me that a p...

Two weeks before he would launch the invasion of Iraq, President Bush announces at a press conference that time is running out on the UN inspections process and on Saddam Hussein

At approximately 02:30 UTC, or about 90 minutes after the lapse of the 48-hour deadline, at 5:30 am local time, explosions were heard in Baghdad. According to The Pentagon, 36 Tomahawk mi...

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, was spearheaded by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Spain, Poland and Denmark. ...

On May 1, 2003, Bush became the first sitting President to make an arrested landing in a fixed-wing aircraft on an aircraft carrier when he arrived at the USS Abraham Lincoln in a Lockhee...

After President Bush's speech on May 1, 2003 (the "Mission Accomplished" speech), coalition forces noticed a gradually increasing flurry of attacks on its troops in various regions, espec...

The American Civil Liberties Union today issued a call to change FBI spying guidelines after documents were released revealing that the FBI spied on Coretta Scott King, after the death of...

President Obama on Tuesday nominated federal appellate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. President Obama on Tuesday introduces Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his choice for the ...

BAGHDAD (AP) — Hours before the deadline for U.S. combat troops to withdraw from Iraqi cities, the top American military commander in the Middle East expressed confidence Monday that Iraq...

(CNN) -- Gov. Sarah Palin announced Friday that she will step down as Alaska's chief executive by the end of the month. She will not seek election to a second gubernatorial term in 2010. ...

Howard Zinn, the Boston University historian and political activist who was an early opponent of US involvement in Vietnam and whose books, such as "A People's History of the United State...

American novelist JD Salinger, author of classic 20th Century book The Catcher In The Rye, has died aged 91. The reclusive writer died of natural causes at his home in the state of New...

Lena Horne died on Mothers Day, May 9, 2010, in New York City of heart failure, according to her daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley. In addition to her daughter, she is survived by granddaughte...

Shortly before 1 a.m. on July 12, 2010, Pekar's wife found him dead in his Cleveland Heights, Ohio, home. No immediate cause was determined. Pekar had been diagnosed with cancer for the t...

An innocuous-looking memory stick, no longer than a couple of fingernails, came into the hands of a Guardian reporter earlier this year. The device is so small it will hang easily on a ke...

Geraldine Hoff Doyle, the inspiration behind the now-iconic Rose the Riveter WWII poster, has died at age 86 in Michigan. The poster of a young woman in a factory uniform and red polka...