Events of the Past 100 Years
1984
; Ronald Reagan is elected U.S.
president.
; Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi
is assassinated.
; Apple unveils its
Macintosh personal
computer.
; Walter Payton
passes Jim Brown as the National
Football League’s career rushing
leader.
; The U.S. establishes full diplomatic
relations with the Vatican after
117 years.
; Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose” replaces
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” as the
top album.
; More than 70 U.S. banks fail.
; The average cost of gasoline in U.S. is
$1.10 a gallon.
2009
; US Airways Flight 1549, en route
to Charlotte/Douglas International
Airport from New York’s LaGuardia
Airport, ditches in the Hudson River
off Manhattan. All 155 passengers
and crew are evacuated and taken
to safety. The plane is apparently
brought down by a flock of Canada
Geese.
; Barack
Obama is
inaugurated
as the 44th,
and first African-American, president
of the United States.
; Bernard Lawrence “Bernie” Madoff,
former chairman of the NASDAQ
stock exchange, confessed to, and
was convicted of, operating a Ponzi
scheme that has been called the
largest investor fraud ever committed
by a single person.
; Feb. 12, 2009, was the 200th
anniversary of the birth of Abraham
Lincoln. To honor the former presi-
dent, the U.S. Mint launched a special
series of pennies.
; Pope Benedict XVI made his first
visit to Africa since becoming head
of the Roman Catholic Church.
; In early 2009 the Dow Jones
Industrial Average reached a new
12-1/2 year low around 6,600, for
a total loss of 53 percent in less
than 18 months.
; Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich
becomes the first state governor to
be impeached and removed from
office in more than 20 years.
; A major salmonella
outbreak was
linked to
peanut butter.
Although
producer King Nut issued
a product recall, six people died
and more than 470 were sickened.
Many other companies also
recalled peanut butter products.
; Tiger Woods returns to the PGA
tour after taking off more than
six months for knee surgery and
rehabilitation.
; The Pittsburgh Steelers clinched the
Super Bowl XLIII Championship
with a 27-23 victory over the
Arizona Cardinals in a game that
what some are saying was one of
the best Super Bowls ever.
