TIMELINE OF EVENTS
| 1975 | Microsoft formed |
| 1976 | Apple Computer Company formed |
| 1980–1990s | Immigration surges from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South and East Asia |
| 1991 | World Wide Web comes into existence |
| 1993–2011 | “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy enacted |
| 1994 | Contract with America announced; Republicans win control of Congress |
| 1995 | Dayton Peace Accords |
| 1996 | Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act reforms welfare |
| Defense of Marriage Act | |
| 1998 | President Clinton impeached |
| 2000 | al-Qaeda bombs USS Cole in Yemen |
| Supreme Court rules in favor of George W. Bush in contested presidential election | |
| 2001 | September 11 al-Qaeda attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon |
| U.S. troops invade Afghanistan; Patriot Act passed | |
| 2002 | No Child Left Behind Act passed |
| 2003–2011 | War in Iraq |
| 2005 | Hurricane Katrina hits Gulf coast |
| 2008 | Great Recession begins |
| Barack Obama elected president | |
| Tea Party movement formed | |
| 2009 | Congress passes health care reform act |
| 2011 | Osama bin Laden killed by U.S. special forces |
| Occupy Wall Street movement formed | |
| 2012 | U.S. Census Bureau reports majority of nonwhite births for first time in U.S. history |