THE 1990S

TRAGEDY IN OKLAHOMA CITY

• On April 15, 1995. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols bombed the Alfred P. Murrah federal building
• The blast killed 168 people and caused over 650 million dollars in damage
• McVeigh and Nichols were both arrested and given harsh penalties, McVeigh was given the death penalty
• Nichols was given life in prison for his part for driving the truck that was rigged to explode in front of the building

WU TANG FOREVER

• The Wu-Tang Clan started their hip hop domination in 1993
• The 9 MC group released 2 classic albums in the 90s: Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers and Wu-Tang Forever
• RZA, GZA, ODB, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon, U-God, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and Masta Killa made up this fierce unit
• "Wu-Tang is for The Children!"---ODB

EAST COAST VS. WEST COAST

• Hip hop saw the death of their 2 biggest stars in the 90s, Tupac and The Notorious BIG
• Both released classics during their time and had the highest profile rap beef at the time due to the East Coast/West Coast rivalry
• Both of their murders have not been solved and many conspiracy theories surround their deaths.
• It was all a dream/I used to read word up magazine/ Salt-n-Pepa and Heavy D up in the limosuine -The Notorious BIG "Juicy"
• "Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive. Never surrender" -Tupac

AT THE MOVIES

• The most successful movie of the 90s without a doubt was Titanic
• The movie propelled Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet to the superstar actors they are today.
• The Movie made nearly 2 billion dollars at the box office, setting a world record
• The movie won 11 academy awards including best picture.
• Other successful movies from the 90s include Toy Story, The Lion King, Jerry Maguire, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, and. Forrest Gump

PRESIDENT #42

• In 1992 The US Elected the last great president as of now, Bill Clinton
• Clinton started making The US better by the second with The North American Free Trade Agreement to help the economy in Canada, The US, and Mexico
• Clinton's run was stopped after an impeachment hearing that accused of lying about his adultery

TERROR IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE

• On April 20, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot up Columbine High school, killing 11 people including themselves
• The shooting sparked debate of gun control and the media blamed artists like Marilyn Manson for influencing the 2 to kill their fellow students without putting any blame on the parents
• The shooting is still a huge deal today because it has inspired many school shootings all across the world and instilled a fear of school shootings still present today.

THE MAN

• The NBA's greatest player, Michael Jordan, dominated the 90s with 6 NBA Championships
• Jordan won his 1st 3 championships from 1991-93 before his 1st retirement to play baseball
• Jordan came back in 1996 to win 3 more rings before his second retirement

A TRUE SIGN OF PERSEVERANCE

• If you ever felt like giving up, always remember the name Nelson Mandela
• Mandela was released from prison after 27 years in 1994 in South Africa
• He ran for president shortly after and was president of South Africa from 1994-1999, becoming the country's first black president

A TRUE SIGN OF PERSEVERANCE

THE NEW MILLENNIUM

THE DOWNFALL OF THE US

• In 2001, The US started its downfall with the election of George W Bush as the 43rd president of The United States
• After 9/11, Bush passed The Patriot Act which allowed the government to spy in on phone calls and emails in case of terrorism, but failed miserably
• Bush sent The country into war in 2003 when he invaded Baghdad, Iraq and sent the military looking for Weapons of Mass Destruction and ending Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's reign of power.
• Bush has been seen as a racist for the slow safety response in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and singlehandedly took down The US Economy
• Bush is seen as the dumbest president in US History and his Vice President, Dick Cheney, is almost as villified.

THE DAY THAT EVERYTHING CHANGED

• On the morning of September 11, 2001, 2 commercial airplanes struck The World Trade Center in New York, while 2 other planes crashed into The Pentagon and in a field in Pennsylvania.
• Over 3000 people were killed overall in the attacks as well as all of the plane hijackers.
• Blame fell on Osama Bin Laden for the attacks and Islams in America were soon targeted in hate crimes.
• The attacks also inspired George W. Bush to start the war on terror and pass The Patriot Act to protect American citizens.

ENTERTAINMENT

• In 2002, Fox introduced American Idol which changed Reality TV forever and has influenced shows like The Voice
• The early 2000s saw the explosion of boy bands like NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys and pop artists like Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears
• MTV started focusing on reality tv rather than music, giving up the Music Television moniker.
• Friends aired its last episode in 2004, ending after a very successful 10 year run

CHANGING THE GAME

• After releasing his The Slim Shady LP in 1999, Eminem continued his domination of The Rap game with 2 classics, The Marshall Mathers LP in 2000 and The Eminem Show in 2002.
• His status as the 1st white rapper with all-around success made him rap's biggest star over Jay-Z, Nas, and 50 Cent, which meant when he took a break in the mid-2000s to deal with drug problems, many saw hip hop as lost without a top star.
• Eminem came back in 2009 and has released 3 successful albums and also turned many people who wouldn't ever listen to rap into fans because of his easy accessibility

AT THE MOVIES

• Some of the most successful movies of the 2000s were the superhero movies.
• Specifically The Spider-Man trilogy, The X-Men movies, as well as The Fantastic Four, along with a questionable Superman movie in 2006
• The most successful movies of the time have to be Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, which skyrocketed Batman's popularity worldwide.

THE RECESSION

• Starting in 2007, banks were found to have been lying about storing money which caused massive debts and a collapse of the housing bubble led to a period of recession In The US
• The recession also resulted in unemployment levels not seen since the Great Depression
• The recession also resulted in the big 3 auto makers having to take out many loans before a bailout in 2009 due to a lack of money.

A FIRST FOR AMERICA

• In 2008, the American people voted Barack Obama as president of The United States of America, becoming the first black president in the country's history
• Obama's election win was seen as a win for the entire country because of his calm, smart demeanor and popularity with the people
• After 6 years and winning his re-election, his popularity has plummeted due to the massive National Debt despite a jolt after the death of Osama Bin Laden
• "There is not a Black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America---There is An United States of America"--Barack Obama

SOCIAL MEDIA EXPLOSION

• At the turn of the 2010s, Social media forms like twitter, Facebook, and most recently Instagram gained popularity and showed new forms of social media never seen before
• The face of Social media has been Facebook Mark Zuckerberg because of the insane fortune he's made from Facebook's incarnation
• Jack Dorsey is the secondary face of social media mainly because he is the founder of twitter, which has surpassed Facebook in overall popularity recently.

A CHANGE IN AMERICA

• Starting in 2003 with Massachusetts, most of the states have lobbied and legalized gay marriage
• So far, 20 states, including The District of Columbia, have legalized gay marriage
• The support has been outstanding with supporters such as President Obama and rapper Macklemore with his song "Same Love"

NO GOVERNMENT!

• In late 2013, The US government did something that hadn't happen since 1996, completely shut down.
• The shut down lasted from October 1 to October 16, 2013, Closing national monuments and closing funding to armed forces colleges.
• The shutdown resulted in even more backlash against The Government for being lazy and failing to help the country prosper.

UNREST IN UKRAINE

• After a revolution that resulted in the president of Ukraine being overthrown, Russian forces went in Crimea, Ukraine and quickly took over and wrecked havoc.
• Like in Syria and North Korea, possible military action was tossed around but President Obama drew back and took the military out of the conversation, despite threats and the possibility of World War 3
• Ukraine is in a state of shock and confusion, here is to the people of Ukraine that a possible solution can be found soon before it gets out of control.