Club Times: September/October 2023

Meanwhile... Many important historical moments happened across the country & the rest of the world during this period.

Ronald Reagan was elected 40th President of the United States in 1980 and served from 1981 to 1989. His term saw a restoration of prosperity at home with a goal of achieving “peace through strength” abroad. His economic policies became known as Reaganomics and emphasized reducing reliance on government, cutting taxes and government spending. His tough stance on the Soviet Union brought about the end of the Cold War.

1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre – Chinese troops kill nearly 1000 protestors who are demonstrating for democracy Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and US President George H.W. Bush declare the Cold War over and the fall of the Berlin Wall occurs on November 9. In 1990 wrecking cranes begin tearing down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate, reuniting East and West Germany. 1990 Nelson Mandela is released after 27 years imprisonment in South Africa 1991 Operation Desert Storm begins, with US-led coalition forces bombing Iraq, during the Gulf War Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his ideas for the World Wide Web and WWW debuts as a publicly available service on the Internet 1994 Nelson Mandela sworn in as South Africa’s first black president 1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris

1981 Sandra Day O’Conner is sworn in as the first woman to serve on US Supreme Court

Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer First year the word “Internet” is mentioned 1985 Michael Jordan named NBA “Rookie of the Year”

1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explodes on January 28, 73 seconds into flight killing all on board including teacher Christa McAuliffe 1987 October 19th –stock market crashes and becomes known as “Black Monday” Reagan delivers his Berlin Wall Speech “Tear Down this Wall” 1988 Margaret Thatcher becomes the longest-serving British Prime Minister this century

The Soviet Collapse 1991 marked the Soviet Collapse, the internal disintegration within the USSR which ended the existence of the country and federal government as a sovereign state. Fifteen republics gained full independence on December 26, 1991. The Soviet Union had experienced internal stagnation and ethnic separatism. By late 1991, amid a catastrophic political crisis, with several republics already departing the Union and the waning of centralized power, the leaders declared that the Soviet Union no longer existed. Gorbachev resigned in December 1991 and what was left of the Soviet parliament voted to end itself.

The Soviet Red Banner being lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the Russian tricolor on 25 December 1991, moments after Mikhail Gorbachev announced his resignation.