UNITED STATES

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2006&nbsp;March - Congress renews the USA Patriot Act, a centerpiece of the government's fight against terrorism, after months of debate about its impact on civil liberties. The government agrees to some curbs on information gathering. Bush years: Wave of support after 9/11 yielded to derision at home and abroad

2007&nbsp;January - President Bush announces a new Iraq strategy; thousands more US troops will be dispatched to shore up security in Baghdad.

1986&nbsp;- US warplanes bomb Libyan cities. "Irangate" scandal uncovered, revealing that proceeds from secret US arms sales to Iran were used illegally to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

1988&nbsp;- Reagan's vice-president, George Bush, elected president.

1999&nbsp;March-June - US plays leading role in Nato bombardment of Yugoslavia in response to Serb violence against ethnic Albanians in the province of Kosovo. The 9/11 twin attacks in New York shattered Americans sense of invulnerability

1963&nbsp;- President John F Kennedy assassinated; Lyndon Johnson becomes president.

1964&nbsp;- US steps up its military intervention in Vietnam. Civil Rights Act signed into law; it aims to halt discrimination on grounds of race, colour, religion, nationality.

1992&nbsp;- Democratic Party candidate Bill Clinton elected president.

1992&nbsp;- Congress passes North American Free Trade Agreement, or Nafta, intended to create free-trade bloc among US, Canada and Mexico.

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United States profile – Timeline Part 2 Jeraldine Belalcazar Garcia

2002&nbsp;November - President Bush signs into law a bill creating a Department of Homeland Security, the biggest reorganization of federal government in more than 50 years.

2003&nbsp;February - Space shuttle Columbia's 28th mission ends in tragedy when the craft breaks-up while re-entering the atmosphere. The seven astronauts on board are killed.

2005&nbsp;August - Hundreds of people are killed when Hurricane Katrina, the most destructive storm to hit the US in decades, sweeps through gulf coast states. Much of the city of New Orleans is submerged by flood waters.

1979&nbsp;- US embassy in Tehran, Iran, seized by radical students. The 444-day hostage crisis - including a failed rescue attempt in 1980 - impacts on President Carter's popularity and dominates the 1980 presidential election campaign.

2001&nbsp;11 September - Co-ordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda terror group prompts the US to embark on a "war on terror" that includes invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

2001&nbsp;October - US leads massive campaign of air strikes against Afghanistan and helps opposition forces defeat the Taliban regime.

1980&nbsp;November - Republican Party's Ronald Reagan elected president, and goes on to adopt a tough anti-communist policy abroad and tax-cutting policies at home.

1986&nbsp;January - Space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after takeoff from Cape Canaveral. All seven crew members are killed. Manned space flights are suspended until September 1988.

World War II and the Cold War

1941&nbsp;- Japanese warplanes attack US fleet at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, leading to US joining World War II against the Axis powers.

1945&nbsp;- US drops two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders.

2003&nbsp;March - Missile attacks on Baghdad mark the start of a US- led campaign to topple the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. US forces advance into central Baghdad in early April.

2004&nbsp;May - Furore over pictures showing the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in US custody.

1974&nbsp;- President Nixon resigns in the Watergate scandal over a 1972 break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters.

1976&nbsp;- Democratic Party candidate Jimmy Carter elected president.

1954&nbsp;- Racial segregation in schools becomes unconstitutional; start of campaign of civil disobedience to secure civil rights for Americans of African descent.

1960&nbsp;- Democratic Party candidate John F Kennedy elected president, narrowly defeating his rival Richard Nixon.

1995&nbsp;- Oklahoma bomb by far-right activists kills more than 160 people in worst ever incident of its kind in US.

1998&nbsp;- Scandal over Clinton's sexual impropriety with White House worker Monica Lewinsky dominates domestic political agenda, and leads to impeachment proceedings in Congress.

2008&nbsp;September - Turmoil in the US and international financial markets as major Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers collapses and other big US financial players face growing troubles as a result of the "credit crunch".

1950-53&nbsp;- US forces play leading role against North Korean and Chinese troops in Korean War.

1950-54&nbsp;- Senator Joseph McCarthy carries out a crusade against alleged communists in government and public life; the campaign and its methods become known as McCarthyism. In 1954 McCarthy is formally censured by the Senate.

2000&nbsp;November - Republican Party's George W Bush wins presidency.

1968&nbsp;- Black civil rights leader Martin Luther King assassinated.

1969&nbsp;- Republican Party candidate Richard Nixon elected president amid growing public opposition to Vietnam war. US military presence in Vietnam exceeds 500,000 personnel. US astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon.

1947&nbsp;- US enunciates policy of aid for nations it deems threatened by communism in what became known as the Truman Doctrine. Cold War with Soviet Union begins.

1948&nbsp;- America's programme to revive ailing post-war European economies - the Marshall Plan - comes into force. Some $13bn is disbursed over four years and the plan is regarded as a success.

1989&nbsp;- US troops invade Panama, oust its government and arrest its leader, one-time Central Intelligence Agency informant General Manuel Noriega, on drug-trafficking charges.

1991&nbsp;- US forces play dominant role in war against Iraq, which was triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and ended with the expulsion of Iraqi troops from that country.

1961&nbsp;- Bay of Pigs invasion: an unsuccessful attempt to invade Cuba by Cuban exiles, organised and financed by Washington.

1962&nbsp;- US compels Soviet Union to withdraw nuclear weapons from Cuba in what has become known as the Cuban missile crisis.

1972&nbsp;- Nixon re-elected and makes historic visit to China that leads to recognition of the communist government .

1973&nbsp;- Vietnam ceasefire agreement signed. The campaign had claimed some 58,000 American lives.