January 2005

Date

Description

06/01/2005

The Graniteville train disaster

12/01/2005

Deep impact is launched

20/01/2005

Bush is sworn in for his second term

26/01/2005

Glendale train crash

September 2005
Date

Description

-/09/2005

Evacuation in Houston as millions escape Hurricane Rita.

01/09/2005

Oil prices rise due to economic effects of Hurricane Katrina.

05/09/2005

John G. Roberts nominated for Chief Justice after William Rehnquist died two days prior.

14/09/2005

Largest ever UN World Summit is held in New York City.

23/09/2005

Convicted bank thied Filiberto Ojeda Rios is killed when FBI attempts to arrest him.

24/09/2005

Worldwide protests against the Iraq War. Hurricane Rita hits U.S. Gulf coast.

26/09/2005

Lynndie England is convicted on six of seven counts, in connection with the Abu Ghraib scandal.

28/09/2005

Tom DeLay is indicted on charges of criminal conspiracy, Roy Blunt takes over as House Majority Leader.

29/09/2005

John G. Roberts is sworn in as Chief Justice

June 2008
Date

Description

01/06/2008

Fire engulfs parts of Universal Studios in California. Musical Rent ends after 12 year run.

03/06/2008

Barack Obama becomes first African American presidential candidate.

04/06/2008

Travis Alexander was murdered by ex girlfriend.

25/06/2008

Gunman Wesley Higdon murders 5 in plastics factory before committing suicide.

27/06/2008

Bill Gates steps down as Chairman of Microsoft.

April 2009
Date

Description

-/04/2009

Unemployment rate hit 9% for the first time since 1983.

01/04/2009

Iowa Supreme court unanimously agrees that denying same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Jiverly Wong shoots 13 people
and himself in New York.

07/04/2009

Vermont legalises same-sex marriage.

08/04/2009

Somali pirates hijack an American freighter and kidnap captain.

12/04/2009

Three Somali pirates are killed in sniper operation to retrieve captain, results in multi-day standoff between US Navy and
pirates.

18/04/2009

Roxana Saberi is sentenced to eight years in prison by Iranian court due to espionage allegations. She is released the following
month.

24/04/2009

Outbreaks of swine flu is identified as a public health emergency of international concern.

July 2010
Date

Description

01/07/2010

Texting while driving is banned in Iowa, Wyoming, Alabama and Georgia.

08/07/2010

Ten people uncovered by the FBI as Russian spies plead guilty to conspiracy to act as foreign agents.

15/07/10

BP Oil Spill is stopped after 86 days of leakage into the Gulf of Mexico.

24/07/10

A dam in Iowa collapses after heavy rainfall and leads to massive flooding in Manchester, Iowa.

August 2010
Date

Description

03/08/2010

Omar Thornton kills 8 in Manchester, Connecticut before killing himself.

04/08/2010

Forty billionaires announce plans to give half of their wealth to charities. Same sex marriage is legalised in California.

07/08/2010

Elena Kagan is sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

31/08/2010

Barack Obama declares an end to combat operations in Iraq.

September 2010
Date

Description

01/09/2010

James J. Lee takes three hostages at Discovery Channel headquarters, he is shot, no hostages are harmed.

02/09/2010

Oil rig explodes in Gulf of Mexico, workers were rescued and no hazardous materials entered the water.

06/09/2010

Fourmile Canyon Fire begins west of Boulder, Colorado.

09/09/2010

Natural gas line in California explodes, 53 homes are destroyed, 120 are damaged, 7 people die, 20 are injured, 6 are missing.

16/09/2010

Storm in New York City spawns two tornadoes.

23/09/2010

USA and other nations walk out of UN General Assembly following claims that the 9/11 attacks were the work of the
government protecting Israel.

30/09/2010

Massachusetts bans text messaging while driving.

October 2010
Date

Description

01/10/2010

Rahm Emanuel resigns to run for Mayor of Chicago, Senior advisor Pete Rouse takes over as Chief of Staff temporarily.

13/10/2010

Federal Judge declares dont ask dont tell unconstitutional and temporarily ends policy.

19/10/2010

US Military begins accepting applications for gay service members.

20/10/2010

Obamas administration announces it will appeal the judges ruling on the constitutionality of dont ask dont tell even though
Obama wished to end it.

26/10/2010

Limewire is shut down.

29/10/2010
April 2011

Obama confirms that two packages sent to the US from Yemen were filled with explosives.

Date

Description

05/04/2011

Cuba and its partners announce plans to drill for oil in Cuban waters in The Gulf of Mexico.

08/04/2011

A week-long stopgap spending bill preventing a government shutdown resulting from a failure to pass the 2011 federal budget
is agreed.

14/04/2011

A tornado outbreak kill at least 43 people in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia.

18/04/2011

The long-term sovereign debt of the USA is downgraded to negative from stable for the first time in history.

25/04/2011

The most active tornado outbreak in US history kills 339 people in the Southeast, the second most deadly tornado outbreak in
US history.

27/04/2011

Obama releases his birth certificate in response to theories that he was not born in the USA. US Federal Reserve chairman Ben
Bernanke expects less economic growth for 2011 as economy has been weaker than expected. Eight US troops were shot and
killed by an Afghan pilot, five Afghan soldiers were wounded, the Taliban claimed responsibility.

July 2011
Date

Description

01/07/2011

The majority of children under one year old are minorities for the first time.

02/07/2011

ExxonMobil attempt to contain an oil spill on the Yellowstone River in Montana.

03/07/2011

Tourist boat sinks in Gulf of California with 23 people missing.

05/07/2011

Phoenix, Arizona it hit by dust storm. Casey Anthony is found not guilty of murder but guilty of four misdemeanour counts of
giving false information.

07/07/2011

Supreme court rules that Humberto Leal Garcia (a Mexican national) should be executed in Texas. Seven people killed by
Rodrick Dantzler in Michigan.

08/07/2011

Space shuttle Atlantis is launched for its final time which is also the final launch of the entire NASA space shuttle program.

12/07/2011

The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has lost track of 1400 guns in Operation Fast and Furious. US
Coast Guard ends searches for missing Americans after boat sank in the Gulf of California.

14/07/2011

The FBI investigates reports that News Corporation sought to hack the phones of 9/11 victims. Borders says arrangement with
bidder has collapsed and seeks modification of bid procedures.

19/07/2011

16 members of hacking group Anonymous are arrested across several states.

21/07/2011

24 people die in heat wave. Space shuttle Atlantis touches down ending 30 year program. Minnesota Governor signs budget
agreement, ending 20 day government shutdown.

August 2011
Date

Description

01/08/2011

Congress votes on deal to resolve the debt-ceiling crisis.

02/08/2011

Senate passes legislation to increase debt ceiling, Obama signs into law.

05/08/2011

NASAs Juno Spacecraft is launched to Jupiter. After US trading markets close for a weekend the credit rating is downgraded.

06/08/2011

Anonymous attacks 70 law enforcement websites.

07/08/2011

Michael Hance kills seven people in Ohio before being shot dead.

08/08/2011

Dow Jones drops 635 points in reaction to events on 05/08, largest drop since 2008.

09/08/2011

US Federal Reserve announces interest rates will be exceptionally low until at least 2013.

10/08/2011

Therapy destroys leukemia in three patients.

19/08/2011

Obama provides temporary relief for illegal immigrants who are students, veterans, elderly, crime victims and without family.

24/08/2011

Steve Jobs resigns as head of Apple.

October 2011
Date

Description

01/10/2011

700 people are arrested attempting to cross the Brooklyn Bridge during the Occupy Wall Street movement.

05/10/2011

Steve Jobs dies at 56.

07/10/2011

NYPD busts largest identity theft and retail crime ring in the history of the USA, arresting over 110 people.

12/20/2011

Scott Dekraai opens fire in a hair salon in California killing 8 people including his ex-wife and is later arrested.

14/10/2011

Obama deploys 100 troops in Uganda to assist the capture of Joseph Kony.

February 2012
Date

Description

05/02/2012

Josh Powell, suspected in wifes disappearance kills himself and two children.

07/02/2012

Federal appeals court upholds the district court decision that struck down Californias ban on same-sex marriage.

11/02/2012

Whitney Houston is found dead in Los Angeles.

13/02/2012

Washington becomes 7th state to legalise same sex marriage

21/02/2012

Dow Jones goes above 13000 for the first time since May 2008

26/02/2012

Unarmed black 17 year old, Trayvon Martin, is shot and killed by George Zimmerman in Florida.

27/02/2012

Thomas Lane kills three students in Ohio. WikiLeaks discloses 5 million e-mails from PI company Stratfor.