1976 Jimmy Carter became President; Federal spending was $371.79 billion while the debt was $629.0 billion; Viking I landed on Mars; and Richard Leakey discovered a 1.5 million year old human skull.

1977 The neutron bomb was developed; the movie Star Wars was released; Elvis Presley died at age 42; and President Carter pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders.

1978 Karol Cardinal Wojtyla of Poland became Pope John Paul II; the NY Yankees beat the LA Dodgers in the World Series; the Walkman was introduced; and the cost of a first-class stamp went to 15¢.

1979 Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister of Britain; a nuclear power plant overheated at Three Mile Island, PA; and the Federal debt was up to $829.5 billion.

1980 John Lennon was assassinated; CNN was established; and the Mark Morris Dance Group was established in NY.

1981 Iran freed 52 US hostages; Ronald Reagan became President; Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman justice in the US Supreme Court; and the cost of a first-class stamp went to 18¢ in March…and 20¢ in November.

1982 Federal spending was $745.76 billion while the debt was $1,137.3 billion; Cats opened on Broadway; and the first genetically-engineered plant (a tomato) was approved for sale.

1983 The US invaded Grenada; compact discs (CDs) were introduced; the last episode of MASH aired; and Motorola began testing cellular phone service in Chicago.

1984 President Reagan was re-elected; Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated; the movie Amadeus won the Oscar for Best Picture; and Apple Computer introduced the Macintosh.

1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Republic; the US budget-balancing bill was enacted; Federal spending was $946.39 billion while the debt was $1,817.5 billion; and the price of a first-class stamp went to 22¢.

1986 The space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launching killing all aboard; Montreal won the Stanley Cup; and the Oprah Winfrey Show made its debut.

1987 Oliver North revealed details of Iran-Contra operations; the Median Household Income in the US (in current dollars) was $26,061; and Prozac was introduced in the U.S.

1988 US and Canada reached a free trade agreement; Pan-Am 747 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland; the LA Lakers won the NBA Championship; and the cost for a first-class stamp: 25¢.

1989 The Berlin Wall opened after 28 years; thousands of Chinese students took over Beijing’s Tiananmen Square; and Tim Berners-Lee developed the first World Wide Web server and browser.

1990 Nelson Mandela was freed from jail; East and West Germany reunited; Iraq invaded Kuwait; and the Hubble Space Telescope was launched.

1991 The Persian Gulf War came to an end; Minnesota won the World Series; the Median Household Income (in current dollars) was $30,126; and the price of a first-class stamp went to 29¢.

1992 The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed; Bill Clinton was elected President; and after 20 years, Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show for the last time.

1993 The World Trade Center in NY was bombed; Pete Sampras won at Wimbledon; and the first human embryos were cloned (then destroyed).

1994 Major League baseball players went on strike; Federal spending was $1460.84 billion while the debt was $4,643.7 billion; and the White house put up its own Web page.

1995 Russian and American astronauts joined together in the space station, Mir; an Oklahoma City Federal Building was bombed; the Metropolitan Opera installed screens on audience seats to display captions; and the first-class stamp went to 32¢.

1996 Britain experienced an outbreak of “mad cow” disease; the FBI arrested the suspected Unabomber; and Madelaine Albright was appointed as the first female US Secretary of State.

1997 A genetically engineered lamb was created and named “Polly”; Hong Kong was returned to Chinese Rule; and the Median Household Income (in current dollars) was $37,005.

1998 President Clinton outlined the first balanced budget in 30 years; the House impeached President Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice; and 77-year old John Glenn returned to space.

1999 War broke out in Kosovo; Y2K was on everyone’s mind; the Senate acquitted President Clinton; and the cost of a first-class stamp went to 33¢.

2000 North and south Korea signed a Peace Accord; Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown; the stockmarket began to plunge; and AOL merged with Time Warner.

2001 George W. Bush, son of former President George Bush, became President; the stockmarket woes continued; and terrorist acts reached U.S. soil. And the first-class stamp? Estimated to rise from 34¢ to 37¢.