25 years

The USA Today is celebrating their 25th year in the newspaper business, and as such, they are comprising lots of lists. Lists are lists, and as such, they are open to interpretation and debate. Here is my own version of a list, and in keeping with the USA Today, I'll stay within the parameters of 25 years...for the mathematically impaired, that is 1982 and beyond.

This list is off the top of my head, so if I say "June" and it actually happend in "July", feel free to sue me.

And finally, I welcome any thoughts, arguments, and general mayhem from the peanut gallery.

The 25 biggest stories of the last 25 years (according to me):

1. September 11th, 2001

2. 1995, the OJ Simpson trial

3. April 19th, 1995 Murrah Federal Building truck-bombed

4. 1984, Macintosh introduces something called a "PC"

5. 1987, President Ronald Reagan asks Premier Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall"

6. 1989, Tienamin Square uprising in China

7. 1991-1994, Al Gore "invents" the internet

8. 1983 war in Lebanon reaches out to America. 248 Marines killed in a barracks.

9. August 2005, Hurricane Katrina dies in South Florida, then reenergizes and polarizes the U.S. politically and socially.

10. October, 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake rattles Oakland and San Francisco during game 3 of the World Series. Viewers of the game saw the earthquake live on television.

11. February 1986, Space Shuttle Columbia explodes shortly after lift-off.

12. June 1986, Chernobyl nuclear plant in Russia tries a cooling experiment without permission. The experiment fails.

13. November 2000, President Bush wins the electorate, but not the popular vote. Internet inventor Al Gore goes on a hunger-less strike, vowing to eat non-stop until he's elected again.

14. April 1993, Branch Dividian compound in Waco Texas is consumed by fire, killing everyone inside.

15. May 1988, the Soviet Union begins a hasty withdrawl from 8 years of war in Afghanistan. Part III of the aforementioned #5 and #12, which brings about the end of the USSR as we knew it.

16. Desert Shield, August 1990; Desert Storm, January 1991. Gulf War I.

17. February 1993. A van parked in the garage beneath the WTC explodes with 1700 lbs of explosives in it, in an attempt to bring down the north tower and collapse it onto its neighbor. The plan was master-minded and carried out by a man named Ramzy Yousef, nephew of Kalid Sheik Muhammed, chief strategist and financier of a group known as Al Quaeda.

18. March 1989. The oil tanker Exxon Valdez went aground in the remote Prince Edward Sound of Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil into the sound. Between 250,000 - 500,000 seabirds, 5000 Otters, 300 Seals, 250 Bald Eagles, 22 Orca Whales, and billions of herring and salmon eggs died immediately or over the following months. As of this writting, Exxon still owes the United States and Alaska $2.5 billion of the original $5 billion in punitive damages.

19. March 1982, Great Brittan invades the Faukland Islands in South America which results in a four-month war against Argentina for controll of the islands.

20. August 1997, Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, dies in Paris at age 36 in a high speed automobile accident. Personally, I never cared one way or another, but apparently, it was big news.

21. February 2001, Dale Ernhardt dies on the final lap of the Daytona 500. Again, I was never a NASCAR fan....it just wasn't in my DNA make-up. But the outpouring of sadness and mourning over this man's death was stunning, to say the least.

22. 1993, the Hubble Space Telescope is repaired in orbit, giving the world visions of the universe never before seen.

23. March 2003, President Bush appears on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf and makes his ill-fated "end of hostilities' speech.

24. March, 1989. Pan Am flight 103 explodes in mid-air over Lockerbie Scotland. 276 are killed.

25. October 2004. The world ends. Gas prices drop to 10 cents a gallon. Dogs make nice with cats. Millions roll over and smile in their graves. The skies open up, and a great light appears. Yes...the long-suffering Boston Red Sox and their millions of faithful - albeit suprememly stupid fans - finally find the emerald city.

Say goodnight, Gracie.

"Goodnight, Gracie"