Donald Trump's Past

       Before Donald Trump became president he worked as a hotel real estate developer, as well as many other ventures. Trump was not the first president with a "celebrity past" to be elected, Reagan, for example, was a famous television actor before becoming Amerca's 40th president. Trump was born into wealth being the fourth child of Fred Trump, a real estate developer in New York. However, despite his family's wealth, he was expected to work the lowest-tier jobs at his father's company and was sent to a military academy at age 13 since he was misbehaving in school. He attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and even though he had two older sisters and an older brother, he was the one expected to succeed his father after his older brother chose to become a pilot. Trump got into the real estate business with the "small" $1m loan he received from his father before joining the company. He helped manage his father's extensive residential housing projects in New York City and took control of the company, which he renamed the Trump Organization, in 1971.

Trump in Home Alone

Trump Energy Drink

        Trump later shifted his family's business from residential units in Brooklyn and Queens to more glitzy projects in Manhattan, transforming the rundown Commodore Hotel into the Grand Hyatt which is now the most famous Trump property. He also used to own the Plaza hotel which is the hotel in the Home Alone movies. I didn't know this before but there is Trump Towers in Mumbai, Istanbul, and the Philippines. Trump also developed hotels and casinos in which he was more unsuccessful considering they led o four bankruptcy filings (not personal bankruptcy. Trump not only built an empire in the real estate business but also in the entertainment business. From 1996-2015, he was an owner in the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA beauty pageants, I don't think this had anything to do with it but Steve Harvey's mistake of announcing the Miss Universe winner was in 2015. In 2003, he debuted an NBC reality television show called The Apprentice, in which contestants competed for a shot at a management job within Trump's organization. The show was quite successful and for 14 seasons! He has written several books, and owns a line of merchandise that sells everything from neckties to bottled water. According to Forbes, his net worth is $3.7billion, though he Trump repeatedly insists that he is worth $10billion.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35318432

The Southern Strategy

During his election, LBJ made a fateful decision. He decided that he was going to pursue a Civil Rights bill. In doing this he betrayed his fellow Southerners and gave the South away to the Republicans. He made this decision, not because it was the best thing to do politically but because it was the right thing to do for the country. This bill, not only accelerated party realignment but change American politics forever.

Several months after the signing of the bill, LBJ won the election handily. He smacked Barry Goldwater 486 to 52 in the electoral college and won more than 60% of the popular vote. There was one fact that trampled the celebration though, Goldwater was able to win the Deep South, states like Mississippi, Alabama, Louisana, and even Georgia, a state that even reconstruction never voted Republican. Goldwater exploited the differences between Southern Democrats and the rest of the party. He was able to bring millions of Southern Dems over to the Republican party. In the process, he was able to reshape the political map of the United States.

Nixon would also attempt to exploit this through his famed "Southern Strategy". The idea behind the strategy for the 1972 reelection campaign was that he would make room for Southern Racists and state-rights lovers in order to secure the South. The hope was to be able to forever ensure that for at least another generation the South would be in the hands of the Republican Party. The Strategy in that sense worked. Southern voters began to move in droves to the Republican Party. There are though some questions as to whether that this was the real reason that the parties began to realign.

For some political scientists, this move of the South to the Republican party was already ongoing. After the end of the war, the South transformed itself into an economic powerhouse. This new economic power gave rise to a new wealthy Southern Subran Middle Class. These voters were more conservative and supported Goldwater. Thus, the move from the South into the hands of the Republicans was inevitable as the suburban middle class grew and had nothing to do with the changes in the Democratic parties stance on race.

In reality, it probably was a combination of both factors. The rise of the Surbuarn class did help to make the region redder, and the passage of the Civil Rights bill of 1964 and the Democratic support that followed did help to move many Southern Dems into the Republican party.


https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/magazine/10Section2b.t-4.html

Burning Bras: A Briefs History

On September 7th, 1968, one of the most legendary protests by second-wave feminists took place when nearly 400 women protested against the Miss America pageant outside of the Atlantic City Convention Center. Decades ago, the pageant was incredibly important to American culture - people relished the campy talent and unironically reviewed and rated the young women in their ballgowns and bathing suits. Organizer of the event Robin Morgan wrote that the women were protesting the pageants promotion of the “ludicrous ‘beauty’ standards we ourselves are conditioned to take seriously.” During the protest, men were not allowed to participate (unless it was to drive the female protesters to the event): “Male chauvinist-reactionaries on this issue had best stay away, nor are male liberals welcome in the demonstrations. But sympathetic men can donate money as well as cars and drivers” organizers instructed. However, while the group originally intended to burn symbols of oppression in a “Freedom Trashcan,” they were unable to secure a fire permit. Instead, they erected a giant trash can on the board walk into which mops, pots, copies of women’s magazines and Playboy, false eyelashes, high heels, hair rollers, and girdles and bras were simply deposited rather than burned.

However, there were erroneous reports in the press that the heap of material was set ablaze. A female reporter named Lindsy Van Gelder covering the protest drew an analogy between the feminist protesters and the Vietnam War protesters who burned their draft cards. From that, the bra burning trope was wrongly and permanently attached to the event and became a catch-phrase of the feminist era.

Although there was no physical flame, the internal fire of the activists sparked them to get into the hall and unfurl a bedsheet from the balcony that read Women’s Liberation before getting thrown out. And the organizers also penned a manifesto - “It should be a groovy day on the boardwalk in the sun with our sisters” it read. The document contains a ten point litany of grievances, with section titles decrying “Miss America as Military Death Mascot,” “The Woman as Pop Culture Obsolescent Theme,” “The Irrelevant Crown on the Throne of Mediocrity,” and “The Degrading Mindless-Boob-Girlie Symbol.”

And just as the struggle to be treated as more than a “Mindless-Boob-Girlie” is far from over, it also did not begin with their protest in the 1960s. Nearly a century earlier, in 1873, feminist author Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward encouraged women to “Burn up the corsets! . . . No, nor do you save the whalebones, you will never need whalebones again. Make a bonfire of the cruel steels that have lorded it over the contents of the abdomen and thorax so many thoughtless years and heave a sigh of relief, for your emancipation, I assure you, has from this moment begun.”

https://www.vogue.com/article/feminists-desecended-on-the-miss-america-pageant

https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/tag/bra-burning/

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94240375

http://time.com/2853184/feminism-has-a-bra-burning-myth-problem/

Times Up! You've Been Impeached!

In today’s day and age, sexual assault accusations are horrifyingly normalized. With the rise of the #MeToo and #TimesUp Movement, it’s no surprise that sexual harassment is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. It seems like not a day goes by without new accounts unveiling the truth about many of the most loved members of society- including politicians. During President Clinton’s second term, numerous scandals arose about him and his wife, including shady real estate deals, fundraising violations, and claims of sexual harassment. As a result of an investigation, the Republican-led Congress moved forward with impeachment proceedings in 1998.

Impeachment is a process that starts first with the House of Representatives, and any member can move to launch an impeachment proceeding. After that, the speaker of the House decides whether or not to move with the proceeding. If he or she does approve the motion, then a House Judiciary Committee is assigned to investigate. After their investigation is concluded, a public hearing is scheduled for the House to vote on the articles of impeachment. However, during the investigation, a president can continue his position. In the case of Bill Clinton, he continued to serve until the end of his term in 2000 even though the impeachment process had started in 1988. Although he was impeached by the House, he was acquitted by the then Democrat-led Congress. The impeachment proceedings only make their way to the Senate after the House votes in favor of impeachment. Although only a simple majority is needed in the House, the Senate needs a two-thirds majority in favor in order to impeach a president. Bill Clinton was eventually acquitted by the Senate, and was simply impeached but not removed. If he had been removed, he would not have been sent to jail- the Senate does not have the power to do that.

Many parallels have been drawn between Bill Clinton and past or present presidents. Clinton was the first president to be impeached since 1868, when Andrew Johnson was also impeached and acquitted by a one vote margin. Many historians believe that Clinton’s impeachment was much more petty and unsatisfying than Andrew Johnson’s. While Johnson’s actions could be argued to have violated the Constitution when he breached the Tenure of Office Act and removed an appointed official, the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton showed no violations and raised the question of whether or not he had committed an impeachable crime. To historians and Democrats alike, Clinton’s actions were abhorrent, but the attacks were unjustifiable and was an example of partisanship. Additionally, Clinton’s popularity was high at the time, and it was reported that a huge majority of Americans had wanted the Senate to resolve the impeachment case without a trial and removal from office. Many even disapproved of the House’s decision to impeach Clinton. Clearly, the debate goes on today about whether or not Clinton deserved to be impeached. Parallels can also be drawn between Clinton and Nixon, both of whom underwent impeachment proceedings. However, Nixon had resigned from office before investigation had concluded, and was never actually impeached.

Today, President Trump is at the forefront of these sexual harassment scandals and faces calls of impeachment periodically. The numerous accusations against him have emboldened many other women to come forth with their stories too- not against Trump, but Clinton. Many are starting to believe the victims, like Juanita Broaddrick more, and regret their decision to not push Clinton to resign in 1998. To his credit, Clinton has stayed silent and away from the flames on the topic. While society has definitely moved forward since the1990s and has become more accepting of women and their experiences, it is still unclear if President Trump will face the same proceedings Clinton did. Clinton’s trial and failure set a critical precedent and shows that impeachment is never an easy process and often fraught with disagreement on all sides.

Sources

• http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/history/johnson/clintontimeline.htm
• http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/impeachment-process-works/story?id=51202880
• https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/08/house-votes-to-impeach-clinton-oct-8-1998-243550
• http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1459&context=jcl
• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/15/us/politics/bill-clinton-sexual-misconduct-debate.html

• https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/21/us/impeachment-polls-public-support-for-president-for-closure-emerges-unshaken.html

Steve Jobs and Apple

Apple was founded on April 1, 1976 in Cupertino, California. The company was initially slow to gain ground and sales were mediocre at their best. Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple, spent most of his days planning out prototypes for his new pieces of technology or working on making improvements to preexisting ones. He worked with a partner named Steve Wozniak, and the two are known as the founders of Apple. Wozniak invented the first Apple computer in 1976, and followed it up with the Apple II computer in 1977. However, both of these products never sold popularly, and Jobs and Wozniak had to keep working at it. The company slowly gained more success as their technology improved, but was suddenly sent into a downward spiral following the development of their expensive Macintosh computer in 1984. Jobs began arguing with coworkers and left the company on September of 1985. Things were not looking very good for Apple at this point.














After rotating through a few unsuccessful CEOs, Apple finally brought Steve Jobs back in 1997 and he immediately brought a new sense of optimism back to the company. That same year, the company invented the iMac which was a huge success due to its easy usage and its aesthetic design. Following this, Apple continued to rise to the top with products such as the iPod and iPhone. They are currently one of the largest companies in the world with a net worth of around $900 billion, and it never would have been possible without the leadership of Steve Jobs.














Sources:
https://www.biography.com/people/steve-jobs-9354805
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1873486_1873491_1873530,00.html
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/03/apple-leads-race-to-become-world-first-1tn-dollar-company

Richard Nixon's Life After Resigning

Richard Nixon was the 37th US president and the only commander-in-chief ever to resign from his position. He officially resigned from office on August 9, 1974 as he faced impeachment on issues regarding the Watergate Scandal. Although this incident is what he is most known for, his story doesn't end there.



Upon retiring, Richard Nixon flew with his wife to the seclusion of his estate in San Clementine, California. His vice president, Gerald Ford, took the office and immediately gave Nixon a full pardon for all offenses against the United States. He justified this action by saying he wanted to put the whole incident in the past and that a long, drawn-out trial would have only further polarized the public. However, Ford was often condemned for decision to pardon Nixon.

After a few months, Nixon finally decided to come back to public life, starting with a public relations comeback. He met with British commentator, David Frost, for a series of interviews which received mixed opinions. He talked of contrition and pride, without ever admitting to any wrongdoing. The interviews were watched by many, and overall contributed to a more positive image of him.

In 1978, Nixon published RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon which was a very personal examination of his life, public career and White House years, which became a best-seller. He also went on to author several books on international affairs and American foreign policy, somewhat rehabilitating his public reputation and earning him a role as an elder foreign-policy expert.

On April 22, 1994, Richard Nixon died of a massive stroke, just 10 months after his wife had died of lung cancer. President Bull Clinton was joined by four former presidents to pay homage to the 37th president, and an estimated 50,000 people waited in heavy rain for up to 16 hours to file past the casket and pay their last respects. He was eventually buried beside his wife at his birthplace, Yorba Linda, California.



Sources:
https://www.biography.com/people/richard-nixon-9424076
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-ford-pardons-former-president-nixon
https://ryanrsanderson.com/tag/all-presidents-at-nixons-funeral/

America's craziest election year

Gavin Stockton
Period 1
3/25/18

America's craziest election year

The year of 2000 not only held a milestone of being a new century, or threatening the world with an internet failure, but shocked the world with one of if not the closest election in American history. The Republican nominee, George W Bush, against the Democratic nominee Al Gore competed in an extremely close election. After racing from state to state the votes were so tightly packed that the next president was to be decided based on one state, Florida. After each nominee gave their speeches trying to persuade the American public why they should be president, the final vote of a 6 million population in Florida came down to a mere 600 people in favor of Bush. However, this number was too tight for the liking of Al Gore so he ordered a recount of the polling machines. This 600 number was reduced to 327 votes, proving that Bush was indeed the winner of Florida. However, Al Gore and his supporters were still not convinced that Bush was to be the elected president and claimed that the ballots were tampered with or rigged. This caused Al Gore to call for yet another recount, which then reduced Bush's votes down to a slim number of 157. Begining to make the Bush campaign fearful of losing Florida when Al Gore called on the Supreme Court to take action because the ballots were unable to get a proper count, Bush asked for a delay of the vote until December 12 which allowed the Bush campaign to win the presidency. 

Microsoft's rise to power

Gavin Stockton
Period 1
3/25/18

Microsoft's rise to power

Today in the Silicon Valley, we know Microsoft as a monstrosity of tech power, run by one of the wealthiest men in the whole world. However, Microsoft was not always like this, and like everything else it had to have started somewhere. When the internet first started it was thought to be like a mysterious web that only the "nerdy" people knew how to use and seemed useless to everyone else. However, it began to make its way into offices of corporations and into the warehouses of companies. Once it began to expand even more, towards the everyday person, there was an opportunity for someone to create a way for the internet to be more user-friendly to those who weren't so tech savvy. This is where Bill Gates began his company, at its beginning, Microsoft focused on just creating a software that had the ability to surf the web and made it easier for people. However as the internet became a bigger and bigger sensation, Microsoft's market expanded. Microsoft created an entire home system that was downloaded not only the internet onto a users computer but an entirely new world. They introduced numerous different aspects of the internet to people that had never seen it before, such as a search engine, online dating, a mailbox, etc. As Microsoft became a larger and larger company it also made more and more competitors. A company known as Netscape created a web browser engine that made it easier for those who had not used the internet before to use the internet. In order to put Netscape out of business, Microsoft just implemented their whole idea into Microsoft's home browser. Although this ultimately put Netscape out of business, it also put Bill Gates in a court lawsuit against NetScapes CEO, James Barksdale who claimed that Microsoft use illegal actions to take away their competition like Netscape. Microsoft and Apple were the two major companies that competed with one another during the rise of the internet and we still see this same competition today. 

The Microsoft Antitrust Charges

The late 1900’s and the early 2000’s were dominated by Microsoft. Microsoft, with its unique browser, operating system, and technology, proved to be the predominant force in the technology industry. As a result of their dominance over the market, many people (as well as the government) were very wary of Microsoft and saw them as a hidden monopoly. This stirred up a lot of resentment towards Microsoft and its business, which culminated in the antitrust charges of 1998.

In 1998, Microsoft was charged by the Department of Justice with antitrust violations. The premise of the charges were that Microsoft was attempting to levy a monopoly over the market, which violated various laws. The fact that they gave their browser for free along with their operating system, which crushed a lot of their competitors, became a problem. The Department of Justice especially took notice when Netscape, a once dominant force in the browser market, was essentially destroyed by Microsoft and its new browser.

While many people supported the accusations, there was a large faction that opposed them as well. People argued that Microsoft did not carry monopolistic actions since downloading software and using their technology was a free choice that people made. The issue with this argument occurred when others started to argue that downloading other software on Windows was very difficult. So eventually, the case became more pinpointed on the issue over whether or not Microsoft intentionally attempted to make it hard for people to use other software on their computers.

After a long trial, Microsoft lost the case. Despite Bill Gates’ testimonies and attempts to bypass the prosecutors’ questioning, he was unable to save his company from the charges. As a result of the trial, Microsoft was broken up into smaller pieces which took away from their dominance of the industry. As a result of this, it paved the way for companies like Apple to rise without the a huge level of opposition as before.

In hindsight, the situation of Microsoft 15-20 years ago mimics that of today. Microsoft was charged with antitrust law violations, and the situation of Microsoft is similar to Google today. Many people argue that Google has a similar dominance over the industry, and the EU has even charged Google with antitrust violations. While not as publicized as before, the issue over the actions of the biggest technology companies still carries over into our modern technology industry.  

https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/27/google-fined-e2-42bn-for-eu-antitrust-violations-over-shopping-searches/

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/04/business/us-vs-microsoft-overview-us-judge-says-microsoft-violated-antitrust-laws-with.html

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/08/microsoft-antitrust.asp

The Weird Election of 2000

The 2000 election was one of the more controversial in recent history. The election was between George W. Bush, a Republican governor of Texas, against Al Gore, a Democratic former Tennessee Senator. Both candidates had a lot of support from people all across the nation. The election was very contested, which is what ultimately led to the controversy.

Although Gore, more or less, had a smooth path to the Democratic nomination, Bush had a tougher road to the Republican nomination. He fought against John McCain, a senator from Arizona, in a very close primary election.

The presidential election turned out to be even more of a battle. The candidates had heated debates over issues such as the economy, healthcare policies, and welfare programs. After the dust of the election cleared, there was a lot of controversy over who actually won.

During the election, Bush won most of the Southern and Midwestern states, and Gore won most of the remaining regions along with the popular vote. The election was pretty evenly split after all of the voting. Bush ended up winning 246 of the electoral votes, although Gore won 255 electoral votes. However, under the current system of the electoral college, a candidate has to win 270 electoral votes. Neither of the candidates won enough of the votes to reach 270, which caused problems. Florida ended up being an important state, as it had 25 electoral votes which would decide the election. News networks gave conflicting statements over who won Florida due to the extremely thin margin of victory.

As a result of this, there was a lot of controversy and confusion over who won the election. At a time of new technology that caused more accessibility to information, controversy and confusion is a big problem. Different news media outlets gave different impressions of what was going on with the election, which caused confusion across the country.

Additionally, people started to question the election system, and the confusion with the punching cards. This gave rise to the term “hanging chad”, which is what happened when the punch card ballots were not punched all the way through. This confusion allowed technology to spread into the political world as well, as some states began to institute electronic voting methods. However, in the present, Gore attempted to force the state of Florida to recount the votes. After Bush disagreed with the recount, the Supreme Court got the case.

Known as Bush v. Gore, this case ended up being a very important one in the history of the Supreme Court. After a 5 to 4 decision, the recount as well as Gore’s push to win the presidency was stopped.

The close nature of the Supreme Court decision also ended up being controversial to the nation, and many groups were angered by Bush winning the presidency, which carried over into his initial years in office. In hindsight, this scenario and court case shaped a lot of the political climate of the last 20 years. It also plagued Bush during his time in the presidency, and it shaped the early impressions of Bush during the first few years of his presidency. The controversy over the recount also led to the modernization of voting methods to decrease uncertainty in recent elections.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-history/period-9/apush-1990s-america/a/the-election-of-2000

https://www.usconstitution.net/elec2000.html

https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-2000

Supreme Court #4 Worksheet

The Election of 1992: "It's the Economy, Stupid"

The Presidential Election of 1992 was a contest between Republican candidate and president George H.W. Bush, Democratic candidate Bill Clinton, and Independent candidate Ross Perot.

Prior to the 1992 election, Bush’s popularity after his victory in The Gulf War and his successes with the dissolution of the Soviet Union was generally quite high, but for Bush, the start of his campaign was still shaky. Bush was challenged by conservative Pat Buchanan for the Republican nomination because of the faltering economy. Bush’s campaign was wounded by his promise in the 1988 election that voters should “read my lips: no new taxes”, but facing a recession in 1990, Bush was forced to break his promise and raise taxes to save the economy. His public image was wounded, he lost many of his conservatives supporters from the previous election, and in turn, his victory over Buchanan was much closer than it could have been. (Buchanan winning 37 percent of the New Hampshire primary). Bush, running with vice president Dan Quayle, faced difficulties due to his broken promise of “no new taxes”.

Clinton, as well, started his campaign off on not the best of notes after being accused of being unfaithful to his wife with Gennifer Flowers. The 12-year affair with the Arkansas woman almost put his campaign to an end, but Clinton would come back, despite losing the New Hampshire primary, to beat Paul Tsongas and Jerry Brown after a intense and close race. After gaining the Democratic Party’s nomination, Clinton continued his campaign to appeal to the concerns of the average American, and picked up Tennessee Senator Al Gore as his running mate. Clinton bashed Bush’s economic policies, coining the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid” as their campaign slogan.

Ross Perot, the Independent candidate, was a self made billionaire that announced that he would run for presidency if supporters filed petitions to enable him to voted for in all 50 states. Early polls showed Perot in the lead due to the drama over Clinton’s personal scandals and Bush’s difficulties with America’s faltering economy. However, in July, as the Democratic National Convention drew near and Clinton showing stronger than ever, Perot suddenly dropped from the race. A few months later Perot rejoined the contest with his primary goals to reduce the national debt, and discredit NAFTA, and was able to regain much of his initial support and election day grew near.

In the end, Clinton clinched the popular vote with 43%, Bush with 37.4%, and Perot with 18.9%. Even with Perot winning the highest percentage of the popular vote in 80 years (since Theodore Roosevelt), he was unable to win an electoral college vote. With Clinton winning 370 electoral votes to Bush’s 168, Clinton was signed in as the 42nd president of the United States.

https://www.270towin.com/1992_Election/
https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1992
http://www.historycentral.com/elections/1992.html
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showelection.php?year=1992

The Challenger Disaster

On January 28, 1986, the NASA space shuttle Challenger was preparing for its tenth trip to space. Onboard were six NASA astronauts and most significantly, a schoolteacher from New Hampshire. Christa McAuliffe was a teacher who had been selected by the "Teacher in Space" program, a program that sought to make space travel more accessible and viable for the average American civilian.

73 seconds after liftoff, millions across the nation watched on as the seemingly indestructive space shuttle caught fire and exploded in midair, killing all seven passengers aboard. Among those watching were the family and friends on the ground next to the launch pad, watching in disbelief as they saw the spacecraft explode before their own eyes. The disaster of the launched threw NASA into turmoil, and it would be another two years until they sent more people into space.

The mission's launch had actually been delayed for several days due to weather and technical problems. Even on the day before the actual launch, engineers were worried that the weather conditions on the 28th were too harsh to guarantee a successful launch. The morning of the launch was unusually cold, but despite warnings, the space shuttle lifted off regardless. Later, investigations found that the explosion of the shuttle was due to the rubber O-rings failing at low temperatures.

Shortly after, President Reagan appointed a special committee to investigate what caused the Challenger to explode. They found that the rings that had sealed the shuttle's rocket boosters were frozen and thus didn't expand properly, allowing leaks to form between the boosters and the fuel tank. Due to the failure of the rubber O-ring, flames burst out of the rocket boosters and damaged the fuel tank, causing the fire grow and damage the rest of the spacecraft. This caused the shuttle to explode and disintegrate, killing all seven members aboard.

This incident showed the dangerous consequences of groupthink. During this time, the novelty of space missions and sending people to space was wearing off. The Challenger launch was the tenth of NASA's space shuttle trips, trips that were receiving less and less public attention. However, this mission was special because of the "Teacher in Space" program; it would be the first where a regular American civilian would be sent to space. The mission was to receive much public attention; schools across America tuned in to the launch, the President was set to make a statement during his State of the Union Address later that evening, and McAuliffe was to broadcast a live lesson from the spacecraft on the fourth day.

However, those plans failed to materialize when the launch went spectacularly wrong. A lack of communication caused the rocket to be launched despite the risks of failure. Many higher-ups within NASA knew that the rocket boosters were suspect to damage in cold weather and that the O-rings malfunctioned when frozen. However, due to miscommunication, the people who controlled the launch were not informed of this information and thus made the decision to go ahead blindly. Another factor in this disaster was that the 28th, a Tuesday, was the ideal day to launch. President Reagan was to make his address that night, so the launch had to happen during the day or NASA would miss out on the publicity. McAuliffe was to broadcast a lesson on the fourth day, and launching on Tuesday would mean a lesson on Friday, when most children could be in school. Delaying the launch would mean a broadcast on Saturday, when children weren't in school.

The disaster left a lasting impression in the minds of engineers and regular citizens alike: technology and innovation could do more harm than good. Another disaster in 2003 (space shuttle Columbia) reaffirmed the prevalence of miscommunication and the danger of new technology. But now, space travel is seeming to be growing closer to the horizon. Companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic are working towards making space travel more accessible to the general public. Maybe in a few years, we might be able to orbit the Earth.

Sources: https://www.history.com/topics/challenger-disaster
https://www.history.com/news/how-the-challenger-disaster-changed-nasa

Y2K: Global Panic

As the technology age progressed on, and the world became more and more computerized, people believed in the programmers and designers of the new technology to design it properly. The computers are the time were designed to only understand the last two digits of the year in a date. For example, the year 1987 would be stored as 87 on the computer. As the year approached 2000, many feared that the computer's inability to understand the year 2000 would lead to widespread technological failure. Some even feared a failure on September 9th, 1999 (9/9/99) because a series of 9's was often used to show the end of a program. There was a fear of mainframe computer shutdowns, which are used in banking and the military. People also feared smaller tech breakdowns, in elevators and temperature monitoring systems.

Business and government teams worked to check systems and update software before it turned 2000. Many industries were well on their way, but many feared that the government was not as caught up. This is where the frenzy began. Even after tens of billions of dollars were spent on fixing issues related to the Y2K issue, people still feared a collapse, preparing for the worst. Regulators in the nation warned that the frenzy would likely cause more damage than the actual event. The national infrastructure was going to hold, but the overreaction continued. People were doing bank runs, emptying all their money in the fear of a bank collapse. People could begin to hoard food and gasoline, preparing for a breakdown of order. Gun sales went up, causing increased gun violence. However, as the year turned, there were few major issues. The Y2K problem had been avoided, and world order remained.

Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/technology/Y2K-bug
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/09/business/fear-of-the-year-2000-bug-is-a-problem-too.html
https://pastdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Y2K-resize.jpg

Presidential campaigns (and their advertisements) over time

             Attack advertisements and heated debates are commonplace among today's political climate. However, that was not the case for a long time. In fact, a majority of presidential campaigns were ran with poise and respect up to Nixon.
              Of course there may have been the undocumented joust at another candidate in debate, certainly between Woodrow Wilson and Hughes. However, direct attacks against another candidate were unheard of before the interests between parties grew to be so divided. One main development that led to attack ads even being possible was the TV. Because of the tv, campaign managers could quickly disseminate any dirty information about any opponent. When Kennedy ran against Nixon, it was a clear win as Kennedy held a more appealing stature and Nixon was a bit ugly. After Kennedy's death. Lyndon B. Johnson ran against Barry Goldwater running with the well known ad, the "Daisy Girl". This ad brought people to vote for him, and this changed the way campaigns would be ran henceforth.
               This sense of strong imagery is observed in George H. W. Bush's campaign against Micheal Dukakis. The "Revolving Door" ad held such fearful tones that voters were nearly led to believe that they were voting for murderers if they'd vote for Dukakis. Bush then received his karma for the attacks on Dukakis, when in his second campaign Clinton held nothing back. Clinton attacked Bush's capability to be president as his presence in life and on tv was distracted and unenthused.
                 The history of political advertisements is not an entirely extensive one, however this trend will continue, through Donald Trumps inevitable second campaign, and through whoever from our school decides to run for president.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/avidan/2016/07/24/how-the-first-political-attack-ad-changed-politics/#268782de6b32

https://www.thebalance.com/a-brief-history-of-political-advertising-in-the-usa-38925

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/attack-ads-have-their-plus-sides/2014/08/26/c1150cd8-27eb-11e4-958c-268a320a60ce_story.html?utm_term=.7ffdb5222964

The Great Video Game Crash of 1983

In the early 1980s, video games were rising in popularity, with arcades becoming a popular spot for many teenagers and young adults to spend their free time. With the rise of arcades came the rise of another major facet of video games - home consoles.

Over the course of 5 years between 1978 and 1983, the home console industry grew from a fledgling market to an economic powerhouse worth over $3 billion. Amidst the many home consoles manufacturers and game developers, one company stood above the rest - Atari. With the dominance of its Atari 2600, as well as a plethora of great hits in the 2600's library, including but not limited to Space Invaders and Missile Command, Atari was the undisputed king of home consoles.

The Atari 2600

 However, unbeknownst to many, the pride of the home console market would soon become the cause of its collapse. In March of 1982, Atari released a highly successful port of Pac-man, which sold over 7 million units. Despite its financial success, the game was rushed in development, resulting in a game riddled with bugs. As a result, even though the game was able to sell several million copies, it did not reach expectations, with millions of unsold cartridges that had to be sent back to Atari.

The failure of Pac-man was simply the first major sign of impending disaster for the young industry. Later that same year, Atari had a chance for redemption with its highly anticipated game ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, based on the hit movie of the same name. Even though the development of ET had been rushed over the course of a mere 5 weeks to meet a Christmas deadline, Atari still had high hopes of the game.

Unfortunately for Atari, ET was an even greater disaster than Pac-man was. Not only was it so bad it was widely considered to be the worst video game of all time - a title it still holds to this day - but it sold so poorly Atari had to bury millions of unsold cartridges in the Mohave Desert. The game's financial failure was likely due to the hesitance of consumers after the release of Pac-man earlier that year in addition to the less than positive word of mouth.

For many consumers, the failure of ET caused them to lose nearly all faith in video games, at least on the home console front. People stopped buying console games, and toy stores - the main retailer for consoles- all but stopped selling them. This resulted in the net worth of the industry going from an impressive $3.2 billion to a mere $100 million in just 2 years, losing over 96% of its value. It would not be until the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System in the October of 1985, along with revolutionary titles such as Super Mario Bros, that the video game industry would see a revitalization in the United States.

The Nintendo Entertainment System

There are a few important things to note about the Video Game Crash of 1983.

Although ET is widely attributed to be the sole cause of the Crash, there were, in reality, other factors. Prior to the release of ET, the market was already flooded with low-quality, buggy games. Despite the poor quality of its competition, nearly all games released by Atari were high quality, well-made products. It is only when Atari games started to fall in quality that most people lost faith in the home console market altogether.

In addition, the Crash was more limited in scope than many would believe. Although home video game consoles all but vanished, arcades and computer games still remained hugely popular. Furthermore, the Crash was largely limited to North America. During the 2 years of the crash, consoles in Japan became hugely popular with the success of Nintendo's Famicom, the Japanese counterpart to the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Sources:
http://www.denofgeek.com/us/64579/the-1983-videogame-crash-what-went-wrong-and-could-it-happen-again
https://www.bugsplat.com/great-video-game-crash-1983
http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/09/21/ten-facts-about-the-great-video-game-crash-of-83?page=2