May 25, 1986: Hands Across America: At least 5,000,000 people form a human chain from New York City to Long Beach, Calif., to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness.

June 11, 1986: U.S. Supreme Court reaffirms abortion rights.

September 7, 1986: Desmond Tutu becomes the first black Anglican Church archbishop in South Africa.

January 3 & 21, 1987: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducts 1st female artist, Aretha Franklin, as well as B.B. King and Muddy Waters.

February 25, 1987: U.S. Supreme Court upholds (5-4) affirmative action.

May 4, 1987: U.S. Supreme Court rules Rotary Clubs must admit women.

1987: In Greater Boston: Construction began on “Big Dig”; ACT UP/Boston founded; Joseph P. Kennedy II becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts’s 8th congressional district.

March 26, 1988: U.S. presidential candidate Jesse Jackson defeats Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in the Michigan Democratic caucuses, becoming the temporary front-runner for the party’s nomination. Dukakis eventually wins the nomination and loses to George H. W. Bush (Nov. 8).

March 24, 1989: In Alaska’s Prince William Sound, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels of oil after running aground.

May 20, 1989: Tiananmen Square protests: The Chinese government declares martial law in Beijing.

July 5, 1989: President of South Africa P. W. Botha meets the imprisoned Nelson Mandela for the first time. Botha resigns as President (Aug. 14). F. W. de Klerk becomes the last State President of apartheid South Africa (Aug. 15).

August 10, 1989: Army General Colin Powell becomes the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

November 7, 1989: Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African-American governor in the United States in Virginia; David Dinkins becomes the first African-American mayor of New York City.

November 11, 1989: The Berlin Wall falls.

February 2, 1990: Apartheid in South Africa: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress and promises to release Nelson Mandela; Mandela is released after 27 years behind bars (Feb 11).

March 18, 1990: In Boston: Twelve paintings, collectively worth $100 to $300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

January 16, 1991: Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins with air strikes against Iraq.

March 3, 1991: An amateur video captures the beating of motorist Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.

July 1, 1991: Clarence Thomas is nominated to replace Thurgood Marshall as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

December 25, 1991: After a coup (Aug. 19), Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union.