February 12, 1999: U.S. President Bill Clinton is acquitted in impeachment proceedings.

April 20, 1999: Columbine High School massacre: Two Littleton, Colo., teens, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, open fire on their teachers and classmates, killing 12 students and 1 teacher, and then themselves.

July 16, 1999: Off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, a plane piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr., crashes, killing him, his wife Carolyn Bessette- Kennedy, and her sister Lauren Bessette.

1999: In Greater Boston: Northeastern University’s Center for Urban and Regional Policy and Fidelity Center for Applied Technology established.

April 22, 2000: In a predawn raid, federal agents seize 6-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami and fly him to his Cuban father in Washington, D.C.

June 9, 2000: Jacob Lawrence dies. Modern figurative painter’s works chronicled the African- American experience.

December 12, 2000: Bush v. Gore: After a tight election race, the U.S. Supreme Court stops the Florida presidential recount, effectively giving the state, and the Presidency, to George W. Bush.

September 11, 2001: 2,977 victims are killed in the September 11 attacks by Al Qaeda at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The U.S. invades Aghanistan on Oct. 7, beginning the War on Terror.

January 29, 2002: President Bush’s first State of the Union vows to expand the fight on terrorism and labels Iran, Iraq and North Korea “an axis of evil.”

September 18, 2002: Church settles with abuse victims. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston agrees to pay $10 million to 86 victims of pedophile priest John Geoghan.

November 14, 2002: Democrat Nancy Pelosi becomes elected House Minority Leader, becoming first woman to lead a party in Congress.

December 13, 2002: In Boston: Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law resigns as a result of the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandals and cover-up. The pope names Sean P. O’Malley bishop (July 1, 2003).

June 17, 2003: New regulation prohibits federal agents from using racial profiling in typical investigations, but does allow consideration of characteristics when information they receive about suspects includes race or ethnicity.

December 13, 2003: Saddam Hussein captured by U.S. troops.

July 26-29, 2004: In Boston: Democratic National Convention nominates John Kerry for president. Kerry loses the election to President Bush (Nov 2).

October 27, 2004: In Boston: The Red Sox win their first World Series in 86 years.

December 26, 2004: An earthquake measuring 9.3 on the Richter scale, hits the Indian Ocean generating a tsunami killing 186,983.