Historical Timeline

Download a small version of the Timeline that is suitable for printing (55in. x 15.75in.) (pdf)
Download a large version of the Timeline that is suitable for a wall display (200in. x 57.4in). (pdf)

The 1840s

The 1840s brought: anesthetics, Oregon Trail, California gold rush; U.S. population 17.1 million

C&MA Events

1843

Dr. Albert Benjamin Simpson born December 15 on Prince Edward Island, Canada

1844

Simpson dedicated to the Lord by missionary John Geddie

1847

Simpson family moves to Chatham, Ontario

Evangelical Events

1841

David Livingstone opens Africa to Christian missions

1844

YMCA founded in London by Sir George Williams

1846

World Evangelical Alliance formed in London

1849

Charles G. Finney holds evangelistic campaigns in England

U.S. & World Events

1844

First message over telegraph line sent by inventor Samuel F. B. Morse

1848

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto in Germany

1849

Mexican-American War, Texas and California ceded to United States

The 1850s

The 1850s brought: Republican Party, Melville’s Moby Dick, California statehood; U.S. population 23.2 million, World population 1.2 billion

C&MA Events

1852

Simpson believes he is called by God to preach

1858

Simpson receives divine assurance of his salvation

Evangelical Events

1851

YMCA comes to Montreal and Boston

1854

International Missionary Conference in New York: “Converting the World to Christ;” Illinois Institute (Wheaton College) founded by Jonathan Blanchard

1857

NYC Fulton Street Revival grows from 6 to 10,000 laymen in six months

1859

Second Evangelical Awakening in England, more than 1 million converts

U.S. & World Events

1852

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin published

1855

East Africa: 20,000 slaves exported annually by Arabs

1857

Dred Scott decision by Supreme Court denies slaves’ right to U.S. citizenship

1859

Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection published

The 1860s

The 1860s brought: women’s suffrage in Wyoming, dynamite, Transcontinental Railroad; U.S. population 31.4 million

C&MA Events

1861

Simpson writes “A Solemn Covenant” to confirm his salvation experience

1861-65

Simpson attends Knox College, Toronto.

1865

Simpson ordained on September 12, marries Margaret Henry the next day; Simpson pastors Knox Presbyterian Church, Ontario, 750 new members added

Evangelical Events

1865

Salvation Army founded by William Booth in England; China Inland Mission (Overseas Missionary Fellowship) founded by J. Hudson Taylor

1869

Boston Missionary Training School (Gordon College) founded by A. J. Gordon

U.S. & World Events

1861-65

620,000 killed during U.S. Civil War

1863

President Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves

1865

General Robert E. Lee surrenders, ending Civil War; President Abraham Lincoln assassinated by John Wilkes Booth

The 1870s

The 1870s brought: typewriter, telephone, phonograph, light bulb; U.S. population 38.6 million

C&MA Events

1874

Simpson filled with the Holy Spirit

1874-79

Simpson pastors Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church, Louisville, Kentucky

1875

Whittle/Bliss Campaign radically alters Simpson’s view of ministry; Simpson begins evangelistic services in public halls

1879

Simpson resigns Kentucky pastorate and moves to NYC

Evangelical Events

1873-74

Moody/Sankey revivals reach more than 3 million people in Scotland and England

1874

Oxford Convention of Higher Christian Life, 1,500 ministers attend

1875

Keswick Convention for higher spiritual life begins

U.S. & World Events

1872

Yellowstone established by Congress as first national park in United States

1876

Colorado is the 38th state admitted to the Union

1877

Colonel George A. Custer’s “last stand” in Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana

The 1880s

The 1880s brought: Sears & Roebuck, post-impressionist art, Geronimo’s surrender; U.S. population 50.2 million

C&MA Events

1880

Simpson produces first U.S. illustrated missionary magazine, The Gospel in All Lands

1880

Simpson pastors 13th Street Presbyterian Church, New York City

1881

Simpson resigns NYC pastorate to reach “the unchurched and neglected masses”

1882

First issue of The Word, The Work, and The World (Alliance Life) published; New York Gospel Tabernacle and Missionary Training Institute (MTI) organized

1883

The Missionary Union for the Evangelization of the World formed

1884

C&MA begins ministry in Democratic Republic of the Congo

1886

A.B. Simpson’s first convention held at Old Orchard Beach, Maine

1887

Two societies formed: The Christian Alliance and The Evangelical Missionary Alliance (later known as The International Missionary Alliance)

1888

C&MA begins ministry in China

Evangelical Events

1881

Christian Endeavor Movement, first interdenominational youth ministry, spreads nationwide

1886

Chicago Evangelization Society (Moody Bible Institute) founded

1888

Student Volunteer Movement for foreign missions coins slogan: “The Evangelization of the World in this Generation;” Centenary Conference on Foreign Missions in London, 1,576 missionaries from 140 agencies attend

U.S. & World Events

1881

President James A. Garfield shot, dies later of complications

1884

Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn published

1886

Statue of Liberty dedicated

1887

Hunan, China: 900,000 drowned in Yellow River

The 1890s

The 1890s brought: kinetoscope (motion picture) camera, radio; U.S. population 63.0 million

C&MA Events

1890

Dedication of The Gospel Tabernacle, Christian Publications, and Berachah Home complex at Eighth Avenue and W 44th Street in NYC; C&MA begins ministry in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria; Eighth Avenue Mission opened by May Agnew; Stephen Merritt feeds 2,000 homeless people daily

1890-91

First black C&MA missionaries, James A. Trice and Robert Page, begin work

1891

C&MA begins ministry in Japan; First edition of Hymns of the Christian Life published

1893

C&MA begins ministry in India

1895

C&MA begins ministry in Venezuela

1897

The two societies merge to become The Christian and Missionary Alliance; A.B. Simpson becomes first president; C&MA begins ministry in Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador; Missionary Training Institute and Berachah Home move to Nyack, New York

Evangelical Events

1890

The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) founded by Fredrik Franson

1893

“Hephzibah House” founded by Virginia DePeyster Field in NYC

1895

Africa Inland Mission (AIM) founded by C&MA missionary Peter Cameron Scott

1899

Gideons International organized by three businessmen in Janesville, Wisconsin

U.S. & World Events

1892

Ellis Island opens in New York to receive immigrants

1897

Sir Ronald Ross discovers cause of malaria, brings decline in fatalities in Africa

1898

U.S. blockades Cuba after battleship Maine sinks; U.S. declares war on Spain

The 1900s

The 1900s brought: 9 million U.S. immigrants, teddy bears, ice cream cones; U.S. population 76.2 million; World population 1.6 billion

C&MA Events

1900

China’s Boxer Rebellion, 19 Swedish C&MA missionaries and 13 children massacred; C&MA begins ministry in Puerto Rico

1901

Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) founded by Rowland S. Bingham, MTI alumnus

1902

Simpson edits religious monthly, Living Truths; C&MA begins ministry in Philippines

1906

Wilson Academy founded by Henry Wilson, famous alumni Charles and John D. MacArthur; Lovejoy Bible Training School for African-Americans founded in Mill Spring, North Carolina

1907

Toccoa Falls Bible Institute (Toccoa Falls College) founded by Dr. and Mrs. R.A. Forrest

Evangelical Events

1900

NYC World Missionary Conference, 200,000 attendees

1904

Welsh Revival, ministry of Evan Roberts, 100,000 converts in six months

1906

Azusa Street meetings in Los Angeles, California, led by William Seymour, launches Pentecostal movement

1908

Billy Sunday begins citywide campaigns, 1 million converts by 1930

U.S. & World Events

1903

First successful airplane flight by the Wright brothers in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

1906

Earthquake and subsequent fire in San Francisco destroy most of the city

1908

Henry Ford introduces the Model T car, priced at $850

1909

Admiral Robert E. Peary claims to be the first to reach the North Pole

The 1910s

The 1910s brought: Boy/Girl Scouts, Panama Canal, sinking of Titanic, Prohibition; U.S. population 92.3 million

C&MA Events

1911

C&MA begins ministry in Vietnam, Robert A. Jaffray leads initiative

1916

St. Paul Bible Institute (Crown College) founded by J.D. Williams

1919

A.B. Simpson suffers a stroke and dies; Paul Rader becomes second president of the C&MA; C&MA begins ministry in Guinea

Evangelical Events

1910

Edinburgh World Missions Conference begins 20th century ecumenical movement; Sunday School Council of Evangelical Denominations established

1917

Interdenominational Foreign Missions Association (IFMA) founded

U.S. & World Events

1911

South Pole first reached by Roald Amundsen

1914

World War I begins after assassination of Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife

1917

U.S. enters World War I; Charlie Chaplin becomes first actor to sign a $1 million contract

1918

World War I ends after Germany surrenders; Influenza outbreak kills 20 million worldwide

The 1920s

The 1920s brought: British-mandated Palestine, Babe Ruth, TV, Reader’s Digest; U.S. population 108 million

C&MA Events

1921

Simpson Bible Institute (Simpson University) founded by W.W. Newberry

1923

Pittsburgh Bible Training School for African-Americans founded by E.M. Burgess; C&MA begins ministry in Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Colombia and Mali

1924

Margaret Henry Simpson dies at 82; Frederic H. Senft becomes third president of the C&MA, dies during first year in office

1925

C&MA begins ministry in Peru; Harry M. Shuman becomes fourth president of the C&MA

1926

Cleveland Coloured Gospel Quintet entertains C&MA audiences in U.S. and Canada

1929

C&MA begins ministry in Indonesia, Laos and Thailand

Evangelical Events

1921

International Missionary Council formed to maintain cooperation among missions

1922

Pandita Ramabai, founder of Mukti Mission in India, dies; C&MA becomes legal trustee of mission

1925

Scopes Monkey Trial: John T. Scopes convicted of teaching evolution in a public school

1927

Russian communist government destroys thousands of churches and kills Christians; Anti-Christian movement in China forces 5,000 Protestant missionaries to leave

U.S. & World Events

1920

19th Amendment gives women the right to vote

1926

Congress establishes the Army Air Corp (Air Force)

1927

Charles Lindbergh flies Spirit of St. Louis nonstop from New York to Paris in 33 hours

1929

U.S. Stock Market crashes on “Black Tuesday;” the Great Depression begins

The 1930s

The 1930s brought: Prohibition ends, Empire State Building, Social Security; U.S. population 123.2 million

C&MA Events

1930

C&MA begins ministry in Côte d’Ivoire

1931

First major international Protestant radio station, HCJB “Voice of the Andies,” founded by Reuben Larson (C&MA) and Clarence Jones

1933

Missionary Training Institute (Nyack College) celebrates its 50th anniversary; Great Depression forces the Board of Managers to slash missionary allowances by one-third; C&MA begins ministry in Gabon

1935

President Shuman says Depression years most trying in history of Alliance; C&MA giving increases 11.15 percent over previous year, highest since 1931

1936

Hymns of the Christian Life, 5th edition “blue hymnal” published

Evangelical Events

1933

Navigators discipleship program started by Dawson Trotman

1934

Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. founded by William Townsend Cameron

1937

Child Evangelism Fellowship, Inc. organized by Jesse Overholtzer

1939

Back to the Bible International founded by Theodore Epp; Old Fashioned Gospel Hour with Charles Fuller reaches 10 million listeners every Sunday

U.S. & World Events

1933

President Roosevelt’s New Deal puts millions of Americans back to work

1935

Nuremberg Laws strip German Jews of citizenship

1938

Orson Welle’s radio drama War of the Worlds causes scare; Atomic fission of uranium discovered

1939

Germany invades Poland; The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind in movie theaters

The 1940s

The 1940s brought: Israel statehood, NATO, Jackie Robinson, Ghandi’s assassination; U.S. population 132.2 million

C&MA Events

1941

Canadian Bible Institute founded

1942

China, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam closed to missions work; 35 C&MA men, 42 women, and 44 children placed in internment camps; missionary Ethel Bell and her two children survive 20 days in a raft on the Atlantic Ocean after their ship is torpedoed

1944

C&MA missionary effort holds steady during war years; of 476 missionaries, 252 remain overseas

1945

Robert A. Jaffray dies in Japanese internment camp in Indonesia

1946

General Council reports ten missionaries and one child died in captivity during World War II

1948

C&MA exceeds goal of 1,000 U.S. organized branches, membership surpasses 50,000 mark

1949

C&MA missionaries forced to leave China as communism takes over; A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God achieves wide recognition, in 1950 he become editor of The Alliance Weekly

Evangelical Events

1941

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA organized

1944

National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) & Evangelical Foreign Missions Association (EFMA) founded; National Religious Broadcasters and World Relief Corp. established

1945

Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is executed at Buchenwald; Youth for Christ International founded; Mission Aviation Fellowship organized by three former World War II pilots

1947

English healing evangelist Smith Wigglesworth dies at 88

U.S. & World Events

1941

U.S. enters World War II after Japan’s surprise attack on pearl Harbor

1941-45

Holocaust: 6 million Jews annihilated (3 million killed in German concentration camps)

1944

D-Day: U.S. and Allied forces invade Normandy, France, in largest amphibious assault in history

1945

U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing Japanese surrender, ending World War II

The 1950s

The 1950s brought: NASA, polio vaccine, Mr. Potato Head, UNIVAC computer; U.S. population 151.2 million; World population 2.6

C&MA Events

1950

First C&MA missionary doctor, Dean F. Kroh, sent to Democratic Republic of the Congo

1954

Numerous C&MA churches in Vietnam are destroyed, Christians executed; C&MA begins ministry in Mexico; C&MA’s Sealand plane, Gospel Messenger, arrives in Papua, Indonesia; Harry M. Shuman retires after serving 28 years as C&MA president; Harry L. Turner becomes fifth president of the C&MA

1955

General Council affirms principles of self-support, self-government, and self-propagation for indigenous national churches; First Asia Conference convenes in Thailand

1958

The Alliance Weekly renamed The Alliance Witness

1959

Church Extension Loan Fund established to provide loans to Alliance churches

Evangelical Events

1950

World Vision founded by Bob Pierce; Billy Graham Evangelistic Association established

1951

Campus Crusade for Christ International organized by Bill Bright

1952

President Harry Truman signs National Day of Prayer resolution

1956

Five missionaries killed by Huaorani (Auca) Indians in Ecuador

1957

Two million attend Billy Graham NYC crusade, 55,000 decisions reported

U.S. & World Events

1950

North Korea invades South Korea

1955

Rosa Parks refuses to give up bus seat to white man in Montgomery, Alabama

1957

Space Age begins; Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, world’s first artificial satellite

1959

Alaska and Hawaii are admitted as the 49th and 50th states

The 1960s

The 1960s brought: Berlin Wall, Civil Rights Act, Beatles, heart transplants; U.S. population 179.3 million

C&MA Events

1960

C&MA begins ministry in Paraguay and Uruguay; Jaffray School of Missions (Alliance Theological Seminary) opens in Nyack, New York; Nathan Bailey becomes sixth president of the C&MA

1962

Mennonite missionary Dan Gerber and C&MA missionaries Archie Mitchell and Ardel Vietti captured by Vietcong, their fate remains unknown; Missionary Mabel Francis receives Japan’s highest civilian award; C&MA begins ministry in Brazil; First LIFE Youth Conference in Chicago, Illinois

1963

C&MA begins ministry in Taiwan, ROC

1967

Alliance Youth Corps established

1968

Vietnam Tet Offensive: six C&MA missionaries killed, Betty Olsen dies later in captivity; Shell Point Village Retirement Community established in Fort Myers, Florida

1969

C&MA begins ministry in Dominican Republic and Guatemala

Evangelical Events

1960

Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) begun by Pat Robertson; Youth With A Mission (YWAM) founded by Loren Cunningham

1962

Evangelism Explosion International organized by D. James Kennedy

1963

Theological Education Extension (TEE) begins in Guatemala; author C.S. Lewis dies at 64; wrote Mere Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia

1966

“Wheaton Declaration” Congress on Worldwide Missions, attended by 1,000 delegates

1967

Catholic Charismatic Movement born when Duquesne University students speak in tongues; Guinea: all missionaries, except 26 C&MA workers, expelled

U.S. & World Events

1963

March on Washington by civil rights supporters; Martin Luther King Jr. delivers “I have a dream” speech; President John F. Kennedy assassinated; prayer in public schools outlawed by U.S. Supreme Court

1965

U.S. combat troops land at China Beach, Vietnam, to defend air base in Da Nang

1968

Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated

1969

Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to step on the moon

The 1970s

The 1970s brought: Hank Aaron HR record, Iran hostage crisis, oil embargo; U.S. population 203.3 million

C&MA Events

1970

C&MA begins ministry in Great Britain; Canadian Theological College established

1971

C&MA begins ministry in New Zealand

1972

Missionary Training Institute becomes Nyack College

1974

CAMA Services, relief and development ministry, established; National Office moves from New York City to Nyack, New York; C&MA officially declared a denomination

1975

C&MA begin ministry in Costa Rica and Germany; missionaries leave Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam when communists take over government; the Alliance World Fellowship (AWF) established

1977

Thirty-nine (majority students and faculty) die in flood at Toccoa Falls College

1978

Louis L. King becomes seventh president of the C&MA; C&MA begins ministry in Spain

1979

C&MA begins ministry in Suriname; former C&MA President Nathan Bailey dies in auto accident

Evangelical Events

1971

Greenlake Conference on church/mission relations, 250 mission executives attend; Food for the Hungry founded by Larry Ward

1973

Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA) founded by Ron Sider; Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) founded; Lausanne I International Congress on World Evangelism in Switzerland

1976

International Prison Fellowship founded by Chuck Colson

1977

Focus on the Family founded by Dr. James Dobson

1978

International Bible Society evolves from New York Bible Society (1809); JESUS film produced by Campus Crusade for Christ

U.S. & World Events

1970

Four students killed at Kent State during Vietnam War protest; first Earth Day celebrated

1973

Vietnam Peace pacts signed, ending war; abortion legalized in U.S. after Roe v. Wade decision

1974

Watergate scandal; President Richard Nixon resigns

1976

President Jimmy Carter popularizes term “born again;” U.S. celebrates its bicentennial

The 1980s

The 1980s brought: AIDS epidemic, Madonna, Rubik’s Cube, MTV; U.S. population 226.5 million

C&MA Events

1980

International Fellowship of Alliance Professionals (IFAP) established; C&MA begins ministry in South Korea

1981

Canada becomes autonomous from U.S. C&MA, Melvin P. Sylvester becomes first president

1986

All for Jesus, centennial history of C&MA published

1987

“Easter 100” goal reached, 101 churches started; first edition of Alliance Video Magazine produced; Centennial Celebration of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in St. Paul, Minnesota; David L. Rambo becomes eighth president of the C&MA; The Alliance Witness renamed Alliance Life

1989

C&MA National Office moves to Colorado Springs, Colorado

Evangelical Events

1980

World Consultation on Frontier Missions in Edinburgh, Scotland

1983

Amsterdam ’83 International Conference, 3,800 from 133 nations attend

1984

Author and theologian Francis Schaeffer dies at 72, founded L’Abri Fellowship international in 1955

1986

Amsterdam ’86 International Conference, 8,000 from 173 countries attend

1989

Lausanne II International Congress on World Evangelism in Manila; Christian Coalition of America founded by Pat Robertson

U.S. & World Events

1980

U.S. boycott of Moscow Olympics; John Lennon murdered; Mount St. Helens erupts

1981

President Ronald Reagan survives assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr.

1986

Space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing all seven crew members

1989

Fall of Berlin Wall; Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska; Tiananmen Square massacre in China

The 1990s

The 1990s brought: Seinfeld, World Wide Web, cloned sheep “Dolly,” L.A. riots; U.S. population 248.7 million

C&MA Events

1992

C&MA begins ministry in Republic of the Congo

1993

C&MA begins ministry in Hungary, Poland and Russia; Lampados Bible College (Kuban Evangelical Christian University) founded in Krasnador, Russia

1994

India closed to missionaries, C&MA missionaries officially leave

1995

7,400 youth attend LIFE ’95 in Orlando, Florida

1996

Paul F. Bubna becomes ninth president of the C&MA; C&MA begins ministry in Cuba

1997

C&MA begins ministry in Bolivia; Nyack College Manhattan Center opens

1998

C&MA Web site launched; President Paul Bubna dies of a heart attack; C&MA begins ministry in Balkans, Mongolia and Panama; Peter N. Nanfelt becomes tenth president of the C&MA

1999

The Orchard Foundation established

Evangelical Events

1990

Texas high school students start See You at the Pole prayer rally

1991

Promise Keepers first conference draws 4,200 men to University of Colorado in Boulder

1993

Samaritan’s Purse launches Operation Christmas Child

1997

Mother Teresa dies at 87

U.S. & World Events

1991

Persian Gulf War: Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm

1995

Oklahoma City bombing kills 168 people

1997

Diana, Princess of Wales, dies at 36 in Paris auto accident

1998

President Bill Clinton impeached after Monica Lewinsky and Whitewater scandals

1999

Fifteen dead after Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado

The 2000s

The 2000s brought: Department of Homeland Security, map of the human genome; U.S. population 281.4 million, World population 6.1

C&MA Events

2000

Alliance Life published in Spanish for the first time: Vida Alliancista; thousands make decisions for Christ in Vietnam, estimated number of believers more than 700,000

2002

Staff and students at International Christian Academy in Côte d’Ivoire evacuated due to rebel fighting; C&MA begins ministry in Turkey; C&MA national church in Philippines celebrates centennial

2003

General Council ratifies transition to a biennial event; C&MA church opens in war-torn Baghdad, Iraq

2004

Strategic efforts in Central and Southeast Asia with tentmakers as well as relief and development workers; new C&MA Web site design, 135,000 users monthly, Tozer devotionals lead in popularity; missionary resources redeployed from Alliance Academy, Ecuador, Gabon, Peru, and Philippines to allow transfer of work to respective national churches; C&MA leaders visit President Thanh of Vietnam’s Tin Lanh Church; Celebrate 2004 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, Alliance Women celebrate 75 years of ministry

2005

Gary M. Benedict is elected eleventh president of the U.S. C&MA; Peter Nanfelt retires from ministry after 40 years of service with The Alliance; IFAP personnel surpass 100 for the first time in C&MA history; transition of missionaries from Peru; Alliance Academy in Ecuador becomes an independent, international school

2006

Grand opening of the Women and Children’s Hospital in Koutiala, Mali; Senegal field opening

2007

Dr. Joe Weninger retires after more than 60 years of service with the C&MA, including Archives director since 1991; Ecuador, Peru, and Gabon Alliance missionaries pass baton of leadership to national church, begin transitioning to other assignments. National churches send missionaries.

Evangelical Events

2000

Amsterdam 2000 International Conference, 10,000 from 209 countries attend

2002

Campus Crusade for Christ sponsors moving King’s College to NYC’s Empire State Building, 15th floor; missionary Bonnie Witherall shot and killed in Sidon, Lebanon while working at C&MA prenatal clinic

2004

Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ soars to success amid controversy

2006

Canadian Alliance church member, Stephen Harper, elected Prime Minister of Canada

2007

Renowned U.S. evangelists/preachers D. James Kennedy, Jerry Falwell die

2008

Billy Graham turns 90

U.S. & World Events

2000

Y2K millennium computer “bug” disaster averted

2001

Terrorists hijack planes and destroy World Trade Center, damage Pentagon and crash in rural Pennsylvania, more than 2,800 die

2002

Coalition forces put down Taliban regime in Afghanistan

2003

War with Iraq drives out Saddam Hussein and his regime

2004

A 9.0 earthquake off the island of Sumatra generated an Indian Ocean tsunami that claimed the lives of nearly 300,000 people in 11 countries; George W Bush is officially sworn in for his second term as president

2005

Pope Benedict XVI, the first pope from a German-speaking land in a thousand years, was elected as head of the Catholic Church; Hurricane Katrina decimates the U.S. Gulf Coast, leaving thousands dead and millions homeless.

2008

Philadelphia Phillies win the World Series, October 29, 2008; Barack Obama elected first African-American U.S. president, November 4, 2008