| 1952 |
- McCarran-Walter Act abolishes race an immigration criterion, sets quotas by nation.
|
| 1956 |
- California repeals alien landownership laws. Dalip Singh is elected to Congress from California's Imperial Valley.
|
| 1962 |
- Daniel K. Inouye elected U.S. Senator and Spark Matsunaga elected to Congress, both from Hawaii.
|
| 1964 |
- Patsy Takemoto Mink elected to Congress from Hawaii.
|
| 1965 |
- Immigration Act abolishes country preferences. Asian immigration increases.
|
| 1975 |
- Immigrants arrive from Communist regimes in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos following Vietnam War.
|
| 1979 |
- Resumption of diplomatic relations between U.S. and People's Republic of China increases immigration from China.
|
| 1985 |
- Ellison Onizuka, the first Asian American astronaut, lifts off on the Space Shuttle Discovery. After accomplishing the payload mission, and completing 48 orbits of Earth, Discovery returns to Earth.
|
| 1986 |
- Ellison Onizuka and six fellow crew mates die onboard the Space Shuttle Challenger when it exploded during liftoff.
|
| 1986 |
- In wake of record immigration, both legal and illegal, Congress sought to limit number of illegal aliens in U.S.
|
| 1989 |
- President George Bush signs law to pay each survivor of Japanese internment camps $20,000.
|
| 1990 |
- Immigration Act raised the total quota and reorganized system of preferences. Nearly 5 million immigrants arrive from Asian countries.
|
| 1993 |
- Connie Chung becomes the first Asian American to be a nightly news anchor for a major network (CBS).
|
| 1996 |
- Gary Locke is elected governor of the state of Washington. He is the first Asian American governor of a state on the mainland.
|
| 2000 |
- Gary Locke is easily reelected governor of the state of Washington.
|
| 2000 |
- Norman Yohsio Mineta is appointed Secretary of Commerce for the Bill Clinton administration.
|
| 2001 |
- Norman Yohsio Mineta becomes the first cabinet member to switch directly from a Democratic to a Republican cabinet. Mineta's position is changed to Secretary of Transporation. He is the only Democrat in George W. Bush's administration.
|
| 2001 |
- Elaine Chao is appointed Secretary of Labor. She is the first female Asian American cabinet member.
|
| 2008 |
- Anh Cao wins a special election for a seat in the House of Representatives, representing New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the first Vietnamese-American to serve in Congress.
|
| 2009 |
- President Barack Obama names Gary Locke to be Secretary of Commerce, Eric Shinseki to be Secretary of Veterans' Affairs, and Stephen Chu to be Secretary of Energy.
|
Back to Beginning |
|
|
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
