Historic and Economic Landmarks in the Kenai
Peninsula Borough
|
2008 |
DJIA
drops 41% from 10/ 9/2007 to 10/25/08 - closes as 8,378.95 - with wild
gyrations. |
2008 |
Fuel
prices surpass $5.00 per gallon. |
2008 |
Soldotna's
Mayor David R. Carey is elected KPB Mayor. |
2008 |
Alaska's
Governor Palin accepts nomination as first female Republican Vice
Presidential candidate. |
2008 |
Democrat
Barak Obama is elected president - first Black American to hold the
office. |
2008 |
Beijing
Olympics - U.S.A.'s Micheal Phelps wins eight gold medals, sets seven new
world records |
2008 |
Wal-Mart
purchases land in Kenai, begins construction of facility. |
2008 |
Lowe's
completes building, opens for business in December. |
2008 |
Agrium
plant ships last shipment of fertilizer, begins moth-balling plant. |
2008 |
October
9 - DJIA has fallen 39% in one year - closes at 8,579,19 |
2007 |
July
19 - First DJIA close at 14,000.41. |
2007 |
Lowe's
purchases land in Kenai. |
2007 |
Agrium
announces intent to close Nikiski fertilizer plant. |
2007 |
April
25 - First DJIA close over 13,000. |
2007 |
Caribou
Hills fire destroys many remote cabins and structures, burns 56,254 acres. |
2007 |
New
Bridge over Kenai River in Soldotna opens. |
2007 |
Ice
destroys much of Kenai River infrastructure - walkways, boardwalks, docks,
etc. |
2006 |
October
19 - First DJIA close over 12,000. |
2006 |
KPB
hosts the 2006 Arctic Winter Games. |
2006 |
Mt.
Augustine erupts. |
2006 |
Work
continues on Kenai River Bridge in Soldotna. |
2006 |
Sarah
Palin elected Alaska's governor - first female, and youngest person ever to hold the
office. |
2005 |
Kenai's
Mayor John
J. Williams is elected KPB Mayor. |
2005 |
Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita devastate the southeastern US. |
2005 |
Agrium
found gas supply, open at least one more year. |
2005 |
Wal-Mart
announces plans to open in Kenai. |
2005 |
Grant
Aviation joins service providers at Kenai Airport. |
2005 |
Work
begins on Kenai River bridge upgrade in Soldotna. |
2005 |
Central
Peninsula General Hospital begins construction of addition. |
2005 |
Trustworthy
Hardware builds a new facility in Soldotna. |
2004 |
September
- Home Depot opens in Kenai. |
2004 |
KPB
celebrates forty years of incorporation. |
2004 |
KPB
gross sales top $2 billion mark for first time. |
2004 |
KPB
Construction permit values set new high -$84,041,457. |
2004 |
December
26 - Indonesian 8.7 earthquake and tsunami kills more than two hundred
thirty thousand. |
2003 |
February
1 - Columbia space shuttle destroyed during reentry. |
2003 |
April
- BigKMart closed in Kenai (and throughout Alaska). |
2002 |
Homer
annexation increases its size by 28%. |
2002 |
November
3 - Earthquake - 7.9 Richter scale in Alaska, Denali fault. |
2001 |
September
11 terrorist attack in New York City and Washington D.C., plane crashed in
Pennsylvania. |
2001 |
October
7 - U.S. implemented Operation Enduring Freedom, targeting
Iraqi terrorist government. |
2000 |
Census
- 550,043 Alaskans; Kenai Peninsula Borough - 49,691. |
2000 |
George
W. Bush elected President of the United States. |
1999 |
Dale
Bagley elected KPB mayor. |
1999 |
May
3 - First DJIA close over 11,000. |
1999 |
March
29 - DJIA average breaks 10,000. |
1998 |
Alaska
SeaLife Center opened in Seward. |
1998 |
April
6 - First DJIA close over 9,000. |
1997 |
gust
31 - England's Princess Diana killed in car accident. |
1997 |
July
16 - First DJIA close over 8,000. |
1997 |
February
13 - First DJIA close over 7,000. |
1996 |
October
14 - First DJIA close over 6,000. |
1996 |
Mike
Navarre elected KPB mayor. |
1995 |
Oklahoma
City Bombing - Alfred P Murrah Federal Building |
1995 |
November
21 - DJIA broke 5,000. |
1994 |
April
- Fred Meyer retail store opened in Soldotna. |
1993 |
June
- KMart opened in Kenai. |
1992 |
Mt.
Spurr eruption - prior most recent - 1953. |
1992 |
William
J. Clinton elected President of the United States. |
1991 |
April
17 - First DJIA close over 3,000. |
1991 |
January
19 - Desert Storm initiative against Iraq begins after Iraq invasion of
Kuwait on August 2, 1990. |
1990 |
Census
- 550,043 Alaskans; Kenai Peninsula Borough - 40,802. |
1989 |
March
24 - Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill. |
1988-1989 |
Series
of Mt. Redoubt eruptions - prior most recent - 1966 - 1967 - 1968. |
1988 |
January
28 - Challenger space ship disaster during launch. |
1988 |
George
H. W. Bush elected President of the United States. |
1987 |
Don
Gilman again elected KPB mayor. |
1987 |
January
8 - First DJIA close over 2,000. |
1987 |
Mt.
Iliamna eruption - steam, prior most recent volcanic eruption - 1953. |
1986 |
April
26 - Meltdown at Chernobyl nuclear power plant. |
1986 |
St.
Augustine eruption - prior most recent - 1976. |
1985 |
1st
KPB Traffic Light - Kenai Spur Road and Willow Street. |
1982 |
First
Peninsula McDonald's opens in Soldotna. |
1980 |
May
8 - Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington. |
1980 |
Census
- 401,851 Alaskans; Kenai Peninsula Borough - 22,282. |
1980 |
Stan
Thompson again elected KPB mayor. |
1980 |
Alaska's
personal income tax repealed. |
1980 |
Ronald
Reagan elected President of the United States. |
1976 |
Jimmy
Carter elected President of the United States. |
1976 |
Alaska
Permanent Fund established. |
1975 |
Don
Gilman elected KPB mayor. |
1975 |
Bridge
Access Road and bridge constructed. |
1974 |
President
Nixon resigns, Gerald Ford became President of the United States. |
1972 |
September
5 - Munich Olympics massacre - five Palestinian terrorists, nine Israeli
hostages killed. |
1972 |
November
14 - First DJIA close over 1,000. |
1972 |
Stan
Thompson elected KPB mayor. |
1971 |
Central
Peninsula General Hospital opens for business. |
1970 |
Census
- 300,382 Alaskans; Kenai-Cook Inlet district - 12,474; Seward district -
3,727. |
1969 |
1st
shipment of 48" pipe for trans-Alaska pipeline arrives in Valdez. |
1969 |
July
20 - First lunar landing. |
1968 |
Richard
Nixon elected President of the United States. |
1966 |
George
Navarre elected KPB mayor. |
1965 |
February
4 - Earthquake - 8.7 on Richter scale in Alaska, Rat
Islands. |
1965 |
July
1 - KPB Sales Tax enacted. |
1964 |
Homer
incorporated. |
1964 |
March
27 - Good Friday Earthquake - 9.2 in Richter scale. |
1963 |
November
22 - President John F. Kennedy assassinated. |
1963 |
Lyndon
Johnson sworn in as President of the United States. |
1963 |
Harold
Pomeroy elected as First KPB Mayor. |
1963 |
Kenai
Peninsula Borough incorporated. |
1962 |
February
20 - John Glenn completes three orbits of earth. |
1961 |
First
manned American space flight - Alan B. Shepherd, Jr. |
1961 |
Kachemak
City Incorporated. |
1960 |
Census
- 226,167 Alaskans; Kenai-Cook Inlet district - 11,867; Seward district -
3,127. |
1960 |
John
F. Kennedy elected President of the United States. |
1960 |
Soldotna
incorporated. |
1960 |
Kenai
incorporated. |
1959 |
Alaska
officially becomes a state of the United States. |
1959 |
Alaska
conducts first offshore oil and gas lease sale on Kenai Peninsula. |
1959 |
Discovery
of first major Cook Inlet gas field . |
1958 |
First
successful satellite launch by United States. |
1957 |
Swanson
River oil field discovered. |
1957 |
October
4 - Soviet Union successfully launches Sputnik. |
1953 |
July
27 - Korean War Armistice Signed. |
1952 |
Dwight
Eisenhower elected President of the United States. |
1951 |
Sterling
Hwy completed connecting Kenai Peninsula to south-central Alaska. |
1950 |
Census
- 128,643 Alaskans; Kasilof - 62; Kenai - 321; Homer - 907; Seldovia -
701; Seward district - 2,708. |
1950 |
June
25 - Korean War begins. |
1945 |
May
7 - Germany surrenders unconditionally. |
1945 |
August
6 - U.S. bombs Hiroshima. |
1945 |
August
9 - U.S. bombs Nagasaki. |
1945 |
September
12 - Japan surrenders. |
1945 |
Seldovia
Incorporated. |
1944 |
June
6 - D Day. |
1942 |
March
- work begins on AK highway - completed in 8 months. |
1941 |
December
7 - Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. |
1940 |
(10/1/1939)
Census - 72,524 Alaskans; Kenai district - 497; Seldovia district - 980;
Seward district - 1,525. |
1939 |
WWII
begins. |
1937 |
Beginning
of second major United States economic depression. |
1930 |
Census
- 59,278 Alaskans; Kenai district - 468; Seldovia district - 378; Seward
district - 1,279. |
1929 |
October
29th, Black Thursday, stock market crash begins The Great Depression. |
1925 |
Forerunner
of Iditarod - Race from Anchorage to Nome with meds to stop diphtheria
epidemic. |
1920 |
Census
- 55,036 Alaskans; Kenai -
1,851; Seward - 652. |
1918 |
November
11- Armistice Day - End of WW I. |
1917 |
WWI
begins. |
1915 |
First
Mount Marathon race in Seward. |
1912 |
Seward
Incorporated. |
1910 |
Census
- Alaska - 64,356; Kenai Dist - 1,692; Seward - 534. |
1898 |
Beginning
of Nome gold rush. |
1897 |
July
- Klondike gold rush begins as steamer PORTLAND
reaches Seattle with word of gold, lots of gold. |
1867 |
March
30 - Secretary of State Seward agrees to purchase Alaska for $7 million. |
1865 |
April
9 - Surrender of Troops - End of Civil War. |
1861 |
January
- Southern states secede from Union - Civil war began. |
1788 |
Captain
Cook first voyages into Cook Inlet. |