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. |