1979: A new study linked lead in children's blood, even at low levels, with lower intelligence scores. A ban on lead-containing paint in 1980, and successively lower maximum acceptable lead blood levels followed. Lead had been banned in Europe in the 1950s.

June, 1999: Several cities across the U.S. sue companies for using lead in house paint. Hiring lawyers fresh from state victories over big tobacco companies, cities claim that the paint companies were well aware of lead's dangers.

1979: Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi fled Iran on January 16, appointing Shahpur Bakhtiar prime minister of a new democratic government. But Ayatollah Rhuollah Khomeini returned to Iran on February 1 and quickly took power. Iran took 66 American hostages at the Tehran embassy on November 7 and held 52 of them for 444 days, winning several concessions from the U.S. and greatly harming American prestige and the Carter presidency.

June, 1999: Tens of thousands...