	1950 Idaho population: 588,637; State Highway Department (later becoming the Transportation Department) established with provisions for nonpolitical administration.	.
.	1951 NRTS becomes site of the worlds' first use of nuclear fission to produce electricity; Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 is later designated a National Landmark; State teacher's colleges at Lewiston and Albion are closed.	.
	1952 Anderson Ranch Dam completed.	.
.	1953 Television comes to Idaho with KIDO-TV (now KTVB) in Boise July 12; C.J. Strike Dam dedicated; Supreme Court rules against Idaho law legalizing slot machines and other lottery devices.	.
.	1954 Submarine reactor tested and perfected at the National Reactor Testing Station; Voters approve initiative to regulate dredge mining.	.
.	1955 State Department of Commerce and Development established; Lewis-Clark Normal opens at Lewiston; Lucky Peak Dam dedicated July 6; The Atomic Energy Commission lights Arco with electricity generated by atomic energy.	.
.	1956 Construction of Palisades Dam completed; Construction in Idaho of the National Interstate Highway System commenced; Constitutional amendment ratified to permit a governor to succeed himself for reelection.	.
.	1958 Boise-Stanley Highway Association established; Voters defeat "Right to Work" initiative.	.
.	1959 Brownlee Dam completed on the Snake River.	.
.	1960 Idaho population: 667,191; Seven month strike at Bunker Hill Mine; July and August forest fires in Hells Canyon and Idaho City area; State employee group insurance system established.	.
.	1961 Oxbow Dam completed on Snake River; W.A. Harriman and E. Rolland Harriman provided that their holdings at Railroad Ranch eventually become a state park, providing that the state establish a professionally managed park system; Ernest Hemingway dies in Ketchum July 2.	.
.	1962 Lewis and Clark highway (U.S. 12) in the Lochsa Canyon completed.	.
	1963 Legislative Council established; Idaho State College in Pocatello attains University status; Lewis-Clark Normal becomes a four year college; Horse Racing Act, to permit pari-mutuel betting, becomes law over Governor's veto (first override in twenty years); Idaho celebrates Territorial Centennial.	MORE INFORMATION: * Idaho State University
MORE INFORMATION: * Rapid River Fish Hatchery	1964 Combined convention and primary system implemented, parties attempt to restrict the number of state primary candidates appearing on the ballot; Federal Court ends Bible reading in Boise public schools; Rapid River Fish Hatchery begins operations.	.
	1965 State parks department, water resource board, and personnel system created; Nez Perce National Historic Park established in north-central Idaho; Boise Junior College given 4-year status.	MORE INFORMATION: * Native Americans in Idaho
MORE INFORMATION: * Niagara Springs Fish Hatchery	1966 Governor Smylie defeated for 4th term; Voters uphold 3 percent sales tax in referendum; Northern Pacific ends passenger service between Lewiston and Spokane; Niagara Springs Fish Hatchery begins operations.	.
	1967 Legislative Compensation Commission established; International Boy Scout Jamboree held at Farragut State Park; Massacre Rocks State Park is established; Star Garnet adopted as the state gemstone.	MORE INFORMATION: * Massacre Rocks * State Symbols & Facts
.	1968 Hell's Canyon Dam completed.
.	1969 Annual legislative sessions commence.	.
MORE INFORMATION: * Bruneau Dunes	1970 Idaho population: 713,015; Voters reject proposed revision of Idaho Constitution; Voters pass strict legislative pay initiative; National Farmers Organization stages 120 vehicle caravan to Boise to protest potato prices; Bruneau Dunes State Park is established.
.	1971 Legislature enacts a stream protection law; Last log drive on the Clearwater River; Rail passenger service ends May 1 for all places in Idaho except Sandpoint; Fire destroys $25,000 worth of property during a riot at the Idaho State Penitentiary.	.
MORE INFORMATION:	1972 New Idaho uniform probate code goes into effect; Idaho voters return to open primary system; Sawtooth National Recreation Area established, includes the Sawtooth Wilderness Area; Dworshak Dam completed; Constitutional amendment adopted requiring state government reorganization into no more than 20 agencies; Fire at the Sunshine Mine in Kellogg takes the lives of 91 men.
	1973 U.S. Congress passes a bill to replace the deteriorating American Falls Dam; Boise State College attains university status.	MORE INFORMATION: * Boise State University
MORE INFORMATION: * Native Americans in Idaho	1974 State agencies reorganized into 19 departments; Kootenai Indians in northern Idaho declare war on the U.S. government to gain money and land; Voters pass the Sunshine Initiative to require lobbyist registration and political campaign disclosure; Evel Knievel fails in attempt to ride his "Skycycle" across the Snake River canyon near Twin Falls.	.
	1975 Presidential preference primary to be held on the fourth Tuesday of May adopted; White Bird Hill bypass opens June 16; Legislature passes Local Planning and Zoning Act; New prison opens south of Boise; Port of Lewiston opens; Appaloosa adopted as the state horse.	MORE INFORMATION: * State Symbols & Facts
MORE INFORMATION:	1976 Hell's Canyon bill creates the scenic Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, and bans construction of hydroelectric projects in the canyon; Senator Frank Church becomes a candidate for President, the first Idahoan since William E. Borah in 1936; The 310 foot high Teton Dam collapses in southeastern Idaho, killing 11 and forcing 300,000 people to flee their homes; Constitutional amendment creates Citizens Committee on Legislative Compensation; The Public Utilities Commission rejects proposal by Idaho Power Company to build an electric coal-fired power plant between Boise and Mountain Home.	.
.	1977 Governor Cecil D. Andrus resigns to become Secretary of the Interior; Legislature rescinds their 1972 ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment; Many Idaho counties declared disaster areas due to severe drought; Boise, Nampa, Mountain Home, Shoshone, and Pocatello become stops on Amtrak's Seattle-Ogden line.	.
.	1978 President Jimmy Carter floats the River of No Return in central Idaho; Voters pass initiative limiting property taxes to 1 percent of market value; Pocatello businessman Bill Barlow wins U.S. Supreme Court decision against Occupational Safety and Health Administration.	.
.	1979 An investigation by the Idaho Statesman reveals that plutonium had been injected into the Snake River plain aquifer at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory; Senator Frank Church becomes Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.	MORE INFORMATION:
MORE INFORMATION: * McCall Fish Hatchery	1980 Idaho population: 944,038; An 18 hour riot at the Idaho State Prison results in $2 million in damages; Mount St. Helens erupts, covers north Idaho with volcanic ash; Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus, by executive order, expands the Birds of Prey Natural Area from 31,000 to 482,640 acres; Congress approves the Central Idaho Wilderness Act, establishing the 2.2 million acre River of No Return Wilderness; Congressman Steve Symms defeats Senator Frank Church in the most expensive campaign in Idaho history with over $4 million spent by the candidates and independent committees; McCall Fish Hatchery begins operations; Last of Idaho's legendary Mountain Men, Sylvan A. Hart ("Buckskin Bill"), dies at age 74.
.	1981 Senator James McClure becomes Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; Keith F. Nyborg, a rancher from Ashton, is appointed ambassador to Finland by President Reagan; "Rabbit Drives" in southeastern Idaho create controversy between animal protection groups and farmers whose crops are devastated by wild jack rabbits; Gulf Resources and Chemical of Houston, Texas announced the closure of the 98-year-old Bunker Hill Mine and Smelter in Kellogg.	MORE INFORMATION:
MORE INFORMATION:	1982 Legislature outlaws insanity plea for defendants - first in nation; Voters pass record eight constitutional amendments and three initiatives; Governor Evans puts most state employees on 4-day work week for two months to lower projected budget deficit; Harriman State Park dedicated July 17; Fugitive Christopher Boyce, convicted of selling national security secrets to the Soviet Union, is captured near Bonners Ferry.	.
	1983 Legislature imposes temporary 4 1/2 percent sales tax to cover state deficit; Eagle Island State Park dedicated June 25; State Supreme Court declares current legislative apportionment unconstitutional because it divides counties; Several north Idaho local governments pass resolutions to secede from southern Idaho and form a new state; An October 28 earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, kills two children and causes four million dollars worth of damage October 28. The "Borah Peak" quake, centered in the Lost River Valley, was the largest in the continental United States in 24 years and left a 10-foot high, 15 mile long shear.	MORE INFORMATION: * Earthquakes
MORE INFORMATION: * Sawtooth Fish Hatchery	1984 Supreme Court imposes 42 member Senate, 84 member House in legislative redistricting plan; Christin Cooper of Ketchum wins silver medal in the women's giant slalom at the Olympic games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia; Harmon Killebrew of Payette is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame; Permanent sales tax set at 4 percent; Legislature approves Education Reform bill, allocating $20 million to improve teacher salaries statewide; Former Senator Frank Church dies April 7; U.S. Representative George Hansen defeated for reelection by Richard Stallings in closest Idaho congressional race in history - 170 votes; Populist Party sues for and obtains ballot status on November 6 general election; Wallace celebrates centennial; Idaho Power Company and the State of Idaho reach agreement on Snake River Basin water rights; Sawtooth Fish Hatchery begins operations.	.
.	1985 David Marquart (Boise) and Barbara Morgan (McCall) are among 10 finalists out of 11,000 applicants in the NASA Teacher in Space program. Barbara Morgan later becomes Teacher in Space backup to Christa McAuliffe, and Teacher in Space designee in 1986; Shortest Legislative session in 12 years - 66 days; Department of Commerce established; National Governor's Conference held in Boise; Jimmy Jausoro, a Basque musician from Boise is one of 12 folk artists nationwide (and the first Idahoan ever) to receive a prestigious 1985 National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts; Pocatello citizens vote to remove council-manager system of city government in June; Potlatch Corporation closes lumber mills at Lewiston and Jaype (near Pierce), affecting 1,200 workers; Over six million acres of Idaho rangeland are sprayed with pesticides to battle grasshopper infestation.	.
.	1986 Claude Dallas, convicted in 1982 for killing two Idaho Fish & Game Wardens, escapes from the Idaho State Penitentiary March 30. He is recaptured March 8, 1987 outside a convenience store in Riverside, California; Voters retain right-to-work law in referendum; also approve state lottery initiative.
.	1987 Permanent sales tax at 5 percent; Legislature passes mandatory daycare licensing and tort reform legislation; Dry winter leads to severe summer drought.	.
MORE INFORMATION: * City of Rocks * Hagerman Fossil Beds	1988 Voters pass constitutional amendment removing prohibition against legislature authorizing a state lottery; Hagerman National Monument and City of Rocks National Reserve are established.
.	1989 First state lottery tickets sold July 19^th; Worst forest fires since 1910, burn thousands of acres in south central Idaho, partially destroying town of Lowman.	.
.	1990 Idaho Population: 1,006,749; Idaho celebrates Statehood Centennial - July 3; Senator James McClure retires from U.S. Senate; Idaho State Senate split - 21 Democrats and 21 Republicans.
.	1991 Kirby Dam collapses near Atlanta, cutting off electrical power to residents and dumping arsenic, mercury and cadmium into the Middle Fork of the Boise River; Drought persists through fifth consecutive year.	.
MORE INFORMATION:	1992 Fire on the second and third floors of the State Capitol on January 1st caused 3.2 million dollars in damage; Worst forest fire season in Idaho's recorded history; Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris surrender to federal officials on August 31st following a shootout and eleven day standoff at Weaver's Boundary County cabin that left one U.S. deputy marshal and Weaver's wife and son dead; Linda Copple Trout becomes the first woman appointed to the Idaho Supreme Court.
.	1993 Normal winter and spring precipitation help to alleviate the drought; Kevin Harris acquitted of all charges and Randy Weaver convicted on minor charges following a 60-day federal trial stemming from the 1992 shootout with federal officials in Boundary County.	.
.	1994 Ezra Taft Benson, native of Whitney, Idaho, dies on May 30. Benson served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1953 to 1961 and head of the Mormon Church since 1985; Summer wildfires burn approximately 750,000 acres; Picabo Street wins silver medal in downhill skiing during the Olympic games in Lillehammer, Norway; Idaho ranks third nationwide in percentage population growth after the state added another 33,000 residents.
.	1995 Phil Batt sworn in as the first republican governor in twenty-five years; Legislature creates the Department of Juvenile Justice.	.
.	1996 Couple from Hailey, Idaho win $48 million from Powerball lottery ticket on Christmas Day.
	1997 Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) changes name to Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) to reflect new focus on environmental research.	MORE INFORMATION:
.	1998 Dirk Kempthorne is elected governor of Idaho.	.
	1999 First of 5,800 shipments of nuclear waste taken from INEEL to WIPP facility in New Mexico.	MORE INFORMATION:
.	2000 Pocatello resident and former Idaho State University track star, Stacy Dragila, wins gold medal in first ever, women’s pole vault competition at Olympics; Worst forest fire season since 1992 severely impacts southeastern and central Idaho; Publication of the Digital Atlas of Idaho, Phase 1 CD-ROM and web site.

Idaho History: 1950-2000