What were Americans doing in the 1980s? Grooving to music videos on MTV, the nation's hottest new cable station; protesting nuclear arms; and grieving the horrific explosion and deaths aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

Americans also watched in wonder as the Soviet Union, the nation's former enemy, collapsed while U.S. businesses boomed. And the personal computer revolution was on with the dynamic growth of Apple and Microsoft.

The decade's headliners included President Ronald Reagan, pop star diva Madonna, business guru Lee Iacocca, television's dynamic new talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, AIDS-awareness and graffiti artist Keith Haring, and a national first for women--U.S. Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor. They rose to prominence in an era of boom and bust, technological innovation, and social change. From cordless phones to The Cosby Show, from the end of the cold war to the rise of the Material Girl, read about this fascinating decade from start to finish....

Recounts how Allen Jay, a young Quaker boy living in Ohio during the 1840s, helped a fleeing slave escape his master and make it to freedom through the Underground Railroad....

On a cold day in February 2007, Barack Obama - the popular African American senator from Illinois - announced that he was running for president of the United States. He made the announcement in Springfield, Illinois, where almost 150 years earlier Abraham Lincoln had warned Americans of the danger of living in a country divided by slavery. Obama said that day, "Few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change. By ourselves, this change will not happen. Divided, we are bound to fail. But the life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible." In 2007, many people doubted the junior senator had a chance of winning the Democratic Party's nomination, much less the presidential race. But Obama toughed it out over many months of campaigning on promises of change to eventually gain the highest office in the land, becoming the first African American president of the United States in 2009. ...

Michelle Obama describes herself first and foremost as being a mom. But she has taken a mighty leap from the South Side of Chicago to presiding over the White House as First Lady. Once employed by a top Chicago law firm - which is where she met Barack Obama - Michelle quickly realized wanted a profession where she could give back to her community. She set up the first public service program for the University of Chicago and was extremely successful recruiting volunteers. She later used her skills in relating to people as an avid campaigner during her husband's run for president. As First Lady, Michelle Obama brings intelligence, wit, and warmth to the job. And most important, she still serves as First Mom in Chief. ...