A terrorist car bomb explodes in Oklahoma City, Okla., killing 169 and injuring hundreds. Former Army buddies Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are later arrested and charged with the attack.

• Wrangling between President Clinton and Congress over the nation’s budget leads to a month-long partial shutdown of the federal government.

• A Senate committee begins an extensive investigation of the so-called Whitewater Affair, concerning real estate dealings of the President and Mrs. Clinton.

• Microsoft, which already provides the operating system for more than 75 percent of personal computers, introduces its new Windows 95 operating system with a worldwide marketing campaign. The Justice Department begins investigating whether Microsoft has an unfair competitive advantage over its business rivals.

• The use of cellular phones booms, with about 10 percent of Americans using them and thousands of new customers signing up every day.

• After a sensational trial that became a media event, football star and actor O.J. Simpson is found not guilty of stabbing his former wife and her friend Ronald Goldman to death.

• Members of Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese religious cult, release nerve gas in Tokyo subways, killing 12 people and injuring more than 5,000.