President Obama announced that all troops would be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of December 2011, honoring the terms set between Iraq and the United States when George W. Bush was president. The war began in 2003 with 150,000 American troops. During the span of the war, around 4,400 US soldiers were killed and over 100,000 Iraqi civilians were estimated to have been killed.

Following the success of Disneyland in Anaheim, California ( Opened in 1955 ) Walt Disney buys 27,000 acres of land on the outskirts of Orlando, Florida ( using dummy corporations to stop land speculators pushing up the price ) for $5 million ( News story leaked by the Orlando Sentinel ) . Walt Disney World opened on October 1st, 1971, ( five years after the death of Walt Disney ) with the Magic Kingdom theme park and is now the most visited and largest recreational resort in the world.