Based on the Coast Guard Historian’s timeline, https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
With inspiration from Mike Kelso

1885 Keeper Marcus Hanna of the Cape Elizabeth Light Station saved two men from the wrecked schooner Australia.  For this rescue Hanna was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal.  He was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Port Hudson in 1863.  He is the only person to have ever received both awards.

1915 President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the “Act to Create the Coast Guard,” an act passed by Congress on January 20, 1915 that combined the Life-Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service to form the Coast Guard (38 Stat. L., 800).  The Coast Guard, however, still considers the date of the founding of the Revenue Cutter Service, August 4, 1790, as its official birthday, even though the Lighthouse Service, absorbed in 1939, is even older than that, dating to August 7, 1789.  Under the new law the Coast Guard officially became “part of the regular military establishment of the United States.”

The U.S. Coast Guard buoy tender USCGC Blackthorn (WLB-391), in the 1972. US Coast Guard photo.

1980 CGC Blackthorn sank in Tampa Bay after colliding with the tanker Capricorn.   Twenty-three Coast Guard personnel were killed in the tragedy.

The STS-51L crewmembers are: in the back row from left to right: Mission Specialist, Ellison S. Onizuka, Teacher in Space Participant Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist, Greg Jarvis and Mission Specialist, Judy Resnik. In the front row from left to right: Pilot Mike Smith, Commander, Dick Scobee and Mission Specialist, Ron McNair. 15 November 1985

1986 NASA’s space shuttle Challenger exploded after lift-off, killing the entire crew. Coast Guard units, including the cutters Dallas, Dauntless, Harriet Lane, Bear, Tampa, Cherokee, Sweetgum, and Point Roberts conducted the initial search and rescue operations and later assisted in the recovery of much of the shuttle’s wreckage.  Other units included personnel from Station Port Canaveral, air stations Miami, Clearwater, and Savannah, as well as Coast Guard reservists and Auxiliarists. Dallas served as the on-scene commander for what was a joint Coast Guard, NASA, Navy, and Air Force search and recovery operation.

2003 DOD submitted a request for Coast Guard forces in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.  The Commandant, ADM Thomas Collins, approved that request and ordered the deployment of eight 110-foot patrol boats, crews, and support units.  The cutters were CGCs: Wrangell, Adak, Aquidneck, Baranof, Grand Isle, Bainbridge Island, Pea Island, and Knight Island.