1991
1991, like 2002, is a palindromic year. It also has the same calendar as 2002, including Easter on March 31. It is a common year starting on Tuesday.
Events
January
- January 2 - Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC becoming the first black woman to lead a city of that size and importance.
- January 4 - The United Nations Security Council votes unanimously condemning Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
- January 11 - The Soviets storm Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence.
- January 12 - Gulf War: The United States Congress passes a resolution authorizing the use of military force to liberate Kuwait
- January 14 - Three PLO guerilla chiefs assassinated in Tunis
- January 16 - Operation Desert Storm begins
- January 16 - Gulf War: The air strikes against Iraq begin
- January 17 - Gulf War: Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel
- January 18 - Eastern Airlines shuts down after 62 years citing financial problems
- January 27 - Siad Barre flees his compound in Mogadishu
February
- February 4 - The Baseball Hall of Fame votes to ban Pete Rose
- February 5 - A Michigan court bars Dr. Jack Kevorkian from assisting in suicides
- February 7 - Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
- February 7 - IRA launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting
- February 9 - Voters in Lithuania vote for independence
- February 11 - UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations & People Organization forms in the Hague, Netherlands
- February 13 - Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy an underground bunker in Baghdad killing hundreds of Iraqis. Iraqi officials claim that the bunker was a bomb shelter but United States military intelligence identified it as a military facility
- February 15 - The Visegard Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
- February 16 - Gulf War: U.S. and U.K. war planes bomb the suburbs of Baghdad, injuring at least 11 civilians and killing three others.
- February 22 - Gulf War: Iraq accepts a Russian proposed cease fire agreement. The US rejected the agreement, but said that retreating Iraqi forces would not be attacked if they left Kuwait within 24 hours
- February 23 - Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabia border and enter Kuwait, thus starting the ground-phase of the war.
- February 23 - Thailand: General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'etat, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.
- February 25 - Gulf War: An Iraqi Scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 US Marines
- February 26 - Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Iraqi soldiers set fire to Kuwaiti oil fields as they retreat
- February 26 - Tim Berners-Lee introduces the web browser
- February 27 - Gulf War: Kuwait is liberated, and a ceasefire is declared, after 100 hours of ground fighting. Iraq accepts the terms of the ceasefire, which call for the country to disarm
March
- March 1 - Ballistic Missile Submarine USS-Lafayette (now ex-Lafayette) starts to be deactivated
- March 1 - Ethan-Allen-class submarine USS-Sam Houston (now ex-Sam Houston SSBN-609) starts to be deactivated
- March 1 - Clayton Keith Yeutter finishes as the United States Secretary of Agriculture, under the George H. W. Bush administration
- March 3 - An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.
- March 3 - Latvia and Estonia vote to become independent of the Soviet Union
- Monday, March 4, 1991 - Vermont celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
- March 9 - Massive demonstrations are held against Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade. Two people are killed and tanks are in the streets
- March 10 - Gulf War: Operation Phase Echo - 540,000 American troops begin to leave the Persian Gulf
- March 11 - A curfew is imposed on black townships in South Africa after fighting between rival political gangs killed 49.
- March 13 - The United States Department of Justice annouces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
- March 14 - After 16 years in prison for allegedly bombing a pub in an Irish Republican Army attack, the "Birmingham Six" are freed when a court determines that the police fabricated evidence
- March 15 - Four Los Angeles, California police officers are indicted for the videotaped March 3, 1991 beating of motorist Rodney King during an arrest.
- March 15 - Germany formally regains complete independence after the four post-World War II occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union) relinquish all remaining rights.
- March-April - Iraqi forces suppress rebellions in the southern and northern parts of the country, creating a humanitarian disaster on the borders of Turkey and Iran
- March 20 - Conor Clapton, son of Eric Clapton falls from the 53rd floor window of a New York apartment block and dies
- March 31 - The Warsaw Pact comes to an end.
- March 31 - Albania has the first multi-party elections
April
- April 1 - The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times report that Selene Walters had verified her claim that then SAG President Ronald Reagan raped her in her home in 1952
- April 3 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.N. Security Council passes the Cease Fire Agreement, Resolution 687. The resolution called for the destruction, or removal of all of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, all stocks of agents and components, all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities for ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150km and production facilities, and end its support for international terrorism. Iraq accepts the terms of the resolution on April 6
- April 4 - Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others are killed when a helicopter collided with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania
- April 14 - 20 paintings stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam but found 35 minutes later in an abandoned car
- April 18 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq declares some of its chemical weapons and materials to the UN, as required by Resolution 687, and claims that it does not have biological weapons program.
- April 26 - Tornadoes break out in the central United States. The most notable tornado of the day was the one that hit in Andover, Kansas. The outbreak of nearly seventy tornadoes killed 17 people in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. The tornado that hit Andover was the only F5 of the year. (see The Andover, Kansas Tornado)
May
- May 15 - Edith Cresson becomes France's first female premier
- 1991 Stanley Cup Finals start Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Minnesota North Stars
- May 16 - Queen Elizabeth II gives a speech to the US Congress.
- May 19 - Willy T. Ribbs became the first African-American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500
- May 21 - In Madras, former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a terrorist bomb hidden in a bouquet of flowers
- May 25 - 1991 Stanley Cup Finals end Pittsburgh Penguins def Minnesota North Stars 4 games to 2
- May 26 - In Thailand, a Lauda Air Boeing 767 crashes near Bangkok killing all 223 people on-board
- May 27 - The Pittsburgh Penguins win their first of back-to-back Stanley Cup championships
June
- June 6 - George and Barbara Loeb, members of the Church of the Creator, are arrested and charged with murder
- June 12 - Russians elect Boris Yeltsin as the president of their republic
- June 13 - A spectator was killed by lightning at the U.S. Open [1]
- June 17 - Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act, which had required all racial classification of all South Africans at birth
- June 17 - Exhumation of US President Zachary Taylor to discover whether or not his death was caused by arsenic poisoning, instead of acute gastrointestinal illness. No trace of arsenic is found.
- June 23-28 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.N. inspection teams attempt to intercept Iraqi vehicles carrying nuclear related equipment. Iraqi soldiers fire warning shots in the air to prevent inspectors from approaching the vehicles
- June 25 - Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia
July-August
- July 1 - The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved.
- July 7 - The Brioni Agreement ended the ten day war in Slovenia
- July 9 - International Human Rights Federation cites human rights violations committed by police and military personnel during Oka crisis in Quebec.
- July 10 - Boris Yeltsin begins his 5-year term as the first elected president of Russia
- July 22 - Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested after the remains of 11 men and boys are found in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin apartment.
- August 6 - Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the "World Wide Web."
- August 18 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is put under house arrest while he was vacationing in the Crimea. The coup was led by eight high-ranking hard-liners (the coup will collapse in less than 72 hours).
- August 20 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Estonia declares its independence from the Soviet Union and more than 100,000 people rally outside the Soviet Union's parliament building protesting the coup that deposed President Mikhail Gorbachev
- August 21 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Latvia declares its independence from the Soviet Union
- August 24 - Ukraine declares independence from the USSR
- August 25 - Student Linus Torvalds post a messages to USENET newsgroup comp.os.minix about the new operating system kernel he has been developing.
- August 29 - Maronite general Michael Aoun leaves Lebanon via a French ship into exile
September
- September 3 - In Hamlet, North Carolina, a grease fire breaks out at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant, killing 25 people.
- September 5-7 - At the 35th Annual Tailhook Symposium, 83 women and 7 men are assaulted.
- September 6 - The Soviet Union recognizes the independence of the Baltic States
- September 6 - The name Saint Petersburg is restored to Russia's second largest city, which had been renamed "Leningrad" in 1924
- September 21-30 - Iraq disarmament crisis: IAEA inspectors discover files on Iraq's hidden nuclear weapons program. Iraqi officials confiscate documents from UN weapons inspectors, and refuse to allow them to leave the site without turning over other documents. A four-day standoff ensues. Iraq permits the team to leave with the documents after a statement from the UN Security Council threatens enforcement actions
- September 30 - Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is ousted from power
October
- October 1 - Leningrad changes its name back to St Petersburg
- October 8 - The Croatian Parliament cuts all remaining ties with Yugoslavia
- October 11 - KGB is replaced by the SVR
- October 11 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 715, which demands that Iraq "accept unconditionally the inspectors and all other personnel designated by the Special Commission". Iraq rejects the resolution, calling it "unlawful".
- October 14 - Bulgarians celebrate the end of the rule of the communist party
- October 15 - Following a bitter confirmation hearing that involved allegations of sexual misconduct, the United States Senate votes 52 to 48 to confirm Judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United States
- October 19 - 7.0 Richter Scale earthquake in Northern Italy - 2000 dead
- October 20 - Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3469 homes and apartments
- October 27 - The first free parliamentary elections in Poland
- October 29 - The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid
- Winter - Centennial of Basketball
November-December
- November 7 - Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson announces that he has HIV, effectively ending his career in the NBA.
- November 14 - American and British authorities announce indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103
- November 14 - Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after 13 years of exile
- November 18 - Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon set Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland free
- November 27 - The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts UN Security Council Resolution 721, leading the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia [2]
- December 1 - Cold War: Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approve a referendum for independence from the Soviet Union
- December 4 - Journalist Terry Anderson is released after a seven years' captivity as a hostage in Beirut (he was the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon).
- December 4 - Pan Am Airlines ends operations
- December 25 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union
- December 26 - Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolves the USSR
- December 31 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics officially ceases to exist
Unknown date
- Carbon nanotubes discovered by Sumio Iijima
- The Marshall Islands are independent
Year in Topic
- 1991 in film
- 1991 in literature
- 1991 in music
- 1991 in sports
- 1991 in television
- 1991 in video games and computing
- Knowledge Adventure founded by Bill Gross
- June 23 - Sonic the Hedgehog is released for the Sega Genesis in North America. The European Megadrive version would be released later that month.
- July 26 - Sonic the Hedgehog is released for the Sega Megadrive in Japan
- September 1 - The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is released in North America.
- October 23 - Sonic the Hedgehog Master System version is released in Brazil.
- December 28 - Sonic the Hedgehog Game Gear version is released in Japan. The North American and European releases follow during the same month.
Births
- March 6 - Ivan Cherevko, child prodigy
- April 4 - Jamie Spears, television show host
- October 14 - Erika Levy
Deaths
January-March
- January 17 - King Olav V of Norway
- January 18 - Leo Hurwitz, documentary film producer
- January 29 - Yasushi Inoue, historian
- January 30 - John Bardeen, physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics twice
- January 30 - John McIntire, actor
- February 5 - Dean Jagger, actor
- February 6 - Danny Thomas, singer, comedian, actor
- February 11 - Oscar Nitzchke, German architect
- February 21 - Dame Margot Fonteyn, ballet dancer
- February 24 - George Gobel, comedian
- February 24 - John Daly, journalist, game show host
- March 2 - Serge Gainsbourg, singer
- March 3 - Arthur Murray, dancer, dance instructor
- March 14 - Doc Pomus, composer
- March 14 - Howard Ashman, lyricist
- March 29 - Lee Atwater, Republican advisor
April-December
- April 1 - Martha Graham, dancer, choreographer
- April 3 - Graham Greene, writer
- April 4 - H. John Heinz III, member U.S. Senate in a plane crash
- April 4 - Forrest Towns, American hurdler
- April 26 - Carmine Coppola, composer, conductor
- April 26 - William Andrew Paton, accountant and economist
- May 21 - Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, and President of Congress Party
- May 22 - Derrick Henry Lehmer, mathematician
- May 27 - Leopold Nowak, musicologist
- July 1 - Michael Landon, actor (b. 1936)
- July 4 - Dr. Victor Chang, Australian doctor, pioneer in heart transplantation, murdered
- July 16 - Robert Motherwell, American abstract expressionist painter
- July 18 - André Cools, Belgian politician
- August 13 - James Roosevelt, American businessman, politician
- August 24 - Bernard Castro, inventor of the convertible couch
- August 30 - Jean Tinguely, kinetic artist
- September 3 - Frank Capra, American movie director
- September 24 - Dr. Seuss, children's author (b. 1904)
- September 26 - Miles Davis, musician (b. 1926)
- November 15 - Alger Hiss, former U.S. State Department official
- November 24 - Freddie Mercury, singer, Queen frontman
- December 16 - Horatio Luro, Hall of Fame racehorse trainer
- Physics - Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
- Chemistry - Richard R. Ernst
- Medicine - Erwin Neher, Bert Sakmann
- Literature - Nadine Gordimer
- Peace - Aung San Suu Kyi
- Edward Goldsmith, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Bengt & Marie-Thérèse Danielsson and senator Jeton Anjain and the people of Rongelap and MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais sem Terra) and CPT (Commissao Pastoral da Terra)