1990s

1990s Timeline

July 16: Luzon earthquake kills about 1,600 in the Philippines
August 2: President of Iraq Saddam Hussein launches invasion of Kuwait, which leads to the Gulf War
October 3: Germany reunifies
November 28: Margaret Thatcher resigns as UK Prime Minister; John Major succeeds her

January 16 - February 28: The U.S. goes to war with Iraq
August 19 - August 21: The failed Soviet coup d'état attempt later results in the end of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
October 11: Anita Hill testifies against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas regarding claims of sexual harassment
December 8: The Belavezha Accords are signed, officially dissolving the Soviet Union

February 7: Maastricht Treaty signed; European Union established
April 29: Los Angeles riots start after police officers are acquitted in the Rodney King trial
August 16: Hurricane Andrew hits the Bahamas, Florida and Louisiana, killing 65 and causing billions in damages

January 1: Czechoslovakia splits into Slovakia and the Czech Republic
February 26: World Trade Center bombed by Islamic extremists; six die, 1,042 are injured
February 28: Ten people are killed following a gunfight between the ATF and members of the Branch Davidian sect in Waco, Texas; the 51-day siege results in the deaths of 76 more
March 12: A "Superstorm" hits the eastern United States, causing blizzards and tornadoes across the coast
September 13: Oslo Accords are signed by Israel and Palestine, allowing Palestine self-government
November 30: Brady Handgun Act signed into law in the United States, regulating the purchase of most firearms in the country.

January 17: 72 people are killed in the 6.7-magnitude Northridge Earthquake in California
April - July: 800,000 killed during the Rwandan Genocide
April 27: Nelson Mandela elected President of South Africa
May 6: Channel Tunnel opens, linking France and the United Kingdom
August 12: Major League Baseball goes on strike for 232 days, canceling the World Series
November 8: Republican Party takes control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate during midterm elections
December 11: First Chechen War starts; thousands left dead or injured

January 17: Great Hanshin Earthquake kills about 6,434 in and around Kobe, Japan
April 19: Oklahoma City bombing kills 168; it remains the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States until 9-11
October 3: O.J. Simpson found "not guilty" for the murders of Ronald Goldman and ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson

January 4 - January 10: The Blizzard of 1996 hits the eastern U.S., covering cities in as much as 47 inches of snow
July 5: Dolly the sheep, the first cloned mammal via somatic cell nuclear transfer, is born
July 27: A bomb goes off during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, killing two people

April 13: Golfer Tiger Woods becomes the youngest person to win the The Masters at age 21
July 1: Sovereignty of Hong Kong is handed to China from Great Britain
August 31: Princess Diana dies in a Paris car crash
September 5: Mother Teresa dies in Calcutta, India
November 19: The McCaughey septuplets are born in Des Moines, Iowa; all survive
December 19: James Cameron's film Titanic is released; it later becomes the highest grossing movie of all time

January 21: News breaks of a possible sex scandal involving U.S. President Bill Clinton and former intern Monica Lewinsky
August 2: Second Congo War begins; millions are killed by the time it ends in July 2003
August 25: Omagh bombing kills 29 in Northern Ireland
October 22 - November 5: Hurricane Mitch hits Central America and Florida, killing nearly 11,000 and leaving 8,000 missing
December 19: U.S. President Bill Clinton is impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives and later acquitted by the U.S. Senate on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice

March 24 - June 11: NATO bombing campaign of Yugoslavia results in the return of over 800,000 Albanian refugees to Kosovo
April 20: 15 dead following school shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado
July 16: John F. Kennedy Jr. dies with wife and sister-in-law in a plane crash
August: Second Cechen War starts and has continued to this day
August 17: İzmit earthquake kills 17,118 in Turkey and injures 50,000
December 20: Sovereignty of Macau is handed to China from Portugal
December 31: President of Russia Boris Yeltsin resigns; Prime Minister Vladimir Putin takes over
December 31: Fears of the Y2K computer bug reach their peak as the year 2000 approaches