1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1991st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 991st year of the 2nd millennium, the 91st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1990s decade.
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. Towards the end of the year, the Soviet Union collapsed, leaving fifteen sovereign republics and the CIS in its place. In July 1991, India abandoned its policies of dirigisme, license raj and autarky and began extensive liberalisation to its economy. This increased GDP but also increased income inequality over the next two decades. A UN-authorized coalition force from 34 nations fought against Iraq, which had invaded and annexed Kuwait in the previous year, 1990. The conflict would be called the Gulf War and would mark the beginning of a since-constant American military presence in the Middle East. The clash between Serbia and the other Yugoslav republics would lead into the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars, which ran through the rest of the decade.
In the context of the apartheid, the year after the liberation of political prisoner Nelson Mandela, the Parliament of South Africa repeals the Population Registration Act, 1950, overturning the racial classification of the population, a key component of apartheid.
The year 1991 saw the rise of a ten-year-long boost of the US domestic economy with the Dow Jones Industrial Average remarkably closing in April at above 3,000 for the first time. This situation would only be cut short by the Dot-com bubble of 2000–2002.
In August, the World Wide Web, originally conceived during the previous year, was released outside CERN to other research institutions starting in January 1991 and publicly announced in August, also establishing the first website ever, "info.cern.ch". This step was a key factor that led to the mid-1990s public breakthrough of the internet, which would eventually accelerate the already ongoing globalization around the globe.
In terms of popular culture, during this year alternative rock saw a new height of popularity when some of the earliest music exponents of the virtually unknown grunge sound were released, including the influential Nevermind album by Seattle-based band Nirvana in September 1991. It was also in 1991 that hip-hop music reached an unprecedented mainstream level of success. Electronic music derivative forms were also starting to gain momentum and would define, along with the previous scenes, the sound for most of the decade.
Contents
Events
January
January 1 – Czechoslovakia becomes the second Eastern European country to abandon its command economy.
January 5 – Georgian troops attack Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, starting the 1991–92 South Ossetia War.
January 7 – 1991 Haitian coup d'état: An attempted coup by the Tonton Macoute, a paramilitary force under former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, is thwarted in Haiti. On July 30, Roger Lafontant, the leader of the coup attempt, is convicted by a jury of attempting to overthrow the country's first democratically elected government.
January 9
Gulf War: U.S. Secretary of State James Baker meets with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz but fails to produce a plan for the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
In Sebokeng, South Africa, gunmen open fire on mourners attending the funeral of an African National Congress leader, killing 45 people.
January 12 – Gulf War: The 102nd U.S. Congress passes a resolution authorizing the use of military force to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
January 13 – Singing Revolution: Soviet forces storm Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence, killing 14 civilians and injuring 702 more. In Latvia, a series of confrontations between the Latvian government and the Soviet government take place in Riga. Lithuania formally declares independence on February 16, and voters in Estonia and Latvia vote for independence on March 3.
January 15
Gulf War: The UN deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
Prime Minister of Cape Verde Pedro Pires resigns following his party's loss in the Cape Verdean parliamentary election. Later on February 17, António Mascarenhas Monteiro wins the country's first multiparty presidential election since 1975.
February
February 1
USAir Flight 1493 collides with a SkyWest Airlines Fairchild Metroliner at Los Angeles International Airport, killing 34 people.
A 6.4 mb Hindu Kush earthquake causes severe damage in northeast Afghanistan, leaving 848 dead and 200 injured.
February 6 – A Boeing KC-135E Stratotanker is involved in an accident over Saudi Arabia when two engines on the left wing detach from the aircraft. The pilots manage to execute an emergency landing saving all four crew members on board. The aircraft is later repaired and returned to service.
February 7
1991 Haitian coup d'état: Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in. He is ousted on September 30 and later reinstated in 1994. In response to the coup and in an effort to encourage the coup leaders to restore democracy, the U.S. expands trade sanctions on Haiti to include all goods except food and medicine on October 29.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street in London during a cabinet meeting.
February 11 – The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is formed in The Hague, Netherlands.
February 13 – Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy an underground bunker in Baghdad, killing hundreds of Iraqis. US military intelligence claims it was a military facility while Iraqi officials identify it as a bomb shelter.
February 15 – The Visegrád Group, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is established by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland.
February 18 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes bombs in the early morning, at both Paddington station and Victoria station, in London.
March
March 3
The first presidential election in the history of São Tomé and Príncipe is won by Miguel Trovoada.
A video captures the beating of motorist Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers. Four Los Angeles police officers are indicted on March 15 for the beating.
March 6 – Prime Minister of India Chandra Shekhar resigns following a dispute with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, whose support had kept him in power.
March 9 – Massive demonstrations are held against Slobodan Milošević in Belgrade; two people are killed, and tanks are deployed in the streets.
March 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: In the Salvadoran legislative election, the Nationalist Republican Alliance wins 39 of the 48 seats in the legislative assembly.
March 13
The U.S. Department of Justice announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
The Acid Rain Treaty of 1991 is signed between the American and Canadian governments.
March 14
Gulf War: Emir of Kuwait Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah returns to Kuwait after seven months of exile in Saudi Arabia.
The Troubles: After 16 years in prison for allegedly bombing an English public house in a Provisional IRA attack, the "Birmingham Six" are freed when a court determines that their conviction was unsafe and unsatisfactory.
Escondida in Chile's Atacama Desert –which is to become the world's most productive copper mine– is officially inaugurated.
April
April 2 – Economy of the Soviet Union: Government-imposed price increases double or triple the cost of consumer goods in the Soviet Union.
April 3 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The UN Security Council passes Resolution 687, which calls for the destruction or removal of all of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons and a complete ban of ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 km. It also calls for an end to Iraq's support for international terrorism; it is accepted by Iraq three days later.
April 4
U.S. Senator John Heinz and six other people are killed when a helicopter collides with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania.
Forty people are taken hostage in Sacramento, California; six gunmen and hostages are killed.
April 5
Former U.S. Senator John Tower and 22 others are killed in an airplane crash in Brunswick, Georgia.
Space Shuttle Atlantis leaves an observatory in Earth's orbit to study gamma rays before returning on April 11. It is followed by Space Shuttle Discovery, which studies instruments related to the Strategic Defense Initiative from April 29 to May 6. Space Shuttle Columbia carries the Spacelab into orbit on June 5.
April 6 – Start of Operation Provide Comfort: Allied forces bring humanitarian relief to Kurds in Northern Iraq one day after the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 688 condemning political repression against the Iraqi people by Saddam Hussein's government.
April 9 – The first Soviet troops leave Poland.
April 10
A South Atlantic tropical cyclone develops in the Southern Hemisphere off the coast of Angola, the first of its kind to be documented by weather satellites.
May
May 1 – Angolan Civil War: The MPLA and UNITA agree to the Bicesse Accords, which are formally signed on May 31 in Lisbon.
May 6 – In the U.S., Time magazine publishes "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power," an article highly critical of the Scientology movement.
May 12 – Nepal holds its first multiparty legislative election since 1959.
May 15 – Édith Cresson becomes France's first female prime minister.
May 16 – Elizabeth II becomes the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress during a 13-day royal visit in Washington, D.C.
May 18 – Somaliland secedes from Somalia; its independence is not recognised by the international community.
May 19 – Dissolution of Yugoslavia: In the Croatian independence referendum, voters in the Socialist Republic of Croatia vote to leave SFR Yugoslavia.
May 21
At Sriperumbudur, India, a suicide bomber from LTTE attacks a political meeting, killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and at least 14 others.
Ethiopian Civil War: Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia to Zimbabwe, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end.
May 22 – Acting Prime Minister of South Korea Ro Jai-bong resigns in the wake of rioting following the beating to death of a student by police on April 26. He is succeeded by Chung Won-shik two days later.
May 24 – Following authorisation by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Operation Solomon commences to airlift most of the remaining Beta Israel community from Ethiopia to Israel. The same day the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters Asmara, the capital of Eritrea.
June
June 3 – Mount Unzen in Japan erupts, killing 46 people as a result of pyroclastic flow.
June 4
Fatos Nano resigns as Prime Minister of Albania following a nationwide strike. President of Albania Ramiz Alia appoints Ylli Bufi as his successor.
A large solar flare triggers an unusually large aurora as far south as Pennsylvania.
June 5
President of Algeria Chadli Bendjedid declares a state of emergency as Prime Minister Mouloud Hamrouche resigns after 11 days of protests against the government; Hamrouche is replaced by Sid Ahmed Ghozali.
End of Apartheid: The South African Parliament votes to repeal laws banning Black ownership of land.
June 7 – Approximately 200,000 people attend a parade of 8,800 returning Persian Gulf War troops in Washington, D.C.
June 9 – A major collapse at the Emaswati Colliery in Swaziland traps 26 miners 65 meters below the surface; they are rescued 30 hours later.
June 12
Boris Yeltsin is elected President of the Russian SFSR; he officially begins his term on July 10.
Sri Lankan civil war: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 152 civilians in Kokkadichcholai.
The Party of Labour of Albania is dissolved and succeeded by the Socialist Party of Albania, marking the end of communist rule in Albania.
June 15
July
July 1
In the U.S., telephone services go down in Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and San Francisco as a result of a software bug, affecting nearly 12 million customers.
The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
The world's first GSM telephone call is made in Finland.
July 4 – The Constituent Assembly of Colombia proclaims a new constitution, allowing the President of Colombia César Gaviria to lift the country's seven-year-long state of siege.
July 7 – Dissolution of Yugoslavia: The Brioni Agreement ends the Ten-Day War in Slovenia.
July 9
End of Apartheid: The International Olympic Committee readmits South Africa to the Olympics. The following day, U.S. President Bush terminates 1986-enacted U.S. sanctions on South Africa.
Iran–Contra affair: Alan Fiers agrees to plead guilty to two charges of lying to the U.S. Congress. Later on September 16, D.C. Judge Gerhard Gesell issues a ruling clearing Col. Oliver North of all charges.
July 11
A solar eclipse of record totality occurs in the Northern hemisphere and is witnessed by hundreds of millions of people in Hawaii, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.
Nigeria Airways Flight 2120, a Douglas DC-8 operated by Canadian airline Nolisair, catches fire and crashes soon after takeoff from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing all 261 people on board.
July 15 – Chemical Bank and Manufacturers Hanover Corporation amalgamate, becoming the largest bank merger in history.
August
August 1 – Israel agrees to participate in the Madrid Conference of 1991, which opens on October 30.
August 4 – The cruise liner MTS Oceanos sinks off the coast of South Africa, leading to the rescue of all 571 passengers on board by SAAF helicopters.
August 6 – Tim Berners-Lee, an English computer scientist working at CERN, announces the World Wide Web project and software on the alt.hypertext newsgroup. The first website, "info.cern.ch", is created.
August 7 – Former Iranian prime minister Shapour Bakhtiar is assassinated in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes.
August 8 – The Warsaw radio mast, the tallest structure in the world at the time, collapses.
August 11 – Nickelodeon introduces its series of Nicktoons, with Doug, Rugrats and The Ren & Stimpy Show set three air premieres.
August 17 – The remains of the Prussian King Frederick the Great are re-interred in Potsdam, Germany.
August 17–20 – Hurricane Bob hits North Carolina and New England, killing 17 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage.
August 19 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is put under house arrest while vacationing in Crimea during an attempted coup. Led by Vice President Gennady Yanayev and seven others, the coup collapses in less than 72 hours and is protested by over 100,000 people outside the parliament building. Gorbachev returns to Moscow three days later and arrests the coup leaders.
August 20 – Singing Revolution: Estonia declares independence from the Soviet Union, followed by Latvia the next day.
September
September 3 – In Hamlet, North Carolina, a grease fire breaks out at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant, killing 25 people.
September 4 – Sverdlovsk's name is restored to its pre-communist–era name Yekaterinburg. Two days later, Leningrad is renamed St. Petersburg.
September 5 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union self-dissolves, being replaced by Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and State Council of the Soviet Union.
September 8 – Dissolution of Yugoslavia: The Republic of Macedonia becomes independent, beginning a name dispute with Greece.
September 11
Lebanon hostage crisis: Israel releases 51 Arab prisoners and the bodies of nine guerrillas, paving the way for the release of the last western hostages in Lebanon.
The Soviet Union announces plans to withdraw military and economic aid to Cuba.
September 15 – In the Swedish general election, the Social Democrats suffer their worst election results in 60 years, leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson.
September 17
North Korea, South Korea, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands, and Micronesia join the UN.
Home Improvement premieres on ABC.
September 19 – Ötzi the Iceman is found in the Alps.
September 21 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Armenia declares independence from the Soviet Union. Nearly a month later on October 27, Turkmenistan declares its independence. Kazakhstan follows suit on December 16.
October
October 1 – Dissolution of Yugoslavia: Forces of the Yugoslav People's Army surround Dubrovnik, beginning the Siege of Dubrovnik, which lasts until May 31, 1992.
October 3–November 2 – The 1991 Rugby World Cup takes place in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and France and is won by Australia who beat England in the final.
October 3 – Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tom Foley announces the closure of the House Bank by the end of the year after revelations that House members have written numerous bad checks.
October 4 – Carl Bildt succeeds Ingvar Carlsson as Prime Minister of Sweden.
October 6 – President Gorbachev condemns antisemitism in the Soviet Union in a statement read on the 50th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacres, which saw the death of 35,000 Jews in Ukraine during WWII.
October 7 – Dissolution of Yugoslavia: The Yugoslav Air Force bombs the office of Croatian President Franjo Tuđman, causing the Croatian Parliament to cut all remaining ties with Yugoslavia the following day.
October 11
In the Russian SFSR, the KGB is replaced by the SVR, with the KGB officially ending operations on November 6.
Iraq disarmament crisis: The UN Security Council passes Resolution 715, demanding that Iraq "accept unconditionally the inspectors and all other personnel designated by the Special Commission." Iraq rejects the resolution, calling it "unlawful".
October 12 – Askar Akayev is confirmed as the first president of Kyrgyzstan in an uncontested poll.
October 13 – In the Bulgarian parliamentary election, the Union of Democratic Forces defeats the Bulgarian Socialist Party, leaving no remaining Communist governments in Eastern Europe.
November
November 2 – Bartholomew I is enthroned as Patriarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, thus becoming the new spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox worldwide.
November 4–5 – End of Apartheid: The African National Congress leads a general strike, demanding representation in the government and an end to the value-added tax.
November 5
Tropical Storm Thelma causes flash floods in the Philippine city of Ormoc, killing more than 4,900 people.
China and Vietnam restore diplomatic relations after a 13-year rift which followed the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War.
November 6 – The CPSU and its republic-level division, the Communist Party of the Russian SFSR, are banned in the Russian SFSR by presidential decree.
November 7 – The first report on carbon nanotubes is published by Sumio Iijima in Nature.
November 9 – The British JET fusion reactor generates 1.5 MW output power.
November 14
American and British authorities announce indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103 over Britain in 1988.
Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after 13 years of exile.
November 18
Lebanon hostage crisis: Kidnappers in Lebanon set Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and academic Thomas Sutherland free.
December
December 1 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Ukrainians vote overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union in a referendum.
December 4
Lebanon hostage crisis: Journalist Terry A. Anderson is released after seven years of captivity as a hostage in Beirut – the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.
John Leonard Orr, one of the most prolific serial arsonists of the 20th century, is arrested in California.
Pan Am is officially dissolved after 64 years of operation
December 8 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: In the Białowieża Forest Nature Reserve in Belarus, the leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine sign an agreement officially ending the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in its place.
December 11 – Dissolution of Yugoslavia: Croatian forces kill 18 Serbs and one Hungarian in the village of Paulin Dvor, Croatia.
December 12
The government of Nigeria moves the capital from Lagos to Abuja.
Ukraine becomes the first post-Soviet republic to decriminalize homosexuality.
December 15 – The Egyptian ferry Salem Express sinks in the Red Sea, killing more than 450 people.
December 16 – The UN General Assembly adopts UN General Assembly Resolution 46/86, repealing a previous resolution adopted in 1975 which had ruled that Zionism is a form of racism.
December 19
Nobel Prizes
Chemistry – Richard R. Ernst
Economics – Ronald Coase
Literature – Nadine Gordimer
Peace – Aung San Suu Kyi
Physics – Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
Physiology or Medicine – Erwin Neher, Bert Sakmann