1991-1995

1991

1991 Hubble Telescope Launched The space shuttle Discovery launched the Hubble Telescope -- seven years behind schedule. The telescope was defective and it required a later repair mission to fix it.
1991 Airlift of Ethiopian Jews To Israel In a period of 36 hours, Israel airlifted 14,500 Jews from Ethiopia to Israel.
1991 Failed Kremlin Coup On August 21, hardline Communists staged a coup attempt against the government of Gorbachev, putting him under house arrest. The coup, however, failed when Boris Yeltsin, the leader of the Russian Republic, rallied supporters at the Parliament building in Moscow. Thousands joined Yeltsin there, and many military leaders announced their support for Yeltsin. The coup ended when it became clear that the troops would not open fire on the citizens of Moscow. Gorbachev returned to power as President, in a much diminished capacity– true power having passed to Boris Yeltsin, who soon declared the Communist party illegal.
1991 Rajiv ghandi Killed Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India and son of Indira Gandhi, was killed in a massive explosion while campaigning. His death was attributed to the Tamil, who were revolting in Sri Lanka.
1991 Cambodia Civil War Ends Under pressure from the US, U.S.S.R. and China, the Vietnamese-controlled Cambodian government and the three rebel forces it was fighting reached a peace agreement. The day-to-day administration of the country was to be taken over by the UN until free elections could be held.
1991 Free Elections in Taiwan The first free elections since the government of Taiwan was established were held. The ruling party won the majority of seats in the Parliament.
1991 Eritrea Independent After a thirty-year armed struggle against Ethiopian domination, Eritrean forces suceeded in defeating the Ethiopian military and gained independence. Two years later, in a referendum at home and abroad, Eritreans voted for independence from Ethiopia.
1991 U.S. Announces Massive Nuclear Cutback US President Bush announced that all US tactical nuclear weapons would be eliminated from Europe. He also announced that the US Strategic Command would stand down from the 24 hour alert status it had maintained since the beginning of the Cold War.
1991 U.S.S.R. Comes to a formal End On December 21 representatives of 11 former Soviet Republics met in Alma Ata and signed the founding "Declaration of the Commonwealth of Independant States" – a loose confederation of the former Republics. Four days later, Gorbachev announced his resignation and the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

1992

1992 Civil War Begins in Former Yugoslavia Civil war broke out in Yugoslavia. As the Communist regime fell, Yugoslavia was divided up into Serbia, Bosnia-Hergezovenia, Macedonia, Croatia and Slovenia. Fighting soon broke out inside these areas, as Serbs attempted to gain control of the entire territory. The Serbs instituted a policy of "ethnic" cleansing, whose goal was to force non-Serbs out of all areas that the Serbs conquered.
1992 Kim Young Sam A former dissident, Kim Young Sam, became the first non-military candidate to be elected President of South Korea. He was replaced in 1998 by Kim Dae Jung, who spent many years imprisoned by the previous regime.
1992 Security Council Votes Sanctions on Libya The UN Security Council voted to impose sanctions on Libya for not surrendering two suspects in the bombing of a Pan Am flight over Scotland. All flights to Libya were banned, as well as sale of all munitions.
1992 El Salvador Signs Peace Agreement with Guerillas The guerrilla movement and the El Salvador government signed an agreement, ending the 13-year civil war.

1993

1993 Terrorists Attack World Trade Center In February, a powerful bomb exploded in the World Trade Center in New York. The explosion killed 7 and injured 1,000. The bombers were fundamental Muslims.
1993 Confrontation in Waco On April 19, 1993, the ATF launched an assualt on the headquarters of David Koresh in Waco, Texas. Koresh ordered his disciples to kill themselves and set the compound on fire. Eighty-six people died.
1993 Israel And PLO Reach Accord Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization reached an accord on an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho. This interim agreement called for further negotiations on the status of the rest of the West Bank. The tentative agreement was signed in Washington on September 13; the full accord was signed in Cairo in May 1994.
1993 Marines Killed in Somalia Eighteen American soldiers, members of the United Nations Peace-keeping Forces, were killed in a 15-hour gun battle with Somali rebels in Mogadishu between October 3 and 4. The U.N. troops were sent into Somalia to maintain order in the face of civil unrest that was causing wide-spread famine and interfering with international aid relief. As a result of the incident, the US Congress put pressure on the administration to withdraw American troops. On October 7, President Clinton announced a March deadline for the withdrawal of most US troops in Somalia.

1994

1994 NATO shoots down Serb Aircraft The NATO Alliance warned Bosnian Serbs against operating ground attack jets in the UN-imposed no-fly zone. The ultimatum was ignored, and NATO shot down four Bosnian Serb jets. This was the first combat action ever taken by NATO in its 45-year history.
1994 Nelson Mandela is Elected President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was elected the first black leader of South Africa, after the country had its first free multiracial election. F.W. De Klerk became one of the Deputy Premiers.
1994 Civil War in Chechniya A civil war broke out in the Russian province of Chechniya. The Chechniyans demanded independence, like many of the states of the Soviet Union had been receiving. The Russians claimed that Chechniya was part of Russia and thus would not be granted independence. The war in Chechniya lasted for two years and was marked by brutality on both sides.
1994 Republicans take control of Congress In the mid-term election in November 1994, the Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress. Their major camapign theme was a based on a document called "Contract With America," whose major feature called for balancing the budget and welfare reform.

1995

1995 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Assasinated Yitzchak Rabin, Israel's Prime Minister, was assassinated on November 3, by a right wing Israeli opponent of the peace process, Yigal Amir. Rabin was succeeded by his Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres. In a subsequent election in May 1996, Peres was beaten by Benjamin Netanyahu, of the opposition party, which was pledged to slowing the peace process.
1995 Mexican Bailout President Clinton invoked emergency powers and granted a $20 billion loan to bail out Mexico. The loan was controversial, but Mexico repaid the loan early, and the loan averted a major financial crisis.
1995 Murrah Federal Building Destroyed by Blast A truck bomb exploded in front of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The bomb was placed by Timothy MacVeigh and Terry Nichols; 168 people were killed in the bombing.
1995 O.J. Simpson- " Not- Guilty" O.J. Simpson, the football superstar, was found "not-guilty" of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The trial, which was televised, gripped the nation.