File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...
are held in Lillehammer
Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...
, Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
; The Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser P ...
building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake
The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles.
The quake had a duration of approximately ...
; A model of the MS Estonia
MS ''Estonia'' was a cruiseferry built in 1980 at the West German shipyard Meyer Werft in Papenburg. In 1993, she was sold to Nordström & Thulin for use on Estline's Tallinn–Stockholm route. The ship's sinking on 28 September 1994, in the Ba ...
, which sank in the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
; Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
casts his vote in the 1994 South African general election
General elections were held in South Africa between 26 and 29 April 1994. The elections were the first in which citizens of all races were allowed to take part, and were therefore also the first held with universal suffrage. The election was c ...
, in which he was elected South Africa's first president, and which effectively brought Apartheid to an end; NAFTA
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
, which was signed in 1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
, comes into effect in Canada, the United States, and Mexico; The first passenger rail service to utilize the newly-opened Channel tunnel
The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...
; The 1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...
is held in the United States; Skulls from the Rwandan genocide, in which over half a million Tutsi people were massacred by Hutus., 300x300px, thumb
rect 0 0 200 200 1994 Winter Olympics
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...
rect 200 0 400 200 Northridge earthquake
rect 400 0 600 200 Sinking of the MS Estonia
rect 0 200 300 400 Rwandan genocide
rect 300 200 600 400 Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
rect 0 400 200 600 1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...
rect 200 400 400 600 Channel tunnel
The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...
rect 400 400 600 600 NAFTA
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
The year 1994 was designated as the "
International Year of the Family
The year 1994 was proclaimed the International Year of the Family by the United Nations General Assembly. Its objectives are promoted by the United Nations Programme on the Family.
This was one of many International observances declared for spec ...
" and the "International Year of Sport and the
Olympic Ideal" by the
United Nations.
Events
January
*
January 1 – The
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
(NAFTA) is established.
*
January 8
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – Emperor Huai of Jin, Jin Huaidi becomes emperor of China in succession to his father, Emperor Hui of Jin, Jin Huidi, despite a challenge from his uncle, Sima Ying.
* 871 – Æthelred I, King of Wessex, Æthel ...
– ''
Soyuz TM-18
Soyuz TM-18 was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome and landed 112 km north of Arkalyk. TM-18 was a two-day solo flight that docked with the ''Mir'' space station on January 10, 1994. The three cosmonauts became the 15th resident crew on board ...
'':
Valeri Polyakov begins his 437.7-day orbit of the
Earth, eventually setting the world record for days spent in orbit.
*
January 11 – The Irish government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the
Provisional Irish Republican Army and its political arm
Sinn Féin.
*
January 14
Events Pre-1600
*1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence.
*1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary.
1601–1900
*1639 – The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, Fundamenta ...
– U.S. President
Bill Clinton and Russian President
Boris Yeltsin sign the
Kremlin accords The Kremlin accords were a series of agreements signed by President Bill Clinton of the United States and President Boris Yeltsin of Russia on January 14, 1994. These treaties stopped the preprogrammed targeting of nuclear weapons at targets on any ...
, which stop the preprogrammed aiming of
nuclear missiles toward each country's targets, and also provide for the dismantling of the
nuclear arsenal
Eight sovereign states have publicly announced successful detonation of nuclear weapons. Five are considered to be nuclear-weapon states (NWS) under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In order of acquisit ...
in
Ukraine.
*
January 17 – The 6.7
Northridge earthquake strikes the
Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum
Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''), leaving 57 people dead and more than 8,700 injured.
*
January 19 –
Record cold temperatures hit the eastern United States. The coldest temperature ever measured in
Indiana state history, −36 °F (−38 °C), is recorded in
New Whiteland, Indiana.
February
*
February 3
Events Pre-1600
* 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
*1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
*1488 – ...
** In the aftermath of the
Chadian–Libyan conflict, the
International Court of Justice rules that the
Aouzou Strip
The Aouzou Strip (; ar, قطاع أوزو, Qiṭāʿ Awzū, french: Bande d'Aozou) is a strip of land in northern Chad that lies along the border with Libya, extending south to a depth of about 100 kilometers into Chad's Borkou, Ennedi Ouest, E ...
belongs to the
Republic of Chad.
**
(136617) 1994 CC
is a sub-kilometer trinary asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group.
Discovery
was discovered by Spacewatch's Jim Scotti at Kitt Peak National Observatory on 3 February 1994. In June ...
is discovered.
*
February 5
Events Pre-1600
* 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
* 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion.
* 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians ar ...
–
Byron De La Beckwith
Byron De La Beckwith Jr. (November 9, 1920 – January 21, 2001) was an American murderer, white supremacist and member of the Ku Klux Klan from Greenwood, Mississippi. He murdered the civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963. Two trial ...
is convicted of the 1963 murder of
civil rights leader
Medgar Evers.
*
February 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop.
1601–1900
* 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of ...
–
Markale massacres: a
Bosnian Serb Army mortar shell kills 68 civilians and wounds about 200 in a Sarajevo marketplace.
*
February 9 – The Vance–Owen
peace plan
A peace process is the set of sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict.
Definitions
Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of an intra-state or in ...
for
Bosnia and Herzegovina is announced.
*
February 12
**
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images.
His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...
's painting ''
The Scream'' is stolen in
Oslo (it is recovered on May 7).
** The
1994 Winter Olympics
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...
begin in
Lillehammer
Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...
.
*
February 21 – Revealing of the first photo of
Pluto and its moon
Charon
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (; grc, Χάρων) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of Hades, the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the wo ...
taken from the
Hubble Space Telescope.
*
February 24
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
* 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.
* 13 ...
– In
Gloucester, local
police begin excavations at 25 Cromwell Street, the home of
Fred West, a suspect in multiple murders. On February 28, he and his wife are arrested.
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
* 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
...
– Israeli
Kahanist Baruch Goldstein
Baruch Kopel Goldstein ( he, ברוך קופל גולדשטיין; born Benjamin Carl Goldstein; December 9, 1956 – February 25, 1994) was an Israeli-American mass murderer, religious extremist, and physician who perpetrated the 1994 terrorist ...
opens fire inside the
Cave of the Patriarchs in the
West Bank; he kills 29 Muslims before worshippers beat him to death.
*
February 28
Events Pre-1600
*202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
*1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on ...
– Four United States
F-16
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...
s
shoot down
''Shoot Down'' is a 2006 documentary regarding the events surrounding the Brothers to the Rescue organization and the eventual shootdown of two of its aircraft.
Based on five reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an Ame ...
four
Serbian
J-21s over
Bosnia and Herzegovina for violation of the
Operation Deny Flight and its
no-fly zone.
March
* March – The People's Republic of China gets its first connection to the
Internet.
*
March 1 –
Walvis Bay is handed over to
Namibia by South Africa.
*
March 6 – A
referendum in
Moldova results in the electorate voting against possible reunification with
Romania.
*
March 8 –
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...
' second studio album, ''
The Downward Spiral'', is released to critical acclaim.
*
March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
* 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
** A photo by Marmaduke Wetherell, previously touted as "proof" of the
Loch Ness Monster, is confirmed to be a hoax.
** The
Church of England ordains its first female priests.
*
March 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.
* 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
**
Apple Computer, Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
releases the
Power Macintosh, the first Macintosh computers to use the new
PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
microprocessors.
** The
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is a free and open-source, monolithic, modular, multitasking, Unix-like operating system kernel. It was originally authored in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU ope ...
version 1.0.0 is released after over two years of development.
*
March 15 – U.S. troops are withdrawn from
Somalia.
*
March 20 – Italian journalist
Ilaria Alpi and TV cameraman Miran Hrovatin are assassinated in
Somalia.
*
March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
– The
66th Academy Awards, hosted by
Whoopi Goldberg, are held at the
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in
Los Angeles.
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
's
Holocaust drama ''
Schindler's List'' wins seven Oscars including
Best Picture and
Best Director (Spielberg).
*
March 23
**
Green Ramp disaster: two military aircraft collide over
Pope Air Force Base,
North Carolina causing 24 fatalities.
**
Mexican
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
presidential candidate
Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated at a campaign rally in
Tijuana.
*
March 27
** TV tycoon
Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing coalition wins the
Italian general election.
** The biggest
tornado outbreak in 1994 occurs in the
southeastern United States; one tornado kills 22 people at the Goshen United Methodist Church in
Piedmont, Alabama.
*
March 28 –
Shell House massacre
The Shell House massacre was a 1994 shooting incident that took place at Shell House, the headquarters of the African National Congress (ANC), in central Johannesburg, South Africa in the lead up to the 1994 elections.
Description
Shell Hou ...
:
Inkatha Freedom Party and
ANC supporters battle in central
Johannesburg, South Africa.
*
March 31
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine the Great, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian.
*1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at V ...
– The journal ''
Nature'' reports the finding in
Ethiopia of the first complete ''
Australopithecus afarensis'' skull.
April
*
April 2 – The
National Convention of New Sudan The National Convention of New Sudan was an assembly organized by the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) in Chukudum, Eastern Equatoria April 2-13, 1994.Yongo-Bure, Benaiah. Economic Development of Southern Sudan'. Lanham, Md. .a. ...
of the
SPLA/M
The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the army of the Republic of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a ...
opens in
Chukudum.
*
April 5
Events Pre-1600
* 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
* 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his a ...
–
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
, the lead singer of
Nirvana,
commits suicide at
age 27 at his home in Seattle. His body was found three days later.
*
April 6 –
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
n President
Juvénal Habyarimana and
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
President
Cyprien Ntaryamira die when a missile shoots down their jet near
Kigali
Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...
,
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
. This is taken as a pretext to begin the
Rwandan genocide.
*
April 7 – The
Rwandan genocide begins in
Kigali
Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...
,
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
.
*
April 16 – Voters in Finland decide to join the
European Union in a referendum.
*
April 20 – South Africa adopts
a new national flag, replacing the "
Oranje, Blanje, Blou" flag adopted in 1928 that was used during
apartheid.
*
April 21
Events Pre-1600
*753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date).
* 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
– The
Red Cross estimates that hundreds of thousands of
Tutsi have been killed in
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
.
*
April 25 –
ends his term as the 9th
Yang di-Pertuan Agong of
Malaysia.
*
April 26
**
Tuanku Jaafar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman
Tuanku Ja’afar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman ( Jawi: ; 19 July 1922 – 27 December 2008) was the tenth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia from 26 April 1994 until 25 April 1999 and the tenth Yang Di-Pertuan Besar (Ruler) of Negeri ...
,
Yang di-Pertuan Besar of
Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...
, becomes the 10th
Yang di-Pertuan Agong of
Malaysia.
**
China Airlines Flight 140, an
Airbus A300, crashes while landing at
Nagoya, Japan, killing 264 people.
*
April 27
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
– South Africa holds its
first fully multiracial elections, marking the final end of the last vestiges of
apartheid.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
wins the elections and is sworn in as the first democratically elected president the following month.
May
*
May 1 – Three-time
Formula One world champion
Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the
San Marino Grand Prix in
Imola, Italy.
*
May 5 – The
Bishkek Protocol between
Armenia and
Azerbaijan is signed in
Bishkek
Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...
,
Kyrgyzstan, effectively freezing the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
*
May 6 – The
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...
, which took 15,000 workers more than seven years to complete, opens between England and France, enabling passengers to travel between the two countries in 35 minutes.
*
May 10
Events Pre-1600
* 28 BC – A sunspot is observed by Han dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China.
*1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority of Edw ...
**
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
is inaugurated as South Africa's first black
president.
** The
Pinkenba Six
The Pinkenba Six is a group of Queensland police officers charged with the abduction of three Aboriginal boys in May 1994. The six were not jailed and the charges were dropped.
The crime
The three boys, aged 12, 13, and 14, were ordered into a ...
, including future political candidate Mark Ellis, kidnap 3 Indigenous children in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.
** Serial Killer
John Wayne Gacy is executed by
lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...
in the
Stateville Correctional Center.
** Serial Killer
Jeffery Dahmer
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (; May 21, 1960 – November 28, 1994), also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was an American serial killer and sex offender who killed and dismemberment, dismembered seventeen men and boys ...
is baptised in prison.
** A solar eclipse occurs in The United States
*
May 17 –
Malawi holds its first multiparty elections.
*
May 18 – The
Flavr Savr, a
genetically modified tomato
A genetically modified tomato, or transgenic tomato, is a tomato that has had its genes modified, using genetic engineering. The first trial genetically modified food was a tomato engineered to have a longer shelf life (the Flavr Savr), which ...
, is deemed safe for consumption by the FDA, becoming the first commercially grown
genetically engineered food to be granted a license for human consumption.
*
May 20 – After a funeral in Cluny Parish Church,
Edinburgh attended by 900 people and after which 3,000 people lined the streets,
John Smith
John Smith is a common personal name. It is also commonly used as a placeholder name and pseudonym, and is sometimes used in the United States and the United Kingdom as a term for an average person. It may refer to:
People
:''In chronological ...
is buried in a private family funeral on the island of
Iona
Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there ...
, at the sacred burial ground of Reilig Odhráin, which contains the graves of several Scottish kings as well as monarchs of Ireland, Norway and France.
*
May 22 –
Pope John Paul II issues the
Apostolic Letter ''
Ordinatio sacerdotalis'' from the
Vatican, expounding the
Catholic Church's position requiring "the reservation of priestly ordination to men alone".
*
May 26 -
Michael Jackson marries
Lisa Marie Presley in the
Dominican Republic.
June
*
June 1 – The
Republic of South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
rejoins the
Commonwealth of Nations after the first democratic election; South Africa had departed the then-British Commonwealth in
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 ...
.
*
June 6
Events Pre-1600
* 913 – Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed b ...
–
June 8 –
Ceasefire negotiations for the
Yugoslav War begin in
Geneva; they agree to a one-month cessation of hostilities (which does not last more than a few days).
*
June 12 –
Nicole Brown Simpson
Nicole Brown Simpson (née Brown; May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was the ex-wife of the former professional American football player, O. J. Simpson, to whom she was married from 1985 to 1992. She was the mother of their two children, Sydney an ...
and
Ronald Lyle Goldman
Ronald Lyle Goldman (July 2, 1968 – June 12, 1994) was an American restaurant waiter and a friend of Nicole Brown Simpson, the ex-wife of the American football player O.J. Simpson. He was murdered, along with Brown, at her home in Los Angele ...
are murdered outside the Simpson home in
Los Angeles.
O. J. Simpson
Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947), nicknamed "Juice", is an American former football running back, actor, and broadcaster who played for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Once a popular figure ...
is later acquitted of the killings, but is held liable in a
civil suit.
*
June 15
**
Israel and the
Vatican establish full
diplomatic relations.
** ''
The Lion King'', the highest-grossing
hand-drawn animated film of all time, is released by
Walt Disney Feature Animation.
*
June 17
** NFL star
O. J. Simpson
Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947), nicknamed "Juice", is an American former football running back, actor, and broadcaster who played for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Once a popular figure ...
and his friend
Al Cowlings flee from police in a white
Ford Bronco. The low-speed chase ends at Simpson's
Brentwood, Los Angeles mansion, where he surrenders.
** The
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...
starts in the
United States.
*
June 23
Events Pre-1600
* 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
* 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
* 1280 – The Spanish Re ...
–
NASA's
Space Station Processing Facility, a new state-of-the-art manufacturing building for the
International Space Station, officially opens at
Kennedy Space Center.
*
June 25 –
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
: the last Russian troops leave Germany.
*
June 26 –
Microsoft announces it will no longer sell or support the
MS-DOS operating system separately from
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
.
*
June 28
Events Pre-1600
* 1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul at the battle of Antioch.
* 1360 – Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid king of Granada after killing his brother-in-law Ismail II.
* 1461 – ...
– Members of the
Aum Shinrikyo cult execute the first
sarin gas attack at
Matsumoto, Japan, killing eight and injuring 200.
*
June 30 – An
Airbus A330 crashes during a test flight near
Toulouse, France, where
Airbus is based, killing the seven-person crew. The test was meant to simulate an engine failure at low speed with maximum
angle of climb.
*
June 30
** The
Liberal Democratic Party in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
regained power after spent 11 months of opposition, with the coalition with
Japanese Socialist Party.
**
Tropical Storm Alberto forms, hitting parts of
Florida causing $1.03 billion in damage and 32 deaths.
July
*
July 2 –
Colombian footballer Andrés Escobar, 27, is shot dead in
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
. His murder is commonly attributed as retaliation for the
own goal Escobar scored in the
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...
against the
United States soccer team.
*
July 4 –
Rwandan Patriotic Front troops capture
Kigali
Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...
, a major breakthrough in the
Rwandan Civil War.
*
July 5 –
Jeff Bezos founds
Amazon.
*
July 7 –
1994 civil war in Yemen
The Yemeni Civil War was a civil war fought between the two Yemeni forces of the pro-union northern and the socialist separatist southern Yemeni states and their supporters. The war resulted in the defeat of the southern armed forces, the reun ...
:
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
is occupied by troops from North
Yemen.
*
July 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch.
* 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese ...
–
North Korean President
Kim Il-sung dies, but officially continues to hold office.
*
July 12 – The
Allied occupation of Berlin ends with a casing of the colors ceremony attended by U.S. President
Bill Clinton.
*
July 16–
22 – Fragments of
Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 impact the planet
Jupiter.
*
July 17 – Brazil wins the
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...
, defeating Italy 3–2 in a penalty shootout in the
final (full-time 0–0).
*
July 18
**
AMIA bombing: In
Buenos Aires, a
terrorist attack destroys a building housing several Jewish organizations, killing 85 and injuring many more.
**
Rwandan Patriotic Front troops capture
Gisenyi, forcing the interim government into
Zaire and ending the
Rwandan genocide.
*
July 25 –
Israel and
Jordan sign the Washington Declaration as a preliminary to signature on October 25 of the
Israel–Jordan peace treaty, which formally ends the state of war that has existed between the nations since 1948.
August
*
August 5 – Groups of protesters spread from
Havana,
Cuba's Castillo de la Punta ("Point Castle"), creating the first protests against
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
's government since 1959.
*
August 11
Events Pre-1600
* 3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Maya, begins.
* 2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founde ...
– The formation of
Hurricane John which would go one to become the longest-lasting tropical cyclone recorded worldwide. It would dissipate on September 13th, lasting a little over 31 days.
*
August 12
**
Woodstock '94 begins in
Saugerties, New York. It is the 25-year anniversary of
Woodstock in 1969.
** All
Major League Baseball players go on
strike, beginning the longest work stoppage in the sport's history.
*
August 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1 BC – Wang Mang consolidates his power in China and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no heirs.
* 942 – Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the Hamdan ...
– The release of the
IBM Simon smartphone, being the first ever commercially available smartphone.
*
August 18 -
1994 Mascara earthquake
The 1994 Mascara earthquake occurred on August 18 at 02:13 local time with an epicenter in a rural part of Algeria. The earthquake measured 5.8 on the moment magnitude scale () and had a depth of . It caused the deaths of 171 people, left up to ...
. A 5.8 earthquake lefts 171 dead in
Algeria.
*
August 31
** The
Provisional Irish Republican Army announces a "complete cessation of
military operations".
** The
Russian Army
The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces.
The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...
leaves
Estonia and
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, ending the last traces of Eastern Europe's
Soviet occupation.
September
*
September 3 –
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
: Russia and the People's Republic of China agree to de-target their
nuclear weapons against each other.
*
September 5 –
New South Wales State MP for Cabramatta
John Newman is shot outside his home, in Australia's first political assassination since 1977.
*
September 8 –
USAir Flight 427, a
Boeing 737 with 132 people on board, crashes on approach to
Pittsburgh International Airport killing all on board.
*
September 13 – President
Bill Clinton signs the
Federal Assault Weapons Ban
The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), was a subsection of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a United States federal law which include ...
, which bans the manufacture of new firearms with certain features for a period of 10 years.
*
September 14 –
The 1994 World Series is officially cancelled due to the ongoing
work stoppage. It is the first time a World Series will not be played since
1904
Events
January
* January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''.
* January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
* ...
.
*
September 16
**
Danish tour guide Louise Jensen is abducted, raped and murdered by three British soldiers in Cyprus.
** Britain lifts the
broadcasting ban imposed on
Sinn Féin and paramilitary groups from Northern Ireland.
*
September 17
Events Pre-1600
* 1111 – Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as "King of Galicia".
* 1176 – The Battle of Myriokephalon is the last attempt by the Byzantine Empi ...
–
Heather Whitestone
Heather Leigh Whitestone McCallum (born February 24, 1973) is a former beauty queen and conservative activist who was the first deaf Miss America title holder, having lost most of her hearing at 18 months.
Early life
Whitestone was born in Doth ...
is crowned the first deaf Miss America; she is crowned Miss America 1995.
*
September 19
**U.S. troops stage a bloodless invasion of
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
to restore the legitimately elected leader,
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in ...
, to power.
**
Andrew Wiles proves
Fermat's Last Theorem, solving the 357-year-old mathematical theorem first proposed by
Pierre de Fermat in 1637. He would publish it in 1995.
*
September 28
Events Pre-1600
*48 BC – Pompey disembarks at Pelusium upon arriving in Egypt, whereupon he is assassinated by order of King Ptolemy XIII.
* 235 – Pope Pontian resigns. He is exiled to the mines of Sardinia, along with Hippolytus ...
** The
car ferry MS ''Estonia'' sinks in the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
, killing 852 people.
**
José Francisco Ruiz Massieu, Mexican politician, is assassinated on orders of
Raúl Salinas de Gortari.
* September –
Mohammed Omar Muhammad Omar ( ar, محمد عمر, link=no), and other spellings such as Mohamed Omer, may refer to the following people:
Sportspeople
* Muhammad Umar (wrestler) (born 1975), Pakistani wrestler
* Mohammad Omar (footballer, born 1976), Emirati ...
would found the
Taliban movement in his home town of
Kandahar, Afghanistan.
*September–October –
Iraq disarmament crisis:
Iraq threatens to stop cooperating with
UNSCOM inspectors and begins to once again deploy troops near its border with
Kuwait. In response, the U.S. begins to deploy troops to
Kuwait.
October
*
October 1
** In
Slovakia, populist leader
Vladimír Mečiar wins the
general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
.
**
Palau gains independence from the
United Nations Trusteeship Council.
**The
World Wide Web Consortium is founded by
Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He is a Professorial Fellow of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a profess ...
, becoming the main international
standards organization for the
World Wide Web.
*
October 4 – In
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, 23 members of the
Order of the Solar Temple cult are found dead, a day after 25 of their fellow cultists are similarly discovered in
Morin-Heights, Quebec.
*
October 7 - Ingvar Carlsson returns as Prime Minister of Sweden .
*
October 8 –
Iraq disarmament crisis: The President of the
United Nations Security Council says that
Iraq must withdraw its troops from the Kuwait border, and immediately cooperate with weapons inspectors.
*
October 12 –
NASA loses radio contact with the
''Magellan'' spacecraft as the probe descends into the thick atmosphere of
Venus (the spacecraft presumably burned up in the atmosphere either October 13 or October 14).
*
October 15
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – Following the death of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, Edgar the Ætheling is proclaimed King of England by the Witan; he is never crowned, and concedes power to William the Conqueror two months later.
* 1211 ...
** After three years of U.S. exile,
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
's president
Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in ...
returns to his country.
**
Iraq disarmament crisis: following threats by the U.N. Security Council and the U.S., Iraq withdraws troops from its border with Kuwait.
November
*
November 5
** A letter by former U.S. President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
, announcing that he has
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
, is released.
**
George Foreman
George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champio ...
wins the
WBA and
IBF World Heavyweight Championships by
KO'ing
Michael Moorer becoming the oldest
heavyweight champion in history.
** Influential
Afrikaner
Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...
theologian and critic of
apartheid Johan Heyns
Johan Adam Heyns (1928–1994) was an Afrikaner Calvinist theologian and moderator of the general synod of the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) in South Africa. He was assassinated at his home in Waterkloof Ridge, Pretoria.
Early life and ...
is assassinated; the killers are never apprehended or identified.
*
November 6
** A flood in
Piedmont, Italy, kills dozens of people.
**
Bražuolė bridge bombing in
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
damages a railway bridge but trains are stopped in time to avoid casualties.
*
November 7 –
WXYC, the student radio station of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, provides the world's first
internet radio broadcast.
*
November 8
**
Georgia Representative
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...
leads the
United States Republican Party in taking control of both the
House of Representatives and the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
in midterm congressional elections, the first time in 40 years the Republicans secure control of both houses of
Congress.
George W. Bush is elected
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...
.
**
Hurricane Gordon
Hurricane Gordon was a long-lived and catastrophic late-season hurricane of the 1994 Atlantic hurricane season. The twelfth and final tropical cyclone of the season, Gordon formed as a tropical depression in the southwestern Caribbean on Novem ...
hits
Central America,
Jamaica,
Cuba, the
Bahamas,
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
and the
Southeastern United States, causing $594 million in damages and 1,152 fatalities.
*
November 11 –
Duy Tan University, Vietnam's University, was established.
*
November 13
** Voters in Sweden decide to join the
European Union in a
referendum.
** The first passengers travel through the
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...
.
**
Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...
wins his 7th and final
NASCAR championship.
*
November 16 – A
federal judge Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/local level.
United States
A US federal judge is appointed by the US President and confirmed by the US Senate in accordance with Article 3 of ...
issues a temporary
restraining order
A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault.
Restraining and personal protection or ...
, prohibiting the State of
California from implementing
Proposition 187, that would have denied most
public services to
illegal aliens.
*
November 20 – The
Angolan government and
UNITA rebels sign the
Lusaka Protocol.
*
November 28 – Voters in Norway decide not to join the
European Union in a
referendum.
*
November 30 – The Italian cruise ship ''
Achille Lauro
Achille Lauro (; 16 June 1887 – 15 November 1982) was an Italian businessman and politician. He is widely considered one of the main precursors of modern populism in Italian politics. He was nicknamed by his supporters ''Il Comandante'' ("The ...
'' catches fire in the
Indian Ocean off the coast of
Somalia with nearly a thousand passengers and crew aboard. After unsuccessful attempts by the crew to extinguish the fire, the vessel is evacuated and sinks two days later. During the evacuation, two die and eight are wounded.
December
*
December 1 –
Ernesto Zedillo takes office as
President of Mexico.
*
December 2 – The Australian government agrees to pay reparations to
indigenous Australians who were displaced during the
nuclear tests at
Maralinga in the 1950s and 1960s.
*
December 3
**Sony releases the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
video game system in Japan; it will sell over 100 million units worldwide by the time it is discontinued in 2006.
**Taiwan holds its first full local elections:
James Soong is elected as the first and only directly-elected
Governor of Taiwan;
Chen Shui-bian becomes the first direct elected
Mayor of Taipei;
Wu Den-yih becomes the first directly-elected
Mayor of Kaohsiung
The Mayor of Kaohsiung is the head of the Kaohsiung City Government, Taiwan and is elected to a four-year term. The current mayor is Chen Chi-mai who took office since 24 August 2020.
Titles
List of mayors
Prefectural city era (appointe ...
.
*
December 11 – Russian president
Boris Yeltsin orders troops into
Chechnya
Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...
.
*
December 13
** The trial of former President
Mengistu
Mengistu Haile Mariam ( am, መንግሥቱ ኀይለ ማሪያም, pronunciation: ; born 21 May 1937) is an Ethiopian politician and former army officer who was the head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991 and General Secretary of the Wor ...
begins in
Ethiopia.
**
Fred West, 53, a builder living in
Gloucester, UK, is remanded in custody, charged with murdering 12 people (including two of his own daughters) whose bodies are mostly found buried at his house in Cromwell Street. His wife
Rosemary West, 41, is charged with 10 murders.
*
December 14 – Construction commences on the
Three Gorges Dam, at
Sandouping, China.
*
December 15 – The initial release of
Netscape Navigator, a
web browser that will control the majority of the
usage share
Usage share may refer to:
*Usage share of BitTorrent clients
*Usage share of instant messaging clients
*Usage share of operating systems
*Usage share of web browsers
*Usage share of web search engines
See also
*Market share
Market share is t ...
for web browsers for the rest of the 1990s.
*
December 19
** A planned
exchange rate
In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...
correction of the
Mexican peso
The Mexican peso (Currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, code: MXN) is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 16th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use dollar sign, its sign, "$".
...
to the US dollar, becomes a massive financial meltdown in Mexico, unleashing the 'Tequila' effect on global
financial markets. This prompts a US$50 billion "bailout" by the
Clinton administration
Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...
.
**
Civil unions between same-sex couples are legalized in Sweden.
*
December 31 – This date is skipped by the
Phoenix Islands to switch from the
UTC−11 time zone to
UTC+13, and by the
Line Islands
The Line Islands, Teraina Islands or Equatorial Islands (in Gilbertese, ''Aono Raina'') are a chain of 11 atolls (with partly or fully enclosed lagoons) and coral islands (with a surrounding reef) in the central Pacific Ocean, south of the Hawa ...
to switch from
UTC−10 to
UTC+14. The latter becomes the earliest time zone in the world, one full day ahead of Hawaii.
Date unknown
*
Fundación Arco Iris
Fundación Arco Iris (Rainbow Foundation) (NGO) is a Catholic NGO (founded by German priest Jose Maria Neuenhofer in 1994) based in La Paz
La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of gov ...
– a Catholic
NGO is founded in
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
.
*
Pyroclastic flows – clouds of scalding gas, pumice, and ash – rapidly descend an erupting
Mount Merapi volcano in central
Java, causing sixty deaths.
*
Online service America Online
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...
offers gateway to
World Wide Web for the first time. This marked the beginning of easy accessibility of the Web to the average person in the U.S.
* The population of
Nigeria exceeds 100 million, making it the first African state to have a population above 100 million.
Births
January—February
*
January 3
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69, 69 – The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.
* 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (ex ...
–
Isaquias Queiroz
Isaquias Queiroz dos Santos (born 3 January 1994) is a Brazilian sprint canoeist who has competed since 2005. He is the only Brazilian athlete to ever win three medals in a single edition of the Olympic Games, and the third most decorated Brazil ...
, Brazilian sprint canoeist
*
January 4
Events Pre-1600
*46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.
* 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army.
1601–1900
*1649 – Engli ...
–
Viktor Axelsen, Danish badminton player
*
January 5 –
Zemgus Girgensons, Latvian ice hockey player
*
January 6
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eve ...
–
Catriona Gray, Filipino-Australian model, singer and pageant titleholder won
Miss Universe 2018
*
January 10
Events Pre-1600
*49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war.
* 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the be ...
–
Faith Kipyegon, Kenyan middle-distance runner
*
January 12 –
Emre Can, German footballer
*
January 14
Events Pre-1600
*1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence.
*1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary.
1601–1900
*1639 – The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, Fundamenta ...
**
Muktar Edris, Ethiopian long-distance runner
**
Kai, South Korean singer
*
January 17 –
Lucy Boynton, American-British actress
*
January 18
**
Minzy, South Korean singer, rapper and dancer
**
Jiyoung, South Korean singer and actress
*
January 19 –
Matthias Ginter, German footballer
*
January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
–
Hampus Lindholm, Swedish ice hockey player
*
January 21 –
Booboo Stewart, American actor
*
January 28 –
Maluma, Colombian singer
*
January 29 –
Sudan Archives
Brittney Denise Parks (born January 29, 1994), better known by her stage name Sudan Archives, is an American violinist, singer, and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. Parks learned to play the violin by ear as a young child in Cincinna ...
, American singer and violinist
*
February 1
Events Pre-1600
* 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
* 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Mon ...
**
Julia Garner, American actress
**
Harry Styles
Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...
, English singer
*
February 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop.
1601–1900
* 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of ...
–
Charlie Heaton, English actor
*
February 8 –
Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Turkish footballer
*
February 10 -
Seulgi, South Korean singer
*
February 12 –
Arman Hall, American sprinter
*
February 13
Events Pre-1600
* 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome.
*1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th.
*1462 – The ...
–
Memphis Depay, Dutch footballer
*
February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
–
Becky Hill, British singer
*
February 16
**
Federico Bernardeschi
Federico Bernardeschi (; born 16 February 1994) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC and the Italy national team. His nickname is "Brunelleschi", after th ...
, Italian footballer
**
Ava Max, American singer
*
February 18 –
J-Hope, South Korean rapper and songwriter
*
February 21 –
Wendy, South Korean singer
*
February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
–
Dakota Fanning, American actress and fashion model
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
* 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
...
–
Eugenie Bouchard, Canadian tennis player
*
February 26
Events Pre-1600
*747 BC – According to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date. Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic events.
* 364 – Valentinian I is p ...
-
Jacob Trouba, American Ice Hockey Player
*
February 27
Events Pre-1600
* 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
* 425 – The University of Constantinople ...
–
Hou Yifan, Chinese chess player
*
February 28
Events Pre-1600
*202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
*1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on ...
–
Arkadiusz Milik, Polish footballer
March–April
*
March 1
**
Justin Bieber, Canadian singer
**
Tyreek Hill, American football player
*
March 2 –
Nikkie de Jager, Dutch makeup artist and beauty vlogger
*
March 5
Events Pre-1600
* 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
* 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern ...
–
Daria Gavrilova, Russian-Australian tennis player
*
March 7
Events Pre-1600
* 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius.
* 1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Cob ...
**
Chase Kalisz
]
Chase Tyler Kalisz ( ; born March 7, 1994) is an American Swimming (sport), swimmer who specializes in individual medley events. He is an Olympic gold medalist in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, an Olym ...
, American swimmer
**
Jordan Pickford, English footballer
*
March 10 –
Bad Bunny, Puerto Rican singer
*
March 11 −
Andrew Robertson, Scottish footballer
*
March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
* 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
**
Katie Archibald, Scottish track cyclist
**
Christina Grimmie
Christina Victoria Grimmie (March 12, 1994 – June 10, 2016) was an American singer and YouTuber. In 2009, she began posting covers of popular songs onto YouTube. After releasing her debut EP, '' Find Me'' (2011), her YouTube channel reached ...
, American singer (d.
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
)
*
March 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.
* 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
–
Ansel Elgort
Ansel Elgort (born March 14, 1994) is an American actor and singer. He began his acting career with a supporting role in the horror film ''Carrie'' (2013) and gained wider recognition for starring as a teenage cancer patient in the romantic dr ...
, American actor, singer, and DJ
*
March 16 –
Joel Embiid, Cameroonian basketball player
*
March 26 –
Mayu Watanabe, Japanese singer
*
March 29 –
Sulli
Choi Jin-ri (March 29, 1994 – October 13 or 14, 2019), better known by her stage name Sulli (), was a South Korean actress and singer. She first made her debut as a child actress, appearing as a supporting cast member on the SBS historical d ...
, South Korean singer, songwriter, actress and model (d.
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
*
March 30 –
Jetro Willems, Dutch footballer
*
April 6 –
Jasmine Curtis-Smith
Jasmine Cassandra Curtis-Smith (; born April 6, 1994) is a Filipino-Australian actress, host, dancer, endorser, writer, and model. She is known internationally for her critically acclaimed performance in Hannah Espia's 2013 film ''Transit (2013 ...
, Filipina-Australian actress
*
April 11
**
Duncan Laurence, Dutch singer
**
Dakota Blue Richards, English actress
*
April 12
**
Eric Bailly
Eric Bertrand Bailly (; born 12 April 1994) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Marseille, on loan from club Manchester United, and the Ivory Coast national team. Although he mainly plays as a centre-back, he ca ...
, Ivorian footballer
**
Oh Se-hun, South Korean singer
**
Saoirse Ronan, United States-born Irish actress
*
April 14 –
Skyler Samuels, American actress
*
April 15 –
Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian track and field sprinter
*
April 18 –
Moisés Arias, actor
*
April 24 –
Jordan Fisher, American actor
*
April 25 –
Omar McLeod, Jamaican hurdler
May – June
*
May 6 –
Mateo Kovačić, Croatian footballer
*
May 8
Events Pre-1600
* 453 BC – Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.
* 413 – Emperor Honorius signs a ...
–
Zach Tinker
Zachary Atticus Tinker (born May 8, 1994) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Fenmore Baldwin in the CBS Daytime soap opera ''The Young and the Restless''. In 2019, Tinker was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for his portray ...
, American actor
*
May 14 –
Marquinhos, Brazilian footballer
*
May 17 –
Julie Anne San Jose, Filipina singer-songwriter
*
May 20 –
Piotr Zieliński
Piotr Sebastian Zieliński (; born 20 May 1994) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Napoli and the Poland national team. During his senior career he has also played for Udinese
Udinese Calcio, commonly ...
, Polish footballer
*
May 21 –
Tom Daley, British diver
*
May 24
Events Pre-1600
* 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
* 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
* 1276 – Magnus La ...
**
Dimash Kudaibergen
Dinmuhammed Kanatuly Kudaibergen ( kk, Дінмұхаммед Қанатұлы Құдайберген, ''Dınmūhammed Qanatūly Qūdaibergen''), born 24 May 1994, known professionally as Dimash Qudaibergen, is a Kazakh singer, songwriter, and ...
, Kazakh singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist
**
Emma McKeon, Australian swimmer
**
Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
*
May 25 –
Aly Raisman, American gymnast and model
*
May 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed.
* 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
* 1153 &ndash ...
–
João Cancelo, Portuguese footballer
*
May 28
**
Son Yeon-jae, South Korean rhythmic gymnast
**
John Stones, English footballer
*
June 8 –
Song Yoo-jung, South Korean actress and model (d.
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
*
June 9 –
Lee Hye-ri, South Korean singer and actress
*
June 11
**
Ivana Baquero, Spanish actress
**
Jessica Fox, Australian canoeist
*
June 14 –
Moon Taeil
Moon Tae-il (, born June 14, 1994), known mononymously as Taeil, is a South Korean singer. He is the main vocalist of the South Korean boy group NCT (group), NCT and its sub-units NCT U and NCT 127 under the label SM Entertainment. Taeil made h ...
, South Korean singer
*
June 15 –
Vincent Janssen, Dutch footballer
*
June 23
Events Pre-1600
* 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
* 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
* 1280 – The Spanish Re ...
–
HoYeon Jung, South Korean actress
*
June 28
Events Pre-1600
* 1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul at the battle of Antioch.
* 1360 – Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid king of Granada after killing his brother-in-law Ismail II.
* 1461 – ...
–
Hussein, Crown Prince of Jordan, heir apparent of Jordan
*
June 29
**
Camila Mendes, American actress
**
Leandro Paredes, Argentinian footballer
*
June 30 – Joshua Rojas, American baseball player
July–August
*
July 2 – Baba Rahman, Ghanaian footballer
*
July 4 – Era Istrefi, Kosovar Albanian singer and songwriter
*
July 7 - Ashton Irwin, Australian musician
* July 9 – Akiane Kramarik, American poet
*
July 12 – Molly Seidel, American marathon runner
*
July 17
** Victor Lindelöf, Swedish footballer
** Benjamin Mendy, French footballer
*
July 18 – Taylor Russell, Canadian actress
* July 24 – Boyan Slat, Dutch CEO of The Ocean Cleanup
* July 27 – Winnie Harlow, Canadian model
* August 7
** Damon Severson, American Ice Hockey Player
* August 8
** Lauv, American singer-songwriter
** Mirabai Chanu, Indian weightlifter
* August 10 – Bernardo Silva, Portuguese footballer
*
August 11
Events Pre-1600
* 3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Maya, begins.
* 2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founde ...
– Song I-han, South Korean singer
* August 13 – Filip Forsberg, Swedish ice hockey player
* August 15
** Kosuke Hagino, Japanese swimmer
** Theodor Blueger, American Ice Hockey Player
* August 17 – Taissa Farmiga, American actress
*
August 18 – Madelaine Petsch, American actress
* August 19 – Nafissatou Thiam, Belgian athlete
* August 21 - Jacqueline Emerson, American actress
* August 28 – Ons Jabeur, Tunisian tennis player
* August 30 – Kwon So-hyun, South Korean actress and singer
September–October
* September 1 – Bianca Ryan, American singer-songwriter
*
September 5 – Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italian swimmer
*
September 8 – Bruno Fernandes, Portuguese footballer
* September 10 – Mehdi Torabi, Iranian footballer
* September 12
** Mhairi Black, Scottish politician
** RM (rapper), RM, South Korean rapper and songwriter
** Elina Svitolina, Ukrainian tennis player
* September 15 – Wout van Aert, Belgian road cyclist
* September 23 – Yerry Mina, Colombian footballer
* September 26 – Marcell Jacobs, Italian sprinter
* September 29 – Halsey (singer), Halsey, American singer
* September 30
** Raphaël Coleman, English actor (d. 2020)
** Aliya Mustafina, Russian artistic gymnast
*
October 1 – Trézéguet (Egyptian footballer), Trézéguet, Egyptian footballer
*
October 8 – Luca Hänni, Swiss singer-songwriter
* October 9 – Jodelle Ferland, Canadian actress
* October 10
** Jung Il-hoon, Ilhoon, South Korean rapper, songwriter, and actor
** Bae Suzy, Suzy, South Korean singer and actress
*
October 12
** Sean Monahan, Canadian ice hockey player
** Olivia Smoliga, American swimmer
* October 24 – Krystal Jung, American-South Korean singer
* October 25 – Manzoor Pashteen, Pakistani human rights activist
November–December
* November 10
** Takuma Asano, Japanese footballer
** Zoey Deutch, American actress
** Andre De Grasse, Canadian sprinter
* November 22 – Dacre Montgomery, Australian actor
* November 24 – Nabil Bentaleb, Algerian footballer
* November 29 – Julius Randle, American basketball player
*
December 3
** Jake T. Austin, American actor
** Lil Baby, American rapper
* December 6 – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greek basketball player
* December 7 – Yuzuru Hanyu, Japanese figure skater
* December 8
** Conseslus Kipruto, Kenyan middle-distance runner
** Raheem Sterling, Jamaican-born English footballer
* December 17 – Nat Wolff, American actor
*
December 19 – M'Baye Niang, French-Senegalese footballer
* December 21 – Daniel Amartey, Ghanaian footballer
* December 26 – Javianne Oliver, American female track and field sprinter
* December 28 – Adam Peaty, English swimmer
* December 30 - Trey Edmunds, American football player
*
December 31 – Max Bowden, English actor
Deaths
January
*
January 1
** Arthur Espie Porritt, New Zealand politician and athlete (b. 1900)
** Cesar Romero, Cuban-American actor (b. 1907)
*
January 3
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69, 69 – The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.
* 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (ex ...
– Frank Belknap Long, American writer (b. 1901)
*
January 4
Events Pre-1600
*46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.
* 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army.
1601–1900
*1649 – Engli ...
– R. D. Burman, Indian music composer (b. 1939)
*
January 5 – Tip O'Neill, American politician (b. 1912)
* January 7 – Phoumi Vongvichit, President of Laos (b. 1909)
*
January 8
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – Emperor Huai of Jin, Jin Huaidi becomes emperor of China in succession to his father, Emperor Hui of Jin, Jin Huidi, despite a challenge from his uncle, Sima Ying.
* 871 – Æthelred I, King of Wessex, Æthel ...
– Pat Buttram, American actor (b. 1915)
* January 13 – Johan Jørgen Holst, Norwegian politician and diplomat (b. 1937)
*
January 14
Events Pre-1600
*1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence.
*1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary.
1601–1900
*1639 – The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, Fundamenta ...
** Esther Ralston, American actress (b. 1902)
** Federica Montseny, Spanish politician (b. 1905)
* January 15 – Harry Nilsson, American musician (b. 1941)
** György Cziffra, Hungarian pianist and composer (b. 1921)
*
January 17
** Helen Stephens, American runner (b. 1918)
** Chung Il-kwon, South Korean politician (b. 1917)
*
January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
** Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1909)
** Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenyan politician (b. 1911)
* January 22
** Jean-Louis Barrault, French actor and director (b. 1910)
** Frances Gifford, American actress (b. 1920)
** Telly Savalas, American actor (b. 1922)
* January 23 – Nikolai Ogarkov, Soviet marshal (b. 1917)
* January 25 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician (b. 1909)
* January 27 – Claude Akins, American actor (b. 1926)
*
January 28 – Hal Smith (actor), Hal Smith, American actor (b. 1916)
*
January 29
** Ulrike Maier, Austrian alpine skier (b. 1967)
** Nick Cravat, American actor and acrobat (b. 1912)
* January 30
** Pierre Boulle, French author (b. 1912)
** Bahjat Talhouni, Jordanian politician (b. 1913)
February
*
February 1
Events Pre-1600
* 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
* 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Mon ...
– Olan Soule, American actor (b. 1909)
* February 2 – Marija Gimbutas, Lithuanian-American archeologist (b. 1921)
*
February 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop.
1601–1900
* 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of ...
** Joseph Cotten, American actor (b. 1905)
** Jack Kirby, American comic book writer and illustrator (b. 1917)
** Luis Alberto Sánchez, Peruvian politician, former Vice President and Prime Minister (b. 1900)
* February 7 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer (b. 1913)
*
February 9 – Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist (b. 1934)
* February 11
** Sorrell Booke, American actor (b. 1930)
** William Conrad, American actor (b. 1920)
** Paul Feyerabend, Austrian philosopher (b. 1924)
** Antonio Martín, Spanish cyclist (b. 1970)
*
February 12 – Donald Judd, American artist (b. 1928)
*
February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
** Christopher Lasch, American historian, moralist, and social critic (b. 1932)
** Andrei Chikatilo, Russian serial killer (b. 1936)
* February 19 – Derek Jarman, English film director (b. 1942)
*
February 24
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
* 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.
* 13 ...
– Dinah Shore, American actress and singer (b. 1917)
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
* 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
...
**
Baruch Goldstein
Baruch Kopel Goldstein ( he, ברוך קופל גולדשטיין; born Benjamin Carl Goldstein; December 9, 1956 – February 25, 1994) was an Israeli-American mass murderer, religious extremist, and physician who perpetrated the 1994 terrorist ...
, American-Israeli physician, religious extremist, and mass murderer (b. 1956)
** Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer (b. 1914)
*
February 26
Events Pre-1600
*747 BC – According to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date. Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic events.
* 364 – Valentinian I is p ...
– Bill Hicks, American comedian (b.
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 ...
)
March
*
March 2 – Anita Morris, American actress and singer (b. 1943)
* March 4 – John Candy, Canadian actor and comedian (b. 1950)
*
March 5
Events Pre-1600
* 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
* 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern ...
– Abdullah al-Sallal, 1st President of the Yemen Arab Republic (b. 1917)
*
March 6 – Melina Mercouri, Greek actress and politician (b. 1920)
* March 9
** Charles Bukowski, American writer (b. 1920)
** Fernando Rey, Spanish actor (b. 1917)
*
March 10 – D. J. M. Mackenzie, New Zealand-born British medical officer (b. 1905)
* March 13 – Danny Barker, American musician (b. 1909)
* March 17
** Ellsworth Vines, American tennis player (b. 1911)
** Mai Zetterling, Swedish actress and director (b. 1925)
*
March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
** Macdonald Carey, American actor (b. 1913)
** Lili Damita, French-American actress and singer (b. 1904)
** Dack Rambo, American actor (b. 1941)
* March 22
** Dan Hartman, American musician (b. 1950)
** Walter Lantz, American cartoonist (b. 1899)
*
March 23
**
Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (b. 1950)
** Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (b. 1921)
** Álvaro del Portillo, Spanish Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1914)
* March 25 – Max Petitpierre, Swiss politician (b. 1899)
*
March 26 – Whina Cooper, New Zealand schoolteacher, historian, and activist (b. 1895)
*
March 28
** Eugène Ionesco, Romanian-born playwright (b. 1909)
** Ira Murchison, American athlete (b. 1933)
*
March 29 – Bill Travers, English actor (b. 1922)
April
* April 1
** Léon Degrelle, Belgian politician and Nazi collaborator (b. 1906)
** Robert Doisneau, French photographer (b. 1912)
* April 3 – Jérôme Lejeune, French pediatrician and geneticist (b. 1926)
*
April 5
Events Pre-1600
* 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
* 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his a ...
–
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
, American singer and songwriter (b. 1967)
*
April 6
** Sheck Exley, American cave diver (b. 1949)
**
Juvénal Habyarimana, 3rd President of Rwanda (b. 1937)
**
Cyprien Ntaryamira, 5th President of Burundi (b. 1955)
*
April 7
** Agathe Uwilingiyimana, 4th Prime Minister of Rwanda (b. 1953)
** Albert Guðmundsson (footballer, born 1923), Albert Guðmundsson, Icelandic footballer and politician (b. 1923)
** Golo Mann, German historian (b. 1909)
* April 9 – Marcel Ichac, French alpinist, explorer, photographer and film director (b. 1906)
* April 13 – Nikolai Kryuchkov, Russian actor (b. 1911)
*
April 15 – John Curry, British figure skater (b. 1949)
*
April 16 – Ralph Ellison, American writer (b. 1914)
* April 17 – Roger Wolcott Sperry, American neurobiologist (b. 1913)
*
April 18 – Ken Oosterbroek, South African photojournalist (b. 1962)
* April 22 – Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (b. 1913)
*
April 24 – Masutatsu Ōyama, Korean-Japanese Karate master (b. 1923)
*
April 27
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
– Lynne Frederick, English actress (b. 1954)
* April 29
** Russell Kirk, American political philosopher (b. 1918)
** Marcel Bernard, French tennis champion (b. 1914)
* April 30
** Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian Formula One driver (b. 1960)
** Richard Scarry, American author (b. 1919)
** Sorie Ibrahim Koroma, Prime Minister of Sierra Leone (b. 1930)
May
*
May 1 –
Ayrton Senna, Brazilian Formula One driver (b. 1960)
* May 7 – Clement Greenberg, American art critic (b. 1909)
*
May 8
Events Pre-1600
* 453 BC – Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.
* 413 – Emperor Honorius signs a ...
– George Peppard, American actor (b. 1928)
*
May 10
Events Pre-1600
* 28 BC – A sunspot is observed by Han dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China.
*1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority of Edw ...
–
John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (b. 1942)
* May 12
** Erik Erikson, Danish-American developmental psychologist (b. 1902)
** Roy J. Plunkett, American chemist (b. 1910)
* May 13 – Duncan Hamilton (racing driver), Duncan Hamilton, English racing driver (b. 1920)
* May 15
** Royal Dano, American actor (b. 1922)
** Gilbert Roland, American actor (b. 1905)
* May 16 – Alain Cuny, French actor (b. 1908)
* May 19
** Luis Ocaña, Spanish bicycle racer (b. 1945)
** Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American socialite, conservationist, and First Lady of the United States (b. 1929)
*
May 21
** Giovanni Goria, Italian Prime Minister (b. 1943)
** Masayoshi Ito, Japanese politician (b. 1913)
** Ralph Miliband, Polish-born British academic (b. 1924)
*
May 28 – Julius Boros, American golfer (b. 1920)
* May 29 – Erich Honecker, East German politician (b. 1912)
* May 30
** Ezra Taft Benson, American religious leader (b. 1899)
** Marcel Bich, French businessman (b. 1914)
** Juan Carlos Onetti, Uruguayan novelist (b. 1909)
June
* June 4
** Roberto Burle Marx, Brazilian landscape architect (b. 1909)
** Stephen McNally, American actor (b. 1911)
** Massimo Troisi, Italian actor, screenwriter, and film director (b. 1953)
*
June 6
Events Pre-1600
* 913 – Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed b ...
** Mark McManus, Scottish actor (b. 1935)
** Barry Sullivan (American actor), Barry Sullivan, American actor (b. 1912)
* June 7 – Dennis Potter, English dramatist (b. 1935)
*
June 9 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist (b. 1903)
* June 10
** Mary Maxwell Gates, American businesswoman (b. 1929)
** Edward Kienholz, American artist and sculptor (b. 1927)
*
June 12
** Ron Goldman, American model, waiter, and murder victim (b. 1968)
** Menachem Mendel Schneerson, American Hasidic rabbinical leader (b. 1902)
**
Nicole Brown Simpson
Nicole Brown Simpson (née Brown; May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was the ex-wife of the former professional American football player, O. J. Simpson, to whom she was married from 1985 to 1992. She was the mother of their two children, Sydney an ...
, German-American actress, waitress (b. 1959)
* June 13 – K. T. Stevens, American actress (b. 1919)
*
June 14 – Henry Mancini, American composer and arranger (b. 1924)
*
June 15 – Manos Hatzidakis, Greek composer (b. 1925)
* June 16 – Kristen Pfaff, American bassist (b. 1967)
* June 20 – Jay Miner, American computer pioneer (b. 1932)
* June 21 – William Wilson Morgan, American astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1906)
*
June 26 – A. den Doolaard, Dutch writer and journalist (b. 1901)
July
*
July 2
** Roberto Balado, Cuban boxer (b. 1969)
** Maung Maung, President of Myanmar (b. 1925)
* July 3 – Lew Hoad, Australian tennis player (b. 1934)
*
July 7
** Anita Garvin, American actress (b. 1907)
** Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, German Luftwaffe officer (b. 1907)
** Cameron Mitchell (actor), Cameron Mitchell, American actor (b. 1918)
*
July 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch.
* 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese ...
** Christian-Jaque, French film director (b. 1904)
**
Kim Il-sung, President of North Korea (b. 1912)
** Dick Sargent, American actor (b. 1930)
* July 11 – Gary Kildall, American computer inventor (b. 1942)
*
July 16 – Julian Schwinger, American physicist (b. 1918)
*
July 17 – Jean Borotra, French tennis player (b. 1898)
* July 20 – Paul Delvaux, Belgian painter (b. 1897)
* July 21 – Pere Calders, Spanish writer and cartoonist (b. 1912)
* July 27 – Kevin Carter, South African photojournalist (b. 1960)
* July 29 – Dorothy Hodgkin, British chemist (b. 1910)
August
* August 3 – Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Russian actor (b. 1925)
* August 4 – Giovanni Spadolini, Italian Prime Minister (b. 1925)
* August 6 – Domenico Modugno, Italian singer-songwriter and actor turned politician (b. 1928)
*
August 11
Events Pre-1600
* 3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Maya, begins.
* 2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founde ...
– Peter Cushing, English actor (b. 1913)
* August 13 – Manfred Wörner, German politician and diplomat (b. 1934)
* August 14 – Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-born writer (b. 1905)
*
August 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1 BC – Wang Mang consolidates his power in China and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no heirs.
* 942 – Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the Hamdan ...
– John Doucette, American actor (b. 1921)
* August 17 – Jack Sharkey, American boxer (b. 1902)
*
August 18 – Richard Laurence Millington Synge, English chemist (b. 1914)
* August 19
** Linus Pauling, American chemist (b. 1901)
** Robert Rozhdestvensky, Soviet poet (b. 1932)
* August 20 – Aleksandar Petrović (film director), Aleksandar Petrović, French film director (b. 1929)
* August 21 – Anita Lizana, Chilean tennis champion (b. 1915)
* August 23 – Zoltán Fábri, Hungarian film director (b. 1917)
* August 27 – Roberto Goyeneche, Argentine tango singer (b. 1926)
* August 30 – Lindsay Anderson, British film director (b. 1923)
September
*
September 3 – Billy Wright (footballer, born 1924), Billy Wright, English footballer (b. 1924)
*
September 5 – Shimshon Amitsur, Israeli mathematician (b. 1921)
* September 6
** Nicky Hopkins, British musician (b. 1944)
** Duccio Tessari, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
** Paul Xuereb, Maltese politician (b. 1923)
* September 7
** James Clavell, British writer (b. 1921)
** Dennis Morgan, American actor and singer (b. 1908)
** Terence Young (director), Terence Young, British film director (b. 1915)
*
September 8 – János Szentágothai, Hungarian anatomist (b. 1912)
* September 9 – Patrick O'Neal (actor), Patrick O'Neal, American actor (b. 1927)
* September 11 – Jessica Tandy, English-born American actress (b. 1909)
* September 12
** Tom Ewell, American actor and producer (b. 1909)
** Boris Yegorov, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1937)
* September 15 – Mark Stevens (actor), Mark Stevens, American actor (b. 1916)
*
September 17
Events Pre-1600
* 1111 – Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as "King of Galicia".
* 1176 – The Battle of Myriokephalon is the last attempt by the Byzantine Empi ...
** Vitas Gerulaitis, American tennis player (b. 1954)
** Karl Popper, Austrian-British philosopher (b. 1902)
* September 18 – Franco Moschino, Italian fashion designer (b. 1950)
*
September 19 – Joseph Iléo, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1921)
* September 20 – Jule Styne, English-born American songwriter (b. 1905)
* September 23 – Robert Bloch, American writer (b. 1917)
* September 26 – Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (b. 1907)
* September 27 – Carlos Lleras Restrepo, President of Colombia (b. 1908)
* September 30
** André Michel Lwoff, French microbiologist (b. 1902)
** Roberto Eduardo Viola, military president of Argentina (b. 1924)
October
* October 2 – Harriet Nelson, American actress (b. 1909)
* October 3 – Dub Taylor, American actor (b. 1907)
*
October 7
** Niels Kaj Jerne, English immunologist (b. 1911)
** James Hill (British director), James Hill, British film and television director (b. 1919)
* October 9 – Raich Carter, English sportsman (b. 1913)
*
October 15
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – Following the death of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, Edgar the Ætheling is proclaimed King of England by the Witan; he is never crowned, and concedes power to William the Conqueror two months later.
* 1211 ...
– Sarah Kofman, French philosopher (b. 1934)
* October 19
** Oldřich Černík, Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia (b. 1921)
** Martha Raye, American actress and comedian (b. 1916)
* October 20
** Sergei Bondarchuk, Russian film director (b. 1920)
** Burt Lancaster, American actor (b. 1913)
* October 23 – Robert Lansing (actor), Robert Lansing, American actor (b. 1928)
* October 24 – Raul Julia, Puerto Rican-American actor and singer (b. 1940)
* October 25 – Mildred Natwick, American actress (b. 1905)
* October 29 – Shlomo Goren, Israeli rabbi (b. 1918)
November
* November 1 – Noah Beery Jr., American actor (b. 1913)
* November 2 – Grisha Filipov, 38th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (b. 1919)
* November 4 – Sam Francis, American painter (b. 1923)
* November 10 – Carmen McRae, American jazz singer (b. 1922)
*
November 11 – Elizabeth Maconchy, Dame Elizabeth Maconchy, British composer (b. 1907)
* November 12
** Wilma Rudolph, American athlete (b. 1940)
** J. I. M. Stewart, Scottish novelist (b. 1906)
*
November 13
** Vladimir Ivashko, Ukrainian Soviet Communist politician (b. 1932)
** Motoo Kimura, Japanese geneticist (b. 1924)
* November 14 – Tom Villard, American actor (b. 1953)
* November 18 – Cab Calloway, American jazz singer and bandleader (b. 1907)
* November 19 – Julian Symons, British crime writer and poet (b. 1912)
* November 21 – Willem Jacob Luyten, Dutch-American astronomer (b. 1899)
* November 23 – Alberto Natusch, Bolivian general, 55th President of Bolivia (b. 1933)
*
November 28
** Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (b. 1960)
** Vicente Enrique y Tarancón, Spanish cardinal (b. 1907)
*
November 30
** Guy Debord, French theorist, writer, and filmmaker (b. 1931)
** Lionel Stander, American actor (b. 1908)
December
* December 4 – Julio Ramón Ribeyro, Peruvian writer (b. 1929)
* December 6 – Gian Maria Volonté, Italian actor (b. 1933)
* December 8
** Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian composer (b. 1927)
** Enrique Líster, Spanish communist politician and military officer (b. 1907)
* December 9 – Max Bill, Swiss architect and artist (b. 1908)
* December 10 – Alex Wilson (Canadian sprinter), Alex Wilson, Canadian athlete (b. 1905)
*
December 11 – Stanisław Maczek, Polish general (b. 1892)
* December 12 – Stuart Roosa, American astronaut (b. 1933)
*
December 13 – Antoine Pinay, French politician, former Prime Minister of France, Prime Minister (b. 1891)
* December 18 – Lilia Skala, Austrian-born American actress (b. 1896)
* December 20 – Dean Rusk, American diplomat, 54th United States Secretary of State, Secretary of State (b. 1909)
* December 23 – Sebastian Shaw (actor), Sebastian Shaw, English actor (b. 1905)
* December 24
** John Boswell, American historian (b. 1947)
** Rossano Brazzi, Italian actor (b. 1916)
** John Osborne, English playwright (b. 1929)
* December 25 – Zail Singh, 7th President of India (b. 1916)
* December 26
** Karl Schiller, German economist and politician (b. 1911)
** Sylva Koscina, Italian-Croatian actress (b. 1933)
*
December 31 – Woody Strode, American athlete and actor (b. 1914)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Bertram Brockhouse, Clifford Shull
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – George Andrew Olah
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Medicine – Alfred G. Gilman, Martin Rodbell
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Kenzaburō Ōe
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin
* Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences – Reinhard Selten, John Forbes Nash Jr., John Harsanyi
Templeton Prize
* Michael Novak
Fields Medal
* Efim Isakovich Zelmanov, Pierre-Louis Lions, Jean Bourgain, Jean-Christophe Yoccoz
Right Livelihood Award
* Astrid Lindgren, SERVOL (Service Volunteered for All), H. Sudarshan / VGKK (Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra), Ken Saro-Wiwa / MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni people, Ogoni People)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1994
1994,