What happened in 1991 Major News Stories include United Nations Coalition Force force Iraq Forces out of Kuwait and back to Iraq, University of Iowa Mass Shooting, Cyclone in Bangladesh kills 200,000, South Africa Apartheid dismantled, Balkan War starts, Terry Waite and Terry Anderson released, Freddie Mercury dies from Aids, Robert Maxwell is found dead floating in the sea, Lech Walesa elected as Polish President, Jeffrey Dahmer Arrested,
Operation Desert Storm United Nations Coalition Force led by the United States and including many Arab and European countries Bombs Iraq Forces in Kuwait and after 1 month of bombing Land invasion forces Iraq Forces out of Kuwait and back to Iraq.
More Information for the Gulf War
1. Iraq invades Kuwait under the leadership of Saddam Hussein in August of 1990 and attempts to annex the country.
2. The U.S. and NATO place troops in Saudi Arabia in what was known as Operation Desert Shield.
3. In November of 1990 the U.N. authorizes the use of force against Iraq if they did not withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, 1991.
4. Iraq refuses to leave and a U.S.-led air attack begins in mid-January of 1991 in what was known as Operation Desert Storm.
5. Ground forces attack in Southern Iraq and Kuwait during February of 1991 in Operation Desert Sabre.
6. U.S. President George H. W. Bush declares a cease-fire in the conflict by the end of February after Kuwait was liberated and Iraq agreed to honor the terms of peace.
The US and Soviet Union Sign The START Treaty.
More Information for the START I agreement
The United States and Soviet Union agree to the START I Treaty during July of 1991. U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev both signed the treaty, agreeing to reduce the number of nuclear warheads each country had to 7,950. Negotiations over the agreement began in 1982 with President Reagan but were held up several times due to conflicts. After the treaty was signed in 1991, several other START agreements were negotiated, limiting nuclear weapons between the two countries even further. START I came into effect in 1994 with both sides adhering to the limits on time and it expired in 2009.
The US-Canada Air Quality Agreement becomes effective immediately after it is signed by Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and United States President George H. W. Bush during March News Events. Also known as the “Acid Rain Treaty” and it was created to address the issues associated with transboundary air pollution and over time has reduced the amount of acid rain associated with the problem. The agreement mandated the reduction of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions which could lead to the creation of acid rain in Canada and the United States.
The Following Countries all gain independence when the Soviet Union breaks Up Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Axerbaijan, Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Estonia.
More Information for the Break Up of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union takes the first official steps to break up the U.S.S.R. during September of 1991 when the Congress of People’s Deputies voted for its dissolution. Beginning in the previous month, several Soviet republics started to declare their independence, with Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Armenia leaving in September. By the end of the year the dissolution became effective and the Soviet Union ceased to exist when Gorbachev resigned and was replaced by the new Russian government.
NASA launches the STS-44 mission during November . The Space Shuttle Atlantis carried astronauts Frederick Gregory, Terence Henricks, James Voss, F. Story Musgrave, Mario Runco, Jr., and Thomas Hennen. It was a Department of Defense mission which had the primary objective of deploying a Defense Support Program satellite. The payload also included several experiments. It concluded after nearly 7 days in space and the crew returned to Earth successfully after landing at the Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested on July 22nd after the remains of 11 men and boys are found in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin apartment
The U.N. Security Council passes the Cease Fire Agreement, Resolution 687. The resolution called for the destruction or removal of all of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, and for an end to its support for international terrorism. Iraq accepts the terms of the resolution on April 6 and UN authorizes weapons inspections in Iraq
How Much things cost in 1991
Yearly Inflation Rate USA4.25%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 3168
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 6.50%
Average Cost of new house $120,000.00
Average Income per year $29,430.00
Average Monthly Rent $495.00
of a gallon of Gas $1.12
1 LB of Bacon $1.95
Dozen Eggs 85 cents
Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Sterling
Average House Price 70,987
Gallon of Petrol 2.05
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 5.9%
Interest Rates Year End Bank of England 10.38%
FTSE 100 Average 2350
Boris Yeltsin wins first free elections for Russia's first popularly-elected president
Cyclone in Bangladesh kills 200,000
Fires in the hills of Oakland, California burns thousands of homes and kills 25
50% of India population is living at or below the poverty line
Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated on May 21
Dead Sea Scroll is Unveiled
UN Sanctions imposed against Libya in response to alleged involvement in Lockerbie bombing
Referendum in South Africa supports creation of new constitution for multicultural society and Apartheid is dismantled
Canada introduces the Canadian Goods and Services Tax (GST) a national sales tax
Winnie Mandela, the wife of Nelson Mandela, is given a six-year prison sentence on May 14th for her part in the kidnap of four youths
Slovenia and Croatia declare independence from Yugoslavia and the start of the Balkan War
Attempted communist coup in Soviet Union suppressed but sparks declarations of independence from all non Russian republics within the USSR , by the end of the year the USSR is dissolved and independence of republics recognized
Single European Market lifts trade restrictions within the EEC and the Maastricht treaty opens the way for closer political Union
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International ( BCCI ) closed by regulators from US and UK
Seventy tornadoes break out in the central United States, killing 17.
The Dow Jones average topped 3,000 for the first time
Gang Lu a student at the University of Iowa goes on a shooting rampage killing five people on the Iowa campus
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front end 17 years of Marxist rule in Ethiopia.
Mike Tyson is arrested and charged with raping Desiree Washington
7.0 Richter Scale earthquake in Northern Italy - 2000 dead
6.8 Richter Scale earthquake near border between Pakistan and Afghanistan
The Soviet Union cracks down on Lithuania who were attempting to gain independence from the Soviet Union
UK Poll Tax introduced in 1990 is eliminated and replaced with alternative
Former U.S. postal worker Joseph Harris kills his former girlfriend and her fiance and two former co workers at the post office in Ridgewood, New Jersey which resulted in the phrase "going postal" .
Lech Walesa the Polish Workers President is elected President of Poland
Body of publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell is found floating in the sea - he had fallen off his yacht shortly after his death the Maxwell Empire Faces Bankruptcy
Indonesian forces open fire on a crowd in the Santa Cruz cemetery killing an estimated 250 East Timorese protesters.
Typhoon Kinna strikes western Japan with 80 mph winds
Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the band Queen, issues a public statement confirming that he is stricken with AIDS, and the next day he dies of complications
Journalist Terry Anderson is released after seven years' captivity as a hostage in Beirut
Terry Waite the special envoy of the archbishop of Canterbury, is released after more than four years of captivity
Police Brutality Captured On Film in California in the case of Rodney King arrest
Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union officially ceases to exist
The Warsaw Pact the military alliance between the Soviet Union and its eastern European neighbors ends
The US and Soviet Union Sign The START Treaty
911 Emergency Number tested in US northwestern cities
Macedonia Gains Independence From Former Yugoslavia
Croatia Gains Independence From Former Yugoslavia
Birmingham Six Released in the UK
Internet is made available to unrestricted commercial use and number of computers on the net reaches 1 million
Linus Torvalds releases first version of the Linux operating system kernel
The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid
Microsoft Releases MS Dos 5.0
Blue Roses produced by Genetic Engineering
The Ice covering the Arctic has decreased by 2% in the last 10 years
Tropical Rainforest shrinks by 1% annually as a result of Human activities
Tim Berners-Lee introduces the web browser.
Spread of Cholera reaches near epidemic proportions in Countries in Latin America
Invention Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )
Clockwork Radio England by Trevor Baylis
Airbag USA by Geoffrey L Mahon and Allen Breed
The release of Nirvana's Nevermind signified the start of the Grunge era that would dominate the music scene up to the mid-90's.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
The Silence of the Lambs
Hook
The Addams Family
Sleeping with the Enemy
Father of the Bride
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
Beauty and the Beast
Backdraft
Beethoven
Thelma & Louise
Pearl Jam
Whitney Houston with All The Man That I need
Michael Jackson with black and White
Queen
Bryan Adams with Everything That I do I do it for You
Erasure
Marillion
Phil Collins
Guns N' Roses
Mariah Carey with Someday
Metallica
Amy Grant
Beverly Craven
Cher
Gloria Estefan
R.E.M.
Janet Jackson
Extreme
Boyz II Men
U2
Van Halen
The Clash
Paula Abdul with The Promise of The New Day
Billy Bragg
Garth Brooks
Nirvana
Australia Prime Minister Bob Hawke Till 20 December
Australia Prime Minister Paul Keating From 20 December
Brazil President Fernando Collor
Canada Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
China Chairman of the People's Republic of China Yang Shangkun
France President François Mitterrand
Germany Chancellor Helmut Kohl
India Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar Till 21 June
India Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao From 21 June
Italy Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti
Japan Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu Till 5 November
Japan Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa From 5 November
Mexico President Carlos Salinas de Gortari
Russia / Soviet Union General Secretary of the CPSU Boris Yeltsin
South Africa State President Frederik Willem de Klerk
United States President George H. W. Bush
United Kingdom Prime Minister John Major