1992 was a year full of important events. The 25th Olympics Games opened in Barcelona, Bill Clinton was elected as the 42nd US President and America voted for either a young or old Elvis Presley to be used on a postage stamp.
This 1992 timeline lists the events that everyone remembers, as well as events that may have slipped people’s mind. If you would like to see how the events were reported at the time, take a look at our selection of original 1992 newspapers.
1992 Timeline
Turn the page to:
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
- 25th Olympic Games Open
- Bill Clinton Elected as US President
- Elvis Presley Stamp
January
January 1: President George H. W. Bush is the first US president to address the Australian Parliament.
January 1: Europe breaks down trade barriers.
January 1: Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic is renamed the Russian Federation and becomes the successor state to the Soviet Union.
January 5: The Crucible closes at the Belasco Theatre in New York City after 48 performances.
January 6: The New York Yankees sign free agent Danny Tartabul.
January 6: The President of Georgia, Zviad Gamskahurdia, flees the country due to a military coup.
January 7: AT&T releases video-telephone, retailing for $1499.
January 9: Alison Halford is suspended after allegations of misconduct. She was the Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police and Britain’s most senior policewoman.
January 11: Kristi Yamaguchi wins the US female Figure Skating championship.
January 12: Christopher Bowman wins the US Figure Skating championship.
January 13: Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer, pleads guilty but insane.
January 13: Japan formally apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during the Second World War.
January 19: IBM announces a nearly $5 billion loss for the year.
January 20: India are beaten by Australia 2-0, with Australia winning cricket’s World Series Cup. David Boon scores the most runs in the series, ending with 432.
January 22: Space Shuttle STS-42 (Discovery 15) launches into space.
January 26: The Washington Redskins win Super Bowl XXVI after defeating the Buffalo Bills 37-24.
January 27: Mike Tyson goes on trial for rape and is found guilty.
January 30: Inventor Ray Kurzweil publishes The Age of Intelligent Machines, dealing with artificial intelligence. This was Kurzweil’s first book and he discusses the computer, predicting its popularity.
41st US President, George H. W. Bush
Image: Simple Wikipedia
February
February 1: Barry Bonds signs the highest single year contract in MLB history, totalling $4.7 million with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
February 2: Danny Everett runs the 400m world record indoors with a time of 45.02 seconds.
February 10: Speed skater Bonnie Blair wins first gold medal for the US in the 1992 Olympics.
February 10: Mike Tyson is convicted of raping Desiree Washington in Indiana.
February 15: Jeffrey Dahmer is found sane and determined guilty of killing 15 boys.
February 22: Barry Diller resigns as the CEO of Fox.
February 25: Muddy Waters wins the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards.
February 26: The Irish Supreme Court rules that a 14 year old rape victim may get an abortion.
March
March 1: Anita Hall sets the female world record by swimming the 200m freestyle in 2 minutes, 25 seconds and 35 milliseconds.
March 2: Moldova joins the United Nations.
March 3: 263 are killed in a gas explosion at a coal mine in Zonguldak, Turkey.
March 3: After promising not to, President George H. W. Bush apologizes for raising taxes.
March 6: The computer virus, Michelangelo, begins to take effect.
March 12: Mauritius becomes a republic, whilst remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
March 13: In Erzincan, Eastern Turkey, an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale kills over 500.
March 15: The United Nations officially starts its largest peacekeeping operation.
March 17: Kevin Costner and Julia Roberts win Best Dramatic Motion Picture at the 18th People’s Choice Awards.
March 17: In Buenos Aires, Argentina, 28 people are killed in a truck bombing of the Israeli embassy.
March 17: F. W. de Klerk, President of South Africa, wins a white only referendum.
March 18: Singer, Donna Summer, receives a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
March 19: The Duke and Duchess of York announce their separation.
March 22: England beat South Africa in the cricket World Cup semi-final during heavy rain.
March 22: A US Air NY flight to Cleveland crashes on take off at LaGuardia, killing 27 people.
March 24: Atlantis 11, or Space Shuttle STS-45, launches into space.
March 26: Mike Tyson, Heavyweight Boxing Champion, is sentenced to 10 years in prison for the rape of Desiree Washington.
March 27: Bruce Springsteen releases albums Human Touch and Lucky Town on the same day.
March 28: Ann Transon breaks the female record for 50,000 metres. She runs it in 3 hours, 35 minutes and 31 seconds.
March 30: The Silence of the Lambs wins Best Picture, while Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins win Best Actor and Best Actress at the 64th Academy Awards.
March 30: The sixth president of Jamaica, P J Patterson, resigns.
The Duke and Duchess of York at an event in 1988
Image: Wikipedia
April
April 1: The 5th largest wrestling crowd is recorded at Toronto Skydome with a total of 64,287 people in the audience.
April 1: NHL players begin the first strike in the league’s 75 year history.
April 1: Billy Idol is fined $2,000 for hitting a woman.
April 2: John Gotti, famed New York Mafia boss, is found guilty of 5 murders as well as conspiracy to murder, illegal gambling, bribery and tax evasion.
April 2: Atlantis 11 lands.
April 5: Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru, suspends constitution and dissolves congress.
April 5: Hulk Hogan wins against Sid Justice and Randy Savage beats Ric Flair for the WWF Heavyweight title in Indianapolis, Indiana.
April 5: Serbian troops start sieging the capital of Bosnia, Sarajevo. This would go on to become the longest siege in modern warfare.
April 5: In Washington, D.C, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators march for abortion rights.
April 6: The voting opens for a choice of Elvis postage stamps.
April 8: Punch Magazine publishes its final issue after 151 years.
April 9: John Major becomes the Prime Minister of Britain after the Conservative Party wins the most votes in electoral history.
April 10: In Sri Lanka, 25 are killed in a bus bombing.
April 10: The NHL strike ends, after 10 days.
April 11: 3 are killed after the Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb London’s financial district.
April 12: Disneyland Paris opens in Marne-la-Vallee, France.
April 14: Les Miserables opens in Manchester, at the Palace Theatre.
April 14: Apple’s lawsuit against Microsoft is thrown out of court.
April 20: A concert in memory of Freddie Mercury is held at Wembley Stadium.
April 22: 200 are killed after gas explodes in a sewer in Guadalajara, Mexico.
April 23: McDonald’s opens its first restaurant in China.
April 27: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, made of Serbia and Montenegro, is announced.
April 29: Voting for the Elvis stamp ends.
May
May 1: Eric Houston kills 4 people in a California High School, where he failed history 4 years before.
May 7: 5 police officers from NYC are arrested in Hauppauge, Long Island, for selling cocaine.
May 7: Endeavour, or Space Shuttle STS-49 is launched. This marks the maiden voyage of Endeavour.
May 9: 19 year old Michelle McLean, from Namibia, is crowned the 41st Miss Universe.
May 9: Linda Martin wins with 37th Eurovision Contest for Ireland, in Malmo, Sweden.
May 10: In Jerusalem, Israel, the Bible Lands Museum opens.
May 12: Ingrid Baeyens becomes the first Belgian woman to climb Mount Everest.
May 13: 3 astronauts walk in space at the same time, for the first time.
May 16: Smells Like Nirvana hits number 35 in the charts. Weird Al Yankovic is a parody singer and comedian.
May 18: The US Supreme Court rules that states cannot force mentally unstable criminal defendants to take anti-psychotic drugs.
May 19: After the 27th Amendment is made valid, it prohibits Congress from raising its salary.
May 19: Some Gave All is released by Billy Ray Cyrus. It later becomes the Billboard Album of the Year, in 1993.
May 19: Dave Gauder, from England, pulls a 196 tonne jumbo jet 3 inches.
May 23: George H. W. Bush orders the Coast Guard to intercept boats carrying Haitian refugees.
May 24: Al Unser Jr wins the Indianapolis 500.
May 25: Jay Leno becomes the permanent host of the Tonight Show.
May 25: Oscar Luigi Scalfaro is elected as the new President of Italy.
June
June 3: In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the world’s largest environmental summit to date opens.
June 4: The US Postal Service announces that an image of young Elvis Presley beat an image of an older Elvis for the stamp.
June 11: Owners approve the sale of baseball team Seattle Mariners to a Japanese group.
June 14: Mona Van Duyn becomes the first female US poet laureate.
June 15: For the first time in 60 years, the Berlin Air Show begins.
June 16: A stamp in Britain celebrates the 350th anniversary of the Battle of Edgehill.
June 19: Batman Begins is released. Michael Keaton stars as Batman and the Penguin is played by Danny DeVito.
June 22: In Yekaterinburg, Russia, two skeletons are discovered and are identified as Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra.
June 23: Yitzhak Rabin is elected as Israel’s 5th Prime Minister.
June 24: Hicksville High School gives Billy Joel an honorary diploma at aged 43.
June 24: John Gotti, Mafia boss, begins his life sentence in jail for 5 counts of murder and other crimes.
June 28: The Constitution of Estonia is signed into law.
June 28: Two earthquakes hit California. One of the earthquakes measures 7.4 on the Richter scale, the 3rd strongest in America.
June 30: In the United States, the first pay bathrooms open for 25 cents.
June 30: Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister, joins the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven.
June 30: Nelson Mandela, South African President, meets with UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at Dakar.
John Gotti, Mafia Boss
Image: Wikimedia
July
July 1: Fox begins broadcasting on Wednesday nights.
July 2: Braniff Airlines goes out of business.
July 7: Czech tennis star, Ivan Lendl, becomes a US citizen after undergoing the traditional five-year waiting procedure.
July 9: The 1959th star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame is presented to Kim Basinger.
July 14: 386BSD is released by Lynne and William Jolitz. This starts the open source operating system revolution. Linus Torvalds release Linux quickly afterwards.
July 15: Pope John Paul II is in hospital for 3 weeks after having a tumor removed.
July 15: The Security Council of the UN examines the levels of violence within South Africa.
July 18: 25 year-old Sharon Belden, of Florida, wins Miss World USA.
July 19: Ebony P Warren is crowned the 24th Miss Black America.
July 22: Pablo Escobar escapes from prison.
July 23: Bruce Springsteen starts his world tour.
July 25: The 25th Olympic Games open in Barcelona, Spain.
July 26: Britain honours the British dead in the Falklands War.
July 31: A Thai Airbus crashes into the mountains at Kathmandu, killing 113.
August
August 1: Linford Christie becomes the oldest man to win the Olympic 100m gold medal, at age 32.
August 3: Unforgiven, directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman. The film would go on to win the Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
August 6: Carl Lewis wins gold in the long jump, with fellow American’s Mike Powell and Joe Greene winning silver and bronze respectively.
August 9: 37.4°C is the record temperature in Berlin.
August 16: Kenyan Moses Kiptanui runs the 3000m record in 7 minutes, 28 seconds and 96 milliseconds in Cologne, Germany.
August 19: Sri Lanka score their highest Test cricket score against Australia, 547-8.
August 24: Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida, working its way towards Elliott Key and Homestead, killing 44 people. $25 billion is recorded in damage.
August 25: Jamie Solinger, from Iowa, is crowned 10th Miss Teen USA.
August 26: Hurricane Andrew hits Louisiana as a Category 3 storm after causing severe damage in Florida.
August 29: The largest wrestling crowd, outside the US, is recorded at Wembley Stadium with a total of 75,000 in attendance.
August 31: 500 are killed after a dynamite explosion near a Philippines mine.
September
September 2: 118 are killed in Nicaragua after earthquakes and floods hit the country.
September 3: The 27th Muscular Dystrophy telethon, ran by Jerry Lewis, raises £45,759,368.
September 4: Scared Silent, presented by Oprah, becomes the first non-news programme to be seen on three television networks at the same time. The channels were CBS, NBC and PBS.
September 11: Hurricane Iniki hits Kauai Hawaii, killing 3 and injuring 8,000.
September 12: Mae Jemison becomes the first African American woman to go into space, on board Endeavour STS-47.
September 16: The UK government is forced to withdraw the pound sterling from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, after failing to keep it above the agreed lowest limit. The day is known as “Black Wednesday”.
September 17: Theodore Weiss wins the democratic primary for NYC congressional seat, even though he died 3 days before.
September 22: A heavy storm hits the South of France, resulting in 34 deaths.
September 23: A mud storm in the South of France kills 30 people.
September 26: Nigerian Air Force plane Hercules C-130 crashes three minutes after take off, killing 163 people.
September 26: Roseanne Barr Arnold, comedian and actress, receives a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
Mae Jemison, first African-American woman in space
Image: Wikimedia
October
October 1: The Cartoon Cable Network premieres.
October 1: Ross Perot enters the US presidential race.
October 3: Madonna’s Erotica music video premieres on MTV.
October 3: Singer-songwriter, Sinead O’Connor, rips up a photo of Pope John Paul II live on Saturday Night Live.
October 5: The first overturn of a George H. W. Bush veto occurs, over the cable bill.
October 9: A meteorite, weighing an approximate 13kg, lands in the drive of the Knapp residence in New York, destroying their 1980 Chevrolet Malibu.
October 11: The first three-way presidential debate takes place between George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot.
October 12: At least 510 are killed when a 5.8 earthquake hits Cairo, Egypt.
October 16: David Letterman celebrates the 1,700th epsiode of Late Night with David Letterman.
October 18: A 6.6 earthquake hits Colombia – there are no fatalities.
October 21: The book Sex by Madonna goes on sale.
October 22: Atlanta becomes the first US baseball team to win a World Series game outside the United States.
October 23: Emperor Akihito becomes first Emperor of Japan to stand on Chinese soil.
October 24: Australia beats Great Britain 10-6 at the 10th Rugby League World Cup.
October 27: Great Britain issue a stamp to commemorate the 100th anniversary of JRR Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
October 31: Don Kellner makes his 18,000th skydive. As of 2019, he has completed 45,000.
November
November 2: The first test flight of Airbus A330 takes place.
November 3: Bill Clinton is elected the 42 President of the United States, defeating President George H. W. Bush.
November 3: Dolly Parton’s cover of I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston is released. Later, it becomes the Billboard Song of the Year 1993.
November 3: Rage Against the Machine releases their debut album, Rage Against the Machine, featuring the single Killing in the Name.
November 8: In Berlin, 300,000 demonstrate against racism.
November 11: The Church of England allows female priests to be ordained.
November 12: Absolutely Fabulous starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley is first shown.
November 15: Alan Kulwicki wins the 42nd NASCAR Sprint Cup.
November 17: Erling Kagge begins his successful exploration of the South Pole.
November 18: Malcolm X directed by Spike Lee and stars Denzel Washington is released in the US.
November 20: Windsor Castle, one of Queen Elizabeth’s homes, catches fire.
November 23: 10,000,000 mobile phones are sold.
November 24: 141 are killed after a Boeing 734 crashes into a mountain in China.
November 26: Sir Alec Jeffreys, a British geneticist, who developed techniques for DNA fingerprinting, becomes an honorary freeman of the city of Leicester.
Bill Clinton celebrating his 1992 election win
Image: Wikimedia
December
December 4: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 troops to Somalia.
December 6: 300,000 Hindus destroy a mosque in Babri, India – 4 are killed.
December 7: The Galileo spacecraft passes the North Pole of the Moon, called the Peary Crater.
December 8: Galileo’s nearest approach to Jupiter at a distance of 303km.
December 9: US Marines land in Somalia as part of Operation Restore Hope.
December 12: Emperor of Japan announces his engagement to Masaka Owada.
December 12: 18 year old Julia Kurotchkina, from Russia, is crowned 42nd Miss World.
December 14: During the war in Abkhazia, 52 people, including 25 children are killed when a helicopter from Tkvarcheli is shot down.
December 15: Arthur Ashe is named Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year.
December 20: Slobodan Milosevic is re-elected as the president of Serbia.
December 27: Singer Harry Connick Jr is caught with a gun in New York’s JFK airport.
25th Olympic Games
One of the key 1992 world events was the Olympic Games. The 25th Olympics took place from 25th July to 9th August in Barcelona, Spain in 1992. A total of 9,356 athletes competed: 6,652 of those were male, and 2,704 were female.
Bill Clinton Elected as US President
One of the key 1992 events that took place was Bill Clinton being elected as the 42nd President of the United States. Whilst he did not take office until 1993, it meant that George H. W. Bush was defeated and was required to leave office in January 1993, after one term.
He was inaugurated on 20th January 1993, and served two terms until 2001. Within his first month in office, Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which required large employers to allow employees to take unpaid leave for pregnancy or a serious medical condition. This act was popular with the public.
Elvis Presley Stamp
To remember the late Elvis Presley, who died 25 years prior in 1977, the US took to voting for two images of the King of Rock and Roll. One image was of Presley when he was younger, and the other was one of him when he was older. The US public voted for the image that depicted him as his younger self. The voting was open for a total of 23 days in April, with the US Postal Service announcing the winner on 4th June 1992.