1994 was a particularly eventful year politically and culturally, with so many stand-out events taking the world by storm. After years of Apartheid, South Africa saw its first black President take office when Nelson Mandela was sworn in, and a planned attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was frequently in the news, eventually banning champion and rival Tonya Harding from the sport for life for her involvement. The public were saddened by the death of grunge rocker and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, and the case against O. J. Simpson began to form. Our 1994 timeline reveals some of the most memorable events from the year.
Many iconic, award-winning films were released this year, including Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption and Schindler’s List, and the popular sitcom Friends hit our screens for the first time, beginning a decade of laughter and watching the gang drink coffee at Central Perk. The best way to learn even more about 1994 is in an original 1994 newspaper, showing how the news reported some of these 1994 events and how the public read about them at the time.
Jump to:
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
- Tonya Harding and the Attack on Nancy Kerrigan
- The Death of Kurt Cobain
- Nelson Mandela Becomes the First Black President of South Africa
1994 Timeline
January
January 1: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into operation. NAFTA was a treaty between the United States, Canada and Mexico that got rid of the majority of tariffs between the countries. On July 1, 2020, it was replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
January 1: Twelve days of armed conflict are initiated by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Chiapas, Mexico. The army is a far-left and libertarian socialist political and military group and it controls a large amount of territory in the Chiapas state.
January 1: American actor Cesar Romero dies at the age of 86.
January 2: In South Mexico, 57 people are killed when battles between rebellious Indians and the army break out.
January 3: Hundreds of people are killed in a prison revolt in Venezuela.
January 3: The South African parliament, led by President F. W. de Klerk, announced the restoration of South African citizenship on December 15, 1993. On this day, it becomes effective, four months prior to the non-racial South Africa polls of April 27, 1994.
January 3: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young becomes the first quarterback to win three consecutive NFL passing titles despite the Niners losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 37-34.
January 5: The 26th NAACP Image Awards takes place, with Sister Act winning Outstanding Motion Picture.
January 6: One of the major events in 1994 – Nancy Kerrigan, American ice skater, is attacked by the bodyguard of fellow ice skater Tonya Harding.
January 7: American figure skater Tonya Harding wins the US Female Figure Skating championship.
January 7: In Ohio, a United Express commuter plane crash kills 5 people.
January 8: TM-18, a Russian-manned spacecraft, launches into orbit.
January 8: Scott Davis, American ice skater, wins the US Male Figure Skating championship.
January 9: The 14th United Negro College Fund manages to raise 11 million US dollars.
January 10: Ukraine announces that it will give up the world’s third biggest nuclear arsenal. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had received over 1,800 warheads and 175 long-range missiles. After two years of talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States, the country agreed to get rid of all nuclear weapons if Russia would respect its sovereignty.
January 10: Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan agree to abolish trade tariffs.
January 11: The end of a 20-year IRA broadcasting ban is announced by the Irish government. Before this, Under Section 31 of the Republic of Ireland’s Broadcasting Act, it was against the law to broadcast interviews or statements from any representative speaking on behalf of a number of organisations, including Sinn Féin.
January 12: The daughter of African American activist Malcolm X is arrested for plotting to murder Louis Farrakham. She believed Farrakham was responsible for her father’s assassination and wished to seek revenge through the hiring of a killer. A plea bargain was accepted by the government.
January 13: The government in Italy of Carlo Ciampi resigns.
January 13: Shawn Eric Eckardt, US skater Tonya Harding’s bodyguard, and Derrick Brian Smith are arrested and charged with conspiracy in relation to the attack of Nancy Kerrigan.
January 14: As the first member of the Royal Family to do so in over 300 years, the Duchess of Kent converts to Catholicism.
January 15: After falling off a horse, Queen Elizabeth of England breaks her left wrist.
January 17: An earthquake in Los Angeles measuring 6.6. on the Richter scale causes 30 billion US dollars in damage and kills 60 people.
January 17: English-American actress Elizabeth Taylor is released from hospital following a hip treatment.
January 17: In basketball, previous New York Knicks player Patrick Ewing becomes the first player in New York to hit the 15,000 point mark in his career in the NBA. He scored 34 points in the Knicks’ win against Minnesota, 106-94.
January 18: The Cando event occurs in Cando, Spain, where witnesses believe they saw a fireball for almost a minute in the sky.
January 19: The coldest day in history is recorded in Cleveland, Ohio. Temperatures dropped to -29 degrees celsius.
January 20: The film Four Weddings and a Funeral, starring Hugh Grant and written by Richard Curtis, has its premier at the Sundance Film Festival.
January 21: After she cut off her husband’s penis in 1993, Lorena Bobbitt is found to be temporarily insane. The incident occurred after Bobbitt was abused by her husband for years.
January 22: In Sumatra, a 5.5. magnitude earthquake hit the area.
January 22: At the 51st Golden Globes, Schindler’s List, starring Tom Hanks and Holly Hunter, wins Best Motion Picture.
January 23: The Worldwide Day for Peace takes place in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
January 25: In cricket, South Africa are beaten by Australia 2-1, leading Australia to win the World Series Cup.
January 25: The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, settles a civil lawsuit out of court after being accused of molesting a boy aged 13 years.
January 25: R&B singer R. Kelly releases his single Bump n’ Grind, which goes on to become Billboard Song of the Year 1994.
January 27: A government is formed between Romanian social democrats and anti-Semites.
January 28: In San Jose, California, a helicopter crashes into an office building, resulting in the death of one person.
January 30: In Super Bowl XXVIII, the Buffalo Bills are defeated by the Dallas Cowboys 30-13 in the Georgia Dome, Atlanta.
January 30: Hungarian chess player Péter Lékó becomes the youngest chess grandmaster, achieving the title at the age of 14.
Ice skater Tonya Harding practicing for the Olympics at Clackamas Town Center in 1994.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
February
February 1: British pop singer and ex-One Direction member Harry Styles is born in Redditch, England.
February 1: Near Kusaie, Pacific Ocean, a large meteorite falls.
February 1: For his role in the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, Jeff Gillooly, ex-husband of Tonya Harding, pleads guilty. A plea bargain is accepted and he confesses to racketeering in exchange for testimony implicating Tonya Harding.
February 3: President Bill Clinton lifts the United States’ trade embargo against Vietnam.
February 4: In an armed assault on a mosque in Khartoum, Sudan, 20 people die.
February 5: For the murder of Medgar Evers, Byron De La Beckwith is sentenced to life imprisonment in Jackson, Mississippi, 30 years after the crime takes place.
February 5: In Sarajevo, 68 people are killed and 200 are wounded following the set-off of a mortar bomb.
February 5: Nigerian painter Ben Enwonwu dies at the age of 76. As The Independent stated, he was “the leading light in Nigeria’s rich aggregation of contemporary artists.”
February 6: In Costa Rica, Jose Maria Figueres is elected president.
February 6: American cartoonist Jack Kirby dies at the age of 76 from heart failure.
February 7: At the 21st American Music Awards, Whitney Houston wins seven out of eight of the awards she was nominated for.
February 7: On the George Washington Bridge, Howard Stern stops a would-be jumper.
February 7: Jim Nabors, American actor, has a liver transplant.
February 8: American actor Jack Nicholson uses a golf club to attack a car.
February 8: The world record for most Test Cricket wickets is set by Kapil Dev with 432 wickets.
February 8: Tommy Lee, drummer for Motley Crue, is charged for being in possession of a loaded firearm.
February 12: The 1893 pastel version of the painting The Scream, by painter from Norway Edvard Munch, is stolen in Oslo.
February 12: American model Anna Nicole Smith has a drug overdose and is hospitalised.
February 13: 200 people are killed in a ship disaster near Ranong, Thailand.
February 14: Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo is executed by shooting.
February 20: Juristic discrimination of homosexual people is demanded by Pope John Paul II.
February 23: American actress Dakota Fanning is born in Georgia, United States.
February 25: Phil Rizzuto, shortstop for the New York Yankees, is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
February 25: Boxer Jersey Joe Walcott dies at the age of 80. He was the oldest man to reign as world heavyweight champion.
February 28: A law imposing a waiting period to buy a hand gun in the United States, Brady Law, comes into effect.
US President Bill Clinton
Image: Wikimedia Commons
March
March 1: Justin Bieber is born in London, Ontario.
March 1: A balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution is rejected by the US Senate.
March 2: David Koresh, Branch Davidian cult leader, promises to surrender if his taped statement is broadcasted. The tap is broadcasted, but he doesn’t surrender. The Branch Davidians are part of a religious sect, having formed back in 1955.
March 3: Baseball player Darryl Strawberry is investigated by the US Internal Revenue Service.
March 4: Actor John Candy dies at the age of 43 from a heart attack.
March 4: An Arab terrorist, Ramzi Yousef, is found guilty of bombing the World Trade Center back in 1993. He received 240 years, plus two life sentences for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and Bojinka plot.
March 5: The largest milkshake ever is made in Nelspruit, South Africa, using 1,955 gallons of chocolate.
March 5: In bowling, David Traber wins the PBA National Championship.
March 5: Singer Grace Slick, who throughout her career performed with The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship, is arrested after she points a gun at a police officer.
March 6: The results of a referendum held in Moldova reveals the electorate voting against potential reunification with Romania.
March 7: David Platt is appointed the captain of England.
March 7: In regard to assigning women on combat ship, the US Navy issues its first permanent order.
March 7: Nelson Mandela refutes the demand by white right-wingers for a separate homeland in South Africa.
March 8: In the 20th People’s Choice Awards, Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts win Favourite Actor and Actress in a Dramatic Motion Picture and Tim Allen and Roseanne Barr win Favourite TV Male and Female Performer.
March 8: In workplaces, the US Defence Department announces a ban on smoking.
March 8: In Pinetown, Natal, a train accident kills 47 people.
March 9: The first of three mortar attacks are launched on London’s Heathrow Airport by the IRA.
March 10: The funeral of Melina Mercouri is attended by 1 million Greek citizens.
March 12: 33 female priests are ordained by the Church of England.
March 13: 33.3% of Austrian voters vote for the ultra-right Freedom Party.
March 14: Alfredo Harp Helu, Mexican banker and billionaire, is kidnapped. He was held for 106 days, then his family paid $30 million.
March 15: At the 8th Soul Train Music Awards, Toni Braxton wins R&B Album of the Year – Female and Whitney Houston wins R&B/Soul Song of the Year with I Will Always Love You.
March 16: In regard to the attack on Nancy Kerrigan, Tonya Harding pleads guilty to an obstruction of justice over the plot to seriously injure her fellow skater. As a result of the incident, Harding is banned for life from figure skating on June 30.
March 18: Hungarian-American actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gábor files for bankruptcy protection. According to her attorney, she needed ‘a breathing spell’ to reorganise her financial affairs.
March 19: In Zeewolde, Netherlands, 2500 kilograms of cocaine is intercepted.
March 19: In Yokohama, Japan, the largest omelette in history is made, measuring 1383 square feet and using 160,000 eggs.
March 20: Following a 12 year old civil war, El Salvador has its first presidential election.
March 21: At the 66th Academy Awards, Schindler’s List wins Best Picture.
March 21: Dudley Moore, English actor, is arrested for hitting his fiancé and soon-to-be fourth wife. He was charged with domestic assault.
March 22: In Ciskei homeland, the South African government and the ANC take power.
March 23: Joey Buttafuoco is released from jail after spending four months and nine days inside. Buttafuoco was sentenced on a guilty plea to 6 months in jail for the statutory rape of his “teenage lover,” Amy Fisher.
March 23: Howard Stern announces his Libertarian run for governor of New York.
March 23: Richard Jacobs, previous owner of the Cleveland Indians baseball team, purchases the naming rights to officially name the Indians new ballpark at Gateway. He renames the park Jacobs Field for $13.8 million.
March 27: In a tornado in Piedmont, Alabama, a church collapses and results in the deaths of 19 people.
March 28: In an armed Zulus demonstration in Johannesburg, more than 53 people are killed.
March 28: The right-wing alliance in Italy under Silvio Berlusconi wins the election.
March 28: For the first time in the United Kingdom, BBC Radio Five Live broadcasts.
April
April 4: Darryl Strawberry, LA Dodgers baseball player, starts substance abuse treatment.
April 4: The largest ever Opening Day crowd turns out at Yankee Stadium, made up of 56,706 people.
April 4: American actor Tony Curtis has heart-bypass surgery.
April 5: American grunge rock singer Kurt Cobain commits suicide by shooting himself in the head with a shotgun at 27 years of age.
April 6: The man who broke into beauty queen Marla Maples’ home, Chuck Jones, is found guilty.
April 6: Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Harry Blackmun, who is best known for writing the Court’s opinion in the famous Roe v. Wade case, resigns.
April 6: A suicide bomber from Palestine kills 7 Israeli people and himself.
April 6: Suddenly ending negotiations of peace and beginning the Rwandan Genocide, the plane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira is shot down by surface-to-air missiles. The people who were responsible for shooting the plane down have never been identified.
April 7: American R&B and gospel singer Percy Sledge pleads guilty to tax evasion.
April 7: With an orchestral concert in the Sala Nervi, the Vatican commemorates the Holocaust for the first time.
April 7: The Rwandan Genocide begins, with the Presidential Guard ending the lives of moderate public figures and politicians in Kigali, which includes Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana.
April 8: The Prime Minister of Japan, Morihiro Hosokawa resigns.
April 8: Smoking becomes banned in the Pentagon and all United States military bases.
April 12: Irish American actress Saoirse Ronan is born in The Bronx, New York City.
April 13: In Kigali, Rwanda, the Presidential Guard kills 1200 church members, chopping them to death.
April 13: Star Trek actor George Takei has an asteroid named after him when it is discovered. The asteroid is then called Asteroid 7373 Takei.
April 14: After suffering from a bleeding ulcer, former First Lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis is operated on.
April 14: Following the completion of his Seven Seals manuscript, Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh agrees to surrender.
April 18: Former President Richard Nixon suffers a stroke.
April 19: The boycott of the South African multi-racial election is ended by Inkatha.
April 19: Rodney King, a victim of police brutality, is awarded $3,800,000 compensation by the Los Angeles County for the incident.
April 19: The United States Supreme Court outlaws the exclusion of people from juries as a result of their gender.
April 20: For killing 5 people, Danny Harold Rolling is sentenced to death in Florida.
April 20: The Serbian army bombs a hospital in Bosnia, killing 47 people.
April 21: A day after the Serbian army bombs a hospital, it bombs a distress clinic, killing a further 28 people.
April 21: The discovery of the first extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.
April 22: Former US President Richard Nixon dies at the age of 81 from a stroke.
April 22: In the stadium at Kibuye, Rwanda, Hutus slaughter 7000 Tutsi.
April 22: Borge Ousland, a Norwegian explorer, becomes the first person to embark on a solo, unsupported journey to the North Pole.
April 22: Jeff Gillooly is sued by his ex-wife, figure skater Tonya Harding, for $42,500.
April 22: The largest lollipop in history is made in Denmark, weighing 3,011 pounds.
April 22: In boxing, Evander Holyfield is beaten by Michael Moorer. Moorer becomes world heavyweight champion.
April 23: Howard Stern is nominated by the Libertarian Party for governor of New York.
April 24: In Johannesburg centre, a bomb attack kills 9 people.
April 25: 14 inches of snow is recorded in Southern California.
April 25: On a taxi stand in Johannesburg, a bomb attack results in the death of 10 people.
April 26: It’s announced by physicists that the first evidence of the top quark subatomic particle has been found.
Richard Nixon giving his resignation speech in 1971. He would pass away in April 1994.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
May
May 1: Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna from Brazil is involved in a 309 km/h crash and is killed, while he was leading the San Marino Grand Prix in Italy. He was three-time World Formula 1 Drivers champion.
May 4: The 34th European Cup Winners Cup is won by Arsenal after they played Parma, Italy in Copenhagen. Arsenal defeated Parma 1-0.
May 4: Courtney Love, American singer, is cleared of her drug charges.
May 5: In the British local elections, the Labour Party beats the Conservative Party.
May 6: The Channel Tunnel, linking England and France, is officially opened.
May 6: The Federal Assault Weapons Ban is passed by the United States House of Representatives.
May 6: Boxer Lennox Lewis defeats Phil Jackson to win the Heavyweight Boxing Title.
May 6: In South Africa’s first post-apartheid election, Nelson Mandela and the ANC are officially confirmed winners.
May 7: Three months after it was stolen, The Scream painting by Edvard Munch is retrieved.
May 8: It is announced that the United States will not repatriate the “boat people” of Vietnam any longer by President Clinton.
May 9: In New York, mass murderer Joel Rifkin, also known as Joel the Ripper is found guilty. It is believed he killed up to 17 victims between 1989 and 1993 in New York City and on Long Island, New York.
May 10: Singer and actress Barbara Streisand begins her first concert tour in thirty years.
May 10: In one of the most significant events in 1994, and after winning the elections, Nelson Mandela is officially sworn in as the first black President of South Africa.
May 10: American mass murderer John Wayne Gacy is executed at the age of 52 in Illinois, after he was found guilty of murdering 33 young men.
May 11: In South Africa, six white racist people are sentenced to death.
May 12: The Quentin Tarantino movie Pulp Fiction premieres at the Cannes Film Festival. The film stars Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman. On May 23, it would win the Palme d’Or at the festival.
May 14: In the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium in London, Chelsea are defeated 4-0 by Manchester United.
May 16: Former First Lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis is admitted to hospital to begin cancer treatment.
May 16: Jennifer Capriati, Tennis star, is arrested after being caught in possession of marijuana. Three days later, she will be checked into a drug rehabilitation centre.
May 18: In the 2nd UEFA Champions League final in Athens, Barcelona are beaten by Milan 4-0.
May 19: After only 3 days in hospital for cancer treatment, former First Lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis dies at the age of 64.
May 21: English diver Tom Daley is born.
May 24: Bret Michaels, Poison singer, is involved in a car crash. He crashed his Ferrari into a telephone pole and ended up with serious injuries, including broken ribs, broken fingers and a broken nose.
May 26: Elvis, the King of Rock and Roll’s daughter Lisa Marie Presley marries King of Pop Michael Jackson in the Dominican Republic.
May 27: After 20 years in exile, writer and Nobel Laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn returns to Russia.
May 27: TV and radio host Larry King ends his radio show.
May 29: Above the North Sea, a great iceball comet comes into view.
June
June 1: Following prostate surgery, US General Norman Schwarzkopf is released from hospital.
June 2: Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List is banned by Indonesian censors.
June 6: Around 1000 people are killed in Toez, Columbia after an earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale destroys the area.
June 8: Joel Rifkin, mass murderer, is sentenced. After being found guilty of nine counts of second-degree murder, he is sentenced to 203 years up to life in prison.
June 11: In Falun, Sweden, a drunk police officer shoots 7 people and kills them.
June 11: In Jacksonville, Florida, the largest popcorn container is measured at 6,619.76 cubic feet full of popped corn.
June 12: American jazz singer Cab Calloway suffers a huge stroke at his home in White Plains, New York.
June 13: Exxon and Captain Joseph Hazelwood are blamed for the Exxon Valdez disaster by a jury in Anchorage, Alaska due to their recklessness. An oil tanker owned by Exxon Shipping company had struck Prince William Sound’s Bligh Reef, west of Tatitlek, Alaska, spilling 37,000 tonnes of crude oil over the days that followed. This decision by the jury allows the victims of the oil spill to seek $15 billion in damages.
June 14: American composer and conductor Henry Mancini, composer of Pink Panther and Moon River, dies at the age of 70.
June 15: The Lion King, the animated musical film by Disney, opens in theaters and makes an incredible $185 million on its opening weekend.
June 15: The New York Giants cut Super Bowl XXI MVP Phil Simms, quarterback, after he had spent 15 years with the club.
June 17: In response to his murder charges, former NFL running back, broadcaster and actor O. J. Simpson doesn’t turn himself in and instead, police in Los Angeles chase his Ford Bronco car around for an hour and a half before he gives up. This was all seen on national television by the public.
June 20: A bomb attack in Mashhad, Iran on Islamic Temple kills 70 people.
June 20: O. J. Simpson is arraigned on the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and Ronald Graham.
June 22: In basketball, the New York Knicks are beaten by the Houston Rockets 4 games to 3 in the 48th NBA Championship.
June 22: In the FIFA World Cup, Columbia are beaten by the United States 2-1 at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena; their first win since 1950.
June 23: The seat of South Africa in the United Nations is reclaimed.
June 23: 2500 French troops protect civilians in Rwanda under the mandate of the United Nations in what was known as Opération Turquoise.
June 23: After declaring himself President of Nigeria, Moshood Abiola is accused of treason and arrested.
June 26: After 27 years, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat returns to Gaza.
June 27: The New York Daily News newspaper increases its prices to 50 cents.
June 27: Aerosmith are the first band to allow their fans to download an entire new track free from the internet.
June 28: Dwight Gooden, pitcher for the New York Mets, is suspended from the team for 60 days as a result of drug charges.
June 28: At the age of 19 years, Jonah Lomu is the youngest-ever All Black rugby player for New Zealand, playing against France in Christchurch, New Zealand.
June 29: The US Guantanamo Naval Base is reopened to process refugees.
June 30: In Los Angeles, the pre-trial hearings against O. J. Simpson open.
June 30: Tonya Harding is officially banned from ice skating for life by the US Ice Skating Federation.
O. J. Simpson and his daughter in 1986
Image: Wikimedia Commons
July
July 1: Roman Herzog is sworn in as the president of Germany.
July 1: From Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, the Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM-19 is launched.
July 2: In Wimbledon women’s tennis, Spanish player Conchita Martínez upsets Martina Navratilova to win what would be her only Grand Slam title.
July 3: In Wimbledon men’s tennis, American player Pete Sampras defends his title against Croatian player Goran Ivanišević.
July 3: 46 people are killed in crashes in Texas. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, it is the deadliest day in traffic history for Texas.
July 3: Australian tennis player Lew Hoad dies at the age of 59 from a heart attack.
July 5: It is announced by the United States that the country won’t accept unrestricted immigration from Haiti anymore.
July 5: In Bellevue, Washington, entrepreneur Jeff Bezos establishes Amazon.
July 6: The film Forrest Gump, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, and Gary Sinise, is released. In 1995, it goes on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
July 8: It is ruled by the preliminary trial that there is enough evidence to try O. J. Simpson for the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Graham.
July 8: Dictator, founder and Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Il-sung, dies at the age of 82 from a heart attack.
July 9: The 11,000th home run in the history of the New York Yankees is hit by Matt Nokes.
July 11: American computer scientist Gary Kildall passes away at the age of 52.
July 13: For the attack on ice skater Nancy Kerrigan, Jeff Gillooly is sentenced to 2 years in prison.
July 13: O. J. Simpson, after being charged with murder, gives some hair samples for testing.
July 14: At an old age home in Milan, a gas explosion kills 27 people.
July 15: Jordan and Israel both agree to have talks in Washington D.C. on 25 July.
July 15: As the Rwandan Genocide comes close to an end, hundreds of thousands of Hutus people flee to Zaire in the Congo.
July 16: Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti, known together as The Three Tenors, perform in Los Angeles.
July 17: Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan defeats Ric Flair and wins the WCW wrestling championship.
July 18: A bomb attacks a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires, killing 86 people.
July 18: American art supply company Crayola announces the release of scented crayons.
July 18: The song Kiss From a Rose by Seal is released, and later becomes Grammy Record and Song of The Year.
July 20: A $500,000 reward is offered by O. J. Simpson for evidence of his ex-wife’s murderer.
July 20: Kim Il-sung, Supreme Leader of North Korea, is placed in a public Mausoleum at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun.
July 21: Tony Blair becomes the winner of the leadership election in the Labour Party in Britain, helping him on his way to becoming Prime Minister in 1997.
July 22: In response to his murder charges, O. J. Simpson pleads “Absolutely 100% Not Guilty.”
July 23: A mild stroke is suffered by dancer and actor Gene Kelly.
July 25: After talks in the capital of the United States, Israel and Jordan bring their 46-year state of war to an end.
July 29: American man Jesse Timmendequas rapes and murders his neighbour, 7 year old Megan Kanka in New Jersey. The incident led the state of New Jersey to pass “Megan’s Law,” which means a notification will occur when a previously convicted sex offender moves into a neighbourhood. The jury came to a verdict of guilty on all counts of murder including kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and capital murder on May 30 1997.
July 29: British chemist Dorothy Hodgkin, the woman who created protein crystallography and the third woman to win a Nobel Prize, passes away at the age of 84 from a stroke.
Professor Dorothy Hodgkin
Image: Wikimedia Commons
August
August 1: The Rolling Stones’ Voodoo Lounge world tour begins.
August 4: A truck carrying millions of bees turns over on a parkway in New York.
August 5: Rock star Billy Idol suffers a drug overdose and is admitted to hospital.
August 7: The first telephone link between Jordan and Israel is established after they had ended their state of war this year.
August 11: Actor Peter Cushing, who appeared in Doctor Who and Star Wars, dies at the age of 81 from cancer.
August 10: The last British troops leave Hong Kong after troops had remained in the country since September 1841.
August 12: A strike breaks out with members of the Major League Baseball Players Association, causing the cancellation of the World Series for just the second time in history.
August 12: In the United States, Stephen Breyer is sworn in as the Supreme Court Justice.
August 14: Hubble, the space telescope, photographs Uranus with rings.
August 17: Following the former First Lady’s death, the New York Central Park reservoir is named after Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
August 18: An earthquake in Algeria results in the deaths of 171 people.
August 18: The 15th Commonwealth games open in Victoria, Canada.
August 19: Nobel Prize scientist and Vitamin C advocate Linus Pauling passes away at the age of 93.
August 20: In Argentina, Archbishop Quarracino announces that he wants all homosexuals to leave the country.
August 20: A ferry boat sinks at Chandpur, Bangladesh, causing the deaths of between 200-350 people.
August 21: A typhoon, known as Typhoon Fred, hits the Chinese county of Zhejiang, killing more than 700 people across 3 days.
August 21: France ends its highly controversial mission in Rwanda when the last troops are pulled from the country.
August 22: After DNA tests had been done, it was proved that there were links between O. J. Simpson and the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Graham.
August 23: The album Grace is released by Jeff Buckley, featuring his cover of the song Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen.
August 28: The first gay pride parade in Japan takes place.
August 28: Golfer Tiger Woods wins the 98th US Golf Amateur Championship.
August 29: The album Definitely, Maybe by Oasis is released, which becomes the fastest-selling album in the UK in history.
August 30: R. Kelly, R&B singer, illegally marries Aaliyah at the age of 25 when she was 15 in Rosemont, Illinois. The marriage was later annulled.
August 31: The final Russian soldiers in Estonia and Latvia leave the areas.
August 31: Pentium computer defeats the world chess champion Garry Kasparov.
August 31: A ceasefire is declared in Northern Ireland by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
Album cover for Oasis’s album “Definitely Maybe”
Image: Flickr
September
September 3: Circulation of the Neth Telegraph/News of the Day newspaper reaches 800,000.
September 4: The government of Berov in Bulgaria falls.
September 4: The first 2-point conversion in NFL history is scored by Tom Tupa, who runs in a fake extra point attempt for the Cleveland Browns when the team won 28-20 in Cincinnati against the Cincinnati Bengals.
September 4: Dan Marino, quarterback for the Miami Dolphins NFL team, throws five touchdown passes in their 39-35 win against New England Patriots. Marino also sets an NFL record with his eighteenth game of 4-or-more touchdown passes.
September 6: Jackson Pinckney is given $487,000 after he was partially blinded by fellow actor Jean-Claude Van Damme during the filming of Cyborg.
September 8: The 11th MTV Video Music Awards takes place with Michael Jackson and his new wife Lisa Maria Presley, the Princess of Rock and Roll, opening the show.
September 8: The last American, French and British troops leave West Berlin.
September 8: At Grand Central Station in New York City, a man shoots another man on board a train.
September 8: A USAir Boeing 737 plane crashes at Pittsburgh Airport, causing the deaths of all 132 people on board.
September 9: The space shuttle STS 64 (Discovery 20) launches into orbit.
September 11: In men’s tennis, Andre Agassi wins his first US title in the US Open Men’s Tennis, defeating German player Michael Stich.
September 11: Actress Jessica Tandy, who starred in Driving Miss Daisy, passes away at the age of 85 from cancer.
September 12: A Cessna plane crashes into the south lawn of the White House when flown by Frank Eugene Corder and he loses his life in the accident.
September 14: The owners of the MLB teams decide to cancel the rest of the 1994 season, along with the 1994 World Series, due to the ongoing labour dispute with the Players Association.
September 15: 16 citizens in Algeria are captured and beheaded by Muslim fundamentalists.
September 16: The fire department puts out an electrical fire in the White House.
September 17: Philosopher Karl Popper, author of The Poverty of Historicism, dies at the age of 92.
September 19: The show ER created by Michael Crichton and starring George Clooney premieres on NBC.
September 22: The popular sitcom Friends debuts on NBC, starring David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow.
September 23: The film The Shawshank Redemption starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins is released.
September 26: Racist propaganda is banned in Switzerland.
September 28: The film Ed Wood, featuring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton, premieres.
September 28: An Estonian ferry capsizes and sinks in the Baltic Sea, resulting in the deaths of 909 people.
September 29: The first phases of the murder trial jury selection ends for the O. J. Simpson case, with 304 people chosen.
September 29: The Pointer Sisters are given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
October
October 1: Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, visits the United States.
October 3: Cartoonist Gary Larson announces that he’s retiring from doing the “Far Side” cartoon. The “Far Side” cartoon was a single-panel cartoon series that appeared in numerous newspapers.
October 10: American pharmacologist and biochemists Alfred G. Gilman and Martin Rodbell are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Physiology for their G-protein discoveries.
October 11: The space shuttle STS-68 (Endeavour 7) lands.
October 11: Mathematician and Economists John Nash, John Harsanyi and Reinhard Selten win the Nobel Prize in Economics for their “pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games.”
October 13: Japanese writer Kenzaburo Oe wins the Nobel Prize for Literature.
October 14: Magellan, the NASA space probe, is burned up in the atmosphere of Venus.
October 16: Actor in the Addams Family, Raul Julia, suffers from a stroke.
October 17: At Cleveland’s Gund Arena, Billy Joel performs his opening concert.
October 19: In Tel Aviv, 22 people are killed by a Palestinian bomb attack.
October 20: American actor Burton “Burt” Lancaster, who stars in Spartacus, passes away at the age of 80 from a heart attack.
October 21: 32 people are killed in Seoul, Korea when Hana Bridge crashes.
October 21: A pact to end their nuclear projects is signed by North Korea.
October 22: In Texas, a statue of Sam Houston is unveiled.
October 24: In Sri Lanka, the opposition are attacked by a bomb, killing more than 55 people.
October 25: Before it was discovered she actually killed her children, Susan Smith announces that her two children were carjacked.
October 26: A peace accord is signed between Israel and Jordan.
October 28: For the third time, Sakigake, the Japanese space probe, passes Earth.
October 29: Over 60 million American dollars is paid out by New York Lotto.
October 29: In New York City, the National Museum of the American Indian opens.
October 29: At Earls Court in London, Pink Floyd finish their final concert tour.
October 30: A bug is reported on Intel’s Pentium-processor on the Internet by Thomas Nicely.
October 31: The single Creep by TLC is released, becoming their first US Number 1 single and Billboard Song of the Year 1995.
October 31: At the age of 14, Venus Williams, American tennis star, makes her debut by winning 6-3, 6-4 over the former NCAA champion world No. 58 Shaun Stafford. This takes place in the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, California.
November
November 1: In Mostaganem, Algeria, five children are murdered by Muslim fundamentalists.
November 2: In Dronka, Egypt, 400 people are killed by a Benzine explosion.
November 3: The woman who claimed her two children were carjacked, Susan Smith, was arrested for murder.
November 3: The most lucrative rookie contract in NBA history is signed by small forward Glenn Robinson – a $68.15 million, 10 year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.
November 4: The first conference focusing on the subject of the potential of the World Wide Web commercially takes place in San Francisco, California.
November 5: Ulysses, the space probe, finishes its first passage behind the Sun.
November 5: The world record for distance covered in one hour is cycled by Tony Rominger for the second time, reaching a distance of 55.291 km.
November 5: Michael Moorer is defeated by George Foreman, winning Foreman the boxing Heavyweight championship.
November 9: The first female president of Sri Lanka is chosen – Chandrika Kumaratunga.
November 11: Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex is bought for $30,800,000 by Bill Gates.
November 13: Sweden decides to join the European Union.
November 13: On lap 35 of the final season of the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, two racers fighting for the title Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill collide. Schumacher defeats Hill by one point, winning him his first F1 World Drivers Championship.
November 14: Under the English Channel, the first trains begin to run for the public in the Channel Tunnel.
November 15: Helmut Kohl is officially elected as Chancellor by German Bundestag, winning by a single vote of 341-340.
November 18: The film Star Trek: Generations premieres, starring Patrick Stewart and directed by David Carson.
November 20: The Lusaka Protocol is signed by UNITA rebels and the government of Angola in Zambia, bringing their 19 years of civil war to an end.
November 25: The founder of Sony, Akio Morita, declares he will no longer be CEO of the company.
November 28: After a vote, Norway decides not to join the European Union.
November 28: Jeffrey Dahmer, convicted serial killer, is clubbed to death at the age of 34 by Christopher Scarver, a fellow inmate in the Columbian Correctional Institution gymnasium in Wisconsin.
November 29: The 600th anniversary of its founding is celebrated in Seoul, Korea.
November 29: The studio album by Mary J. Blige, My Life, is released. It goes on to become the Billboard Music Award Top R&B Album of 1995.
November 30: The album Live at the BBC by the Beatles is released, making it their first album release in 25 years.
Boxer George Foreman
Image: Wikimedia Commons
December
December 1: American televangelist and convicted fraudster Jim Bakker is released from jail.
December 2: The film Cobb about Ty Cobb, baseball player, premieres. The film stars Tommy Lee Jones.
December 2: To begin ulcer treatment, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is admitted to hospital.
December 6: Orange County in California files for bankruptcy.
December 7: Mariah Carey wins Top Female Artist at the 5th Billboard Music Awards.
December 7: Howard Stern, radio personality, manages to talk a man out of committing suicide.
December 8: Baseball player Darryl Strawberry is indicted on charges for tax evasion.
December 8: A fire in a cinema kills 310 people in Karamay, China.
December 9: Following comments about masturbation, US Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders resigns.
December 10: The “All different, all Equal” European Campaign against Racism begins.
December 13: In North Carolina, an American Eagle commuter plane crashes and causes the deaths of 15 people.
December 16: Member of The Monkees, Davy Jones, is charged with driving while intoxicated.
December 18: On his tax evasion charges, baseball player Darryl Strawberry pleads not guilty.
December 23: Opposed strongly by players, baseball owners impose a salary cap.
December 23: After being scared he would be arrested by the FBI, gangster Whitey Bulger escapes Boston and hides from law enforcement successfully for the next 16 years.
December 28: Country singer Tammy Wynette is taken to hospital due to a bile duct infection.
December 28: The film The Madness of King George premieres in the US, based on the play by Alan Bennett. Nicholas Hytner directs it, and the film stars Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren.
December 31: Baltimore, Maryland experiences its first recorded snowless December.
December 31: African American football player and actor Woody Strode passes away at the age of 80 from lung cancer.
Tonya Harding and the Attack on Nancy Kerrigan
Tonya Harding is a two-time Olympian and a two-time Skate America Champion, and her fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan was her main skating rival. In 1994, Kerrigan was the only other skater that was in the way of Harding making the Olympic team. After a troubled upbringing, Harding put all her efforts into skating and was constantly determined to win at all costs. Because of this determination and the fierce competition, her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly hired a hitman to hit Kerrigan’s right knee.
Kerrigan was left with an injured leg but luckily without any broken bones, just bruises. However, she was still forced to pull out of competing in the national championships which were taking place the following night. Harding competed at the championships and won gold, guaranteeing her a spot at the Winter Olympics in Norway. To support Kerrigan after the attack, she was also awarded a place at the Olympics.
On January 14, 8 days after the attack, an investigation was launched into Shawn Eckhardt, Harding’s bodyguard at the time. Eckhardt confessed to the attack and revealed his involvement, incriminating the other men involved, including the hitman and Gillooly. The United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) debated whether Harding should be allowed to compete in the Olympics, and eventually decided to let her compete as there is no evidence contracting her claim that she wasn’t involved in the attack.
On February 1, Gillooly testifies against his ex-wife to receive a less harsh sentence and pleads guilty to racketeering. A few days after this, Harding’s trash revealed notes of Kerrigan’s practice schedule, and a handwriting expert announced that it was Harding’s handwriting on the schedule.
When the Olympics took place, Harding had a broken shoelace and had to stop mid-performance. Despite being allowed to re-skate, she came eighth place. Behind the cameras, evidence was gathering against Harding and she eventually pleaded guilty to “conspiracy to hinder prosecution,” landing her three years probation and a $160,000 fine. Shortly after, Harding was banned from skating for life by the USFSA. The story of Tonya Harding is brought to life by the film I, Tonya, starring Margot Robbie.
The Death of Kurt Cobain
When it was announced that Kurt Cobain, Nirvana front man, had committed suicide by shotgun, the world was shocked and saddened. Cobain had a difficult and angst-filled upbringing, struggling with depression and drug addiction in the last few years of his life. Despite his struggles, he had a huge impact on rock music in the 1990s and popularised the grunge genre, becoming a hugely influential face in the history of alternative rock.
Just days before he ended his life, Cobain had escaped from a recovery centre, with his patient wristband still attached to his arm when his body was found. Police also discovered sunglasses, towels, a cigar box where his drugs were kept, and his wallet not far from his body. They recovered a suicide note in the greenhouse above his house where his body laid, which has led to a conspiracy theory about whether the nature of his death was actually suicide. Some believe the last section of his note does not align with the first, causing many to believe that he might not have killed himself.
The death of Cobain at the age of 27 also puts him in the notorious “27 Club,” which is a group of influential people, musicians and public figures, who have all passed away at the age of 27. The group includes the likes of Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Nelson Mandela Becomes The First Black President of South Africa
South Africa imposed the brutal, racist system of Apartheid between 1948 and the early 1990s, enforcing strict institutionalised rules of segregation. Nelson Mandela was the key figure in the dismantling of the system, spending 27 years in several South African prisons for his activism.
He was the leader of the African National Congress, an organisation focusing on the ending of the government’s Apartheid policy. During prison, he became an international figure of the anti-apartheid movement and campaigns for his release from prison took place all over the world. Following his release in 1990, Mandela was seen as a symbol of national unity and made history when he was elected President of the country.
His presidency marked the end of Apartheid and symbolised that the black people of South Africa were “free at last.” Mandela won a landslide victory when he was elected, and the vote that took place was the first one in the country open to all citizens. He remained president for five years, using his time in office to unite the country and make the move to full democracy and civility between the races.