The year that brought us the fall of Escobar, the creation of the European Single Market and President Clinton sworn into office, 1993 events certainly made their mark on history. Below, Historic Newspapers brings you the ultimate 1993 timeline.

The stories from this dramatic year can be read about in an original 1993 newspaper.

1993 Timeline

Mug-shot of Pablo Escobar taken in 1976
Image: Wikimedia Commons

1993 Timeline

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January

January 1: Czechoslovakia officially splits into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

January 1: The European single market is created by the European Economic Community, eliminating trade barriers within the EU.

January 5: American serial killer, Westley Allan Dodd is hanged in the state of Washington for his crimes of assaulting and murdering three young boys. This is the first execution by hanging to be carried out in America since 1965.

January 5: US security company, Brinks is robbed. $7.4 million is stolen from the Armored Car Depot in Rochester, New York.

January 17: Following tabloid reports of an imminent divorce between Prince Charles and Princess Diana, UK Bookmakers slash the odds of the monarchy being abolished by the year 2000 from 100/1 to 50/1.

January 19: U.S. Air Force fires approximately forty Tomahawk cruise missiles at Baghdad factories linked to the illegal nuclear weapons program in Iraq.

January 20: The 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, is sworn into office.

January 25: Two CIA employees are killed, and three more injured in a shooting outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

January 26: The Bank of England interest rate is reduced to 6%, the lowest rate since 1978.

January 31: Super Bowl XXVII is won by the Dallas Cowboys 52–17. As a result the Buffalo Bills become the first team to ever lose three consecutive Super Bowls.

1993 Timeline

The inauguration of Bill Clinton
Image: Wikimedia Commons

February

February 11: Janet Reno becomes the first female US Attorney General as she is selected by President Clinton.

February 10: An estimated 90 million Americans tune in to watch Michael Jackson Talks To Oprah Winfrey.

February 12: The movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray is released in the United States.

February 12: The movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray is released in the United States.

February 12: The movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray is released in the United States.

February 14: In Merseyside, England, the body of two-year-old James Bulger is found by children playing near railway tracks. The toddler had been abducted from a shopping center two days previously.

February 24: Eric Clapton is awarded record of the year at the 35th Grammy Awards.

February 25: In England Warrington, Cheshire is bombed by the IRA. Though nobody is injured in the attack, extensive damage is caused due to the bomb being placed in a gas storage facility.

February 26: One of the most major events in 1993; six people die and over 1,000 are injured when a bomb is detonated at the World Trade Center in New York City.

February 28: In Waco, Texas, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms attempt to serve a warrant to search the compound of a religious sect, the Branch Davidians. A gunfight breaks out before officers can serve the warrant; four federal agents and six Branch Davidians die. This begins a 51-day siege.

March

March 4: Katharine Hepburn is hospitalized for exhaustion.

March 5: Ice build-up on the wings of an F-100 flight headed to Zürich, causing it to crash just after take-off from Skopje in Macedonia. 83 of the 97 on board Macedonian Palair Flight 301 die.

March 6: Whitney Houston enters the record books with her single I Will Always Love You as it enters its 14th week at number 1 in the US. This makes it the longest-running number 1 single of all time.

March 9: In Los Angeles, California, Rodney King is called as a witness in the trial against the four police officers who were caught on camera beating him in March ‘91. Two of the officers are found guilty of violating King’s civil rights by “willfully and intentionally using unreasonable force”.

March 12: 13 bombs explode throughout the city of Bombay (Mumbai), India. 1,400 are injured and 257 people die. Targets of the bombs include the Bombay Stock Exchange, Cinemas, and Air India HQ. The whole incident takes 2 hours and 10 minutes.

March 13: A cyclonic storm over the Mexican Gulf causes The Great Blizzard of 1993 to strike the U.S. Record-low temperatures and snowfall are seen stretching from Cuba to Quebec.

March 20: The IRA bomb Warrington for the second time this year. Two bombs explode at each end of a packed high-street. 54 people are injured and two die as a result of the attacks; one aged 12 and the other aged just three years old.

March 29: Billy Crystal hosts the 65th Academy Awards. Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven takes the Oscar for Best Film.

March 31: Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee dies while filming horror film The Crow. Lee is shot in the abdomen as the prop gun used in his character’s death scene had a live bullet lodged in the chamber.

April

April 3: UK bookmakers are forced to repay around £75 million bets as annual horse race, the Grand National, is cancelled. The non-race begins with a false start where 30 of the 39 horses running continue along the course. A re-start of the race is subsequently cancelled by the Jockey Club.

April 9: At the Cow Palace in San Francisco, Nirvana play a benefit concert for victims of rape in the ongoing war in Bosnia.

April 16: The UN declare the enclave of Srebrenica in Bosnia-Herzegovina as a safe zone for victims of the Bosnian war.

April 19: The 51-day stand-off between FBI and the Branch Davidian in Waco ends when members within the compound set buildings alight. 76 people within, including leader, David Koresh die. Becoming one of the most significant events in 1993 this incident has become the subject of numerous documentaries.

April 22: In London, Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager, is stabbed to death while waiting at a bus stop. The police handling of the racially motivated murder leads to a public inquiry and the creation of Criminal Justice Act in 2003

April 23: Following a rise in deaths related to the disease, tuberculosis is declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization.

April 24: In Bishopsgate, London an IRA made truck-bomb explodes. The blast destroys St Ethelburga’s church, and damages nearby buildings. One person dies and 44 more are injured.

April 28: The United States Air Force can now allow women to fly war planes after a combat exclusion is lifted.

April 29: An announcement is made by the Queen that, this summer, Buckingham Palace will be opened to the public for the first time.

April 30: World Number 1 Tennis player, Monica Seles leads the match against Magdalena Maleeva during a quarterfinal match at WTA Hamburg. During a break, a spectator runs onto the court and stabs Seles in the back. She is rushed to hospital and recovers from her injuries, though she will not play professionally again for another two years.

1993 Timeline

Admission to Buckingham Palace would cost £8 per adult
Image: Wikimedia Commons

May

May 1: A suicide bomber kills the Sri Lankan President, Ranasinghe Premadasa along with 5 others.

May 2: Manchester United are declared the first champions of the new British soccer FA Premier League.

May 5: Three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas are kidnapped and murdered. The suspects of these murders become known as the West Memphis Three.

May 6: STS-55 Space Shuttle mission lands safely after 9 days performing 88 experiments, including observations of Earth from space.

May 7: Japanese animated film My Neighbor Totoro is released in US cinemas, dubbed in English for the first time.

May 13: In Secunda, South Africa, 50 people are killed in a Methane gas explosion in a coal mine.

May 15: Ireland wins the Eurovision Song Contest with In Your Eyes performed by Niamh Kavanagh.

May 16: Breakfast Club actor, Judd Nelson pleads no contest to an assault charge for kicking a 21-year-old woman in the head. Nelson is later given two years’ probation for the misdemeanor.

May 24: Astronaut Mae Jemison becomes the first real astronaut to appear on sci-fi TV show, Star Trek.

May 28: Cliffhanger, starring Sylvester Stallone is released in US cinemas. 

June

June 3: In the UK, the Yorkshire seaside town of Scarborough suffers a coastal landslide. As a result, Hollbeck Hall Hotel collapses into the sea.

June 7: The artist Prince changes his name to a symbol.

June 9: Spielberg’s latest film Jurassic Park is released and goes on to be the highest grossing film to date, including a record $502 million in it’s opening weekend alone.

June 20: The first high speed train travels from England to France via the Channel Tunnel, which will open to the public in 1994.

June 24: The Republic of Ireland decriminalizes consensual homosexual acts.

June 24: David Gelernter, a scientist at Yale University, is maimed by a bomb sent by the Unabomber.

June 25: Kim Campbell becomes the first female Prime Minister of Canada.

June 25: Sleepless in Seattle is released in cinemas, starring Tom hanks and Meg Ryan.

June 27: In response to the uncovering of a plot to assassinate President George H Bush during his visit to Kuwait in April, President Clinton orders a cruise missile strike on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad.

June 30: The Managing Director of Nissan UK is jailed for 8 years for tax fraud totaling an estimated £55 million.

July

July 1: Eight people are killed and six injured by gunman, Gian Ferri when he enters a law firm in San Francisco. Ferri then shoots himself before police can arrest him.

July 2: 37 people are killed when a mob sets fire to a hotel in Turkey where translator to controversial novel The Satanic Verses is staying.

July 4: The Pizza Hut blimp crashes into an apartment building on West 56th Street in New York City. The pilot is taken to hospital, but nobody is critically injured.

July 15: Michael Jackson is sued by screenwriter Evan Chandler for molesting his 13-year-old son. The lawsuit is settled out of court as the singer is deemed by his legal advisors as not well enough to endure a lengthy trial.

July 16: The Security Service booklet is published by MI5. For the first time the British intelligence agency reveals its activities along with the identity of Director General Stella Rimington.

July 19: Clinton’s ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy regarding homosexuals serving in the American military is announced.

July 20: Vince Foster deputy counsel in the White House, suffering from clinical depression, commits suicide.

July 26: 68 people aboard Asiana Airlines Flight 733 die when it crashes into Mount Ungeo in South Korea.

July 29: Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk, on trial for war crimes in Israel, is acquitted of all charges and set free.

July 2: Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is re-released in cinemas. It is the first film to be scanned to digital files, manipulated, and then recorded back to film in its entirety.

1993 Timeline

MI5 Headquaters in London
Image: Wikimedia Commons

August

August 4: The largest stadium to be built in the UK since before WWII, Millwall F.C.’s new stadium in London is opened. Construction costs for New Den Stadium stand at $20million.

August 6: The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford is released in US cinemas.

August 10: The South Island of New Zealand is struck by an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale. Shockwaves are felt as far away as Australia.

August 13: Thailand suffers its worst hotel disaster when the Royal Plaza Hotel at Nakhon Ratchasima collapses. 137 people die.

August 21: NASA suffers failure when the Mars Observer spacecraft loses signal 3 days before it is due to enter orbit around Mars.

August 22: Catholic nun, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Theresa is admitted to hospital suffering from malaria.

August 27: After six years of construction the Rainbow Bridge suspension bridge across Tokyo Bay in Japan is completed.  

August 29: One Direction band member Liam Payne is born.

August 30: Parisian, Jacqueline Martinez is awarded a car for being the 150 millionth visitor to the Eiffel Tower.

September

September 2: In the 10th MTV Video Music Awards Pearl Jam are named video of the year for their song Jeremy.

September 6: The first known reference to Y2K is published in Computerworld magazine within an article by a Canadian software specialist titled Doomsday 2000.

September 10: A new sci-fi drama series starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson debuts on Fox. 12 million Americans tune in to watch X-Files.

September 13: After signing the Oslo I Accord, PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin shake hands. This agreement in Washington, D.C. is their first face-to-face meeting.

September 15: I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That) is released by Meatloaf. The single goes to number 1 in 28 countries.

September 20: Tropical Storm named Gert becomes a Category 2 hurricane and hits Central America and Mexico before dissipating six days later.

September 22: The deadliest train wreck in Amtrak history occurs when the Sunset Limited train derails on Big Bayou Canot Bridge in Alabama. 47 people are killed.

September 23: The International Olympic Committee awards the Summer Olympics 2000 to Sydney, Australia.

September 27: In Britain, crime series Cracker starring Robbie Coltrane debuts on ITV.

September 30: 28,000 are killed when an earthquake strikes Latur, India.

October

October 3: Operation Gothic Serpent leads to a large-scale battle between U.S. troops and militia in Mogadishu, Somalia over 1,000 Somalis are killed.

October 8: Scientologist leader, David Miscavige announces his church is now a recognized religion by the United States.

October 10: The Seohae, a South Korean ferry sinks off the coast of Pusan, South Korea; 292 people are killed.

October 15: Nelson Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

October 16: Police and protesters against the newly formed British Nationalist Party violently clash during an anti-racism march near BNP headquarters in Welling, South East London.

October 23: The IRA bomb a busy fish and chip shop in Belfast. 10 people, including the bomber are killed.

October 25: Actor Vincent Price loses his battle with lung cancer and dies at his home in Los Angeles.

October 27: A Wildfire begins in Laguna Canyon, California. Embers manage to spread to Laguna Beach destroying over 16,000 acres (65 km2) of land.

October 29: The Nightmare Before Christmas is released in US cinemas

October 31: River Phoenix, 27, dies on the sidewalk outside popular West Hollywood nightclub, The Viper Room. Cause of death is a drug overdose.

1993 Timeline

Actor Vincent Price 1969
Image: Wikimedia Commons

November

November 1: The Female branch of the UK’s Navy, the Women’s Royal Naval Service is disbanded. All women in service are integrated into the regular Royal Navy.

November 1: The European Union is formally established as the Maastricht Treaty, signed in 1992, takes effect.

November 12: The Inter-Governmental Conference on the Convention on the Dumping of Wastes at Sea, also known as the London Convention, bans the dumping of radioactive waste into the sea.

November 17: Despite winning their qualifying match 7–1 against San Marino, England fails to qualify for the World Cup in America next summer. England Manager, Graham Taylor resigns 8 days later.

November 18: On the M40 motorway near Warwick, England, a minibus carrying 14 schoolchildren crashes into a maintenance vehicle just after midnight. The teacher driving and 12 of the children are killed.

November 18: Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam is arrested for public drunkenness.

November 23: Snoop Doggy Dogg is releases his debut album Doggystyle.

November 24: 20th Century Fox releases the second highest grossing film of the year, Mrs Doubtfire, starring Robin Williams.

November 30: Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, and Ralph Fiennes, premieres in Washington, D.C. The film goes on to win the Oscar for Best Film in 1994.

November 30: President Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. Mandating federal background checks on those purchasing firearms in the United States. The Act also enforced a five-day waiting period on purchases.

December

December 2: Notorious drug lord, Pablo Escobar is gunned down by police in Colombia.

December 3: Princess Diana announces her withdrawal from public life.

December 7: In Long Island, New York, six people are murdered and 19 injured when Colin Ferguson opens fire on a Long Island Railroad train.

December 8: President Bill Clinton signs into law the North American Free Trade Agreement removing trade barriers between Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

December 10: First person shooter PC video game Doom is released.

December 11: One of three 13 story apartment blocks, known as Highland Towers near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia collapses due to a landslide. 48 people are killed.

December 15: The Downing Street Declaration is signed between the UK and Irish governments to compromise on the future of Northern Ireland.

December 20: After a mission to repair an optical flaw was launched on December 2nd, the first clear images from the Hubble Telescope are taken.

December 25: In her Christmas Day speech, the Queen speaks of hope for peace in Northern Ireland.

December 30: Diplomatic relations are established between Israel and the Vatican.

Terrorists attack the World Trade Center

Intended to cause structural damage and collapse of the North tower, a 1,200-pound (544kg) bomb inside a rented van was detonated in the parking garage at 12:18 p.m. on February 26, 1993. A crater 60 feet (18m) wide was left, collapsing several steel-reinforced concrete floors and a safe evacuation of the building took several hours.

An investigation by the FBI was launched immediately and, using details of the VIN number found on parts of the exploded rental van, the terrorist attack was traced to radical Islamic fundamentalists. The first arrest was made on March 4th when Mohammad Salameh went to claim the deposit on the exploded rental van. By May 6th 1993, five more men had been arrested, one of whom was indicted on August 25th.

On March 4, 1994 the four remaining men were found guilty and sentenced to 240 years each. Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the attack and maker of the bomb was tracked down in Pakistan and arrested in 1995. In January of ’98 Yousef was also sentenced to 240 years imprisonment. In August of the same year Eyad Ismoil, driver of the van was given the same sentence.
A memorial fountain was dedicated to the six victims of the attack and erected directly above the location of the explosion. A fragment of that memorial fountain is included within the museum created after 9/11. The current memorial on the site, opened on the 10th anniversary of the 2001 attack which leveled both World Trade Center towers, includes the six names of the victims who died in 1993.

Confrontation in Waco, Texas

Branch Davidians were founded in 1955 as an offshoot of a former religious community, following the death of its leader. In 1984 a man named Vernon Howell (later called David Koresh) emerged as their leader declaring himself a prophet.

It was his belief that God had appointed him to create a new ‘House of David’ and to procreate with the women within his religious group. Reports of Koresh’s claim of any women within the group led to allegations of statutory rape. He had fathered dozens of children to build his ‘Army of God’, and it was alleged that some of his ‘brides’ were as young as 12. Along with the accusations of child abuse the sect were also suspected of stockpiling illegal weapons.

In 1992 the compound, Mount Carmel, was placed under surveillance by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Enough evidence was gathered to issue a search warrant on the property. The ATF agents serving the warrant were fired at as they approached the compound. The subsequent firefight killed four agents, six Davidians, and multiple Davidians were injured.
The siege was not expected to last so long as on March 1st 10 children were released from the compound following negotiations with the FBI. On March 2nd Koresh demanded a video message be played on the Christian Broadcasting Network before his surrender but goes back on his word. On March 7th Koresh announced that he was the father of all remaining children within the compound and they will not be released.

Several times throughout the siege the electricity of the compound is shut off by the FBI. Eight women and two men were released from the compound at the end of March and the Davidians promised to surrender after they observed Passover. The FBI anticipated Koresh reneging on this deal and organised a tear gas attack on the compound which was executed on April 19th.
As the gas hit the compound, gunfire was heard from within and several fires broke out. The compound was raised to the ground and David Koresh along with many of his followers were confirmed dead. 9 survivors of the Branch Davidians were charged with firearms offences and ‘aiding and abetting the voluntary manslaughter of federal agents’ on August 3rd 1993.

Pablo Escobar

Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar was the head of the Medellín Cartel who trafficked drugs, mainly cocaine, throughout the 80s and 90s. It is thought that he controlled 80% of the cocaine trafficked into the USA. Though responsible for the killing of thousands of people his name could be found on Forbes Magazine’s annual list of billionaires from 1987 to 1993.
Following much violence Escobar’s power within Colombia began to diminish and in June 1991 Escobar surrendered to the Colombian government and was imprisoned in a luxury prison, built with his own money. In 1992, when the government attempted to remove Escobar from his luxurious surroundings and hand-picked guards, he escaped “La Catedral” and started a 16-month long manhunt.

When Escobar was located by police on December 2, 1993 he and his bodyguard were shot dead as they tried to escape by running across the rooftops of buildings. Despite being known as the most violent criminal of all time, thanks to his ‘Robin Hood’ persona and the funding of charity projects within Medellín more than 25,000 people attended his funeral.