1991 Newspaper Headlines
Historic Newspapers’ collection of 1991 news articles detail some of the most memorable 1991 headlines as they happened at the time. It was during this year that Germany finally regained independence after WWII, a devastating cyclone killed 138,000 in Bangladesh, and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was released in the U.S. A 1991 newspaper will provide a fascinating insight into what it was like to read this news at the time, in an age where the internet hadn’t yet accelerated the dissemination of news.
January 16, 1991
Operation Desert Storm begins with air strikes against Iraq in the Gulf War.
February, 1991Â
The early 1990s recession ends.
February 7, 1991
Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Kuwait, thus starting the ground phase of the Gulf War.
February 27, 1991Â
President George H. W. Bush announces that “Kuwait is liberated.”
March 15, 1991
Germany formally regains complete independence after the four post-World War II occupying powers (France, United Kingdom, United States and the Soviet Union) relinquish all remaining rights.
April 29, 1991
A tropical cyclone hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 138,000 people.
May 16, 1991Â
Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first British monarch to address the United States Congress.
June 12, 1991Â
The Chicago Bulls win their first NBA Championship after beating the Los Angeles Lakers.
June 25, 1991
Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia.
July 11, 1991
A Solar Eclipse of record totality occurs.
July 22, 1991Â
Mike Tyson is arrested and charged with raping Miss Black America contestant Desiree Washington three days earlier in Indianapolis, Indiana.
July 22, 1991Â
Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested after the remains of eleven men and boys are found in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin apartment. Police soon find out that he is involved in six more murders.
July 31, 1991Â
The United States and the Soviet Union sign the START I treaty limiting strategic nuclear weapons.
August 8, 1991
The Warsaw radio mast, the tallest construction ever built, collapses.
August 23, 1991
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is released in the United States.
November 2, 1991
Australia beats England 12-6 at Twickenham Stadium to win the 1991 Rugby World Cup.
November 5, 1991
The body of publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell is found floating in the Atlantic Ocean.
November 6, 1991
The KGB officially stops operations.
November 24, 1991Â
Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury dies from AIDS at 45 years old, one day after making his diagnosis public.
December 22, 1991
One month after Freddie Mercury’s death, Queen re-release “Bohemian Rhapsody” and it returns to the top of the British singles charts; sixteen years after the original version.
December 25, 1991
Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union, from which most republics have already disbanded. The 73-year-old state is now expected to dissolve completely.
December 31, 1991
The Soviet Union officially ceases to exist.
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