1991

"August 1991" redirects here. For the film, see August 1991 (film).

This article is about the year 1991. For other uses, see 1991 (disambiguation).

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1960s · 1970s · 1980s · 1990s · 2000s · 2010s · 2020s
Years:	1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994

1991 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar	1991 MCMXCI
Ab urbe condita	2744
Armenian calendar	1440 ԹՎ ՌՆԽ
Assyrian calendar	6741
Bahá'í calendar	147–148
Bengali calendar	1398
Berber calendar	2941
British Regnal year	39 Eliz. 2 – 40 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2535
Burmese calendar	1353
Byzantine calendar	7499–7500
Chinese calendar	庚午年 (Metal Horse) 4687 or 4627 — to — 辛未年 (Metal Goat) 4688 or 4628
Coptic calendar	1707–1708
Discordian calendar	3157
Ethiopian calendar	1983–1984
Hebrew calendar	5751–5752
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2047–2048
- Shaka Samvat	1912–1913
- Kali Yuga	5091–5092
Holocene calendar	11991
Igbo calendar	991–992
Iranian calendar	1369–1370
Islamic calendar	1411–1412
Japanese calendar	Heisei 3 (平成３年)
Javanese calendar	1923–1924
Juche calendar	80
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4324
Minguo calendar	ROC 80 民國80年
Nanakshahi calendar	523
Thai solar calendar	2534
Unix time	662688000–694223999

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1991.

1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (dominical letter F) of the Gregorian calendar, the 1991st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 991st year of the 2nd millennium, the 91st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1990s decade.

It was the year that is usually considered the final year of the Cold War that had begun in the late 1940s. During the year, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics collapsed into fifteen sovereign republics. India also abandoned its policies of socialism and autarky and began extensive neoliberal changes to its economy in July 1991 which would increase the GDP but also economic inequality over the next two decades.^[1] A U.N.-authorized coalition force from thirty-four nations fought against Iraq, which had invaded Kuwait in the previous year, 1990. The conflict would be called the Gulf War and would mark the beginning of a since-constant American military presence in the Middle East. The clash between Serbia and the other Yugoslav republics would lead into the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars, which ran through the rest of the decade.

The Japanese asset price bubble collapsed this year, leading to the Lost Years and a permanently stagnated (though still prosperous) Japanese economy.^[2]

Events

January

January 1
- Czechoslovakia becomes the second Eastern European country to abandon its command economy.
- The first anti-stalking law, passed in 1990, goes into effect in California.^[3]
- Dublin begins its year as the European Capital of Culture.
January 2 – In eastern El Salvador, Salvadoran rebels shoot down a United States Army helicopter and execute the 2 surviving members of its 3-man crew.
January 4 – The United Nations Security Council votes unanimously to condemn Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.
January 5 – Georgian troops attack Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, opening the 1991–92 South Ossetia War.
January 6
- The runoff for the Guatemalan presidential election is won by Jorge Serrano Elías.
- The All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers is founded in Udaipur.
January 7 – In Haiti, an attempted coup by an associate of former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier is thwarted by Loyalist troops.
January 9
- United States Secretary of State James Baker meets with the Foreign Minister of Iraq Tariq Aziz, but fails to produce a plan for Iraq to withdraw its troops from Kuwait.
- In Sebokeng, South Africa, gunmen fire on mourners attending the funeral of a leader of the African National Congress, killing 13 people.
January 12 – Gulf War: The Congress of the United States passes a resolution authorizing the use of military force to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
January 13 – Singing Revolution: Soviet forces storm Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence. January Events (Lithuania) and the Time of Barricades in Latvia.
January 15
- The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
- Prime Minister of Cape Verde Pedro Pires resigns following his party's loss in the January 13 Cape Verdean parliamentary election, the first ever multiparty election in an African nation.
January 16
- U.S. serial killer Aileen Wuornos confesses to the murders of 6 men.
- Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins with air strikes against Iraq.
January 17
- Gulf War: Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel.
- Harald V of Norway becomes king on the death of his father, Olav V.
- The volcano Hekla erupts on Iceland.
January 18 – Eastern Air Lines shuts down after 62 years, citing financial problems.
January 19
- An Iraqi Scud attack on Tel Aviv in Israel injures 15 people.
- The Party of the Alliance of Youth, Workers and Farmers of Angola is founded in Luanda, Angola.
January 21 – Harald V's investiture ceremony as King of Norway.
January 22
- Three Iraqi Scuds and one Patriot missile hit Ramat Gan in Israel, injuring 96 people; 3 elderly people die of heart attacks.
- The British Army SAS patrol, Bravo Two Zero, is deployed in Iraq during the Gulf War.
January 24 – The government of Papua New Guinea signs a peace agreement with separatist leaders from Bougainville Island, ending fighting that had gone on since 1988.
January 26 – Siad Barre is overthrown; Somalia enters civil war.
January 29
- Siad Barre is succeeded by Ali Mahdi Muhammad in Somalia.
- In South Africa, Nelson Mandela of the African National Congress and Mangosuthu Buthelezi of the Inkatha Freedom Party agree to end the violence that had plagued relations between the two organizations.
- Gulf War: the Battle of Khafji occurs, the battle lasts until February 1.

February

February 1
- A USAir Boeing 737-300, USAir Flight 1493 collides with a SkyWest Airlines Fairchild Metroliner, 5569 at Los Angeles International Airport, killing 34.
- A deadly earthquake kills at least 1,200 people in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
February 5 – A Michigan court bars Dr. Jack Kevorkian from assisting in suicides.
February 6 – Street Fighter II released for arcades.
February 7
- Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
- The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.
- Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Kuwait, thus starting the ground phase of the war.
February 9 – Singing Revolution: Voters in Lithuania support independence.
February 11 – The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) forms in The Hague, Netherlands.
February 13 – Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy an underground bunker in Baghdad, killing hundreds of Iraqis. United States military intelligence claims it was a military facility but Iraqi officials identify it as a bomb shelter.
February 15 – The Visegrad Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
February 17 – The Cape Verdean presidential election, Cape Verde's first multiparty presidential election since 1975, is won by António Mascarenhas Monteiro.
February 18 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes bombs in the early morning, at both Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
February 20 – President of Albania Ramiz Alia dismisses the government headed by Prime Minister of Albania Adil Çarçani in an effort to stem pro-democracy protests. Fatos Nano is sworn in as Prime Minister on February 22.
February 22 – Gulf War: Iraq accepts a Soviet-proposed cease fire agreement. The U.S. rejects the agreement, but says that retreating Iraqi forces will not be attacked if they leave Kuwait within 24 hours.
February 23
- The One Meridian Plaza fire in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania kills 3 firefighters and destroys 8 floors of the building.
- In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong deposes Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan in a bloodless coup d'état.
February 25 – Gulf War: Part of an Iraqi Scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 29 and injuring 99 U.S. soldiers. It is the single-most devastating attack on U.S. forces during that war.
February 26 – Gulf War: On Baghdad radio, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Iraqi soldiers set fire to Kuwaiti oil fields as they retreat.
February 27
- President Bush declares victory over Iraq and orders a cease-fire.
- In the Bangladeshi general election, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party wins 139 of 300 seats in the Jatiyo Sangshad. BNP leader Khaleda Zia becomes President of Bangladesh on March 19.

March

March – Iraqi forces suppress rebellions in the southern and northern parts of the country, creating a humanitarian disaster on the borders of Turkey and Iran.
March 1
- The ballistic missile submarine USS Sam Houston is deactivated.
- Clayton Keith Yeutter ends his term as United States Secretary of Agriculture.
March 3
- An amateur video captures the beating of motorist Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.
- Singing Revolution: In the Estonian independence referendum and the Latvian independence and democracy poll, voters vote more than 3 to 1 in favor of independence from the Soviet Union.
- United Airlines Flight 585 crashes in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing all 25 people on board.
- The São Tomé and Príncipe presidential election, the first contested presidential election in the history of São Tomé and Príncipe, is won by Miguel Trovoada.
March 6 – Prime Minister of India Chandra Shekhar resigns because of a dispute with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, whose support had kept him in power.
March 9 – Massive demonstrations are held against Slobodan Milošević in Belgrade; 2 people are killed and tanks are in the streets.
March 10
- Gulf War – Operation Phase Echo: 540,000 American troops begin to leave the Persian Gulf.
- In the Salvadoran legislative election, the Nationalist Republican Alliance wins 39 of 48 seats in the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador.
March 11 – A curfew is imposed on black townships in South Africa, after fighting between rival political gangs kills 49.
March 13
- The United States Department of Justice announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
- The Acid Rain Treaty of 1991 is signed between the American and Canadian governments.
March 14
- The Emir of Kuwait, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, returns to Kuwait after seven months of exile in Saudi Arabia while his country was occupied by Iraq.
- After 16 years in prison for allegedly bombing a public house in a Provisional Irish Republican Army attack, the "Birmingham Six" are freed when a court determines that the police fabricated evidence.
March 15
- Four Los Angeles, California police officers are indicted for the videotaped March 3 beating of Rodney King during an arrest.
- Germany formally regains complete independence after the four post-World War II occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union) relinquish all remaining rights.
- The United States and Albania resume diplomatic relations for the first time since 1939.
March 17
- In a national referendum, the people of the Soviet Union vote in favor of keeping the 15 Soviet republics together, with the pro-unity position gaining 77% of the vote. 6 Union Republics effectively boycott the referendum.
- In the Finnish parliamentary election, the Centre Party wins 55 of 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland, ending 25 years of dominance by the Social Democratic Party of Finland.
March 19–26 – President of Poland Lech Wałęsa becomes the first Polish president to ever visit the U.S.
March 23 – The Sierra Leone Civil War begins when the Revolutionary United Front attempts a coup against the Sierra Leone government.
March 24 – The Beninese presidential election, Benin's first presidential election since 1970, is won by Nicéphore Soglo.
March 26
- In Mali, military officers led by Amadou Toumani Touré arrest President Moussa Traoré and suspend the constitution.
- Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay sign the Treaty of Asunción, establishing the South Common Market (Mercosur is its acronym in Spanish).
- In Daegu, South Korea, the remains of 5 boys are found 11 years after their disappearance (Korean:개구리소년 실종사건/English:Frog Boys)
March 31
- Albania holds its first multi-party elections.
- Georgian independence referendum, 1991: Georgia votes for independence from the Soviet Union.

April

April 1 – Comedy Central is launched on cable television in its current format.
April 2 – Government-imposed price increases double or triple the prices of consumer goods in the Soviet Union.
April 3 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.N. Security Council passes the Cease Fire Agreement, Resolution 687. The Resolution calls for the destruction or removal of all of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, all stocks of agents and components, and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities for ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 km and production facilities; and for an end to its support for international terrorism. Iraq accepts the terms of the resolution on April 6.
April 4
- Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and 6 other people are killed when a helicopter collides with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania.
- William Kennedy Smith, a nephew of U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, is identified as a suspect in an alleged Palm Beach, Florida sexual assault.
- Forty people are taken hostage in the 1991 Sacramento hostage crisis
April 5
- Former Senator John Tower and 22 others are killed in an airplane crash in Brunswick, Georgia, United States.
- STS-37: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The shuttle launches an observatory to study gamma rays before returning to Earth on April 11.
April 9
- The Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
- The first Soviet troops leave Poland.^[4]
April 10
- A South Atlantic tropical cyclone develops in the Southern Hemisphere off the coast of Angola (the first of its kind to be documented by weather satellites).
- The Italian ferry Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy killing 140.
April 12 – Globalization – The Warsaw Stock Exchange opens in Poland.
April 14 – In the Netherlands, thieves steal 20 paintings worth $500 million from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Less than an hour later they are found in an abandoned car near the museum.
April 15
- The EBRD is inaugurated.
- The European Economic Community lifts economic sanctions on South Africa in response to moves to end the apartheid system.
April 16–18 – Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev begins the first ever visit of a Soviet leader to Japan, but fails to resolve the two countries' dispute over ownership of the Kuril Islands.
April 17 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 3,000 for the first time ever, at 3,004.46.
April 18 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq declares some of its chemical weapons and materials to the UN, as required by Resolution 687, and claims that it does not have a biological weapons program.
April 19 – George Carey is enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
April 21 – French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio discovers the wreckage of the Spanish Galleon San Diego (ship) off the coast of Fortune Island (Philippines).
April 22
- The Social Democratic Party of Albania is founded.
- A 7.6 earthquake kills 82 in Costa Rica and Panama.
April 23 – Prime Minister of Iceland Steingrímur Hermannsson resigns following an inconclusive parliamentary election on April 20. On April 30, he is succeeded as prime minister by Davíð Oddsson.
April 26
- 70 tornadoes break out in the central United States, killing 17. The most notable tornado of the day strikes Andover, Kansas.
- Esko Aho, age 36, becomes the youngest-ever Prime Minister of Finland.
April 29
- A tropical cyclone hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 138,000 people.
- STS-39: Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off from Cape Canaveral to study instruments related to the Strategic Defense Initiative. The mission ends on May 6.
- The 7.0 Mw Racha earthquake affects Georgia with a maximum MSK intensity of IX (Destructive), killing 270 people.
April 29–30 – In Lesotho, a bloodless coup ousts military ruler Justin Lekhanya. On May 2, he is replaced as Chairman of the Military Council by Elias Phisoana Ramaema.

May

May – The first Starbucks Coffee outlet is opened in California.^[5]
May 1 – Angolan Civil War: The MPLA and UNITA agree to the Bicesse Accords, which are formally signed on May 31 in Lisbon.
May 4
- Carola Søgaard's song Fångad av en stormvind wins the Eurovision Song Contest in Rome, Italy for Sweden.
- U.S. President Bush is hospitalized after experiencing irregular heartbeat. He is released from the hospital the next day.
May 12 – Nepal holds its first multiparty legislative election since 1959.
May 13 – Winnie Mandela is convicted of kidnapping. On May 14, she is sentenced to 6 years in prison.
May 14 – Elizabeth II arrives in Washington, D.C. for a 13-day royal visit to the U.S.
May 15 – Édith Cresson becomes France's first female premier.
May 18 – Somaliland withdraws from Somalia.
May 19 – In the Croatian independence referendum, voters in the Socialist Republic of Croatia vote to secede from Yugoslavia.
May 21
- In Sriperumbudur, India, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated at a public meeting in Sriperumbudur, by suicide bomber Thenmozhi Rajaratnam; many others are killed in the explosion.
- Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia to Zimbabwe, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end.
May 22 – Acting Prime Minister of South Korea Ro Jai-bong resigns in the wake of rioting following a beating death of a student by police on April 26. On May 24, he is succeeded by Chung Won-shik.
May 24 – Authorised by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Operation Solomon commences.
May 25 – The Surinamese general election is won by the military-backed New Front for Democracy and Development.
May 26 – In Thailand, a Lauda Air Boeing 767 crashes near Bangkok, killing all 223 people on board.
May 28 – In the Ethiopian Civil War, the forces of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front seize Addis Ababa.
May 31 – The Dwyer decision in the Cascadian part of the United States about logging in old-growth forests with spotted owls protects large areas of forest and changes the economy of the region.^[6]

June

Mount Pinatubo

June 3
- Mount Unzen erupts, killing 43 people as a result of pyroclastic flow.
- Ethiopian Civil War: Derg insurgents explode an ammunition dump in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia held by the new pro-US anti-communist Ethiopian government.
June 4
- Fatos Nano resigns as Prime Minister of Albania following a nationwide strike. President of Albania Ramiz Alia appoints Ylli Bufi as his successor.
- The largest solar flare ever recorded triggers an anomalously large aurora as far south as Pennsylvania.^[7]^[8]
June 5
- President of Algeria Chadli Bendjedid dismisses Prime Minister of Algeria Mouloud Hamrouche following 11 days of antigovernment demonstrations, replacing him with Sid Ahmed Ghozali.
- South Africa repeals the last legal foundations of apartheid, the laws that segregated places of residence and employment.
- STS-40: Space Shuttle Columbia carries the Spacelab into orbit.
June 7 – About 200,000 people attend a parade of 8,800 returning Persian Gulf War troops in Washington, D.C.
June 9 – A major collapse of ground at the Emaswati Colliery in Swaziland traps 26 miners 65 m below the surface. The men have access to a safe refuge chamber and are all rescued by a drill hole 30 hours after the rescue unit is first alerted.
June 10 – 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard of California, is kidnapped and held captive.
June 12
- Boris Yeltsin is elected President of Russia, the largest and most populous of the 15 Soviet republics.
- Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 152 civilians in Kokkadichcholai.
June 13 – A spectator is killed by lightning at the U.S. Open.
June 15
- In the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts in the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century; the final death toll tops 800.
- End of voting in the Indian general election. The Indian National Congress wins the most seats but fails to secure a majority. On June 21, Congress leader P. V. Narasimha Rao becomes Prime Minister of India
June 17
- Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act, which had required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.
- U.S. President Zachary Taylor is exhumed to discover whether or not his death was caused by arsenic poisoning, instead of acute gastrointestinal illness; no trace of arsenic is found.
- In Northern Ireland, the four main political parties begins talks on restoring self-government.
- President of Turkey Turgut Özal appoints Mesut Yılmaz as Prime Minister of Turkey, replacing Yıldırım Akbulut, who had resigned.
- Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall announced plans to retire.
June 20 – In Germany, the Bundestag votes to move the capital from Bonn to Berlin.
June 21 – P. V. Narasimha Rao sworn in as the Prime Minister of India in a Congress party-led coalition government.
June 23
- Mesut Yılmaz, of ANAP forms the new government of Turkey (48th government).
- The first Sonic the Hedgehog game is published by Sega. The series will soon become extremely popular, and (as of 2016) is still being produced.
June 23–28 – Iraq disarmament crisis: U.N. inspection teams attempt to intercept Iraqi vehicles carrying nuclear related equipment. Iraqi soldiers fire warning shots in the air to prevent inspectors from approaching the vehicles.
June 25 – Collapse of Yugoslavia: Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia.
June 28 – Comecon is dissolved in Moscow.

July

July 1
- The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved at a meeting in Prague.
- Telephone service goes down in the cities of Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and San Francisco due to a software bug. About twelve million customers are affected.
- Clarence Thomas is nominated to replace Thurgood Marshall as the Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
July 2 – Ten-Day War: Fighting breaks out when the Yugoslav People's Army attacks secessionists in Slovenia.
July 4 – President of Colombia César Gaviria lifts a 7-year-long state of siege.
July 6–7 – Steffi Graf and Michael Stich win the 1991 Wimbledon Championships.
July 7 – The Brioni Agreement ends the Ten-Day War in Slovenia.
July 9
- In response to the end of apartheid, the International Olympic Committee readmits South Africa to the Olympics.
- Iran–Contra affair: Alan Fiers agrees to plead guilty to two charges of having lied to the U.S. Congress.
July 10
- Boris Yeltsin begins his 5-year term as the first elected president of Russia.
- President Bush announces the U.S. is ending its 1986-enacted sanctions on South Africa.
July 11
- A solar eclipse of record totality occurs, seen first in Hawaii, then enters Mexico where the path directly crosses Cabo San Lucas and Mexico City, seen by 20 million inhabitants, and finally ends in Colombia in South America.
- Nigeria Airways Flight 2120, a Douglas DC-8 operated by Canadian airline Nolisair, catches fire and crashes soon after takeoff from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing all 261 people on board.
July 15 – Chemical Bank and Manufacturers Hanover Corporation announce that they are merging, the largest bank merger in history.
July 16
- President Gorbachev arrives in London to ask for western aid from the leaders of the G7.
- Ukraine celebrates its first Independence Day.
July 17 – President Bush and President Gorbachev reach an agreement on START II, which is formally signed on July 31.
July 18
- In Israel, a judge investigating a 1990 incident outside a mosque in Jerusalem in which at least 17 Palestinians were killed rules that Israeli police provoked the incident.
- The governments of Mauritania and Senegal sign a treaty to stop the Mauritania–Senegal Border War which had been going on since 1989.
July 21 – Ian Baker-Finch wins the 1991 Open Championship.
July 22
- Boxer Mike Tyson is arrested and charged with the rape of Miss Black America contestant Desiree Washington 3 days earlier, in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested after the remains of 11 men and boys are found in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin, apartment. Police soon find out that he is involved in 6 more murders.
July 24 – Finance Minister of India, Manmohan Singh announces a New Industrial Policy, marking the start of India's economic reforms.
July 25 – British astronomers announce they have found what appears to be an extrasolar planet.
July 27 – An oil spill begins fouling beaches in Olympic National Park.
July 29 – In New York, a grand jury indicts Bank of Credit and Commerce International of the largest bank fraud in history, accusing the bank of defrauding depositors of $5 billion.
July 30 – In Haiti, a jury convicts the Tonton Macoute of attempting to overthrow Haiti's first democratically-elected government.
July 31
- The Warsaw Treaty Organization is officially dissolved in accordance with a protocol calling for a “transition to all-European structures."
- The United States and the Soviet Union sign the START I treaty limiting strategic nuclear weapons.
- Singing Revolution: Soviet Special Purpose Police Unit (OMON) forces kill 7 Lithuanian customs officials in Medininkai in the most serious of the Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts.

August

The Warsaw radio mast after its collapse on August 8.

August 19: The coup attempt in Moscow.

August 1 – Israel agrees to participate in the Madrid Conference of 1991, which is held in October.
August 4 – The cruise liner MTS Oceanos sinks off the coast of South Africa; all 571 passengers on board are safely evacuated.
August 5 – Sergey Bubka breaks the world record for men's pole vault.
August 6 – Tim Berners-Lee announces the World Wide Web project and software on the alt.hypertext newsgroup. The first website, "info.cern.ch" is created.
August 7 – Shapour Bakhtiar, former prime minister of Iran, is assassinated.
August 8 – The Warsaw radio mast, the tallest construction ever built at the time, collapses.
August 13 – The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (or "Super Nintendo") is released in the United States.
August 17
- Strathfield massacre: In Sydney, Australia, taxi driver Wade Frankum shoots 7 people and injures 6 others before turning the gun on himself.
- The remains of the Prussian King Frederick ( II ) the Great is re-interred in Potsdam.
August 19 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is put under house arrest while vacationing in the Crimea during a coup. The attempted coup, led by Vice President Gennady Yanayev and 7 hard-liners attempting to usurp control, collapses in less than 72 hours.
August 20
- Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Estonia restores its independence from the Soviet Union.
- Dissolution of the Soviet Union: More than 100,000 people rally outside the Soviet Union's parliament building protesting the coup that deposed President Mikhail Gorbachev.
August 21 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Latvia restores its independence from the Soviet Union.
August 22 – Iceland is the first nation in the world to recognize the independence of the Baltic states.
August 24 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Ukraine declares independence from Soviet Union.
August 25
- Serbian aggression (Yugoslav People's Army and Chetniks) starts on Croatian town Vukovar.
- Student Linus Torvalds posts messages to Usenet newsgroup comp.os.minix about the new operating system kernel he has been developing.
- Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Belarus declares independence from Soviet Union.
August 27 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Moldova declares independence from the Soviet Union.
August 29
- Maronite general Michel Aoun leaves Lebanon via a French ship into exile.
- Boris Yeltsin bans and dissolves the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
August 30 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Azerbaijan declares independence from Soviet Union.
August 31 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan declare independence from the Soviet Union.

September

Map of the three Baltic states, in their flag colours.

September 2 – The United States re-recognizes the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and the US government reopens the embassies there.
September 3 – In Hamlet, North Carolina, a grease fire breaks out at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant, killing 25 people.
September 5–7 – At the 35th Annual Tailhook Symposium in Las Vegas, 83 women and 7 men are assaulted.
September 5 – The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union self-dissolves, replaced by Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and State Council of the Soviet Union
September 6
- Singing Revolution: The Soviet Union recognizes the independence of the Baltic states.
- The name Saint Petersburg is restored to Russia's second-largest city, which had been renamed Leningrad in 1924.
September 8 – The Republic of Macedonia becomes independent. A naming dispute with Greece immediately erupts.
September 9 – Tajikistan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
September 11
- Israel releases 51 Arab prisoners and the bodies of 9 guerillas, raising hopes that the last Western hostages in Lebanon will soon be released.
- The Soviet Union announces plans to withdraw Soviet military and economic aid to Cuba.
September 15 – In the Swedish general election, the Social Democrats suffer their worst election results in 60 years, leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson.
September 16 – Judge Gerhard Gesell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issues a ruling clearing Col. Oliver North of all charges brought against him in the Iran–Contra affair.
September 17 – North Korea, South Korea, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.
September 19 – Ötzi the Iceman is found in the Alps.
September 20–21 – In Sandy, Utah, several patients are held hostage and a nurse is killed in the Alta View Hospital hostage incident.
September 21
- Armenia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
- The Order of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence of German tongue (Orden der Schwestern der Perpetuellen Indulgenz deutscher Zunge, "O.S.P.I.") is founded in Heidelberg by Erzmutter (Archmother) Johanna Indulgentia Tara Maria Benedicta O.S.P.I.
- AFL Grand Final: Hawthorn Hawks defeat West Coast Eagles by 53 points at Waverley Park, the final score 20.19.139 – 13.8.86.
September 21–30 – Iraq disarmament crisis: IAEA inspectors discover files on Iraq's hidden nuclear weapons program. Iraqi officials confiscate documents from U.N. weapons inspectors, refusing to allow them to leave the site without turning over other documents. A 4-day standoff ensues. Iraq permits the team to leave with the documents after the U.N. Security Council threatens enforcement actions.
September 22 – The Huntington Library makes the Dead Sea Scrolls available to the public for the first time.
September 23 – United Nations Special Commission inspectors discover secret Iraqi documents in Baghdad detailing plans to make nuclear weapons, but the Iraqi Army forcibly remove the documents from the inspectors.
September 24 – Lebanese kidnappers release Jackie Mann, 77, after more than 2 years of captivity.
September 25 – In the Salvadoran Civil War, representatives of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front reach an agreement with President of El Salvador Alfredo Cristiani, setting the stage for ending over 11 years of civil war.
September 27 – President Bush announces unilateral reductions in short-range nuclear weapons and calls off 24-hour alerts for long-range bombers. The Soviet Union responds with similar unilateral reductions on October 5.
September 29 – In El Salvador, an army colonel of the Atlacatl Battalion is found guilty of the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests and their housekeepers.
September 30
- Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed from power. He is reinstated in 1994.
- A tornado destroys parts of Itu, a city in southeastern Brazil, killing 16 and leaving 176 injured.

October

October 1 – Croatian War of Independence: Yugoslav People's Army forces invade the area surrounding Dubrovnik in Croatia, beginning the Siege of Dubrovnik which lasts until May 31, 1992.
October 3
- Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton announces he will seek the 1992 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
- Nadine Gordimer, whose work was once suppressed because of its scathing criticism of Apartheid in South Africa, is awarded the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature.
- House Speaker Tom Foley announced the closure of the House Bank by the end of the year after revelations that House members had written numerous bad checks.
October 4 – Carl Bildt becomes the new Prime Minister of Sweden, replacing Ingvar Carlsson .
October 6 – President Gorbachev condemns Antisemitism in the Soviet Union in a statement read on the 50th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacres, which saw the death of 35,000 Jews in Ukraine.
October 7 – The Yugoslav Air Force bombs the office of President of Croatia Franjo Tuđman, who narrowly escapes with his life.
October 8 – The Croatian Parliament cuts all remaining ties with Yugoslavia.
October 11
- In Russia, the KGB is replaced by the SVR.
- Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 715, which demands that Iraq "accept unconditionally the inspectors and all other personnel designated by the Special Commission". Iraq rejects the resolution, calling it "unlawful."
October 11–13 – The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee interviews both Supreme Court candidate Clarence Thomas and former aide Anita Hill, who alleges that Thomas sexually harassed her while she worked for him.
October 12 – Askar Akayev, previously chosen President of Kyrgyzstan by its Supreme Soviet, is confirmed president in an uncontested poll.
October 13 – In the Bulgarian parliamentary election, the Union of Democratic Forces defeats the Bulgarian Socialist Party, leaving no remaining Communist governments in Eastern Europe.
October 14 – Aung San Suu Kyi, a Burmese opposition politician, won the Nobel Peace prize.
October 15 – The United States Senate votes 52–48 to confirm Judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United States.
October 16 – George Hennard murders 23 people in Killeen, Texas before killing himself.
October 18 – The Soviet Union restores diplomatic relations with Israel, which had been suspended since the 1967 Six-Day War.
October 20
- The Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3,469 homes and apartments.
- The Harare Declaration lays down the membership criteria for the Commonwealth of Nations.
- Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke wins a spot in the runoff election for governor of Louisiana, ultimately losing to Edwin Edwards.
October 21 – Lebanese kidnappers release Jesse Turner, a mathematics professor who had been held hostage for more than 4 years.
October 23 – In Paris, the Vietnam-backed government of the state of Cambodia signs an agreement with the Khmer Rouge to end the civil war and bring the Khmer Rouge into government in spite of its role in the Cambodian genocide which ends the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. The deal results in the creation of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia.
October 27
- The first free parliamentary elections are held in Poland.
- Turkmenistan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
October 28 – November 4 – The 1991 Perfect Storm strikes the northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada, causing over $200 million of damage and resulting in 12 direct fatalities.
October 29
- The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid.
- The U.S. expands trade sanctions on Haiti to include all goods except food and medicine, in an effort to encourage the leaders of the 1991 Haitian coup d'état to restore democracy.
October 30 – In Madrid, the Middle East Peace Conference opens, the first direct negotiations between Israel and nearly all its Arab adversaries.
October 31 – November 3 – The Halloween Blizzard hits the Upper Midwest of the United States, causing around $100 million of damage and killing 22.

November

A severely damaged brick and concrete tower, pierced with numerous shell holes

Symbol of Vukovar; Croatian War of Independence

November 4–5 – In South Africa, the African National Congress leads a general strike, demanding a role in governing and an end to a value-added tax.
November 5
- The body of publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell is found floating in the Atlantic Ocean near the Canary Islands.
- In a special election for the U.S. Senate, Harris Wofford scores an electoral upset against Dick Thornburgh, who had led him by 44 points in an August opinion poll.
- The United States Senate confirms Robert Gates as Director of Central Intelligence.
- China–Vietnam relations: China and Vietnam restore diplomatic relations after a 13-year rift which followed the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War.
November 6
- The KGB officially stops operations.
- The CPSU and its republic-level division, the Communist Party of the Russian SFSR, are banned in the Russian SFSR by Presidential decree N 169.
November 7
- Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson announces he has HIV, effectively ending his NBA career.
- The last oil well fire in Kuwait is extinguished.
- The first report on carbon nanotubes is published by Sumio Iijima in the journal Nature.
November 8 – Hong Kong begins the forcible repatriation of Vietnamese boat people, starting with a group of 59 who were flown to Hanoi.
November 9
- The British JET fusion reactor generates 1.5 MW output power.
- On the anniversary of Kristallnacht, tens of thousands of protestors demonstrate against attacks on immigrant workers.
November 12 – June Rowlands is elected the first female Mayor of Toronto.
November 14
- American and British authorities announce indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials, in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103.
- Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after 13 years of exile.
- Kidnappers in Lebanon set Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland free.
November 18
- The forces of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Serb paramilitaries take the Croatian town of Vukovar after an 87-day siege, and kill more than 260 Croatian prisoners of war.^[9]
- An Azerbaijani MI-8 helicopter carrying a 19-member peacekeeping mission team with officials and journalists from Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan is shot down by Armenian military forces in Khojavend district of Azerbaijan.
- Süleyman Demirel of DYP forms the new government of Turkey (49th government, coalition partner CHP).
November 21 – The United Nations Security Council recommends Egypt's deputy prime minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali to be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.
November 23 – Members of the Communist Party of Great Britain vote to dissolve the party and found the think-tank Democratic Left in its place.
November 24 – Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury dies from pneumonia induced by AIDS.
November 26 – The National Assembly of Azerbaijan abolishes the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan and renames several cities according to their Azeri names.
November 27 – The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution opening the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia.

December

December 8: The signing of the agreement ending the USSR's existence and the founding of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

December 1 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Ukrainians vote overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union in a referendum.
December 4
- Journalist Terry A. Anderson is released after 7 years' captivity as a hostage in Beirut (the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon).
- Pan American World Airways ends operations.
- John Leonard Orr, one of the most prolific serial arsonists of the 20th century, is arrested in California. In the ensuing years, Orr is convicted in both Federal and state court.
December 8
- Leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine meet and sign an agreement ending the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), in the Białowieża Forest Nature Reserve in Belarus.
- A referendum on the constitution of Romania is accepted as valid.
December 11 – Croatian forces kill 18 Serbs and one Hungarian in the village of Paulin Dvor, Croatia.
December 12
- The Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR denounces the Union Treaty of 1922 and ratifies the Belavezha Accords instead.
- The government of Nigeria changes the capital of the nation from Lagos to Abuja.
- Ukraine becomes the first post-Soviet republic to decriminalize homosexuality.
December 15 – The Egyptian ferry Salem Express sinks in the Red Sea, killing more than 450.
December 16
- Kazakhstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
- United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379: The United Nations General Assembly adopts United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/86 which states that Zionism is not racism, repealing United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 (adopted 1975). The resolution is favoured by 111 nations and opposed by 25 nations.
December 19 – Paul Keating replaces Bob Hawke as the prime minister of Australia.
December 20 – A Missouri court passes the death sentence on Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria, for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
December 21
- The North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NAC-C) meets for the first time, the day on which the Soviet Union ceases to exist. source
- Charilaos Florakis is elected honorary president of the Communist Party of Greece. source
December 22 – Armed opposition groups launch a military coup against President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia.
December 24 – Russian SFSR President Boris Yeltsin sends a letter to UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, stating that Russia should be a successor to the collapsing Soviet Union within the United Nations Organization.

December 25: The original flag of Russia is readopted as the flag of the Russian Federation.

December 25
- Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union, from which most republics have already seceded, anticipating the dissolution of the 74-year-old state.
- The Russian SFSR officially renames itself the Russian Federation.
December 26 – The Cold War ends after 44–46 years when the Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolves the Soviet Union. All Soviet institutions eventually cease operation on December 31.

Date unknown

The University of South Australia is founded.
Impostor James Hogue is exposed at Princeton University.
Ames crater astrobleme discovered in Major County, Oklahoma.