1992 - Definition and Overview

1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January

• January - The Internet Society is formed.
• January 1
  • Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General
  • George H. W. Bush becomes the first President of the United States to address the Australian Parliament
• January 8 - Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina declare their own republic in protest at a decision by Bosnia's Croats and Muslims to seek EC recognition
• January 11 - Paul Simon is the first major artist to tour South Africa after the end of the cultural boycott.
• January 12 - The second round of Algeria's general elections is cancelled when the first round is favorable to the Islamic Salvation Front
• January 13 - Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
• January 13 - Jeffrey Dahmer pleads guilty but insane to the murders of 15 young men and boys
• January 15 - The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ceases to exist. Slovenia and Croatia gain independence
• January 16 - El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign a pact in Mexico City that ends a 12 year civil war that claimed at least 75,000.
• January 22
  • Rebel forces occupy Zaire's national radio station in Kinshasa and broadcast a demand for the government's resignation
  • Dr. Roberta Bondar becomes the first Canadian woman in space.
• January 26 - Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia is going to stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
• January 27 - Mike Tyson goes on trial charged with raping a 1991 Miss Black America Contest contestant.

February

• February 1 - Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal Disaster case, and orders the Indian government to press for an extradition from United States
• February 7 - Signing of the Maastricht treaty
• February 10 - In Indianapolis, Indiana boxer Mike Tyson is convicted of raping a Miss Black America contestant named Desiree Washington
• February 11 - F-16 jet crashes into a residential district of Hengelo, the Netherlands. No casualties are reported.
• February 11 - Art band The KLF subvert the UK's Brit Awards
• February 17 - A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison
• February 18 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The Executive Chairman of UNSCOM details Iraq's refusal to abide by UN Security Council disarmament resolutions.
• February 26 - Supreme Court of Ireland rules that a 14-year-old rape victim may get an abortion

March

• March - Boxer Mike Tyson is given a 6 year sentence for raping an 18 year old Miss Black America contestant, Desiree Washington
• March 1 - After a majority of Muslim and Croatian communities vote for Bosnian independence, Bosnian Serb snipers fire on civilians
• March 1 - boxer Kostya Tszyu beats Darrell Hiles by a knockout in one round
• March 6 - The 'Michelangelo' computer virus begins to affect computers
• March 12 - Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the British Commonwealth
• March 13 - In eastern Turkey, an earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale kills over 500.
• March 17 - 29 are killed and 242 injured when a suicide car-bomb goes off in the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.
• March 18 - Microsoft ships Windows 3.1
• March 25 - Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returns to Earth a 10-month stay aboard the Mir space station

April

• April - Bosnia and Herzegovina secedes from Yugoslavia.
• April 2 - In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder of mob boss Paul Castellano and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison
• April 6 - Robert Schumann (record-breaker) becomes the youngest person to visit the north pole
• April 8 - Punch magazine publishes its final issue
• April 9 - A Miami jury convicts former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega of assisting Colombia's cocaine cartel
• April 9 - United Kingdom general election - John Major unexpectedly re-elected.
• April 10 - IRA bomb explodes in the Baltic Exchange in the City of London - 3 dead, 91 injured
• April 14-October 15 - The trial of the Russian serial killer Andrew Chikatilo - he is sentenced to death
• April 27 - Betty Boothroyd elected the first woman to be Speaker of the British House of Commons.
• April 29 - In Los Angeles, California, the police officers that were accused of excessive force in their severe beating of Rodney King, were found "not guilty". The verdict resulted in several days of riots in L.A. and smaller riots around the country.

May

• May 5 - Alabama ratifies a 202-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a midterm or retroactive pay raise
• May 15 - The Genoa Expo '92 World's Fair opens in Genoa, Italy
• May 16 - STS-49: Space Shuttle Endeavour lands safely after a successful maiden voyage
• May 20 - Amy Fisher, the so-called "Long Island Lolita," is arrested for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco on the front porch of her Massapequa, New York home
• May 22 - Johnny Carson hosts The Tonight Show for the last time
• May 23 - Mafia bomb kills Italian anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone
• May 26 - Charles Geschke, President of Adobe Systems is kidnapped from his company car park. Kidnappers demand ransom for $650,000 - they are later apprehended

June

• June 1 - Carlos the Jackal is sentenced to life imprisonment
• June 1 - Kentucky celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
• June 1 - The Pittsburgh Penguins sweep the Chicago Blackhawks in 4 games in the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals.
• June 15 - During a spelling bee at a Trenton, New Jersey elementary school, U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle corrects a student's spelling of the word potato by indicating it should have an e at the end.
• June 17 - A 'Joint Understanding' agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II). [1] (http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/start2/)
• June 22 - Two skeletons excavated in Yekaterinburg are identified as Czar Nicholas II and his tsarina
• June 23 - Mafia boss John Gotti is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering on April 2 [2] (http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/gotti/don_24.html?sect=15)

July

• July 6-29 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses a U.N. inspection team access to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture. UNSCOM claimed that it had reliable information that the site contained archives related to illegal weapons activities. U.N. Inspectors stage a 17-day "sit-in" outside of the building, but leave when their safety is threatened by Iraqi soldiers
• July 10 - In Miami, Florida, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations
• July 13 - Britain's former executioner Albert Pierrepoint dies
• July 20 - Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia
• July 22 - Near Medellín, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escapes from his luxury prison fearing extradiction to the United States.
• July 25 - Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

August

• August 7 - Buckingham Palace opened to the public for the first time
• August 10 - The UK government bans Ulster Defence Association
• August 17 - US Marshalls start Siege of Ruby Ridge
• August 20 - Kristiansunds connection to the main land of Norway, Krifast, opens.
• August 23 - Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida.
• August 28 - Hurricane Andrew dissapates over the Tennessee valley when it merges with a storm system. Twenty-three were killed.

September

• September 16 - Pound Sterling and Italian Lira forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (Black Wednesday)
• September 23 - A large IRA bomb destroys the forensic laboratories in Belfast

October

• October 2 - Riot in the Carandiru prison system in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which leads up to the events known as the Carandiru Massacre.
• October 4 - Plane crash in Amsterdam, Netherlands, known as the Bijlmerramp.
• October 15 - In Russia, Andrei Chikatilo is found guilty of 52 serial murders.
• October 26 - In Canada, the Charlottetown Accord is defeated in a national referendum.
• October 29 - The Food and Drug Administration approves Depo Provera for use as a contraceptive in the United States.
• Zee TV, the first Hindi satellite channel is launched.
• October 31 – BBC TV airs Ghostwatch.

November

• November 3 - Bill Clinton defeats George H. W. Bush and H. Ross Perot in the U.S. presidential election
• November 5 - In Detroit, Michigan, black motorist Malice Green is beaten to death by policemen Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn during a struggle (the officers were later convicted and sentenced to prison)
• November 11 - The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.
• November 20 - In England, a fire breaks out in the Private Chapel room of Windsor Castle, rages for 15 hours, and seriously damages the northwest side of the building (an investigation found that the fire was ignited after a spotlight came into contact with a curtain over an extended period).
• November 24 - In the People's Republic of China, a China Southern Airlines domestic flight crashes, killing all 141 people on-board
• November 24 - Queen Elizabeth II describes this year as an Annus Horribilis (horrible year) due to various scandals damaging the image of the Royal Family
• November 25 - The Czechoslovakia Federal Assembly votes to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia starting on January 1, 1993
• November 30 - A murder trial of 14 South Vietnamese accused of murder of 24 North Vietnamese begins in Hong Kong (ends November 29 1994)

December

• December 3 - UN Security Council Resolution 794 is unanimously passed, approving a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States to form UNITAF, tasked with ensuring humanitarian aid gets distributed and establishing peace in Somalia.
• December 3 - The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea carrying 80,000 tonnes of crude oil runs aground in a storm while on approach to La Coruña, Spain, and spills much of its cargo
• December 4 - US military forces invade Somalia.
• December 5 - Kent Conrad of North Dakota resigns his seat in the United States Senate and is sworn into the other seat from North Dakota, becoming the only US Senator ever to have held two seats on the same day.
• December 6 - Hindu activists destroy the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, India, triggering religious violence around the country.
• December 8 - Last blast fired in Falu Copper Mine in Sweden. The end of a millennium of continuous operation.
• December 20 - The Folies Bergere music hall in Paris, France closes.
• December 29 - Brazil's president Fernando Collor de Mello resigns, following charges that he stole more than $32 million from the government and impeachment precedings.

unknown dates

• The Council for National Academic Awards, UK is wound up.
• Pope John Paul II issues an apology and lifts the edict of Inquisition against Galileo Galilei
• The largest shopping mall in the US, Minnesota's Mall of America is constructed spanning 78 acres (316,000 m²)
• Carsington Reservoir opened in England after nearly 20 years planning and construction.

Year in topic

• 1992 in art
• 1992 in film
  • March 13 - My Cousin Vinny starring Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei, Ralph Macchio, and Fred Gwynne
  • May 15 - Lethal Weapon 3 starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, and Joe Pesci
  • May 22 - Alien3 starring Sigourney Weaver
  • May 22 - Far and Away starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
  • June 5 - Patriot Games starring Harrison Ford
  • October 2 - Hero starring Dustin Hoffman
  • November 20 - Home Alone 2: Lost In New York starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, and Daniel Stern
  • December 11 - A Few Good Men starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore
  • Unforgiven starring Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, and Richard Harris. Eastwood also directed.
  • Scent of a Woman
• 1992 in literature
• 1992 in music
  • Dr. Dre's The Chronic is widely considered the first G funk LP, as well as a memorable West Coast gangsta rap album
• 1992 in sports
  • January 26 - Super Bowl XXVI Washington Redskins (37) def. Buffalo Bills (24)
  • February 11 - Michael Johnson runs an indoor world record over 400 meters.
  • June- The Chicago Bulls defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 4 games to 2 to claim their second consecutive NBA basketball world title.
  • October 24 - The Toronto Blue Jays become the first non-US team to win the World Series.
• 1992 in television
  • April 30 - After a seven year run the last episode of The Cosby Show airs.
  • June 3 - Presidential Candidate Bill Clinton appears on The Arsenio Hall Show. Clinton even plays the saxophone with the live band.
  • Growing Pains actress Tracey Gold loses a massive amount of weight due to anorexia nervosa and is placed in hospital care. As a result, she is written out of most of the final episodes.
  • After 30 years on the air, Johnny Carson announces his retirement. David Letterman, who had been promised The Tonight Show upon Carson's retirement years earlier leaves NBC for CBS when the network gives the show to frequent guest host Jay Leno.
  • Barney & Friends, a children's educational television show starring a giant purple dinosaur, premieres.
• 1992 in video games and computing
  • November 21 - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is released for the Sega Mega Drive in Japan.
  • November 24 - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is released for the Sega Genesis in North America.

Deaths

January-April

• January 3 - Dame Judith Anderson, actress
• January 23 - Freddie Bartholomew, actor
• January 26 - José Ferrer, actor
• January 27 - Allan Jones, actor, singer (b. 1908)
• January 29 - Willie Dixon, composer, blues musician
• February 2 - Bert Parks, game show host, Miss America host
• February 10 - Alex Haley, author
• February 11 - Ray Danton, US actor/director.
• February 20 - Dick York, actor
• March 2 - Sandy Dennis, actress
• March 8 - Red Callender, composer
• March 9 - Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel
• March 29 - Paul Henreid, actor
• April 6 - Isaac Asimov, author
• April 6 - Molly Picon, actress
• April 18 - Benny Hill, comedian, actor
• April 23 - Satyajit Ray, Indian filmmaker
• April 27 - Olivier Messiaen, composer
• April 28 - Francis Bacon, painter (b. 1909)

May-December

• May 6 - Marlene Dietrich, German actress
• May 12 - Robert Reed, actor
• May 17 - Lawrence Welk, American musician
• May 22 - Tony Accardo, Chicago mob figure
• May 23 - Giovanni Falcone, judge
• June 25 - Yoshiko Uchida, Japanese-American writer
• June 26 - John Jacob Astor V, member of the Astor family
• July 15 - Hammer DeRoburt, founding president of Nauru (b. 1922)
• August 5 - Jeff Porcaro, American musician
• August 12 - John Cage, American composer
• August - Mark Heard, American singer
• October 7 - Tevfik Esenç, last speaker of the Ubykh language
• October 19 - Arthur Wint, Jamaican runner
• December 7 - David Astor, British newspaper publisher
• December 18 - Mark Goodson, game show producer
• December 21 - Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1903)
• December 22 - Albert King, blues musician (born 1930) December - Pierre Culliford, a.k.a. "Peyo". Belgian Creator of Smurfs

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - Georges Charpak
• Chemistry - Rudolph A. Marcus
• Medicine - Edmond H. Fischer, Edwin G. Krebs
• Literature - Derek Walcott
• Peace - Rigoberta Menchu Tum

Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

• Gary Becker

Alternative

• Finnish Village Action Movement, Gonoshasthaya Kendra / Zafrullah Chowdhury, Helen Mack, John Gofman and Alla Yaroshinskaya