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The Year 1991 Major Events, Popular Culture, Prices, Born This Year

What happened in 1991 Major News Stories include United Nations Coalition Force force Iraq Forces out of Kuwait and back to Iraq, University of Iowa Mass Shooting, Cyclone in Bangladesh kills 200,000, South Africa Apartheid dismantled, Balkan War starts, Terry Waite and Terry Anderson released, Freddie Mercury dies from Aids, Robert Maxwell is found dead floating in the sea, Lech Walesa elected as Polish President, Jeffrey Dahmer Arrested,


Operation Desert Storm

Operation Desert Storm United Nations Coalition Force led by the United States and including many Arab and European countries Bombs Iraq Forces in Kuwait and after 1 month of bombing Land invasion forces Iraq Forces out of Kuwait and back to Iraq.

More Information for the Gulf War

1. Iraq invades Kuwait under the leadership of Saddam Hussein in August of 1990 and attempts to annex the country.

2. The U.S. and NATO place troops in Saudi Arabia in what was known as Operation Desert Shield.

3. In November of 1990 the U.N. authorizes the use of force against Iraq if they did not withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, 1991.

4. Iraq refuses to leave and a U.S.-led air attack begins in mid-January of 1991 in what was known as Operation Desert Storm.

5. Ground forces attack in Southern Iraq and Kuwait during February of 1991 in Operation Desert Sabre.

6. U.S. President George H. W. Bush declares a cease-fire in the conflict by the end of February after Kuwait was liberated and Iraq agreed to honor the terms of peace.


U.S. - START I Treaty

The US and Soviet Union Sign The START Treaty.

More Information for the START I agreement

The United States and Soviet Union agree to the START I Treaty during July of 1991. U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev both signed the treaty, agreeing to reduce the number of nuclear warheads each country had to 7,950. Negotiations over the agreement began in 1982 with President Reagan but were held up several times due to conflicts. After the treaty was signed in 1991, several other START agreements were negotiated, limiting nuclear weapons between the two countries even further. START I came into effect in 1994 with both sides adhering to the limits on time and it expired in 2009.


United States / Canada - Air Quality Agreement

The US-Canada Air Quality Agreement becomes effective immediately after it is signed by Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and United States President George H. W. Bush during March News Events. Also known as the “Acid Rain Treaty” and it was created to address the issues associated with transboundary air pollution and over time has reduced the amount of acid rain associated with the problem. The agreement mandated the reduction of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions which could lead to the creation of acid rain in Canada and the United States.


Soviet Union - First Steps Taken to Dissolve USSR

The Following Countries all gain independence when the Soviet Union breaks Up Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Axerbaijan, Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Estonia.

More Information for the Break Up of the Soviet Union

The Soviet Union takes the first official steps to break up the U.S.S.R. during September of 1991 when the Congress of People’s Deputies voted for its dissolution. Beginning in the previous month, several Soviet republics started to declare their independence, with Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Armenia leaving in September. By the end of the year the dissolution became effective and the Soviet Union ceased to exist when Gorbachev resigned and was replaced by the new Russian government.


NASA STS-44 Space Mission

NASA launches the STS-44 mission during November . The Space Shuttle Atlantis carried astronauts Frederick Gregory, Terence Henricks, James Voss, F. Story Musgrave, Mario Runco, Jr., and Thomas Hennen. It was a Department of Defense mission which had the primary objective of deploying a Defense Support Program satellite. The payload also included several experiments. It concluded after nearly 7 days in space and the crew returned to Earth successfully after landing at the Edwards Air Force Base in California.


Jeffrey Dahmer

Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested on July 22nd after the remains of 11 men and boys are found in his Milwaukee,   Wisconsin    apartment


UN Resolution 687

The U.N. Security Council passes the Cease Fire Agreement, Resolution 687. The resolution called for the destruction or removal of all of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, and for an end to its support for international terrorism. Iraq accepts the terms of the resolution on April 6 and UN authorizes weapons inspections in Iraq


Cost of Living 1991

How Much things cost in 1991

Yearly Inflation Rate USA4.25%

Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 3168

Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 6.50%

Average Cost of new house $120,000.00

Average Income per year $29,430.00

Average Monthly Rent $495.00

of a gallon of Gas $1.12

1 LB of Bacon $1.95

Dozen Eggs 85 cents

Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Sterling

Average House Price 70,987

Gallon of Petrol 2.05

Yearly Inflation Rate UK 5.9%

Interest Rates Year End Bank of England 10.38%

FTSE 100 Average 2350

2 examples from Childrens Toys From The 1991 Page

Super Nintendo Entertainment System From The 1990s Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Price: $199.95
Description The Super Nintendo Entertainment System features full digital stereo sound and breathtaking graphics! With huge characters and over 30,000 different colors to choose from your video screen comes to life with dazzling 3 dimensional effects. Includes Super Mario World game featuring the greatest video game hero in history. Mario can now move in, around and behind objects and the music will keep you stomping until dawn. Also includes two specially contoured controllers that feature eight buttons for unprecedented play control.

Czechoslovakian Barbie From The 1990s Czechoslovakian Barbie
Manufacturer: Mattel
Price: $18.00
Description This Czechoslovakian Barbie wears a traditional festival costume with striped floral skirt, black bodice, blouse with pleated sleeves, red stockings and lace-up boots. A new Barbie in 1991, and interesting because the country of Czechoslovakia was dissolved only a year later in 1992 and then formed into two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.

Other Major Events From 1991

Russia Boris Yeltsin

Boris Yeltsin wins first free elections for Russia's first popularly-elected president

Bangladesh Cyclone

Cyclone in Bangladesh kills 200,000

Fires in the hills of Oakland, California

Fires in the hills of Oakland, California burns thousands of homes and kills 25

India poverty

50% of India population is living at or below the poverty line

India Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated

Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated on May 21

Israel >Dead Sea Scroll

Dead Sea Scroll is Unveiled

Libya UN Sanctions

UN Sanctions imposed against Libya in response to alleged involvement in Lockerbie bombing

South Africa Referendum

Referendum in South Africa supports creation of new constitution for multicultural society and Apartheid is dismantled

Canada (GST)

Canada introduces the Canadian Goods and Services Tax (GST) a national sales tax

South Africa Winnie Mandela

Winnie Mandela, the wife of Nelson Mandela, is given a six-year prison sentence on May 14th for her part in the kidnap of four youths

Balkan War

Slovenia and Croatia declare independence from Yugoslavia and the start of the Balkan War

Russia Attempted communist coup

Attempted communist coup in Soviet Union suppressed but sparks declarations of independence from all non Russian republics within the USSR , by the end of the year the USSR is dissolved and independence of republics recognized

European Union

Single European Market lifts trade restrictions within the EEC and the Maastricht treaty opens the way for closer political Union

Bank of Credit and Commerce International

The Bank of Credit and Commerce International ( BCCI ) closed by regulators from US and UK

U.S. tornadoes

Seventy tornadoes break out in the central United States, killing 17.

U.S. Dow Jones

The Dow Jones average topped 3,000 for the first time

U.S. University of Iowa

Gang Lu a student at the University of Iowa goes on a shooting rampage killing five people on the Iowa campus

Ethiopia

The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front end 17 years of Marxist rule in Ethiopia.

Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson is arrested and charged with raping Desiree Washington

Italy earthquake

7.0 Richter Scale earthquake in Northern Italy - 2000 dead

Pakistan earthquake

6.8 Richter Scale earthquake near border between Pakistan and Afghanistan

Soviet Union cracks down on Lithuania

The Soviet Union cracks down on Lithuania who were attempting to gain independence from the Soviet Union

UK Poll Tax

UK Poll Tax introduced in 1990 is eliminated and replaced with alternative

U.S. going postal

Former U.S. postal worker Joseph Harris kills his former girlfriend and her fiance and two former co workers at the post office in Ridgewood, New Jersey which resulted in the phrase "going postal" .

Poland Lech Walesa

Lech Walesa the Polish Workers President is elected President of Poland

Robert Maxwell

Body of publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell is found floating in the sea - he had fallen off his yacht shortly after his death the Maxwell Empire Faces Bankruptcy

Indonesia East Timorese protesters

Indonesian forces open fire on a crowd in the Santa Cruz cemetery killing an estimated 250 East Timorese protesters.

Typhoon Kinna

Typhoon Kinna strikes western Japan with 80 mph winds

Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the band Queen, issues a public statement confirming that he is stricken with AIDS, and the next day he dies of complications

Lebanon Terry Anderson

Journalist Terry Anderson is released after seven years' captivity as a hostage in Beirut

Lebanon Terry Waite

Terry Waite the special envoy of the archbishop of Canterbury, is released after more than four years of captivity

Rodney King

Police Brutality Captured On Film in California in the case of Rodney King arrest

Russia Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union officially ceases to exist

Warsaw Pact Ends

The Warsaw Pact the military alliance between the Soviet Union and its eastern European neighbors ends

START Treaty

The US and Soviet Union Sign The START Treaty

U.S. 911 Emergency Number

911 Emergency Number tested in US northwestern cities

Macedonia Gains Independence From Former Yugoslavia

Croatia Gains Independence From Former Yugoslavia

Birmingham Six

Birmingham Six Released in the UK

Technology 1991

Internet is made available to unrestricted commercial use and number of computers on the net reaches 1 million

Linus Torvalds releases first version of the Linux operating system kernel

The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid

Microsoft Releases MS Dos 5.0

Blue Roses produced by Genetic Engineering

The Ice covering the Arctic has decreased by 2% in the last 10 years

Tropical Rainforest shrinks by 1% annually as a result of Human activities

Tim Berners-Lee introduces the web browser.

Spread of Cholera reaches near epidemic proportions in Countries in Latin America
Invention Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )

Clockwork Radio England by Trevor Baylis

Airbag USA by Geoffrey L Mahon and Allen Breed

Popular Culture 1991

The release of Nirvana's Nevermind signified the start of the Grunge era that would dominate the music scene up to the mid-90's.

Popular Films

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

The Silence of the Lambs

Hook

The Addams Family

Sleeping with the Enemy

Father of the Bride

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear

Beauty and the Beast

Backdraft

Beethoven

Thelma & Louise

Popular Musicians

Pearl Jam

Whitney Houston with All The Man That I need

Michael Jackson with black and White

Queen

Bryan Adams with Everything That I do I do it for You

Erasure

Marillion

Phil Collins

Guns N' Roses

Mariah Carey with Someday

Metallica

Amy Grant

Beverly Craven

Cher

Gloria Estefan

R.E.M.

Janet Jackson

Extreme

Boyz II Men

U2

Van Halen

The Clash

Paula Abdul with The Promise of The New Day

Billy Bragg

Garth Brooks

Nirvana

1991 Calendar

Major World Political Leaders 1991

Australia Prime Minister Bob Hawke Till 20 December

Australia Prime Minister Paul Keating From 20 December

Brazil President Fernando Collor

Canada Prime Minister Brian Mulroney

China Chairman of the People's Republic of China Yang Shangkun

France President François Mitterrand

Germany Chancellor Helmut Kohl

India Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar Till 21 June

India Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao From 21 June

Italy Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti

Japan Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu Till 5 November

Japan Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa From 5 November

Mexico President Carlos Salinas de Gortari

Russia / Soviet Union General Secretary of the CPSU Boris Yeltsin

South Africa State President Frederik Willem de Klerk

United States President George H. W. Bush

United Kingdom Prime Minister John Major