January
01 - David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City's first black mayor.
02 - World population passes five billion. In 1960 it was three billion.
03 - Manuel Noriega surrenders to US forces in Panama,...
January
02 - Rebels in El Salvador shoot down an American Army helicopter and kill all three crew members. It is believed that two crew members initially survived and were executed on the ground.
08 - Def...
January
01 - Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic is renamed the Russian Federation and becomes the successor state to the Soviet Union.
06 - The US Government...
January
01 - Czechoslovakia is peacefully divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the so-called "Velvet Divorce".
01 - The European single market is created by the European Economic Community (EEC), eliminating trade barriers within the...
January
01 - The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) comes into effect.
01 - American actor Cesar Romero - famous as The Joker from the classic Batman TV series - dies at the age of 86.
02...
January
01 - Fred West, the Gloucestershire builder charged with 12 murders, commits suicide in his prison cell. Prison officers discover the 53-year-old's body hanging from strips of clothing at Winson Green prison near Birmingham.
01 -...
January
02 - US peacekeepers pour into Bosnia to keep the peace between Bosnian Serbs and Muslims, following the signing of the Dayton peace plan last month.
05 - Yahya Ayyash - thought to be behind a...
January
01 - American folk singer Townes Van Zandt dies aged 52.
04 - Randy California, founding member of experimental West Coast rock band, Spirit, disappears after being sucked into the surf off the coast of Molokai, Hawaii.
09 -...
January
01 - A new law comes into effect in California, prohibiting people from smoking in bars and restaurants.
05 - Sonny Bono (of Sonny & Cher fame) dies in a skiing accident at South Lake Tahoe's...
January
01 - 11 European countries replace their national currencies with the newly created 'Euro', a single European currency. Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Ireland and Luxembourg all make the switch. The...
The recession of 1990, after the boom of the 1980s, provided a rather inauspicious beginning to the new decade. By the end of the year, unemployment was up, sales of new homes were down by...
January
01 - Radio Beijing announces that Tibet will shortly be "liberated".
03 - Wafd Party wins Egyptian elections.
04 - Britain asks the US for a stockpile of atomic bombs.
05 - President Truman rules out military aid...
January
01 - Chinese and North Korean forces advance across the 38th Parallel and through UN lines.
01 - First episode of The Archers is broadcast nationally on the BBC Light Programme.
01 - Bill Byford (Saxon) born.
04 -...
January
05 - Winston Churchill arrives in Washington for talks with Truman.
07 - General Dwight D Eisenhower says he will run for US President.
12 - The prototype Vickers Valiant, Britain's only long-range jet for carrying the atomic bomb, crashes.
13 - The Iranian...
January
01 - The Maldive Islands become a republic.
01 - Arthur 'Bomber' Harris is knighted in the New Year Honours list.
01 - Hank Williams dies.
02 - The RAFs first supersonic fighters, 400 US-designed Sabres, arrive at...
January
01 - Flashing indicator lights become legal on motor vehicles in Britain.
10 - A BOAC Comet jet airliner on its way from Singapore to London comes down into the Mediterranean about 20 minutes after taking...
January
01 - The US gives $216 million in aid to South Vietnam.
01 - The 1955 Cotton Bowl Classic American football game is won by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
02 - President José Antonio Remón Cantera...
January
01 - Sudan becomes an independent Republic.
03 - USSR gives technical aid to China.
03 - Movie star Mel Gibson is born in New York.
05 - Prince Rainier III of Monaco announces his engagement to actress...
