1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1992nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 992nd year of the 2nd millennium, the 92nd year of the 20th century, and the 3rd year of the 1990s decade.
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1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
February
- February 1 – President of the United States George H. W. Bush meets with President of Russia Boris Yeltsin at Camp David, where they formally declare that the Cold War is over.[10]
- February 3 – South African State President F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela, African National Congress leader, are jointly awarded the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
- February 4 – In Venezuela, Hugo Chávez leads an unsuccessful coup attempt against President of Venezuela Carlos Andrés Pérez.[11]
- February 6 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms celebrates her Ruby Jubilee, marking 40 years since her accession to the thrones of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.[12]
- February 7 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, founding the European Union.[13]
- February 8 – The opening ceremony for the 1992 Winter Olympics is held in Albertville, France.[14]
- February 9 – Algerian Civil War: The government of Algeria declares a state of emergency and begins a crackdown on the Islamic Salvation Front.[15]
- February 14 – Ukraine and four other nations in the Commonwealth of Independent States reject Russia's proposal to maintain unified armed forces. Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbaijan announce they will go ahead with plans to create their own military forces.
- February 16 – In Lebanon, Israeli helicopter gunships assassinate Abbas al-Musawi, the leader of Hezbollah, and his son, in retaliation for a February 14 raid that killed three Israeli soldiers.
- February 18 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The Executive Chairman of UNSCOM details Iraq's refusal to abide by UN Security Council disarmament resolutions.
- February 21 – The United Nations Security Council approves Resolution 743 to send a UNPROFOR peacekeeping force to Yugoslavia.
- February 25–26 – 613 Azerbaijani civilians are massacred in Khojaly.[16]
- February 26 – The Supreme Court of Ireland rules that a 14-year-old rape victim may travel to the United Kingdom to have an abortion.
- February 28 – Ownership of the port town of Walvis Bay is transferred from South Africa to Namibia.
March
- March 1 – The first victims of the Bosnian War are a Serb bridegroom's father and an Orthodox priest in a Sarajevo shooting.[17] In the Bosnian independence referendum, held from February 29 to March 1 and boycotted by Bosnian Serbs, the majority of the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat communities have voted for Bosnia-Herzegovina's independence.
- March 2 – In Dubăsari, Moldova, escalating tensions turn into open hostilities and the beginning of the Transnistria War.
- March 4 – The Supreme Court of Algeria bans the Islamic Salvation Front, which is poised to win control of the Parliament of Algeria in runoff elections.
- March 12 – Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
- March 13 – The 6.7 Erzincan earthquake affects eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing 498–652 and injuring around 2,000.
- March 18 – White South Africans vote in favour of political reforms which will end the apartheid regime and create a power-sharing multi-racial government.[18]
- March 22
- March 24 – The Treaty on Open Skies is signed in Helsinki, Finland, to establish a program of unarmed surveillance flights over the 34 member states. It went into effect on January 1, 2002.[19]
- March 25 – The International Atomic Energy Agency orders Iraq to destroy an industrial complex at Al Atheer that is being used to manufacture nuclear weapons.
- March 31 – The Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act of Singapore comes into force.[20]
April
- April 5
- April 6 – The Republic of Ilirida is proclaimed by Albanian Macedonian activists in Struga, Republic of Macedonia.[21]
- April 7 – The United States recognizes the independence of Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The European Communities also recognizes Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- April 9
- April 10
- April 13 – The 5.3 Roermond earthquake affects the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong).
- April 15 – The National Assembly of Vietnam adopts the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
- April 16 – President of Afghanistan Mohammad Najibullah is ousted and detained by Muslim rebels moving towards Kabul, setting the stage for the civil war in Afghanistan (1992–96).
- April 20 – The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, held at Wembley Stadium, London, is televised live to over one billion people and raises millions of dollars for AIDS research.
- April 21 – The death of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia results in a succession dispute between Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia and Vladimir's daughter Maria for the leadership of the Imperial Family of Russia.
- April 22 – Fuel leaking into a sewer causes a series of explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico; 215 are killed, 1,500 injured.
- April 27 – Betty Boothroyd becomes the first woman elected Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
- April 28 – The two remaining constituent republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – Serbia and Montenegro – form a new state, named the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (which in 2003 becomes Serbia and Montenegro), bringing to an end the official state union of Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Montenegrins, Bosniaks and Macedonians that has existed since 1918 (with the exception of an occupation period during World War II).
- April 29
- Los Angeles riots: The acquittal of four police officers in the Rodney King beating criminal trial triggers massive rioting in Los Angeles.[23] The riots will last for six days resulting in 63 deaths and over $1 billion in damages before order is restored by the military.
- In Sierra Leone, a group of young soldiers launch a military coup that sends president Joseph Saidu Momoh into exile in Guinea, and the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) is established with 25-year-old Captain Valentine Strasser as its chairman and Head of State of the country.[24]
- April 30 – Brčko bridge massacre: around 100 Croat and Bosniak civilians are blown up while crossing the bridge across the Sava in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
June
- June 2 – In a national referendum Denmark rejects the Maastricht Treaty by a narrow margin.
- June 3–14 – The Earth Summit is held in Rio de Janeiro.[32]
- June 8 – The first World Oceans Day is celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- June 10–26 – Sweden hosts the UEFA Euro 1992 football tournament, which is won by Denmark.
- June 16 – A "Joint Understanding" agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this is later codified in START II).[33]
- June 17
- Two German relief workers held since 1989, Thomas Kemptner and Heinrich Struebig, are handed over to the German authorities after their release; they are the last Western hostages in Lebanon.[34]
- Violence breaks out between the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party in Boipatong, South Africa, leaving 46 dead.
- June 18 – Ireland votes for the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland to accept the Maastricht Treaty with a popular vote of over 69%.[35]
- June 20
- June 21 – Nelson Mandela announces that the African National Congress will halt negotiations with the government of South Africa following the Boipatong massacre of June 17.
- June 23 – The Israeli legislative election is won by the Israeli Labor Party under the leadership of Yitzhak Rabin, ousting a Likud government.
- June 25 – The Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) is founded.
- June 26 – Denmark beats Germany 2–0 in the final to win the 1992 UEFA European Football Championship at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden.
- June 28 – Estonia holds a referendum on its constitution, which will come into effect on July 3.
October
- October 1 – Cartoon Network, a 24/7 children's television channel, was launched.
- October 2 – A riot breaks out in the Carandiru Penitentiary in São Paulo, Brazil, resulting in the Carandiru massacre.[41]
- October 3 – After performing a song protesting against alleged Catholic Church child sexual abuse, Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor rips up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on the US television programme Saturday Night Live, causing huge controversy.
- October 4
- October 6 – Lennart Meri becomes the first President of Estonia after regaining independence. The Estonian Government in Exile resigns on the next day.
- October 7 – In Peru, Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán is convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison.
- October 11 – The Catechism of the Catholic Church is promulgated by Pope John Paul II with his apostolic constitution, Fidei depositum.[43]
- October 12
- October 19 – The Chinese Communist Party promotes several market-oriented reformers to the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, signaling a defeat for hard-line ideologues.
- October 20 – The last Yugoslav Army troops leave Croatia.[44]
- October 21 – 150,000 coal miners march in London to protest government plans to close coal mines and reduce the number of miners.[45]
- October 23 – Emperor of Japan Akihito begins the first imperial visit to China, telling a Beijing audience he feels deep sorrow for the suffering of the Chinese people during World War II.
- October 25 – Lithuania holds a referendum on its first constitution after declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.
- October 26 – In a national referendum, voters in Canada reject the Charlottetown Accord.
- October 31 – Pope John Paul II issues an apology and lifts the 1633 edict of the Inquisition against Galileo Galilei.[46]
November
- November 3 – In the 1992 United States presidential election, Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton defeats Republican President George H. W. Bush and Independent Ross Perot.
- November 8 – More than 350,000 people rally in Berlin to protest right-wing violence against immigrants; stones and eggs are thrown at President of Germany Richard von Weizsäcker and Chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl.
- November 11 – The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.
- November 13
- November 14 – In poor conditions caused by Cyclone Forrest, Vietnam Airlines Flight 474 crashes near Nha Trang, killing 30.[47][48][49]
- November 15 – The Lithuanian parliamentary election sees the Communists of the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, led by Algirdas Brazauskas, return to power.
- November 18 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin releases the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of Korean Air Flight 007, which was shot down by the Soviets in 1983.
- November 24 – In China, China Southern Airlines Flight 3943, a China Southern Airlines domestic flight, crashes, killing all 141 people on board.
- November 25
- November 27 – The government of Venezuela puts down a coup attempt by a group of Air Force officers who have bombed the presidential palace.
December
- December 1 – South Korea and South Africa reestablish diplomatic relations. South Korea previously had diplomatic relations with South Africa from 1961 to 1978, when they were severed by the former due to the latter's policy of apartheid.
- 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 that humanitarian aid gets distributed and establishing peace in Somalia.
- December 4 – U.S. military forces land in Somalia.
- December 6 – Demolition of Babri Masjid: Extremist Hindu activists in India demolish Babri Masjid – a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya which has been used as a temple since 1949 – leading to widespread communal violence, including the Bombay riots, in all killing over 1,500 people.
- December 12 – The 7.8 Flores earthquake affects the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) leaving at least 2,500 dead. A destructive tsunami with wave heights of 25 m (82 ft) follows.
- December 16 – The Czech National Council adopts the Constitution of the Czech Republic.[50]
- December 18 – The South Korean presidential election is won by Kim Young-sam, the first non-military candidate elected since 1961.[51]
- December 21 – President of Serbia Slobodan Milošević defeats Milan Panić in the Serbian presidential election.
- December 22 – The Archives of Terror are discovered by Martín Almada in Asunción, detailing the fates of thousands of Latin Americans who have been secretly kidnapped, tortured and killed by the security services of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay in Operation Condor.[52]
The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe: Analysis and Basic Documents, 1972-1993. Springer Netherlands. 1993. p. 78.
"Did You Know". Toronto: CBC News. January 30, 2012. Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
Young, John (2014). The Longman companion to America, Russia and the Cold War, 1941–1998. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 146. ISBN 9781317878872.
"Fidei depositum". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. October 11, 1992. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
"Typhoon Plane Crashes". Evening Standard. November 16, 1992. p. 20. – via Lexis Nexis (subscription required)