Author Toni Morrison won the Nobel Peace Prize for literature for her work and essays about the Black American experience.
The 6.4 magnitude Latur earthquake in India killed nearly 10,000 people.
The pilot episode of the science-fiction series 'The X-Files' aired on FOX in the US & Canada.
The second-largest mosque in Africa officially opened in Casablanca, Morocco.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris received its 150 millionth visitor.
NASA lost contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft.
Mother Teresa contracted malaria and spent one week in hospital in New Delhi, India.
Asiana Airlines Flight 733 crashed in South Korea.
President Bill Clinton ordered a US cruise missile strike on Iraq.
Canada swore in Kim Campbell as the nation’s first female Prime Minister.
A Boeing 727 crashed into a mountain in Medellin, Colombia.
NASA's Discovery space shuttle launched on mission STS-56.
Janet Reno became the first female to be appointed US Attorney General by President Clinton.
The MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands.
The second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II) is signed.
The country of Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved into two nations, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
A 7.8 earthquake hit Flores Island in Indonesia, which caused an 82-foot tsunami, killing about 2,500 people.
US Marines landed in Somalia as part of Operation Restore Hope in order to secure the trade routes to deliver food to the people.
The Hofburg fire destroyed part of the Royal Court in Vienna, Austria.
Queen Elizabeth II became Britain's first monarch to pay income tax.
Lee Jang Rim, the founder of the Dami Mission Christian Movement in South Korea, declared that the world would end.
A fragment of a meteorite landed in Peekskill, New York, US, and smashed a 1980 Chevrolet Malibu.
A picture of Pope John Paul II was torn up by the Irish singer Sinead O'Connor on Saturday Night Live.
NASA launched the Mars Observer, a space probe designed to study Mars' geology and climate.
NASA's 50th space shuttle mission, STS-47, landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
During a tour in Montreal, Canada, James Hetfield from the band Metallica received third-degree burns to his arms, face, hands, and legs.
The country of Georgia joined the United Nations shortly after the country became independent.
The third-strongest recorded earthquake in US history happened in Southern California.
World Oceans Day was celebrated for the first time.
The High Court of Australia recognized Aboriginal land rights for the first time.
The 27th Amendment was ratified.
Three astronauts, Richard J. Hieb, Thomas D. Akers, and Pierre J. Thuot, simultaneously walked in space for the first time.
David Bowie and supermodel Iman tied the knot in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela revealed their separation.
The Bosnian War began after a series of violent conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mafia boss John Gotti was convicted of thirteen murders and racketeering.
Donna Summer received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
NASA successfully launched the third of its advanced series 2 GPS satellites into orbit.
Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who was known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, was sentenced to life in prison.
Air Inter Flight 148 crashed in the Vosges Mountains in France while circling to land at Strasbourg Airport.
The civil war in El Salvador ends.
Croatia and Slovenia are internationally recognized as independent nations.
Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer changed his plea from not guilty to guilty but insane.
Japanese prime minister treated president George H. W. Bush to dinner, and Bush threw up on the host.
Jack Ruby's gun, which was used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald, sold for $220,000 in an auction.
Mikhail Gorbachev resigned from his position as Prime Minister of the Soviet Union.
A Palestinian couple was convicted of first-degree murder for the honor killing on their daughter.
The Commonwealth of Independent States was formed by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.
Ukraine elected its first President since the nation gained its independence from the Soviet Union.
Muslim Shi'ites release last US hostage Terry Anderson (held 6½ years).
