What happened in 1993

World4

• Jan 13The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is signed by President George H. W. Bush.
• Sep 15Hurricane Gert crosses from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean through Central America and Mexico.
• Nov 17The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) passes the legislative houses in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
• Dec 20The United Nations General Assembly votes to appoint a U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Japan2

• Jun 22Japan's New Party Sakigake breaks away from the Liberal Democratic Party.
• Jul 12The 7.7 Hokkaidō earthquake affects northern Japan with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and triggers a devastating tsunami that kills 230 on the small island of Okushiri, Hokkaido.

North America19

• Jan 3In Moscow, Presidents George H. W. Bush (United States) and Boris Yeltsin (Russia) sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
• Jan 11WWE introduce their television program, Monday Night Raw.
• Feb 26World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a van bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six people and injuring over one thousand.
• Mar 29The 65th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, with Unforgiven winning Best Picture.
• Apr 19Waco siege: A 51-day stand-off at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ends with a fire that kills 76 people, including David Koresh.
• Apr 20Backstreet Boys were formed in Orlando, Florida.
• AprOctober – Great Flood of 1993: The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers flood large portions of the American Midwest.
• Jun 11Jurassic Park releases in cinemas in the United States.
• Aug 21NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Observer orbiter 3 days before the spacecraft is scheduled to enter orbit around Mars.
• Aug 28The first Power Rangers series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (an adaptation of Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger), premieres in the United States.
• Sep 22Big Bayou Canot train disaster: A bridge collapses while the Amtrak Sunset Limited is in the process of crossing it, killing 47 people.
• Dec 2STS-61: NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair an optical flaw in the Hubble Space Telescope.
• Dec 8U.S. President Bill Clinton signs into law the North American Free Trade Agreement.
• Dec 10id Software releases the first-person shooter game Doom.
• Dec 21Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki's VeggieTales is first released.

4 more in the app

Europe17

• Jan 1Czechoslovakia ceases to exist, as the Czech Republic and Slovakia separate in the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
• Feb 4Members of the right-wing Austrian Freedom Party of Austria split to form the Liberal Forum in protest against the increasing nationalistic bent of the party.
• Feb 10Mani pulite scandal: Italian legislator Claudio Martelli resigns, followed by various politicians over the next two weeks.
• Feb 12Murder of James Bulger: Two-year-old James Bulger is abducted from New Strand Shopping Centre by two ten-year-old boys Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who later torture and murder him.
• Feb 15Abortion in Poland: Lech Walesa signs into law one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in Eastern Europe, banning abortion for any reason other than rape, incest, genetic deformity, or if the mother's life is in danger. Polish women seeking elective abortions must hereafter travel to the Czech Republic.
• Mar 5Macedonian Palair Flight 301, an F-100 on a flight to Zürich, crashes shortly after take-off from Skopje, killing 83 of the 97 on board.
• Apr 16Bosnian War: the enclave of Srebrenica is declared a UN-protected "safe area". Also members of the Jokeri unit of the HVO entered the village of Ahmići and killed 120 Muslim residents.
• May 15Niamh Kavanagh wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland with In Your Eyes.
• May 25The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is created in The Hague.
• Jun 25The litas is introduced as the new currency of Lithuania.
• Aug 9King Albert II of Belgium is sworn into office nine days after the death of his brother, King Baudouin I.
• Sep 27War in Abkhazia: Fall of Sukhumi – Eduard Shevardnadze accuses Russia of passive complicity.
• Nov 1The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.
• Nov 9Bosnian Croat forces destroy the Stari Most, or Old Bridge of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, by tank fire.
• Dec 21The Hungarian Parliament elects Péter Boross Prime Minister of Hungary following the death of József Antall on December 12.

2 more in the app

USSR / Russia2

• Apr 25In the 1993 Russian government referendum during the power struggle between President and Parliament a majority expresses confidence in President Yeltsin and his reform politics while rejecting early elections.
• Oct 4The Russian constitutional crisis culminates with Russian military and security forces, using tanks and clearing the White House of Russia Parliament building by force, quashing a mass uprising against President Boris Yeltsin.

Asia6

• Jan 6The Bombay riots take place in Mumbai.
• Mar 121993 Bombay bombings: Several bombs explode in Bombay, India, killing 257 and injuring hundreds more.
• May 1Assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa: During a May Day rally, President of Sri Lanka Ranasinghe Premadasa is assassinated by a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam suicide bomber. Prime Minister Dingiri Banda Wijetunga succeeds Premadasa as the 3rd executive president of Sri Lanka.
• Jun 6Mongolia holds its first direct presidential elections, Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat remains president.
• Jul 26Asiana Airlines Flight 733 crashes into Mt. Ungeo in Haenam, South Korea; 68 are killed.
• Sep 30Latur earthquake: A 6.2 earthquake occurs in the vicinity of Maharashtra, India having a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing 9,748 and injuring 30,000.

Middle East3

• Jan 24In Turkey, thousands protest against the murder of journalist Uğur Mumcu.
• Sep 13Oslo I Accord: Following initially secret talks from earlier in the year, PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin shake hands in Washington, D.C. after signing a peace accord.
• Dec 30Representatives of Israel and the Holy See sign the Fundamental Agreement Between the Holy See and the State of Israel, preparing for the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Latin America5

• May 19SAM Colombia Flight 501, a Boeing 727-46, crashed during its approach to José María Córdova International Airport, Colombia, killing all 132 occupants on board.
• Jun 6Following the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement's victory, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada becomes President of Bolivia.
• Oct 11The UNMIH is prevented from entering Haiti by its military-led regime. On October 18, United Nations economic sanctions (abolished in August) are reinstated. U.S. President Bill Clinton sends 6 American warships to enforce them.
• Dec 2Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is gunned down by police.
• Dec 111993 Chilean presidential election: Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle is elected with 58% of the vote.

Africa13

• Apr 23Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum, the 1993 Eritrean independence referendum.
• Apr 27Eritrea: Eritrean independence is declared verified by the United Nations.
• Apr 271993 Zambia national football team plane crash: All members of the Zambia national football team die in a plane crash off Libreville, Gabon en route to Dakar, Senegal.
• May 4UNOSOM II assumes the Somali duties of the dissolved UNITAF.
• May 24Eritrea gains independence from Ethiopia.
• May 28Eritrea and Monaco gain entry to the United Nations.
• Jun 11993 Burundian presidential election: The first multiparty elections in Burundi since the country's independence lead to the election of Melchior Ndadaye, leader of the Front for Democracy in Burundi. The next day's legislative election sees his party win with an overwhelming majority.
• Jun 5Attack on Pakistani military in Somalia: twenty-four Pakistani troops in the United Nations forces are killed in Mogadishu, Somalia.
• Jun 14Multipartyists win a referendum on the future of the one-party system in Malawi.
• Jul 25In a terrorist attack members of the Azanian People's Liberation Army open fire on a congregation inside St James Church in Kenilworth, Cape Town, killing eleven and injuring fifty.
• Oct 3Battle of Mogadishu: The U.S. Army conducts Operation Gothic Serpent in the city of Mogadishu, Somalia, deploying Task Force Ranger. Two U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawks are shot down and the operation leaves over 1,000 Somalis dead and over 74 Americans wounded in action, 18 killed and 1 captured.
• Oct 21A coup in Burundi results in the death of president Melchior Ndadaye and sparks the Burundi Civil War.
• Dec 7President of Ivory Coast Félix Houphouët-Boigny dies at 88, the oldest African head of state. He is succeeded four days later by Henri Konan Bédié.