January 1 - The Colorado Buffaloes claim college football's national championship with a 10-9 win over Notre Dame in the 1991 Orange Bowl. Controversy reigns as Colorado wins the AP poll, but Georgia Tech, the nation's only unbeaten team (with one tie), edges Colorado to win the UPI national championship by one point.
January 13 - Soviet troops assault the Vilnius TV tower in Lithuania and kill 14 unarmed civilians; many more are injured.
January 13 - A fight and stampede at a pre-season exhibition match between South African football teams Chiefs and Pirates in the town of Orkney near Johannesburg, South Africa leaves 42 dead.
February 13 - Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy an underground bunker in Baghdad, killing hundreds of Iraqis. United States military intelligence claimed it was a military facility but Iraqi officials identified it as a bomb shelter.
February 22 - Gulf War: Iraq accepts a Russian-proposed cease fire agreement. The U.S. rejects the agreement, but said that retreating Iraqi forces would not be attacked if they left Kuwait within 24 hours.
February 25 - Gulf War: Part of an Iraqi Scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 29 and injuring 99 U.S. soldiers. It is the single, most devastating attack on U.S. forces during that war.
February 26 - Gulf War: On Baghdad radio, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Iraqi soldiers set fire to Kuwaiti oil fields as they retreat.
March
March-April - Iraqi forces suppress rebellions in the southern and northern parts of the country, creating a humanitarian disaster on the borders of Turkey and Iran.
An investigative journalism piece airs on 60 Minutes about Werner Erhard, in which family members alleged physical and sexual abuse. Erhard had left the United States prior to the broadcast.
March 14 - After 16 years in prison for allegedly bombing a pub in an Irish Republican Army attack, the "Birmingham Six" are freed when a court determines that the police fabricated evidence.
Germany formally regains complete independence after the 4 post-World War IIoccupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union) relinquish all remaining rights.
April 3 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.N. Security Council passes the Cease Fire Agreement, Resolution 687. The resolution calls for the destruction or removal of all of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, all stocks of agents and components, and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities for ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 km and production facilities; and for an end to its support for international terrorism. Iraq accepts the terms of the resolution on April 6.
Italian ferry Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy killing 140.
April 14 - In the Netherlands, thieves steal 20 paintings worth $500 million from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Less than an hour later they are found in an abandoned car near the museum.
April 18 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq declares some of its chemical weapons and materials to the UN, as required by Resolution 687, and claims that it does not have a biological weapons program.
April 26 - 70 tornadoes break out in the central United States, killing 17. The most notable tornado of the day strikes Andover, Kansas.
April 29 - A tropical cyclone hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 138,000 people.
June 9 - A major collapse of ground at the Emaswati Colliery in Swaziland traps 26 miners 65 m below the surface. The men have access to a safe refuge chamber and are all rescued by a drill hole 30 hours after the rescue unit was first alerted.
In the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts in what would be the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century; the final death toll would be over three hundred.
June 17 - U.S. President Zachary Taylor is exhumed to discover whether or not his death was caused by arsenic poisoning, instead of acute gastrointestinal illness; no trace of arsenic is found.
June 23-June 28 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.N. inspection teams attempt to intercept Iraqi vehicles carrying nuclear related equipment. Iraqi soldiers fire warning shots in the air to prevent inspectors from approaching the vehicles.
July 22 - Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested after the remains of 11 men and boys are found in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin apartment. Police soon found out that he is involved in 6 more murders.
July 24 - The government of India announces its New Industrial Policy, marking the start of India's economic reforms.
August 20 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Estonia declares its independence from the Soviet Union, and more than 100,000 people rally outside the Soviet Union's parliament building protesting the coup that deposed President Mikhail Gorbachev.
August 21 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Latvia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
August 24 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Ukraine declares independence from Soviet Union.
September 21-September 30 - Iraq disarmament crisis: IAEA inspectors discover files on Iraq's hidden nuclear weapons program. Iraqi officials confiscate documents from UN weapons inspectors, refusing to allow them to leave the site without turning over other documents. A 4-day standoff ensues. Iraq permits the team to leave with the documents after the UN Security Council threatens enforcement actions.
Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 715, which demands that Iraq "accept unconditionally the inspectors and all other personnel designated by the Special Commission". Iraq rejects the resolution, calling it "unlawful".
October 11-October 13 - The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee interviews both Supreme Court candidate Clarence Thomas and former aide Anita Hill, who alleges that Thomas sexually harassed her while she worked for him.
American and British authorities announce indictments against 2 Libyan intelligence officials, in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103.
Journalist C Pecho Samere Terry A. Anderson is released after 7 years' captivity as a hostage in Beirut (he was the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon).
December 25 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union, from which most republics have already disbanded; the 73-year-old state is now expected to dissolve completely.
December 26 - The Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolves the Soviet Union.
December 31 - The Soviet Union officially ceases to exist.
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