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Jan 2 In Russia, President Yeltsin follows the advice of an American economist, Jeffrey Sachs, and institutes "shock therapy" toward the creation of a free market economy. He will allow prices to rise to three to ten times previous levels on nearly all consumer products, while there will be no concomitant rise in wages.

Jan 13 Japan's government apologizes for the old empire having forced Korean women into sexual slavery.

Jan 15 Slovenia and Croatia are recognized as independent by the 12-nation European Community.

Jan 16 El Salvador's conservative government and rebel FMLN leaders have concluded an agreement that ends eleven years of civil war.

Feb 3 The recycling of trash begins in Portland, Oregon.

Feb 7 The Treaty of Maastricht (in the Netherlands) moves what had been the European Community toward what will now be the European Union. The treaty forms a basis for cooperation in foreign and defense policy, judicial and internal affairs and the creation of an economic and monetary union, including a common currency. A bumpy ratification by member states follows.

Feb 12 Mongolia's constitution is ratified, marking the official beginning of the republic's multi-party political system.

Feb 21 The UN Security Council resolves to send a peacekeeping force to Yugoslavia.

Feb 25-6 Armenians have been warring in a dispute over territory with Azerbaijani. The Armenians are largely Christian, the Azerbaijani largely Shi'a. An Armenian force kills 613 Azerbaijani civilians in the town of Khojaly. The Armenians will complain that the Azerbaijani did not allow the civilians to leave the area of battle and that Azerbaijani soldiers intermingled with civilians. Others will claim that his is no excuse.

Feb 26 In Ireland a Supreme Court ruling allows a 14-year-old rape victim to travel to England to have an abortion.

Mar 9 The People's Republic of China ratifies the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Mar 17 A suicide car-bomb goes off in the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring 242. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.

Apr 6 The Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina proclaims its independence from Yugoslavia.

Apr 8 The U.S. recognizes the independence of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The European Community joins in recognizing the independence of Bosnia-Herzegovina. In rural Bosnia-Herzegovina Christian Serb forces are fighting local Muslims, and Serbian troops have begun besieging Bosnia-Herzegovina's main city, Sarajevo. What will be called the Bosnian War has begun.

Apr 26 A jury has found the Los Angeles police officers accused of excessive force against Rodney King not guilty.

May 2 Troops from the 7th Infantry Division and 1st Marine Division arrive in Los Angeles after four days of rioting. It will be estimated that approximately 3,600 fires have been set and 1,100 buildings destroyed, between 50 and 60 people killed and as many as 2,000 people injured. Much looting has occurred. Stores owned by Korean-Americans and other Asians have been targeted. Stores owned by whites and blacks have been destroyed. Street gangs have found opportunity to settle old scores.

May 12 The International Herald Tribune reports economic trouble in Russia: The output of goods has fallen "by an estimated 18 percent" and the "entrepreneurs being spawned in Russia today are mainly black marketers or corrupt officials who have stolen state property... The economic outlook is bleak for all except hustlers and fast-ruble artists."

Jun 1 Japan's stockmarket index, the Nikkai 225, has fallen nearly 60 percent from its high of nearly 40,000 on December 29, 1989, to around 16,000. (It would be down to 7,568 in 2009). Companies, banks and securities companies, loaded with cash, created an investment bubble that has broken. Land prices in major cities have been falling since early 1990. Japan's economc growth has been zero since 1991, down from 7 percent in the 1980s.

Jun 19 President Bush and Bill Clinton have won primary elections for the presidential nomination of their respective political parties. A poll lists a still undeclared independent, Ross Perot, as beating President Bush, 39 to 31 percent, with Bill Clinton finishing third at 25 percent. Perot has been expressing his desire to see the budget deficit put under control, the tax system and reformed.

Jul 16 At the Democratic National Convention, Bill Clinton, 45, is nominated for U.S. President. Tennessee Senator Al Gore is his vice-presidential running mate.

Aug 19 To protect Shiites in southern Iraq, the U.S., Britain and France agree on a plan to shoot down Iraqi military aircraft that enter a zone that begins just south of Baghdad.

Aug 20 At the Republican National Convention, President George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle are chosen again to lead their party.

Sep 18 Undaunted by Perot's withdrawal from the race for president, his supporters get his name on the ballot in all 50 states.

Sep 23 A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb destroys forensic laboratories in Belfast.

Sep 24 The Kentucky Supreme Court rules that laws criminalizing same-sex sodomy are unconstitutional and predicts that other states will agree.

Oct 1 Ross Perot re-enters the race for the presidency.

Oct 9 In Peekskill, New York, a 13-kilogram (29-pound) meteorite destroys a Chevy Impala parked in a family's driveway.

Oct 31 Pope John Paul II apologizes and lifts the Inquisition's edict against Galileo Galileo.

Nov 3 Bill Clinton wins the presidential election with 43 percent of the vote. George H.W. Bush gets 37.4 percent and Ross Perot 18.9 percent. Many others divide 4.7 percent of the vote, including Harold Stassen on his 9th run. The Democrats will control both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Nov 11 The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.

Dec 3 UN Security Council unanimously passes Resolution 794, to send peacekeepers to Somalia, to establish order and make possible famine relief.

Dec 4 President Bush announces Operation Restore Hope: troops to Somalia under the aegis of the United Nations.

Dec 6 Thousands of Hindu militants destroy the mosque Babri Masjid, which they believe was built upon a Hindu temple and where Rama of the Ramayana was born.

Dec 9 In India, waves of shootings, stabbing and arson occur as Muslims respond to the destruction of the mosque Babri Masjid.

Dec 9 A UN force, prepared for stealth and combat, lands in an early morning darkness on the shore by the city of Mogadishu, greeted by international media and lighting for cameras. The U.S. troops are joined by soldiers from Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe.

Dec 27 Russian military and intelligence installations remain in the now independent Baltic states, and most of the people in these states are unhappy about it. Unhappy too are the thousands of Russian troops experiencing what they consider petty harassments and humiliations.