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1991 History

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1991 Following the Iraq invasion Kuwait A United Nations Coalition Force including USA, Arab and European countries Bombs Iraq Forces in Kuwait and force Iraq Forces out of Kuwait and back to Iraq. After many years of Apartheid in South Africa a new constitution for multicultural society is formed. This is also the beginning of the Balkan Wars and Lech Walesa is elected as President of Poland. This is also the year that Freddie Mercury the lead singer of the band Queen dies from the AIDS Virus. Some of the notable technology advances include Airbag, A Blue Rose (through the use of Genetic Engineering) and Tim Berners-Lee introduces the web browser.

Cost of Living 1991

How Much things cost in 1991
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 4.25%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 3168
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 6.50%
Average Cost of new house $120,000.00
Average Income per year $29,430.00
Average Monthly Rent $495.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas $1.12
1 LB of Bacon $1.95
Dozen Eggs 85 cents



What Events Happened in 1991

  • Operation Desert Storm United Nations Coalition Force led by the United States and including many Arab and European countries Bombs Iraq Forces in Kuwait and after 1 month of bombing Land invasion forces Iraq Forces out of Kuwait and back to Iraq
  • The U.N. Security Council passes the Cease Fire Agreement, Resolution 687. The resolution called for the destruction or removal of all of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, and for an end to its support for international terrorism. Iraq accepts the terms of the resolution on April 6 and UN authorizes weapons inspections in Iraq
  • Cyclone in Bangladesh kills 200,000
  • Fires in the hills of Oakland, California burns thousands of homes and kills 25
  • 50% of India population is living at or below the poverty line
  • Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated
  • Dead Sea Scroll is Unveiled
  • UN Sanctions imposed against Libya in response to alleged involvement in Lockerbie bombing
  • Referendum in South Africa supports creation of new constitution for multicultural society and Apartheid is dismantled
  • Winnie Mandela, the wife of Nelson Mandela, is given a six-year prison sentence for her part in the kidnap of four youths
  • Slovenia and Croatia declare independence from Yugoslavia and the start of the Balkan War
  • Attempted communist coup in Soviet Union suppressed but sparks declarations of independence from all non Russian republics within the USSR , by the end of the year the USSR is dissolved and independence of republics recognized
  • Single European Market lifts trade restrictions within the EEC and the Maastricht treaty opens the way for closer political Union
  • The Bank of Credit and Commerce International ( BCCI ) closed by regulators from US and UK
  • Seventy tornadoes break out in the central United States, killing 17.
  • The Dow Jones average topped 3,000 for the first time
  • Boris Yeltsin wins first free elections for Russia's first popularly-elected president
  • The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front end 17 years of Marxist rule in Ethiopia.
  • Mike Tyson is arrested and charged with raping Desiree Washington
  • Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested after the remains of 11 men and boys are found in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin apartment
  • 7.0 Richter Scale earthquake in Northern Italy - 2000 dead
  • 6.8 Richter Scale earthquake near border between Pakistan and Afghanistan
  • The Soviet Union cracks down on Lithuania who were attempting to gain independence from the Soviet Union
  • UK Poll Tax introduced in 1990 is eliminated and replaced with alternative
  • Former U.S. postal worker Joseph Harris kills his former girlfriend and her fiancee and two former co workers at the post office in Ridgewood, New Jersey which resulted in the phrase "going postal" .
  • Lech Walesa the Polish Workers President is elected President of Poland
  • Body of publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell is found floating in the sea - he had fallen off his yacht shortly after his death the Maxwell Empire Faces Bankruptcy
  • Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the band Queen, issues a public statement confirming that he is stricken with AIDS, and the next day he dies of complications
  • Journalist Terry Anderson is released after seven years' captivity as a hostage in Beirut
  • Terry Waite the special envoy of the archbishop of Canterbury, is released after more than four years of captivity
  • Police Brutality Captured On Film in California in the case of Rodney King arrest
  • Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union officially ceases to exist
  • The Warsaw Pact the military alliance between the Soviet Union and its eastern European neighbors ends
  • The US and Soviet Union Sign The START Treaty
  • Macedonia Gains Independence From Former Yugoslavia
  • Croatia Gains Independence From Former Yugoslavia
  • Slovenia Gains Independence From Former Yugoslavia
  • Birmingham Six Released in the UK
  • The Following Countries all gain independence when the Soviet Union breaks Up Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Axerbaijan, Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, and Estonia.

Popular Culture 1991

  • The release of Nirvana's Nevermind signified the start of the Grunge era that would dominate the music scene up to the mid-90's.

Popular Films

  • Terminator 2: Judgment Day
  • Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
  • The Silence of the Lambs
  • Hook
  • The Addams Family
  • Sleeping with the Enemy
  • Father of the Bride
  • The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
  • Beauty and the Beast
  • Backdraft
  • Beethoven
  • Thelma & Louise

Popular Musicians

  • Pearl Jam
  • Whitney Houston with "All The Man That I need"
  • Michael Jackson with "Black and White"
  • Queen
  • Bryan Adams with "Everything That I do I do it for You"
  • Erasure
  • Marillion
  • Phil Collins
  • Guns N' Roses
  • Mariah Carey with "Someday"
  • Metallica
  • Amy Grant
  • Beverly Craven
  • Cher
  • Gloria Estefan
  • R.E.M.
  • Janet Jackson
  • Extreme
  • Boyz II Men
  • U2
  • Van Halen
  • The Clash
  • Paula Abdul with "The Promise of The New"
  • Day
  • Billy Bragg
  • Garth Brooks
  • Nirvana

Technology 1991

  • Internet is made available to unrestricted commercial use and number of computers on the net reaches 1 million
  • The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid
  • Microsoft Releases MS Dos 5.0
  • Blue Roses produced by Genetic Engineering
  • The Ice covering the Arctic has decreased by 2% in the last 10 year
  • Tropical Rainforest shrinks by 1% annually as a result of Human activities
  • Tim Berners-Lee introduces the web browser.
  • Spread of Cholera reaches near epidemic proportions in Countries in Latin America

Invention Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )

  • Clockwork Radio England by Trevor Baylis
  • Airbag USA by Geoffrey L Mahon and Allen Breed


Research for this year is provided by The People History.
See History By Year and Decade for more prices and information.
Find out more about the 90s at ThePeopleHistory.com.