A solar eclipse of record totality occurs in the Northern hemisphere. It is seen by 20million people in Hawaii, Mexico, and Colombia. [ citation needed] Dieter Nohlen& Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p137 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7 Albania holds its first multi-party elections since 1923. The socialist ruling Party of Labour of Albania won a landslide victory with 169 of the 250 seats in the parliament. [83] [84] The storm reached the south-west of England just before dawn and by 0800 police in the West Country, the Bristol area and Hampshire were inundated with calls.

Paul Keating defeats Bob Hawke in a Labor Party leadership ballot and consequently becomes the Prime Minister of Australia; he is sworn in the following day. [315] Gulf War: The UN deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm. [15] Winnie Mandela, the wife of Nelson Mandela, is given a six-year prison sentence on May 14th for her part in the kidnap of four youths Balkan WarAugust 22 – Singing Revolution: Iceland becomes the first nation to recognize the independence of the Baltic states. It is followed by the U.S. on September 2 and the Soviet Union on September 6. [206] [207]

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. A large suburban firestorm centered in Oakland Hills, California, kills 25 people and injures 150 others. [266] China and Vietnam restore diplomatic relations after a 13-year rift which followed the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War. [281] [282]

1990s: ethnicity in the Census for the first time

The main problem of contemporary history is to see it at a distance. Lawrence Freedman appears to have passed through at lest three moods since 1989, to judge by his observations: euphoria, followed by a "post-euphoric mood" and a less gloomy phase "a few years on". It is impossible to write the history of the twentieth century, and not very useful to criticize it, in terms of such short- term reactions. Can we really believe that readers in 2047 will see Freedman's '`While liberalism may not yet work as a universal ideology, it is the great survivor of the Twentieth century" as a historical judgment and not as a political credo? Even today the odds that it will emerge as "the "great survivor" cannot be more than evens, and most bookmakers would offer odds against the proposition that it is on the way to working as a universal ideology. Terry Waite the special envoy of the archbishop of Canterbury, is released after more than four years of captivity Rodney King For Hobsbawm the Age of Extremes follows those of Revolution, Capitalism and Empire on which he has already written at length and with great distinction. This age is further subdivided into `The Age of Catastrophe' (1914-50), `The Golden Age' (1950-75), and `The Landslide' (1975 to 1991 and beyond). Neither the periodization nor the labelling are particularly felicitous. Hobsbawm has confined himself to the `short Twentieth Century' marked by the start of the first world war and concluding with the collapse of the Soviet Union at the start of the 1990's. In practice he allows his analysis to move on beyond 1991 and he is well aware of the political forces that need to be understood if 1914 is to be explained. Neither 1950 nor 1975 are obvious punctuation points. While the economic growth between these two points might just be termed `golden', if not for all, it is hardly convincing to describe the period since 1975 as a `landslide', as if things have been rolling steadily down hill since that point. Such an image does not do justice to a much more complex picture.

Gulf War: The first major ground engagement of the war, the Battle of Khafji, begins. The battle lasts until February 1. [32] U.S. Senator John Heinz and six other people are killed when a helicopter collides with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania. [89] [90] Ethiopian Civil War: Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia to Zimbabwe, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end. [131] The Holliday Videotape, George Holliday Video of King Beating". University of Missouri Kansas City Law School. Dec 21 Soviet Union formally dissolves as 11 of 12 republics sign treaty forming Commonwealth of Independent States

World Leaders in 1991

October 13 – In the Bulgarian parliamentary election, the Union of Democratic Forces defeats the Bulgarian Socialist Party, leaving no remaining Communist governments in Eastern Europe. [258] [259] [260] Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (1997). Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization: yearbook. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p.4. ISBN 90-411-0439-9. Journalist Terry Anderson is released after seven years' captivity as a hostage in Beirut Lebanon Terry Waite USAir Flight 1493 collides with a SkyWest Airlines Fairchild Metroliner at Los Angeles International Airport, killing 34 people. [33] In the Bangladeshi general election, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party wins 139 of 300 seats in the Jatiyo Sangshad, leading BNP leader Khaleda Zia to become the president on March 19. [54] [55]