1991
| Millennium: | 2nd millennium |
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Template:C20YearInTopicX Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar.
The year 1991 is designated in the Chinese calendar the Year of the Sheep (from the start of the Chinese new year: February 15 1991 - February 3, 1992). Any 1991 dates before February 15 are within the year of the horse. Template:C20YearTOCship
Events of 1991
January
- January 4 - The United Nations Security Council votes unanimously to condemn Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.
- January 11 - Soviet forces storm Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence.
- January 12 - Gulf War: The Congress of the United States passes a resolution authorizing the use of military force to liberate Kuwait.
- January 13 - Soviet troops assault the Vilnius TV tower in Lithuania and kill 14 unarmed civilians; about 160 more are injured.
- January 13 - A fight and stampede at a pre-season exhibition match between South African football teams Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates in the town of Orkney near Johannesburg, South Africa leaves 42 dead.
- January 15 - The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
- January 16 - U.S. serial killer Aileen Wuornos confesses to the murders of six men.
- January 16 - Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins with air strikes against Iraq.
- January 17 - Gulf War: Iraq fires eight Scud missiles into Israel.
- January 17 - Harald V of Norway becomes king on the death of his father, Olav V.
- January 18 - Eastern Air Lines shuts down after 62 years, citing financial problems.
- January 19 - A SCUD attack on Tel Aviv injures 29.
- January 19 - The Party of the Alliance of Youth, Workers and Farmers of Angola is founded in Luanda, Angola.
- January 22 - Three SCUDs and 1e Patriot missile hit Ramat Gan in Israel, injuring 96 people; 3 elderly people die of heart attacks.
- January 22 - 8 British SAS troopers are deployed in Iraq during the First Gulf War, as part of mission Bravo Two Zero. Several men are captured and two of them, Chris Ryan and Andy McNab, would later write books on their experience.
- January 26 - Somalia President Siad Barre flees his compound in Mogadishu.
- January 27 - Super Bowl XXV: The New York Giants defeat the Buffalo Bills 20-19 at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
- January 29 - Siad Barre is succeeded by Ali Mahdi Muhammad in Somalia.
February
- February 1 - A USAir Boeing 737-300, Flight 1493 collides with a SkyWest Airlines Fairchild Metroliner, Flight 5569 at Los Angeles International Airport, killing 34.
- February 5 - A Michigan court bars Dr. Jack Kevorkian from assisting in suicides.
- February 7 - Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
- February 7 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.
- February 7 - The One Meridian Plaza fire in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania kills 3 firefighters and destroys 8 floors of the building.
- February 7 - Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Kuwait, thus starting the ground phase of the war.
- February 9 - Voters in Lithuania support independence.
- February 11 - UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organization, forms in The Hague, Netherlands.
- February 13 - Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy an underground bunker in Baghdad, killing hundreds of Iraqis. United States military intelligence claims it was a military facility but Iraqi officials identify it as a bomb shelter.
- February 15 - The Visegrad Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
- February 18 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes bombs in the early morning, at both Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
- February 22 - Gulf War: Iraq accepts a Russian-proposed cease fire agreement. The U.S. rejects the agreement, but says that retreating Iraqi forces will not be attacked if they leave Kuwait within 24 hours.
- February 23 - In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong deposes Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan in a bloodless coup d'état.
- 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.
- March 1 - The ballistic missile submarine USS-ex-Sam Houston SSBN-609 is deactivated.
- March 1 - Clayton Keith Yeutter finishes as the United States Secretary of Agriculture.
- March 3 - 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 3 - An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles, California police officers.
- March 3 - Latvia and Estonia vote for independence from the Soviet Union.
- March 3 - United Airlines Flight 585 crashes in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing all 25 people on board.
- March 9 - Massive demonstrations are held against Slobodan Milošević in Belgrade; 2 people are killed and tanks are in the streets.
- March 10 - Gulf War - Operation Phase Echo: 540,000 American troops begin to leave the Persian Gulf.
- March 11 - A curfew is imposed on black townships in South Africa, after fighting between rival political gangs kills 49.
- March 13 - The United States Department of Justice announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
- March 14 - After 16 years in prison for allegedly bombing a pub in a Provisional Irish Republican Army attack, the "Birmingham Six" are freed when a court determines that the police fabricated evidence.
- March 15 - Four Los Angeles, California police officers are indicted for the videotaped March 3 beating of motorist Rodney King during an arrest.
- March 15 - Germany formally regains complete independence after the 4 post-World War II occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union) relinquish all remaining rights.
- March 26 - In Mali, military officers led by Amadou Toumani Touré arrest President Moussa Traore and suspend the constitution.
- March 30 - Northern Michigan University wins the NCAA Division I title in hockey, 8-7 in the third overtime against Boston University.
- March 31 - Albania has its first multi-party elections.
- March 31 - Georgian independence referendum, 1991: Georgia votes for independence from the Soviet Union.
April
- 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.
- April 4 - Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and 6 others are killed when a helicopter collides with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania.
- April 4 - William Kennedy Smith, a nephew of U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, is identified as a suspect in an alleged Palm Beach, Florida sexual assault.
- April 5 - Former Senator John Tower and 22 others are killed in an airplane crash in Brunswick, Georgia, United States.
- April 9 - The Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia declares independence.
- April 10 - A South Atlantic tropical cyclone develops in the Southern Hemisphere off the coast of Angola (the first of its kind to be documented by weather satellites).
- April 10 - The 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 17 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 3,000 for the first time ever, at 3,004.46.
- 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 22 - The Social Democratic Party of Albania is founded.
- April 22 - A 7.6 earthquake kills 82 in Costa Rica and Panama.
- 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.
May
- May 15 - Édith Cresson becomes France's first female premier.
- May 21 - In Sriperumbudur, India, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated.
- May 21 - Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end.
- May 24 - Authorised by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Operation Solomon commences.
- May 26 - In Thailand, a Lauda Air Boeing 767 crashes near Bangkok, killing all 223 people on-board.
- May 28 - The Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Minnesota North Stars 8-0 in Game 6 to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
- May 29 - In Bari, Red Star Belgrade wins the European Cup in football.
June
- June 3 - Mount Unzen erupts, killing 43 people as a result of pyroclastic flow.
- June 5 - STS 40: Space Shuttle Columbia carries the Spacelab into orbit.
- 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 is first alerted.
- June 12 - Boris Yeltsin is elected President of Russia, the largest and most populous of the 15 Soviet republics.
- June 12 - The Chicago Bulls win their 1st NBA championship by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in the best-of-7 series 4 games to 1.
- June 13 - A spectator is killed by lightning at the U.S. Open.
- June 15 - In the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts in what will be the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century; the final death toll tops 300.
- June 15 - Nagano, Japan is chose as host city of 1998 Winter Olympics.
- June 17 - Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act, which had required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.
- 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 23–28 - 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.
- June 25 - Collapse of Yugoslavia: Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia.
- June 30 - Portugal wins the FIFA U-20 World Cup, defeating Brazil on the final by 4-2, after a penalty shootout, in Lisbon, Portugal.
July
- July 1 - The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved at a meeting in Prague.
- July 7 - The Brioni Agreement ends the 10-day war in Slovenia.
- July 10 - Boris Yeltsin begins his 5-year term as the first elected president of Russia.
- July 11 - A solar Eclipse of record totality occurs.
- July 22 - Boxer Mike Tyson is arrested and charged with raping Miss Black America contestant Desiree Washington 3 days earlier, in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- 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 find 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.
- July 26 - Actor Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman) is arrested in a Sarasota, Florida theater for publicly masturbating.
August
- August 6 - Tim Berners-Lee releases an article describing his idea for the "World Wide Web" on the alt.hypertext network.
- August 7 - On reading the Tim Berners-Lee article, Martin Nolan writes a short paper describing his plans for the WWW.
- August 7 - Shapour Bakhtiar, former prime minister of Iran, is assassinated.
- August 8 - The Warsaw radio mast, the tallest construction ever built, collapses.
- August 13 - The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (or "Super Nintendo") is released in the United States.
- August 17 - Strathfield Massacre: In Sydney, Australia, taxi driver Wade Frankum shoots 7 people and injures 6 others before turning the gun on himself.
- August 19 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is put under house arrest while vacationing in the Crimea during a coup. The attempted coup, led by Vice President Gennady Yanayev and 7 hard-liners, collapses in less than 72 hours.
- 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.
- August 25 - Student Linus Torvalds posts messages to Usenet newsgroup comp.os.minix about the new operating system kernel he has been developing.
- August 25 - Michael Schumacher makes his Formula 1 debut in the Belgian Grand Prix.
- August 25 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Belarus declares independence from Soviet Union.
- August 27 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Moldova declares independence from the Soviet Union.
- August 29 - Maronite general Michel Aoun leaves Lebanon via a French ship into exile.
- August 30 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Azerbaijan declares independence from Soviet Union.
- August 31 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan declare independence from the Soviet Union.
September
- September 2 - The United States recognizes the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
- September 3 - In Hamlet, North Carolina, a grease fire breaks out at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant, killing 25 people.
- September 5–7 - At the 35th Annual Tailhook Symposium in Las Vegas, 83 women and seven men are assaulted.
- September 6 - The Soviet Union recognizes the independence of the Baltic states.
- September 6 - The name Saint Petersburg is restored to Russia's second-largest city, which had been renamed Leningrad in 1924.
- September 8 - The Republic of Macedonia becomes independent.
- September 9 - Tajikistan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
- September 17 - North Korea, South Korea, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.
- September 19 - Ötzi the Iceman is found in the Alps.
- September 20–21 - In Sandy, Utah, several patients are held hostage and a nurse is killed in the Alta View Hospital hostage incident.
- September 21 - Armenia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
- September 21–30 - 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.
- September 21 - The Order of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence of German tongue (Orden der Schwestern der Perpetuellen Indulgenz deutscher Zunge, "O.S.P.I.") is founded in Heidelberg by Erzmutter (Archmother) Johanna Indulgentia Tara Maria Benedicta O.S.P.I.
- September 22 - The Huntington Library makes the Dead Sea Scrolls available to the public for the first time.
- September 30 - Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed from power.
- September 30 - A twister destroys parts of Itu, a city in southeastern Brazil, killing 16 and leaving 176 injured.
October
- October 2 - Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton announces he will seek the 1992 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
- October 8 - The Croatian Parliament cuts all remaining ties with Yugoslavia.
- October 11 - In Russia, the KGB is replaced by the SVR.
- October 11 - 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 11–13 - 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.
- October 12 - Askar Akayev, previously chosen President of Kyrgyzstan by its Supreme Soviet, is confirmed president in an uncontested poll.
- October 14 - The Bulgarian right wing opposition celebrates the end of the rule of the Bulgarian Communist Party.
- October 15 - United States Senate votes 52-48 to confirm Judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United States.
- October 16 - George Hennard guns down 24 people in Killeen, Texas before killing himself.
- October 20 - The Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3,469 homes and apartments.
- October 20 - The Harare Declaration lays down the membership criteria for the Commonwealth of Nations.
- October 27 - The first free parliamentary elections are held in Poland.
- October 27 - Turkmenistan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
- October 27 - The Minnesota Twins win the World Series against the Atlanta Braves.
- October 29 - The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid.
November
- November 2 - Australia beats England 12-6 at Twickenham Stadium to win the Rugby World Cup.
- November 5 - The body of publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell is found floating in the Atlantic Ocean.
- November 5 - David Duke, a white supremacist running as a Republican, loses the Louisiana Governor's race to Democratic candidate Edwin Edwards, by an overwhelming margin.
- November 6 - The KGB officially stops operations.
- November 7 - Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson announces that he has HIV, effectively ending his NBA career.
- November 7 - The last oil well fire in Kuwait is extinguished.
- November 7 - The first report on Carbon nanotubes is published by Sumio Iijima in the journal Nature.
- November 9 - The British JET fusion reactor generates 1.5 MW output power.
- November 14 - American and British authorities announce indictments against 2 Libyan intelligence officials, in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103.
- November 14 - Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after 13 years of exile.
- November 14 - Kidnappers in Lebanon set Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland free.
- November 18 - Serb troops take Vukovar after an 87-day siege, and commit the worst massacre in Croatian history.
- November 27 - The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution opening the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia.
- November 28 - South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia.
December
- December 1 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Ukrainians vote overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union in a referendum.
- December 4 - Journalist Terry A. Anderson is released after 7 years' captivity as a hostage in Beirut (the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon).
- December 4 - Pan American World Airways ends operations.
- December 8 - Leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine meet and sign an agreement ending the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Nature Reserve in Belarus.
- December 8 - A referendum on the constitution of Romania is accepted as valid.
- December 12 - The Russian SFSR ceases to be a part of the Soviet Union.
- December 15 - The Egyptian ferry Salem Express sinks in the Red Sea, killing more than 450.
- December 19 - Paul Keating replaces Bob Hawke as the new prime minister of Australia.
- December 20 - A Missouri court passes the death sentence on Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria, for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
- December 22 - One month after Freddie Mercury's death, Queen's re-release of Bohemian Rhapsody returns to the top of the British singles charts, 16 years after the original version.
- 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.
Undated
- The University of South Australia is founded.
- Impostor James Hogue is exposed at Princeton University.
- The Ely Petrol Riots occur.
Ongoing
Births
January–March
- January 8 - Hinoi Asuka, Japanese singer
- January 15 - Rubab Raza, Pakistan swimmer
- January 16 - Julie Dubela, American singer
- January 19 - Erin Sanders, American actress
- January 21 - Paige and Ryanne Kettner, American actresses
- January 21 - Brittany Tiplady, Canadian actress
- January 28 - Calum Worthy, Canadian actor and musician
- February 10 - Emma Roberts, American actress
- February 10 - Ceng De Ping, Taiwanese singer
- February 16 - Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg
- February 17 - Bonnie Wright, English actress
- February 18 - Malese Jow, American actress
- February 25 - Gerran Howell, Welsh actor
- February 28 - Sarah Bolger, Irish actress
- March 4 - Diandra Newlin, American actress, singer, and model
- March 8 - Devon Werkheiser, American actor
- March 11 - Qian Lin, Chinese singer
- March 15 - Kie Kitano, Japanese actress
- March 23 - George William Carnegie, British noble
- March 26 - Brittney Wilson, Canadian actress
- March 28 - Amy Bruckner, American actress
April–June
- April 1 - Kyle Beall, American actor
- April 4 - Jamie Lynn Spears, American actress
- April 10 - Amanda Michalka, American singer and actress
- April 10 - Sergiusz Żymełka, Polish actor
- April 15 - Daiki Arioka, Japanese singer (Hey! Say! JUMP)
- April 18 - Joey Gaydos, American actor and guitarist
- April 20 - Thomas Curtis, American actor
- April 27 - Rebecca Ryan, British actress
- April 28 - Aleisha Allen, American actress
- May 17 - Daniel Curtis Lee, American actor
- May 19 - Jordan Pruitt, American singer
- May 21 - Sarah Ramos, American actress
- May 24 - Erika Umeda, Japanese singer
- May 26 - Julianna Rose Mauriello, American stage actress
- May 29 - Kristen Alderson, American actress
- June 4 - Jordan Hinson, American actress
- June 18 - Willa Holland, American model and actress
- June 19 - Pontus Ekhem, Swedish hockey player
- June 27 - Madylin Sweeten, American actress
- June 30 - Kaho, Japanese actress
July–September
- July 5 - Jason Dolley, American actor
- July 6 - Victoire Thivisol, French actress
- July 7 - Devon Alan, American actor
- July 9 - Mitchel Musso, American actor
- July 9 - Spencer Elden
- July 10- Maeda Atsuko, Japanese singer
- July 12 - Erik Per Sullivan, American actor
- July 14 - Lewis McGibbon, British actor
- July 20 - William Tomlin, British actor
- July 28 - Rina Aizawa, Japanese actress
- July 29 - Miki Ishikawa, American actress and singer
- July 30 - Diana Vickers, British singer
- August 16 - Evanna Lynch, Irish actress
- August 16 - Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse, Canadian actress
- August 21 - Tess Gaerthé, Dutch singer and actress
- August 28 - Kyle Massey, American actor
- September 4 - Carter Jenkins, American actor
- September 5 - Skandar Keynes, British actor
- September 6 - Ashli Adams, American actress
- September 12 - Kristin Klabunde, American actress
- September 20 - Spencer Locke, American Actress
- September 21 - Zoe Weizenbaum, American actress
- September 25 - Emmy Clarke, American actress
October–December
- October 4 - Nicolai Kielstrup, Danish singer
- October 14 - Shona McGarty, English Actress
- October 15 - Gabriella Cilmi, Australian singer-songwriter
- October 19 - Christopher Gerse, American actor
- October 23 - Sophie Tamiko Oda, Japanese American actress
- October 31 - Jordan-Claire Green, American actress
- November 6 - Camila Finn, Brazilian model
- November 11 - Christa B. Allen, American actress
- November 22 - Saki Shimizu, Japanese singer
- November 30 - Carnell Breeding, American singer
- December 3 - Masahiro Usui, Japanese actor
- December 9 - Prince Joachim, Archduke of Austria-Este, Belgian prince
- December 12 - Daniel Magder, Canadian actor
- December 13 - Jay Greenberg, American music composer
- December 19 - Declan Galbraith, British singer
Deaths
January–February
- January 5 - Vasko Popa, Yugoslavian poet (b. 1922)
- January 8 - Steve Clark, English guitarist (Def Leppard) (b. 1960)
- January 11 - Carl David Anderson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
- January 17 - King Olav V of Norway (b. 1903)
- January 22 - Kenas Aroi, Nauruan politician (b. 1942)
- January 29 - Yasushi Inoue, Japanese historian (b. 1907)
- January 29 - John McIntire, American actor (b. 1907)
- January 30 - John Bardeen, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
- January 30 - Clifton C. Edom, American photojournalism educator (b. 1907)
- February 2 - Pete Axthelm, sportswriter (b. 1943)
- February 5 - Dean Jagger, American actor (b. 1903)
- February 6 - Salvador Luria, Italian-born biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1912)
- February 6 - Danny Thomas, American singer, comedian, and actor (b. 1914)
- February 7 - Amos Yarkoni, legendary Israeli soldier (b. 1920)
- February 14 - John McCone, American Central Intelligence Agency director (b. 1902)
- February 16 - Enrique Bermúdez, Nicaraguan Contras leader (b. 1932)
- February 21 - John Sherman Cooper, a U.S. Republican senator
- February 21 - Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer (b. 1919)
- February 24 - John Charles Daly, South African-born journalist and game show host (b. 1914)
- February 24 - George Gobel, American comedian (b. 1919)
March–April
- March 1 - Edwin Land, inventor of the Polaroid instant camera (b. 1909)
- March 2 - Serge Gainsbourg, French singer (b. 1928)
- March 3 - Arthur Murray, American dancer and dance instructor (b. 1895)
- March 12 - Ragnar Granit, Finnish neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1900)
- March 14 - Howard Ashman, American lyricist (b. 1950)
- March 14 - Doc Pomus, American composer (b. 1925)
- March 21 - Leo Fender, instrument maker (b. 1909)
- March 25 - Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Roman Catholic bishop who fought for Catholic Tradition (b. 1905)
- March 29 - Lee Atwater, American Presidential advisor (b. 1951)
- April 1 - Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1894)
- April 3 - Charles Goren, American bridge player, writer, and columnist (b. 1901)
- April 3 - Graham Greene, English writer (b. 1904)
- April 4 - Max Frisch, Swiss writer (b. 1911)
- April 4 - H. John Heinz III, U.S. Senator (plane crash) (b. 1938)
- April 4 - Forrest Towns, American runner (b. 1914)
- April 4 - Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (b. 1920)
- April 5 - John Tower, former Republican Senator from Texas (b. 1929)
- April 8 - Per "Dead" Yngve Ohlin, vocalist for Mayhem/Morbid (suicide) (b. 1969)
- April 10 - Natalie Schafer, American actress (b. 1900)
- April 19 - Stanley Hawes, British-born Australian film producer, director and administrator (b. 1905)
- April 20 - Steve Marriott, English musician (house fire) (b. 1947)
- April 26 - Carmine Coppola, American composer and conductor (b. 1910)
- April 28 - Ken Curtis, American actor (b. 1916)
- April 28 - Johnny Eck, American sideshow performer (b. 1911)
May–June
- May 3 - Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian singer and composer (b. 1907)
- May 6 - Wilfrid Hyde-White, British actor (b. 1903)
- May 8 - Jean Langlais, French composer and organist (b. 1907)
- May 8 - Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (b. 1903)
- May 14 - Jiang Qing, Chinese radical revolutionary (b. 1914)
- May 15 - Shintaro Abe, Japanese Politician (b. 1924)
- May 15 - Andreas Floer, German mathematician (b. 1956)
- May 21 - Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (b. 1944)
- May 22 - Derrick Henry Lehmer, American mathematician (b. 1905)
- May 23 - Wilhelm Kempff, German pianist (b. 1895)
- May 27 - Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist (b. 1904)
- June 1 - David Ruffin, American singer, The Temptations
- June 3 - Maurice Krafft, (b. 1946) and Katia Krafft (b. 1942), volcanologists
- June 5 - Sylvia Field Porter, American economist and journalist (b. 1913)
- June 9 - Claudio Arrau, Chilean-born pianist (b. 1903)
- June 11 - Cromwell Everson, South African composer (b. 1925)
- June 14 - Peggy Ashcroft, British actress (b. 1907)
- June 15 - Arthur Lewis, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
- June 19 - Jean Arthur, American actress (b. 1900)
July–August
- July 1 - Michael Landon, American actor (b. 1936)
- July 4 - Victor Chang, Australian physician (murdered) (b. 1936)
- July 15 - Bert Convy, American game show host, actor, and singer (brain tumor) (b. 1933)
- July 16 - Robert Motherwell, American painter (b. 1915)
- July 18 - André Cools, Belgian politician (assassinated) (b. 1927)
- July 24 - Isaac Bashevis Singer, Polish-born Yiddish writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 31 - Baudouin I, King of the Belgians (b. 1930)
- August 1 - Chris Short, American baseball pitcher (b. 1937)
- August 3 - Ali Sabri, Prime Minister of Egypt
- August 4 - Evgeny Dragunov, Russian weapons designer (b. 1920)
- August 5 - Paul Brown, American football coach (b. 1908)
- August 5 - Soichiro Honda, Japanese engineer and industrialist (b. 1917)
- August 8 - James Irwin, astronaut (b. 1930)
- August 11 - J. D. McDuffie, American race car driver (b. 1938)
- August 13 - James Roosevelt, American businessman and politician (b. 1907)
- August 14 - Richard A. Snelling, Governor of Vermont (b. 1927)
- August 30 - Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (b. 1925)
- August 30 - Cyril Knowles, English footballer and manager (b. 1944)
September–October
- September 2 - Alfonso García Robles, Mexican diplomat and politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1911)
- September 3 - Dottie West, famous country music singer (b. 1932)
- September 3 - Frank Capra, Italian-born film director (b. 1897)
- September 7 - Edwin McMillan, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
- September 8 - Brad Davis, American actor (AIDS) (b. 1949)
- September 14- Russell Lynes, American art historian, photographer, author and managing editor of Harper's Magazine (b. 1910)
- September 17 - Zino Francescatti, French violinist (b. 1902)
- September 24 - Dr. Seuss, American children's author (b. 1904)
- September 28 - Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1926)
- October 6 - Igor Talkov, Russian singer, poet and composer, author of many anti-soviet songs (b. 1956)
- October 11 - Redd Foxx, American comedian and star of the television show Sanford and Son (b. 1922)
- October 17 - Tennessee Ernie Ford, American singer (b. 1919)
- October 22 - Leonora Knatchbull, daughter of Lord Romsey (b. 1986)
- October 24 - Gene Roddenberry, American television producer, creator of Star Trek (b. 1921)
November–December
- November 5 - Robert Maxwell, Slovakian-born media entrepreneur (b. 1923)
- November 18 - Gustáv Husák, Czechoslovakian president (b. 1913)
- November 24 - Eric Carr, American drummer (Kiss) (b. 1950)
- November 24 - Freddie Mercury, Zanzibar-born singer (Queen) (b. 1946)
- December 1 - George Joseph Stigler, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- December 6 - Richard Stone, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
- December 10 - Greta Kempton, American artist (b. 1901)
- December 15 - Vasily Zaitsev, Russian World War II hero (b. 1915)
- December 16 - Horatio Luro, Argentine-born racehorse trainer (b. 1901)
- December 18 - George Abecassis, English race car driver (b. 1913)
- December 28 - Cassandra Harris, Australian actress (b. 1941)
Ship events
Nobel Prizes
- Physics - Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
- Chemistry - Richard R. Ernst
- Medicine - Erwin Neher, Bert Sakmann
- Literature - Nadine Gordimer
- Peace - Aung San Suu Kyi
- Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel - Ronald Coase