World Events
Population: 5.522 billion
Nobel Peace Prize: F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela (both South Africa)
Vaclav Havel elected Czech President (Jan. 26).
British House of Commons approves European unity pact (May 20). Maastricht Treaty takes effect, creating European Union (Nov. 1).
Twenty-two UN troops killed in Somalia (June 5).
Israeli-Palestinian accord reached (Aug. 28).
Yeltsin's forces crush revolt in Russian Parliament (Oct. 4 et seq.).
China breaks nuclear test moratorium (Oct. 5).
South Africa adopts majority rule constitution (Nov. 18).
U.S. Events
President: William J. Clinton
Vice President: Albert Gore, Jr
Population: 257,746,103
Life expectancy: 75.5 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 54.8
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 47.4
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $6,558.10 billion
Federal spending: $1408.68 billion
Federal debt: $4351.4 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars): $31,241
Consumer Price Index: 144.5
Unemployment: 6.9%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.29
Clinton agrees to compromise on military's ban on homosexuals (Jan. 29).
Federal agents besiege Texas Branch Davidian religious cult after six are killed in raid (March 1 et seq.). Fire kills 72 as cult standoff in Texas ends with federal assault (April 19).
Five arrested, sixth sought in bombing of World Trade Center in New York (March 29).
Two police officers convicted in Los Angeles on civil rights charges in Rodney King beating (April 17); sentenced Aug. 4.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg appointed to Supreme Court (June 14).
US agents blamed in Waco, Tex., siege (Oct. 1).
House of Representatives approves North American Free Trade Agreement (Nov. 17); Senate follows (Nov. 21).
Clinton signs Brady bill regulating firearms purchases (Nov. 30).
Sports
Super Bowl
Dallas d. Buffalo (52-17)
Halftime show: Michael Jackson (produced by Radio City, Scott Sanders and Don Mischer Productions)
World Series
Toronto d. Philadelphia Phillies (4-2)
NBA Championship
Chicago d. Phoenix (4-2)
Stanley Cup
Montreal d. Los Angeles (4-1)
Wimbledon
Women: Steffi Graf d. J. Novotna (7-6 1-6 6-4)
Men: Pete Sampras d. J. Courier (7-6 7-6 3-6 6-3)
Kentucky Derby Champion
Sea Hero
NCAA Basketball Championship
North Carolina d. Michigan (77-71)
NCAA Football Champions
Florida St. (12-1-0)
Entertainment
Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain, Robert Olen Butler
Music: Trombone Concerto, Christopher Rouse
Drama: Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Tony Kushner
Oscars awarded in 1993
Academy Award, Best Picture: Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood, producer (Warner Bros.)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Toni Morrison (US)
Miss America: Leanza Cornett (FL)
Grammy Awards
Record of the Year: Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton
Album of the Year: Unplugged - Eric Clapton (Reprise)
Song of the Year: Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton
Events
Michael Jackson performs at the Super Bowl halftime s how. This is the first time that the Super Bowl featured a current international pop star for the halftime show, making it the most watched halftime show in history (to date) and one of the most widely watched TV events of all time.
A 13-year-old Los Angeles boy accuses Michael Jackson of fondling him. Jackson vehemently denies the charge. The two parties reach an out-of-court settlement.
River Phoenix dies of a drug overdose on Halloween. He was 23.
Lost in Yonkers is edited on an Avid Media Composer system, the first non-linear editing system to allow viewing at film's required "real-time"-viewing rate of 24 frames per second. By converting film into digital bits, film can now be cut on a computer.
Movies
Schindler's List, The Piano, Philadelphia, Six Degrees of Separation, In the Name of the Father
Books
Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha
E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
Science
Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: Kary B. Mullis (US) and Michael Smith (Canada), for their contributions to the science of genetics
Physics: Joseph H. Taylor and Russell A. Hulse (both US), for their discovery of a binary pulsar
Physiology or Medicine: Phillip A. Sharp (US) and Richard J. Roberts (UK), for their independent discovery in 1977 of “split genes”
Mosaic is developed by Marc Andreeson at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). It becomes the dominant navigating system for the World Wide Web, which at this time accounts for only 1% of all Internet traffic. Background: Computers and Internet.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tuberculosis threatens to kill more than 30 million in the next decade. Background: Global Health Trends.
The FDA approves the use of the synthetic hormone BST (bovine somatotropin) to increase milk production in dairy cows.
First humans cloned. Cells taken from defective human embryos that were to be discarded in infertility clinic are grown in vitro and develop up to 32-cell stage and then are destroyed. Background: Human Cloning
Deaths
Don Ameche
Arthur Ashe
Anthony Burgess
Cesar Chavez
Federico Fellini
Dizzy Gillespie
William Golding
Audrey Hepburn
River Phoenix
Frank Zappa