1993 - What happened in 1993 ?

January 1993

Saturday 02:

Leaders of the three warring factions in Bosnia meet to discuss peace plans.

Thursday 14:

David Letterman announces he is moving his television talk show from NBC to CBS.

Monday 18:

For the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is officially observed in all 50 United States states.

Monday 25:

Mir Amir Kansi kills two employees outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Tuesday 26:

Václav Havel elected President of the Czech Republic.

February 1993

Thursday 04:

First public alpha version, 0.2 of Doom released.

Monday 08:

General Motors sues NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigged two crashes showing that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settled the lawsuit the next day.

Tuesday 23:

Gary Coleman wins a $1,280,000 lawsuit against his parents.

Friday 26:

World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center goes off, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand. The buildings would be destroyed in a subsequent attack on September 11, 2001.

Sunday 28:

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest cult leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.

March 1993

Thursday 04:

Authorities announce the capture of suspected World Trade Center bombing conspirator Mohammad Salameh.

Thursday 11:

Janet Reno is confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn-in the next day, becoming the first female Attorney General of the United States.

Saturday 20:

1993 – A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb explodes in Warrington, northwest England, killing two children.

Saturday 27:

Mahamane Ousmane becomes President of Niger.

Wednesday 31:

Actor Brandon Lee is accidentally killed during the filming of The Crow.

April 1993

Monday 05:

The Child Support Act 1991, administered by the Child Support Agency, comes into effect in the United Kingdom.

Thursday 22:

1993 - The web browser Mosaic version 1.0 is released.

Friday 23:

Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.

Saturday 24:

An IRA bomb devastates the Bishopsgate area of City of London.

Friday 30:

During a changeover at a tennis tournament in Hamburg, Germany, Monica Seles is stabbed in the back by a deranged fan of rival Steffi Graf. Seles would not play competitively for more than two years after the incident.

May 1993

Thursday 20:

The television sitcom, Cheers ends an 11-year run on NBC.

Monday 24:

Microsoft unveils Windows NT.

June 1993

Monday 07:

Prince changes his name to a symbol and comes to be referred to as "The Artist formerly known as Prince".

Monday 14:

A weeklong product tampering scare, later proven to be a hoax, occurs as customers throughout the USA discover syringes in unopened cans of Diet Pepsi Cola.

Tuesday 22:

Dr. Charles Epstein of Tiburon, California, USA is injured by a mail bomb sent by the Unabomber.

Thursday 24:

Yale computer science professor Dr. David Gelernter loses the sight in one eye, the hearing in one ear, and part of his right hand after receiving a mailbomb from the Unabomber.

Friday 25:

Kim Campbell is chosen as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and becomes the first female Prime Minister of Canada.

July 1993

Saturday 03:

Steffi Graf wins Wimbledon.

Sunday 04:

The Argentine national football team defeats mexico to win the Copa América 1993 in Guayaquil.

Monday 12:

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake off the shore of Hokkaido, Japan launches a devastating tsunami, killing 202 on the small island of Okushiri.

Thursday 29:

The Israeli Supreme Court acquits accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.

August 1993

Wednesday 04:

A federal judge sentences LAPD officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 30 months in prison for violating motorist Rodney King's civil rights.

Friday 06:

The Fugitive opens in theaters, starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.

Monday 16:

The Debian GNU/Linux distribution is founded by Ian Murdock.

Saturday 21:

NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft.

Monday 30:

The Late Show with David Letterman debuts on CBS.

September 1993

Monday 13:

Norwegian parliamentary election, 1993.

Tuesday 21:

Grunge rock band Nirvana releases its album In Utero.

Wednesday 22:

A Transair Georgian Airlines Tu-154 is shot down by a missile in Sukhumi, Georgia.

Friday 24:

Brøderbund releases the computer game Myst.

Thursday 30:

An earthquake hits India's Latur and Osmanabad district of Marathwada (Aurangabad division) in Maharashtra state leaving tens of thousands of people dead and many more homeless.

October 1993

Sunday 03:

Battle of Mogadishu: In an attempt to capture officials of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's organization in Mogadishu, Somalia, 18 US Army Rangers and about 2000 Somalis are killed.

Monday 04:

Russian constitutional crisis of 1993: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders tanks to storm the Russian parliament building.

Wednesday 06:

Michael Jordan makes his first retirement from the NBA.

Monday 25:

Jean Chrétien becomes prime minister of Canada with a massive majority for his Liberal Party in a general election in which the governing Progressive Conservatives lost 149 of 151 seats in the parliament.

Wednesday 27:

Fires in five counties in southern California destroy more than 500 homes and cause an estimate $1 billion of damage within a week.

November 1993

Monday 01:

The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.

Tuesday 09:

Stari Most, the "old bridge" in Bosnian Mostar built in 1566, collapses after several days of bombing.

Thursday 18:

In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution.

Tuesday 23:

Rachel Whiteread wins both the £20,000 Turner Prize award for best British modern artist and the £40,000 K Foundation art award for the worst artist of the year.

Tuesday 30:

U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (the Brady Bill) into law.

December 1993

Tuesday 07:

South Africa transitional executive council established

Wednesday 08:

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signed into law by US President Bill Clinton.

Friday 10:

Shareware version of Doom is released.

Wednesday 29:

Construction of the Tian Tan Buddha, the world's tallest outdoor bronze statue of the seated Buddha, was completed.

Thursday 30:

Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations.