1993 - What happened in 1993 ?

January 1993

Friday 01:

A single market within the European Community is introduced.

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.

Tuesday 26:

Václav Havel elected President of the Czech Republic.

Sunday 31:

Super Bowl XXVII: The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Buffalo Bills, 52-17.

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

Friday 05:

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson is banned from international competition for life after testing positive for banned substances for the second time.

Tuesday 09:

Rodney King testifies at the federal trial of four Los Angeles, California police officers accused of violating King's civil rights when they beat him during an arrest.

Friday 12:

North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea says that it plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refuses to allow inspectors access to nuclear sites.

Saturday 20:

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

Monday 22:

The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips (80586), featuring a 60 MHz clock speed, 100+ MIPS, and a 64 bit data path.

April 1993

Monday 05:

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

Monday 19:

The 50-day siege of the Branch Davidian building outside Waco, Texas, USA, ends when a fire breaks out. Eighty-one people die.

Thursday 22:

1993 - The web browser Mosaic version 1.0 is released.

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

Sunday 06:

Mongolia holds its first direct presidential elections.

Monday 07:

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

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 09:

King Albert II of Belgium is sworn into office nine days after the death of his brother, King Baudouin.

Friday 20:

After rounds of secret negotiations in Norway, the Oslo Peace Accords were signed, followed by a public ceremony in Washington, D.C. the next month.

Saturday 21:

NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft.

September 1993

Wednesday 15:

Liechtenstein Prince Hans-Adam II disbands parliament.

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.

Thursday 23:

Sonic the Hedgehog CD is released for the Sega Mega-CD in Japan.

Friday 24:

Brøderbund releases the computer game Myst.

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.

Monday 18:

Andreas Papandreou begins his second term as Prime Minister of Greece.

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

Thursday 04:

A China Airlines Boeing 747 overran Runway 13 at Hong Kong's Kai Tak International Airport while landing during a typhoon. The wind was gusting to gale force at the time. It touched down more than 2/3 down the runway and was unable to stop before the runway ran out and the plane crashed into the sea. 22 people were injured.

Tuesday 09:

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

Sunday 14:

Michael Jackson enters a drug rehabilitation program to treat an addiction to painkillers.

Saturday 20:

Savings and Loan scandal: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his "dealings" with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.

Tuesday 30:

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

December 1993

Saturday 04:

A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.

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.