1994 - What happened in 1994 ?

January 1994

Saturday 01:

The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.

Saturday 08:

Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He will stay on the space station till March 22, 1995 for a record 437 days in space.

Thursday 20:

In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet to attend The Citadel but soon drops out.

Friday 21:

Lorena Bobbitt is found not-guilty by reason of temporary insanity for severing the penis of her husband John Bobbitt.

Friday 28:

The first trial of accused murderer Lyle Menendez ends in a mistrial. He and his brother Erik are later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

February 1994

Tuesday 01:

In Portland, Oregon Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly pleads guilty for his role in attacking figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.

Saturday 05:

Byron De La Beckwith is convicted of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.

Wednesday 09:

Peace plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina announced (so called Vance-Owen peace plan).

Saturday 12:

1994 Winter Olympics open in Lillehammer, Norway.

Tuesday 22:

Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.

March 1994

Tuesday 01:

Seattle grunge band Nirvana play their last show in Munich, Germany.

Monday 07:

The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music that parodies of an original work are generally covered by the doctrine of fair use.

Wednesday 23:

At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.

Sunday 27:

One of the biggest tornado outbreaks in recent memory hits the Southeastern United States. One tornado slams into a church in Piedmont, Alabama during Palm Sunday services killing 20 and injuring 90.

Monday 28:

In South Africa, Zulus and African National Congress supporters battle in central Johannesburg, resulting in 18 deaths.

April 1994

Friday 08:

Body of Kurt Cobain discovered in his Washington home.

Monday 18:

Brian Lara scores 375 in one innings <!--sic--> of a test cricket match, beating Garfield Sobers's previous record of 365.

Thursday 21:

The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.

Wednesday 27:

South African general election, 1994: The first democratic general election in South Africa, in which black citizens vote.

Thursday 28:

Former Central Intelligence Agency official Aldrich Ames pleads guilty to giving U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and later Russia.

May 1994

Sunday 01:

Formula One driver Ayrton Senna is killed during the San Marino Grand Prix.

Wednesday 04:

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord regarding Palestinian autonomy granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.

Thursday 05:

American Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore as punishment for spray-painting two cars.

Monday 09:

Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president.

Tuesday 10:

An annular eclipse of the sun is visible across much of North America.

June 1994

Sunday 12:

German districts Röbel and Waren are merged to form Müritz

Tuesday 14:

The New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup over the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in Game 7, breaking a 54-year drought.

Wednesday 15:

Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations.

Thursday 16:

A Chinese operated Northwest Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes 10 minutes after takeoff killing 160

Friday 17:

Following a televised highway chase and a failed attempt at suicide, O. J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

July 1994

Thursday 07:

Aden is occupied by troops from North Yemen, completing the reunification of Yemen.

Friday 15:

Albert Belle of the Cleveland Indians caught with a corked bat.

Saturday 16:

1994 - The civil war in Rwanda comes to an end.

Monday 18:

A court upholds NBA salary cap and draft rights.

Monday 25:

Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration which formally ends the state of war that has existed between the nations since 1948.

August 1994

Tuesday 02:

Popular Japanese television and movie actor Beat Takeshi is seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.

Friday 12:

Major League Baseball players go on strike. The work stoppage will force the cancellation of the World Series.

Sunday 14:

Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the terrorist known as "Carlos the Jackal", is captured.

Wednesday 24:

Initial accord between Israel and the PLO about partial self-rule of the Palestinians on the West Bank.

Sunday 28:

First Japanese gay pride march.

September 1994

Thursday 08:

A Boeing 737 operating USAir Flight 427 carrying 132 people on board, crashes on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport. There are no survivors.

Tuesday 13:

Ulysses probe passes the Sun's south pole.

Thursday 15:

Muslim fundamentalists kidnap & behead 16 people in Algeria.

Thursday 22:

Friends premieres on NBC.

Wednesday 28:

The car ferry MS Estonia sinks in Baltic Sea, killing 852 people.

October 1994

Wednesday 12:

NASA loses radio contact with the Magellan spacecraft as the probe descends into the thick atmosphere of Venus (the spacecraft presumably burned up in the atmosphere either October 13 or October 14)

Monday 17:

Peace treaty between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.

Wednesday 19:

New Zealand's Goodnight Kiwi says good night for the last time.

Tuesday 25:

Kara Spears Hultgreen is killed when on final approach to the USS Abraham Lincoln in her F-14 Tomcat.

Monday 31:

An American Eagle ATR-72 crashes in Roselawn, Indiana, after circling in icy weather, killing 64 passengers.

November 1994

Tuesday 08:

For the first time in 40 years the United States Republican Party takes control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in midterm congressional elections.

Wednesday 09:

Discovery of the chemical element Darmstadtium.

Sunday 13:

Voters in Sweden decide to join the European Union in a referendum.

Sunday 20:

The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign the Lusaka Protocol in Zambia, ending 19 years of civil war (in 1995 localized fighting resumed).

Wednesday 30:

Hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur is robbed of $40,000 in jewelry and survives being shot five times in a New York music studio. He believes he was set up by The Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy.

December 1994

Thursday 08:

US President Bill Clinton signs a bill enacting United States participation in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

Sunday 11:

A small bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, killing a Japanese businessman.

Thursday 15:

Palau becomes a member of the UN.