1991 Introductions

File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Philippines, making it the second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century; MTS Oceanos sinks off the coast of South Africa, but the crew notoriously abandons the vessel before the passengers are rescued; Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The Soviet flag is lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the flag of the Russian Federation; The United States and soon-to-be dissolved Soviet Union sign the START I Treaty; A tropical cyclone strikes Bangladesh, killing nearly 140,000 people; Lauda Air Flight 004 crashes after one of its thrust reversers activates during the flight; A United States-led coalition initiates Operation Desert Storm to remove Iraq and Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, 300x300px, thumb
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It was the final year of the Cold War that had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union collapsed, leaving fifteen sovereign republics and the CIS in its place. In July 1991, India abandoned its policies of socialism and autarky and began extensive neoliberal changes to its economy. This increased GDP, but also increased economic inequality over the next two decades. A UN-authorized coalition force from 34 nations fought against Iraq, which had invaded and annexed Kuwait in the previous year, 1990. The conflict would be called the Gulf War and would mark the beginning of a since-constant American military presence in the Middle East. The clash between Serbia and the other Yugoslav republics would lead into the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars, which ran through the rest of the decade.

In the context of the apartheid, the year after the liberation of political prisoner Nelson Mandela, the Parliament of South Africa repeals the Population Registration Act, 1950 overturning the racial classification of the population, a key component of apartheid.

The year 1991 saw the rise of a 10 years long boost of the US domestic economy with the Dow Jones Industrial Average remarkably closing in April at above 3,000 for the first time. This situation would only be cut short by the Dot-com bubble of 2000–2002.

In August, the World Wide Web, originally conceived during the previous year, was released outside CERN to other research institutions starting in January 1991 and publicly announced in August, also establishing the first website ever, "info.cern.ch". This step was a key factor that lead to the mid-1990s public breakthrough of the internet, which would eventually accelerate the already ongoing globalization around the globe.

In terms of popular culture, during this year alternative rock saw a new height of popularity when some of the earliest music exponents of the virtually unknown grunge sound were released, including the influential ''Nevermind'' album by Seattle-based band Nirvana in September 1991. It was also in 1991 that hip-hop music reached an unprecedented mainstream level of success. Electronic music derivative forms were also starting to gain momentum and would define, alone with the previous scenes, the sound for most of the decade.

Events

January

* January 1 – Czechoslovakia becomes the second Eastern European country to abandon its command economy.
* January 5 – Georgian troops attack Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, starting the 1991–92 South Ossetia War.
* January 7 – 1991 Haitian coup d'état: An attempted coup by the Tonton Macoute, a paramilitary force under former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, is thwarted in Haiti. On July 30, he is convicted by a jury of attempting to overthrow the country's first democratically elected government.
* January 9
**Gulf War: U.S. Secretary of State James Baker meets with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz but fails to produce a plan for the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
** In Sebokeng, South Africa, gunmen open fire on mourners attending the funeral of an African National Congress leader, killing 45 people.
* January 12 – Gulf War: The 102nd U.S. Congress passes a resolution authorizing the use of military force to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
* January 13
**Singing Revolution: Soviet forces storm Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence, killing 14 civilians and injuring 702 more. In Latvia, a series of confrontations between the Latvian government and the Soviet government take place in Riga.
* January 15
** Gulf War: The UN deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
** Prime Minister of Cape Verde Pedro Pires resigns following his party's loss in the Cape Verdean parliamentary election, the first ever multiparty election in an African nation. Later on February 17, António Mascarenhas Monteiro wins the country's first multiparty presidential election since 1975.
* January 16 – Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins with air strikes against Iraq.
* January 17
**Gulf War: Iraq fires eight Scud missiles into Israel. Iraqi attacks continue with 15 people injured in Tel Aviv on January 19 and 96 people injured in Ramat Gan on January 22.
**Harald V of Norway becomes the king of Norway after the death of his father, Olav V.
* January 18 – Eastern Air Lines shuts down after 62 years of operations, citing financial problems. Later on December 4, Pan American World Airways ceases its operations.
* January 22 – Gulf War: The British Army SAS patrol, Bravo Two Zero, is deployed in Iraq.
* January 24 – The government of Papua New Guinea signs a peace agreement with separatist leaders from Bougainville Island, ending fighting that had gone on since 1988.
* January 26 – President Siad Barre is overthrown and Somalia enters a civil war. Three days later, Ali Mahdi Muhammad is inaugurated as the next president.
* January 29
** In South Africa, Nelson Mandela of the African National Congress and Mangosuthu Buthelezi of the Inkatha Freedom Party agree to end violence between the two organizations.
** Gulf War: The first major ground engagement of the war, the Battle of Khafji, begins. The battle lasts until February 1.

February

* February 1
**USAir Flight 1493 collides with a SkyWest Airlines Fairchild Metroliner at Los Angeles International Airport, killing 34 people.
** A 6.4 Hindu Kush earthquake causes severe damage in northeast Afghanistan, leaving 848 dead and 200 injured.
* February 7
**1991 Haitian coup d'état: Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in. He is ousted on September 30 and later reinstated in 1994. In response to the coup and in an effort to encourage the coup leaders to restore democracy, the U.S. expands trade sanctions on Haiti to include all goods except food and medicine on October 29.
** The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.
** Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Kuwait, thus starting the ground phase of the war.
* February 11 – The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is formed in The Hague, Netherlands.
* February 13 – Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy an underground bunker in Baghdad, killing hundreds of Iraqis. US military intelligence claims it was a military facility while Iraqi officials identify it as a bomb shelter.
* February 15 – The Visegrád Group, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland.
* February 16