1993 CE

The Oslo Accords are signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization; the 1993 World Trade Center bombing kills six people and injures more than 1,000 in New York City; the Battle of Mogadishu takes place during the Somali Civil War; the Waco siege ends in a deadly fire after a 51-day standoff; Pablo Escobar is killed by Colombian security forces; the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis culminates in the shelling of the Russian parliament; Michael Jackson is accused of sexual abuse; the Burundian Civil War begins following the assassination of President Melchior Ndadaye; and the 1993 Storm of the Century brings widespread destruction across eastern North America.

In the 1990s, the 20th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 1 – Czechoslovakia ceases to exist, as the Czech Republic and Slovakia separate in the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia.source
  • January 7 – The Fourth Republic of Ghana is inaugurated, with Jerry Rawlings as president.source
  • January 13 – The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is signed by President George H. W. Bush.source
  • January 20 – Bill Clinton and Al Gore are inaugurated as US President and Vice President.source
  • January 25 – Social Democrat Poul Nyrup Rasmussen succeeds Conservative Poul Schlüter as Prime Minister of Denmark.source
  • February 4 – Members of the right-wing Austrian Freedom Party of Austria split to form the Liberal Forum in protest against the increasing nationalistic bent of the party.source
  • February 7: the delimitation treaty between Senegal and Cape Verde was signedSenegalsource
  • 23 February - The Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan is established by decree of Chairman Rahmon and February 23 is declared a national holiday.Tajikistansource
  • March 13 – 1993 Australian federal election: Paul Keating's Labor government is re-elected with an increased majority, defeating the Liberal/National Coalition led by John Hewson.source
  • March 27 – Following a rash of integrist murders (including those of foreigners), Algeria breaks diplomatic relations with Iran, accusing the country of interfering in its interior affairs.source
  • March 28 – 1993 French legislative election: Rally for the Republic (Gaullist party) wins a majority and Édouard Balladur becomes Prime Minister.source
  • 22nd - first nonpartisan district level elections held in 13 districts.Ghanasource
  • April 8 – The Republic of Macedonia is admitted to the United Nations under a provisional reference "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".source
  • 27 April – The country declared its independence from Ethiopia.Eritreasource
  • June 5 – The National Assembly of Venezuela designates Ramón José Velásquez as successor of suspended President Carlos Andrés Pérez.source
  • June 25 – Kim Campbell becomes the 19th, and first female, Prime Minister of Canada.source
  • August 4 - The Arusha Accords are signed between President Juvénal Habyarimana and leaders of the RPF in Arusha, Tanzania, ending the Rwandan Civil War.Rwandasource
  • 20 August – The first agreement in the Oslo Accords is signed in Oslo, between by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres for Israel, Mahmoud Abbas for the Palestine Liberation Organization and Secretary of State Warren Christopher for the United States.Palestinesource
  • 27 August – The Party for Democracy and Rally was founded by Daouda Bayili of the African Independence Party.Burkina Fasosource
  • August 28 – Ong Teng Cheong becomes the first President of Singapore elected by the population.source
  • 3 September – The Massandra Accords were signed between Ukraine and the Russian Federation as result of negotiations that took place in the Massandra Palace at Yalta.Ukrainesource
  • September 13 – Oslo I Accord: Following initially secret talks from earlier in the year, PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin shake hands in Washington, D.C. after signing a peace accord.source
  • September 19 – 1993 Polish parliamentary election: A coalition of the Democratic Left Alliance and the Polish People's Party led by Waldemar Pawlak comes into power.source
  • October 25 – 1993 Canadian federal election: Jean Chrétien and his Liberal Party defeat the governing Progressive Conservative Party, which falls to a historic low of two seats.source
  • November 1 – The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.source
  • November 4 – Jean Chrétien becomes the 20th Prime Minister of Canada.source
  • December 5 – Rafael Caldera Rodríguez is elected President of Venezuela for the second time, succeeding interim president Ramón José Velásquez.source
  • December 5 – Omar Bongo is re-elected as President of Gabon in the country's first multiparty elections.source
  • 5 December – Omar Bongo wins the country's presidential election.Gabonsource
  • December 13 – Former Prime Minister of Canada Kim Campbell resigns as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and is succeeded as leader by Jean Charest.source
  • December 13 – The Majilis of Kazakhstan approves the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and agrees to dismantle the more than 100 missiles left on its territory by the fall of the USSR.source
  • December 17 – Brazil's Supreme Court rules that former President Fernando Collor de Mello may not hold elected office again until 2000 due to political corruption.source
  • December 30 – Representatives of Israel and the Holy See sign the Fundamental Agreement Between the Holy See and the State of Israel, preparing for the establishment of diplomatic relations.source

Conflict & Security

  • 2 January – Jaffna lagoon massacre: A Sri Lankan Navy motor gunboat and a number of smaller speedboats intercept a number of boats transporting people between the southern and northern shores of the Jaffna Lagoon, and attacked them under the glare of a spotlight. Roughly 100 civilians and militants were killed.Sri Lankasource
  • January 6–20 – The Bombay riots take place in Mumbai.source
  • January 6 – Douglas Hurd is the first high-ranking British official to visit Argentina since the Falklands War.source
  • January 13 – Iraq disarmament crisis: US, British and French aircraft attack Iraqi Surface to Air Missile sites in Southern Iraq.source
  • January 19 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM inspectors to use its own aircraft to fly into Iraq and begins military operations in the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait, and the northern Iraqi no-fly zones. U.S. forces fire approximately 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Baghdad factories linked to Iraq's illegal nuclear weapons program (→ January 1993 airstrikes on Iraq). Iraq then informs UNSCOM that it will be able to resume its flights.source
  • February 15 – Abortion in Poland: Lech Walesa signs into law one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in Eastern Europe, banning abortion for any reason other than rape, incest, genetic deformity, or if the mother's life is in danger. Polish women seeking elective abortions must hereafter travel to the Czech Republic.source
  • 7 March - A CIS peacekeeping force was deployed to Tajikistan.Tajikistansource
  • March 17 – The Kurdistan Workers' Party announces a unilateral ceasefire in Iraq.source
  • April 16 – Bosnian War: the enclave of Srebrenica is declared a UN-protected "safe area". Also members of the Jokeri unit of the HVO entered the village of Ahmići and killed 120 Muslim residents.source
  • April 19 – Waco siege: A 51-day stand-off at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ends with a fire that kills 76 people, including David Koresh.source
  • May 4 – UNOSOM II assumes the Somalian duties of the dissolved UNITAF.source
  • May 11-United Nations Security Council Resolution 825 resolved that the inspector from the IAEA should go to North Korea.North Koreasource
  • May 26 – Albanian President Sali Berisha urges the United States and NATO to take action to prevent Serbian ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians.source
  • June 1 – President of Guatemala Jorge Serrano Elías is forced to flee the country after an attempted self-coup.source
  • 6 June – 1993 Mongolian presidential election.Mongoliasource
  • June 8 – Kurdish–Turkish conflict: the PKK-declared ceasefire ends in Iraq.source
  • June 18 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM weapons inspectors to install remote-controlled monitoring cameras at two missile engine test stands.source
  • 26 June – Cruise missile airstrikes on Iraq is ordered by U.S. President Bill Clinton as retaliation for Iraq alleged involvement in an assassination attempt on former President George H. W. Bush.Iraqsource
  • June 27 – U.S. President Bill Clinton orders a cruise missile attack on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in the Al-Mansur District of Baghdad, in response to an Iraqi plot to assassinate former U.S. President George H. W. Bush during his visit to Kuwait in mid-April.source
  • July 5 – Iraq disarmament crisis: UN inspection teams leave Iraq. Iraq then agrees to UNSCOM demands and the inspection teams return.source
  • July 25 – In a terrorist attack members of the Azanian People's Liberation Army open fire on a congregation inside St James Church in Kenilworth, Cape Town, killing eleven and injuring fifty.source
  • July 25 - Operation Accountability: Israeli forces attack Lebanon at the beginning of a week-long campaign.Lebanonsource
  • August 31 – Russia completes removing its troops from Lithuania.source
  • 13 September – The First Intifada ends with the signing of the Oslo I Accord.Palestinesource
  • September 27 – War in Abkhazia: Fall of Sukhumi – Eduard Shevardnadze accuses Russia of passive complicity.source
  • October 3–4– Battle of Mogadishu: The U.S. Army conducts Operation Gothic Serpent in the city of Mogadishu, Somalia, deploying Task Force Ranger. Two U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawks are shot down and the operation leaves over 1,000 Somalis dead and over 74 Americans wounded in action, 18 killed and 1 captured.source
  • October 4 – The Russian constitutional crisis culminates with Russian military and security forces, using tanks and clearing the White House of Russia Parliament building by force, quashing a mass uprising against President Boris Yeltsin.source
  • October 11–28 – The UNMIH is prevented from entering Haiti by its military-led regime. On October 18, United Nations economic sanctions (abolished in August) are reinstated. U.S. President Bill Clinton sends 6 American warships to enforce them.source
  • October 21 – A coup in Burundi results in the death of president Melchior Ndadaye and sparks the Burundi Civil War.source
  • October - The National Front for the Salvation of Libya reported that Gaddafi ordered executions and arrests of his opponents after a failed coup.Libyasource
  • November 17 – In Nigeria, General Sani Abacha ousts the government of Ernest Shonekan in a military coup.source
  • November 28 – The Observer reveals that a channel of communications has existed between the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the British government, despite the government's persistent denials.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • Backstreet Boys were formed in Orlando, Florida.source
  • 27 May – Belfast architect Dawson Stelfox becomes one of the first Irish people to reach the summit of Mount Everest.Northern Irelandsource
  • 16 June – Bosnian Muslim refugees leave Croatia for Pakistan.Pakistansource
  • July 26 – Miguel Indurain wins the 1993 Tour de France.source
  • September 1: The government separated the commercial functions from the (central) Bank of Cape Verde, establishing Banco Comercial do AtlânticoCape Verdesource
  • 15 September – The visit of Hungarian foreign minister Géza Jeszenszky in Romania starts.Romaniasource
  • 7 October - Altamura, Apulia: the remains of the Man of Altamura (Homo arcaicus), the only one of its kind, come to light.Italysource
  • October 13 – The fifth summit of the Francophonie opens in Mauritius.source
  • November 17 – The first meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit opens in Seattle.source
  • 5 December – The Jurong section of the Pan Island Expressway opened to traffic.Singaporesource
  • Unknown – Italy's Maximilian Sciandri wins the 1993 Tour de Luxembourg.Luxembourgsource
  • 1993 IAAF World Race Walking CupMexicosource

Religion & Belief

  • 19 January - João Mário, footballerPortugalsource
  • 27 January – Burial service of Uğur MumcuTurkeysource
  • 23 February – The National Council of the country was founded.Namibiasource
  • Pope John Paul II makes an official visit to Albania, accompanied by Mother Teresa. He counsels Albanian Catholics against supporting nationalist violence in Kosovo.source
  • 10 September – Pope John Paul II visits Estonia and Latvia.Estoniasource
  • 15 October – The establishment of Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats in Taipei.Taiwansource
  • December 26–28 – Four separate grenade attacks occur in Davao City. The first one, during an evening mass at San Pedro Cathedral, kills 6–7 people and injures more than 130 others. In the following two days, three mosques are likewise attacked, injuring six in the second one.Philippinessource
  • Yang di-Pertuan Agong: Sultan Azlan ShahMalaysiasource
  • Musical bands La Gusana Ciega and Hocico are founded.Mexicosource

Economy & Finance

  • January 1 – The European Economic Community eliminates trade barriers and creates a European single market.source
  • 1 March – The Securities Commission (SC) was established.Malaysiasource
  • March 12 – North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea announces that it plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refuses to allow inspectors access to nuclear sites, beginning the 1993–94 North Korean Nuclear Crisis.source
  • March 24 – South Africa officially abandons its nuclear weapons programme. President de Klerk announces that the country's six warheads had already been dismantled in 1989.source
  • 8 June – Securities and Exchange Commission (Bangladesh), the regulator of the capital market of Bangladesh, was established under the Securities and Exchange Commission Act, 1993.Bangladeshsource
  • 24 June – Northern Ireland Minister Michael Mates resigns over links with tycoon Asil Nadir.Northern Irelandsource
  • June 25 – The litas is introduced as the new currency of Lithuania.source
  • June 25 – Jacques Attali resigns as President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.source
  • 9-10 June – The Democratic National Salvation Front absorbs the Republican Party (Partidul Republican), the Cooperatist Party (Partidul Cooperatist) and the Socialist Democratic Party, renaming itself into the Romanian Social Democratic Party. Oliviu Gherman is reelected the party's president and Adrian Năstase is elected executive president.Romaniasource
  • August – The European Exchange Rate Mechanism margin was expanded to 15% to accommodate speculation against the French franc and other currencies.source
  • September – The first Namibian dollar notes were issued.Namibiasource
  • October 23 – The National Forces' Movement is founded through the merger of the Happiness Party and the Hungarian Republican Party.Hungarysource
  • 1 November – SingTel is listed on the then Stock Exchange of Singapore (present day Singapore Exchange) after an IPO in October.Singaporesource
  • November 17–22 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) passes the legislative houses in the United States, Canada and Mexico.source
  • December 8 – U.S. President Bill Clinton signs into law the North American Free Trade Agreement.source
  • December 15 – The Uruguay Round of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) talks reach a successful conclusion after seven years.source
  • Agronic Oy was established in Haapavesi.Finlandsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • January 11 – WWE introduce their television program, Monday Night Raw.source
  • January 30 – The Red Line (later known as the B Line) officially begins service in Los Angeles, becoming the first underground rapid transit line to open in almost 70 years.source
  • April – Telefónica Romania, the first mobile phone operator in Romania, launches the Telemobil service.Romaniasource
  • June 29 – The first mobile phone call was made in Greece, marking the launch of mobile telephony services in the country by Telestet (now NOVA).source
  • 6–14 June – Tajikistan takes part in the 1993 ECO Cup in Tehran.Tajikistansource
  • 4 July: Argentina defeats Mexico 2-1 to win the 1993 Copa America and their fourteenth Copa America title.Argentinasource
  • 18 August – The 14th-century Kapellbrücke covered wooden truss bridge in Lucerne is largely destroyed by fire.Switzerlandsource
  • 21 September – Ngee Ann City is officially opened.Singaporesource
  • September 25 – The Nipah Dam incident: Indonesian security forces shoot and kill four protesters opposing the construction of a dam.source
  • Early October – The national government tentatively agrees to drop fraud charges against Westinghouse Electric Corporation in exchange for power-generating equipment, in an effort to end a decade-long dispute over a nuclear power plant which was eventually mothballed after the ouster of President Marcos. Earlier in May, the company has been cleared of charges of bribery in relation to the contract with the Marcos administration.Philippinessource
  • November 5 – The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Railways Act 1993, setting out the procedures for privatisation of British Rail.source
  • November 9 – Bosnian Croat forces destroy the Stari Most, or Old Bridge of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, by tank fire.source
  • 20 November – AirAsia, Malaysia's first low-cost carrier was established.Malaysiasource
  • 1993 Caribbean Series played at Estadio Teodoro Mariscal in Mazatlán.Mexicosource

Science & Discovery

  • 11 January – 15 tonnes of narcotics were seized by the police in a Panama ensign shipTurkeysource
  • March 8 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. The Moon appears to be 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the year's other full moons. The next time these two events coincided was in 2008.source
  • April 22 — The China National Space Administration is established.Chinasource
  • 12 May – SES launches its third satellite, Astra 1C.Luxembourgsource
  • May 14: The Ecologist Green Party of Mexico is founded.Mexicosource
  • June 11 – Jurassic Park releases in cinemas in the United States.source
  • June 24 – UK mathematician Andrew Wiles wins worldwide fame after presenting his proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, a problem that had been unsolved for more than three centuries.source
  • August 5 – The discovery of the Tel Dan Stele, the first archaeological confirmation of the existence of the Davidic line, announced.source
  • August 21 – NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Observer orbiter 3 days before the spacecraft is scheduled to enter orbit around Mars.source
  • September 17 – The last Russian military personnel leave Poland.source
  • September 26 – The first mission in Biosphere 2 ends after two years.source
  • September 26 – PoSAT-1 (the first Portuguese satellite) is launched on board French rocket Ariane 4.source
  • October 5 – China performs a nuclear test, ending a worldwide de facto moratorium.source
  • November 12 – London Convention: Marine dumping of radioactive waste is outlawed.source
  • December 2 – STS-61: NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair an optical flaw in the Hubble Space Telescope.source
  • December 20 – The first corrected images from the Hubble Space Telescope are taken.source
  • December 21 – Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki's VeggieTales is first released.source
  • Tlemcen National Park is established.Algeriasource
  • Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993Finlandsource
  • 1993 North Korean missile testNorth Koreasource
  • Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993Switzerlandsource

Health & Medicine

  • 7 January - The government declares a state-of-emergency in Dushanbe.Tajikistansource
  • 18 January - João Carlos Teixeira, footballerPortugalsource
  • 8 February – Gheorghe Vîlceanu replaces Doru Viorel Pană as prefect of Bucharest.Romaniasource
  • February 10 – Mani pulite scandal: Italian legislator Claudio Martelli resigns, followed by various politicians over the next two weeks.source
  • March 29 – A state of calamity is declared in the city of San Pablo and the municipalities of Nagcarlan and Rizal, all in Laguna, due to a fish kill that has affected six lakes in the province.Philippinessource
  • April 11 – Four hundred fifty prisoners rioted at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, and continued to do so for ten days, citing grievances related to prison conditions, as well as the forced vaccination of Nation of Islam prisoners (for tuberculosis) against their religious beliefs.source
  • April 14 – Hungary passes a law banning the public display of Fascist and Communist symbols.source
  • April 23 – The World Health Organization declares tuberculosis a global emergency.source
  • 4–11 August – Tropical Storm Bret passes over northern coastal areas of Colombia, killing one person. The storm kills a total of 231 people across Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica.Colombiasource
  • 17 December – The Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital (present-day Ang Mo Kio - Thye Hua Kwan Hospital) is officially opened. The hospital works with General Practitioners, which will mainly serve the elderly living in the area.Singaporesource
  • 28 December – Pakistan begins a campaign to eradicate polio.Pakistansource
  • Chile national football team 1993Chilesource

Crime & Justice

  • January 5 – US$7.4 million is stolen from the Brink's Armored Car Depot in Rochester, New York, in the fifth largest robbery in U.S. history.source
  • January 22 – Hungarian politician Istvan Csurka, of the Hungarian Democratic Forum, calls on the nation to rally against an alleged anti-Hungarian conspiracy led by Jews, liberals, Communists, and Westerners.source
  • January 24 – In Turkey, thousands protest against the murder of journalist Uğur Mumcu.source
  • February 12 – Murder of James Bulger: Two-year-old James Bulger is abducted from New Strand Shopping Centre by two ten-year-old boys Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who later torture and murder him.source
  • February 22 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 808 is voted on, deciding that "an international tribunal shall be established" to prosecute violations of international law in Yugoslavia. The tribunal is established on May 25 by Resolution 827.source
  • 15th - some members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) are arrested for demonstrating against the national budget.Ghanasource
  • March 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.source
  • April 21 – The Supreme Court in La Paz, Bolivia, sentences former dictator Luis Garcia Meza to 30 years in jail without parole for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution.source
  • April 30 – Tennis player Monica Seles – at this time the top-ranked player in women's tennis – is stabbed during a match at the 1993 Citizen Cup in Hamburg, Germany.source
  • May 11 – A Taiwanese businessman is abducted by an unidentified, newly-formed kidnap-for-ransom gang in Metro Manila. He is brought to Laguna and is released on May 17 after a ransom is paid in Hong Kong. Police later believes that the gang has international links and flees Manila thereafter.Philippinessource
  • 23 May – In record busts against drug smugglers in southeastern Balochistan, navy officers seize 132,000 lb of hashish and 440 lb of heroin.Pakistansource
  • June 1 – Large protests erupt against Slobodan Milošević's regime in Belgrade; opposition leader Vuk Drašković and his wife Danica are arrested.source
  • July 15 – 1993 child sexual abuse accusations against Michael Jackson: Evan Chandler institutes legal accusations against singer Michael Jackson of sexually molesting Jordan Chandler, Evan's 13-year-old son.United Statessource
  • July 29 – The Israeli Supreme Court acquits accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.source
  • 5 October – PKK killed 35 civilians in Siirt Province and Batman ProvinceTurkeysource
  • 12 October – Virgil Măgureanu is named head of the Romanian Intelligence Service.Romaniasource
  • 5 November – Dario Londono Cardona, Vice President of the Senate, and his driver are shot by a group of hitmen in Medellín. This was days after a law he had written parts of, offering leniency to those charged with drug trafficking and other crimes who cooperated with officials, passed. The group “Death to Protectors of the Cali Cartel” claims responsibility. Cardona later dies of his injuries.Colombiasource
  • November 30 – U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.source
  • December 2 – Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is gunned down by police.source
  • December 10 – id Software releases the first-person shooter game Doom.source
  • Sultan of Pahang: Sultan Ahmad ShahMalaysiasource
  • 261 O-Level papers are lost in transit.Singaporesource

Disasters & Accidents

  • January 5 – MV Braer, a Liberian-registered oil tanker, runs aground off the Scottish island of Mainland, Shetland, causing a massive oil spill.source
  • 11 January: Three buses collide in a fiery crash in Corrientes, resulting in the deaths of at least 55 people and injuring 70 others.Argentinasource
  • January 14 – The Polish ferry MS Jan Heweliusz sinks off the coast of Rügen in the Baltic Sea, killing 54 people.source
  • February 26 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a van bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six people and injuring over one thousand.source
  • March 5 – Macedonian Palair Flight 301, an F-100 on a flight to Zürich, crashes shortly after take-off from Skopje, killing 83 of the 97 on board.source
  • March 12 – 1993 Bombay bombings: Several bombs explode in Bombay, India, killing 257 and injuring hundreds more.source
  • 15 April – A car bomb is detonated in front of Bogotá's Centro 93 shopping mall by the Medellín Cartel, killing 8 and injuring 242. The blast destroys 100 commercial properties and causes damage valued at 1.5 Billion COP.Colombiasource
  • April 27 – 1993 Zambia national football team plane crash: All members of the Zambia national football team die in a plane crash off Libreville, Gabon en route to Dakar, Senegal.source
  • May 19 – SAM Colombia Flight 501, a Boeing 727-46, crashed during its approach to José María Córdova International Airport, Colombia, killing all 132 occupants on board.source
  • July 26 – Asiana Airlines Flight 733 crashes into Mt. Ungeo in Haenam, South Korea; 68 are killed.source
  • July 26 - Asiana Airlines Flight 733 crashes near Mokpo Airport, killing 68 of the 116 passengers and crew.South Koreasource
  • 5 August – An MRT collision takes place at Clementi station during the morning rush hour, resulting in 156 injuries.Singaporesource
  • August 13 – More than 130 die in the collapse of Royal Plaza Hotel at Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand's worst hotel disaster.source
  • September 22 – Big Bayou Canot train disaster: A bridge collapses while the Amtrak Sunset Limited is in the process of crossing it, killing 47 people.source
  • October 27–31 – The Southland Firestorm, formed of more than fourteen separate fires in Southern California burning simultaneously, burns more than 700 homes and 160,000 acres. Two of these fire are the Laguna Fire which burned more than 16,000 acres (6,500 hectares), destroyed hundreds of homes and caused $528 million in damage in Orange County, California, and the Kinneloa Fire in Los Angeles County, California which caused a fatality.source
  • 9 November – Fire rages through the National Assembly building, destroying the main chamber. According to PTV, the cause is believed to be an electric short circuit.Pakistansource
  • November 11 - United Nations Security Council Resolution 883 increases the strength of the sanctions levelled against Libya in UNSC Resolutions 731 and 748. The sanctions were strengthened due to Gaddafi's continued refusal to extradite the suspects in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.Libyasource
  • November 20 – An Avioimpex Yakovlev Yak-42D crashes into Mount Trojani near Ohrid, North Macedonia. All 8 crew members and 115 of the 116 passengers are killed.source
  • December 11 – One of the three blocks of the Highland Towers near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia collapses, killing 48.source
  • December 24 – A grenade attack at a public market in Ozamiz, Misamis Occidental, kills 5 individuals and injures 47–48 others.Philippinessource
  • On 13 December 1993, a Lao Aviation Harbin Yunshuji Y-12-II (registration RDPL-34117) crashed on approach to Phonesavanh Airport after clipping trees in fog, killing all 18 on board.Laossource

Climate & Environment

  • January 8–17 – The Braer Storm of January 1993, the most intense extratropical cyclone on record for the northern Atlantic Ocean, occurs.source
  • 12 January – Avalanche in Bayburt ProvinceTurkeysource
  • 14 January – Galeras tragedy: The Galeras stratovolcano erupts, killing 6 volcanologists and 3 tourists.Colombiasource
  • 21 February – The World of Aquarium closes due to bad business, less than two years after it reopened. The building reopens as the Fort Canning Aquarium after a few months.Singaporesource
  • March 13–15 – The 1993 Storm of the Century strikes the eastern U.S., bringing record snowfall and other severe weather all the way from Cuba to Quebec; it reportedly kills 184 people.source
  • April 3 – Hungary's first attempt to enter the Eurovision Song Contest ends in failure, as Andrea Szulák fails to win a place in the final rounds.Hungarysource
  • April–October – Great Flood of 1993: The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers flood large portions of the American Midwest.source
  • June 18–20: Tropical Storm Beatriz (1993)Mexicosource
  • June 26–28 – Typhoon Koryn causes massive damage to the Philippines, China and Macau.source
  • July 7–9 – The 19th G7 summit is held in Tokyo, Japan.source
  • July 7 – Hurricane Calvin lands in Mexico. It is the second Pacific hurricane on record to land in Mexico in July and kills 34.source
  • July 8 – Monsoonal floods in South Asia begin, going on to kill more than three thousand people over the next month.source
  • July 12 – The 7.7 Mw Hokkaidō earthquake affects northern Japan with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and triggers a devastating tsunami that kills 230 on the small island of Okushiri, Hokkaido.source
  • July 30 – A wildfire on the Greek island of Ikaria kills 13.source
  • September 15–21 – Hurricane Gert crosses from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean through Central America and Mexico.source
  • September 30 – Latur earthquake: A 6.2 Mw earthquake occurs in the vicinity of Maharashtra, India having a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing 9,748 and injuring 30,000.source
  • October 13 – The 1993 Finisterre earthquakes in Papua New Guinea kill at least 60 due to landslides.source
  • October 18 – President Ramos declares a state of public calamity in the provinces of Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Batanes, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Zambales; the cities of Angeles and San Jose; and few municipalities in Metro Manila (Marikina and Navotas) and Rizal (Rodriguez and San Mateo); due to massive flooding caused due to Tropical Storm Kadiang.Philippinessource
  • 21 October – Landslides occurred in an abandoned open cast tin mine near Pantai Remis, Perak.Malaysiasource
  • Beginning of August 1993, heavy floods hit the district of Gaibandha District in Northern Bangladesh. Continuous rainfall followed. The flood water exceeded the highest level of the 2004 floods, affecting 47,000 households.Bangladeshsource

Culture & Society

  • March 29 – The 65th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, with Unforgiven winning Best Picture.source
  • April 20 – The Council for National Academic Awards, the national degree-awarding authority in the United Kingdom, is officially dissolved.source
  • May 15 – Niamh Kavanagh wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland with In Your Eyes.source
  • June 22 – Japan's New Party Sakigake breaks away from the Liberal Democratic Party.source
  • July 5 – Electrochemist Faiza Al-Kharafi is appointed rector (president) of Kuwait University, the first woman to head a major university in the Middle East.source
  • 1st - Republic day celebrations held across the country.Ghanasource
  • August 15 – The Hungarian Grand Prix is held at the Hungaroring in Budapest and is won by Damon Hill.Hungarysource
  • August 25 – Boris Yeltsin, on an official state visit to Poland, lays a wreath at the Katyn memorial.source
  • August 28 – The first Power Rangers series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (an adaptation of Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger), premieres in the United States.source
  • September 23 – The International Olympic Committee selects Sydney, Australia, to host the 2000 Summer Olympics.source
  • October 23 – The Toronto Blue Jays repeat as World Series champions, becoming the first team to win back-to-back titles since the 1977–1978 New York Yankees.source
  • December 30: The new Beer Lovers Party, formed in August, is officially registered, with Andrey Romashevsky as its chairman.Belarussource
  • The University of Yaoundé is split into the University of Yaoundé I and the University of Yaoundé II.Cameroonsource
  • Académica do Sal won the Cape Verdean Football ChampionshipCape Verdesource
  • 1993 European Figure Skating ChampionshipsFinlandsource
  • AS Douanes won the Senegal Premier League football championshipSenegalsource
  • University of Wollongong in Dubai.United Arab Emiratessource

Births

Deaths

  • January 6 – Rudolf Nureyev, 54, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, AIDS.source
  • January 20 – Audrey Hepburn, 63, British actress (Breakfast at Tiffany's, Roman Holiday, My Fair Lady), Oscar winner (1954), appendix cancer.source
  • April 23 – Cesar Chavez, 66, American labor leader and civil rights activist.source
  • April–May – 1993 Four Corners hantavirus outbreak: Thirteen people are killed by Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, mainly in the Southwestern United States.source
  • May 1 – Assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa: During a May Day rally, President of Sri Lanka Ranasinghe Premadasa is assassinated by a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam suicide bomber. Prime Minister Dingiri Banda Wijetunga succeeds Premadasa as the 3rd executive president of Sri Lanka.source
  • June 5 – Attack on Pakistani military in Somalia: twenty-four Pakistani troops in the United Nations forces are killed in Mogadishu, Somalia.source
  • August 4 – John Elmer, 88, Australian rules footballer.source
  • 28 August - A Tajik Air Yakovlev Yak-40 passenger flight crashed at Khorog Airport in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, killing 82 passengers and crew members on board were killed.Tajikistansource
  • September 12 – Raymond Burr, 76, Canadian-American actor (Perry Mason, Rear Window, Ironside), Emmy winner (1959, 1961), kidney cancer.source
  • September 28: Galina Makarova, actress (born 1919)Belarussource
  • October 9 – The South Korean ferry Seohae capsizes off Pusan, South Korea; 292 are killed.source
  • October 21 - President Ndadaye was assassinated by Tutsi extremists, starting another genocide against Tutsis and a civil war.Burundisource
  • 24 October – Bahrija Nuri Hadžić, opera singer (born 1904)Bosnia and Herzegovinasource
  • November 7 – Adelaide Hall, 92, American jazz singer and entertainer, pneumonia.source
  • December 4 – Frank Zappa, 52, American musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, prostate cancer.source
  • December 7 – In Garden City, New York, six people are murdered and 19 injured in the Long Island Rail Road massacre, a racially motivated mass shooting perpetrated by Colin Ferguson, a black Jamaican immigrant.source
  • December 7 – President of Ivory Coast Félix Houphouët-Boigny dies at 88, the oldest African head of state. He is succeeded four days later by Henri Konan Bédié.source
  • December 31 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, 54, Soviet and Georgian politician, dissident, and writer, shot.source