First confirmed detection of
exoplanets with announcement of the discovery of several terrestrial-mass planets orbiting the pulsar
PSR B1257+12, by radio astronomers
Aleksander Wolszczan and
Dale Frail working in the United States.[5]
Paramount Leader of China
Deng Xiaoping speaks in Shenzhen during his southern tour, a move that would return China on its right-wing march towards
free market economics.[7]
January 22 – Rebel forces occupy
Zaire's national radio station in
Kinshasa and broadcast a demand for the government's resignation.[8]
Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting cities of the United States and its allies with
nuclear weapons. In return President
George H. W. Bush announces that the United States and its allies will stop targeting Russia and the remaining
communist states with nuclear weapons.
In
Mauritania, security forces open fire on violent extremist opponents of President of Mauritania
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, allegedly killing at least four people.
March 24 – The
Treaty on Open Skies is signed in Helsinki, Finland, to establish a program of unarmed surveillance flights over the 34 member states. It went into effect on January 1, 2002.[18]
Los Angeles riots: The acquittal of four police officers in the
Rodney King beating criminal trial triggers massive rioting in Los Angeles.[21] The riots will last for six days resulting in 63 deaths and over $1 billion in damages before order is restored by the military.
In
Sierra Leone, a group of young soldiers launch a military coup that sends president
Joseph Saidu Momoh into exile in
Guinea, and the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) is established with 25-year-old Captain
Valentine Strasser as its chairman and Head of State of the country.[22]
In the
Sydney River McDonald's murders in
Nova Scotia, Canada, three McDonald's employees are killed and a fourth is left permanently disabled during a botched robbery.
Two German relief workers held since 1989, Thomas Kemptner and Heinrich Struebig, are handed over to the German authorities after their release; they are the last Western hostages in Lebanon.[31]
July 6–
29 –
Iraq disarmament crisis:
Iraq refuses a U.N. inspection team access to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture. UNSCOM claims that it has reliable information that the site contains archives related to illegal weapons activities. U.N. inspectors stage a 17-day "sit-in" outside of the building, but leave when their safety is threatened by Iraqi soldiers.
The
Cabinet of Israel approves a freeze on new
Israeli settlement in the occupied territories, a move expected to reinvigorate the Middle East Peace Process.
July 26 –
Iraq agrees to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to search the Iraqi Agricultural Ministry building in Baghdad. When inspectors arrive on July 28 and 29, they find nothing and voice suspicions that Iraqi records have been removed.
September 2 – The 7.7
MwNicaragua earthquake affects the west coast of Nicaragua. With a Ms –Mw disparity of half a unit, this
tsunami earthquake triggers a tsunami that causes most of the damage and casualties, with at least 116 killed. Average runup heights are 3–8 meters (9.8–26.2 ft).
September 21 – Mexico establishes diplomatic relations with
Vatican City, ending a break that has lasted over 130 years.
September 28 – Law enforcement officials in the United States,
Colombia and Italy announce that they have arrested more than 165 people on
money laundering charges related to
cocaine trafficking.
Israeli cargo plane
El Al Flight 1862 crashes into residential buildings in Amsterdam's
Bijlmermeer, Netherlands, after taking off from
Schiphol Airport and losing two engines, killing all 4 people on board and 39 on the ground.[38]
October 21 – 150,000 coal miners march in London to protest government plans to close coal mines and reduce the number of miners.[41]
October 23 – Emperor of Japan
Akihito begins the first imperial visit to China, telling a Beijing audience he feels deep sorrow for the suffering of the Chinese people during World War II.
November 8 – More than 350,000 people rally in Berlin to protest right-wing violence against immigrants; stones and eggs are thrown at President of Germany
Richard von Weizsäcker and Chancellor of Germany
Helmut Kohl.
December 1 –
South Korea and
South Africa reestablish diplomatic relations.
South Korea previously had diplomatic relations with South Africa from 1961 to 1978, when they were severed by the former due to the latter's policy of
apartheid.
December 22 – The
Archives of Terror are discovered by
Martín Almada in Asunción, detailing the fates of thousands of Latin Americans who have been secretly kidnapped, tortured and killed by the security services of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay in
Operation Condor.[48]
^Tropical Cyclones in 1992(PDF). Hong Kong Observatory (Report). September 1994. p. 17. Archived from
the original(PDF) on September 30, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
^"Typhoon Plane Crashes". Evening Standard. November 16, 1992. p. 20. – via Lexis Nexis (subscription required)