15 January-
Palermo:
Totò Riina, head of the
Cosa Nostra, is arrested by the
carabinieri of the Special Operational Group. He had been a fugitive for 24 years
April 28 - the government led by
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, the first non-parliamentary Prime Minister in the history of the
Italian Republic, takes office.
April 29 -
Rome: the Chamber of Deputies denies the authorization to proceed for some proceedings against the former secretary of the
PSIBettino Craxi. Following the vote, two ministers of the
PDS and the green Rutelli leave the Ciamp government.
April 30- Rome:
PSI secretary
Bettino Craxi is welcomed in front of the Hotel Raphael in Rome, where he lived, by numerous demonstrators who begin throwing coins at him in protest.
May 14- in
Rome there is an attack in via Fauro by the mafia.
May 27 -
Florence: massacre of Via dei Georgofili by
Cosa Nostra. A car bomb explodes near the Uffizi Gallery: the toll is 5 dead and 30 injured. The Mafia is suspected.[1]
June 3 -
Milazzo (ME): an explosion occurred inside the Mediterranean refinery kills seven workers.
July 27 -
Milan: Massacre of Via Palestro by
Cosa Nostra: a car bomb explodes in Via Palestro at the Contemporary Art Pavilion, causing 5 deaths (three firefighters, a municipal police officer and a street vendor) and 12 injured. A few minutes later two bombs explode in
Rome at the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano and the Church of San Giorgio al Velabro.
September 15-
Venice: an Air Force aircraft crashes at the Venice-Tessera Airport. The accident causes the death of the three crew members.
Palermo: the parish priest of the Brancaccio district, Don Pino Puglisi, a priest who has always been involved in the fight against the mafia, is assassinated.
7 October -
Altamura,
Apulia: the remains of the Man of Altamura (Homo arcaicus), the only one of its kind, come to light.