1992 History Events: What Happened in 1992

With the launch of the first ever Nicotine Patch, which is intended to assist smokers quit, technological improvements have been made. In 1992, the first ever DNA fingerprint was created. In addition, the Balkan War between Serbs, Croats, and Muslims reached a head in the year, prompting UN intervention. Euro Disney, on the other hand, debuted in France, while rioting erupted in several UK locations, notably Bristol. It was the year that Bill Clinton was elected president, as well as the year when America’s largest mall, the Minnesota Mall, was built, encompassing 78 acres.

Unbeknownst to many, 1992 was the year that the United States recognised three former Yugoslav republics, as well as the dissolution of the Yugoslav Federation. Informally, Yeltsin and Bush declared the end of the Cold War, and China was relieved when the US withdrew trade sanctions against them. General Manuel Noriega, the former president of Panama, was convicted in a US court of law on drug-related charges and sentenced to 40 years in jail. During this time, the Russian Parliament approved the START Treaty, as well as the split of Czechoslovakia into two nations. At the same time, as US forces left the nation, the Phillippines were able to enjoy the absence of the American military. Furthermore, a force led by the United States was approved by the UN to guard food for Somalia, and NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) was virtually signed at the same time.

Compact discs surpassed cassette tapes as the most popular type of recorded music in this year. According to a poll, there are 900 million television sets in use worldwide, with the United States leading the pack with 201 million. Johny Carson hosted his final show on The Tonight Show after dominating late-night television for more than two decades. It’s also the year when the first text-based Web browser was made available to the general public, signalling the start of the now-famous World Wide Web Era.

Continue reading to discover more about the events of 1992.

Event
(January 22, 1992) Roberta Bondar became the first Canadian woman and the first neurologist to travel into space while working as a payload specialist aboard the Discovery space shuttle.
Advertisements (March 17, 1992) On this day in 1992, over 69 percent of white South African voters supported F.W. de Klerk's reforms, which included the removal of racially restrictive legislation, thereby endorsing apartheid's demise.
(March 26, 1992) Following a rape conviction in Indianapolis, Indiana, heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was sentenced to six years in jail.
(March 31, 1992) The USS Missouri, which was the only US battleship still in service when the Japanese surrendered in 1945, thus ending World War II, was decommissioned for the second and final time.
(April 02, 1992) John Gotti, the American organised crime boss, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of 13 criminal counts, including the murder of Paul Castellano and others, racketeering, and obstruction of justice.
Advertisements (April 27, 1992) Betty Boothroyd, a British politician, was the first woman to be elected Speaker of the House of Commons, a position she held until 2000.
(April 29, 1992) Riots occurred in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four white Los Angeles cops on charges linked to the 1991 beating of Rodney King, a black motorist who had resisted arrest.
(May 23, 1992) The Corleonesi clan kills Italy's most notable anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife, and three bodyguards with a half-ton bomb near Capaci, Sicily. Paolo Borsellino, a friend and colleague, is assassinated less than two months later, making 1992 a watershed moment in the history of Italian Mafia cases.
(July 18, 1992) Les Horribles Cernettes was the subject of the first photograph ever uploaded on the World Wide Web.
Advertisements (July 22, 1992) Pablo Escobar, a Colombian drug trafficker, escaped from police custody as he was about to be transferred from La Catedral, a lavish prison he had built, to a more secure institution; he remained a fugitive until December 1993, when he was killed in a gunfight with police.
(July 25, 1992) The 1992 Summer Olympics opened on Saturday, July 25, 1992, at the Estadi Olmpic Llus Companys in Barcelona, Spain.
(August 11, 1992) Mall of America opens in Bloomington, Minnesota. The largest retail mall in the United States at the time.
(August 18, 1992) Larry Bird, a three-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics (1981, 1984, 1986), announced his retirement. photo source: wikimedia.org
(September 12, 1992) The 50th Space Shuttle mission, STS-47, was launched by NASA with the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Several famous space travellers, such as Mae Carol Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese citizen to ride on a US spaceship, and Mark Lee and Jan Davis, the first married pair in orbit, are already on board. photo source: wikimedia.org
Advertisements (November 03, 1992) Carol Moseley Braun defeated Republican Richard S. Williamson to become the first African-American woman elected to the United States Senate. Her election represented the first time a woman from Illinois was elected to the United States Senate, as well as the first time an African American was elected as a Democrat. photo source: wikimedia.org
(November 20, 1992) A big fire broke out at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England, destroying 115 rooms but leaving the priceless art collection largely unharmed; the damage took nearly five years to rebuild. photo source: wikimedia.org
(November 23, 1992) The IBM Simon, the first smartphone, is unveiled at COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. photo source: wikimedia.org