Seattle
- Pearl Jam's debut album Ten was released on August 27 and would eventually sell more than 13 million copies in the U.S. alone.
- Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger (October 8) and Singles shooting in Seattle anchored the year that "grunge" became a global label.
- The Stranger alternative newsweekly was founded by Tim Keck.
The United States
- Operation Desert Storm: a U.S.-led coalition launched air strikes against Iraq on January 17 and ended ground combat on February 28 after 100 hours.
- Anita Hill testified during Clarence Thomas's Supreme Court confirmation hearings in October, igniting a national conversation on workplace sexual harassment.
- Magic Johnson announced he was HIV-positive on November 7, transforming public understanding of the virus.
- The Silence of the Lambs swept the major Oscars; Disney's Beauty and the Beast became the first animated film nominated for Best Picture.
- The videotaped beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers (March 3) seeded the following year's riots.
The World
- The Soviet Union dissolved on December 26, ending the Cold War; Boris Yeltsin had become the first elected president of the Russian SFSR earlier in the year.
- South Africa repealed the last of its apartheid laws.
- Yugoslavia began breaking apart as Slovenia and Croatia declared independence.
- Tim Berners-Lee published the first publicly available website on August 6.
- Freddie Mercury died of AIDS-related illness on November 24.
Program
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