WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO DECEMBER 1991
Find out what all happened January to December 1991

Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi. (26. January 1991)

The Madrid Conference for Middle East peace talks opens. (30. October 1991)

The Dead Sea Scrolls are made available to the public for the first time by the Huntington Library. (22. September 1991)

Mount Pinatubo exploded, generating an ash column 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) high. (7. June 1991)

Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others are killed when a helicopter collides with their airplane over an elementary school in Merion, Pennsylvania. (4. April 1991)

The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany comes into effect, granting full sovereignty to the Federal Republic of Germany. (15. March 1991)

In concurrent referenda, 74% of the population of Latvia votes for independence from the Soviet Union, and 83% in Estonia. (3. March 1991)

Ten-Day War: the Yugoslav people's army begins the Ten-Day War in Slovenia. (26. June 1991)

Dissolution of the Soviet Union, August Coup: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine. (19. August 1991)

A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man. (5. May 1991)

In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan. (23. February 1991)

National Assembly of Azerbaijan abolishes the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan and renames several cities back to their original names. (26. November 1991)

The Warsaw radio mast, at one time the tallest construction ever built, collapses. (8. August 1991)

Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel. (24. May 1991)

Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses. (21. August 1991)

Crown Heights riot: Black groups target Hasidic Jews on the streets of Crown Heights in New York, New York for three days, after two black children were hit by a car driven by a Hasidic man. (19. August 1991)

The United States Department of Justice announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. (13. March 1991)

Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, starts "The Great Gage Park Decency Drive" picketing the park, starting their notorious picketing campaign that would later include funerals of AIDS victims and fallen American military. (30. June 1991)

Russians elect Boris Yeltsin as the president of the republic. (12. June 1991)

The last Kuwaiti oil field fire is extinguished. (6. November 1991)