1991

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1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1991st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 991st year of the 2nd millennium, the 91st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1990s decade.

Events

• January 5 – Georgian troops attack Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia. This begins the 1991–92 South Ossetia War
• February 11 – The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) forms in The Hague, Netherlands.
• March 23 – The Sierra Leone Civil War begins.
• April 29 – A tropical cyclone hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 138,000 people.
• May 15 – Édith Cresson becomes France's first female premier.
• June 12 – Boris Yeltsin, (a traitor) is elected President of Russia.
• June 25 – Slovenia and Croatia declare independence from Yugoslavia.
• September 8 – The Republic of Macedonia becomes independent.
• September 26 – Brum – children's show.
• October 4 – Carl Bildt becomes the new Prime Minister of Sweden, replacing Ingvar Carlsson.
• November 24 – Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury dies from AIDS at the age of 45.
• December 19 – Paul Keating replaces Bob Hawke as the prime minister of Australia.
• December 25 – Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev resigns and the country itself is dissolved the following day
• December 26 – Soviet Union collapsed after 74 years of existance and is succeeded by Russian Federation , ending 74 years of Communist rule in Russia as well as Russia's superpower status.
• Persian Gulf War – America goes to war with Iraq after Iraq invades Kuwait.

Births

January–March

• January 1 – Ayat Al-Qurmezi, Bahraini poet and activist
• January 2 – Steele Sidebottom, Australian Rules footballer
• January 4 – Pascal Bodmer, German ski jumper
• January 8 – Hinoi Asuka, Japanese singer
• January 8 – Josh Hazlewood, Australian cricketer
• January 12 – Pixie Lott, British singer
• January 15 – Rubab Raza, Pakistani swimmer
• January 16 – Julie Dubela, American singer
• January 19 – Erin Sanders, American actress
• January 21 – Brittany Tiplady, Canadian actress
• January 28 – Calum Worthy, Canadian actor and musician
• February 10 – Emma Roberts, American actress
• February 10 – Ceng De Ping, Taiwanese singer
• February 16 – Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg
• February 17 – Bonnie Wright, English actress
• February 18 – Malese Jow, American actress
• February 18 – Henry Surtees, British racing driver (d. 2009)
• February 25 – Gerran Howell, Welsh actor
• February 28 – Sarah Bolger, Irish actress
• March 4 – Diandra Newlin, American actress, singer, and model
• March 8 – Devon Werkheiser, American actor
• March 11 – Qian Lin, Chinese singer
• March 15 – Kie Kitano, Japanese actress
• March 23 – George William Carnegie, British noble
• March 24 – Nate Vanderveen, American musician
• March 26 – Brittney Wilson, Canadian actress
• March 26 – Jack Watts, Australian rules footballer
• March 28 – Amy Bruckner, American actress

April–June

• April 4 – Jamie Lynn Spears, American actress
• April 10 – Amanda Michalka, American singer and actress
• April 10 – Sergiusz Żymełka, Polish actor
• April 11 – Thiago Alcántara, Italian footballer
• April 13 – Kim Yu-jin, South Korean taekwondo practitioner
• April 15 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese singer (Hey! Say! JUMP)
• April 18 – Joey Gaydos, American actor and guitarist
• April 19 – Hannah Spencer, British politician
• April 20 – Thomas Curtis, American actor
• April 27 – Rebecca Ryan, British actress
• April 28 – Aleisha Allen, American actress
• May 17 – Daniel Curtis Lee, American actor
• May 19 – Jordan Pruitt, American singer
• May 21 – Sarah Ramos, American actress
• May 23 – Lena Meyer-Landrut, German singer
• May 24 – Erika Umeda, Japanese singer
• May 26 – Julianna Rose Mauriello, American stage actress
• May 29 – Kristen Alderson, American actress
• June 4 – Jordan Hinson, American actress
• June 4 – Megan Prescott and Kathryn Prescott, British actresses
• June 18 – Willa Holland, American model and actress
• June 19 – Pontus Ekhem, Swedish hockey player
• June 24 – Hiba Abu Nada, Palestinian poet and novelist
• June 27 – Madylin Sweeten, American actress
• June 30 – Kaho, Japanese actress

October–December

• October 2 – Emma Maree Urquhart, Scottish novelist and artist
• October 4 – Nicolai Kielstrup, Danish singer
• October 14 – Shona McGarty, English actress
• October 10 – Gabriella Cilmi, Australian singer-songwriter
• October 19 – Christopher Gerse, American actor
• October 23 – Sophie Tamiko Oda, Japanese American actress
• October 31 – Jordan-Claire Green, American actress
• November 6 – Camila Finn, Brazilian model
• November 11 – Christa B. Allen, American actress
• November 15 – Shailene Woodley, American actress
• November 22 – Saki Shimizu, Japanese singer
• December 3 – Masahiro Usui, Japanese actor
• December 9 – Prince Joachim, Archduke of Austria-Este, Belgian prince
• December 12 – Daniel Magder, Canadian actor
• December 13 – Jay Greenberg, American music composer
• December 19 – Declan Galbraith, British singer

Deaths

January

• January 2 – Renato Rascel, Italian actor (b. 1927)
• January 3 – Luke Appling, American baseball player (b. 1907)
• January 5 – Vasko Popa, Yugoslavian poet (b. 1922)
• January 8 – Steve Clark, English guitarist (b. 1960)
• January 11 – Carl David Anderson, American physicist (b. 1905)
• January 12 – Keye Luke, Chinese-born actor (b. 1904)
• January 12 – Vasco Pratolini, Italian writer (b. 1913)
• January 14 – Salah Khalaf, Palestinian officer (b. 1933)
• January 17 – King Olav V of Norway (b. 1903)
• January 22 – Kenas Aroi, Nauruan politician (b. 1942)
• January 28 – Red Grange, American football player (b. 1903)
• January 29 – Yasushi Inoue, Japanese historian (b. 1907)
• January 29 – John McIntire, American actor (b. 1907)
• January 30 – John Bardeen, American physicist (b. 1908)
• January 30 – Clifton C. Edom, American photojournalism educator (b. 1907)

February

• February 1 – Carol Dempster, American actress (b. 1901)
• February 2 – Pete Axthelm, American sportswriter (b. 1943)
• February 3 – Nancy Kulp, American actress (b. 1921)
• February 5 – Dean Jagger, American actor (b. 1903)
• February 5 – Pedro Arrupe, 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1907)
• February 6 – María Zambrano, Spanish essayist (b. 1904)
• February 6 – Salvador Luria, Italian-born biologist (b. 1912)
• February 6 – Danny Thomas, American singer (b. 1914)
• February 7 – Amos Yarkoni, legendary Israeli soldier (b. 1920)
• February 13 – Arno Breker, German sculptor (b. 1900)
• February 14 – John A. McCone, American politician, 6th Director of Central Intelligence (b. 1902)
• February 16 – Enrique Bermúdez, Nicaraguan Contras leader (b. 1932)
• February 21 – John Sherman Cooper, American politician (b. 1901)
• February 21 – Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer (b. 1919)
• February 24 – John Charles Daly, South African-born journalist and game show host (b. 1914)
• February 24 – Héctor Rial, Argentinian footballer (b. 1928)
• February 24 – George Gobel, American comedian (b. 1919)
• February 24 – Jean Rogers, American actress (b. 1916)

March

• March 1 – Edwin H. Land, American scientist (b. 1909)
• March 2 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer (b. 1928)
• March 3 – Arthur Murray, American dancer (b. 1895)
• March 3 – William Penney, Baron Penney, British nuclear physicist (b. 1909)
• March 7 – Cool Papa Bell, American baseball player (b. 1903)
• March 12 – Ragnar Granit, Finnish neuroscientist (b. 1900)
• March 13 – Jimmy McPartland, American jazz musician (b. 1907)
• March 14 – Howard Ashman, American lyricist (b. 1950)
• March 14 – Doc Pomus, American composer (b. 1925)
• March 15 – George Sherman, American movie director (b. 1908)
• March 18 – Vilma Bánky, Hungarian-born actress (b. 1898)
• March 21 – Leo Fender, Greek-American instrument maker (b. 1909)
• March 25 – Marcel Lefebvre, French Roman Catholic archbishop (b. 1905)
• March 27 – Aldo Ray, American actor (b. 1926)
• March 29 – Lee Atwater, American presidential advisor (b. 1951)

April

• April 1 – Paulo Muwanga, President of Uganda (b. 1924)
• April 1 – Martha Graham, American dancer (b. 1894)
• April 1 – Jaime Guzmán, Chilean right-wing politician (b. 1946)
• April 3 – Charles Goren, American bridge player (b. 1901)
• April 3 – Graham Greene, English writer (b. 1904)
• April 4 – Max Frisch, Swiss writer (b. 1911)
• April 4 – H. John Heinz III, American politician (b. 1938)
• April 4 – Louis Guglielmi, French composer (b. 1916)
• April 4 – Forrest Towns, American runner (b. 1914)
• April 4 – Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (b. 1920)
• April 5 – Sonny Carter, American astronaut (b. 1947)
• April 5 – John Tower, American politician (b. 1929)
• April 7 – Ruth Page, American dancer (b. 1899)
• April 8 – Per Yngve Ohlin, Swedish singer (b. 1969)
• April 10 – Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (b. 1955)
• April 10 – Natalie Schafer, American actress (b. 1900)
• April 16 – David Lean, British movie director (b. 1908)
• April 17 – Jack Yellen, American lyricist (b. 1892)
• April 18 – Barry Rogers, American jazz musician (b. 1935)
• April 19 – Stanley Hawes, British-born Australian movie producer (b. 1905)
• April 20 – Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal, Prime Minister of Mongolia (b. 1916)
• April 20 – Steve Marriott, English musician (b. 1947)
• April 20 – Don Siegel, American movie director (b. 1912)
• April 26 – Carmine Coppola, American composer (b. 1910)
• April 27 – Robert Velter, French cartoonist (b. 1909)
• April 28 – Ken Curtis, American actor (b. 1916)
• April 28 – Johnny Eck, American sideshow performer (b. 1911)
• April 29 – Gonzaguinha, Brazilian singer (b. 1945)
• April 29 – Claude Gallimard, Son of Gaston Gallimard (b. 1914)

May

• May 1 – Cesare Merzagora, Italian politician (b. 1898)
• May 1 – Richard Thorpe, American movie director (b. 1896)
• May 3 – Jerzy Kosinski, Polish-American writer (b. 1933)
• May 3 – Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian singer (b. 1907)
• May 6 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, British actor (b. 1903)
• May 7 – Dennis Crosby, American singer (b. 1934)
• May 8 – Jean Langlais, French composer (b. 1907)
• May 8 – Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (b. 1903)
• May 14 – Jiang Qing, Chinese radical revolutionary (b. 1914)
• May 15 – Shintaro Abe, Japanese Politician (b. 1924)
• May 15 – Andreas Floer, German mathematician (b. 1956)
• May 18 – Edwina Booth, American actress (b. 1904)
• May 21 – Lino Brocka, Filipino movie director (b. 1939)
• May 21 – Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (b. 1944)
• May 22 – Derrick Henry Lehmer, American mathematician (b. 1905)
• May 23 – Jean Van Houtte, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1907)
• May 23 – Wilhelm Kempff, German pianist (b. 1895)
• May 27 – Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist (b. 1904)
• May 29 – Coral Browne, Australian actress (b. 1913)
• May 30 – Manolo Gómez Bur, Spanish actor (b. 1917)

June

• June 1 – David Ruffin, American singer (b. 1941)
• June 2 – Hailu Yimenu, Acting Prime Minister of Ethiopia
• June 3 – Maurice Krafft, French volcanologist (b. 1946)
• June 3 – Katia Krafft French volcanologist (b. 1942)
• June 3 – Eva Le Gallienne, English-born actress (b. 1899)
• June 5 – Larry Kert, American actor (b. 1930)
• June 5 – Sylvia Porter, American economist and journalist (b. 1913)
• June 6 – Stan Getz, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1927)
• June 9 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean-born pianist (b. 1903)
• June 11 – Cromwell Everson, South African composer (b. 1925)
• June 14 – Peggy Ashcroft, British actress (b. 1907)
• June 15 – Arthur Lewis, British economist (b. 1915)
• June 17 – Pierre Jamet, French harpist (b. 1893)
• June 18 – Joan Caulfield, American actress (b. 1922)
• June 19 – Jean Arthur, American actress (b. 1900)
• June 27 – Molly Geertsema, Dutch liberal politician (b. 1918)
• June 28 – Hans Nüsslein, German tennis player (b. 1910)
• June 29 – Henri Lefebvre, French sociologist (b. 1901)

July

• July 1 – Michael Landon, American actor (b. 1936)
• July 2 – Lee Remick, American actress (b. 1935)
• July 4 – Victor Chang, Australian physician (b. 1936)
• July 5 – Mildred Dunnock, American actress (b. 1901)
• July 5 – Howard Nemerov, American poet (b. 1920)
• July 6 – Anton Yugov, Bulgarian Politician (b. 1904)
• July 8 – James Franciscus, American actor (b. 1934)
• July 15 – Bert Convy, American game show host (b. 1933)
• July 16 – Robert Motherwell, American painter (b. 1915)
• July 18 – André Cools, Belgian Socialist politician (b. 1927)
• July 24 – Isaac Bashevis Singer, Polish-born Yiddish writer (b. 1904)
• July 25 – Lazar Kaganovich, Soviet politician (b. 1893)
• July 29 – Christian de Castries, French general (b. 1902)

August

• August 1 – Chris Short, American baseball pitcher (b. 1937)
• August 3 – Ali Sabri, Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1920)
• August 4 – Yevgeny Dragunov, Russian weapons designer (b. 1920)
• August 5 – Paul Brown, American football coach (b. 1908)
• August 5 – Soichiro Honda, Japanese engineer (b. 1917)
• August 6 – Harry Reasoner, American journalist (b. 1923)
• August 6 – Shapour Bakhtiar, Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1915)
• August 8 – James Irwin, American astronaut (b. 1930)
• August 11 – J. D. McDuffie, American race car driver (b. 1938)
• August 13 – James Roosevelt, American businessman and politician (b. 1907)
• August 14 – Richard A. Snelling, Governor of Vermont (b. 1927)
• August 16 – Luigi Zampa, Italian movie-maker (b. 1905)
• August 22 – Colleen Dewhurst, American actress (b. 1924)
• August 22 – Boris Pugo, Latvian communist politician (b. 1937)
• August 24 – Sergey Akhromeyev, Russian marshall (b. 1923)
• August 25 – Niven Busch, American novelist (b. 1903)
• August 30 – Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter (b. 1925)
• August 30 – Cyril Knowles, English footballer (b. 1944)

September

• September 2 – Alfonso García Robles, Mexican diplomat (b. 1911)
• September 3 – Dottie West, American singer (b. 1932)
• September 3 – Frank Capra, Italian-born movie director (b. 1897)
• September 4 – Charles Barnet, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1913)
• September 4 – Tom Tryon, American actor (b. 1926)
• September 6 - Pee Wee Gaskins, American serial killer (b. 1933)
• September 7 – Edwin McMillan, American chemist (b. 1907)
• September 8 – Brad Davis, American actor (b. 1949)
• September 8 – Alex North, American movie composer (b. 1910)
• September 10 – Jack Crawford, Australian tennis champion (b. 1908)
• September 13 – Joe Pasternak, Hungarian-born movie director (b. 1901)
• September 14 – Russell Lynes, American art historian (b. 1910)
• September 15 – John Hoyt, American actor (b. 1905)
• September 17 – Zino Francescatti, French violinist (b. 1902)
• September 24 – Dr. Seuss, American writer (b. 1904)
• September 25 – Klaus Barbie, German Gestapo leader (b. 1913)
• September 25 – Viviane Romance, French actress (b. 1912)
• September 28 – Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1926)

October

• October 6 – Igor Talkov, Russian singer (b. 1956)
• October 11 – Redd Foxx, American comedian (b. 1922)
• October 12 – Aline MacMahon, American actress (b. 1899)
• October 12 – Regis Toomey, American actor (b. 1898)
• October 17 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, American singer (b. 1919)
• October 24 – Gene Roddenberry, American television producer (b. 1921)
• October 28 – Sylvia Fine, American lyricist (b. 1913)
• October 31 – Joseph Papp, American theater producer (b. 1921)

November

• November 2 – Irwin Allen, American television producer (b. 1941)
• November 5 – Fred MacMurray, American actor (b. 1908)
• November 5 – Robert Maxwell, Slovakian-born media entrepreneur (b. 1923)
• November 6 – Gene Tierney, American actress (b. 1920)
• November 7 – Tom of Finland, Finnish artist (b. 1920)
• November 9 – Yves Montand, French actor (b. 1921)
• November 14 – Tony Richardson, English theater director (b. 1928)
• November 18 – Gustáv Husák, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (b. 1913)
• November 21 – Daniel Mann, American movie director (b. 1912)
• November 23 – Klaus Kinski, German actor (b. 1926)
• November 24 – Eric Carr, American drummer (b. 1950)
• November 24 – Anton Furst, American art director (b. 1944)
• November 24 – Freddie Mercury, Zanzibar-born singer (b. 1946)
• November 29 – Ralph Bellamy, American actor (b. 1904)

Nobel Prizes

• Nobel Prize in Physics won by Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist
• Nobel Prize in Chemistry won by Richard R. Ernst, Swiss physical chemist
• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine shared by Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann
• Nobel Prize in Literature won by Nadine Gordimer, South African writer
• Nobel Peace Prize won by Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese diplomat
• Nobel Prize in Economics won by Ronald Coase, British economist

Movies released

• The Addams Family
• Beauty and the Beast, an animated movie by Walt Disney Pictures
• Beethoven
• Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey
• Bugsy, the story of mobster Bugsy Siegel
• Boyz n the Hood
• Cape Fear
• City Slickers, winning Best Supporting Actor for Jack Palance
• Double Impact
• The Doors
• Father of the Bride
• Fried Green Tomatoes
• The Fisher King, nominated for 9 Academy Awards
• Hook
• JFK, directed by Oliver Stone
• New Jack City
• Out for Justice
• Oscar
• Point Break
• Thelma & Louise
• The Last Boy Scout
• The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear
• Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, winning a BAFTA Award for Alan Rickman
• The Silence of the Lambs, based on the book by Thomas Harris
• Sleeping with the Enemy
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the highest-grossing movie of 1991
• What About Bob?, another highest-grossing movie of 1991

Hit songs

• "Black" - Pearl Jam
• "American Music" – The Violent Femmes
• "Baby Baby" – Amy Grant
• "Black Or White" – Michael Jackson
• "Bring The Noise" – Public Enemy and Anthrax
• "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" – Bryan Adams
• "Close My Eyes" – Marillion
• "Do You Remember" – Phil Collins
• "Don't Cry" – Guns N' Roses
• "Enter Sandman" – Metallica
• "Every Heartbeat" – Amy Grant
• "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" – Bryan Adams
• "Get The Funk Out" – Extreme
• "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" – C&C Music Factory
• "Good For Me" – Amy Grant
• "Good Times" – INXS and Jimmy Barnes
• "Higher + Higher" – Jimmy Barnes
• "I Can't Make You Love Me" – Bonnie Raitt
• "I Will Remember You" – Amy Grant
• "Live And Let Die" – Guns N' Roses
• "Live For Loving You" – Gloria Estefan
• "Losing My Religion" – R.E.M.
• "More Than Words" – Extreme
• "Mysterious Ways" – U2
• "One" – U2
• "Poundcake" – Van Halen
• "Right Here, Right Now" – Jesus Jones
• "Rock The Casbah" – The Clash
• "Rush Rush" – Paula Abdul
• "Shameless" – Garth Brooks
• "Shiny Happy People" – R.E.M.
• "Sing Your Life" – Morrissey
• "Smells Like Teen Spirit" – Nirvana
• "Something To Talk About" – Bonnie Raitt
• "That's What Love Is For" – Amy Grant
• "Radio Song" – R.E.M.
• "There'll Never Be Another Tonight" – Bryan Adams
• "Top Of The World" – Van Halen
• "Train In Vain(Stand By Me)" – The Clash
• "Twist And Shout" – Deacon Blue
• "Unbelievable" – EMF
• "When Something's Wrong With My Baby" – John Farnham + Jimmy Barnes
• "Who Said I Would" – Phil Collins
• "When A Man Loves A Woman" – Michael Bolton
• "Wicked Game" – Chris Isaak
• "Violent Blue" – Chagall Guevara
• "You Could Be Mine" – Guns N' Roses

New books

• American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis
• As the Crow Flies – Jeffrey Archer
• Damage – Josephine Hart
• Dead Certainties – Simon Schama
• Den of Thieves – James B. Stewart
• Dirty Weekend – Helen Zahavi
• The Doomsday Conspiracy – Sidney Sheldon
• Druids – Morgan Llywelyn
• The Firm – John Grisham
• For Love of the Game – Michael Shaara (posthumous)
• Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture – Douglas Coupland
• Gojiro – Mark Jacobson
• He, She and It – Marge Piercy
• Heartbeat – Danielle Steel
• Imajica – Clive Barker
• Jernigan – David Gates
• The Kitchen God's Wife – Amy Tan
• A Life of Picasso – John Richardson
• Loves Music, Loves to Dance – Mary Higgins Clark
• The Man from Barbarossa – John Gardner
• Mao II – Don DeLillo
• Mexico – James A. Michener
• Possession: A Romance – A. S. Byatt
• Reaper Man – Terry Pratchett
• Say It With Poison – Ann Granger
• Scarlett – Alexandra Ripley
• The Secret Pilgrim – John le Carré
• SEX – Madonna
• Star Wars: Heir to the Empire – Timothy Zahn
• Such a Long Journey – Rohinton Mistry
• The Sum of All Fears – Tom Clancy
• A Thousand Acres – Jane Smiley
• Through the Vast Halls of Memory – Haifa Zangana
• Time's Arrow, or The Nature of the Offense – Martin Amis
• The Van – Roddy Doyle
• The Werewolf and the Wormlord – Hugh Cook
• Wicca Craft – Gerina Dunwich
• Witches Abroad – Terry Pratchett

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1991.