Mood:
"Dark realities surface beneath global progress."
Events: "Rwandan genocide occurs and Nelson Mandela becomes president of South Africa."
Events: "Rwandan genocide occurs and Nelson Mandela becomes president of South Africa."
- May 6: Channel Tunnel Opens – Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand formally inaugurate the Channel Tunnel, linking the United Kingdom and France via an undersea rail link.
- May 10: Nelson Mandela Inaugurated – Nelson Mandela is officially sworn in as the first black President of South Africa, marking the complete, historic collapse of apartheid and the birth of a multiracial democracy.
- Jul 8: Death of Kim Il Sung – Kim Il Sung, the longtime founding dictator of North Korea, passes away at the age of 82, paving the way for his son, Kim Jong Il, to inherit absolute dynastic control.
- Jul 17: Brazil Wins World Cup – The Brazil national football team defeats Italy in a tense penalty shootout in Pasadena, California, capturing their historic fourth FIFA World Cup title.
- Oct 12: NASA Launches Magellan Mission End – NASA officially loses contact with the Magellan spacecraft as it plunges into the thick, hostile atmosphere of Venus after mapping the planet extensively.
- Dec 15: Netscape Navigator Released – Netscape Communications officially releases the first commercial version of Netscape Navigator, revolutionizing public access to the World Wide Web and igniting the browser wars.