1992

1992 (MCMXCII) was .

Events

January 

 January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali becomes Secretary General of the UN.
 January 1 – George H. W. Bush becomes the first US President to address the Australian parliament.
 January 8 – George H. W. Bush is filmed falling violently ill at a state dinner in Japan.
 January 11 – Paul Simon is the first major artist to play in South Africa after the end of the cultural boycott.
 January 16 – Mick Jagger attends the Hollywood opening of his new movie, Freejack, at Mann's Chinese Theatre.
 January 26 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting US cities with Nuclear Weapons.

February 
 February 7 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, forming the EU.
 February 8 – The Winter Olympics open in Albertville, France.
 February 18 – Vince Neil leaves Mötley Crüe, after 11 years as the band's lead singer, to spend more time on his career as a race car driver.
 February 23 – The Winter Olympics close in Albertville, France.
 February 24 – Nirvana's Kurt Cobain marries Hole's Courtney Love.
 February 24 – The U.S. Postal Service unveils two possible designs for an Elvis Presley stamp for fans to vote on. One design is of a "young" 1950s Elvis, and the other is of a much "older" 1970s Elvis. The "young" Elvis wins the vote, and is issued the following January.

March 
 March 3 – Turkey's worst mine disaster kills 263 people in Zonguldak.
 March 10 – Prince wins the lifetime achievement award during the Soul Train Awards.
 March 12 – Mauritius becomes a Republic.
 March 13 – A 6.8 magnitude earthquake kills 500 people in Eastern Turkey.
 March 14 – Farm Aid Five takes place in Irving, Texas, hosted by Willie Nelson. Artists performing at the event include John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Paul Simon. About 40,000 people attend the event.
 March 18 – The Finnish parliament votes in favour of EU membership.
 March 24 – A Chicago, Illinois judge approves cash rebates of up to $3 to anyone proving they bought Milli Vanilli prior to when the lip synching scandal began on November 27, 1990.

April 
 April 1 – Billy Idol, on trial for punching a woman in the face, pleads no contest. Idol is fined and ordered to make public service announcements against alcohol and drug use.
 April 5 – Bosnia and Herzegovina declares independence. Serb troops besiege Sarajevo.
 April 6 – The independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina is recognised by the EU and US.
 April 6 – Microsoft releases Windows 3.1.
 April 9 – Panama's former military leader Manuel Noriega is convicted of assisting Colombian cocaine cartels.
 April 9 – In the UK, the Conservative Party  of Prime Minister John Major, is reelected.
 April 22 – Fuel that has leaked into a sewer, explodes in Guadalajara, Mexico, killing 215 people.
 April 24 – David Bowie marries fashion model Iman.
 April 27 – The British House of Commons elects Betty Boothroyd as its first female speaker.
 April 28 – The last remaining constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, form a new state, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is renamed Serbia and Montenegro in 2003.
 April 29 – LAPD Police Officers are acquitted of using force in the beating of Rodney King, with subsequent riots leading to 53 deaths.
 April 29 - NBA player Michael Jordan scores 56 points in a playoff game against the Miami Heat in what is considered one of the greatest games of his career.
 April 30 – In Los Angeles, California, Madonna's bustier is stolen from a display in Fredrick's Of Hollywood. A $1,000 reward is offered for its return.

May 
 May – The 1st EJCF was held in Basel. It is a great success and will be held every three years (the next time was in 1995).
 May 10 – Sweden wins the Ice Hockey World Championship in Prague.
 May 23 – A Mafia bomb kills Italian anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone.

June 
 June 1 – Venezuelan revolutionary Carlos (the Jackal) is sentenced to life imprisonment.
 June 2 – A referendum in Denmark narrowly rejects the Maastricht Treaty.
 June 20 – The kroon replaces the Soviet ruble as Estonia's main monetary unit.
 June 26 – In Sweden, Denmark wins Football's European championship, defeating Germany 2-0 in the final.
 June 28 – Estonia holds a constitutional referendum.
 June 29 – Algerian President Mohamed Boudiaf is killed by one of his bodyguards.
 June 30 – Fidel V. Ramos becomes President of the Philippines.

July 
 July – Launch of the "Budafest" Summer Opera & Ballet Festival in Budapest.
 July 10 – Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering offences.
 July 13 – Yitzhak Rabin becomes Prime Minister of Israel.
 July 23 – Abkhazia declares independence from Georgia.
 July 25 – The Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, are opened.
 July 28 – Mary J. Blige releases her first album What's the 411?. It is a pivotal album in the world of R&B.
 July 31 – The Republic of Georgia joins the UN.

August 

 August – Rozalla becomes the first artist from Zimbabwe to chart on Billboard.
 August 9 – The Summer Olympics in Barcelona close.
 August 10 – The UK Government bans the Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist paramilitary group.
 August 24 – Hurricane Andrew hits Florida.
 August 27 – John Lennon's original handwritten lyrics to "A Day in the Life" are sold by auction for $87,000.

September 
 September 2 – An earthquake in Nicaragua kills at least 116 people.
 September 11 – Hurricane Iniki hits Kaua'i and O'ahu, Hawaii.

October 
 October 2 – A riot in Carandiru Penitentiary, São Paulo, Brazil, results in a massacre.
 October 3 – Sinéad O'Connor stirs up controversy when she rips up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live
 October 4 – An Israeli plane crashes in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, killing 43 people.
 October 6 – Lennart Meri becomes Estonia's President.
 October 15 – In Russia, Andrei Chikatilo is found guilty of 52 murders.
 October 25 – Lithuania holds a constitutional referendum.
 October 31 – Pope John Paul II issues an apology and lifts the edict of Inquisition on Galileo Galilei.
 October 31 and November 7 – "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men posted its 12th and 13th consecutive weeks at #1, ending a 36-year record previously held by Elvis Presley. This record was ended on March 6 the next year by Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You".

November 
 November 3 – Bill Clinton is elected President of the United States, defeating incumbent George H. W. Bush.
 November 15 – Megan Jasper of Sub Pop creates the grunge speak hoax, tricking The New York Times into printing an article on a supposed slang used in the Seattle grunge scene.
 November 20 – A fire breaks out at Windsor Castle, causing £50 million in damage.
 November 24 – Queen Elizabeth II of the UK describes 1992 as an Annus Horribilis, due to scandals that have damaged the image of the Royal Family.
 November 24 – In China, a China Southern Airlines Flight crashes, killing 141 people.
 November 25 – Velvet Divorce: Czechoslovakia's Federal Assembly votes to split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on January 1, 1993.

December 
 December 4 – US Military forces land in Somalia.
 December 6 – A 16th century Mosque, the Babri Masjid, is destroyed by Hindu extremists in Ayodhya, India.
 December 8 – The Copper mine in Falun, Sweden, closes after functioning for 1000 years.
 December 9 – In the UK, Prince Charles and Princess Diana publicly announce their separation.
 December 12 – An Earthquake hits Flores island, Indonesia, killing 2,500 people.
 December 21 – A plane on a Dutch DC-10 Martinair MP495 flight, crashes at Faro Airport in Portugal, killing 56 people.
 December 22 – In Tripoli, Libya a Boeing 727 Libyan Airlines plane and an MiG 23 aircraft collide, killing 157 people.
 December 22 – Dr. Martin Almada discovers the Archives of Terror, which detail tortures and killings committed by Latin American dictatorships.
 December 29 – Brazil's President Fernando Collor de Mello is found guilty on charges of stealing more than $32 million from the government, banning him from holding any elected office for 8 years.

Culture 
 Johnny Carson retires from his job as host of the "Tonight Show", Jay Leno takes his place.
 The first in R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series published.

Births

January – March 

 January 1 – Oren Williams, American actor
 January 1 – Jack Wilshere, English footballer
 January 19 – Shawn Johnson, American gymnast
 January 24 – Becky Downie, British artistic gymnast
 February 6 – Cara McCollum, American journalist (d. 2016)
 February 11 – Taylor Lautner, American actor
 February 11 – Georgia Groome, British actress
 February 21 – Phil Jones, British footballer
 March 4 – Jazmine Grace Grimaldi, daughter of Albert II, Prince of Monaco
 March 7 - Bel Powley, British actress
 March 10 – Emily Osment, American actress and singer

April – June 
 April 4 – Alexa Nikolas, American actress
 April 7 – Alexis Jordan, American singer
 April 7 – Jessica Sara, American actress

 April 15 – Amy Diamond, Swedish singer
 May 3 – Melissa Wu, Australian diver
 May 12 – Malcolm David Kelley, American actor
 May 18 – Spencer Breslin, American actor
 May 22 – Chinami Tokunaga, Japanese singer
 May 23 – Nick Julian III, American Science
 June 14 – Dary Sabara and Evan Sabara, American actors
 June 26 – Jennette McCurdy, American actress
 June 30 – Lynx and Lamb Gaede, American neo-nazi musicians

July – September 
 July 7 – Nathalia Ramos, Spanish actress
 July 8 – Benjamin Grosvenor, pianist
 July 12 – Eoghan Quigg, Irish singer
 July 21 – Rachael Flatt, American figure skater
 July 22 – Selena Gomez, American actress and singer
 August 4 – Cole and Dylan Sprouse, American actors
 August 4 – Tiffany Evans, American singer and actress
 August 20 – Demi Lovato, American actress and singer
 August 21 – Brad Kavanagh, British actor and singer
 September 16 – Nick Jonas, American actor and singer
 September 28 – Skye McCole Bartusiak, American actress

October – December 

 October 1 – Gauri Shankar, Indian chess player
 October 22 – Sofia Vassilieva, American actress
 November 18 – Nathan Kress, American actor
 November 23 – Miley Cyrus, American actress and singer
 November 28 – Adam Hicks, American actor, rapper, singer, and songwriter
 December 18 – Bridgit Mendler, American actress and singer
 November 27 – Tola Slagowska, Polish singer
 December 23 – Spencer Daniels, American actor
 December 24 – Melissa Suffield, British actress

Deaths

January 

 January 1 – Grace Hopper, American computer scientist (b. 1906)
 January 2 – Virginia Field, British actress (b. 1917)
 January 3 – Judith Anderson, Australian actress (b. 1897)
 January 9 – Bill Naughton, British playwright (b. 1910)
 January 18 – Aleksandr Almetov, Soviet ice hockey player (b. 1940)
 January 26 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (b. 1912)
 January 29 – Willie Dixon, American composer and musician (b. 1915)

February 

 February 10 – Alex Haley, American writer (b. 1921)
 February 16 – Jânio Quadros, former President of Brazil (b. 1917)
 February 29 – La Lupe, Cuban singer (b. 1936)

March 

 March 9 – Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1913)
 March 21 – John Ireland, Canadian movie actor (b. 1914)
 March 23 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist (b. 1899)
 March 31 – Alfredo De Angelis, Argentine musician (b. 1912)

April 

 April 5 – Sam Walton, American businessman (b. 1918)
 April 6 – Isaac Asimov, Russian-born writer (b. 1920)
 April 7 – Ace Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1903)
 April 8 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-born pharmacologist (b. 1907)
 April 19 – Benny Hill, British comedian (b. 1924)
 April 21 – Vladimir Cyrillovich, Russian aristocrat (b. 1917)
 April 23 – Satyajit Ray, Indian movie maker (b. 1921)
 April 23 – Tanka Prasad Acharya, former Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1912)
 April 28 – Francis Bacon, Irish-born painter (b. 1909)

May 

 May 6 – Marlene Dietrich, German actress (b. 1901)
 May 14 – Nie Rongzhen, Chinese military leader (b. 1899)
 May 17 – Lawrence Welk, American musician (b. 1903)
 May 23 – Giovanni Falcone, Italian judge (b. 1939)
 May 30 – Karl Carstens, former President of Germany (b. 1914)

June 

 June 2 – Philip Dunne, American screenwriter and director (b. 1908)
 June 13 - Pumpuang Duangjan, Thai female singer (b. 1961)
 June 18 – Mordecai Ardon, Israeli painter (b. 1896)
 June 21 – Li Xiannian, President of the People's Republic of China (b. 1909)
 June 25 – James Stirling, British architect (b. 1926)
 June 28 – Mikhail Tal, former World chess champion (b. 1936)
 June 29 – Mohamed Boudiaf, President of Algeria (b. 1919)

July 

 July 4 - Ástor Piazzolla, Argentine tango composer (b. 1921)
 July 13 – Albert Pierrepoint, British executioner (b. 1905)
 July 15 – Hammer DeRoburt, first President of Nauru (b. 1922)
 July 22 – John Meyendorff, Russian-born Orthodox scholar (b. 1926)
 July 23 - Suleiman Frangieh, former President of Lebanon (b. 1910)
 July 24 – Arletty, French singer and actress (b. 1898)
 July 29 – Michel Larocque, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1952)
 July 30  Joe Shuster, Canadian comic artist (b. 1914)
 July 30  Brenda Marshall, American actress (b. 1915)

August 

 August 2 – Michel Berger, French singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
 August 5 – Robert Muldoon, former Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1921)
 August 5 – Jeff Porcaro, American musician (b. 1954)
 August 12 – John Cage, American composer (b. 1912)
 August 29 – Teddy Turner, British comedian (b. 1917)

September 

 September 1 - Piotr Jaroszewicz, former Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1909)
 September 2 – Barbara McClintock, American geneticist (b. 1902)
 September 12 – Anthony Perkins, American actor (b. 1932)
 September 25 – Joseph Arthur Ankrah, Ghanaian politician (b. 1947)

October  

 October 1 – Gert Bastian, German politician (b. 1923)
 October 1 – Petra Kelly, German politician (b. 1947)
 October 6 – Denholm Elliott, English actor (b. 1922)
 October 7 – Tevfik Esenc, last-known speaker of the Ubykh language (b. 1904)
 October 8 – Willy Brandt, former Chancellor of Germany (b. 1913)
 October 16 - Shirley Booth, American actress (b. 1898)
 October 25 – Roger Miller, American singer (b. 1936)

November 

 November 2 – Hal Roach, American director and producer (b. 1892)
 November 7 – Alexander Dubček, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (b. 1921)
 November 10 – Chuck Connors, American actor (b. 1921)
 November 19 – Diane Varsi, American actress (b. 1938)
 November 21 – Kaysone Phomvihane, President of Laos (b. 1920)
 November 22 – Sterling Holloway, American actor (b. 1905)
 November 23 – Roy Acuff, American country musician (b. 1903)
 November 23 – Jean-François Thiriart, Belgian politician (b. 1922)

December 

 December 3 – Nureddin al-Atassi, President of Syria (b. 1929)
 December 12 – Ali Amini, former Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1905)
 December 17 – Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)
 December 21 – Stella Adler, American acting teacher (b. 1901)
 December 21 – Albert King, American musician (b. 1923)
 December 24 – Peyo, Belgian comic artist (b. 1928)
 December 26 – Eve Poole, New Zealand politician (b. 1924)
 December 28 – Elfie Mayerhofer, Austrian actress and singer (b. 1917)
 December 29 – Vivienne Segal, American actress (b. 1897)

Nobel Prizes 
 Physics: Georges Charpak
 Chemistry: Rudolph A. Marcus
 Medicine: Edmond H. Fischer, Edwin G. Krebs
 Literature: Derek Walcott
 Nobel Peace Prize: Rigoberta Menchu
 Economics: Gary Becker

Movies released 
 1991: The Year Punk Broke
 A Few Good Men
 A League of Their Own
 Aladdin
 Alien³
 Basic Instinct
 Batman Returns
 Bebe's Kids
 The Bodyguard
 The Crying Game
 Death Becomes Her
 Enchanted April
 Freejack
 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
 Hero starring Dustin Hoffman
 Honeymoon in Vegas
 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
 Honey, I Blew Up The Kid
 Howard's End
 The Last of the Mohicans
 The Lawnmower Man
 Lethal Weapon 3
 Malcolm X
 My Cousin Vinny starring Joe Pesci
 Of Mice and Men
 Patriot Games
 Pushing Hands
 Passenger 57
 The Player
 Radio Flyer
 Reservoir Dogs
 A River Runs Through It
 Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot
 Scent of a Woman
 Single White Female
 Sister Act
 Strictly Ballroom
 Universal Soldier
 Under Siege
 Unforgiven
 Wayne's World

TV Shows
November 28 – Gumby is aired "Dolly for Minga", "The Lost Arrow" and "Clay Trix".

Video Games 
August 3 – Kirby first appears in Kirby's Dreamland.

Hit songs 
 "Alive" – Pearl Jam
 "All 4 Love" – Color Me Badd
 "All I Want" – Toad the Wet Sprocket
 "Baby Got Back" – Sir Mix-A-Lot
 "Come As You Are" – Nirvana
 "End of the Road" – Boyz II Men
 "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad?" – Def Leppard
 "How Do You Talk To An Angel" – Whitney Houston
 "I Will Always Love You" – Whitney Houston
 "Jimmy Olsen's Blues" – Spin Doctors
 "Jump" – Kris Kross
 "Layla" – Eric Clapton
 "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" – Spin Doctors
 "Missing You Now" – Michael Bolton
 "Mrs. Robinson" – Lemonheads
 "Mysterious Ways" – U2
 "One" – U2
 "Tears in Heaven" – Eric Clapton
 "To Be With You" – Mr. Big
 "Two Princes" – Spin Doctors
 "Under The Bridge" – Red Hot Chili Peppers
 "We Shall Be Free" – Garth Brooks
 "No One Else On Earth" - Wynonna Judd

New books
All Around the Town  –  Mary Higgins Clark
Anvil of Stars – Greg Bear
The Bridges of Madison County – Robert James Waller
The Children of Men – P.D. James
The Crow Road  –  Iain Banks
The Dark-thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural – Patricia McKissack
Dolores Claiborne  –  Stephen King
The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje
Flour Babies – Anne Fine
Frog in Winter – Max Velthujis
Gerald's Game  – Stephen King
Hjärtans fröjd (Heart's Delight) – Per Nilsson
Jazz – Toni Morrison
Jewels  –  Danielle Steel
Les derniers Géants (The Last Giants) – François Place
Leviathan (Auster novel)  – Paul Auster
Looking for Alibrandi – Melina Marchetta
Lords and Ladies – Terry Pratchett
Maisy Goes to Playschool – Lucy Cousins
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus – John Gray
Missing May  – Cynthia Rylant
Mixed Blessings  –  Danielle Steel
Monster Blood – R.L. Stine
Only You Can Save Mankind – Terry Pratchett
Owl Babies – Martin Waddell, illustrated by Patrick Benson
Paddy Clarke – Roddy Doyle
Pagan's Crusade – Catherine Jinks
The Pelican Brief  –  John Grisham
The Queen and I – Sue Townsend
Secrets of Love Magick – Gerina Dunwich
See Ya, Simon – David Hill
Shampoo Planet – Douglas Coupland
Silent Passage  –  Gail Sheehy
Small Gods – Terry Pratchett
Somewhere in the Darkness  – Walter Dean Myers
The Stars Shine Down  –  Sidney Sheldon
Stay Out of the Basement – R.L. Stine
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales – Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith
The Tale of the Body Thief  –  Anne Rice
Tales from Firozsha Baag – Rohinton Mistry
T'choupi – Thierry Courtin
There Will Be Wolves – Karleen Bradford
The Thief of Always  –  Clive Barker
Transit – Ben Aaronovitch
The Trial of Madame Caillaux – Edward Berenson
The Valkyries – Paulo Coelho
Waiting to Exhale  –  Terry McMillan
Welcome to Dead House – R.L. Stine
What Hearts  – Bruce BrooksWhere's My Teddy?'' – Jez Alborough