1993

Events from the year **1993 in the United States**.

## Incumbents

### Federal Government

* President: George H. W. Bush (R-TX) (until January 20), Bill Clinton (D-AR) (starting January 20)
* Vice President: Dan Quayle (R-IN) (until January 20), Al Gore (D-TN) (starting January 20)
* Chief Justice: William Rehnquist (WI)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Tom Foley (D-WA)
* Senate Majority Leader: George J. Mitchell (D-ME)
* Congress: 102nd (until January 3), 103rd (starting January 3)

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: H. Guy Hunt (Republican) (until April 22), Jim Folsom Jr. (Democratic) (starting April 22)
* Governor of Alaska: Wally Hickel (Republican)
* Governor of Arizona: Fife Symington III (Republican)
* Governor of Arkansas: Jim Guy Tucker (Democratic)
* Governor of California: Pete Wilson (Republican)
* Governor of Colorado: Roy Romer (Democratic)
* Governor of Connecticut: Lowell P. Weicker Jr. (A Connecticut)
* Governor of Delaware: Dale E. Wolf (Republican) (until January 19), Thomas R. Carper (Democratic) (starting January 19)
* Governor of Florida: Lawton Chiles (Democratic)
* Governor of Georgia: Zell Miller (Democratic)
* Governor of Hawaii: John D. Waihee III (Democratic)
* Governor of Idaho: Cecil D. Andrus (Democratic)
* Governor of Illinois: Jim Edgar (Republican)
* Governor of Indiana: Evan Bayh (Democratic)
* Governor of Iowa: Terry E. Branstad (Republican)
* Governor of Kansas: Joan Finney (Democratic)
* Governor of Kentucky: Brereton Jones (Democratic)
* Governor of Louisiana: Edwin W. Edwards (Democratic)
* Governor of Maine: John R. McKernan Jr. (Republican)
* Governor of Maryland: William Donald Schaefer (Democratic)
* Governor of Massachusetts: William F. Weld (Republican)
* Governor of Michigan: John Engler (Republican)
* Governor of Minnesota: Arne H. Carlson (Republican)
* Governor of Mississippi: Kirk Fordice (Republican)
* Governor of Missouri: John Ashcroft (Republican) (until January 11), Mel Carnahan (Democratic) (starting January 11)
* Governor of Montana: Stan Stephens (Republican) (until January 4), Marc Racicot (Republican) (starting January 4)
* Governor of Nebraska: Ben Nelson (Democratic)
* Governor of Nevada: Bob Miller (Democratic)
* Governor of New Hampshire:
	+ until January 2: Judd Gregg (Republican)
	+ January 2–7: Ralph D. Hough (Democratic)
	+ starting January 7: Steve Merrill (Republican)
* Governor of New Jersey: James Florio (Democratic)
* Governor of New Mexico: Bruce King (Democratic)
* Governor of New York: Mario Cuomo (Democratic)
* Governor of North Carolina: James G. Martin (Republican) (until January 9), Jim Hunt (Democratic) (starting January 9)
* Governor of North Dakota: Ed Schafer (Republican)
* Governor of Ohio: George Voinovich (Republican)
* Governor of Oklahoma: David Walters (Democratic)
* Governor of Oregon: Barbara Roberts (Democratic)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: Robert P. Casey (Democratic)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Bruce Sundlun (Democratic)
* Governor of South Carolina: Carroll A. Campbell Jr. (Republican)
* Governor of South Dakota: George S. Mickelson (Republican) (until April 19), Walter Dale Miller (Republican) (starting April 19)
* Governor of Tennessee: Ned McWherter (Democratic)
* Governor of Texas: Ann Richards (Democratic)
* Governor of Utah: Norman H. Bangerter (Republican) (until January 4), Mike Leavitt (Republican) (starting January 4)
* Governor of Vermont: Howard Dean (Democratic)
* Governor of Virginia: Douglas Wilder (Democratic)
* Governor of Washington: Booth Gardner (Democratic) (until January 13), Mike Lowry (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Governor of West Virginia: Gaston Caperton (Democratic)
* Governor of Wisconsin: Tommy Thompson (Republican)
* Governor of Wyoming: Mike Sullivan (Democratic)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Alabama: Jim Folsom Jr. (Democratic) (until April 22), vacant (starting April 22)
* Lieutenant Governor of Alaska: Jack Coghill (Alaskan Independence)
* Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas: vacant (until November 20), Mike Huckabee (Republican) (starting November 20)
* Lieutenant Governor of California: Leo T. McCarthy (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: Mike Callihan (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Eunice Groark (A Connecticut)
* Lieutenant Governor of Delaware: vacant (until January 19), Ruth Ann Minner (Democratic) (starting January 19)
* Lieutenant Governor of Florida: Buddy MacKay (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Georgia: Pierre Howard (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii: Ben Cayetano (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: Butch Otter (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Bob Kustra (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Frank O'Bannon (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: Joy Corning (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Jim Francisco (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Paul E. Patton (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Melinda Schwegmann (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Maryland: Melvin A. Steinberg (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Paul Cellucci (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Connie Binsfeld (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Joanell Dyrstad (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: Eddie Briggs (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Mel Carnahan (Democratic) (until January 11), Roger B. Wilson (Democratic) (starting January 11)
* Lieutenant Governor of Montana: Denny Rehberg (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: Maxine Moul (Democratic) (until October), Kim M. Robak (Democratic) (starting October)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Sue Wagner (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico: Casey Luna (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Stan Lundine (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: James Carson Gardner (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Dennis A. Wicker (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: Rosemarie Myrdal (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: Mike DeWine (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma: Jack Mildren (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Mark Singel (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Roger N. Begin (Democratic) (until January 2), Robert Weygand (Democratic) (starting January 2)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Nick Theodore (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: Walter Dale Miller (Republican) (until April 19), Steve T. Kirby (Republican) (starting April 19)
* Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: John S. Wilder (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Bob Bullock (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Utah: W. Val Oveson (Republican) (until January 4), Olene S. Walker (Republican) (starting January 4)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: vacant (until month and day unknown), Barbara W. Snelling (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: Don Beyer (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Washington: Joel Pritchard (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Scott McCallum (Republican)

## Events

### January

* January 3 – In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
* January 5
	+ The state of Washington executes Westley Allan Dodd by hanging (the first legal hanging in America since 1965).
	+ $7,400,000 USD is stolen from Brinks Armored Car Depot in Rochester, New York in the fifth-largest robbery in U.S. history. Four men, Samuel Millar, Father Patrick Moloney, former Rochester Police officer Thomas O'Connor, and Charles McCormick, all of whom have ties to the Provisional Irish Republican Army, are accused.
* January 19
	+ IBM announces a $4,970,000,000 loss for 1992, the largest single-year corporate loss in United States history to date.
	+ Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM inspectors to use its own aircraft to fly into Iraq, and begins military operations in the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait, and the northern Iraqi no-fly zones. U.S. forces fire approximately forty Tomahawk cruise missiles at Baghdad factories linked to Iraq's illegal nuclear weapons program. Iraq then informs UNSCOM that it will be able to resume its flights.
* January 20 – Bill Clinton is sworn in as the 42nd President of the United States, and Al Gore is sworn in as Vice President of the United States.
* January 25 – Mir Aimal Kasi fires a rifle and kills two employees outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
* January 31 – Super Bowl XXVII: The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Buffalo Bills 52–17 at Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

### February

* February 6 – Former tennis player Arthur Ashe, 49, dies of complications due to HIV in New York. Ashe was believed to have contracted the virus from a blood transfusion during a heart surgery ten years earlier.
* February 8 – General Motors Corporation sues NBC, after *Dateline NBC* allegedly rigged two crashes showing that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the following day.
* February 11 – Janet Reno is selected by President Clinton as Attorney General of the United States.
* February 26 – 1993 World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a van bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over 1,000.
* February 28 – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, with a warrant to arrest leader David Koresh on federal firearms violations. Four agents and five Davidian followers die in the raid and a 51-day standoff begins.

### March

* March 1 – An outbreak of Cryptosporidium protozoan affects Milwaukee, Wisconsin, infecting over 400,000 people, hospitalizing over 4,000, and killing at least 100, making it the largest waterborne disease outbreak in United States history.
* March 4 – Authorities announce the capture of suspected World Trade Center bombing conspirator Mohammad Salameh.
* March 9 – Rodney King testifies at the federal trial of four Los Angeles, California police officers accused of violating his civil rights when they beat him during an arrest.
* March 11 – Janet Reno is confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn in the next day, becoming the first female Attorney General of the United States.
* March 12 – The Great Blizzard of 1993 strikes the eastern United States, bringing record snowfall and other severe weather all the way from Cuba to Quebec; the storm kills 318 people.
* March 22 – The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips.
* March 29 – The 65th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, with Clint Eastwood's *Unforgiven* winning four awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Both the film and James Ivory's *Howards End* lead the nominations with nine each. The telecast garners 45.7 million viewers.

### April

* April 1
	+ A virus strikes the Four Corners, killing at least 13 people.
	+ The Great Flood of 1993: The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers flood large portions of the American Midwest.
* April 2 – *The Adventures of Huck Finn*, directed by Stephen Sommers and based on Mark Twain's 1884 novel of the same name, is released in theaters.
* April 9 – The rock band Nirvana plays a benefit concert for rape victims in war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina at San Francisco's Cow Palace.
* April 13 – The Kuwaiti government claims to uncover an Iraqi assassination plot against former U.S. President George H. W. Bush shortly after his visit to Kuwait. Two Iraqi nationals confess to driving a car bomb into Kuwait on behalf of the Iraqi Intelligence Service.
* April 19 – A 51-day stand-off at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ends with a fire that kills 76 people, including David Koresh.
* April 28 – An executive order is issued requiring the United States Air Force to allow women to fly war planes.

### May

* May 1 – An outbreak of a respiratory illness later identified as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome begins in the southwestern United States; 32 patients die by the end of the year.
* May 3 – Rio Grande City in Texas officially incorporates into a city.
* May 5 – The West Memphis Three are three men who – while teenagers – were tried and convicted, in 1994, of the May 5, 1993 murders of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley Jr. was sentenced to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment. During the trial, the prosecution asserted that the children were killed as part of a Satanic ritual.
* May 20 – President Bill Clinton signs the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 into federal law.

### June

* June 5 – *Minnesota v. Dickerson*: The United States Supreme Court rules that the seizure of evidence during a pat-down search is constitutional.
* June 9 – The Montreal Canadiens win their 24th Stanley Cup, defeating the Los Angeles Kings in the Finals.
* June 11 – *Jurassic Park*, directed by Steven Spielberg, is released in theaters as the first film in the *Jurassic Park* saga.
* June 20 – John Paxson's 3-point shot in Game 6 of the NBA Finals helps the Chicago Bulls secure a 99–98 win over the Phoenix Suns, and their third consecutive championship.
* June 24 – A Unabomber bomb injures computer scientist David Gelernter at Yale University.
* June 27 – U.S. President Bill Clinton orders a cruise missile attack on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in the Al-Mansur District of Baghdad, in response to the attempted assassination of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush during his visit to Kuwait in mid-April.

### July

* July 1 – Gian Ferri kills eight and injures six before committing suicide at a law firm in San Francisco, sparking new legislative actions for gun control.
* July 19 – U.S. President Bill Clinton announces his 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy regarding homosexuals serving in the American military.
* July 20 – White House deputy counsel Vince Foster dies by suicide in Virginia.
* July 25 – Greg Nicholson, his girlfriend and her two young daughters are murdered in Iowa by Dustin Honken and Angela Johnson. Nicholson was due to testify against Honken in court in relation to his drug activities.
* July 27 – Windows NT 3.1, the first version of Microsoft's line of Windows NT operating systems, is released to manufacturing.

### August

* August 1 – The Great Flood of 1993 comes to a peak.
* August 4 – A federal judge sentences LAPD officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 30 months in prison for violating motorist Rodney King's civil rights.
* August 10
	+ Ruth Bader Ginsburg is sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
	+ World Youth Day 1993 in Denver, Colorado.
* August 21 – NASA loses contact with the *Mars Observer* spacecraft.
* August 28 – *Mighty Morphin Power Rangers*, the first Power Rangers entry, debuts on Fox Kids.

### September

* September 4 – The second World Parliament of Religions is held in Chicago.
* September 6 – Canadian software specialist Peter de Jager publishes an article titled "Doomsday 2000" in the U.S. weekly magazine *Computerworld*, which is the first known reference to Y2K, the Year 2000 problem.
* September 10 – *Bill Nye the Science Guy* first airs in syndication.
* September 13
	+ PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin shake hands in Washington D.C., after signing a peace accord.
	+ *Animaniacs* makes its debut on Fox Kids.
* September 18 – *Rocko's Modern Life* makes its debut on Nickelodeon, becoming the network's fourth "Nicktoon" in the line-up.
* September 22 – Big Bayou Canot rail accident: An Amtrak Sunset Limited derails on a bridge which had been damaged by a barge near Mobile, Alabama. It is the deadliest train wreck in Amtrak's history.

### October

* October 3 – A large-scale battle erupts between U.S. forces and local militia in Mogadishu, Somalia; eighteen Americans and over 1,000 Somalis are killed.
* October 8 – David Miscavige announces the IRS has granted full tax exemption to the Church of Scientology International and affiliated churches and organizations, ending the Church's 40-year battle with the IRS and resulting in religious recognition in the United States.
* October 16 – U.S. President Bill Clinton sends six American warships to Haiti to enforce United Nations trade sanctions against their military-led regime.
* October 25 – Actor Vincent Price dies of lung cancer.
* October 27 – Wildfires begin in California, which eventually destroy over 16,000 acres (65 km2) and 700 homes.
* October 31 – Actor River Phoenix dies of drug-induced heart failure on the sidewalk outside the West Hollywood nightclub The Viper Room.

### November

* November 2 – Bee Gees' album, *SIZE Isn't Everything* is released in the United States.
* November 11 – Microsoft releases Windows 3.11 for Workgroups to manufacturing.
* November 16 – President Bill Clinton signs the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 into federal law.
* November 17 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) passes the legislative houses in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
* November 18
	+ In a status referendum, Puerto Rico residents vote with a slim margin to maintain Commonwealth status.
	+ The first meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation opens in Seattle.
* November 20 – Savings and loan crisis: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his dealings with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.
* November 22 – TV Food Network makes its debut.
* November 30 – President Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act into law, requiring purchasers of handguns to pass a background check.

### December

* December 1
	+ The unemployment rate falls to 6.5%, the lowest since January 1991.
	+ ProCharger, an automotive aftermarket manufacturer is founded in Kansas.
* December 2 – STS-61: NASA launches the Space Shuttle *Endeavour* on a mission to repair an optical flaw in the Hubble Space Telescope.
* December 7
	+ Colin Ferguson opens fire with his Ruger 9 mm pistol on a Long Island Rail Road train, killing six and injuring 29.
	+ Avi Arad founds Marvel Studios.
* December 11 – A variety of Soviet space program paraphernalia are put to auction in Sotheby's New York, and sell for a total of US$6,800,000. One of the items is *Lunokhod 1* and its spacecraft *Luna 17*; they sell for $68,500.

## Sport

* February 23 – Sacramento Gold Miners are established as the First American franchise in the Canadian Football League.
* March 2 – The Colorado Rockies and the Miami Marlins become baseball teams.

## Memoriam

### January

* January 1
	+ Eddie Arning, farming community (aged 95; McGregor, TX, USA)
	+ Jean Mayer, French-born scientist (aged 72; Medford, MA, USA)
* January 3
	+ Johnny Most, sportscaster (aged 69; Boston, MA, USA)
	+ Will Walls, American football player and coach (aged 80; Dallas, TX, USA)
* January 6 – Dizzy Gillespie, musician, bandleader, singer and composer (aged 75; Englewood, NJ, USA)
* January 10
	+ Diana Adams, ballet dancer (aged 66; San Andreas, CA, USA)
	+ Luther Gulick, expert on public administration (aged 100; Walden, VT, USA)
* January 15
	+ Sammy Cahn, lyricist (aged 79; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
	+ Henry Iba, basketball coach and college athletics administrator (aged 88; Stillwater, OK, USA)
* January 16
	+ Glenn Corbett, actor (aged 59; San Antonio, TX, USA)
	+ Freddie 'Red' Cochrane, boxer; welterweight champion between 1941 and 1946 (aged 77; Union, NJ, USA)
	+ Stan Sheriff, American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator (aged 60; Honolulu, HI, USA)
* January 19
	+ Reginald Lewis, businessman (aged 50; New York City, NY, USA)
	+ Chris Street, college basketball player (aged 20; Iowa City, IA, USA)
* January 20 – Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-born British actress (aged 63; Tolochenaz, Switzerland)
* January 21 – Charlie Gehringer, baseball player (aged 89; Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA)
* January 22 – Jim Pollard, professional basketball player and coach (aged 70; Stockton, CA, USA)
* January 23
	+ Thomas A. Dorsey, musician (aged 93; Chicago, IL, USA)
	+ Keith Laumer, science fiction author (aged 67; Brooksville, FL, USA)
* January 24 – Thurgood Marshall, jurist, First African-American on the Supreme Court (aged 84; Bethesda, MD, USA)
* January 25 – Bernard Joseph Smith, marathon runner; winner of the 1942 Boston Marathon (aged 77; Pembroke Pines, FL, USA)
* January 27 – J. T. King, American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator (aged 80; Lubbock, TX, USA)
* January 28 – Vern Kennedy, MLB pitcher (aged 85; Mendon, MO, USA)
* January 29
	+ Gustav Hasford, marine, novelist, journalist, poet and book thief (aged 45; Aegina, Greece)
	+ Ron Kostelnik, American football player in the National Football League (aged 53; Scott County, KY, USA)

### February

* February 5 – Joseph L. Mankiewicz, screenwriter and producer (aged 83; Bedford, NY, USA)
* February 6 – Arthur Ashe, tennis player (aged 49; New York City, NY, USA)
* February 7 – Buddy Pepper, songwriter and accompanist (aged 70; Sherman Oaks, CA, USA)
* February 9 – Kate Wilkinson, stage and television actress (aged 76; New York City, NY, USA)
* February 11
	+ Joy Garrett, actor and vocalist (aged 47; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
	+ Robert W. Holley, biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (aged 71; Los Gatos, CA, USA)
* February 18 – Kerry Von Erich, professional wrestler (aged 33; Denton, TX, USA)
* February 23 – Phillip Terry, actor (aged 83; Santa Barbara, CA, USA)
* February 25 – Eddie Constantine, American-born French actor and singer (aged 75; Wiesbaden, Germany)
* February 26 – Beaumont Newhall, curator (aged 84; Santa Fe, NM, USA)
* February 27 – Lillian Gish, actress (aged 99; New York City, NY, USA)
* February 28 – Ruby Keeler, actress (aged 83; Rancho Mirage, CA, USA)

### March

* March 1 – Terry Frost, actor (aged 86; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* March 3 – Albert Sabin, biologist, developer of the oral polio vaccine (aged 86; Washington, DC, USA)
* March 4 – Izaak Kolthoff, Dutch-born chemist (aged 99; St. Paul, MN, USA)
* March 7
	+ Duane Carter, racing driver (aged 79; Indianapolis, IN, USA)
	+ Whitey Kachan, basketball player (aged 67; Glenview, IL, USA)
	+ Eleanor Sanger, television producer (aged 63; Tisbury, MA, USA)
	+ Jim Spavital, footballer (aged 66; Stillwater, OK, USA)
	+ Earl Wrightson, singer and actor (aged 77; Long Island, NY, USA)
* March 8
	+ Don Barksdale, basketball player (aged 69; Oakland, CA, USA)
	+ Billy Eckstine, musician (aged 78; Pittsburgh, PA, USA)
* March 9 – Max August Zorn, German-born mathematician (aged 86; Bloomington, IN, USA)
* March 16 – Ralph Fults outlaw (aged 82; Dallas, TX, USA)
* March 17 – Helen Hayes, actress (aged 92; Nyack, NY, USA)
* March 20
	+ Percy Johnston, African-American poet, playwright, and professor (aged 62; New York City, NY, USA)
	+ Polykarp Kusch, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (aged 82; Dallas, TX, USA)
	+ Paul László, Hungarian-born architect (aged 93; Santa Monica, CA, USA)
* March 22 – Steve Olin, baseball player (aged 27; Clermont, FL, USA)
* March 23 – Tim Crews, baseball player (aged 31; Clermont, FL, USA)
* March 24 – John Hersey, writer and journalist (aged 78; Key West, FL, USA)
* March 26 – Louis Falco, dancer and choreographer (aged 50; New York City, NY, USA)
* March 27 – Elizabeth Holloway Marston, psychologist (aged 100; Bethel, CT, USA)
* March 30 – Richard Diebenkorn, painter (aged 70; Berkeley, CA, USA)
* March 31
	+ Brandon Lee, actor and martial artist, son of Bruce Lee (aged 28; Wilmington, NC, USA)
	+ Mitchell Parish, lyricist (aged 92; Manhattan, NY, USA)

### April

* April 1 – Alan Kulwicki, U.S. race car driver (aged 38; Blountville, TN, USA)
* April 3
	+ Peter J. De Muth, politician (aged 101; Laguna Hills, CA, USA)
	+ Pinky Lee, comedian (aged 85; Mission Viejo, CA, USA)
* April 8 – Marian Anderson, singer (aged 96; Portland, OR, USA)
* April 13 – Wallace Stegner, writer (aged 84; Santa Fe, NM, USA)
* April 19 – David Koresh, spiritualist, leader of the Branch Davidian religious cult (aged 33; Waco, TX, USA)
* April 23 – Cesar Chavez, Mexican-American civil rights activist (aged 66; San Luis, AZ, USA)
* April 26 – Julia Davis, educator (aged 101; Normandy, MO, USA)
* April 28 – Jim Valvano, basketball player (aged 47; Durham, NC, USA)

### May

* May 5 – Irving Howe, literary and social critic (aged 72; Manhattan, NY, USA)
* May 7 – Mary Philbin, actress (aged 90; Huntington Beach, CA, USA)
* May 8
	+ Avram Davidson, writer (aged 70; Bremerton, WA, USA)
	+ Alwin Nikolais, choreographer (aged 82; New York City, NY, USA)
* May 14 – William Randolph Hearst Jr., businessman (aged 85; New York City, NY, USA)
* May 26 – Catherine Caradja, Romanian aristocrat and philanthropist (aged 100; Bucharest, Romania)
* May 30 – Sun Ra, jazz musician (aged 79; Birmingham, AL, USA)

### June

* June 2 – Johnny Mize, baseball player (aged 80; Demorest, GA, USA)
* June 5 – Conway Twitty, musician (aged 59; Springfield, MO, USA)
* June 6 – James Bridges, screenwriter and director (aged 57; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* June 8 – Nolan Bailey Harmon, bishop of The Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church (aged 100; Roanoke, VA, USA)
* June 9 – Alexis Smith, Canadian-born actress and singer (aged 72; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* June 10
	+ Arleen Auger, soprano singer (aged 53; Leusden, Netherlands)
	+ Milward Simpson, politician (aged 95; Cody, WY, USA)
* June 13 – Deke Slayton, astronaut (aged 69; League City, TX, USA)
* June 15 – John Connally, politician (aged 76; Houston, TX, USA)
* June 19 – Szymon Goldberg, Polish-born violinist (aged 84; Toyama, Japan)
* June 22 – Pat Nixon, First Lady of the United States, Second Lady of the United States as wife of Richard Nixon (aged 81; Park Ridge, NJ, USA)
* June 24 – Archie Williams, Olympic athlete (aged 78; Fairfax, CA, USA)
* June 26 – Roy Campanella, baseball player (aged 71; Woodland Hills, CA, USA)
* June 28 – GG Allin, musician (aged 36; New York City, NY, USA)
* June 30 – Spanky McFarland, actor (aged 64; Grapevine, TX, USA)

### July

* July 2
	+ Fred Gwynne, actor and comedian (aged 66; Taneytown, MD, USA)
	+ Elizabeth M. Ramsey, research physician (aged 87; Washington, DC, USA)
* July 3
	+ Don Drysdale, baseball player (aged 56; Montreal, QC, Canada)
	+ Joe DeRita, comedian (aged 83; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* July 4 – Anne Shirley, actress (aged 75; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* July 7
	+ William McElwee Miller, missionary to Persia and author (aged 100; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
	+ Mia Zapata, punk musician (aged 27; Seattle, WA, USA)
* July 12 – James Peck, civil rights activist (aged 78; Minneapolis, MN, USA)
* July 13 – Davey Allison, stock car driver (aged 32; Birmingham, AL, USA)
* July 15 – David Brian, actor (aged 78; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* July 24 – Abram L. Sachar, historian and educator (aged 94; Newton, MA, USA)
* July 25
	+ Nan Grey, actress (aged 75; San Diego, CA, USA)
	+ Cecilia Parker, actress (aged 79; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* July 26 – Matthew Ridgway, army general (aged 98; Fox Chapel, PA, USA)
* July 27 – Reggie Lewis, basketball player (aged 27; Waltham, MA, USA)
* July 30
	+ William Guglielmo Niederland, German-born psychoanalyst (aged 88; Englewood, NJ, USA)
	+ Bob Wright, baseball player (aged 101; Carmichael, CA, USA)
* July 31 – Paul B. Henry, politician (aged 51; Grand Rapids, MI, USA)

### August

* August 1 – Claire Du Brey, actress (aged 100; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* August 3 – Theodore A. Parker III, ornithologist (aged 40; Millersville, PA, USA)
* August 7 – Christopher Gillis, dancer and choreographer (aged 42; New York City, NY, USA)
* August 10 – Irene Sharaff, costume designer (aged 83; New York City, NY, USA)
* August 16 – Stewart Granger, Anglo-American actor (aged 80; Santa Monica, CA, USA)
* August 26 − Roy Raymond, entrepreneur (aged 46; San Francisco, CA, USA)
* August 30 – Richard Jordan, actor (aged 56; Los Angeles, CA, USA)

### September

* September 2 – Eric Berry, British actor (aged 80; Laguna Beach, CA, USA)
* September 3 – Wesley Englehorn, American football player (aged 103; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* September 4 – Hervé Villechaize, French-born actor (aged 50; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* September 9 – Helen O'Connell, singer (aged 73; San Diego, CA, USA)
* September 12
	+ Raymond Burr, Canadian-American actor (aged 76; Healdsburg, CA, USA)
	+ Charles Lamont, Russian-born film director (aged 98; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* September 13 – Steve Jordan, jazz guitarist (aged 74; Alexandria, VA, USA)
* September 22
	+ Maurice Abravanel, Greek-born conductor (aged 90; Salt Lake City, UT, USA)
	+ Regina Fryxell, composer (aged 93; Rock Island, IL, USA)
* September 27 – Jimmy Doolittle, aviation pioneer and World War II United States Army Air Forces general (aged 96; Pebble Beach, CA, USA)
* September 28 – Alexander A. Drabik, soldier (aged 82; Columbia, MO, USA)
* September 29 – Gordon Douglas, film director (aged 85; Los Angeles, CA, USA)

### October

* October 5 – Agnes de Mille, dancer and choreographer (aged 88; New York City, NY, USA)
* October 12 – Leon Ames, actor (aged 91; Laguna Beach, CA, USA)
* October 13 – Ruth Gilbert, actress (aged 81; Manhattan, NY, USA)
* October 17 – Criss Oliva, metal guitarist (aged 30; Thonotosassa, FL, USA)
* October 21 – James Leo Herlihy, novelist and playwright (aged 66; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* October 25 – Vincent Price, actor (aged 82; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* October 26 – Harold Rome, composer (aged 85; New York City, NY, USA)
* October 31 – River Phoenix, actor, musician and activist (aged 23; West Hollywood, CA, USA)

### November

* November 1 – Severo Ochoa, Spanish-born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (aged 88; Madrid, Spain)
* November 6 – Ralph Randles Stewart, botanist (aged 103; Duarte, CA, USA)
* November 12
	+ Bill Dickey, baseball player (aged 86; Little Rock, AR, USA)
	+ H. R. Haldeman, 4th White House Chief of Staff (aged 67; Santa Barbara, CA, USA)
	+ Anna Sten, Ukrainian-born actress (aged 84; New York City, NY, USA)
* November 13 – Rufus R. Jones, wrestler (aged 60; Kansas City, MO, USA)
* November 15 – Evelyn Venable, actress (aged 80; Coeur d'Alene, ID, USA)
* November 20 – Emile Ardolino, film director (aged 50; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* November 21 – Bill Bixby, actor (aged 59; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* November 24 – Albert Collins, African-American blues guitarist and singer (aged 61; Las Vegas, NV, USA)
* November 28 – Garry Moore, television host and comedian (aged 78; Hilton Head, SC, USA)

### December

* December 4 – Frank Zappa, guitarist and composer (aged 52; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* December 6 – Don Ameche, actor (aged 85; Scottsdale, AZ, USA)
* December 14 – Myrna Loy, actress (aged 88; New York City, NY, USA)
* December 16
	+ Charles Moore, architect (aged 68; Austin, TX, USA)
	+ Moses Gunn, actor (aged 64; Guilford, CT, USA)
* December 17 – Janet Margolin, actress (aged 50; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* December 18 – Sam Wanamaker, film director and actor (aged 74; London, England, UK)
* December 19 – Michael Clarke, musician (aged 47; Treasure Island, FL, USA)
* December 20 – W. Edwards Deming, engineer, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant (aged 93; Washington, DC, USA)
* December 21 – Gussie Nell Davis, educator and founder of the Kilgore College Rangerettes (aged 87; Kilgore, TX, USA)
* December 22
	+ Don DeFore, actor (aged 80; Santa Monica, CA, USA)
	+ Alexander Mackendrick, Scottish-American film director (aged 81; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* December 23 – James Ellison, actor (aged 83; Monterey, CA, USA)
* December 24 – Norman Vincent Peale, preacher and writer (aged 95; Pawling, NY, USA)
* December 28
	+ William L. Shirer, journalist and historian (aged 89; Boston, MA, USA)
	+ Howard Caine, actor (aged 67; North Hollywood, CA, USA)
* December 31
	+ Brandon Teena, murder victim (aged 21; Humboldt, NE, USA)
	+ Thomas J. Watson Jr., businessman, political figure, and philanthropist (aged 79; Greenwich, CT, USA)