1998

Events from the year **1998 in the United States**.

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: Fob James (Republican)
* Governor of Alaska: Tony Knowles (Democratic)
* Governor of Arizona: Jane Dee Hull (Republican)
* Governor of Arkansas: Mike Huckabee (Republican)
* Governor of California: Pete Wilson (Republican)
* Governor of Colorado: Roy Romer (Democratic)
* Governor of Connecticut: John G. Rowland (Republican)
* Governor of Delaware: Thomas R. Carper (Democratic)
* Governor of Florida: Lawton Chiles (Democratic) (until December 12), Buddy MacKay (Democratic) (starting December 12)
* Governor of Georgia: Zell Miller (Democratic)
* Governor of Hawaii: Ben Cayetano (Democratic)
* Governor of Idaho: Phil Batt (Republican)
* Governor of Illinois: Jim Edgar (Republican)
* Governor of Indiana: Frank O'Bannon (Democratic)
* Governor of Iowa: Terry E. Branstad (Republican)
* Governor of Kansas: Bill Graves (Republican)
* Governor of Kentucky: Paul E. Patton (Democratic)
* Governor of Louisiana: Murphy J. Foster Jr. (Republican)
* Governor of Maine: Angus King (Independent)
* Governor of Maryland: Parris N. Glendening (Democratic)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Paul Cellucci (Republican)
* Governor of Michigan: John Engler (Republican)
* Governor of Minnesota: Arne H. Carlson (Republican)
* Governor of Mississippi: Kirk Fordice (Republican)
* Governor of Missouri: Mel Carnahan (Democratic)
* Governor of Montana: Marc Racicot (Republican)
* Governor of Nebraska: Ben Nelson (Democratic)
* Governor of Nevada: Bob Miller (Democratic)
* Governor of New Hampshire: Jeanne Shaheen (Democratic)
* Governor of New Jersey: Christine Todd Whitman (Republican)
* Governor of New Mexico: Gary Johnson (Republican)
* Governor of New York: George Pataki (Republican)
* Governor of North Carolina: Jim Hunt (Democratic)
* Governor of North Dakota: Ed Schafer (Republican)
* Governor of Ohio: George Voinovich (Republican) (until December 31), Nancy Hollister (Republican) (starting December 31)
* Governor of Oklahoma: Frank Keating (Republican)
* Governor of Oregon: John Kitzhaber (Democratic)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: Tom Ridge (Republican)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Lincoln C. Almond (Republican)
* Governor of South Carolina: David Beasley (Republican)
* Governor of South Dakota: William J. Janklow (Republican)
* Governor of Tennessee: Don Sundquist (Republican)
* Governor of Texas: George W. Bush (Republican)
* Governor of Utah: Mike Leavitt (Republican)
* Governor of Vermont: Howard Dean (Democratic)
* Governor of Virginia: George Allen (Republican) (until January 17), Jim Gilmore (Republican) (starting January 17)
* Governor of Washington: Gary Locke (Democratic)
* Governor of West Virginia: Cecil H. Underwood (Republican)
* Governor of Wisconsin: Tommy Thompson (Republican)
* Governor of Wyoming: Jim Geringer (Republican)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Alabama: Don Siegelman (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Alaska: Fran Ulmer (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas: Winthrop Paul Rockefeller (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of California: Gray Davis (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: Gail Schoettler (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Jodi Rell (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Delaware: Ruth Ann Minner (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Florida: Buddy MacKay (Democratic) (until December 12), vacant (starting December 12)
* Lieutenant Governor of Georgia: Pierre Howard (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii: Mazie Hirono (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: Butch Otter (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Bob Kustra (Republican) (until July 1), vacant (starting July 1)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Joe E. Kernan (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: Joy Corning (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Gary Sherrer (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Steve Henry (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Kathleen Blanco (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Maryland: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Paul Cellucci (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Connie Binsfeld (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Joanne E. Benson (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: Ronnie Musgrove (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Roger B. Wilson (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Montana: Judy Martz (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: Kim M. Robak (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Lonnie Hammargren (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico: Walter Dwight Bradley (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Betsy McCaughey (Republican) (until December 31), vacant (starting December 31)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: Dennis A. Wicker (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: Rosemarie Myrdal (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: Nancy P. Hollister (Republican) (until December 31), vacant (starting December 31)
* Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma: Mary Fallin (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Mark S. Schweiker (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Bernard Jackvony (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Bob Peeler (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: Carole Hillard (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: John S. Wilder (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Bob Bullock (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Utah: Olene S. Walker (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Doug Racine (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: Don Beyer (Democratic) (until January 17), John H. Hager (Republican) (starting January 17)
* Lieutenant Governor of Washington: Brad Owen (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Scott McCallum (Republican)

## Events

### January

* January 1 – Smoking is banned in all California bars and restaurants.
* January 4 – A massive winter storm, partly caused by El Niño, strikes New England, southern Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, resulting in widespread power failures, severe damage to forests, and numerous deaths.
* January 8 – Ramzi Yousef is sentenced to life in prison for planning the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
* January 14 – Researchers in Dallas, Texas present findings about an enzyme that slows aging and cell death (apoptosis).
* January 17 – Paula Jones accuses U.S. President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.
* January 23 – Mir Qazi is sentenced to death for a 1993 assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters that killed two and wounded three.
* January 25 – Super Bowl XXXII: The Denver Broncos defeat the Green Bay Packers 31–24 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
* January 26
	+ Lewinsky scandal: On American television, President Bill Clinton denies he had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
	+ Compaq buys Digital Equipment Corporation.
* January 27 – U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton appears on *The Today Show*, calling the attacks against her husband part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy".
* January 28 – Ford Motor Company announces the buyout of Volvo Cars for $6.45 billion.
* January 29 – In Birmingham, Alabama, a bomb explodes at an abortion clinic, killing one and severely wounding another. Serial bomber Eric Rudolph is the prime suspect.

### February

* February 1 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The United States Senate passes Resolution 71, urging U.S. President Bill Clinton to "take all necessary and appropriate actions to respond to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
* February 3
	+ Cavalese cable car disaster: a United States Military pilot causes the deaths of 20 people near Trento, Italy, when his low-flying plane severs the cable of a cable-car.
	+ Karla Faye Tucker is executed in Texas, becoming the first woman executed in the United States since 1984 and the first to be executed in Texas since the American Civil War.
* February 6
	+ Child rapist Mary Kay Letourneau is sent back to prison after violating a no-contact order and again raping her victim. Letourneau previously struck a plea deal to only serve six months for her crimes, but her breach of the contact order meant the full seven year five month sentence was restored.
	+ Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
* February 7
	+ The United States compete at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan and win 6 gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze medals.
	+ Roger Nicholas Angleton commits suicide in a prison cell in Houston, Texas and admits to murdering socialite Doris Angleton in his suicide note.
* February 10 – Voters in Maine repeal a gay rights law passed in 1997, becoming the first U.S. state to abandon such a law.
* February 12 – The presidential line-item veto is declared unconstitutional by a United States federal judge.
* February 14 – The Department of Justice announces that Eric Robert Rudolph is a suspect in an Alabama abortion clinic bombing.
* February 15 – Dale Earnhardt wins the Daytona 500 on his 20th attempt.
* February 18 – Two white separatists are arrested in Nevada, accused of plotting biological warfare on New York City subways.
* February 19 – Larry Wayne Harris of the Aryan Nations and William Leavitt are arrested in Henderson, New York, for possession of military grade anthrax.
* February 20 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein negotiates a deal with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, allowing weapons inspectors to return to Baghdad, preventing military action by the United States and Britain.
* February 23 – Florida El Niño Outbreak: Tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42.

### March

* March 4 – Gay rights: *Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services*: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.
* March 5
	+ NASA announces that the Clementine probe orbiting the Moon has found enough water in polar craters to support a human colony and rocket fueling station.
	+ NASA announces the choice of United States Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins as commander of a future Space Shuttle *Columbia* mission to launch an X-ray telescope, making Collins the first woman to command a Space Shuttle mission.
* March 7 – The Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan is fined for burning a cross in his garden and infringing air regulations in California.
* March 10 – United States troops stationed in the Persian Gulf begin to receive the first anthrax vaccine.
* March 23 – The 70th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. James Cameron's *Titanic* wins a record-tying 11 awards (tied with 1959's *Ben-Hur*) and leads with a record-tying 14 nominations (tied with 1950's *All About Eve*), including Best Picture and Best Director. The telecast is the most-watched Oscars broadcast in history, garnering over 57.2 million viewers.
* March 24 – Teenagers Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden open fire on classmates during a fire drill, killing five and injuring 10 at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
* March 27 – The Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States.
* March 29 – A series of three tornadoes in southern Minnesota kill three people.
* March 30 – Serial killer Judy Buenoano is executed by electric chair in Florida, the first woman to be executed in the state since 1848.

### April

* April 1 – The unemployment rate drops to 4.3%, the lowest level since February 1970.
* April 6
	+ The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 9,000 for the first time, and ending a gain of 49.82 points, 9,033.23.
	+ Long running children's television series *Teletubbies* begins its U.S. television debut on PTV.
* April 7 – Citicorp and Travelers Group announce plans to merge, creating the largest financial-services conglomerate in the world, Citigroup.
* April 8 – April 1998 Birmingham tornado: An F5 tornado strikes the western portion of the Birmingham, Alabama area, killing 32 people.
* April 16 – An F3 tornado passes through downtown Nashville, Tennessee, the first significant tornado in 11 years to directly hit a major city. An F5 tornado travels through rural portions south of Nashville (see 1998 Nashville tornado outbreak).
* April 18 – Toon Disney: devoted to carrying animated series and movies, 24 hours a day, is launched by The Walt Disney Company.
* April 22 – The Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World opens to the public for the first time.
* April 27 – The Aladdin Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is imploded to make way for the brand new Aladdin Hotel & Casino.
* April 30 – Daniel V. Jones, a cancer and HIV-positive patient, commits suicide on a Los Angeles freeway after a police standoff. The event was broadcast live on television and caused controversy about airing police chases.

### May

* May 13 – India carries out two more nuclear tests at Pokhran. The United States and Japan impose economic sanctions on India.
* May 18 – *United States v. Microsoft*: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft.
* May 21
	+ At Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, Kipland Kinkel (who was suspended for bringing a gun to school) shoots a semi-automatic rifle into a room filled with students, killing two and wounding 25 others, after killing his parents at home.
	+ In Miami, Florida, five abortion clinics are hit by a butyric acid attacker.
* May 22 – Lewinsky scandal: A federal judge rules that United States Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the scandal.
* May 27 – Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $75,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.
* May 28
	+ Nuclear testing: In response to a series of Indian nuclear tests, Pakistan explodes five nuclear devices of its own in the Chaghai hills of Baluchistan, prompting the United States, Japan and other nations to impose economic sanctions.
	+ *Saturday Night Live* star Phil Hartman is murdered by his wife in their home, who then killed herself when police arrived.

### June

* June 2 – California voters approve Proposition 227, abolishing the state's bilingual education program.
* June 4 – Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
* June 5 – A strike begins at the General Motors Corporation parts factory in Flint, Michigan, quickly spreading to five other assembly plants and lasting seven weeks.
* June 7 – Three white supremacists murder James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas.
* June 12
	+ A jury in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, convicts 17-year-old Luke Woodham of killing two students and wounding seven others at Pearl High School.
	+ Christina Marie Williams, 13, is kidnapped in Seaside, California while walking her dog.
* June 14 – The Chicago Bulls win their 6th NBA title in 8 years when they beat the Utah Jazz, 87–86 in Game 6. This is also Michael Jordan's last game as a Bull, clinching the game in the final seconds on a fadeaway jumper.
* June 16 – The Detroit Red Wings sweep the Washington Capitals in four games in the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals.
* June 19 – Walt Disney Pictures' 36th feature film, *Mulan*, is released to very positive reception and commercial success.
* June 25
	+ In the case of *Clinton v. City of New York*, 524 U.S. 417 (1998), the Supreme Court of the United States holds that the Line Item Veto Act is unconstitutional.
	+ Microsoft releases Windows 98 (First Edition).

### July

* July 5 – Japan launches a probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as an outer space-exploring nation.
* July 10
	+ The DNA-identified remains of United States Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie arrive home to his family in St. Louis, Missouri, after being in the Tomb of the Unknowns since 1984.
	+ Catholic priests' sex abuse scandal: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by former priest Rudolph Kos.
* July 24
	+ 1998 United States Capitol shooting incident: Russell Eugene Weston Jr. bursts into the United States Capitol and opens fire, killing two United States Capitol Police officers. He is later ruled incompetent to stand trial.
	+ *Saving Private Ryan* premieres in movie theaters.
* July 25 – The United States Navy commissions the aircraft carrier USS *Harry S. Truman* and puts her into service.
* July 28 – Monica Lewinsky scandal: Ex-White House intern Monica Lewinsky receives transactional immunity, in exchange for her grand jury testimony concerning her relationship with U.S. President Bill Clinton.

### August

* August 7 – 1998 U.S. embassy bombings: The bombings of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya kill 224 people and injure over 4,500; they are linked to terrorist Osama bin Laden, an exile of Saudi Arabia.
* August 14 – Gary C. Evans, infamous in New York's Capital Region for killing five people, escapes police custody and kills himself by jumping off a bridge.
* August 17 – Monica Lewinsky scandal: U.S. President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He also admits before the nation that night in a nationally televised address that he "misled people" about his sexual affair with Lewinsky.
* August 20 – 1998 U.S. embassy bombings: The United States military launches cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum is destroyed in the attack.
* August 26 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Scott Ritter resigns from UNSCOM, sharply criticizing the Clinton administration and the U.N. Security Council for not being vigorous enough about insisting that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction be destroyed. Ritter tells reporters that "Iraq is not disarming," "Iraq retains the capability to launch a chemical strike."

### September

* September 2 – A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 airliner (Swissair Flight 111) crashes near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia, after taking off from New York City en route to Geneva; all 229 people on board are killed.
* September 4 – Google, Inc. is founded in Menlo Park, California, by Stanford University Ph.D. candidates Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
* September 8 – St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire breaks baseball's single-season home run record, formerly held since 1961 by Roger Maris. McGwire hits #62 at Busch Stadium in the 4th inning off of Chicago Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel.
* September 9 – Serial killer Dana Sue Gray pleads guilty to two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in California. She is also believed to have murdered a third victim.
* September 20 – Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida opens.
* September 28 – Major creditors of Long-Term Capital Management, a Greenwich, Connecticut-based hedge fund, after days of tough bargaining and some informal mediation by Federal Reserve officials, agree on terms of a re-capitalization.
* September 29 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.S. Congress passes the Iraq Liberation Act, which states that the United States wants to remove Saddam Hussein from power and replace the government with a democratic institution.

### October

* October 4 – Leafie Mason is murdered in her Hughes Springs, Texas house by Angel Maturino Resendiz. She is his second victim in his second incident.
* October 6 – College student Matthew Shepard is found tied to a fence near Laramie, Wyoming. He dies October 12, becoming a symbol of gay-bashing victims and sparking public reflection on homophobia in the U.S.
* October 7 – The United States Congress passes the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which gives copyright holders 20 more years of copyright privilege on work they control. This effectively freezes the public domain to works created before 1923 in the United States.
* October 12 – The Congress of the United States passes the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
* October 14 – Eric Robert Rudolph is charged with six bombings (including the 1996 Olympic bombing) in Atlanta, Georgia.
* October 15
	+ American Airlines becomes the first airline to offer electronic ticketing in all 44 countries it serves.
	+ The Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas opens on the former grounds of the Dunes Hotel.
* October 17 – Severe flooding takes place in south central Texas.
* October 21 – The New York Yankees defeat the San Diego Padres to sweep them in the World Series. The Yankees finish with 114 regular-season wins and 11 postseason victories (125 total – the most by any team in 123 years of Major League baseball).
* October 29
	+ STS-95: The Space Shuttle *Discovery* blasts off with 77-year-old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space. (He became the first American to orbit the Earth on February 20, 1962.)
	+ In Freehold Borough, New Jersey, Melissa Drexler pleads guilty to aggravated manslaughter for killing her baby moments after delivering him in the bathroom at her senior prom, and is sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

### November

* November 3 – Jesse Ventura, former professional wrestler, is elected Governor of Minnesota.
* November 5
	+ Lewinsky scandal: As part of the impeachment inquiry, House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde sends a list of 81 questions to U.S. President Bill Clinton.
	+ The journal *Nature* publishes a genetic study showing compelling evidence that Thomas Jefferson fathered his slave Sally Hemings' son Eston Hemings Jefferson.
* November 7 – John Glenn returns to Earth aboard the Space Shuttle *Discovery*.
* November 9 – In the largest civil settlement in United States history, a federal judge approves a US$1.03 billion settlement requiring dozens of brokerage houses (including Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Salomon Smith Barney) to pay investors who claim they were cheated in a widespread price-fixing scheme on the NASDAQ.
* November 12 – Daimler-Benz completes a merger with Chrysler Corporation to form Daimler-Chrysler.
* November 14 – Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President Bill Clinton orders airstrikes on Iraq, then calls them off at the last minute when Iraq promises once again to "unconditionally" cooperate with UNSCOM.
* November 19 – Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings against U.S. President Bill Clinton.
* November 20 – A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin" in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
* November 24 – America Online announces it will acquire Netscape Communications in a stock-for-stock transaction worth US$4.2 billion.
* November 25 – Pixar's second feature film, *A Bug's Life*, is released in theatres.
* November 30 – Deutsche Bank announces a US$10 billion deal to buy Bankers Trust, thus creating the largest financial institution in the world.

### December

* December 1 – Exxon announces a US$73.7 billion deal to buy Mobil, thus creating Exxon-Mobil, the second-largest company on the planet by revenue.
* December 2 – Grade school children in Aurora, Colorado, collect $35,000 to purchase and free enslaved children in Sudan.
* December 5 – D.C. United defeats Vasco da Gama 2–1 on aggregate to win the Interamerican Cup (one of the greatest triumphs in the history of U.S. club soccer).
* December 16 – Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President Bill Clinton orders American and British airstrikes on Iraq. UNSCOM withdraws all weapons inspectors from Iraq.
* December 17 – Claudia Benton, of West University Place, Texas, is murdered in her house by Angel Maturino Resendiz (his third victim in his third incident).
* December 19 – Lewinsky scandal: President Bill Clinton is impeached by the United States House of Representatives. (He was later acquitted.)
* December 21 – Iraq disarmament crisis: UN Security Council members France, Germany and Russia call for sanctions to end against Iraq. The 3 Security Council members also call for UNSCOM to either be disbanded or for its role to be recast. The U.S. says it will veto any such proposal.
* December 26 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq announces its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern "no-fly zones".

## Sports

* January 25 – Super Bowl XXXII: The Denver Broncos become the first AFC team in 14 years to win the Super Bowl, as they defeat the Green Bay Packers, 31–24.
* February 15 – Dale Earnhardt wins the Daytona 500 on his 20th attempt.
* June 14 – The Chicago Bulls win their 6th NBA title in 8 years when they beat the Utah Jazz, 87–86 in Game 6. This is also Michael Jordan's last game as a Bull, clinching the game in the final seconds on a fadeaway jumper.
* June 16 – The Detroit Red Wings sweep the Washington Capitals in four games in the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals.
* September 20 – Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida opens.
* October 21 – The New York Yankees defeat the San Diego Padres to sweep them in the World Series. The Yankees finish with 114 regular-season wins and 11 postseason victories (125 total – the most by any team in 123 years of Major League baseball).
* November 3 – Jesse Ventura, former professional wrestler, is elected Governor of Minnesota.

## Memoriam

### January

* January 1 – Helen Wills, tennis player (aged 92; Carmel, CA, USA)
* January 4 – Mae Questel, actress (aged 89; New York City, NY, USA)
* January 5 – Sonny Bono, singer, actor, and politician (aged 62; Stateline, NV, USA)
* January 11 – Ellis Rabb, director and actor (aged 67; Memphis, TN, USA)
* January 15 – Junior Wells, harmonica player (aged 63; Chicago, IL, USA)
* January 16 – Emil Sitka, actor (aged 83; Camarillo, CA, USA)
* January 19 – Carl Perkins, musician and guitarist (aged 65; Jackson, TN, USA)
* January 21 – Jack Lord, actor (aged 77; Honolulu, HI, USA)
* January 26 – Ethelreda Leopold, actress (aged 83; North Hollywood, CA, USA)
* January 29 – Joseph Alioto, lawyer and politician, 36th Mayor of San Francisco (aged 81; San Francisco, CA, USA)

### February

* February 2 – Raymond Cattell, British-American psychologist (aged 92; Honolulu, HI, USA)
* February 3
	+ Fat Pat, rapper (aged 27; Houston, TX, USA)
	+ Karla Faye Tucker, convicted murderer (aged 38; Huntsville, TX, USA)
* February 6 – Carl Wilson, musician (aged 51; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* February 7
	+ Lawrence Sanders, author (aged 77; Pompano Beach, FL, USA)
	+ Roger Nicholas Angleton, murderer (aged 55; Houston, TX, USA)
* February 10 – Buddy, notable canine (aged 9; San Diego, CA, USA)
* February 11 – Jonathan Hole, actor (aged 93; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* February 17 – Bob Merrill, composer and screenwriter (aged 76; Culver City, CA, USA)
* February 18
	+ Harry Caray, television and radio broadcaster (aged 83; Rancho Mirage, CA, USA)
	+ Scott O'Hara, pornographic performer, author, poet, editor and publisher (aged 36; San Francisco, CA, USA)
* February 19 – Grandpa Jones, musician (aged 84; Nashville, TN, USA)
* February 22
	+ Russell Reeder, U.S. Army officer and author (aged 95; Fort Belvoir, VA, USA)
	+ Abraham Ribicoff, politician (aged 87; New York City, NY, USA)
* February 23 – Philip Abbott, actor (aged 73; Tarzana, CA, USA)
* February 24 – Henny Youngman, British-born comedian (aged 91; Manhattan, NY, USA)
* February 26 – Theodore Schultz, economist (aged 95; Evanston, IL, USA)
* February 27
	+ George H. Hitchings, scientist (aged 92; Chapel Hill, NC, USA)
	+ J. T. Walsh, actor (aged 54; La Mesa, CA, USA)

### March

* March 2 – Darcy O'Brien, author (aged 58; Tulsa, OK, USA)
* March 3 – Fred W. Friendly, television journalist and executive (aged 82; Bronx, NY, USA)
* March 7 – Bernarr Rainbow, historian of music education, organist, and choir master, (aged 83; Esher, England, UK)
* March 8 – Ray Nitschke, American football player (aged 61; Venice, FL, USA)
* March 10 – Lloyd Bridges, actor (aged 85; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* March 12 – Risen Star, racehorse (aged 12; Lexington, KY, USA)
* March 15 – Benjamin Spock, rower, pediatrician, and author (aged 94; San Diego, CA, USA)
* March 20 – George Howard, jazz saxophone musician (aged 41; Atlanta, GA, USA)
* March 31 – Bella Abzug, lawyer, feminist activist, and politician (aged 77; New York City, NY, USA)

### April

* April 1
	+ Gene Evans, actor (aged 75; Jackson, TN, USA)
	+ Rozz Williams, singer (aged 34; West Hollywood, CA, USA)
* April 3 – Charles Lang, cinematographer (aged 96; Santa Monica, CA, USA)
* April 6
	+ Wendy O. Williams, singer (aged 48; Storrs, CT, USA)
	+ Tammy Wynette, singer (aged 55; Nashville, TN, USA)
* April 11
	+ Doris Tetzlaff, female professional baseball player (aged 77; Iola, WI, USA)
	+ Rodney Harvey, actor and model (aged 30; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* April 15 – Rose Maddox, singer (aged 72; Ashland, OR, USA)
* April 17 – Linda McCartney, photographer and musician (aged 56; Tucson, AZ, USA)
* April 21
	+ Peter Lind Hayes, entertainer (aged 82; Las Vegas, NV, USA)
	+ Irene Vernon, actress (aged 76; South Bend, IN, USA)
* April 23 – James Earl Ray, assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. (aged 70; Nashville, TN, USA)
* April 25 – Wright Morris, photographer and writer (aged 88; Mill Valley, CA, USA)
* April 27 – Carlos Castaneda, anthropologist and author (aged 72; Los Angeles, CA, USA)

### May

* May 1 – Eldridge Cleaver, political activist and writer (aged 62; Pomona, CA, USA)
* May 2
	+ Maidie Norman, actress (aged 85; San Jose, CA, USA)
	+ Gene Raymond, actor (aged 89; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* May 7 – Eddie Rabbitt, musician (aged 56; Nashville, TN, USA)
* May 9
	+ Alice Faye, entertainer (aged 83; Rancho Mirage, CA, USA)
	+ Rommie Loudd, football player and coach (aged 64; Miami, FL, USA)
* May 14
	+ Marjory Stoneman Douglas, conservationist and writer (aged 108; Miami, FL, USA)
	+ Frank Sinatra, singer and actor (aged 82; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* May 15 – Earl Manigault, street basketball player (aged 53; New York City, NY, USA)
* May 21 – Douglas Fowley, actor (aged 86; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* May 22 – John Derek, actor and film director (aged 71; Santa Maria, CA)
* May 28 – Phil Hartman, Canadian-born actor, comedian, and murder victim (aged 49; Encino, CA, USA)
* May 29
	+ Orlando Anderson, criminal, prime suspect in the Murder of Tupac Shakur (aged 23; Willowbrook, CA, USA)
	+ Barry Goldwater, politician (aged 89; Paradise Valley, AZ, USA)

### June

* June 2
	+ Junkyard Dog, pro wrestler (aged 45; Forest, MS, USA)
	+ Dorothy Stickney, actress (aged 101; New York City, NY, USA)
* June 5
	+ Jeanette Nolan, actress (aged 86; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
	+ Sam Yorty, politician, Los Angeles' 37th mayor (1961–1973) (aged 88; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* June 9 – Lois Mailou Jones, African-American artist (aged 92; Washington, DC, USA)
* June 12 – Theresa Merritt, actress (aged 75; New York City, NY, USA)
* June 23 – Maureen O'Sullivan, Irish-American actress (aged 87; Scottsdale, AZ, USA)
* June 28 – Marion Eugene Carl, fighter pilot (aged 82; Roseburg, OR, USA)

### July

* July 2 – Kay Thompson, author and actress (aged 88; New York City, NY, USA)
* July 3 – Danielle Bunten Berry, software developer (aged 49; Little Rock, AR, USA)
* July 4 – Gregg Burge, tap dancer and choreographer (aged 40; Atlanta, GA, USA)
* July 5 – Sid Luckman, American football player (aged 81; Aventura, FL, USA)
* July 6 – Roy Rogers, singer and actor (aged 86; Apple Vally, CA, USA)
* July 17 – Joseph Maher, Irish-born actor (aged 64; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* July 19 – Elmer Valo, Slovak baseball player (aged 77; Palmerton, PA, USA)
* July 21
	+ Alan Shepard, astronaut (aged 74; Pebble Beach, CA, USA)
	+ Robert Young, actor (aged 91; Westlake Village, CA, USA)
* July 22 – Don Dunphy, television and radio sports announcer (aged 90; Roslyn, NY, USA)
* July 27 – Binnie Barnes, British-born actress (aged 95; Beverly Hills, CA, USA)
* July 28 – Harvie Branscomb, university president (aged 103; Nashville, TN, USA)
* July 29 – Jerome Robbins, choreographer and director (aged 79; New York City, NY, USA)
* July 30 – Buffalo Bob Smith, children's television host (aged 80; Hendersonville, NC, USA)

### August

* August 2 – Shari Lewis, ventriloquist (aged 65; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* August 6 – André Weil, French mathematician (aged 92; Princeton, NJ, USA)
* August 9 – Frankie Ruiz, salsa singer and songwriter (aged 40; Newark, NJ, USA)
* August 22 – Jack Briggs, actor (aged 78; Schuylerville, NY, USA)
* August 24
	+ Jerry Clower, country comedian (aged 71; Jackson, MS, USA)
	+ E. G. Marshall, actor (aged 84; Bedford, NY, USA)
* August 25 – Lewis F. Powell Jr., Supreme Court Justice (aged 90; Richmond, VA, USA)
* August 26
	+ Wade Dominguez, actor, model, singer, and dancer (aged 32; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
	+ Frederick Reines, physicist (aged 80; Orange, CA, USA)
* August 28 – George Büchi, chemist (aged 77; Switzerland)

### September

* September 1 – Cary Middlecoff, golfer (aged 77; Memphis, TN, USA)
* September 2
	+ Allen Drury, writer (aged 80; San Francisco, CA, USA)
	+ Walter L. Morgan, banker (aged 100; Bryn Mawr, PA, USA)
* September 5 – Leo Penn, actor and director (aged 77; Santa Monica, CA, USA)
* September 8 – Leonid Kinskey, Russian-born actor (aged 95; Fountain Hills, AZ, USA)
* September 11 – Dane Clark, actor (aged 86; Santa Monica, CA, USA)
* September 13 – George Wallace, politician (aged 79; Montgomery, AL, USA)
* September 14 – Johnny Adams, singer (aged 66; Baton Rouge, LA, USA)
* September 15 – Fred Alderman, sprint runner (aged 93; Social Circle, GA, USA)
* September 20 – Muriel Humphrey Brown as wife of Hubert Humphrey, Second Lady of the United States (aged 86; Minneapolis, MN, USA)
* September 21 – Florence Griffith Joyner, runner (aged 38; Mission Viejo, CA, USA)
* September 23 – Mary Frann, actress (aged 55; Beverly Hills, CA, USA)
* September 26 – Betty Carter, jazz singer (aged 69; Brooklyn, NY, USA)
* September 27 – Doak Walker, American football player (aged 71; Steamboat Springs, CO, USA)
* September 29 – Herbert V. Prochnow, U.S. banker and author (aged 101; Evanston, IL, USA)
* September 30
	+ Dan Quisenberry, baseball player (aged 45; Leawood, KS, USA)
	+ Robert Lewis Taylor, author (aged 86; Southbury, CT, USA)

### October

* October 2 – Gene Autry, actor, singer, and sports team owner (aged 91; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* October 3 – Roddy McDowall, British-born actor (aged 70; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* October 6
	+ Mark Belanger, baseball player (aged 54; New York City, NY, USA)
	+ Ambrose Burke, Roman Catholic priest and educator (aged 102; Clinton, IA, USA)
* October 10 – Marvin Gay Sr., minister (aged 84; Culver City, CA, USA)
* October 11 – Richard Denning, actor (aged 84; Escondido, CA, USA)
* October 12 – Matthew Shepard, murder victim (aged 21; Fort Collins, CO, USA)
* October 14 – Frankie Yankovic, musician (aged 83; New Port Richey, FL, USA)
* October 16 – Jon Postel, Internet pioneer (aged 55; Santa Monica, CA, USA)
* October 24 – Mary Calderone, physician, public health advocate (aged 94; Kennett Square, PA, USA)
* October 28 – James Goldman, writer (aged 71; New York City, NY, USA)

### November

* November 3
	+ Bob Kane, comic book creator (aged 83; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
	+ Martha O'Driscoll, film actress (aged 76; Ocala, FL, USA)
* November 10 – Hal Newhouser, baseball player (aged 77; Southfield, MI, USA)
* November 15 – Stokely Carmichael, Trinidadian-American civil rights activist (aged 57; Conakry, Guinea)
* November 17
	+ Kenneth McDuff, serial killer (aged 52; Huntsville, TX, USA)
	+ Esther Rolle, actress (aged 78; Culver City, CA, USA)
* November 19 – Alan J. Pakula, film director (aged 70; Melville, NY, USA)
* November 22 – Stu Ungar, professional poker player (aged 45; Las Vegas, NV, USA)
* November 23 – Don Ray, basketball player (aged 77; Bowling Green, KY, USA)
* November 25 – Flip Wilson, actor and comedian (aged 64; Malibu, CA, USA)
* November 29 – Frank Latimore, actor (aged 73; London, England, UK)
* November 30 – Margaret Walker, poet (aged 83; Chicago, IL, USA)

### December

* December 1 – Freddie Young, cinematographer (aged 96; Bloomington, MN, USA)
* December 5
	+ Hazel Bishop, chemist and inventor (aged 92; Rye, NY, USA)
	+ Albert Gore Sr., politician, father of Al Gore (aged 90; Carthage, TN, USA)
* December 7 – Martin Rodbell, scientist (aged 73; Chapel Hill, NC, USA)
* December 9 – Archie Moore, professional boxer (aged 81; San Diego, CA, USA)
* December 11 – Lynn Strait, musician (aged 30; Santa Barbara, CA, USA)
* December 12
	+ Lawton Chiles, politician (aged 68; Tallahassee, FL, USA)
	+ Mo Udall, politician (aged 76; Washington, DC, USA)
* December 14
	+ Norman Fell, actor (aged 74; Woodland Hills, CA, USA)
	+ Annette Strauss, philanthropist and politician (aged 74; Dallas, TX, USA)
* December 15 – Brady Boone, professional wrestler (aged 40; Tampa, FL, USA)
* December 16 – William Gaddis, writer (aged 75; East Hampton, NY, USA)
* December 17 – Claudia Benton, Peruvian-born child psychologist (aged 39; West University Place, TX, USA)
* December 19 – Gordon Gunter, marine biologist and fisheries scientist (aged 89; MS, USA)
* December 20 – Irene Hervey, actress (aged 89; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* December 23 – David Manners, Canadian-American actor (aged 98; Santa Barbara, CA, USA)
* December 25 – Richard Paul, actor (aged 58; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* December 26
	+ Hurd Hatfield, actor (aged 81; Rathcormac, Ireland)
	+ Robert Rosen, biologist (aged 64; Rochester, NY, USA)
	+ William Frankfather, actor (aged 54; Los Angeles, CA, USA)