Contemporary
Gulf War 1990-1991: Kuwait Invaded and Operation Desert Storm
A US-led coalition expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait and restored its government, but Saddam Hussein remained in power in Baghdad.
Era · 1945 – present
Contemporary
From the Cold War and the Space Race to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the world we live in today.
Contemporary
Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) and the Capitol Crawl
The ADA outlawed discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, public services, public accommodations and telecommunications across the United States.
Contemporary
Human Genome Project (1990-2003): Mapping Human DNA
An essentially complete reference sequence of the human genome was published in April 2003, freely available to all, launching the era of genomic medicine; the final gaps were closed in 2022.
Contemporary
Hubble Space Telescope (1990): Launch, Flaw and Discoveries
Hubble's mirror flaw was corrected by astronauts in December 1993, and the telescope went on to transform astronomy, helping to fix the age of the universe and revealing its accelerating expansion.
Contemporary
Storming of the Stasi Headquarters (1990): Opening the Files
Citizens took control of the Stasi headquarters; the secret police was dissolved and its files were later opened to the people it had watched.
Contemporary
Two Plus Four Treaty (1990): The Final Settlement on Germany
The four wartime Allies gave up their rights over Germany, which became fully sovereign with fixed borders and limits on its armed forces.
Contemporary
German Reunification (1990): How East and West Germany Became One
The German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany, creating a single sovereign German state with five new federal states.
Contemporary
START I Treaty (1991): Cutting Strategic Nuclear Arsenals
The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to reduce their strategic nuclear forces to 1,600 delivery vehicles and 6,000 accountable warheads each.
Contemporary
August Coup (1991): The Failed Hardliner Putsch in Moscow
The coup collapsed after three days; it destroyed the authority of the Communist Party and hastened the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991.
Contemporary
Dissolution of the Soviet Union (1991): End of the USSR
The USSR ceased to exist on 26 December 1991 and was replaced by 15 independent states; Russia took over the Soviet seat on the UN Security Council.
Contemporary
Sierra Leone Civil War 1991-2002: The RUF and Blood Diamonds
The war ended in 2002 after UN peacekeeping, British military intervention and disarmament; a UN-backed Special Court later convicted rebel leaders and Charles Taylor.
Contemporary
Ten-Day War (1991): Slovenia's Short Fight for Independence
Slovenian victory; the Brioni Agreement ended the fighting and the Yugoslav army withdrew from Slovenia by October 1991.