Contemporary
January Events (1991): The Soviet Assault on Vilnius
Soviet forces seized the TV tower and other buildings but failed to take the parliament; 14 civilians died and Lithuania's independence drive gained world sympathy.
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
Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995): Vukovar to Storm
Croatia secured its independence and regained control of its full territory, completed by the peaceful reintegration of Eastern Slavonia in 1998.
Contemporary
Breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–2008): Collapse of a Federation
The federation dissolved into Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, with Kosovo declaring independence in 2008; wars killed an estimated 130,000–140,000 people.
Contemporary
Mount Pinatubo Eruption (1991): The Philippines' Great Eruption
Timely forecasts and evacuations saved thousands of lives, but around 850 people died, lahars buried towns for years and the eruption cooled global temperatures by about 0.5 °C.
Contemporary
Bosnian War (1992–1995): Conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The war ended with the Dayton Agreement of 1995, which kept Bosnia and Herzegovina as one state divided into two entities.
Contemporary
Siege of Sarajevo (1992–1996): Longest Siege of a Modern Capital
The city held out for almost four years; the siege ended after NATO air strikes and the Dayton Agreement, and Bosnian Serb commanders were later convicted of war crimes.
Contemporary
Maastricht Treaty (1992): The Birth of the European Union
The twelve European Community states created the European Union, introduced EU citizenship and set the rules and timetable for economic and monetary union.
Contemporary
Hurricane Andrew (1992): The Storm That Flattened South Florida
Andrew killed 65 people directly and indirectly, caused about $26.5 billion in US damage and led to stronger building codes and a restructured Florida insurance market.
Contemporary
Earth Summit in Rio (1992): The UN Conference on Environment
Governments adopted the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21 and the Forest Principles, and opened the UN climate change and biological diversity conventions for signature.
Contemporary
Battle of Mogadishu 1993: Black Hawk Down in Somalia
The US raid captured its targets, but 18 American soldiers and hundreds of Somalis were killed, and the US withdrew from Somalia by March 1994.
Contemporary
Oslo Accords 1993: Rabin, Arafat and the Israeli-Palestinian Deal
Israel and the PLO recognised each other and agreed on a five-year interim period of Palestinian self-rule, but the final-status issues were never resolved.
Contemporary
Dissolution of Czechoslovakia (1993): The Velvet Divorce
Czechoslovakia ceased to exist and was peacefully replaced by two independent states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.