istoryworld
Events relating to europe
Three tenors (Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras) sing at a concert in Rome to celebrate the World Cup
Boris Yeltsin, impatient with the pace of reform under Gorbachev, resigns from the Communist party
UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher, by now at odds with many in her cabinet, is challenged in a leadership contest and loses
Mary Robinson is elected president of the republic of Ireland, the first woman to hold the post
Irish author Brian Friel's play Dancing at Lughnasa has its premiere at the Abbey Theatre
Solidarnośc leader Lech Walesa wins Poland's first free presidential election
Former Communist Boris Yeltsin is elected leader of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic
Alan Bennett's play The Madness of George III is performed at the National Theatre in London
Boris Yeltsin foils a hard-line Communist coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, on holiday at the time in the Crimea
US sculptor Jeff Koons marries one of his favourite subjects, Italian porn star La Cicciolina
Macedonia follows the example of Slovenia and Croatia in proclaiming its independence from Yugoslavia
Regeneration is the first volume of English author Pat Barker's trilogy of novels set during World War I
A man found frozen high in the Alps turns out to be a neolithic hunter from about 5000 years ago
The parliament in Bosnia-Herzegovina votes to secede from the crumbling Yugoslavia
The Soviet region of Chechnya proclaims its independence from the USSR, calling itself the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Three Soviet republics (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus) declare independence, leading to the formal disbanding of the USSR
A treaty signed in the Netherlands town of Maastricht establishes the European Union and prepares for the introduction of the euro
Eight more Soviet Socialist republics vote to join the three founder members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the defunct USSR, handing power to Boris Yeltsin as president of the new Russian republic
Fighting intensifies between Serbs and Croats, Christians and Muslims, for territory within Bosnia-Herzegovina
Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic encourages ethnic cleansing by paramilitaries in Bosnia
Slobodan Milosevic is elected president of Yugoslavia (by now only Serbia and Montenegro)
Eric Clapton's album Unplugged includes 'Tears in Heaven', mourning the death of his four-year-old son
Betty Boothroyd, a Labour MP, becomes the first woman Speaker of Britain's House of Commons
English poet Thom Gunn's The Man with Night Sweats deals openly with AIDS
