1992-1993 Facts & History

[NerdiestKen]

All facts and history from the 1994 World Almanac can be read here.

[NerdiestKen]

Clinton Prepares to Assume Presidency - November 1992
Pres.-elect Bill Clinton announced, November 6, that his transition team would be headed by Vernon Jordan, a Washington, D.C. attorney and former president of the National Urban League, and by Warren Christopher, a deputy secretary of state under Pres. Jimmy Carter. On November 12, Clinton named 48 people to conduct the transition. Their principal task would be to help Clinton assemble his cabinet.

[NerdiestKen]

Nations Act Again on Ozone Threat - November 1992
Delegates from 87 nations met in Copenhagen and agreed to accelerate their schedules for phazing out on chemicals that damaged the Earth's ozone layer. Under the agreement of November 25, some chemicals would be regulated for the first time. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), chemicals thought to be most harful to the ozone, would be phased out by 1996 rather than 2000.

[NerdiestKen]

Owner of Baseball Team Suspended - February 1993
Marge Schott, the only woman who owned a major league baseball team, was suspended for one year, February 3, by baseball's executive council. Schott, owner of the Cincinnati Reds, had been accused of making racist and anti-Semitic remarks. She was fined $25,000 and barred from the team's day-to-day operations for one year. She would continue as general partner of the Reds.

[NerdiestKen]

Ex-Dissident Wins Korean Presidency - December 1992
Kim Young Sam, a longtime opponent of Korean governments, won the presidency of South Korea, December 18, as the candidate of the ruling Democratic Liberal Party. He won with 42 percent in a large field. His principal challenger, Kim Dae Jung, was also a prominent dissident. Kim Young Sam would succeed Pres. Roh Tae Woo in February.

[NerdiestKen]

President of Brazil Resigns - December 1992
Pres. Fernando Collor de Mello of Brazil resigned in December. Vice Pres. Itamar Franco had been serving as acting president since October, pending outcome of a Senate trial of Collor on corruption charges. Collor resigned, December 29, within hours after the Senate convened an impeachment trial. Franco was sworn in as president. At the trial, witnesses testified that they had to pay large bribes to win government contracts. The Senate voted, December 30, 76-3 to convict Collor. Collor and some of his relatives also faced criminal charges that they had received millions of dollars illegally.

[NerdiestKen]

Czech, Slovak States Established - January 1993
On January 1, 2 independent states---the Czech Republic and Slovakia---were founded as a result of the division of Czechoslovakia. Slovaks generally celebrated, but Czechs were reported to have mixed feelings about the amicable divorce. Vaclav Havel, a former president of Czechoslovakia, was elected president of the Czech Republic, January 26. Michal Kovac, an economist, was elected president of Slovakia, February 15.

[NerdiestKen]

Guidelines Announced on Food Labels - December 1992
Implementation of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 advanced, December 2, when the Bush administration announced guidelines for the manufacturers of packaged foods. The rules, to be fully in effect by May 1994, required that the amount of fat, sodium, protein, cholesterol, and carbohydrates be printed on the packaging for every product. A number of terms used in advertising, such as "light" and "low fat," could only be used if certain criteria were met.

[NerdiestKen]

Letterman Accepts $16M From CBS - December 1992
David Letterman, host of NBC's popular "Late Night with David Letterman" show, announced, December 8, he would leave NBC to accept an offer from CBS to host a show beginning at 11:30p Eastern time each week night and would have receive and annual salary of $16M. He also said he would give NBC until January 15 to make another offer; however, NBC, January 14, announced that Letterman would not return next season.

[NerdiestKen]

Macedonia Joins U.N. - April 1993
On April 8, Macedonia became a member of the U.N. under the formal, but temporary, designation as The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. A permanent name would be the subject of negotiations with Greece, which had expressed concerns that the use of the name "Macedonia" indicated that the new country was eyeing the territory of the Greek province of Macedonia.

[NerdiestKen]

Congress Approves 'Motor-Voter' Bill - May 1993
The House, May 5, and the Senate, May 11, approved a bill establishing new opportunities for citizens to register to vote. Under the bill, often called the "motor-voter" bill, citizens would be able, in any state, to register to vote when applying for a driver's license. They could also register at welfare and disability benefits offices, and could obtain registration forms at military recruitment stations. Registration by mail would be allowed in any state. Clinton signed the bill May 20.

[NerdiestKen]

Ginsburg Sworn In as Justice - August 1993
The Senate, August 3, approved the nomination of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the U.S. Supreme Court, by a vote of 96-3. She was sworn in, August 10, as the court's 107th justice.

[NerdiestKen]

'Great Flood' Leaves Heavy Damage - August 1993
"The Great Flood of 1993," as it was now being called, receding in August, leaving considerable damage in 9 states. In St. Louis, the Mississippi finally crested at a record 49.4 feet, August 1, about 2.5 feet below the top of the flood wall. Although portions of South St. Louis were flooded, the central city was spared. In Alton, Ill., August 1, 60,000 people lost their drinking water when floodwaters crashed into the city's water-treatment plant. On August 2, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deliberately opened a levee outside the historic town of Prairie du Rocher, Ill., in order to channel floodwaters into farmlands and ease pressure on the levees at the town. Town officials dynamited the levee again, August 4, and the strategy worked. On August 6, Congress completed action on a $6.2B flood-relief package. It was reported, August 9, that Agriculture Sec. Mike Espy had estimated that 8M acres had been flood at 12M more acres were too wet to grow crops. State and federal officials put total damage estimates at $12B, with nearly $8B of this suffered by farmers. The final death toll appeared to be 50, and nearly 70,000 people were made homeless. In St. Louis, August 12, Clinton signed the flood-relief bill.

[NerdiestKen]

Chicago Wins 3rd Straight NBA Title - June 1993
The Chicago Bulls won their 3rd straight National Basketball Association championship, June 20, when they defeated the Phoenix Suns, 99-98, to take the final series, 4 games to 2. In the last seconds of the game the Bulls were down by 2 points, but John Paxson scored a 3-point basket, the final points of the game with 3.9 seconds to play. For the 3rd straight year, Michael Jordan of the Bulls was named the most valuable player in the finals. In the 6 games with the Suns, he averaged 41 points per game, a record for the final series. No team had won 3 straight titles since the Boston Celtics won their 8th straight championship in 1966.

[NerdiestKen]

Gay-Rights Advocates March in Capital - April 1993
A gay-rights march and rally in Washington, D.C., in April drew at least several hundred thousand demonstrators. Earlier, on April 16, Pres. Bill Clinton met with gay and lesbian leaders in the White House in the first meeting of its kind involving an incumbent president. Clinton reportedly reaffirmed his committment to lifting the ban on service by homosexuals in the U.S. military. Attendance at the April 25 march in Washington was put at 300,000 to 1M. Participants called for an end to the military ban, more money to fight AIDS, and a civil-rights bill for gays.