Darcy Press is a publisher of books, both Fiction and Non-fiction, featuring the history of the twentieth century. Please look at the rest of the website by clicking the Home tab above. Below is Mr Darcy's own timeline of his selection of events that interest him and is not intended to be completely comprehensive. He offers it here for information and for others to enjoy.   1900s  |  1910s  |  1920s  |  1930s  |  1940s  |  1950s  |  1960s  |  1970s  |  1980s  |  1990s   1990 Leaning tower of Pisa closed after concerns that it might fall down 7 Jan 11 Jan 300,000 demonstrate demanding independence for Lithuania A large mob storms the Stasi secret police headquarters in Berlin trying to see their records 15 Jan 11 Feb After 26 years imprisonment, Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster prison, near Cape Town, South Africa Lithuania declares itself independent from the Soviet Union 11 Mar 15 Mar Mikhail Gorbachev is elected the first President of the Soviet Union The German Democratic Republic holds its first free elections 18 Mar 31 Mar Massive anti-poll tax demonstration in Trafalgar Sq, London, turns into a riot Space Shuttle Discovery puts the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit 24 Apr 4 May Latvia declares itself independent from the Soviet Union First post-communist elections held in Romania 20 May 1 Jun President Bush and President Gorbachev sign a treaty banning Chemical Weapons Parliament of Russian Federation declares its sovereignty 12 Jun 2 Aug Saddam Hussein's Iraqi troops invade Kuwait Northern Irish writer Brian Keenan is released in Lebanon after nearly 5 years as a hostage 24 Aug 12 Sep Two German states and Four Powers sign the Treaty of Final Settlement allowing German Reunification East and West Germany reunited 3 Oct 12 Nov Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web Margaret Thatcher resigns as British Prime Minister after 10 years 22 Nov 28 Nov John Major becomes British Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev receives the Nobel Peace Prize 10 Dec 1991 Soviet troops assault the TV tower in Vilnius, Lithuania, killing 14 unarmed civilians and injuring many more 13 Jan 16 Jan After the UN deadline for the withdrawal of troops from Kuwait expires, the Gulf war starts with the aerial bombardment of Baghdad IRA launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing St during a cabinet meeting 7 Feb 13 Feb Smart bombs destroy an underground bunker in Baghdad, thought to be a military one, but probably only civilian Saddam Hussein announces withdrawal of troops from Kuwait, but they set fire to the oilfields 26 Feb 28 Feb Ceasefire in the Gulf war after the Iraqis are driven out of Kuwait UN passes Resolution 687 calling for the removal or destruction of all weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq 3 Apr 9 Apr Supreme council of the Republic of Georgia declares Independence Boris Yeltsin elected President of the Russian Federation 12 Jun 25 Jun Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia Military coup in Moscow. President Gorbachev is placed under house arrest in his holiday home in the Crimea 19 Aug 21 Aug Latvia declares its independence from the Soviet Union Russian Coup collapses and Gorbachev returns to Moscow 22 Aug 24 Aug Ukraine declares its independence from the Soviet Union Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan declare their independence from the Soviet Union 31 Aug 5 Nov The body of newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell is found floating in the Atlantic Ocean after falling from his yacht Last oil fire is put out in Kuwait 7 Nov 8 Dec Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign Minsk agreement ending the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent states (CIS) Gorbachev resigns as Soviet Premier and Russia takes over in Moscow as the Soviet Union is dissolved 25 Dec 1992 Slovenia and Croatia become independent from Yugoslavia 15 Jan 7 Feb Maastricht treaty signed converting the Common Market into the European Union Bosnia votes to proclaim its independence from Yugoslavia. Serbian troops besiege Sarajevo 6 Apr 9 Apr John Major wins the British General Election and remains Prime Minister Fuel leak into a sewer in Guadalajara in Mexico causes a massive explosion killing 215 and injuring 1500 22 Apr 17 Jun Arms reduction agreements signed by President Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin Olympic games open in Barcelona, Spain 25 Jul 16 Sep Foreign Exchange Markets force Britain and Italy out of the ERM on what became known as 'Black Wednesday' Bijlmerramp. An Israeli cargo plane crashes into a block of flats in Amsterdam killing 43 4 Oct 3 Nov Bill Clinton beats incumbent George Bush to become President of the US The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests 11 Nov 20 Nov Fire seriously damages the northwest side of Windsor Castle after breaking out in the Private Chapel 1993 Czechoslovakia dissolved as Slovakia and the Czech Republic separate in the Velvet Divorce 1 Jan 19 Jan Iraq allows UNSCOM inspectors to use own aircraft after US forces fire Cruise missiles at suspect factories Attempt to blow up the World Trade Centre when a van with explosives parked under the North Tower goes off killing 6 and injuring 1000 26 Feb 29 Feb Raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas leads to the death of 4 agents and five Davidians and leads to a 51 day standoff Black student Stephen Lawrence is stabbed to death in London 22 Apr 24 May Eritrea gains independence from Ethiopia Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM inspectors to install remote monitoring cameras at missile test sites 18 Jun 20 Jun Earthquake in Japan reaches 7.5 on the Richter scale killing 385 people UN inspection teams leave Iraq but return when Iraq agrees to UNSCOM demands 5 Jul 9 Aug King Albert II becomes king of Belgium after the death of his brother King Baudouin I Russian military and security forces shell the White House of the Russian Parliamentary building after an uprising against President Boris Yeltsin 5 Oct 1 Nov Maastricht treaty comes into force establishing the European Union Bosnian Croat forces destroy the Stari most, the old bridge at Mostar in Bosnia 9 Nov 1994 Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin sign the Kremlin Accords which stop programming of missiles aimed at each others countries 14 Jan 17 Jan Northridge earthquake of magnitude 6.7 hits the San Fernando valley, Los Angeles, killing 61 and leaving 26,000 homeless Bosnian Serb mortar hits a Sarajevo marketplace killing 68 people and wounding 200 6 Feb 12 Mar Church of England ordains its first female priests Finish voters in a Referendum decide to join the European Union 16 Apr 27 Apr Free elections in South Africa bring the ANC to power Channel Tunnel between Britain and France opens 6 May 10 May Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as President of South Africa Planet Jupiter is hit by 21 large fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 15 Jul 28 Sep The car ferry MS Estonia sinks in the Baltic, 852 die Voters in a Swedish referendum decide to join the European Union 13 Nov 13 Dec Fred West is charged with 12 murders after girls bodies are found buried at his house in Gloucester. His wife is charged with 10 1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden join the European Union 1 Jan 17 Jan The Great Hanshin Earthquake of magnitude 7.3 in Kobe, Japan kills 6,434 people and causes extensive damage Steve Fosset becomes the first person to make a solo flight in a balloon across the Pacific Ocean 21 Feb 26 Feb Barings Bank collapses after broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4billion speculating on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Schengen Treaty comes into force 22 Mar 19 Apr Bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City kills 168 people Jacques Chirac becomes President of France 16 May 28 May Earthquake of magnitude 7.6 kills 2000 people, around 2/3 of the population of the Russian town of Neftegorsk American Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir space station for the first time 29 Jun 8 Jul A volcano begins erupting and destroys much of the island of Montserrat Srebrenica massacre of Bosnia men and boys by Serb forces after the Dutch UN peacekeepers leave 11 Jul 4 Aug Croatian forces force Serbs to withdraw from Krajina Bosnian forces begin offensive against Serb Army in Central Bosnia 30 Aug 16 Nov A UN tribunal charges Serbs Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic with genocide for their actions during the Bosnian War 1996 La Fenice, Venice's opera house, is destroyed by fire 29 Jan 1 Feb A 1 ton bomb in London's Canary Wharf kills 2 ending the IRA's ceasefire The oil tanker, Sea Empress, runs aground in South Wales spilling 73,000 tons of crude oil 15 Feb 18 Feb An IRA briefcase bomb kills the bomber and injures 9 on a bus in London's West End Iraq causes more problems to the UNSCOM inspectors refusing them access to 5 sites 1 Mar 13 Mar Lone gunman walks into Dunblane Primary School in Scotland and shoots dead a teacher and 16 students before killing himself Sarajevo is reunited as the Bosnians take control of the last district held by the Serbs 19 Mar 22 Apr The real Christopher Robin Milne of Winnie the Pooh fame commits suicide by jumping in front of a train in London Russian President Boris Yeltsin negotiates a ceasefire with Chechen rebels 27 May 15 Jun A large bomb destroys much of Manchester city centre in England Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal to be born successfully cloned from an adult cell 5 Jul 19 Jul Olympic Games is opened in Atlanta, Georgia, USA by President Clinton Prince Charles and his wife are divorced and she becomes Diana, Princess of Wales 28 Aug 3 Sep The US launches Operation Desert Strike against Iraq in reaction to the attack on Arbil The Taliban capture the Afghani capital of Kabul 27 Sep 5 Nov Bill Clinton defeats Bob Dole to be re-elected US President 1997 Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron as Israel hands over the last West Bank city 19 Jan 23 Feb Serious fire in the Russian space station Mir John Major's Conservatives are routed at the General Election. Labour leader Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister the following day 1May 19 Jun In the McLibel case against two environmental campaigners, representing themselves, McDonalds only achieves a partial success British hand Hong Kong to China in exchange for guarantees of a separate system for 50 years for the occupants 1 Jul 4 Jul American Pathfinder probe lands on the surface of Mars Diana, Princess of Wales, is involved in a car crash in Paris and dies in hospital shortly afterwards 31 Aug 6 Sep Funeral of Diana Princess of Wales in Westminster Abbey, London, watched by 1 billion people worldwide Earthquake in the Umbria and Marche regions of Italy causes the Basilica of St Francis at Assisi to collapse 26 Sep 15 Oct Andy Green sets the first supersonic land speed record by achieving an speed of 763 mph in the ThrustSSC Mary McAleese from Northern Ireland is elected the 8th President of the Irish Republic 11 Nov 27 Dec Northern Irish Loyalist paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated inside Long Kesh prison 1998 The Lunar Prospector spacecraft orbits the moon and finds evidence of water in permanently shadowed craters near the poles 6 Jan 3 Feb A low flying US military pilot severs the cable of the Cavalese cable car near Trento in Italy, causing 20 deaths Serbian Police begin action against the so called 'terrorist gangs' in Kosovo 28 Feb 2 Mar Data from the Galileo probe indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice The Akashi-Kaikyo bridge linking Shikoku with Honshu in Japan opens, becoming the world's largest suspension bridge 5 Apr 10 Apr The Good Friday Agreement is signed by the British and Irish Governments and most Northern Irish Political Parties An Intercity Express high speed train derails at Eschede between Hannover and Hamburg killing 101 people 3 Jun 7 Aug Bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya which kill 224 people and injure 4,500, are linked to Osma Bin Laden The Real IRA detonates a car bomb in Omagh, County Tyrone killing 29 and injuring 200 15 Aug 16 Oct Chilean General Augusto Pinochet is placed under house arrest after entering Britain for medical treatment The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report condemning atrocities on both sides 29 Oct 1 Nov The European Court of Human Rights is instituted US President Bill Clinton orders air strikes on Iraq after many attempts to foil the work of UNSCOM inspectors. Strikes called off after Iraq promises to cooperate 13 Nov 6 Dec Hugo Chavez is elected President of Venezuela 1999 The Euro is introduced locking the exchange rates of a group of European countries 1 Jan 7 Feb King Hussein of Jordan dies of cancer and his son becomes King Abdullah II President Clinton is acquitted by the US Senate in his impeachment trial 12 Feb 20 Mar Serbs launch an offensive in Kosovo Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones achieve the first circumnavigation of the world in a hot air balloon 21 Mar 1 Apr Nunavut is created as an Inuit homeland from the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories in northern Canada 3 Chinese embassy workers killed by a NATO aircraft which mistakes its target in Belgrade 7 May 26 May First Welsh Assembly for 600 years opens in Cardiff Criminal Tribunal in the Hague indicts Slobodan Milosovic and 4 others for war crimes in Kosovo 27 May 10 Jun NATO suspends its air strikes on Serbia after a peace treaty is signed, leading to UN peacekeeping troops entering Kosovo Total Eclipse of the sun in SW England with a partial eclipse in other parts of the country 11 Aug 5 Oct Train crash at Ladbroke Grove in West London kills 31 people Australians vote to keep the British Monarch as their head of state 6 Nov 20 Nov The Peoples Republic of China launches the first Shenzhou spacecraft Floods and mudslides in Venezuela kill an estimated 25,000 people and leave 100,000 homeless 15 Dec 20 Dec Portugal hands over Macau to the Peoples Republic of China Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia and is replaced by Vladimir Putin 31 Dec 31 Dec Millennium Celebrations begin worldwide   1900s  |  1910s  |  1920s  |  1930s  |  1940s  |  1950s  |  1960s  |  1970s  |  1980s  |  1990s