Year in Review-1991
September 2
Carolyn Marie celebrated her 21st birthday.
14 Six U.S. Navy servicemen were killed when their helicopter crashed and sank in the Persian Gulf. This raised the number of non-combat deaths in the war to 71. 20 Four men and four women sealed themselves in Biosphere II, a giant glass and steel greenhouse. The inhabitants will grow their o w n food and recycle their waste. 21 Richard Worthington shot and killed a nurse during an 18-hour hostage drama at the Alta View Hospital Woman's Center in Sandy, Utah.
South African Leaders Sign Peace Pact
President F.W. de Klerk, African National Congress President Nelson Mandela and Zulu Inkat Mangosuthu Buthelezi came together when black and white leaders gathered to sign a peace pact in a bid to end factional fighting that has claimed hundreds of lives in South Africa. The accord, which created groups to investigate violent acts by police and citizens, marked the first joint agreement between the government and the two main black movements. It was also seen as an important test of whether the main political groups can work together for reforms to end white-minority rule. The government and the A N C reached a cease-fire in August 1990, and Mandela and Buthelezi agreed to peace terms in January 1991. But in both instances, the violence raged on. At least 6,000 people have been killed in the past six years.
Miss AmericaCarolyn Suzanne Sapp On Sept. 14 Carolyn Suzanne Sapp from Honolulu, Hawaii, shed tears of joy as she was crowned Miss America. Within days, however, her experience of physical abuse became public knowledge. In 1990 Sapp sought a restraining order against her then-boyfriend, professional football player Nuu Faaola, for alleged physical violence. Both Sapp and Faaola were disappointed that their previous problems had been publicized. Sapp stated, "That incident.. .was personal then and it remains personal now." Carolyn put the trauma behind her and went forward with strength and courage to win the Miss America crown. She selected the issue of parental responsibility as the social issue she will focus on during her reign.
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