April

The Duke Blue Devilswon the NCA A basketball tournament, defeating previously unbeaten UNLV and theKansas Jayhawks.

Atheists celebrated their national holiday.

Minimum wage increased from $3.80 to $4.25.

The Ozone was discovered to be shrinking twice asfastas beforethought

U.N. passed Persian Gulf cease-fire resolution.

Iraq accepted U.N. ceasefire demands, and the U.S. began its withdrawal.

H Unemployment ratesrosetoafour-yearhigh, from 6.5 percent to 6.8percent

16 Space shuttle Atlantis launched a Gamma Ray observatory.

17 William Kennedy Smith was accused of rape.

21 Allied troops established a haven for Kurds.

24 Sununu's military flights publicly questioned.

30 Exxon plea bargain was rejected in Alaska oil spill; $100 million finedeemed insufficient.

3 0 Kevin Seabrook was nominated forteacher ofthe year.

A Bangladesh cyclone killed thousands; millions areleft homeless

Kurdish Refugees

About 2 millionIraqiKurds and otherminorities flednorth inApril 1991 when Kurdish rebelsinthe north and ShiiteMuslim rebelsinthesouthfailed tooustPresidentSaddam Hussein intheaftermath ofthePersianGulfWar. At least 6,700 oftheIraqi refugeesdied fleeing totheTurkishborder

The most common causesofdeath among the Kurds were diarrhea, respiratory infections and trauma, theCenter forDiseaseControlreported. And 63percentofall deaths occurred among children under theage of five

Military unitsfrom theUnited Statesand at least seven othercountriesparticipated ina relief effort along with civilianagenciesfrom about 20countries. The relativelyquick, cooperative response helped keep thedeath rateaslow asitwas.

"There were U.S soldiers, Dutch nursesand Red Cross workers working sideby side. There was very little friction," Dr. MichaelJ. Toole ofthe CDC's InternationalHealth Program Officesaid. "It reallywas an unprecedentedeffort."

The United Statesspent about $443 millionon the Kurdish relief effort.

1 RickeyHenderson of the Oakland Athletics broke Major League Baseball's record for stolen bases in a career (939).

4 President Bush was hospitalized for irregular heartrhythm g The U.S. space shuttle "Discovery"concluded a militarymissiondevoted to astronomicaldata for theStrategicDefenseInitiative (Star Wars) The flight was thetenthlaunchfor the "Discovery".

9 Police arrested Ted Kennedy's nephew and formally charged him in connectionwiththe alleged rapeof a29-year-old woman at theKennedy family's vacationestate in Palm Beach, Florida

Former Indian PrimeMinister

RajivGhandi, 46, was killedby a bomb blast. The bomb wascarried inabouquetof flowers

Biosphere2

A sealedstructureof steel and glass will be "home"for two yearsto fourmen and fourwomen

14 Winnie Mandela was convicted of charges arising from theabductionand beatingof four black youthsat herSoweto home in 1988.

The structure, calledBiosphere2, is aboutthe size of 2 1/2 football fields and containsall the necessities of life. Fortwo years, nothingwill be introduced from the outside.

Inadditionto eighthumans, Biosphere2houses

17 French researcher Luc Montagnier published new findingson aids research

20 Michael Jordan of the Bulls won his second NBA * Most ValuablePlayeraward

21 The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against counseling in federallyfunded abortion clinics.

Hampton U. students visiting the University of Virginiastaged asilent protestagainst acommencement addressby President Bush.

3,800 species of animalsand plantsand five ecosystems

This$100millionproject hastakensevenyears to puttogetherand hopesto bethemodel for selfsufficient environments. Planetsotherthan Earth (Biosphere1) may one day bethe basefor similar structures

Much skepticism has been expressed bythe scientific community, however. Many scientists seem to feel this experimentis aridiculoussham, designed to draw spectatorswho will spend around $10 just to view thesphereand spend even more inthegift shop

Bothparticipantsand backersof the Bio maintain that the project will providesignificant data.

3 France vowed tosign 1968 Nuclear Non-ProliferationTreaty

7 U.S. District Judge Robert H. Schnacke rejected a requestby a San Francisco television station to allow televised coverage ofan execution.

12 The Mt. Pinatubo volcano, located about 55 miles northwest ofManilla, erupted ina huge mushroom cloud. Sixteen thousand U.S. troops and civilianemployees were evacuated

The Chicago Bulls won the finals of the NBA playoffstoearn thefirst championship inthe club's25-yearhistory.

Marshall Steps Down

Thurgood Marshall, the firstAfrican-American member ofthe Supreme Court, was lessthan a week shy ofhis 83rd birthday when he announced on June 27, thathe was retiring after24years ofservice on thebench.

Marshall's pioneering civil rightscareer helped reshape theracialnorms of thenation and earned him a respected and noteworthy placeintheCourt'shistory.

CivilWarIn Yugoslavia

Both Croatia and Slovenia proclaimed independence on June 25, and within 24hours, military tanks were rolling toward border crossings and airports, attempting tosecure thecountry. The exchange of artilleryfire began.

Strong ethnicand political divisionshave existed inthe country forcenturies, but the peaceful co-existence that had been maintained intheregion fordecades was splintered.

1 2 BorisYeltsincarried about 60 percent ofthevote towin thepresidency oftheRussian republicin the first-everdemocratic election foraSoviet republicpresident

-I 7 The last U.S. combat troops left Kuwait. Thousands ofspectators gathered inNew York City and Washington D.C towelcome them home.

Two female students from the University of Florida inGainsville were found murdered in theirapartment The killingsfollowed theunsolved murders offiveUniversity ofFlorida students.

The 12th U.S. President Zachary Taylor's body was exhumed todetermine cause ofdeath

Serbia's Communistturned-Socialistpresident, Slobodan Miloevic,wanted Yugoslavia tosurvive asa federation even if Slovenia and Croatia seceded But he said theSerb minority in Croatia must remain partof thefederation. He was accused by Croatia ofcovertly backing Serbian militantsin theneighboring republic who were fighting fortheterritory.

The Croatians claimed the federalarmy was siding with insurgents, a charge the army denied More than 5,000people were killed afterthecivil war brokeout.

SolarEclipse

On July11the moon slipped overthe sunin the celestial ceremony of the eclipse, turningday into nightfor thousandsof viewersand scientists.

About 500 astronomersand tens of thousands of tourists came to seethe moon line up between the sunand Earthand plungeinto darknesssa 160-milewide swath stretchingfrom Hawaii to Mexico's Baja Peninsula, central and southernMexico, Central America, Colombia andBrazil.

One objectiveof the scientists was to learn more aboutwhy the sun'scoronais about3million degrees Fahrenheit, whilethesun's surface is only 10,000 degrees Otherexperimentsinvolved taking photosthroughthesun's atmosphere and watching theeffect on earth's atmosphereby the swift passage of the moon's shadow.

10

PresidentBush nominated ClarenceThomasto fill the Supreme Courtseat of retiring Justice ThurgoodMarshall.

The "abortion pill" that induces miscarriage during theearlystages of pregnancy wascleared for usein Britain.

International Business Machines Corp. and Apple Computer, Inc announced that theyhad signeda letter of intent to form an alliance

President Bush lifted U.S. trade and investment sanctionsagainst South Africa

The International Olympics Committee also ended its 21-yearboycotton South Africa.

H Moslem pilgrims' jet crashed in Saudi Arabia, killingall 261 passengersand crew. It was reported to be thetenthworstin aviation history

G-7Economic Summit

Leadersof the world'ssevenlargest industrial democraciesgathered inLondon for the July 15-17 economic summit focusingon aidfor the Soviet Union.

-i c The last of the Allied troops left Northern Iraq. The deathcountof the U.S PersianGulf War tallied 268.

MikhailGorbachev made atwo-hour presentation to the leaders of the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy andJapan.

22 Police arrested 31-year-old Jeffrey Dahmer in Milwaukee after discoveringhuman headsand body parts in his apartment.

26 Children's television show host Paul Reubens ("Pee Wee Herman") was arrestedin Sarasota, Florida

Actress Elizabeth Taylor announced she would be married for the eighth time.

30 Bush and Gorbachev held Moscow Summit and signed the START agreement.

By the close of the summit, theGroup of Seven had offeredGorbachev technical assistanceanda special associationwiththeInternational Monetary Fund, butnottheenormous economic aidhehad sought.

Although financial aidwas not forthcoming, LjuboSire, directorof the Centerfor Research into Communist Economies, said, "Theveryfact that this meeting hastakenplacehasimproved the chances for the SovietUnion to attract investment."

"It alwaysmakes adifference when the Western countries become interestedinthefate of a country withwhich tradeis possible. Businessmen become aware of the possibilities."

ChancellorHelmut Kohl will hostthenextsummitin Munich, Germany in July 1992.

6 The JusticeDepartment filedafriends-of-thecourtbriefina caseinwhich pro-lifedemonstratorswere seeking tooverturn a federal judge's order prohibiting them from blocking theentrancetotwo abortion clinics inWichita, Kansas

18 Hurricane Bob tore up the eastern seaboard of the U.S., causing 16 deaths and more than $1billion inproperty damage

19 Top Soviet hard-liners attempted to oust Gorbachev. The coup failedasYeltsinledresistance.

22 J°hn Wilson and Kimberly Ann were engaged.

24 Gorbachev quit as the communist party leader.

29 U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet voted to suspend all activitiesofthecommunist party.

Long jumper Mike Powell leaped 8.95 meters to break theworld record set by Bob Beamon in the 1968Olympic games.

During a speechdenouncing thecoup and demanding that Gorbachev be allowed to speak totheSoviet people, hands were raised in applause.

Beforedawn on Thursday, August22, an Aeroflotjet arrived at Vnukovo airport, Moscow, bringing home Gorbachev and his entourage.

Convoys of Soviet tanksmoved into Moscow,rolling up totheRussianParliament building.But Russian President BorisYeltsin was thereand called on theRussian people toresist thetakeover Resistthey did, constructing a protectivehuman wall around Yeltsin's headquarters.

Russian President BorisYeltsin waved theRussianflag from theRussian Federation building beforea crowd of about 100,000 jubilantsupporters celebrating the end ofthethree-day coup attempt. Bodyguards held bulletproofshieldsin front ofhim