1991
From The D Archives
Events in 1991:
-January 12 - Gulf War: The Congress of the United States passes a resolution authorizing the use of military force to liberate Kuwait.
-January 15 - The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
-January 16 - Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins with air strikes against Iraq.
-January 17 - Gulf War: Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel.
-February 13 - Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy an underground bunker in Baghdad, killing hundreds of Iraqis. Iraqi officials claim that the bunker was a bomb shelter, but United States military intelligence identified it as a military facility.
-February 22 - Gulf War: Iraq accepts a Russian-proposed cease fire agreement. The U.S. rejects the agreement, but said that retreating Iraqi forces would not be attacked if they left Kuwait within 24 hours.
-February 25 - Gulf War: Part of an Iraqi Scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 29 and injuring 99 U.S. soldiers. It is the single, most devastating attack on U.S. forces during that war.
-February 26 - Gulf War: On Baghdad radio, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Iraqi soldiers set fire to Kuwaiti oil fields as they retreat.
March 3
-An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles, California police officers.
-Latvia and Estonia vote for independence from the Soviet Union.
-March 10 - Gulf War: Operation Phase Echo - 540,000 American troops begin to leave the Persian Gulf.
July 1 - The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved at a meeting in Prague.
-August 19 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is put under house arrest while vacationing in the Crimea during a coup. The attempted coup, led by Vice President Gennady Yanayev and 7 hard-liners, collapses in less than 72 hours. -August 20 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Estonia declares its independence from the Soviet Union, and more than 100,000 people rally outside the Soviet Union's parliament building protesting the coup that deposed President Mikhail Gorbachev. -August 21 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Latvia declares its independence from the Soviet Union. -August 24 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Ukraine declares independence from Soviet Union.
