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James C. Fletcher

James C. Fletcher

James Chipman Fletcher (June 5, 1919 - December 22, 1991) served as the 4th and 7th Administrator of NASA, first from April 27, 1971, to May 1, 1977, and again from May 12, 1986, to April 8, 1989. 1989 Born in Millburn, New Jersey, Fletcher earned an undergraduate degree in physics from Columbia University and a doctorate in physics from the California Institute of Technology. After holding research and teaching positions at Harvard and Princeton Universities, he joined Hughes Aircraft in 1948 and later worked at the Guided Missile Division of the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation. In 1958, Fletcher co-founded the Space Electronics Corporation in Glendale, California, which, after a merger, became the Space General Corporation. He was later named systems vice president of the Aerojet General Corporation in Sacramento, California. In 1964, he became president of the University of Utah, a position he held until he was named NASA Administrator in 1971. During his first administration at NASA, Fletcher was responsible for beginning the Space Shuttle effort, as well as the Viking program that sent landers to Mars. He oversaw the Skylab missions and approved the Voyager space probes and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. When he left NASA in 1977, Fletcher became an independent consultant in McLean, Virginia, and served on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh. During the nine years between his terms as NASA Administrator, Fletcher was active as an advisor to key national leaders involved in planning space policy. Among other activities, he served on advisory board involved in developing the Strategic Defense Initiative. During his second administration at NASA, Fletcher was largely involved in efforts to recover from the Space Shuttle Challenger accident. With the accident, the Shuttle program went into a two-year hiatus while NASA worked to redesign the solid rocket boosters and revamp its management structure. Fletcher ensured that NASA reinvested heavily in the program's safety and reliability, made organizational changes to improve efficiency, and restructured its management system. He oversaw a complete reworking of the components of the Shuttle to enhance its safety and added an egress method for the astronauts. He was in charge of the agency when the Space Shuttle finally returned to flight on September 29, 1988. While administrator, he also approved the Hubble Space Telescope program. Fletcher died in December 1991 of lung cancer at his home in suburban Washington, DC.

References

- Portions of this article are based on public domain text from [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Biographies/fletcher.html NASA]. Fletcher, James C. Fletcher, James C. Fletcher, James C. Fletcher, James C.

June 5

June 5 is the 156th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (157th in leap years), with 209 days remaining.

Events

- 70 - Titus and his Roman legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem.
- 1305 - Pope Clement V is elected.
- 1783 - The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon).
- 1798 - Battle of New Ross: The attempt to spread United Irish Rebellion into Munster is defeated.
- 1817 - First Great Lakes steamer, the Frontenac, is launched.
- 1829 - HMS Pickle captures the armed slave ship Voladora off the coast of Cuba.
- 1832 - Student Uprisings of 1832 begin; General Lamarque dies.
- 1837 - Houston, Texas, is granted a city charter.
- 1849 - Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy by the signing of a new constitution.
- 1851 - Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery serial, Uncle Tom's Cabin or, Life Among the Lowly starts a ten-month run in the National Era abolitionist newspaper.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Piedmont: Union forces under General David Hunter defeat a Confederate army at Piedmont, Virginia, taking nearly 1,000 prisoners.
- 1866 - Calculations indicate Pluto reached its most recent aphelion (furthest point from Sun) on this day. The next aphelion will occur in August 2113.
- 1900 - Second Boer War: British soldiers take Pretoria.
- 1907 - BAPS Swaminarayan religion established.
- 1915 - Denmark amends its constitution to allow women's suffrage.
- 1916 - Stein's Dixie Jass Band plays its first gig under its new name, the Original Dixieland Jass Band.
- Louis Brandeis is sworn in as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
- 1917 - World War I: Conscription begins in the United States as "Army registration day."
- 1924 - Ernst Alexanderson sends the first facsimile across the Atlantic Ocean (to his father in Sweden).
- 1933 - The U.S. Congress abrogates the United States' use of the gold standard by enacting a joint resolution (48 Stat. 112) nullifying the right of creditors to demand payment in gold.
- 1944 - World War II: More than 1000 British bombers drop 5000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.
- 1945 - Allied Control Council, military occupation governing body of Germany, formally takes power.
- 1946 - A fire in the LaSalle Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, kills 61 people.
- 1947 - Marshall Plan: At a speech at Harvard University, United States Secretary of State George Marshall calls for economic aid to war-torn Europe.
- 1954 - The last new episode of the comic variety program, Your Show of Shows, airs.
- 1956 - Elvis Presley introduces his new single, Hound Dog, on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.
- 1959 - The first government of the State of Singapore is sworn in.
- 1963 - British Secretary of State for War John Profumo resigns in a sex scandal.
- 1967 - Six-Day War begins: The Israeli air force launches simultaneous attacks on the air forces of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.
- 1968 - U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California by Sirhan Sirhan. (He dies on June 6).
- 1970 - Chile becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
- 1975 - The Suez Canal opens for the first time since the Six-Day War.
- The UK holds its first and only UK-wide referendum, on remaining in the EEC
- 1976 - Collapse of the Teton Dam in Idaho, United States.
- 1977 - A coup takes place in Seychelles.
- The Apple II, the first practical personal computer, goes on sale.
- 1981 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that five homosexual men in Los Angeles, California, have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems (these were the first recognized cases of AIDS).
- 1984 - Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi orders an attack on the Golden Temple, the holiest site of the Sikh relgion.
- 1986 - A 52-year old man in Auburn, Washington, United States, dies after taking an Excedrin capsule laced with cyanide; this is the first of two Excedrin deaths.
- 1987 - Ted Koppel hosts a "National Town Meeting on AIDS" on a special four-hour long live broadcast of Nightline.
- 1989 - The Unknown Rebel halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
- 1991 - Colo-Colo becomes the first Chilean soccer team to win the Copa Libertadores de América.
- 1995 - Bose-Einstein condensate is first created.
- 1998 - A strike begins at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan, that quickly spreads to five other assembly plants (the strike lasted seven weeks).
- Both Reuters and ABC news erroneously report the death of comedian Bob Hope after Arizona congressman Bob Stump announces the demise of Hope on the floor of the US Congress.
- 1999 - The Party of United Communists of Albania is formed, following the merger of the Communist Reconstruction Party and the New Albanian Party of Labour.
- 2001 - Senator Jim Jeffords leaves the Republican party, an act which changes control of the United States Senate from the Republican party to the Democratic party.
- 2002 - Elizabeth Smart is kidnapped from her Salt Lake City, Utah home.
- Mozilla 1.0, the first 'official' version, is released.
- 2004 - Smarty Jones loses at the Belmont Stakes to Birdstone and fails to bid the Triple Crown.

Births

1341 to 1899

- 1341 - Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, son of Edward III of England (d. 1402)
- 1493 - Justus Jonas, German protestant reformer (d. 1555)
- 1640 - Pu Songling, Chinese writer (d. 1715)
- 1656 - Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, French botanist (d. 1708)
- 1718 - Thomas Chippendale, English furniture maker (d. 1779)
- 1723 - Adam Smith, Scottish economist and philosopher (d. 1790)
- 1757 - Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist (d. 1808)
- 1771 - King Ernest I of Hanover (d. 1851)
- 1781 - Christian August Lobeck, German classical scholar (d. 1860)
- 1819 - John Couch Adams, English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1892)
- 1850 - Pat Garrett, American Western lawman (d. 1908)
- 1862 - Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1930)
- 1876 - Tony Jackson, American musician (d. 1920)
- 1879 - Robert Mayer, German-born philanthropist (d. 1985)
- 1883 - John Maynard Keynes, English economist (d. 1946)
- 1884 - Ralph Benatzky, Czech composer (d. 1957)
- 1887 - Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1923])
- 1894 - Roy Thomson, Lord Thomson of Fleet, English publisher (d. 1976)
- 1895 - William Boyd, American actor (d. 1972)
- 1898 - Federico García Lorca, Spanish lyricist and dramatist (d. 1936)

1900 to 1999

- 1900 - Dennis Gabor, Hungarian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- 1905 - John Abbott, British actor (d. 1996)
- 1919 - Richard Scarry, American children's author (d. 1994)
- 1925 - Art Donovan, American football star
- 1928 - Tony Richardson, British actor (d. 1991)
- 1930 - Alifa Rifaat, Egyptian writer (d. 1996)
- 1931 - Jacques Demy, French playwright
- 1932 - Christy Brown, Irish author (d. 1981)
- 1934 - Bill Moyers, American journalist
- 1938 - Karin Balzer, German hurdler
- 1939 - Joe Clark, sixteenth Prime Minister of Canada
- 1939 - Margaret Drabble, English novelist
- 1941 - Martha Argerich, Argentine pianist
- 1941 - Spalding Gray, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1944 - Tommie Smith, American athlete
- 1947 - Laurie Anderson, American actress and composer
- 1949 - Ken Follett, Welsh author
- 1954 - Nicko McBrain, English musician (Iron Maiden)
- 1955 - Edinho, Brazilian football player
- 1962 - Princess Astrid of Belgium
- 1962 - Jeff Garlin, American comedian
- 1967 - Joe DeLoach, American athlete
- 1968 - Ron Livingston, American actor
- 1970 - Martin Gelinas, Canadian hockey player
- 1971 - Mark Wahlberg, American singer and actor
- 1972 - Justin Smith, American drummer (The Seeds)
- 1975 - Anna Nova, German erotic actress
- 1979 - David Bisbal, Spanish singer
- 1979 - Peter Wentz, American musician (Fall Out Boy)
- 1981 - Sebastien Lefebvre, Canadian musician

Deaths

535 to 1899

- 535 - Epiphanius of Constantinople, patriarch of Constantinople
- 1017 - Sanjo, Emperor of Japan (b. 976)
- 1118 - Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester
- 1296 - Edmund Crouchback, son of Henry III of England (b. 1245)
- 1316 - King Louis X of France (b. 1289)
- 1383 - Dmitry Konstantinovich, Russian prince (b. 1324)
- 1568 - Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Flemish general and statesman (b. 1522)
- 1625 - Orlando Gibbons, English composer (b. 1583)
- 1667 - Pietro Sforza Pallavicino, Italian cardinal and historian (b. 1607)
- 1688 - Constantine Phaulkon, Greek adventurer (b. 1667)
- 1716 - Roger Cotes, English mathematician (b. 1682)
- 1738 - Isaac de Beausobre, French protestant pastor (b. 1659)
- 1791 - Frederick Haldimand, Swiss-born British colonial governor (b. 1718)
- 1816 - Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer (b. 1741)

1900 to 1999

- 1900 - Stephen Crane, American author (b. 1871)
- 1910 - O. Henry, American author (b. 1862)
- 1913 - Chris von der Ahe, baseball pioneer (b. 1851)
- 1916 - Horatio Kitchener, Lord Kitchener, British field marshal (b. 1850)
- 1920 - Rhoda Broughton, Welsh author (b. 1840)
- 1921 - Georges Feydeau, French playwright (b. 1862)
- 1930 - Pascin, Bulgarian painter (b. 1885)
- 1942 - Samuel Adams, American naval officer (b. 1912)
- 1975 - Paul Keres, Estonian chess player (b. 1916)
- 1993 - Conway Twitty, American musician (b. 1933)
- 1998 - Jeanette Nolan, American actress (b. 1911)
- 1998 - Sam Yorty, Mayor of Los Angeles (b.1909)
- 1999 - Mel Tormé, American singer ("The Velvet Fog"), composer, and actor (b. 1925)

2000 onwards

- 2002 - Gwen Plumb, Australian actress (b. 1912)
- 2002 - Dee Dee Ramone, American bassist (The Ramones) (b. 1952)
- 2003 - Jürgen Möllemann, German politician (b. 1945)
- 2003 - Kathleen Hart, American Enginner (b. 1982)
- 2004 - Ronald Reagan, President of the United States (b. 1911)

Holidays and observances

- National holiday of Denmark (Constitution Day)
- Seychelles - Liberation Day
- Feast of Saint Boniface
- Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Núr (Light) - First day of the fifth month of the Bahá'í Calendar

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/5 BBC: On This Day] ---- June 4 - June 6 - May 5 - July 5 – listing of all days ko:6월 5일 ms:5 Jun ja:6月5日 simple:June 5 th:5 มิถุนายน

1919

1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).

Events

January

- January 1 - Iolaire sinking disaster
- January 1 - Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company
- January 5 - Spartacist uprising - Socialist demonstrations in Berlin turn into attempted communist revolution
- January 9 - Spartacus revolutionary council folds – Friedrich Ebert orders Freikorps into action
- January 10-January 12 - Freikorps attack Spartacus supporters around Berlin
- January 11 - Romania annexes Transylvania.
- January 13 - Worker’s councils in Berlin end the general strike - Spartacus week is over
- January 15 - Murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in the aftermath of Spartacus uprising
- January 15 - The Boston Molasses Disaster: Wave of molasses sweeps through Boston, killing 21 and injuring 150
- January 15 - Ignacy Jan Paderewski becomes Premier of Poland
- January 16 - The 18th Amendment, authorizing Prohibition, goes into effect in the United States
- January 18 - World War I: A peace conference opens in Versailles, France.
- January 18 - Bentley Motors is founded
- January 21 - the First Dáil Éireann meets in the Mansion House in Dublin. It is from this meeting that the Irish state dates its existence.
- January 25 - The League of Nations is founded

February-April

- February 1 - The first Miss America is crowned (New York City).
- February 3 - Soviet troops occupy Ukraine
- February 11 - Friedrich Ebert (SPD), is elected President of Germany.
- February 14 - Polish-Soviet War begins
- February 25 - Oregon places a 1 cent per US gallon (26 ¢/L) tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax.
- February 26 - An act of the United States Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park (see Grand Canyon National Park).
- March 1 - March 1st Movement against Japanese colonial rule in Korea.
- March 2 - The first Communist International meets in Moscow
- March 15 - The American Legion forms in Paris
- March 21 - The Chinese High School was established in Singapore by Mr. Tan Kah Kee
- March 23 - In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
- March 31 - General strike begins in the Ruhr
- April 6-April 7 - Communist People’s Republic of Munich founded
- April 13 - At the Amritsar Massacre, British and Gurkha troops massacre 379 Indians.
- April 14 - Emperor of Austria moves to exile in Switzerland
- April 25 - Bauhaus movement founded
- April 25 - ANZAC day is celebrated for the first time in Australia.
- April 25 - Pancho Villa takes Parral in Mexico - hangs mayor and his two sons

May-June

- May 1 - Large left-wing demonstration in France leads to a violent confrontation with the police
- May 1 - Weimar Republic troops and Freikorps take over Munich and crush the Soviet Republic of Bavaria
- May 1 - The May Day Riots break out in Cleveland, Ohio – two people killed, forty injured, and one hundred and sixteen arrested
- May 3 - People's Republic of Munich is crushed
- May 4 - May Fourth Movement opposes foreign colonizers in China
- May 15 - Winnipeg launches general strike for better wages and working conditions.
- May 16 - US Navy Naval Curtiss aircraft NC-4 commanded by Albert Cushing Read departs Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight
- May 17 - Committee of One Thousand forms to oppose Winnipeg General Strike
- May 23 - The University of California opens it second campus in Los Angeles. Initially called Southern Branch of the University of California (SBUC), it is eventually renamed the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
- May 25 - Volcano Kelut erupts in Java – 16.000 dead
- May 29 - Einstein's theory of general relativity confirmed by Arthur Eddington's observation of a total eclipse of the Sun.
- June 4 - Women's rights: The United States Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would guarantee suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification.
- June 14 - John Alcock and Arthur Brown depart St. John's, Newfoundland on the first nonstop transatlantic flight (they landed at Clifden, County Galway, Ireland the next day). [http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/alcock.htm]
- June 15 - Pancho Villa attacks Ciudad Juarez. When the bullets begin to fly to the US side of the border, 2 units of the US 7th Cavalry regiment cross the border and repulse Villa's forces
- June 21 - Royal Canadian Mounted Police fire a volley into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two, during Winnipeg General Strike.
- June 21 - Admiral Ludvig von Reuter scuttles the German fleet in Scapa Flow, Orkney. The nine sailors killed were the last casualties of the First World War.
- June 28 - The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending World War I with Germany.

July-November

- July 6 - The British dirigible R-34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic by an airship.
- July 31 - Strike of policemen in London and Liverpool for recognition of the National Union of Police and Prison Officers. Over 2,000 strikers are dismissed.
- August 11 - In Germany, the Weimar Constitution is passed into law.
- August 19 - Afghanistan gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- 16 August-26 August - First Silesian Uprising, the Poles in Upper Silesia rise against the Germans
- August 31 - American Communist Party is established
- September 10 - Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed, ending World War I with Austria.
- September 10-September 15: The Florida Keys Hurricane kills 600 in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and Texas.
- September 23 - Belenenses is founded.
- September 27 - Last British troops leave Archangel, Russia and leave fighting to the Russians
- September 28 - Omaha Riot - lynch mob besieges the police station and courthouse in Omaha, Nebraska and lynch alleged black rapist Will Brown
- October 1 - Elaine Race Riot breaks out in Arkansas
- October 2 - US President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed.
- October 9 - Black Sox scandal: The Cincinnati Reds "win" the World Series.
- October 9 - Boston police strike
- October 13 - Convention relating to the Regulation of Aerial Navigation signed.
- October 28 - Prohibition begins: The United States Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.
- November - At end of month health officials declare the global Spanish Flu Pandemic over
- November 10 - The first national convention of the American Legion is held in Minneapolis, Minnesota (convention ended on November 12).
- November 11 - The Centralia Massacre in Centralia, Washington results the deaths of four members of the American Legion and the lynching of a local leader of the IWW.
- November 16 - Admiral Horthy conquers Budapest from Bela Kuns Soviet Republic
- November 27 - The Treaty of Neuilly is signed between Allies and Bulgaria.
- November 28 - The American-born Lady Astor is elected to the British House of Commons, becoming the first female MP to take a seat on December 1.

December

- December 5 - Turkish ministry of war releases Greeks, Armenians and Jews from military service
- December 12 - Gabriele D'Annunzio with his entourage marches into Fiume and convinces the Italian troops to join him
- December 30 - Lincoln's Inn, in London admits its first female bar student.
- The Paris Peace Conference

Unknown dates

- The Åland Islands vote for a return to Swedish rule in a referendum.
- Les Champs Magnetiques, the first automatic book, is written by Andre Breton and Philippe Soupault.
- XWA (now CFCF), in Montreal, Quebec, is the first public radio station in North America to go on the air.
- Various strikes in USA: Strike of US railroad workers; Longshoreman’s strike; The Great Steel Strike; General strike in Seattle, Washington.
- Female suffrage in Germany and Luxembourg
- Henri Desire Landru captured
- Marcel Tolkowsky's Diamond Design is published.
- The International Astronomical Union is founded.
- World League Against Alcoholism established by Anti-Saloon League.

Births

- Langdon Brown Gilkey - American Christian Protestant Ecumenical theologian (d. 2004)

January-April

- January 1 - J. D. Salinger, American novelist
- January 13 - Robert Stack, American actor (d. 2003)
- January 14 - Andy Rooney, American journalist
- January 23 - Hans Hass, Austrian zoologist
- January 23 - Ernie Kovacs, American comedian (d. 1962)
- January 25 - Edwin Newman, American journalist and writer
- January 26 - Valentino Mazzola, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
- January 27 - Ross Bagdasarian, American musician and actor (d. 1972)
- January 31 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player (d. 1972)
- February 5 - Red Buttons, American actor
- February 5 - Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1996)
- February 11 - Eva Gabor, Hungarian actress (d. 1995)
- February 11 - Eddie Robinson, American football coach
- February 12 - Forrest Tucker, American actor (d. 1986)
- February 13 - Tennessee Ernie Ford, American musician (d. 1991)
- February 26 - Rie Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer (d. 2003)
- March 2 - Jennifer Jones, American actress
- March 15 - Lawrence Tierney, American actor (d. 2002)
- March 17 - Nat King Cole, American singer (d. 1965)
- March 24 - Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American author and publisher
- March 24 - Robert Heilbroner, American economist (d. 2005)
- March 29 - Eileen Heckart, American actress (d. 2001)
- March 30 - McGeorge Bundy, U.S. National Security Advisor (d. 1996)
- April 1 - Joseph Murray, American surgeon, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- April 8 - Ian Douglas Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia
- April 19 - Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer
- April 22 - Donald J. Cram, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)

May-August

- May 1 - Dan O'Herlihy, Irish film actor (d. 2005)
- May 3 - John Cullen Murphy, American comic strip artist (d. 2004)
- May 3 - Pete Seeger, American singer and musician
- May 7 - Eva Peron, wife of Argentine President Juan Peron (d. 1952)
- May 8 - Lex Barker, American actor (d. 1973)
- May 16 - Liberace, American pianist (d. 1987)
- May 18 - Dame Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer (d. 1991)
- May 20 - George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
- May 23 - Betty Garrett, American actress and dancer
- June 4 - Robert Merrill, American baritone (d. 2004)
- June 5 - Richard Scarry, American children's author (d. 1994)
- June 19 - Pauline Kael, American film critic (d. 2001)
- June 21 - Gérard Pelletier, French journalist, politician, and diplomat (d. 1997)
- June 26 - Richard Neustadt, American political historian (d. 2003)
- July 6 - Ernst Haefliger, Swiss tenor
- July 7 - Jon Pertwee, British actor (d. 1996)
- July 15 - Iris Murdoch, Irish novelist (d. 1999)
- July 20 - Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer
- July 31 - Maurice Boitel, French painter
- August 11 - Ginette Neveu, French violinist (d. 1949)
- August 28 - Godfrey Hounsfield, English electrical engineer and inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)

September-December

- September 11 - Ota Sik, Czech economist and politician (d. 2004)
- September 21 - Fazlur Rahman, Pakistani Islamic scholar (d. 1988)
- September 27 - James H. Wilkinson, English mathematician (d. 1986)
- October 3 - James M. Buchanan, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 5 - Donald Pleasence, English actor (d. 1995)
- October 11 - Art Blakey, American jazz drummer (d. 1990)
- October 12 - Doris Miller, U.S. Navy cook (d. 1943)
- October 16 - Kathleen Winsor, American writer (d. 2003)
- October 18 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2000)
- October 22 - Doris Lessing, British writer
- October 26 - James E. Myers, American songwriter (d. 2001)
- October 26 - Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (d. 1980)
- November 3 - Jesús Blasco, Spanish comic book author (d. 1995)
- November 5 - Myron Floren, American accordionist (d. 2005)
- November 10 - Mikhail Kalashnikov, Russian firearms inventor
- November 14 - Lisa Otto, German soprano
- November 15 - Roy Burden, Canadian World War II pilot (d. 2005)
- November 18 - Andrée Borrel, French World War II heroine (d. 1944)
- November 28 - Keith Miller, Australian sportsman (d. 2004)
- December 6 - Paul de Man, Belgian-born literary critic (d. 1983)
- December 8 - Moisei Vainberg, Polish composer (d. 1996)
- December 9 - William Lipscomb, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- December 31 - Tommy Byrne, baseball player

Deaths

- January 6 - Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1858)
- January 6 - Max Heindel, Christian occultist, astrologer, and mystic (b. 1865)
- January 15 - Karl Liebknecht, German politician (executed) (b. 1871)
- January 15 - Rosa Luxemburg, German politician (executed)
- January 18 - Prince John of the United Kingdom (b. 1905)
- January 27 - Endre Ady, Hungarian poet (b. 1877)
- February 17 - Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
- April 4 - Sir William Crookes, English chemist and physicist (b. 1832)
- April 15 - Jane Delano, American nurse and founder or the American Red Cross Nursing Service (b. 1862)
- May 6 - L. Frank Baum, American writer (b. 1856)
- May 14 - Henry John Heinz, American businessman (b. 1844)
- June 29 - José Gregorio Hernández, Venezuelan medician and saint (b. 1864)
- June 30 - John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1842)
- July 15 - Hermann Emil Fischer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
- July 26 - Sir Edward Poynter, British painter (b. 1936)
- August 9 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (b. 1857)
- August 11 - Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-born businessman and philanthropist (b. 1835)
- October 7 - Alfred Deakin, second Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1856)
- October 13 - Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1857)
- October 18 - Viscount William Astor, American financier and statesman (b. 1848)
- November 15 - Alfred Werner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
- December 3 - Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter (b. 1841)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Johannes Stark
- Chemistry - not awarded
- Physiology or Medicine - Jules Bordet
- Literature - Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler Category:1919 ko:1919년 ms:1919 ja:1919年 simple:1919 th:พ.ศ. 2462

1991

1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January

- January 2 - Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC becoming the first black woman to lead a city of that size and importance.
- January 4 - The United Nations Security Council votes unanimously to condemn Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
- January 10 - SA State Govt forced to bail out State Bank.
- January 11 - The Soviets storm Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence.
- January 12 - Gulf War: The U.S. Congress passes a resolution authorizing the use of military force to liberate Kuwait.
- January 13 - The Soviet Union troops assault the Vilnius TV tower in Lithuania and kill 14 unarmed civilians, many more are injured.
- January 13 - Soccer stampede and fight at Johannesburg, South Africa - 42 dead.
- January 14 - Three PLO guerilla chiefs assassinated in Tunis.
- January 16 - US serial killer Aileen Wuornos confesses to the murders of six men.
- January 17 - Operation Desert Storm begins.
- January 17 - Gulf War: The air strikes against Iraq begin.
- January 17 - Gulf War: Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel.
- January 17 - Harald V becomes King of Norway on the death of his father, Olav V.
- January 18 - Eastern Airlines shuts down after 62 years citing financial problems.
- January 26 - The Somalian president Siad Barre flees his compound in Mogadishu.
- January 29 - Siad Barre is succeeded by Ali Mahdi Muhammad.

February

February.]]
- February 4 - The Baseball Hall of Fame votes to ban Pete Rose.
- February 5 - A Michigan court bars Dr Jack Kevorkian from assisting in suicides.
- February 7 - Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
- February 7 - The IRA launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.
- February 9 - Voters in Lithuania vote for independence.
- February 11 - UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organization, forms in the Hague, Netherlands.
- 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 15 - The Visegrad Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
- February 16 - Gulf War: American and British war planes bomb the suburbs of Baghdad, injuring at least 11 civilians and killing three others.
- February 22 - Gulf War: Iraq accepts a Russian proposed cease fire agreement. The US rejects the agreement, but said that retreating Iraqi forces would not be attacked if they left Kuwait within 24 hours.
- February 23 - Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Kuwait, thus starting the ground phase of the war.
- February 23 - Thailand: General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.
- February 25 - Gulf War: An Iraqi Scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 US Marines.
- 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.
- February 27 - Gulf War: Kuwait is liberated, and a ceasefire is declared, after 100 hours of ground fighting. Iraq accepts the terms of the ceasefire, which call for the country to disarm.

March

- March-April - Iraqi forces suppress rebellions in the southern and northern parts of the country, creating a humanitarian disaster on the borders of Turkey and Iran
- March 1 - Ballistic Missile Submarine USS-Lafayette (now ex-Lafayette) starts to be deactivated
- March 1 - Ethan-Allen-class submarine USS-Sam Houston (now ex-Sam Houston SSBN-609) starts to be deactivated
- March 1 - Clayton Keith Yeutter finishes as the United States Secretary of Agriculture, under the George H. W. Bush administration
- March 3 - An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.
- March 3 - Latvia and Estonia vote to become independent of the Soviet Union
- March 4 - Vermont celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
- March 4 - Most primitive form of World Wide Web is put online.
- March 9 - Massive demonstrations are held against Slobodan Milošević in Belgrade. Two people are killed and tanks are in the streets
- March 10 - Gulf War: Operation Phase Echo - 540,000 American troops begin to leave the Persian Gulf
- March 11 - A curfew is imposed on black townships in South Africa after fighting between rival political gangs killed 49.
- March 13 - The United States Department of Justice announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
- March 14 - After 16 years in prison for allegedly bombing a pub in an Irish Republican Army attack, the "Birmingham Six" are freed when a court determines that the police fabricated evidence
- March 15 - Four Los Angeles, California police officers are indicted for the videotaped March 3, 1991 beating of motorist Rodney King during an arrest.
- March 15 - Germany formally regains complete independence after the four post-World War II occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union) relinquish all remaining rights.
- March 31 - The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved.
- March 31 - Albania has the first multi-party elections

April

- April 1 - The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times report that [http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0910366/ Selene Walters] had verified her claim that then SAG President Ronald Reagan raped her in her home in 1952
- April 3 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.N. Security Council passes the Cease Fire Agreement, Resolution 687. The resolution called for the destruction or removal of all of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, all stocks of agents and components, and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities for ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150km and production facilities; and for an end to its support for international terrorism. Iraq accepts the terms of the resolution on April 6
- April 4 - Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others are killed when a helicopter collided with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania
- April 9 - Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia declared the restoration of independence of Georgia
- April 10 - A rare tropical storm develops in the Southern Hemisphere off the coast of Angola; the first of its kind to be documented by Satelites.
- April 14 - In the Netherlands, thieves steal 20 paintings worth $500 million from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Less than an hour later they are found in an abandoned car near the museum
- April 17 - After approaching 3,000 in July 1990, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 3,000 for the first time ever, closing at 3,004.46.
- April 17 - First Performance of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at the OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington the song that marked the beggining of a new movement in music called Grunge. It managed to turn a crowd calmly seated at tables into a moshpit.
- April 18 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq declares some of its chemical weapons and materials to the UN, as required by Resolution 687, and claims that it does not have biological weapons program.
- April 26 - Tornadoes break out in the central United States. The most notable tornado of the day was the one that hit in Andover, Kansas. The outbreak of nearly seventy tornadoes killed 17 people in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The tornado that hit Andover was the only F5 of the year. (see The Andover, Kansas Tornado)
- April 29 - A tropical cyclone hits Bangladesh killing an estimated 138,000 people.

May

- May 5 - The shooting of a Salvadoran man by police in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Washington D.C. ignites the Cinco de Mayo Riots, which bring the city to a standstill for 3 days.
- May 15 - Edith Cresson becomes France's first female premier
- May 16 - HM Queen Elizabeth II gives a speech to the US Congress.
- May 19 - Willy T. Ribbs becomes the first African-American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500
- May 21 - In Sri Perumbudur near Madras, former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a terrorist bomb hidden in a bouquet of flowers
- May 26 - In Thailand, a Lauda Air Boeing 767 crashes near Bangkok killing all 223 people on-board
- May 28 - The capital city of Addis Ababa falls to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, ending both the Derg regime in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Civil War.

June

- June 6 - George and Barbara Loeb, members of the Church of the Creator, are arrested and charged with murder
- June 12 - Boris Yeltsin is elected president of Russia, the largest and most populous of the fifteen Soviet republics.
- June 13 - A spectator is killed by lightning at the U.S. Open [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/slide-show/tstm/slide114.html]
- June 15 - Pinatubo climactic eruption, one of the most destructive volcanic event of the century shaked the Phillipines
- June 17 - Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act, which had required racial classification of all South Africans at birth
- June 17 - Exhemation of US President Zachary Taylor to discover whether or not his death was caused by arsenic poisoning, instead of acute gastrointestinal illness. No trace of arsenic is found.
- June 23 - Sonic the Hedgehog was created and released for the Sega Genesis
- June 23-June 28 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.N. inspection teams attempt to intercept Iraqi vehicles carrying nuclear related equipment. Iraqi soldiers fire warning shots in the air to prevent inspectors from approaching the vehicles
- June 25 - Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia

July

- July 1 - The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved.
- July 7 - The Brioni Agreement ends the ten day war in Slovenia
- July 9 - International Human Rights Federation cites human rights violations committed by police and military personnel during Oka crisis in Quebec.
- July 10 - Boris Yeltsin begins his 5-year term as the first elected president of Russia
- July 11 - Total Solar Eclipse.(Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Brazil).
- July 19 - Mike Tyson rapes Desiree Washington.
- July 22 - Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested after the remains of 11 men and boys are found in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin apartment.

August

August is torn down in Moscow, signalling the Collapse of the Soviet Union.]]
- August 6 - Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the "World Wide Web."
- August 7 - Assassination of Shapora Baktiari, former prime minister of Iran
- August 8 - Collapse of Warsaw radio mast, the tallest construction ever built
- August 17 - Strathfield Massacre (Sydney, Australia) - taxi driver Wade Frankum shoots seven people and injuring 6 others before turning the gun on himself.
- August 18 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is put under house arrest while vacationing in the Crimea. The putsch is led by eight high-ranking hard-liners, and will collapse 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 - Ukraine declares independence from Soviet Union
- August 25 - Student Linus Torvalds post a messages to Usenet newsgroup comp.os.minix about the new operating system kernel he has been developing.
- August 29 - Maronite general Michel Aoun leaves Lebanon via a French ship into exile
- August 31 - Kyrgyzstan declares independence from the Soviet Union

September

- September 2 - The United States recognizes the independence of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
- September 3 - In Hamlet, North Carolina, a grease fire breaks out at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant, killing 25 people.
- September 5 - Fall of Communism in the USSR.
- September 5-September 7 - At the 35th Annual Tailhook Symposium, 83 women and 7 men are assaulted.
- September 6 - The Soviet Union recognizes the independence of the Baltic States.
- September 6 - The name "Saint Petersburg" is restored to Russia's second-largest city, which had been renamed "Leningrad" in 1924.
- September 8 - Republic of Macedonia becomes independent.
- September 15 - The C-17 Globemaster III flys for the first time. The C-17 is regarded by many in the industry as the best, safest and most capable aircraft in the history of aviation.
- September 16 - Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion album was released.
- September 21 - Armenia declares independence from the Soviet Union
- September 21-September 30 - Iraq disarmament crisis: IAEA inspectors discover files on Iraq's hidden nuclear weapons program. Iraqi officials confiscate documents from UN weapons inspectors, and refuse to allow them to leave the site without turning over other documents. A four-day standoff ensues. Iraq permits the team to leave with the documents after a statement from the UN Security Council threatens enforcement actions.
- September 22 - The Dead Sea Scrolls are made available to the public for the first time, by the Huntington Library.
- September 24 - The release of Nirvanas Nevermind signified the start of the Grunge era that would dominate the music scene up to the mid-90's.
- September 30 - Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed from power.

October

- October 2 - Arkansas Governor William J. Clinton announces he will seek the 1992 Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States.
- October 8 - The Croatian Parliament cuts all remaining ties with Yugoslavia
- October 11 - KGB is replaced by the SVR
- October 11 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 715, which demands that Iraq "accept unconditionally the inspectors and all other personnel designated by the Special Commission". Iraq rejects the resolution, calling it "unlawful"
- October 12 - Askar Akayev, previously chosen President of Kyrgyzstan by republic's Supreme Soviet, is confirmed president in an uncontested poll
- October 14 - Bulgarians celebrate the end of the rule of the communist party
- October 15 - Following a bitter confirmation hearing that involved allegations of sexual misconduct, the United States Senate votes 52 to 48 to confirm Judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United States
- October 16 - George Hennard guns down 24 people in Texas
- October 19 - 7.0 Richter Scale earthquake in Northern Italy - 2000 dead
- October 20 - Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3469 homes and apartments
- October 27 - The first free parliamentary elections in Poland
- October 29 - The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid
- Winter - Centennial of Basketball

November

- November 4 - Ronald Reagan opened his presidential library in Simi Valley.
- November 5 - Body of publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell is found floating in the sea - he had fallen off his yacht
- November 7 - Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson announces that he has HIV, effectively ending his career in the NBA.
- November 7 - The last oil well was put out of fire in Kuwait.
- November 14 - American and British authorities announce indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103
- November 14 - Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after 13 years of exile
- November 18 - Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon set Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland free
- November 18 - Serb troops take Vukovar after siege of 87 days
- November 23 - Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the band Queen, issues a public statement confirming that he is stricken with AIDS. He would die of complications the next day.
- November 24 - Freddie Mercury dies of AIDS in his home in London, of AIDS-Related Chronic problems.
- November 27 - The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts UN Security Council Resolution 721, opening the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in