1993

Events in 1993 67

• 1893 – 1993 Lillian Gish (1893-1993) Died 27 February 1993, aged 99 Lillian Gish was a pioneering actress of American silent cinema, celebrated for her roles in D.W. Griffith films including "Birth of a Nation" and "Broken Blossoms." Her career spanned over 75 years, from the earliest days of film through television in the 1980s. She died in New York City.
• 1897 – 1993 Marian Anderson (1897-1993) Died 8 April 1993, aged 96 Marian Anderson was an American contralto whose 1939 open-air concert at the Lincoln Memorial, arranged after she was barred from a segregated concert hall, became a landmark moment in the civil rights movement. She later became the first African American to perform as a member of the Metropolitan Opera. She died in Portland, Oregon.
• 1900 – 1993 Helen Hayes (1900-1993) American actress known as the First Lady of the American Theatre, one of few performers to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
• 1905 – 1993 Myrna Loy (1905-1993) Died 14 December 1993, aged 88 Myrna Loy was an American actress best remembered for playing Nora Charles opposite William Powell in the "Thin Man" film series. She was one of the most popular stars of Hollywood's golden age, though she never received a competitive Academy Award. She died in New York City.
• 1906 – 1993 Albert Sabin (1906-1993) Died 3 March 1993, aged 86 Albert Sabin developed the oral polio vaccine, which used a weakened live virus and could be administered on a sugar cube, making mass immunization far easier than with the earlier injected vaccine. His vaccine became the primary tool in the global campaign to eradicate polio. He died in Washington, D.C.
• 1908 – 1993 Don Ameche (1908-1993) Died 6 December 1993, aged 85 Don Ameche was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, from 1930s radio and film through a career resurgence with "Trading Places" and an Oscar-winning role in "Cocoon." He was famously, if inaccurately, credited by the public with inventing the telephone due to his role in a 1939 biopic of Alexander Graham Bell. He died of prostate cancer in Scottsdale, Arizona.
• 1908 – 1993 Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) Died 24 January 1993, aged 84 Thurgood Marshall was the first African American justice of the US Supreme Court, serving from 1967 to 1991. As a lawyer, he had argued and won Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case that outlawed racial segregation in public schools. He died in Bethesda, Maryland, of heart failure.
• 1909 – 1993 Ruby Keeler (1909-1993) Canadian-born American dancer and actress, star of 42nd Street.
• 1911 – 1993 Vincent Price (1911-1993) Died 25 October 1993, aged 82 Vincent Price was an American actor renowned for his distinctive voice and roles in horror films such as "House of Wax" and "The Fly." He also narrated the spoken-word segment of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." He died of lung cancer in Los Angeles.
• 1912 – 1993 Pat Nixon (1912-1993) Died 22 June 1993, aged 81 Pat Nixon served as First Lady of the United States during Richard Nixon's presidency from 1969 to 1974. She was known for her extensive travel and volunteer work promoting civic engagement. She died of lung cancer at her home in Park Ridge, New Jersey.
• 1913 – 1993 Stewart Granger (1913-1993) English actor, a swashbuckling star of MGM adventure films in the 1950s.
• 1917 – 1993 Anthony Burgess (1917-1993) Died 22 November 1993, aged 76 Anthony Burgess was an English author and composer best known for his dystopian novel "A Clockwork Orange," later adapted into a controversial film by Stanley Kubrick. He was a prolific writer of fiction, criticism, and screenplays. He died of cancer in London.
• 1917 – 1993 Raymond Burr (1917-1993) Died 12 September 1993, aged 76 Raymond Burr was a Canadian-American actor best known for the title roles in the television series "Perry Mason" and "Ironside." His portrayal of defense attorney Perry Mason made him one of the most recognizable faces on American television for decades. He died at his home in California after a long illness.
• 1920 – 1993 Federico Fellini Cinema Maestro One of the most influential filmmakers of all time, known for masterpieces like La Dolce Vita.
• 1927 – 1993 Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) Died 23 April 1993, aged 66 Cesar Chavez co-founded the United Farm Workers union and became the leading figure in the American labor movement for migrant farm workers. He organized boycotts and strikes, including the influential Delano grape strike, to demand better wages and conditions. He died in his sleep in San Luis, Arizona.
• 1929 – 1993 Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) Died 20 January 1993, aged 63 Audrey Hepburn, star of "Roman Holiday," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and "My Fair Lady," died of appendiceal cancer at her home in Switzerland. In her later years she devoted herself to humanitarian work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. She remains one of the most recognized actresses of Hollywood's golden era.
• 1933 – 1993 Conway Twitty (1933-1993) Died 5 June 1993, aged 59 Conway Twitty was one of the best-selling country music artists in history, scoring more number-one hits on the Billboard country chart than any other performer of his era. He also had early success as a rock and roll singer before shifting to country music in the 1960s. He collapsed and died shortly after a performance in Branson, Missouri.
• 1938 – 1993 Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993) Died 6 January 1993, aged 54 Rudolf Nureyev was a Soviet-born ballet dancer celebrated as one of the greatest of the 20th century, known for his 1961 defection to the West and his long partnership with Margot Fonteyn. He later directed the Paris Opera Ballet. He died in Paris of complications from AIDS.
• 1940 – 1993 Frank Zappa (1940-1993) Died 4 December 1993, aged 52 Frank Zappa was an American musician and composer known for his prolific and genre-defying output across rock, jazz, and orchestral music. He was also an outspoken advocate for free speech, testifying before Congress against the labeling of music with explicit content warnings. He died of prostate cancer at his home in Los Angeles.
• 1941 – 1993 Bobby Moore (1941-1993) Died 24 February 1993, aged 51 Bobby Moore captained the England national football team to victory in the 1966 World Cup, the country's only World Cup title. He played the majority of his career at West Ham United and is regarded as one of the greatest defenders in the sport's history. He died of colon cancer in London.
• 1942 – 1993 Chris Hani (1942-1993) Died 10 April 1993, aged 50 Chris Hani was general secretary of the South African Communist Party and a senior leader of the African National Congress's armed wing. He was assassinated outside his home near Johannesburg by a right-wing extremist opposed to the end of apartheid. His killing nearly derailed South Africa's negotiated transition and prompted Nelson Mandela to appeal for calm on national television.
• 1943 – 1993 Arthur Ashe The Trailblazer First Black man to win Wimbledon and the US Open; the US Open stadium is named for him.
• 1947 – 1993 James Hunt The Shunt 1976 World Champion famous for his rock-star lifestyle and rivalry with Niki Lauda.
• 1970 – 1993 River Phoenix (1970-1993) Died 31 October 1993, aged 19 River Phoenix was an American actor acclaimed for his roles in "Stand by Me" and "My Own Private Idaho" and considered one of his generation's most promising talents. He collapsed and died of drug-induced heart failure outside the Viper Room nightclub in Los Angeles. His death at 19 shocked Hollywood and became a cautionary symbol of substance abuse in the entertainment industry.
• 1993 Charles Smith blocked at the rim In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Bulls defenders block Charles Smith four times at the rim in the final seconds, sealing a Chicago win.
• 1993 European Union established European Union established The European Union formally came into being on 1 November 1993 when the Maastricht Treaty took effect. It added citizenship of the Union, free movement of people and the framework for monetary union to what had been an economic community. Membership grew from twelve states to twenty-eight before Britain left in 2020.
• 1993 – present Garbage Garbage are a Scottish-American alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1993 by record producer Butch Vig and musicians Steve Marker and Duke Erikson, with Scottish singer Shirley Manson joining shortly after. Vig had just produced Nirvana's 'Nevermind' (1991) and Smashing Pumpkins' 'Siamese Dream' (1993); Garbage was his attempt to make music for himself rather than for other artists. Their debut album (1995) established a signature sound: dense, multilayered production combining electronic beats, distorted guitars, samples and Manson's distinctive, cool-burning voice. They have released seven studio albums and remain active, with Manson one of rock's most articulate and witty public voices.
• 1993 – 1999 Karpov FIDE World Champion reign Champion in the split era After Kasparov broke away from FIDE in 1993, Karpov was crowned FIDE World Champion. He held this title until 1999 when he withdrew from FIDE's new knockout format.
• 1993 – 2024 Liam Payne (1993-2024) Died 16 October 2024, aged 31 English singer and member of One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
• 1993 – present Nvidia Nvidia — founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem — invented the graphics processing unit (GPU) and has become the world's most valuable semiconductor company. Originally focused on computer graphics for gaming, Nvidia's GPUs proved uniquely suited to the parallel processing demands of artificial intelligence. The explosion of deep learning from 2012 onwards transformed Nvidia from a gaming chip company into the indispensable infrastructure provider for the AI revolution. In 2024 Nvidia briefly became the world's most valuable company.
• 1993 – present Sia The Reclusive Hitmaker Known for her songwriting for others and her own hidden-face performance style.
• 1993 – present Usher The R&B King His 2004 album "Confessions" is one of the highest-selling R&B albums of all time.
• 1993 Czechoslovakia dissolves into Czech Republic and Slovakia The "Velvet Divorce" splits one state into two sovereign nations Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia at midnight on January 1, 1993, in a process negotiated by political leaders rather than decided by referendum. The split, dubbed the "Velvet Divorce," followed the negotiated dissolution of the federal government. Both successor states went on to pursue separate paths toward NATO and European Union membership.
• 1993 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Season 1 The first Star Trek series not set primarily aboard a starship. DS9 is set on a space station near a wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant, commanded by Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). Darker, more serialised and politically complex than its predecessors. Co-created by Michael Piller and Rick Berman, DS9 runs for 7 seasons until 1999.
• 1993 – 2001 Clinton presidency 42nd President — 1993 to 2001 Bill Clinton served as the 42nd President from January 20, 1993 to January 20, 2001. He presided over budget surpluses and the dot-com boom, brokered peace in Northern Ireland and the Balkans, but was impeached over the Lewinsky scandal.
• 1993 "Groundhog Day" released in theaters Bill Murray comedy popularizes the time-loop narrative device "Groundhog Day," starring Bill Murray as a cynical weatherman who relives the same day repeatedly, opened in US theaters to critical acclaim. The film's premise became so culturally embedded that "Groundhog Day" entered common usage as a phrase for a repetitive situation. It is now widely regarded as one of the best comedies of the 1990s.
• 1993 Indoor world record -- 6.15m, Donetsk, 21 February 1993 On 21 February 1993, in his adopted home city of Donetsk, Bubka sets an indoor world record of 6.15m -- the greatest height ever cleared by a pole vaulter indoors. The record stands for 27 years, until Armand Duplantis clears 6.17m at the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Tour. Donetsk is the city where he trained under Vitaly Petrov; setting the record there carries personal significance. By this point Bubka is competing for independent Ukraine, having represented the Soviet Union and the Unified Team in his earlier career.
• 1993 World Trade Center bombing Truck bomb attack strikes the World Trade Center in New York A truck bomb detonated in the parking garage beneath the North Tower of the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring over a thousand. The attack, planned by Ramzi Yousef, aimed to topple one tower into the other. It was the first major terrorist attack on the complex, eight years before the September 11 attacks.
• 1993 Waco siege 51-day standoff between the FBI and Branch Davidians in Texas Following a botched ATF raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, federal agents laid siege to the property for 51 days. The standoff ended on April 19 when a fire broke out during an FBI assault, killing David Koresh and around 75 followers, including many children. The event became a flashpoint in American debates over federal law enforcement.
• 1993 – present Anthony Davis AD Elite two-way big man and 2020 NBA champion.
• 1993 1993 Bombay bombings Coordinated bomb blasts kill over 250 people across the city A series of 12 coordinated bomb explosions struck targets across Bombay (Mumbai), including the Bombay Stock Exchange, killing over 250 people and injuring more than 700. Indian authorities attributed the attacks to organized crime figures acting in retaliation for earlier communal riots. It remains one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in India's history.
• 1993 Warrington bombing IRA bomb attack kills two children in an English town centre The Provisional IRA detonated two bombs in litter bins in the English town of Warrington, killing three-year-old Jonathan Ball and twelve-year-old Tim Parry and injuring dozens of shoppers. The attack on a civilian target provoked widespread public revulsion in both Britain and Ireland. It became a catalyst for cross-community peace initiatives during the Northern Ireland peace process.
• 1993 Intel launches the Pentium processor New microprocessor line succeeds the 486 and dominates 1990s PCs Intel released the first Pentium processor, marking a major leap in consumer computing performance over its 486 predecessor. The Pentium name, rather than a numbered successor, was chosen partly so the brand could be trademarked. It became the dominant processor family in personal computers throughout the 1990s.
• 1993 Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 discovered Astronomers spot a comet already broken apart by Jupiter's gravity Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker and David Levy discovered a comet that had been torn into a chain of fragments by Jupiter's tidal forces during a previous close approach. The comet's unusual fragmented appearance made it immediately notable to astronomers. It later became famous when its fragments collided with Jupiter in July 1994, the first observed impact between two solar system bodies.
• 1993 Brandon Lee dies Shot on set of The Crow, age 28 Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, was accidentally shot and killed on March 31, 1993, during the filming of The Crow in Wilmington, North Carolina, when a bullet became lodged in a prop gun. He was 28 years old.
• 1993 NCSA Mosaic web browser released Graphical browser helps popularize the World Wide Web The National Center for Supercomputing Applications released Mosaic, one of the first web browsers to display images inline with text in an easy-to-use graphical interface. Mosaic made the World Wide Web accessible to a broad, non-technical audience for the first time. Its lead developers went on to found Netscape Communications the following year.
• 1993 Chris Hani assassinated Killing of a top ANC leader nearly derails South Africa's peace process Chris Hani, general secretary of the South African Communist Party and a senior leader of the African National Congress's armed wing, was shot dead outside his home near Johannesburg by a right-wing extremist opposed to the end of apartheid. The assassination sparked nationwide unrest and threatened to derail the negotiated transition from apartheid. Nelson Mandela appealed for calm in a nationally televised address, helping avert wider bloodshed.
• 1993 1993 World Snooker Championship Hendry Title 3 Winner: Stephen Hendry; Runner-up: Jimmy White. Score: 18–5.
• 1993 Eritrea declares independence Eritrea formally separates from Ethiopia after decades of war Eritrea formally declared independence on May 24, 1993, following an overwhelming referendum vote and a 30-year armed struggle against Ethiopian rule. The Eritrean People's Liberation Front, which had led the independence movement, formed the country's first government under Isaias Afwerki. The referendum had been agreed as part of Ethiopia's own political transition after the fall of the Derg regime.
• 1993 International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia established UN creates first war crimes tribunal since Nuremberg The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 827, establishing a tribunal to prosecute war crimes committed during the Yugoslav Wars. Based in The Hague, it was the first international war crimes tribunal since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials after World War II. It later indicted and tried figures including Slobodan Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic.
• 1993 Prince changes his name to a symbol The Love Symbol In a fight with Warner Bros. he writes slave on his cheek.
• 1993 Jurassic Park #1 film of 1993 — $1.03bn worldwide Directed by Steven Spielberg. A billionaire creates a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. Revolutionised CGI and visual effects in cinema.
• 1993 Voodoo Lounge Twentieth album — July 11, 1994 Voodoo Lounge was released on July 11, 1994, the first album without founding bassist Bill Wyman who had retired in 1993. It won a Grammy for Best Rock Album and reached number 1 in the UK.
• 1993 Fourth World Championship gold -- Stuttgart 1993 Bubka wins his fourth consecutive world title at the 1993 IAAF World Championships in Stuttgart, now competing for independent Ukraine. Four consecutive world titles in the same event is a record in itself; he has two more to come. The Stuttgart performance consolidates his position as the most dominant individual athlete in the history of track and field -- no other competitor in any event has won four straight World Championships titles. He is 29.
• 1993 "The Fugitive" released in theaters Harrison Ford thriller becomes one of the year's biggest hits "The Fugitive," starring Harrison Ford as a doctor wrongly convicted of murdering his wife, opened in US theaters and became one of 1993's highest-grossing films. Tommy Lee Jones won an Academy Award for his role as the US Marshal pursuing him. The film was based on the 1960s television series of the same name.
• 1993 – 2013 Albert II King of Belgium Albert II presided over Belgium during periods of political instability and constitutional reform.
• 1993 Oslo Accords signed Israel and the PLO agree to mutual recognition and limited Palestinian self-rule Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat signed the Declaration of Principles on the White House lawn, witnessed by US President Bill Clinton. The accords established mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO and set out a framework for Palestinian self-governance in Gaza and the West Bank. Rabin, Arafat, and Shimon Peres later shared the Nobel Peace Prize for the agreement.
• 1993 Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 7 TNG's final season. Includes "All Good Things...," the series finale, widely considered one of the finest TV series finales ever made, which returns the show to its roots in a Q-mediated challenge to Picard. The series ends as the finest television franchise of its era. 176 episodes total across 7 seasons.
• 1993 Nirvana releases "In Utero" Follow-up to "Nevermind" debuts at number one Nirvana released their third studio album, "In Utero," produced with Steve Albini in a deliberately rawer style than its multi-platinum predecessor "Nevermind." The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. It would be the band's final studio album before Kurt Cobain's death the following year.
• 1993 Russian constitutional crisis President Yeltsin's standoff with parliament ends in tank shelling of the White House A power struggle between President Boris Yeltsin and Russia's parliament escalated after Yeltsin dissolved the legislature, which refused to disband and barricaded itself inside the White House building. Yeltsin ordered tanks to shell the building on October 4, ending an uprising that had killed dozens. The crisis cleared the way for a new constitution establishing a strong presidency.
• 1993 Battle of Mogadishu US raid against Somali militia leads to a prolonged urban firefight US Army Rangers and Delta Force operators launched a raid to capture lieutenants of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, but two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down over Mogadishu. The resulting overnight battle killed 18 American soldiers and an estimated several hundred Somalis. The episode, later depicted in the film "Black Hawk Down," led the United States to withdraw its forces from Somalia.
• 1993 – 2025 Charlie Kirk (1993-2025) Died 10 September 2025, aged 31 American conservative activist and media personality who founded Turning Point USA and was a key ally of President Donald Trump. He was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University.
• 1993 Nirvana record MTV Unplugged Sony Studios, New York An acoustic set of mostly covers.
• 1993 Mrs. Doubtfire #2 film of 1993 — $441m worldwide Directed by Chris Columbus, starring Robin Williams. A divorced father disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend time with his children.
• 1993 Hubble Space Telescope's first servicing mission Shuttle astronauts correct the telescope's flawed mirror Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour conducted a series of spacewalks to install corrective optics on the Hubble Space Telescope, fixing the spherical aberration in its main mirror that had blurred images since 1990. The mission restored Hubble to its intended sharpness and enabled decades of subsequent astronomical discoveries. It was widely regarded as a make-or-break test of NASA's space shuttle and space station programs.
• 1993 Mandela and de Klerk awarded Nobel Peace Prize Joint honor for negotiating South Africa's transition from apartheid Nelson Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize for their work ending apartheid and negotiating a peaceful transition to multiracial democracy. The award came months before South Africa's first democratic elections in April 1994. Both men had led rival sides through years of negotiation despite ongoing political violence.
• 1993 Schindler's List Oscar Best Picture 1993 Directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Liam Neeson. The true story of Oskar Schindler, who saved over a thousand Jewish refugees during the Holocaust. Won 7 Academy Awards.