Boris Yeltsin publicly called for the Communist Party to relinquish its constitutional monopoly on power, accelerating the Soviet Union's unraveling.

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev told West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl that Moscow accepted the principle of German reunification, a stunning reversal of decades of Cold War policy.

Nelson Mandela emerged from Victor Verster Prison after 27 years, raising his fist to a roaring crowd and a watching world.

James 'Buster' Douglas, a 42-1 underdog, knocked out heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in Tokyo in one of boxing's greatest upsets.

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, at the urging of astronomer Carl Sagan, turned its camera around from 3.7 billion miles away to photograph Earth as a tiny speck of light.

Nelson Mandela walked free from Victor Verster Prison after 27 years, ending one of the twentieth century's most emblematic imprisonments — though the actual walk occurred February 11.

Space Shuttle Discovery launched on mission STS-36, carrying a classified Department of Defense payload into orbit.

Eritrean rebels launched Operation Fenkil, a decisive assault to seize the strategic Red Sea port of Massawa from Ethiopian government forces.

Thieves disguised as police officers stole 13 artworks worth an estimated $500 million from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, including a Vermeer and three Rembrandts, in the largest unsolved art theft in history.

The Soviet Congress of People's Deputies elected Mikhail Gorbachev as the first and only President of the Soviet Union, consolidating executive power amid mounting crisis.

The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR declared Lithuania's March 11 declaration of independence invalid, setting up a year of standoff before the Soviet collapse.

Namibia formally became independent from South African rule, with Sam Nujoma sworn in as its first president after decades of colonial control and guerrilla war.

A cargo plane crash and a wave of Cold War-era diplomatic tension marked the day, though the year's real story was elsewhere.

Soviet cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Alexander Balandin docked Soyuz TM-9 with the Mir space station to begin a long-duration mission.

Space Shuttle Discovery carries the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit, beginning a mission that would transform humanity's view of the cosmos.

Space Shuttle Discovery deployed the Hubble Space Telescope into low Earth orbit, beginning a mission that would transform humanity's view of the universe.

NASA released the Hubble Space Telescope's first images to the public, revealing sharper views of star clusters than any ground telescope could achieve.

North Yemen and South Yemen merged into a single sovereign state, the Republic of Yemen, ending decades of Cold War-driven division on the Arabian Peninsula.

The newly elected Croatian parliament held its first session, formally establishing the government that would steer Croatia toward independence from Yugoslavia.

A violent tornado outbreak tears through Illinois and Indiana, killing dozens and flattening entire neighborhoods within minutes.

18-year-old Arantxa Sánchez Vicario stunned Steffi Graf to win the French Open women's singles title, ending Graf's long dominance on the Paris clay.

President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law on the South Lawn of the White House, banning discrimination against disabled Americans.

Iraqi tanks rolled across the Kuwaiti border on Saddam Hussein's orders, triggering a crisis that led to the Gulf War and reshaped Middle Eastern politics.

East and West Germany formally merged into one nation at midnight, ending 45 years of Cold War division and the existence of the German Democratic Republic.

Rebel forces led by Idriss Déby swept into N'Djamena, toppling Chadian dictator Hissène Habré after years of brutal one-party rule.

The Cincinnati Reds completed a stunning four-game sweep of the heavily favored Oakland Athletics to win the World Series.

El Sayyid Nosair shot and killed militant rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the far-right Jewish Defense League, after a speech at a New York hotel.

Thirty-four nations sign the Charter of Paris for a New Europe at a CSCE summit, formally declaring the end of the Cold War era of confrontation.

Tim Berners-Lee's first web server and browser went live at CERN, quietly launching the World Wide Web to the public.

The UN General Assembly adopts the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.