1993 Timeline

Jan. 1, 1993: After 75 years of union, Czechoslovakia breaks into 2 states: The Czech Republic and Slovakia. Poet-politician Vaclav Havel will later be reelected Czech President.
Jan. 3, 1993: In Moscow, Presidents Bush and Yeltsin sign START II, reducing strategic nuclear arsenals by 75 percent. By 2003, Russia will have control of 3,000 warheads; the U.S. will have 3,500.
Jan. 5, 1993: Convicted sex offender and child killer Westley Allan Dodd, 31, is executed in Walla Walla, Wash. Dodd chooses hanging as his method of execution because he had strangled a 4 year old boy.
Jan. 1993: Women's groups demand Oregon Senator Bob Packwood to step down. Packwood faces accusations of sexual harassment from 26 women. He has apologized for his actions but refuses to resign his Senatorial post.
Jan. 1993: The Clintons announce that their daughter Chelsea will be attending Sidwell Friends, a private school in Washington. This decision draws critism from those who feel it does not reflect well on the president-elect's stand on public education.
Jan. 8, 1993: On the King's birthday, the U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp - one of the most popular stamps of all time. Many people place the stamps on intentionally missaddressed envelopes so the letters would come back marked "Return to Sender."
Jan 11, 1993: Ross Perot, former presidental candidate forms a new political watchdog group called United We Stand. Perot says "Our goal is by this time next year we will have millions of members in every city." Retired Adm. James Stockdale, Perot's VP running mate is the group's first enrollee.
Jan. 13, 1993: U.S. military join other coalition forces to attack a Iraqi missle base. This attack is in response to repeated Iraqi violations of U.N. administered "no fly" zones.
Jan. 14, 1993: David Letterman announces his move from NBC to CBS for a reported salary of $42 million.
Jan. 19, 1993: President Clinton's designate for attorney general, Zoe Baird apologizes for failing to pay social security taxes on 2 Peruvian immigrants who served as household help. Baird and her husband pay the $16,000 in back taxes and call the action "an honest mistake." Baird withdraws her name for consideration days later. She is the first U.S. Cabinet nominee to withdraw for consideration in 120 years.
Jan. 29, 1993: President Clinton introduces the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for gays in the military.

Feb. 3, 1993: Cincinnati Reds owner, Marge Schott is suspended from baseball and fined $25,000 for makiing racist remarks.
Feb. 4, 1993: Clinton selects Kimba Wood as his second nominee for attorney general. Investigations reveal that Wood had hired a Trinidadian baby-sitter. Wood's actions were not illegal at the time she hired the baby-sitter. However she is pressured to withdraw from an embarrassed administration.
Feb. 10, 1993: The U.S. gets involved in the civil war in Yugoslavia (going on since 1991). Secretary of State Warren Christopher announces plans to bring "the full weight of American dipomacy to bear."
Feb 11, 1993: President Clinton nominates Janet Reno for attorney general. Reno, who is unmarried, childless, and never employed a nanny is unianimously confirmed by the Senate.
Feb. 20, 1993: A third child dies from a food poisoning outbreak in the Northeast. This outbreak affects more than 300. Many of those who got sick, including one child who died had consumed tainted meat from Jack in the Box.
Feb. 24, 1993: At the Grammy Awards, Eric Clapton takes home 6 Grammys, 3 for "Tears in Heaven" which is a song dedicated to his son Conor who died fall from a 53rd-floor window.
Feb. 26, 1993: A car bomb explodes in the parking garage at New York's World Trade Center. 6 people die and over a thousand are injured. The bomb left a seven story crater in the garage below the towers.
Feb. 28, 1993: The ATF raid the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, TX. The Davidians foil the raid by firing several rounds at the ATF agents. Four agents are killed. David Koresh, religious leader of the Davidians reports 10 Davidians were killed. Shortly following the raid Koresh releases 21 children, but remains holed up with 107 followers.

March 10, 1993: Dr. David Gunn who performed several abortions over his lifetime is fatally shot by a pro-life demonstrator in Florida.

April 2, 1993: A German tourist is beaten, robbed, and murdered in Miami, Florida, in front of two young children. This is another murder in a long list of assalts on foreign tourists in Florida.
April 13, 1993: Having tried for 45 days to oust the Branch Davidians in Waco, TX, the ATF agents harass them with music from Nancy Sinatra, chanting from Tibetan monks, and dentists drills, all from over loudspeakers.
April 17, 1993: Former LA cops, Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell are convicted on federal charges that they violated Rodney King's civil rights by beating him. Powell and Koon are sentenced to 2 and a half years in prison.
April 19, 1993: In an effort to end the 51 day standoff with the Branch Davidians, FBI and ATF agents assault the compound with miliarty vehicles by punching holes in the building and pumping tear gas. A few hours later the building engulfs in flames which kills 80 cult members including several children. The blaze is apparently set by the Davidians.
April 30, 1993: Gunter Parche stabs Monica Seles during a tennis match in Hamburg, Germany. Parche apparently wanted his idol, Steffi Grah to unseat Seles as the top ranked women's tennis player. Parche later gets a 2 year suspended sentence.

May 15, 1993: The last Wonder Years episode airs on ABC
May 18, 1993: Clinton gets a $200 haircut from a Beverly Hills hairstylist while aboard Air Force One on the runway at LA airport. The haircut caused several traffic delays and halted air traffic.

June 10, 1993: Burt Reynolds sues Loni Anderson for divorce after a 5 year marriage.
June 11, 1993: Jurassic Park opens and earns $100 million in ticket sales in 9 days (a record).
June 20, 1993: Michael Jordon leads the Chicago Bulls to defeat the Phoenix Suns for their 3 consecutive NBA title. Jordon is named MVP for the series.
June 26, 1993: American cruise missles strike Baghdad in response to a foiled Iraqi plot to assasinate George Bush while he visited Kuwait in April 1993.

July 20, 1993: Deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster is found dead in a Virginia park. Foster who was depressed over his role in the failed nominations of Zoe Baird and lani Guinier apparently took his own life.
July 24, 1993: New York Mets outfielder, Vince Coleman, throws a lighted fire cracker at fans in the Dodger Statium parking lot. The firecracker injures 3 including a two year old. Coleman is later suspended by the Met and gets 3 years probation.
July 24, 1993: Midwest flood damage is expected to exceed $10 billion.

August 3, 1993: The body of James Jordan, father of Michael, is found in a South Carolina swamp. Police charge to North Carolina men in the murder.
August 9, 1993: The courts rule that Kimberly Mays, 14, does have the right not to have any contact with her biological parents. Kimberly had apparently been switched at birth. The other child she had been switched with died of a heart defect.
August 22, 1993: While Michael Jackson is on his world tour in Thailand, police search his Neverland Valley Ranch for evidence in a child-sex abuse case.
August 28, 1993: Israeli-Palestinian accord reached.
August 30, 1993: The Late Show with David Letterman premires. Letterman frequently pokes fun of his former bosses at NBC who had challenged his right to take his tradmark jokes such as the Top Ten Lists and Stupid Pet Tricks. Letterman said in his opening night "Legally I can still call myself Dave."

September 7, 1993: Controversial pediatrician Joycelyn Elders is confirmed as Surgeon General.
September 22, 1993: Clinton unveils his universal health care plan.
September 22, 1993: In Mobile, AL, 47 people are killed in the worst train accident in Amtrak history when a train pludges off a bridge.
September 23, 1993: South Africa's parliament votes to allow blacks to partcipate in governmental activites. The county's first universal elections will be held the following April.

October 1, 1993: U.S. agents blamed in Waco, TX, siege.
October 3, 1993: 12 American soilders are killed and several are missing after U.S. forces come under fire in Somalia. Clinton says the U.S. will retaliate if any of the captured soilders are harmed.
October 4, 1993: In Moscow, troops loyal to Boris Yeltsin put down a rebellion of hardliners. Over 100 people were killed in the rebellion which was the most violent since the 1917 Revolution.
October 6, 1993: Michael Jordon announces his retirement from the NBA, saying he has nothing left to prove. However when asked if he would ever return to the NBA, he says "I never say never."
October, 1993: A Ohioan mother says MTV's Bevis and Butthead influenced her 5 year old son to set fire which later killed his 2 year old sister. MTV disagrees, but moves the show to a later timeslot.
October 7, 1993: Jurassic Park surpasses E.T. as the highest grossing movie of all time.
October 15, 1993: Nelson Mandella and F.W. de Klerk are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to do away with apartheid in South Africa.
October 17, 1993: Fox network cancelled Chevy Chase's late night talk show after 6 weeks.
October 18-20, 1993. The jury acquits 2 black men accused of attempted murder of white truck driver Reginald Denny in the 1992 LA riots. Defense attornies successfully argue that the men had been caught up in a mob mentality and had not acted with premeditation neccessary to justify a conviction.
October 24, 1993: NY Times reports that scientists at George Washington University Medical center successfully cloned human embryos in a labratory. The revelation erupts a fury of protest.
October 31, 1993: River Phoenix overdoses on cocaine and is found dead outside a LA night club. He was 23.

November 20, 1993: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is passed by congress after a long debate which included Ross Perot debating Al Gore on Larry King Live.
November 30, 1993: Clinton signs Brady bill regulating firearm purchases.

Time Magazine's Men of the Year: The Peacemakers Yitzak Rabin, Nelson Mandela, F.W. de Klerk, Yasser Arafat - Taking a chance for peace in South Africa and the Middle East