Top News Stories from 1992

World Events

World Statistics

Population: 4.378 billion
population by decade
Nobel Peace Prize: Rigoberta Menchú (Guatemala)
More World Statistics...

U.S. Events

U.S. Statistics

President: George Bush
Vice President: J. Danforth Quayle
Population: 254,994,517
Life expectancy: 75.8 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 56.6
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000) 49.0
More U.S. Statistics...
  • Four officers acquitted in Los Angeles beating of Rodney King; violence erupts in Los Angeles (April 29 et seq.).
  • Caspar W. Weinberger indicted in Iran-Contra affair (June 16).
  • US Supreme Court reaffirms right to abortion (June 29).
  • Democratic convention nominates Bill Clinton and Al Gore (July 1).
  • Court clears Exxon Valdez skipper (July 10). Background: Oil Spills
  • Four police officers indicted in Rodney King beating (Aug. 5).
  • Republicans renominate Bush and Quayle (Aug. 20).
  • Senate ratifies second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (Oct. 1).
  • Bill Clinton elected President, Al Gore Vice President; Democrats keep control of Congress (Nov. 3).
  • Bush pardons former Reagan Administration officials involved in Iran-Contra affair (Dec. 24).

Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars): $6,244.40 billion
Federal spending: $1380.86 billion
Federal debt $4002.1 billion
Consumer Price Index: $140.3
Unemployment: 7.5%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.29

Sports

Super Bowl
Washington d. Buffalo
World Series
Toronto d. Atlanta Braves
NBA Championship
Chicago d. Portland
Stanley Cup
Pittsburgh d. Chicago
Wimbledon
Women: Steffi Graf d. M. Seles (6-2 6-1)
Men: Andre Agassi d. G. Ivanisevic (6-7 6-4 6-4 1-6 6-4)
Kentucky Derby Champion
Lil E. Tee
NCAA Basketball Championship
Duke d. Michigan
NCAA Football Champions
Alabama (13-0-0) 1992 Summer Olympics

Entertainment

Entertainment Awards

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction:

A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley

Music: The Face of the Night, The Heart of the Dark, Wayne Peterson
Drama: The Kentucky Cycle, Robert Schenkkan
Academy Award, Best Picture: The Silence of the Lambs, Edward Saxon, Kenneth Utt and Ron Bozman, producers (Orion)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Derek Walcott (Trinidad)
Record of the Year: "Unforgettable," Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole
Album of the Year: Unforgettable, Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole (Elektra)
Song of the Year: "Unforgettable," Irving Gordon, songwriter
Miss America: Carolyn Suzanne Sapp (HI)
More Entertainment Awards...

Events

  • Compact discs surpass cassette tapes as the preferred medium for recorded music.
  • There are 900 million television sets in use around the world; 201 million are in the United States.
  • Woody Allen and Mia Farrow engage in a very public and nasty custody battle over their three children. Allen's affair with Farrow's adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, sparked the feud.
  • Johnny Carson hosts The Tonight Show for the last time. He had ruled late-night television for 20 years.

Movies

  • Unforgiven, The Crying Game, Howards End, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Player

Books

  • Robert Olen Butler, A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
  • Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient
  • Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger

Science

Nobel Prizes in Science

Chemistry: Rudolph A. Marcus (US), for his mathematical analysis of how the overall energy in a system of interacting molecules changes and induces an electron to jump from one molecule to another
Physics: George Charpak (France), for his inventions of particle detectors
Physiology or Medicine: Edmond H. Fischer and Edwin G. Krebs (both US), for their discovery of a regulatory mechanism affecting almost all cells
More Nobel Prizes in 1998...
  • A text-based Web browser is made available to the public (Jan.); within a few years, millions of people become regular users of the World Wide Web. Background: Computers and Internet
  • 172 nations various address issues of environmental protection and sustainable development at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Some sign binding agreements to minimize global climate change and preserve biodiversity. Background: Environment & Nature

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