The 63rd Academy Awards ceremony, took place on March 25, 1991, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles as Billy Crystal hosted for the second consecutive year. Dances With Wolves won seven awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included Dick Tracy with three awards, Ghost with two awards, and American Dream, Creature Comforts, Cyrano de Bergerac, Days of Waiting, Goodfellas, The Hunt for Red October, Journey of Hope, The Lunch Date, Misery, Reversal of Fortune, and Total Recall with one. Godfather III did not win any awards. This telecast had nearly 43 million viewers in the USA. Kevin Costner became the fifth person to earn the Best Director Award for his directorial debut as well as earn nominations for Best Actor and Best Director for the same film. Best Supporting Actress winner Whoopi Goldberg was the second African American woman to win an award. Hattie McDaniel previously won in the same category for “Gone With the Wind” in 1939. Jeremy Irons, won Best Actor for his performance in Reversal of Fortune. Kathy Bates, won Best Actress for her role in Misery. Joe Pesci won Best Supporting Actor in Goodfellas. John Barry won Best Original Score winner for Dances With Wolves. Stephen Sondheim was the Best Original Song Winner with “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)” from Dick Tracy. I did not see as many movies in 1991. I only saw a few of the blockbusters. I liked The Silence of the Lambs with Anthony Hopkins. I also liked Father of the Bride with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton. I did not see the big grossing movies, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Beauty and the Beast, City Slickers, Hook, The Addams Family, Sleeping with the Enemy, and The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear. I did like Gene Hackman in Class Action. I also liked the comedy, What About Bob? with Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfus. I liked Thelma and Louise with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis. I liked the odd ball movie Barton Fink with John Goodman. I also liked Frankie and Johnnie with Al Pacino and Michelle Pfieffer. I actually liked the mystery story Cape Fear with Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte and Bugsy with Warren Beatty and Annette Benning. What are your favorite movies from 1991?
Sports in 1991
In Super Bowl XXV, the New York Giants won 20–19 over the Buffalo Bills with Giants RB Ottis Anderson the MVP. In the Orange Bowl, The Colorado Buffaloes won 10–9 over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to win the AP Poll national championship. Desmond Howard, Michigan WR, sealed the Heisman Trophy with a 93-yard punt return in Michigan’s 31–3 hammering of Ohio State. Michael Schumacher, regarded as one of the greatest Formula One drivers in history, made his Formula One debut at the Belgian Grand Prix. The 1991 Rugby World Cup took place in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and France, but Australia beat England in the final. In the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the USA won 2–1 over Norway. In the MLB World Series, the Minnesota Twins won 4 games to 3 over the Atlanta Braves with the MVP Jack Morris, pitcher of Minnesota. Dave Righetti broke Sparky Lyle’s major league record for left-handers of 238 career saves. Nolan Ryan pitched his seventh career no hitter with a 3–0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Dennis Martínez of the Montreal Expos pitched the 13th perfect game in major league history, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 2–0. Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles was named AL MVP, while Terry Pendleton of the Atlanta Braves was named NL MVP. Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox and Tom Glavine of Atlanta Braves were the Cy Young award winners. Chuck Knoblauch of the Minnesota Twins and Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros were the Rookies of the Year. In the NBA, the Chicago Bulls won 4 games to 1 over the LA Lakers, as Michael Jordan was the MVP. Meanwhile Lakers’ superstar Magic Johnson announced he tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS, thus ending his career in the NBA. In the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, Duke won 72–65 over Kansas. Larry Johnson of UNLV was named Naismith College Player of the Year. The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Miami Heat 148 to 80, the largest margin of victory in any NBA game. In boxing, Mike Tyson was on a winning streak, but Evander Holyfield defeated George Foreman to retain WBC, WBA & IBF Heavyweight titles. Thomas Hearns defeated Virgil Hill with a unanimous decision to win WBA Light Heavyweight title. Terry Norris knocked out Donald Curry in the 8th Round to win the WBC Super Welterweight Championship. James Toney defeated Michael Nunn with a TKO to win the IBF Middleweight title. He also was named Ring Magazine fighter of the year. In World Figure Skating Championships Kurt Browning of Canada and Kristi Yamaguchi of the USA were the champs. In golf, it was a four-way split of the majors with the PGA Tour money leader Corey Pavin at $979,430, who did not win a major. The Senior PGA Tour money leader was Mike Hill with $1,065,657. Tiger Woods, at age 15, won his first USGA title, the U.S. Junior Amateur. Meg Mallon took two of the top four titles, but the LPGA Tour money leader was Pat Bradley with $763,118. In the racing triple crown, Hansel won two legs, but not the Kentucky Derby. In the NHL, the leading scorer during the regular season was Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings and the Most Valuable Player was Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues. However, in the Stanley Cup, the Pittsburgh Penguins won 4 games to 2 over the Minnesota North Stars, as the Conn Smythe Trophy went to Mario Lemieux, of the Pittsburgh Penguins. There were four different winners in the men’s grand slam, while Monica Seles took three out of the four, but not Wimbledon, who was the female athlete of the year. Michael Jordan of the NBA was the male athlete of the year. What was your favorite sporting event of 1991?
Interesting facts in 1991
Python, a programming language created by Guido van Rossum, was released. Tim Berners-Lee announced the World Wide Web project and software on the alt.hypertext newsgroup. The first website, “info.cern.ch”, was created. Linus Torvalds posted messages to the Usenet newsgroup comp.os.minix, regarding the new operating system kernel he had developed called Linux. Escondida in Chile’s Atacama Desert became the world’s most productive copper mine. Approximately 200,000 people attended a parade of 8,800 returning Persian Gulf War troops in Washington, D.C. French woman and supercentenarian Jeanne Calment surpassed the final age achieved by Easter Wiggins (1874 – 1990) of 116 years, 36 days and became the oldest verified person in history. Space Shuttle Atlantis left an observatory in Earth’s orbit to study gamma rays before returning. The Space Shuttle Discovery studied instruments related to the Strategic Defense Initiative. Space Shuttle Columbia carried the Spacelab into orbit on June 5. NASA’s Galileo spacecraft made its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid. British astronomers announced their discovery of what appears to be an extrasolar planet. Ötzi the Iceman was found in the Alps. Skarnsund Bridge opened in Norway, becoming the world’s longest cable-stayed bridge with a span of 1,739 feet. The first report on carbon nanotubes was published by Sumio Iijima in Nature. The British JET fusion reactor generated 1.5 MW output power. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 3,000 for the first time in history, at 3,004.46. Chemical Bank and Manufacturers Hanover Corporation amalgamated, becoming the largest bank merger in history. Eastern Air Lines shut down after sixty-two years of operations, as did Pan American World Airways who ceased its operations after sixty-four years. George Carey was enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Bartholomew I was enthroned as Patriarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, thus becoming the new spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox worldwide. The Huntington Library made the Dead Sea Scrolls available to the public for the first time. Time magazine published “The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power,” an article highly critical of the Scientology movement. The Warsaw Pact was officially dissolved in Prague, Czechoslovakia. In West Germany, the Bundestag voted to move the capital from Bonn to Berlin. Are you interested in odd facts?
Major crimes in 1991
A video captured the beating of motorist Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers. Four Los Angeles police officers were indicted on March 15, 1991, for this beating. John Leonard Orr, one of the most prolific serial arsonists of the 20th century, was arrested in California. USA boxer Mike Tyson was arrested and charged with the rape, three days earlier, of Miss Black America contestant Desiree Washington in Indianapolis, Indiana. An army colonel of the Atlácatl Battalion was found guilty of the 1989 murders of six Jesuits. 23 people were killed at a Luby’s restaurant in Killeen, Texas after George Hennard drove his truck through the establishment and began firing at diners. It became the deadliest mass shooting in USA history and wouldn’t be surpassed until the Virginia Tech shooting. In the Netherlands, thieves stole a lion from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. They were found in an abandoned car near the museum less than an hour later. The USA Department of Justice announced that Exxon had agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Alan Fiers agreed to plead guilty to two charges of lying to the USA Congress. Later, Judge Gerhard Gesell issued a ruling clearing Col. Oliver North of all charges. In New York City, a grand jury indicted Bank of Credit and Commerce International of the largest bank fraud in history, accusing the bank of defrauding depositors of $5 billion. American and British authorities announced indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103. Do you follow crime cases?
Celebrity deaths in 1991
Queen singer Freddie Mercury (1946-1991) died in London from AIDS induced pneumonia. In an unrelated incident, Kiss drummer Eric Carr (1950-1991) died from heart cancer. Robert Maxwell (1923-1991) was a British media proprietor, Member of Parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Klaus Kinski (1926-1991) was a German actor, who appeared in more than 130 films. Yves Montand (1921-1991) was a French actor and singer. Michael Landon (1936-1991) was an American actor, writer, director, singer and producer. Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991) was an American children’s author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, and filmmaker, known as Dr. Seuss. Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, author, filmmaker and actor. Gene Tierney (1920-1991) was an American film and stage actress. Cassandra Harris (1948-1991) was an Australian actress. Bernie Winters (1930-1991) was an English comedian and the comic foil of the double act Mike and Bernie Winters. Lee Remick (1935-1991) was an American actress and singer. Jean Arthur (1900-1991) was an American film and theater actor whose career began in silent films. David Ruffin (1941–1991) was an American singer with the Temptations. Redd Foxx (1922–1991) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Miles Davis (1926–1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Steve Marriott (1947-1991) was an English musician and songwriter. Webb Pierce (1921-1991) was an American honky-tonk vocalist, songwriter and guitarist of the 1950s. Stephen Clark (1960-1991) was an English guitarist with Def Leppard. Diana Brewster (1931-1991) was an American TV actress. Tom Tryon (1926–1991) was an American actor and novelist. Nancy Kulp (1921-1991) was a TV actress. Johnny Thunders (1952–1991) was American guitarist and singer. Dottie West (1932-1991) was an American country music singer. Carol White (1943-1991) was an English actress. Vilma Bánky was a silent film actress (1901-1991). Oona Chaplin (1925-1991) was the wife of Sir Charles Chaplin. Natalie Schafer (1900-1991) was an American actress. Ken Curtis (1916–1991) was an American TV actor and singer. Joan Caulfield (1922-1991) was an American actress and former fashion model. James Franciscus (1934-1991) was an American actor. Heidi Brühl (1942–1991) was a German singer and actress. Fred MacMurray (1908–1991) was an American actor. Edwina Booth (1904-1991) was an actress. Coral Browne (1913-1991) was an Australian actress. Colleen Dewhurst (1924-1991) was a Canadian actress. Bert Convy (1933–1991) was an American actor, singer, game show panelist and host. Aldo Ray (1926-1991) was an American actor. Lilian Bond (1908–1991) was a British actress. Jean Rogers (1916-1991) was an actress. Brad Davis (1949–1991) was an American actor. Thalmus Rasulala (1939-1991) was an American actor. James Cleveland (1931-1991) was an American gospel singer, musician, and composer. Teddy Wilson (1943-1991) was an actor. John Russell (1921-1991) was an American actor. John McIntire (1907-1991) was an Actor. Tennessee Ernie Ford (1919-1991) was an American musician and television host. Stan Getz (1927-1991) was an American musician. Tony Richardson (1928-1991) was a British film director. Eleanor Audley (1905-1991) was an American actress. Walter Chiari (1924-1991) was an actor. Eva Le Gallienne (1899-1991) was a British actor. Viviane Romance (1912-1991) was a French actress. Mona Maris (1903-1991) was an Argentine actress. Gloria Holden (1903-1991) was an actress. Kevin Peter Hall (1955–1991) was an American actor. Eleanor Boardman (1898-1991) was an actress. Aline MacMahon (1899-1991) was an actress. Do you know anyone who died in 1991?
Man made disasters in 1991
In Sebokeng, South Africa, gunmen opened fire on mourners attending the funeral of an African National Congress leader, killing 45 people. At Sriperumbudur, India, a suicide bomber from LTTE attacked a political meeting, killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and at least 14 others. The Father’s Day Bank Massacre took place as four security guards were shot to death during a bank robbery at the United Bank Tower in Denver, Colorado. The person subsequently charged with the crime was acquitted, and the case remains unsolved. Forty people were taken hostage in Sacramento, California, as six gunmen and hostages were killed. The Provisional IRA launched a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting. The IRA exploded bombs in the early morning, at both Paddington station and Victoria station, in London. After 16 years in prison for allegedly bombing an English public house in a Provisional IRA attack, the “Birmingham Six” were freed when a court determined that the police fabricated evidence. Sri Lankan Army soldiers killed 152 civilians in Kokkadichcholai. An Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 helicopter carrying a 19-member peacekeeping mission team was shot down by Armenian military forces in the Khojavend District, Azerbaijan. Did you know that so many people got killed in 1991?
Disasters in 1991
USAir Flight 1493 collided with a Sky West Airlines Fairchild Metro Liner at Los Angeles International Airport, killing 34 people. USA Senator John Heinz and six other people were killed when a helicopter collided with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania. Former USA Senator John Tower and 22 others were killed in an airplane crash in Brunswick, Georgia. Lauda Air Boeing 767 crashed near Bangkok, Thailand, killing all 223 people on board. Nigeria Airways Flight 2120, a Douglas DC-8 operated by Canadian airline Nolisair, caught fire and crashed soon after takeoff from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing all 261 people on board. The Italian ferry Moby Prince collided with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy, resulting in 140 deaths with one survivor. A 6.4 Hindu Kush earthquake caused severe damage in northeast Afghanistan, leaving 848 dead and 200 injured. A 7.7 Limon earthquake struck Costa Rica and Panama with a maximum Mercalli intensity, causing between 47 and 87 deaths and up to 759 injuries. A tropical cyclone hit Bangladesh, killing an estimated 138,000 people. A series of 55 tornadoes broke out in the central USA, killing 21. The most notable tornado strikes were in Andover, Kansas. A 7.0 earthquake in Racha, Georgia, killed 270 people and left 100,000 others homeless. A 6.8 earthquake struck Uttarkashi, India, killing at least 768 people and destroying thousands of homes. In the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupted in the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century, with the final death toll exceeding 800. Mount Unzen in Japan erupted, killing 46 people as a result of pyroclastic flow. The cruise liner MTS Oceanos sank off the coast of South Africa, leading to the rescue of all 571 passengers on board. The Egyptian ferry Salem Express sank in the Red Sea, killing more than 450 people. A major collapse at the Emaswati Colliery in Swaziland trapped 26 miners 65 meters below the surface, but they were all rescued 30 hours later. Hurricane Bob hit North Carolina and New England, killing 17 people and causing $1.5 billion in damage. In Hamlet, North Carolina, a grease fire broke out at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant, killing 25 people. A large suburban firestorm, centered in Oakland Hills, California, killed 25 people and injured 150 others. The 1991 Perfect Storm struck the northeastern USA coast and Atlantic Canada, causing over $200 million of damage and resulting in 12 direct fatalities. A Halloween blizzard hit the USA Upper Midwest, killing 22 people and causing $100 million in damage. Tropical Storm Thelma caused flash floods in the Philippine city of Ormoc, killing more than 4,900 people. What is the worst disaster that you remember from 1991?
Great events of 1991
An attempted coup by the Tonton Macoute, a paramilitary force under former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, was thwarted in Haiti. The first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was sworn in. He was ousted on September 30 and later reinstated in 1994. In response to the coup, the USA expanded trade sanctions on Haiti to include all goods except food and medicine. Yugoslavia dissolved in 1991 into Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia with some serious battles. The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution opening the way for the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia. The Republic of Macedonia became independent, beginning a name dispute with Greece. The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) was formed in The Hague, the Netherlands. The Acid Rain Treaty of 1991 was signed between the American and Canadian governments. Édith Cresson became France’s first female prime minister. Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the USA Congress during a 13-day royal visit in Washington, D.C. Somaliland seceded from Somalia. The governments of Mauritania and Senegal signed a treaty ending the Mauritania–Senegal Border War, which had been fought since April 1989. USA President Bush and Soviet President Gorbachev signed START I in Moscow. Israel released 51 Arab prisoners and the bodies of nine guerrillas, paving the way for the release of the last western hostages in Lebanon. The Soviet Union announced plans to withdraw military and economic aid to Cuba. North Korea, South Korea, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands, and Micronesia joined the UN. Representatives of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front reached an agreement with the President of El Salvador, Alfredo Cristiani, setting the stage for the end of the war. USA President George Bush announced unilateral reductions in short-range nuclear weapons and called off 24-hour alerts for long-range bombers. The Soviet Union responded with similar unilateral reductions. Speaker of the USA House of Representatives Tom Foley announced the closure of the House Bank by the end of the year after revelations that House members misused it. Clarence Thomas was confirmed as the new USA Supreme Court Justice following Thurgood Marshall’s retirement. The Soviet Union restored its diplomatic relations with Israel, which had been suspended since the 1967 Six-Day War. China and Vietnam restored diplomatic relations after a 13-year rift which followed the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War. The North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NAC-C) met for the first time. The UN Security Council recommended Egypt’s deputy prime minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali to be the next Secretary-General of the UN. What do you think is the most important thing that happened in 1991?
The final end of the USSR in 1991
The official end of the USSR came in 1991. Various smaller countries dropped out of the Soviet Union so that the only country left was Russia. The Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia voted for independence in early 1991. Boris Yeltsin was elected President of the Russian SFSR in July. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was put under house arrest while vacationing in Crimea during an attempted coup. Gorbachev returned to Moscow three days later, and arrested the coup leaders. The Russian KGB was replaced by the SVR, with the KGB officially ending operations on November 6. In August, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Belarus, and Armenia declared their independence. In October and December, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan followed suit. In September, Tajikistan became independent and Leningrad returned to its former name, St. Petersburg. The Congress of the People’s Deputies of the Soviet Union self-dissolved in December. In the Białowieża Forest Nature Reserve in Belarus, the leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine signed an agreement officially ending the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States in its place. In December, Russian SFSR President Boris Yeltsin sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, declaring that Russia will be the succeeding country to the collapsing Soviet Union in the United Nations. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union, from which most republics had already seceded, anticipating the dissolving of the 69-year-old state. The Russian SFSR officially renamed itself the Russian Federation. The Supreme Soviet met for the last time, formally dissolved the Soviet Union, and adjourned sine die, ending the Cold War. All remaining Soviet institutions eventually ceased operation on December 31, 1991. By the end of 1991, there no longer was a Soviet Union. There was Russia with some Commonwealth independent states. Was the dissolution of the Soviet Union a good idea?
The ending of apartheid in South Africa
In South Africa, Nelson Mandela of the African National Congress was released from jail in February, 1991. The talks between Mandela and Mangosuthu Buthelezi of the Inkatha Freedom Party agreed to end violence between the two. The South African Parliament voted to repeal laws banning Black ownership of land. The European Economic Community lifted its economic sanctions on South Africa. The South African parliament repealed the Population Registration Act, which had required racial classification of all South Africans at birth. The International Olympic Committee readmitted South Africa to the Olympics. The following day, USA President Bush terminated the 1986-enacted USA sanctions on South Africa. The African National Congress led a general strike, demanding representation in the government and an end to the value-added tax. The apartheid system in South Africa was ended through a series of bilateral and multi-party negotiations between 1990 and 1993. The negotiations culminated in the passage of a new interim Constitution in 1993, a precursor to the Constitution of 1996. The process accelerated in 1990, when the government of F. W. de Klerk took a number of unilateral steps towards reform, including releasing Nelson Mandela from prison and unbanning the ANC and other political organizations. In 1990–91, bilateral “talks about talks” between the ANC and the government established the pre-conditions for substantive negotiations, codified in the Groote Schuur Minutes and Pretoria Minutes. The first multi-party agreement on the desirability of a negotiated settlement was the 1991 National Peace Accord, consolidated later that year by the establishment of the multi-party Convention for a Democratic South Africa. Apartheid was a system of racial discrimination and segregation by the South African government. It was formalized in 1948, forming a framework for political and economic dominance by the white population and severely restricting the political rights of the black majority. Between 1960 and 1990, the African National Congress and other mainly black opposition political organizations were banned. However, increasing local and international pressure on the government, as well as the realization that apartheid could neither be maintained by force forever nor overthrown by the opposition without considerable suffering, eventually led both sides to the negotiating table. The Tripartite Accord, which brought an end to the South African Border War in neighboring Angola and Namibia, created a window of opportunity to create the enabling conditions for a negotiated settlement. The Pretoria Minutes was followed in February 1991 by the D. F. Malan Accord. Finally, there was the National Peace Accord in September 1991 and the 1994 South African general election. In 1995, the government passed legislation mandating the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a restorative justice tribunal which over the next three years investigated human rights violations under apartheid. The final Constitution was negotiated by the Constitutional Assembly, working from principles contained in the interim Constitution, and was provisionally adopted in May 1996. Do you remember anything about apartheid?
