1991 History, Facts, and Trivia

In 1991, the Cold War ended, the Soviet Union dissolved, and a coalition of nations fought a 100-hour ground war that liberated Kuwait. Nirvana released Nevermind and the sound of popular music shifted so quickly that albums recorded the week before sounded like artifacts from another era. Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested. The World Wide Web became publicly available. Bryan Adams spent sixteen weeks at number one. It was the kind of year that makes subsequent years feel quieter by comparison, though few of them actually were.

Quick Facts from 1991

• World-Changing Event: Operation Desert Storm — a UN coalition led by the United States expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait in a 42-day air campaign followed by a 100-hour ground war; the Soviet Union formally dissolved on December 25-26, 1991, ending the Cold War
• Top Song: (Everything I Do) I Do It for You by Bryan Adams, the best-performing single of the year on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100, spending 16 weeks at number one — the longest run in chart history at that time
• Influential Songs: Summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Black or White by Michael Jackson, Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
• Must-See Movies: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Beauty and the Beast, The Silence of the Lambs, Boyz n the Hood, City Slickers, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Father of the Bride
• Most Famous Person in America: Michael Jordan, whose Chicago Bulls won their first NBA championship and whose cultural presence was already extending well beyond basketball
• People’s Sexiest Man Alive: Patrick Swayze
• Notable Books: I Spy: A Book of Picture Riddles by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick, and The Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin, George Perez, and Ron Lim
• Federal Minimum Wage: Increased from $3.80 to $4.25 per hour on April 1
• Price of a Postage Stamp: 29 cents
• Super Nintendo: $199.98
• The Funny Guy: Andrew “Dice” Clay
• Doomsday Clock: 17 minutes to midnight — the furthest from midnight the Clock had been set since its creation in 1947, reflecting the end of the Cold War and significant nuclear arms reductions
• The Habit: Listening to Nirvana’s Nevermind and trying to explain to your parents what grunge was
• The Conversation: Did you watch the Gulf War on CNN? And have you heard this Nirvana record?

Top Ten Baby Names of 1991

Girls: Ashley, Jessica, Brittany, Amanda, Samantha Boys: Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua, Andrew

Ashley remained at the top for girls. Michael held its position for boys — a run that dated back to the mid-1950s and showed no signs of ending. Christopher had been in the top five consistently since the 1960s.

Fashion Icons and Sex Symbols of 1991

Elle Macpherson

Hollywood Hunks and Leading Men of 1991

Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze’s presence on this list in 1991 reflected the continued cultural afterlife of Ghost (1990) and Point Break (1991). Swayze had become one of the most recognizable leading men in Hollywood. Gérard Depardieu, the French actor who had appeared in over 100 films, received his greatest American exposure in 1991 with Green Card and Cyrano de Bergerac.

The Quotes

“Good morning.” — Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, the actual line spoken when Lecter first addresses Clarice Starling. The misquote “Hello Clarice” became so embedded in popular culture that it is now more famous than what Lecter actually said, which is not how most actors prefer to be remembered, but is, at least, memorable

“A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” — Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, in The Silence of the Lambs, a line delivered with a hissing sound that became one of the most imitated in cinema history

“I crap bigger than you.” — Jack Palance as Curly in City Slickers, establishing a character philosophy that required no further elaboration

“Hasta la vista, baby.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a line that became the film’s defining catchphrase and that Schwarzenegger has been asked to repeat at every public appearance since

“The few, the proud, the Marines.” — United States Marine Corps recruiting, one of the most effective advertising slogans in American military history

Time Magazine’s Man of the Year

Ted Turner, for founding CNN and demonstrating the potential of 24-hour cable news — a potential that became undeniable when CNN’s live coverage of Operation Desert Storm gave the network a global audience it had never previously commanded. CNN’s correspondents reporting from Baghdad while bombs fell made television history and made Turner a figure of genuine cultural influence. It also established the template of continuous live news coverage that subsequent networks would attempt to replicate.

Miss America and Miss USA

Miss America: Marjorie Vincent, Oak Park, Illinois — the second Black woman to win Miss America
Miss USA: Kelli McCarty, Kansas

We Lost in 1991

Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, whose voice was among the most remarkable in rock history and whose stage presence had made the band’s 1985 Live Aid performance one of the most celebrated in the history of rock concerts, died November 24, 1991, at age 45, of bronchial pneumonia as a complication of AIDS. He had publicly acknowledged his diagnosis the day before his death, releasing a statement confirming what had been widely speculated for months. Queen had continued recording; Innuendo, released in February 1991, was their final studio album with Mercury. The music video for These Are the Days of Our Lives, filmed months before his death, showed visibly how ill he had become. He looks directly into the camera at the end and says, “I still love you.” The video received enormous airplay after his death.

Redd Foxx, the comedian and actor whose portrayal of Fred Sanford in Sanford and Son had made him one of the most beloved figures in American television comedy, died on October 11, 1991, on the set of his new series, The Royal Family, of a heart attack. His castmates and crew initially assumed it was part of his act, as Foxx was famous for performing fake heart attacks in the style of his Sanford and Son character. By the time they realized it was real, the delay had cost crucial minutes. He was 68.

Miles Davis, the jazz musician and composer who had shaped the direction of jazz through bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, and fusion across five decades, died September 28, 1991, at age 65, of pneumonia, respiratory failure, and stroke. His 1959 album Kind of Blue remains the best-selling jazz album in history. He had continued performing until shortly before his death.

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, died October 24, 1991, at age 70. He had created the original series in 1966 and had seen it grow from a canceled network show into a cultural institution that, by 1991, had generated four film sequels, a celebrated animated series, and The Next Generation, which was in its fifth season. His ashes were eventually carried into space on a 1997 satellite mission.

Dr. Seuss, born Theodor Seuss Geisel, the author and illustrator whose books had shaped the reading lives of generations of American children, died September 24, 1991, at age 87. His 1957 How the Grinch Stole Christmas and 1957 The Cat in the Hat remained in print and in continuous use in American classrooms. Oh, the Places You’ll Go, published in January 1990, was on the bestseller list throughout 1991 as a graduation gift.

America in 1991 — The Context

Operation Desert Storm began January 17, 1991, when coalition forces commenced an air campaign against Iraqi military targets following Iraq’s refusal to withdraw from Kuwait, which it had invaded in August 1990. The air campaign lasted 42 days. The ground war began on February 24 and lasted 100 hours. Iraqi forces were expelled from Kuwait. President Bush declared a ceasefire on February 28. The operation was conducted by a 35-nation coalition and was notable for the precision of its air strikes, the speed of the ground campaign, and the extensive live television coverage provided primarily by CNN, whose correspondents reported from Baghdad throughout the bombing.

The decision not to advance to Baghdad and remove Saddam Hussein from power was made deliberately by President Bush and his advisors, who believed it would fracture the coalition and lead to an occupation with no clear exit. The argument was made again in 2003, when a different Bush administration reached a different conclusion.

The Soviet Union formally dissolved on December 25-26, 1991, when Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of a country that no longer existed. The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic had already declared sovereignty. The remaining republics had declared independence throughout the year. The red flag over the Kremlin was lowered for the last time and replaced with the Russian tricolor. Boris Yeltsin had been elected president of Russia in June. The Cold War, which had defined American foreign policy, military spending, and cultural anxiety for 45 years, was over.

The Doomsday Clock was set to 17 minutes to midnight in 1991, the furthest from midnight in its history, reflecting the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty signed by the United States and the Soviet Union and the genuine reduction in nuclear tension that accompanied the Cold War’s end. It has not been that long since midnight.

Pete Rose was officially banned from Hall of Fame consideration by a vote of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s board of directors in February 1991, confirming his permanent ineligibility following his 1989 ban from baseball for gambling. Rose had broken Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record in 1985 and remained, statistically, one of the most accomplished players in the game’s history. Whether his accomplishments should be separated from his conduct has been debated ever since.

Nirvana and the Sound of a Generation

Nevermind, Nirvana’s second album, was released on September 24, 1991, on a budget of approximately $65,000, with initial expectations of modest sales. DGC Records initially pressed 50,000 copies. Within months, it had sold 300,000 and was climbing. By January 1992 it had displaced Michael Jackson’s Dangerous from the number one position on the Billboard 200. It eventually sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

The album’s release effectively ended the commercial dominance of hair metal and established alternative rock as the defining sound of the decade. Bands that had been charting before September 1991 found that the cultural context had shifted around them with unusual speed. Rolling Stone gave the album three stars in its original review. It has since been elevated to five stars and ranked among the greatest albums ever made — a revision that says as much about the nature of critical consensus as it does about the album.

Smells Like Teen Spirit, the lead single, was named after Teen Spirit, a deodorant brand, because Kurt Cobain’s then-girlfriend wore it, and a friend spray-painted “Kurt smells like Teen Spirit” on his wall. Cobain reportedly did not know that “Teen Spirit” was a deodorant when he wrote the song title.

The World Wide Web Goes Public

Tim Berners-Lee had proposed the concept of a global hypertext system in 1989 while working at CERN in Geneva, calling it “The Information Mine” before settling on the World Wide Web. The first website went live in December 1990. In 1991, the Web became publicly available outside CERN for the first time, making it accessible to universities and research institutions worldwide.

Berners-Lee declined to patent the technology, a decision he later described as the most important he ever made: had he patented it, the web would never have proliferated as it did. He has estimated that the decision cost him billions of dollars in potential royalties and has expressed no regret. The web went on to become the foundational infrastructure of the modern economy.

Pop Culture Facts and History

Terminator 2: Judgment Day, directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was released on July 3, 1991, and became the highest-grossing film of the year, earning $519 million worldwide. Its visual effects — particularly the liquid metal T-1000 character — were so far beyond anything previously seen that they effectively established a new standard for computer-generated imagery in live-action film. The film cost $102 million, the most expensive ever made at that time, and returned five times its production budget.

Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s animated film directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, became the first animated film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, nominated at the 64th ceremony in March 1992. Angela Lansbury, who voiced Mrs. Potts, recorded Beauty and the Beast in a single take after initially being reluctant due to concerns about her singing voice. The song was nominated for Best Original Song and won.

Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested on July 22, 1991, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after a potential victim escaped and led police to Dahmer’s apartment, where evidence of 17 murders was found. Dahmer had killed 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, in some cases engaging in cannibalism and necrophilia. He was convicted of 15 murders in Wisconsin in 1992 and sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms. He was killed by a fellow prisoner in 1994.

The Gulf War was the first war broadcast live on television. CNN’s Peter Arnett, Bernard Shaw, and John Holliman reported from Baghdad as bombs fell around them on the night of January 17, describing what they could hear and see while unable to transmit video. The phrase “the first television war” had previously been applied to the Vietnam War; the Gulf War established a new standard of immediacy that fundamentally changed how the public experienced military conflict.

I Spy: A Book of Picture Riddles, published in 1992 but developed from a concept conceived in 1991, became one of the best-selling children’s books in American history, launching a series that has sold over 150 million copies. The books asked readers to find hidden objects in richly detailed photographs — a concept that proved endlessly engaging and required no technology to operate, which is still going for it.

Soviet cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev was aboard the Mir space station when the Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991. He had been sent up as a Soviet citizen and had no country to return to. Mission control in what was now Russia eventually negotiated his return; he landed in March 1992 after 311 days in space. Reports that the military had considered issuing a desertion warrant are confirmed by Russian accounts, though the warrant was never formally issued. Krikalev, who had gone up representing one nation and came down representing another, later became a cosmonaut for the Russian Federation and flew five more missions.

The For Dummies series launched in 1991 with DOS for Dummies, conceived after IDG Books editor Dan Gookin overheard a customer in a computer store asking if there was a book “about DOS for dummies like me.” The series has since grown to over 2,500 titles across virtually every subject category. The assumption embedded in the title — that readers deserved accessible, unpretentious explanation rather than intimidating expertise — was novel in 1991 and remains useful.

America’s best-selling vehicle in 1991 was the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, a red-and-yellow plastic ride-on toy car that sold approximately 500,000 units — more than any actual automobile model. It has since sold over 10 million units and is among the best-selling vehicles in American history.

Michael Jackson’s Black or White, released November 11, 1991, debuted at number one in 20 countries simultaneously, a record at the time. The music video, which premiered on Fox, MTV, BET, and VH1 simultaneously and was watched by approximately 500 million people worldwide, featured a “morphing” sequence that used then-cutting-edge computer technology to dissolve one face into another. The extended version of the video, aired once and then edited for all subsequent broadcasts, showed Jackson destroying a car in what was interpreted as a reference to racial violence.

The Tailhook Association convention held in Las Vegas in September 1991 became the subject of a major military scandal after 83 women and 7 men reported being sexually assaulted by Navy and Marine Corps aviators in the hallway of the Las Vegas Hilton. The subsequent investigation implicated over 300 officers. Several senior Navy officials resigned. The scandal prompted significant changes in the Navy’s policies on sexual harassment and the integration of women into combat roles.

Dolly Parton launched the Buddy Program in Sevierville, Tennessee, in 1991, offering seventh and eighth-grade students $500 each if they graduated from high school. The high school dropout rate in her hometown had been above 30 percent. For the classes that participated in the program, it dropped to 6 percent. The program has been replicated in communities across the country and evolved into the Dollywood Foundation, which has since distributed millions of free books to children through the Imagination Library initiative.

Nobel Prize Winners in 1991

Physics was awarded to Pierre-Gilles de Gennes of France for discovering that methods developed for studying order phenomena in simple systems can be generalized to more complex forms of matter, in particular to liquid crystals and polymers — work that underpins the technology behind LCD screens.

Chemistry was awarded to Richard Ernst of Switzerland for his contributions to the methodology of high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the technique underlying MRI.

Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann for their discoveries concerning the function of single ion channels in cell membranes, which revealed how cells communicate electrically and opened new approaches to understanding nervous system disorders.

Literature went to Nadine Gordimer of South Africa, who, through her magnificent epic writing, has — in the words of Alfred Nobel — been of very great benefit to humanity. Gordimer had written about apartheid South Africa throughout her career; the award came one year after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison and as South Africa was negotiating its transition to democracy.

Peace was awarded to Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma for her nonviolent struggle for democracy and human rights. Suu Kyi had been under house arrest since 1989. She was unable to travel to Oslo to accept the prize. Her subsequent history, including her eventual release, her government’s treatment of the Rohingya minority, and her second period of imprisonment following a 2021 military coup, has complicated her legacy considerably.

Economics went to Ronald Coase for his discovery and clarification of the significance of transaction costs and property rights for the institutional structure and functioning of the economy — work that produced the Coase theorem and influenced the economic analysis of law, contracts, and corporate organization.

1991 Toys and Christmas Gifts

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys and action figures remained dominant. The original Super Soaker water gun — invented by NASA engineer Lonnie Johnson while experimenting with a heat pump in his bathroom — was among the season’s most-wanted items. K’Nex construction sets and the early version of the CD-ROM adventure game Myst rounded out a season that was competitive for toy dollars.

Broadway in 1991

Miss Saigon, the Cameron Mackintosh musical based on Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and set during the Vietnam War, opened April 11, 1991, at the Broadway Theatre and ran until January 28, 2001, completing 4,092 performances. The show won three Tony Awards and starred Lea Salonga, who had originated the role in London. The casting of British actor Jonathan Pryce as the Engineer — a Eurasian character — had been the subject of significant protest from Asian American performers’ groups before the opening; Actors’ Equity Association initially refused to allow Pryce to reprise the role on Broadway, then reversed its position.

Best Film Oscar Winner

Dances with Wolves, directed by and starring Kevin Costner, won Best Picture at the 63rd Academy Awards on March 25, 1991, for the 1990 film year. Costner won Best Director. The film was a three-hour epic Western told largely from the perspective of the Lakota Sioux, featuring significant portions of dialogue in Lakota with English subtitles — an unusual approach for a Hollywood studio release. It won seven Oscars in total.

The Silence of the Lambs, released February 14, 1991, won the five major Academy Awards — Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay — at the 64th ceremony in March 1992, making it only the third film in history to achieve that sweep. This made 1991 unusual in that one of its most acclaimed films collected its awards the following year, which is worth noting to avoid confusion.

1991 Entries to the National Film Registry

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Chinatown (1974)
City Lights (1931),
Frankenstein (1931)
Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)
King Kong (1933)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Out of the Past (1947)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Sherlock Jr. (1924)

Top Movies of 1991

1. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
2. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
3. Beauty and the Beast
4. The Silence of the Lambs
5. City Slickers
6. Hook
7. The Addams Family
8. Sleeping with the Enemy
9. Father of the Bride
10. The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear

Terminator 2 was the dominant film of the year in both box office and cultural impact. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner, was the second-highest-grossing film of the year and launched Bryan Adams’s (Everything I Do) I Do It for You, which spent more weeks at number one than any other single in chart history to that point. The Silence of the Lambs was released in February and had earned $130 million by the time it began its awards campaign. Hook, Steven Spielberg’s reimagining of Peter Pan with Robin Williams, was anticipated as one of the year’s major events and received a mixed reception that its supporters have spent three decades contesting.

Most Popular TV Shows of 1991

1. 60 Minutes (CBS)
2. Roseanne (ABC)
3. Murphy Brown (CBS)
4. Cheers (NBC)
5. Home Improvement (ABC)
6. Designing Women (CBS)
7. Full House (ABC)
8. Murder, She Wrote (CBS)
9. Major Dad (CBS)
10. Coach (ABC)

Cheers was in its ninth season and preparing for its final run. Home Improvement had premiered in September 1991 and immediately climbed to the top of the ratings. Seinfeld, which had premiered in 1989 to modest numbers, was building the audience that would eventually make it the most-watched show on television. The Simpsons had been on the air for two years and was redefining what animated television could do.

1991 Billboard Number One Hits

December 8, 1990 – January 4, 1991: Because I Love You (The Postman Song) — Stevie B (carryover from late 1990)
January 5 – January 18: Justify My Love — Madonna
January 19 – January 25: Love Will Never Do (Without You) — Janet Jackson
January 26 – February 8: The First Time — Surface
February 9 – February 22: Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) — C+C Music Factory featuring Freedom Williams
February 23 – March 8: All the Man That I Need — Whitney Houston March 9 – March 22: Someday — Mariah Carey
March 23 – March 29: One More Try — Timmy T.
March 30 – April 12: Coming Out of the Dark — Gloria Estefan
April 13 – April 19: I’ve Been Thinking About You — Londonbeat
April 20 – April 26: You’re in Love — Wilson Phillips
April 27 – May 10: Baby Baby — Amy Grant
May 11 – May 17: Joyride — Roxette
May 18 – May 24: I Like the Way (The Kissing Game) — Hi-Five
May 25 – June 7: I Don’t Wanna Cry — Mariah Carey
June 8 – June 14: More Than Words — Extreme
June 15 – July 19: Rush Rush — Paula Abdul (5 weeks)
July 20 – July 26: Unbelievable — EMF
July 27 – September 27: (Everything I Do) I Do It for You — Bryan Adams (16 weeks)
September 28 – October 4: The Promise of a New Day — Paula Abdul
October 5 – October 11: Good Vibrations — Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch featuring Loleatta Holloway
October 12 – November 1: Emotions — Mariah Carey
November 2 – November 8: Romantic — Karyn White
November 9 – November 22: Cream — Prince and the New Power Generation
November 23 – November 29: When a Man Loves a Woman — Michael Bolton
November 30 – December 6: Set Adrift on Memory Bliss — PM Dawn
December 7, 1991 – January 24, 1992: Black or White — Michael Jackson (carrying into 1992)

Bryan Adams’s “Everything I Do (I Do It for You)” spent 16 consecutive weeks at number one beginning in late July, the longest uninterrupted run on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time. The record was held until 1995. The song was recorded for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Adams reportedly did not want it released as a single, feeling it was too soft for his image. The record label prevailed. Mariah Carey had two separate number ones in 1991 — Someday in March and Emotions in October — continuing a run of commercial dominance that had begun with her debut in 1990. Michael Jackson’s Black or White closed the year and ran well into 1992.

Sports Champions of 1991

World Series: The Minnesota Twins defeated the Atlanta Braves four games to three in what is widely considered the greatest World Series ever played. Five of the seven games were decided in the final at-bat, three went to extra innings, and Games 6 and 7 were both won by 1-0 scores. Game 6 featured Kirby Puckett’s walk-off home run in the 11th inning, following his leaping catch at the wall in the third inning that had kept the Twins alive. Jack Morris pitched 10 shutout innings in Game 7, refusing to leave the mound. Both teams had finished last in their divisions the previous year.

Super Bowl XXV: The New York Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills 20-19 on January 27, 1991, in Tampa, in one of the most dramatic Super Bowls in history. Whitney Houston’s live performance of The Star-Spangled Banner before the game, with orchestral backing, as American troops were fighting in the Gulf War, has been widely cited as the greatest Super Bowl national anthem performance. The game was decided when Buffalo kicker Scott Norwood’s 47-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right with eight seconds remaining. Norwood never fully recovered from the moment. Running back Ottis Anderson, 34 years old, was named MVP.

NBA Champions: The Chicago Bulls defeated the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one, winning the first of what would become six championships under Phil Jackson with Michael Jordan. Jordan averaged 31.2 points per game in the series and was named Finals MVP. Magic Johnson, who had been the defining player of the 1980s, was on the other side of this series. The torch passed visibly.

Stanley Cup: The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Minnesota North Stars four games to two, winning their first championship. Mario Lemieux, despite missing significant portions of the playoffs due to a back injury that required him to miss games completely, was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner. Jaromir Jagr scored his first playoff goal and assisted on several others.

U.S. Open Golf: Payne Stewart won his first U.S. Open at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, defeating Scott Simpson in an 18-hole playoff. Stewart’s distinctive plus-fours and tam o’shanter cap made him one of the most visually recognizable figures on the PGA Tour.

U.S. Open Tennis: Stefan Edberg of Sweden won the men’s title, and Monica Seles won the women’s title, her second consecutive U.S. Open. Seles had dominated women’s tennis so completely that her rankings and statistics made historical comparisons difficult.

Wimbledon: Michael Stich of Germany won his only Grand Slam title, defeating Boris Becker in the final in four sets. Steffi Graf won the women’s title. Stich’s victory was considered a significant upset, as Becker had been the favorite.

NCAA Football: Miami and Washington shared the national championship for the 1991 season — Miami was named champion by the AP poll after an undefeated season, while Washington, also undefeated, was named champion by the coaches’ poll. Both teams had legitimate claims. The inability to resolve the question was one of the primary arguments for a playoff system, which college football did not implement for another two decades.

NCAA Basketball: Duke defeated Kansas 72-65 in the national championship game in Indianapolis. Christian Laettner scored 18 points in the final and was named Most Outstanding Player. It was the beginning of Duke’s back-to-back championship run.

Kentucky Derby: Strike the Gold, trained by Nick Zito, won in a time of 2:03. The horse was named after an arcade game. He finished third in the Preakness, ending Triple Crown speculation. It was Nick Zito’s first Kentucky Derby victory.

Frequently Asked Questions About 1991

Q: What was Operation Desert Storm?
A: A 35-nation coalition led by the United States launched air strikes against Iraqi military targets on January 17, 1991, following Iraq’s refusal to withdraw from Kuwait. The air campaign lasted 42 days. The ground war began on February 24 and lasted 100 hours. Iraqi forces were expelled from Kuwait, and a ceasefire was declared on February 28. The decision not to advance to Baghdad was deliberate; President Bush and his advisors concluded that doing so would fracture the coalition and result in an open-ended occupation.

Q: When did the Soviet Union officially end?
A: The Soviet Union formally dissolved on December 25-26, 1991, when Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president. The Soviet flag was lowered over the Kremlin and replaced with the Russian tricolor. The end of the Soviet Union effectively concluded the Cold War, which had defined international relations since 1947.

Q: What did Nirvana’s Nevermind do to popular music?
A: Nevermind, released September 24, 1991, displaced Michael Jackson’s Dangerous from the number one position on the Billboard 200 in January 1992 and effectively ended the commercial dominance of hair metal. The album shifted the cultural center of rock music from Los Angeles to Seattle and established alternative rock as the defining genre of the decade. Rolling Stone gave it three stars in 1991 and has since revised the rating to five.

Q: What was the World Wide Web in 1991?
A: Tim Berners-Lee had proposed a global hypertext information system in 1989 while at CERN and built the first website in 1990. In 1991, access to the Web was made publicly available outside CERN for the first time. Berners-Lee declined to patent the technology, a decision he has said was essential to its growth. Without the patent, the Web proliferated freely. With it, he has acknowledged, it might never have taken off.

Q: What happened with Jeffrey Dahmer?
A: Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested on July 22, 1991, in Milwaukee after a potential victim escaped and led police to his apartment. Evidence of 17 murders was found. Dahmer confessed to killing 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991 and was convicted of 15 murders in Wisconsin. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms and was killed by a fellow prisoner in November 1994.

Q: Why is the 1991 World Series considered the greatest ever played?
A: The Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves played seven games, five of which were decided in the final at-bat. Three went to extra innings. Games 6 and 7 were both won by scores of 1-0. Both teams had finished last in their divisions the previous year. Kirby Puckett hit a walk-off home run in the 11th inning of Game 6. Jack Morris pitched a 10-inning shutout in Game 7 and refused to be removed. The series is consistently ranked first in lists of the greatest World Series in baseball history.

In a year that ended the Cold War, began the internet as a public experience, launched a grunge album that changed radio forever, and produced what most baseball historians consider the greatest World Series ever played, 1991 had the unusual quality of feeling historic in real time. The Doomsday Clock moved to 17 minutes to midnight — the most optimistic reading in its history. It has not been that far from midnight since, which suggests that 1991 may have been, briefly, as good as it got.

More 1991 Facts and History Resources:

Most Popular Baby Names (BabyCenter.com)
Popular and Notable Books (popculture.us)
Broadway Shows that Opened in 1991X
1991 Calendar, courtesy of Time and Date.com
1991 Facts For Kids
Fact Monster
The Gulf War Halloween Blizzard of 1991
1990s, Infoplease.com World History
1991 in Movies (according to IMDB)
1991 Top Movies (according to BoxOfficeMojo)
The People’s History
Retrowaste Vintage Culture
1991 Soviet Coup Attempt
80s and 90s Classic NES Games (1985-1994)
1990 US Census Fast Facts
Wikipedia 1991
Breakup of Yugoslavia 1990-1992