ABSTRACT
In 1992, the constituent parts of Yugoslavia started to break up and form independent nations, leading to instability and war in the region. In a gesture soon reciprocated by George H. W. Bush, Boris Yeltsin announced that the Soviet Union would cease to target with nuclear weapons cities in the United States and in countries friendly to the United States; this eventually led to a mutual declaration by the two governments of the end of the Cold War. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and the Maastricht Treaty (which created the European Union) were signed by government leaders. White South Africans voted to approve reforms proposed by President F. W. De Klerk to end apartheid, which had been the law of the land for over forty years. Widespread riots in Los Angeles followed the acquittal of four police officers who had been videotaped beating black man Rodney King. The Twenty-Seventh Amendment of the US Constitution, having to do with Congressional pay, became law. The end of an era, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson had its final show. Sparking great controversy, Sinéad O’Connor, during a Saturday Night Live episode, tore a picture with the likeness of Pope John Paul II on it after having sung a song in protest of child abuse by the Catholic Church. The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was laid out in Washington, DC, to honor the memories of those who died from AIDS and to call national attention to the condition. A march of coal miners was organized in London to the ruling Conservative Party’s plans to shutter a number of mines and make many miners redundant.
