1992

1984–1994	UK [television]	Spitting Image, a programme satirizing contemporary politics using puppets created by Peter Fluck and Roger Law, is shown on British television.
1987–1993	UK [television]	French and Saunders, a comic sketch series starring comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, is shown on British television.
1988–1994	USA [ecology]	The amount of chlorofluorocarbons released into the air in the USA is reduced by 52%.
1992	England [art]	The English artist Damian Hirst creates The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, a shark preserved in a tank of formaldehyde.
1992	Somalia [famines]	A famine in Somalia kills more than 300,000 people.
1992	USA [family planning]	The US company Pharmacal launches Femidom, a female condom originally developed for use in the developing world.
c. 1992	Belgium [clothing and fashion]	The Belgian fashion designers Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, and Martin Margiela ‘deconstruct’ fashion, producing a range of clothes in drab colours and often unfinished in appearance, in reaction against the over-designed fashions of the 1980s.
1992	USA [health and medicine]	The US biologist Philip Leder receives a patent for the first genetically engineered animal, the oncomouse, which is sensitive to carcinogens.
1992	Switzerland [health and medicine]	The Swiss medical company Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals launches Nicotinell, a nicotine patch for people who want to give up smoking, available over the counter.
1992	Australia [health and medicine]	In Sydney, Australia, Liesel Scholem becomes the first person to be awarded damages in compensation for passive smoking suffered in the workplace.
1992	UK, USA [everyday life]	The use of the drug ecstasy becomes increasingly popular at clubs and raves in the UK and the USA.
1992	UK [media and communication]	Orbitel Mobile Communications markets the first digital phone in Britain.
1992	USA [statistics and demography]	973,977 people immigrate to and settle in the USA.
1992	Japan, Netherlands [media and communication]	The electronics companies Matsushita and Philips launch the Digital Compact Cassette.
1992	USA [music]	Music compact discs begin to outsell cassettes in the USA.
1992	USA [plays]	The play Oleanna, by the US writer David Mamet, is first performed in New York City.
11 January - 12 January 1992	Algeria [political events]	President Chadli Benjedid of Algeria resigns as armed forces take control to thwart electoral victory by the Islamic Salvation Front. The High Security Council cancels the second round of elections on 12 January.
12 March 1992	Mauritius [decolonization]	Mauritius becomes a republic within the British Commonwealth.
19 March 1992	UK [everyday life]	The British royal family announces the separation of the Duke and Duchess of York, who were married in 1986.
22 March 1992	Albania [elections]	The opposition Democrat Party in Albania wins an absolute majority in general elections, ending 45 years of communist rule.
7 April 1992	Europe, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Yugoslavia [Balkan conflicts (c. 1991–2000)]	The European Community formally recognizes the independence of the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina; fighting escalates as the Yugoslav federal air force aids Serb forces.
12 April 1992	France [everyday life]	The theme park EuroDisney (later Disneyland Paris) opens at Marne-la-Vallée, just outside Paris, France. Development has cost $4.5 billion.
23 April 1992	UK [everyday life]	Princess Anne, the Princess Royal of Britain, is granted a divorce from Captain Mark Phillips.
12 May 1992	USA [Protestantism]	The General Conference of the United Methodist Church declares that homosexual behaviour conflicts with Christian teachings.
3 June - 14 June 1992	Brazil [United Nations]	The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development is held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is attended by delegates from 178 countries, most of whom sign binding conventions to combat global warming and to preserve biodiversity (the latter is not signed by the USA).
24 June 1992	USA [legislation]	The US Supreme Court opens the way for damage suits by cigarette smokers against the tobacco companies when it rules that the warning labels on cigarette packages do not exempt the manufacturers from lawsuits.
1 July 1992	USA [Catholicism]	The Roman Catholic Church orders its US bishops to oppose any laws that promote the public acceptance of homosexuality.
24 August 1992	USA [natural disasters]	Hurricane Andrew strikes the coast of south Florida, killing 38 people and leaving about 250,000 people without homes and causing $30 billion of property damage. Insurance claims make this the most expensive natural disaster in US history.
27 August 1992	USA, UK, France, Iraq [wars]	The USA, Britain, and France impose an air exclusion zone in southern Iraq to protect Shiite Muslims from air attacks by the forces of the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
28 August 1992	USA [natural disasters]	Typhoon Omar strikes Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, damaging about one-eighth of the island's 32,000 homes.
7 September 1992	UK [media and communication]	A radio station dedicated to playing classical music, Classic FM, is launched in Britain. It is the first national commercial radio station based on the mainland.
20 September 1992	France [treaties]	A French referendum produces a vote narrowly (51.04%) in favour of ratification of the Maastricht Treaty on European, as agreed in the Netherlands on 10 December 1991.
25 September 1992	USA [social legislation]	A court in Orlando, Florida allows a 12-year-old boy to divorce his parents, permitting him to be adopted by his foster parents as he wishes. His natural parents had demanded custody.
November 1992	UK [media and communication]	The Japanese electronics company Sony launches the Mini Disc in Britain. It is 6.4 cm/2.5 in in diameter, and holds 74 minutes of music.
November 1992	USA [information technology]	The US national on-line information service Delphi becomes the first national US service to open a gateway to the Internet.
1 November 1992	France [health and medicine]	Smoking is banned in all public places in France. The ban is generally ignored.
7 November 1992	USA [elections]	Bill (William Jefferson) Clinton (Democrat), the governor of Arkansas, wins the US presidential election with 370 electoral college votes. President George Bush (Republican) gains 168 electoral votes and H Ross Perot (Independent) fails to win any, although he takes 19% of the popular vote. In the Congressional elections the Democrats retain control of both chambers.
9 December 1992	UK [political events]	The separation of Charles and Diana, Prince and Princess of Wales, is announced in Britain.