1994

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.
1988–1994	USA [ecology]	The amount of chlorofluorocarbons released into the air in the USA is reduced by 52%.
1994	UK [fiction]	The British writer Louis de Bernières publishes his novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin.
1994	[maths]	The English mathematician Andrew Wiles proves Fermat's last theorem, a problem that had remained unsolved since 1637.
1994	UK [media and communication]	British Telecom starts trials of a dial-a-video facility, which supplies films down telephone lines to homes.
1994	USA [medicine]	Trials using transfusions of artificial blood begin in the USA. The blood contains genetically engineered haemoglobin.
1994	Ethiopia [archaeology]	Bones of the earliest known human ancestor, a hominid named Australopithecus ramidus, are found in Ethiopia and dated at 4.4 million years old.
1994	USA, France [cinema and film]	The film Pulp Fiction, directed by Quentin Tarantino, is released in the USA, starring John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, and Harvey Keitel. It is awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
1994	world [computing]	The World Wide Web, a computer network that allows users to utilize graphical interfaces through Web ‘browsers’, makes the Internet much more accessible to general users and permits a freedom of information distribution not previously possible.
1994	USA, Europe [social customs]	Piercing of noses, navels, tongues, lips, and even nipples becomes increasingly popular in the USA and Europe.
1994	USA [popular music]	Woodstock 94 takes place in New York State. A commemoration of the original Woodstock concert 25 years before, it features acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, and Joe Cocker.
1994	UK [popular music]	The British rock group Blur releases the album Parklife.
1994	UK [popular music]	The British rock group Oasis releases the album Definitely Maybe.
1994	UK [popular music]	The British progressive rock group Pink Floyd releases the album The Division Bell.
1994	USA [popular music]	The US rock group REM releases the album Monster.
1994	USA [statistics and demography]	Of the 804,000 people who immigrate to the USA, 161,000 come from Europe, 293,000 come from Asia, 272,000 come from North America, and 47,000 come from South America.
1 January 1994	Europe [political events]	The second stage of economic and monetary union in Europe comes into force with the establishment of the European Economic Area, incorporating European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members (except Switzerland and Liechtenstein) into the European Union (EU) free market.
6 February 1994	USA [births and deaths]	Jack Kirby, US comic book artist who created over 400 characters including Spiderman, the Incredible Hulk, and Captain America, dies in Thousand Oaks, California (76).
18 March 1994	Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia [Balkan conflicts (c. 1991–2000)]	Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia sign an accord on the creation of a federation of Bosnian Muslims and Croats.
24 March 1994	Somalia [political events]	The warring factions of General Muhammad Farah Aidid and President Ali Mahdi Muhammad in Somalia sign a peace agreement following United Nations-sponsored negotiations; US troops withdraw the following day.
6 April 1994	Rwanda, Burundi [transport disasters]	The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira, are killed in an air crash; interethnic violence erupts on a huge scale.
10 April - 11 April 1994	Bosnia-Herzegovina, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia [Balkan conflicts (c. 1991–2000)]	NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) makes air strikes on Serbian posts near the United Nations (UN) ‘safe area’ of Goradze in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but subsequently (17 April) Goradze falls to Serb forces.
22 April 1994	USA [births and deaths]	Richard M(ilhous) Nixon, 37th president of the USA 1969–74, a Republican, the first president to resign, dies in New York City (81).
May 1994	USA [food and drink]	The first genetically engineered food goes on sale in California and Chicago, Illinois. The ‘Flavr Savr’ tomato is produced by the US biotechnology company Calgene.
1 May 1994	Italy [births and deaths]	Ayrton Senna, Brazilian racing car driver, is killed at Imola, Italy, when his car crashes during the San Marino Grand Prix (34).
9 May 1994	Armenia, Azerbaijan [political events]	A ceasefire is established in Nagorno-Karabakh (an Armenian-populated enclave in Azerbaijan), with the support of an international peace-keeping force.
10 May 1994	South Africa [political events]	Nelson Mandela is sworn in as the first black president of South Africa. A new cabinet is formed the following day, including representatives from all four racial groups into which the population had been divided under the apartheid system.
13 May 1994	Israel [political events]	Israel withdraws its military forces from the Jericho area of the occupied West Bank to make way for self-rule by the Palestinian National Authority, as agreed in Washington, DC, in September 1993; five days later, on 18 May, Israeli military forces are withdrawn from the Gaza Strip.
June 1994	Netherlands, Japan [media and communication]	The Dutch electronics company Philips launches films on DVD (digital versatile disk), using technology developed jointly by Philips and Japanese electronics company Sony.
1 June 1994	South Africa [political events]	South Africa rejoins the British Commonwealth.
23 June 1994	France, Rwanda [political events]	France sends troops into Rwanda to protect refugees and support the humanitarian effort, following difficulties in establishing an international force.
8 July 1994	North Korea [births and deaths]	Kim Il Sung, Korean dictator 1948–94, dies in Pyongyang, North Korea (82).
9 July 1994	China, Hong Kong [political events]	The government of the People's Republic of China announces that the British colony of Hong Kong's legislative council will be terminated on China's resumption of sovereignty in 1997; it rejects the reform package approved in the colony on 30 June.
18 July 1994	Rwanda [political events]	The Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front claims victory in the Rwandan civil war; the following day, Pasteur Bizimungu assumes the presidency, with Hutu Faustin Twogiramunga as prime minister.
25 July 1994	Jordan, Israel, USA [treaties]	King Hussein of Jordan and Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, sign a joint declaration in Washington, DC, formally ending conflict between them (on 26 October a peace treaty is signed in a desert ceremony on the border between Jordan and Israel).
11 August 1994	Cuba, USA [political events]	President Fidel Castro of Cuba lifts restrictions on those wishing to leave Cuba, provoking a major exodus from the island; by the end of August, 20,000 people have left. On 19 August the US president Bill Clinton removes automatic refugee status for Cubans fleeing to the USA (and on 9 September restrictions on departures are reintroduced after agreement is reached between Cuba and the USA).
31 August 1994	Northern Ireland, UK [terrorism]	The Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Northern Ireland announces its complete cessation of violence (the British government lifts its broadcasting ban on representatives of Sinn Fein on 16 September).
22 September 1994	USA [television]	The comedy Friends begins on US television. Based on the lives of six young friends in New York City, it stars Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Perry, Matt Le Blanc, and David Schwimmer.
22 September 1994	USA [television]	The medical drama ER begins on US television, starring George Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Noah Wyle, Eriq La Salle, and Julianna Margulies.
October 1994	North America, Central America, South America [medicine]	The Pan American Health Organization declares the Americas to be free of polio.
21 October 1994	USA, North Korea [political events]	The USA reaches an agreement with North Korea over its nuclear programme; North Korea agrees to submit to regular inspections, while the USA agrees to finance the modernization of North Korea's domestic nuclear industry and give it diplomatic recognition.
9 November 1994	Sri Lanka [political events]	Prime Minister Chandrika Kumoratunga becomes the first woman president of Sri Lanka; her mother, Sirima Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, takes over as prime minister.
19 November 1994	UK [gambling and lotteries]	The National Lottery, the first regular British national lottery, is launched, under government control and run by Camelot. It is the largest lottery in the world.
11 December 1994	Russia, Chechnya [political events]	Russian forces invade the breakaway republic of Chechnya.