1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year that started on a Tuesday. In the Gregorian calendar, it was the 1991st year of the Common Era, or of Anno Domini; the 991st year of the 2nd millennium; the 91st year of the 20th century; and the 2nd of the 1990s.
The year number was a palindrome, the following being in 2002.
Events of 1991
January
February
- February 1 – A USAir Boeing 737-300, Flight 1493 collides with a SkyWest Airlines Fairchild Metroliner, Flight 5569 at Los Angeles International Airport, killing 34.
- February 5 – A Michigan court bars Dr. Jack Kevorkian from assisting in suicides.
- February 7 – Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
- February 7 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.
- February 7 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Kuwait, thus starting the ground phase of the war.
- February 9 – Voters in Lithuania support independence.
- February 11 – UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organization, forms in The Hague, Netherlands.
- February 13 – Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy an underground bunker in Baghdad, killing hundreds of Iraqis. United States military intelligence claims it was a military facility but Iraqi officials identify it as a bomb shelter.
- February 15 – The Visegrad Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
- February 18 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes bombs in the early morning, at both Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
- February 22 – Gulf War: Iraq accepts a Russian-proposed cease fire agreement. The U.S. rejects the agreement, but says that retreating Iraqi forces will not be attacked if they leave Kuwait within 24 hours.
- February 23 – The One Meridian Plaza fire in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania kills 3 firefighters and destroys 8 floors of the building.
- February 23 – In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong deposes Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan in a bloodless coup d'état.
- February 25 – Gulf War: Part of an Iraqi Scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 29 and injuring 99 U.S. soldiers. It is the single, most devastating attack on U.S. forces during that war.
- February 26 – Gulf War: On Baghdad radio, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Iraqi soldiers set fire to Kuwaiti oil fields as they retreat.
March
- March–April – Iraqi forces suppress rebellions in the southern and northern parts of the country, creating a humanitarian disaster on the borders of Turkey and Iran.
- March 1 – The ballistic missile submarine USS-ex-Sam Houston SSBN-609 is deactivated.
- March 1 – Clayton Keith Yeutter finishes as the United States Secretary of Agriculture.
- March 3 – An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles, California police officers.
- March 3 – Latvia and Estonia vote for independence from the Soviet Union.
- March 3 – United Airlines Flight 585 crashes in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing all 25 people on board.
- March 9 – Massive demonstrations are held against Slobodan Milošević in Belgrade; 2 people are killed and tanks are in the streets.
- March 10 – Gulf War – Operation Phase Echo: 540,000 American troops begin to leave the Persian Gulf.
- March 11 – A curfew is imposed on black townships in South Africa, after fighting between rival political gangs kills 49.
- March 13 – The United States Department of Justice announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
- March 14 – After 16 years in prison for allegedly bombing a public house in a Provisional Irish Republican Army attack, the "Birmingham Six" are freed when a court determines that the police fabricated evidence.
- March 15 – Four Los Angeles, California police officers are indicted for the videotaped March 3 beating of motorist Rodney King during an arrest.
- March 15 – Germany formally regains complete independence after the 4 post-World War II occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union) relinquish all remaining rights.
- March 26 – In Mali, military officers led by Amadou Toumani Touré arrest President Moussa Traore and suspend the constitution.
- March 26 – Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay signed the Treaty of Asunción, establishing South Common Market (Mercosur its acronym in Spanish)
- March 30 – Northern Michigan University wins the NCAA Division I title in hockey, 8–7 in the third overtime against Boston University.
- March 31 – Albania has its first multi-party elections.
- March 31 – Georgian independence referendum, 1991: Georgia votes for independence from the Soviet Union.
April
- April 1 – Comedy Central is launched in its current format.
- April 3 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.N. Security Council passes the Cease Fire Agreement, Resolution 687. The Resolution calls for the destruction or removal of all of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, all stocks of agents and components, and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities for ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 km and production facilities; and for an end to its support for international terrorism. Iraq accepts the terms of the resolution on April 6.
- April 4 – Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and 6 others are killed when a helicopter collides with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania.
- April 4 – William Kennedy Smith, a nephew of U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, is identified as a suspect in an alleged Palm Beach, Florida sexual assault.
- April 5 – Former Senator John Tower and 22 others are killed in an airplane crash in Brunswick, Georgia, United States.
- April 9 – The Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
- April 10 – A South Atlantic tropical cyclone develops in the Southern Hemisphere off the coast of Angola (the first of its kind to be documented by weather satellites).
- April 10 – The Italian ferry Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy killing 140.
- April 14 – In the Netherlands, thieves steal 20 paintings worth $500 million from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Less than an hour later they are found in an abandoned car near the museum.
- April 15 – Inauguration of the EBRD.
- April 17 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 3,000 for the first time ever, at 3,004.46.
- April 18 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq declares some of its chemical weapons and materials to the UN, as required by Resolution 687, and claims that it does not have a biological weapons program.
- April 22 – The Social Democratic Party of Albania is founded.
- April 22 – A 7.6 earthquake kills 82 in Costa Rica and Panama.
- April 26 – 70 tornadoes break out in the central United States, killing 17. The most notable tornado of the day strikes Andover, Kansas.
- April 29 – A tropical cyclone hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 138,000 people.
May
June
July
August
- August 4 – The Cruise Liner MTS Oceanos sinks off the coast of South Africa and all 571 passengers onboard are safely evacuated.
- August 6 – Tim Berners-Lee announces the World Wide Web project and software on the alt.hypertext newsgroup.
- August 7 – Shapour Bakhtiar, former prime minister of Iran, is assassinated.
- August 8 – The Warsaw radio mast, the tallest construction ever built, collapses.
- August 13 – The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (or "Super Nintendo") is released in the United States.
- August 17 – Strathfield Massacre: In Sydney, Australia, taxi driver Wade Frankum shoots 7 people and injures 6 others before turning the gun on himself.
- August 19 – Collapse of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is put under house arrest while vacationing in the Crimea during a coup. The attempted coup, led by Vice President Gennady Yanayev and 7 hard-liners, collapses in less than 72 hours.
- August 20 – Collapse of the Soviet Union: Estonia declares its independence from the Soviet Union, and more than 100,000 people rally outside the Soviet Union's parliament building protesting the coup that deposed President Mikhail Gorbachev.
- August 21 – Collapse of the Soviet Union: Latvia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
- August 24 – Collapse of the Soviet Union: Ukraine declares independence from Soviet Union.
- August 25 – Student Linus Torvalds posts messages to Usenet newsgroup comp.os.minix about the new operating system kernel he has been developing.
- August 25 – Collapse of the Soviet Union: Belarus declares independence from Soviet Union.
- August 27 – Collapse of the Soviet Union: Moldova declares independence from the Soviet Union.
- August 29 – Maronite general Michel Aoun leaves Lebanon via a French ship into exile.
- August 30 – Collapse of the Soviet Union: Azerbaijan declares independence from Soviet Union.
- August 31 – Collapse of the Soviet Union: Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan declare independence from the Soviet Union.
September
- September 2 – The United States recognizes the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
- September 3 – In Hamlet, North Carolina, a grease fire breaks out at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant, killing 25 people.
- September 5–7 – At the 35th Annual Tailhook Symposium in Las Vegas, 83 women and seven men are assaulted.
- September 6 – The Soviet Union recognizes the independence of the Baltic states.
- September 6 – The name Saint Petersburg is restored to Russia's second-largest city, which had been renamed Leningrad in 1924.
- September 8 – The Republic of Macedonia becomes independent.
- September 9 – Tajikistan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
- September 17 – North Korea, South Korea, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.
- September 19 – Ötzi the Iceman is found in the Alps.
- September 20–21 – In Sandy, Utah, several patients are held hostage and a nurse is killed in the Alta View Hospital hostage incident.
- September 21 – Armenia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
- September 21–30 – Iraq disarmament crisis: IAEA inspectors discover files on Iraq's hidden nuclear weapons program. Iraqi officials confiscate documents from UN weapons inspectors, refusing to allow them to leave the site without turning over other documents. A 4-day standoff ensues. Iraq permits the team to leave with the documents after the UN Security Council threatens enforcement actions.
- September 21 – The Order of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence of German tongue (Orden der Schwestern der Perpetuellen Indulgenz deutscher Zunge, "O.S.P.I.") is founded in Heidelberg by Erzmutter (Archmother) Johanna Indulgentia Tara Maria Benedicta O.S.P.I.
- September 21 – AFL Grand Final: Hawthorn Hawks defeat West Coast Eagles by 53 points at Waverley Park, the final score 20.19.139 – 13.8.86.
- September 22 – The Huntington Library makes the Dead Sea Scrolls available to the public for the first time.
- September 30 – Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed from power.
- September 30 – A twister destroys parts of Itu, a city in southeastern Brazil, killing 16 and leaving 176 injured.
October
November
- November 2 – Australia beats England 12–6 at Twickenham Stadium to win the Rugby World Cup.
- November 5 – The body of publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell is found floating in the Atlantic Ocean.
- November 5 – David Duke, a white separatist running as a Republican, loses the Louisiana Governor's race to Democratic candidate Edwin Edwards, by an overwhelming margin despite winning the majority of the white vote.
- November 6 – The KGB officially stops operations.
- November 6 – CPSU, and its republic-level division, Communist Party of the Russian SFSR, banned in the Russian SFSR by Presidential decree N 169.
- November 7 – Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson announces that he has HIV, effectively ending his NBA career.
- November 7 – The last oil well fire in Kuwait is extinguished.
- November 7 – The first report on Carbon nanotubes is published by Sumio Iijima in the journal Nature.
- November 9 – The British JET fusion reactor generates 1.5 MW output power.
- November 14 – American and British authorities announce indictments against 2 Libyan intelligence officials, in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103.
- November 14 – Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after 13 years of exile.
- November 14 – Kidnappers in Lebanon set Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland free.
- November 18 – Serb troops take Vukovar after an 87-day siege, and commit the worst massacre in Croatian history.
- November 20 – Süleyman Demirel of DYP forms the new government of Turkey (49th government, coalition partner CHP).
- November 23 – Freddie Mercury, the flamboyant lead singer, frontman and co-founder of British rock group Queen announced in a public statement that he had AIDS.
- November 24 – Freddie Mercury, the lead singer and frontman of British rock group Queen dies. The official cause of death is bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.
- November 27 – The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution opening the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia.
- November 28 – South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia.
December
- December 1 – Collapse of the Soviet Union: Ukrainians vote overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union in a referendum.
- December 4 – Journalist Terry A. Anderson is released after 7 years' captivity as a hostage in Beirut (the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon).
- December 4 – Pan American World Airways ends operations.
- December 8 – Leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine meet and sign an agreement ending the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), in the Białowieża Forest Nature Reserve in Belarus.
- December 8 – A referendum on the constitution of Romania is accepted as valid.
- December 12 – Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR denounced Union Treaty of 1922 and ratified Belavezha Accords instead.
- December 15 – The Egyptian ferry Salem Express sinks in the Red Sea, killing more than 450.
- December 19 – Paul Keating replaces Bob Hawke as the new prime minister of Australia.
- December 20 – A Missouri court passes the death sentence on Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria, for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
- December 21 – The North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NAC-C) meets for the first time, the day on which the Soviet Union ceases to exist.source
- December 22 – One month after Freddie Mercury's death, Queen's re-release of Bohemian Rhapsody returns to the top of the British singles charts, 16 years after the original version.
- December 24 – Russian SFSR President Boris Yeltsin send a letter to UN Secretary-General, stating that Russian Federation (RSFSR) should be a successor to collapsing Soviet Union.
- December 25 – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union, from which most republics have already disbanded; the 73-year-old state is now expected to dissolve completely.
- December 25 – Russian SFSR officially changed its name to Russian Federation (Russia)
- December 26 – The Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolves the Soviet Union.
Undated
Ongoing
Births
January–March
- January 2 – Steele Sidebottom, Australian Rules footballer
- January 4 – Pascal Bodmer, German Ski Jumper
- January 8 – Hinoi Asuka, Japanese singer
- January 12 – Pixie Lott, British singer
- January 15 – Rubab Raza, Pakistan swimmer
- January 16 – Julie Dubela, American singer
- January 19 – Erin Sanders, American actress
- January 21 – Brittany Tiplady, Canadian actress
- January 28 – Calum Worthy, Canadian actor and musician
- February 10 – Emma Roberts, American actress
- February 10 – Ceng De Ping, Taiwanese singer
- February 16 – Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg
- February 17 – Bonnie Wright, English actress
- February 18 – Malese Jow, American actress
- February 18 – Henry Surtees, British racing driver (d. 2009)
- February 25 – Gerran Howell, Welsh actor
- February 28 – Sarah Bolger, Irish actress
- March 4 – Diandra Newlin, American actress, singer, and model
- March 8 – Devon Werkheiser, American actor
- March 11 – Qian Lin, Chinese singer
- March 15 – Kie Kitano, Japanese actress
- March 23 – George William Carnegie, British noble
- March 26 – Brittney Wilson, Canadian actress
- March 26 – Jack Watts, Australian rules footballer
- March 28 – Amy Bruckner, American actress
April–June
- April 4 – Jamie Lynn Spears, American actress
- April 10 – Amanda Michalka, American singer and actress
- April 10 – Sergiusz Żymełka, Polish actor
- April 15 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese singer (Hey! Say! JUMP)
- April 18 – Joey Gaydos, American actor and guitarist
- April 20 – Thomas Curtis, American actor
- April 27 – Rebecca Ryan, British actress
- April 28 – Aleisha Allen, American actress
- May 17 – Daniel Curtis Lee, American actor
- May 19 – Jordan Pruitt, American singer
- May 21 – Sarah Ramos, American actress
- May 24 – Erika Umeda, Japanese singer
- May 26 – Julianna Rose Mauriello, American stage actress
- May 29 – Kristen Alderson, American actress
- June 4 – Jordan Hinson, American actress
- June 18 – Willa Holland, American model and actress
- June 19 – Pontus Ekhem, Swedish hockey player
- June 27 – Madylin Sweeten, American actress
- June 30 – Kaho, Japanese actress
July–September
- July 5 – Jason Dolley, American actor
- July 6 – Victoire Thivisol, French actress
- July 7 – Devon Alan, American actor
- July 9 – Mitchel Musso, American actor
- July 10 – Atsuko Maeda, Japanese singer
- July 12 – Erik Per Sullivan, American actor
- July 14 – Lewis McGibbon, British actor
- July 20 – William Tomlin, British actor
- July 28 – Rina Aizawa, Japanese actress
- July 29 – Miki Ishikawa, American actress and singer
- July 30 – Diana Vickers, British singer
- August 6 – Jiao Liuyang, Chinese swimmer
- August 16 – Evanna Lynch, Irish actress
- August 16 – Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse, Canadian actress
- August 17 – Qory Sandioriva, Putri Indonesia 2009
- August 21 – Tess Gaerthé, Dutch singer and actress
- August 28 – Kyle Massey, American actor
- September 4 – Carter Jenkins, American actor
- September 5 – Skandar Keynes, British actor
- September 6 – Ashli Adams, American actress
- September 12 – Kristin Klabunde, American actress
- September 17 – Ryo Ishikawa, Japanese golfer
- September 20 – Spencer Locke, American Actress
- September 21 – Zoe Weizenbaum, American actress
- September 23 – Melanie Oudin, American tennis player
- September 25 – Emmy Clarke, American actress
October–December
- October 2 – Emma Maree Urquhart, Scottish Novelist and Artist
- October 4 – Nicolai Kielstrup, Danish singer
- October 14 – Shona McGarty, English Actress
- October 15 – Gabriella Cilmi, Australian singer-songwriter
- October 19 – Christopher Gerse, American actor
- October 23 – Sophie Tamiko Oda, Japanese American actress
- October 31 – Jordan-Claire Green, American actress
- November 6 – Camila Finn, Brazilian model
- November 11 – Christa B. Allen, American actress
- November 22 – Saki Shimizu, Japanese singer
- December 3 – Masahiro Usui, Japanese actor
- December 9 – Prince Joachim, Archduke of Austria-Este, Belgian prince
- December 12 – Daniel Magder, Canadian actor
- December 13 – Jay Greenberg, American music composer
- December 19 – Declan Galbraith, British singer
Deaths
January
- January 2 – Renato Rascel, Italian actor and singer (b. 1927)
- January 3 – Luke Appling, American baseball player (b. 1907)
- January 5 – Vasko Popa, Yugoslavian poet (b. 1922)
- January 8 – Steve Clark, English guitarist (b. 1960)
- January 11 – Carl David Anderson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
- January 12 – Keye Luke, Chinese-born actor (b. 1904)
- January 12 – Vasco Pratolini, Italian writer (b. 1913)
- January 14 – Salah Khalaf (aka Abu Iyad), Palestinian officer (b. 1933)
- January 17 – King Olav V of Norway (b. 1903)
- January 22 – Kenas Aroi, Nauruan politician (b. 1942)
- January 28 – Red Grange, American football player (b. 1903)
- January 29 – Yasushi Inoue, Japanese historian (b. 1907)
- January 29 – John McIntire, American actor (b. 1907)
- January 30 – John Bardeen, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
- January 30 – Clifton C. Edom, American photojournalism educator (b. 1907)
February
- February 1 – Carol Dempster, American actress (b. 1901)
- February 2 – Pete Axthelm, sportswriter (b. 1943)
- February 3 – Nancy Kulp, American actress (b. 1921)
- February 5 – Dean Jagger, American actor (b. 1903)
- February 5 – Pedro Arrupe, Spanish Catholic priest, Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1907)
- February 6 – María Zambrano, Spanish essayist and philosopher (b. 1904)
- February 6 – Salvador Luria, Italian-born biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1912)
- February 6 – Danny Thomas, American singer, comedian, and actor (b. 1914)
- February 7 – Amos Yarkoni, legendary Israeli soldier (b. 1920)
- February 13 – Arno Breker, German sculptor (b. 1900)
- February 14 – John McCone, American Central Intelligence Agency director (b. 1902)
- February 16 – Enrique Bermúdez, Nicaraguan Contras leader (b. 1932)
- February 21 – John Sherman Cooper, a U.S. Republican senator
- February 21 – Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer (b. 1919)
- February 24 – John Charles Daly, South African-born journalist and game show host (b. 1914)
- February 24 – Héctor Rial, Argentinian footballer (b. 1928)
- February 24 – George Gobel, American comedian (b. 1919)
- February 24 – Jean Rogers, American actress (b. 1916)
March
- March 1 – Edwin H. Land, inventor of the Polaroid instant camera (b. 1909)
- March 2 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer (b. 1928)
- March 3 – Arthur Murray, American dancer and dance instructor (b. 1895)
- March 3 – William Penney, Baron Penney, British nuclear physicist (b. 1909)
- March 7 – Cool Papa Bell, American baseball player (b. 1903)
- March 12 – Ragnar Granit, Finnish neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1900)
- March 13 – Jimmy McPartland, American jazz musician (b. 1907)
- March 14 – Howard Ashman, American lyricist (b. 1950)
- March 14 – Doc Pomus, American composer (b. 1925)
- March 15 – George Sherman, American film director (b. 1908)
- March 18 – Vilma Bánky, Hungarian-born actress (b. 1898)
- March 21 – Leo Fender, Greek-American instrument maker (b. 1909)
- March 25 – Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Roman Catholic bishop who fought for Catholic Tradition (b. 1905)
- March 27 – Aldo Ray, American actor (b. 1926)
- March 29 – Lee Atwater, American Presidential advisor (b. 1951)
April
- April 1 – Paulo Muwanga, Ugandese military officer and statesman, former head of State and Prime Minister (b. 1924)
- April 1 – Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1894)
- April 1 – Jaime Guzmán, Chilean right-wing politician (b. 1946)
- April 3 – Charles Goren, American bridge player, writer, and columnist (b. 1901)
- April 3 – Graham Greene, English writer (b. 1904)
- April 4 – Max Frisch, Swiss writer (b. 1911)
- April 4 – H. John Heinz III, U.S. Senator (b. 1938)
- April 4 – Louis Guglielmi, French composer (b. 1916)
- April 4 – Forrest Towns, American runner (b. 1914)
- April 4 – Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (b. 1920)
- April 5 – Sonny Carter, American astronaut (b. 1947)
- April 5 – John Tower, former Republican Senator from Texas (b. 1929)
- April 7 – Ruth Page, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1899)
- April 8 – Per "Dead" Yngve Ohlin, Swedish singer (b. 1969)
- April 10 – Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (b. 1955)
- April 10 – Natalie Schafer, American actress (b. 1900)
- April 16 – David Lean, British film director (b. 1908)
- April 17 – Jack Yellen, American lyricist (b. 1892)
- April 18 – Barry Rogers, American jazz and salsa trombonist (b. 1935)
- April 19 – Stanley Hawes, British-born Australian film producer, director and administrator (b. 1905)
- April 20 – Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal, Mongolian Communist leader, former Party General Secretary, Prime Minister and Head of State (b. 1916)
- April 20 – Steve Marriott, English musician (b. 1947)
- April 20 – Don Siegel, American film director (b. 1912)
- April 26 – Carmine Coppola, American composer and conductor (b. 1910)
- April 27 – Robert Velter, French cartoonist (b. 1909)
- April 28 – Ken Curtis, American actor (b. 1916)
- April 28 – Johnny Eck, American sideshow performer (b. 1911)
- April 29 – Gonzaguinha, Brazilian singer and composer (b. 1945)
- April 29 – Claude Gallimard, French editor
May–June
- May 1 – Richard Thorpe, American film director (b. 1896)
- May 3 – Jerzy Kosinski, Polish-American writer (b. 1933)
- May 3 – Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian singer and composer (b. 1907)
- May 6 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, British actor (b. 1903)
- May 7 – Dennis Crosby, American singer (b. 1934)
- May 8 – Jean Langlais, French composer and organist (b. 1907)
- May 8 – Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (b. 1903)
- May 14 – Jiang Qing, Chinese radical revolutionary (b. 1914)
- May 15 – Shintaro Abe, Japanese Politician (b. 1924)
- May 15 – Andreas Floer, German mathematician (b. 1956)
- May 18 – Edwina Booth, American actress (b. 1904)
- May 21 – Lino Brocka, Filipino film director (b. 1939)
- May 21 – Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (b. 1944)
- May 22 – Derrick Henry Lehmer, American mathematician (b. 1905)
- May 23 – Wilhelm Kempff, German pianist (b. 1895)
- May 27 – Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist (b. 1904)
- May 29 – Coral Browne, Australian actress (b. 1913)
- June 1 – David Ruffin, American singer (b. 1941)
- June 3 – Maurice Krafft, (b. 1946) and Katia Krafft (b. 1942), French volcanologists
- June 3 – Eva Le Gallienne, English-born actress (b. 1899)
- June 5 – Larry Kert, American actor (b. 1930)
- June 5 – Sylvia Field Porter, American economist and journalist (b. 1913)
- June 6 – Stan Getz, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1927)
- June 9 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean-born pianist (b. 1903)
- June 11 – Cromwell Everson, South African composer (b. 1925)
- June 14 – Peggy Ashcroft, British actress (b. 1907)
- June 15 – Arthur Lewis, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
- June 18 – Joan Caulfield, American actress (b. 1922)
- June 19 – Jean Arthur, American actress (b. 1900)
- June 28 – Hans Nüsslein, German tennis player (b. 1910)
July–August
- July 1 – Michael Landon, American actor (b. 1936)
- July 2 – Lee Remick, American actress (b. 1935)
- July 4 – Victor Chang, Australian physician (b. 1936)
- July 5 – Mildred Dunnock, American actress (b. 1901)
- July 8 – James Franciscus, American actor (b. 1934)
- July 15 – Bert Convy, American game show host, actor, and singer (b. 1933)
- July 16 – Robert Motherwell, American painter (b. 1915)
- July 18 – André Cools, Belgian politician (b. 1927)
- July 24 – Isaac Bashevis Singer, Polish-born Yiddish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- August 1 – Chris Short, American baseball pitcher (b. 1937)
- August 3 – Ali Sabri, Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1920)
- August 4 – Evgeny Dragunov, Russian weapons designer (b. 1920)
- August 5 – Paul Brown, American football coach (b. 1908)
- August 5 – Soichiro Honda, Japanese engineer and industrialist (b. 1917)
- August 6 – Harry Reasoner, American journalist and newscaster (b. 1923)
- August 8 – James Irwin, American astronaut (b. 1930)
- August 11 – J. D. McDuffie, American race car driver (b. 1938)
- August 13 – James Roosevelt, American businessman and politician (b. 1907)
- August 14 – Richard A. Snelling, Governor of Vermont (b. 1927)
- August 22 – Colleen Dewhurst, American actress (b. 1924)
- August 25 – Niven Busch, American novelist and screenwriter (b. 1903)
- August 30 – Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (b. 1925)
- August 30 – Cyril Knowles, English footballer and manager (b. 1944)
September–October
- September 2 – Alfonso García Robles, Mexican diplomat and politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1911)
- September 3 – Dottie West, American singer (b. 1932)
- September 3 – Frank Capra, Italian-born film director (b. 1897)
- September 4 – Charles Barnet, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1913)
- September 4 – Tom Tryon, American actor (b. 1926)
- September 7 – Edwin McMillan, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
- September 8 – Brad Davis, American actor (b. 1949)
- September 8 – Alex North, American film composer (b. 1910)
- September 10 – Jack Crawford, Australian tennis champion (b. 1908)
- September 13 – Joe Pasternak, Hungarian-born film director (b. 1901)
- September 14– Russell Lynes, American art historian, photographer, author (b. 1910)
- September 15 – John Hoyt, American actor (b. 1905)
- September 17 – Zino Francescatti, French violinist (b. 1902)
- September 24 – Dr. Seuss, American author (b. 1904)
- September 25 – Klaus Barbie, German Gestapo leader in Lyon (b. 1913)
- September 25 – Viviane Romance, French actress (b. 1912)
- September 28 – Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1926)
- October 6 – Igor Talkov, Russian singer, poet and composer (b. 1956)
- October 11 – Redd Foxx, American comedian and actor (b. 1922)
- October 12 – Aline MacMahon, American actress (b. 1899)
- October 12 – Regis Toomey, American actor (b. 1898)
- October 17 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, American singer (b. 1919)
- October 24 – Gene Roddenberry, American television producer (b. 1921)
- October 28 – Sylvia Fine, American lyricist (b. 1913)
- October 31 – Joseph Papp, American theater producer (b. 1921)
November–December
- November 2 – Irwin Allen, American film and television producer (b. 1941)
- November 5 – Fred MacMurray, American actor (b. 1908)
- November 5 – Robert Maxwell, Slovakian-born media entrepreneur (b. 1923)
- November 6 – Gene Tierney, American actress (b. 1920)
- November 9 – Yves Montand, French actor and singer (b. 1921)
- November 14 – Tony Richardson, English film and theater director (b. 1928)
- November 18 – Gustáv Husák, Czechoslovakian president (b. 1913)
- November 21 – Daniel Mann, American film director (b. 1912)
- November 23 – Klaus Kinski, German actor (b. 1926)
- November 24 – Eric Carr, American drummer (b. 1950)
- November 24 – Anton Furst, American art director (b. 1944)
- November 24 – Freddie Mercury, Zanzibar-born singer (b. 1946)
- November 29 – Ralph Bellamy, American actor (b. 1904)
- December 1 – George Joseph Stigler, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- December 6 – Richard Stone, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
- December 9 – Berenice Abbott, American photographer (b. 1898)
- December 10 – Greta Kempton, American artist (b. 1901)
- December 11 – Robert Q. Lewis, American radio and television personality (b. 1920)
- December 12 – Eleanor Boardman, American actress (b. 1898)
- December 15 – Vasily Zaitsev, Russian World War II hero (b. 1915)
- December 15 – Aad Mansveld, Dutch footballer (b. 1944)
- December 18 – George Abecassis, English race car driver (b. 1913)
- December 28 – Cassandra Harris, Australian actress (b. 1941)
Ship events
Nobel Prizes
See also
Notes
External links
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