1994
Rwandan genocide begins
A plane carrying Rwanda's Hutu president was shot down over Kigali, and within hours Hutu extremists began killing Tutsis and moderate Hutus in what had been carefully planned. In a hundred days perhaps eight hundred thousand were hacked to death with machetes, many by neighbors. The world, including the UN, watched and did nothing.
NAFTA and the Zapatista uprising
The North American Free Trade Agreement took effect, binding the US, Canada, and Mexico into a single commercial zone. The same day, masked Zapatista rebels in ski masks seized several towns in Chiapas, Mexico, proclaiming they were a protest against globalization before it had a name. A new era of trade had opened with a new kind of protest.
Channel Tunnel opens
Queen Elizabeth II and President Mitterrand met in the middle and inaugurated the thirty-one-mile rail tunnel under the English Channel, the longest undersea tunnel in the world. Britain was physically connected to the continent for the first time since the Ice Age. Eurostar trains began running between London, Paris, and Brussels.
Mandela elected
In South Africa's first multiracial elections, Black voters stood in lines that stretched for miles, some waiting an entire day to cast their first ballot. Nelson Mandela voted for the first time in his life at age seventy-five. A month later he was inaugurated president in Pretoria as former apartheid generals saluted. Apartheid was finally, officially, over.
Republican Revolution
In the midterm elections, Republicans led by Newt Gingrich won control of the House of Representatives for the first time in forty years, picking up fifty-four seats in a single night. Gingrich's Contract with America reshaped American politics toward more partisan, ideological, and combative congressional behavior, setting the template for the polarization that would define the next three decades.
Comet Shoemaker-Levy hits Jupiter
Fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, torn apart by Jupiter's gravity, slammed into the giant planet over six days in a series of impacts visible from Earth. Each impact scar was larger than our planet. Astronomers had rehearsed nothing like this. The event was a reminder of what could happen if a similar object ever came for us.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1994?
Saeculum lists 6 curated events from 1994. The most significant is Rwandan genocide begins: A plane carrying Rwanda's Hutu president was shot down over Kigali, and within hours Hutu extremists began killing Tutsis and moderate Hutus in what…
What era was 1994 part of?
1994 falls within the Modern Era (1901-2000). World wars, cold war, and the splitting of the atom.
Which regions saw notable events in 1994?
The curated events from 1994 span Africa, North America and Europe.