1995
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s - 1990s - 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s
Years: 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 - 1995 - 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Beginning of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995-2005): http://www.unesco.org/culture/indigenous/
Events
- January 1 - Austria, Finland and Sweden enter the European Union
- January 1 - World Trade Organization goes into effect
- January 9 - Valeri Poliakov completes 366 days in space while aboard the Mir space station breaking a duration record.
- January 12 - Malcolm X's daughter, Qubilah Shabazz, is arrested for conspiring to kill Louis Farrakhan
- January 17 - A magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurred near Kobe, Japan, causing great property damage and killing over 5,000.
- January 18 - In southern France near Vallon-Pont-d'Arc a network of caves are discovered that contain paintings and engravings that are 17,000 to 20,000 years old.
- January 22 - Israeli-Palestinian conflict: In central Israel, two suicide bombers from the Gaza Strip blow themselves-up at a military transit point killing 19 Israelis.
- January 24 - The prosecution delivers its opening statement in the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
- January 25 - World War III: Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after a Norwegian missile launch for scientific research is detected and thought to be an attack on Russia. Norway had notified the world that it would be making the launch, but the Russian Defense Ministry had neglected to notify those monitoring Russia's nuclear defense systems.
- January 30 - Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials testing the first preventative treatment for sickle cell anaemia.
- January 31 - President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economy.
- February 15 - Hacking: Kevin Mitnick is arrested by the FBI and charged him with breaking into some of the United States' most "secure" computers systems.
- February 17 - Colin Ferguson is convicted of six counts of murder for the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings and later receives a 200+ year sentence.
- February 21 - Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.
- February 26 - United Kingdom's oldest investment banking firm, Barings PLC collapses after a securities broker lost $1.4 billion by gambling on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
- March 2 - In Moscow, Russian anti-corruption journalist Vladislav Listyev is killed by a gunman.
- March 2 - Nick Leeson is arrested for his role in the collapse of Barings Bank.
- March 3 - In Somalia, the United Nations peacekeeping mission ends.
- March 20 - Members of the Aum Supreme Truth release sarin gas in the Tokyo subway system.
- April 19 - Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma city was bombed. 168 people, including 8 Federal Marshals, were killed.
- May 23 - The Java programming language was announced to the world.
- June 2 - Captain Scott O'Grady of the U.S. Air Force is shotdown while flying a routine sortie over war-torn Bosnia. O'Grady survives on bugs and grass until he is rescued.
- June 8 - Captain Scott O'Grady is rescued in Bosnia.
- October 4 - OJ Simpson is found innocent. (He would be found liable in a second civil trial in 1996)
- December 28 - CompuServe sets a precedent by blocking access to sex-oriented newsgroups after being pressured by German prosecutors.
- December 31 - The publication of the last new Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip.
- The Ebola virus kills 244 Africans in Kikwit, Zaire in Central Africa.
- 10 people are found guilty for bombing the World Trade Center in 1994.
- Dr. Bernard A. Harris, Jr. makes history as the first African American astronaut to walk in space.
Art, Culture & Fashion
- 1995 in film
- Braveheart directed by and starring Mel Gibson
- Apollo 13
- Babe
- 1995 in literature
- 1995 in music
- 1995 in sports
- January 29 - Super Bowl XXIX San Francisco 49ers (49) def. San Diego Chargers (26)
- February 11 -
- Danyon Loader swims world record 400 meters freestyle.
- Mark Foster swims world record 50 meters butterfly.
- Sandra Volker swims European record 50 meters backstroke.
- US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldredge.
- 1995 in television
- April 12 - Drew Barrymore appears on The Late Show with David Letterman. In honor of Letterman's birthday, guest Barrymore dances on his desk and flashes him on-air.
- First television program broadcast via the Internet.
Births
Deaths
- January 9 - Peter Cook, comedian, satirist and writer
- January 22 - Rose Kennedy, matriarch of the Kennedy family
- January 31 - George Abbott, writer, director, producer
- February 2 - Donald Pleasence, actor
- February 4 - Patricia Highsmith, author
- February 12 - Robert Bolt, writer (+ 1995)
- February 21 - Calder Willingham, writer
- February 26 - Bill Hicks
- June 20 - Emil Cioran, Romanian-born French philosopher and essayist
- August 11 - Jerry Garcia, musician and lead guitarist of The Grateful Dead.
- August 19 - Pierre Schaeffer, composer and pioneer of musique concrete
- November 21 - Noel Jones, British diplomat
- December 2 - Robertson Davies, Canadian novelist
- Murray Rothbard , American economist