August 2nd, 1990: Iraq invades KuwaitAugust 23rd, 1990: Brian Keenan is released after 4 1/2 years as a hostage of the Islamic Dawn in BeirutOctober 3rd, 1990: German unificationJanuary 16th, 1991: Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm, a massive, US-led bombing campaign against Iraq, beginsJune 25th, 1991: Slovenia and Croatia declare independence hotly contested by SerbsJune 12th, 1991: Boris Yeltsin becomes President of Russia; in December Gorbachev resigns as president of the USSR; the USSR is dissolved as many republics declare independenceJanuary 1st, 1992: Peace accords end 12 year of civil war in EL SlavadorApril 5th, 1992: Bosnia declares independence; siege of Sarajevo beginsDecember 6th, 1992: Violence between Muslims and Hindus when Hindus destroy a mosque at Ayodhya, India; 2,000 killedJanuary 1st, 1993: The single European Market comes into effect; followed by the Maastricht Treaty in NovemberSeptember 13th, 1993: Israel and the PLO sign a peace treaty allowing for eventual Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and the West BankNovember 24th, 1993: Jon Venebles and Robert Thompson, both aged 11, are found guilty of the murder of two-year-old Jamie Bulger in LiverpoolApril and May, 1994: Hutus kill 800,000 Tutsi in the civil war in RwandaMay 10th, 1994: Nelson Mandela inaugurated president of South AfricaJuly 11th, 1995: Serb Massacre of 6,000 Bosnian muslims at SrebrenicaMay 1st, 1995: France carries out underground nuclear test at Mururoa AtollNovember 4th, 1995: Israeli prime minister Itzhak Rabin assassinated by anti-peace extremistMay 1st, 1997: The Labour Party under Tony Blair wins the British elections, ending 18 years of Conservative ruleJuly 1st, 1997: Britain returns Hong Kong to ChinaJanuary 26th, 1998: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," President Bill Clinton tells the people of AmericaMarch 24th, 1999: NATO bombing campaign begins against Serb forces in Kosovo