Top 5 Events of 1991

1.  Military: Operation Desert Storm, or the Persian Gulf War, was caused by the invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces. The war was fought between the belligerent Iraqi forces against the UN coalition forces consisting of 34 nations including the US, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. The UN believed they had the right to invade Kuwait because if Iraq was successful in conquering Kuwait, they would be in total control of a major supply of the world’s oil. The operation was very successful for the UN; Iraqi forces were devastated after the war and their economy was ruined. Moreover, Palestinians in Kuwait were expelled from the country. However, there are debates whether the war was successful because the UN allowed the corrupt dictator Saddam Hussein to remain in power in Iraq after the war.

2.  Politics: In 1991 for the first time, Boris Yeltsin was elected the first president of the new formed Russia. He ran with the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republican party. Yeltsin vowed to move from the Socialist command economy to a Free Market economy. He also forced upon democratic changes in the USSR, such as banning the Socialist party. Yeltsin was responsible both for preventing a return to totalitarian Communism, and keeping a nationalist government in Russia in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War.

3.   Figure: Rodney King, a famous African American icon, was allegedly arrested and beat up by 5 LA white police officers. He ticked off the officers because he was under the influenced and was in a 100mph car chase with them. Moreover, when King was arrested, he resisted arrest and therefore because of the adrenaline of the officers and the amount of stress they had, the officers took that upon King. Even though many view this move as “racist” because 5 white men were beating up a black man, it is well deserved because Rodney King was under the influenced and resisted arrest.

4.   Film: A charming and warm romantic fantasy, Disney presented their animated tale Beauty and the Beast on November 13^th, 1991. Turned into a beast because of his selfishness, the “beast” must love and be loved back in order to regain his human form. The plot depicts his journey to find someone he can love and eventually finds a woman named Belle that helps him become human again by showing her love for him. Beauty and the Beast became the third highest-grossing film of 1991 and received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

5.   Athletics: Magic Johnson, a renowned basketball player, retires in 1991 after finding out that he was positive for HIV. Johnson was honored as one of the players in the top 50 basketball players that ever lived and became part of the Hall of Fame in 2002. Before he retired, he played as the point guard for LA Lakers and led them to win the title 5 times and became the Most Valuable Player 3 times. After his retirement he has been an active participant to reduce HIV prevention, working as a business man, and commentating basketball for NBC.