1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1992nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 992nd year of the 2nd millennium, the 92nd year of the 20th century, and the 3rd year of the 1990s decade.

Events

January

• January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali becomes Secretary General of the UN.
• January 1 – George H. W. Bush becomes the first US President to address the Australian parliament.
• January 8 – George H. W. Bush is filmed falling violently ill at a state dinner in Japan.
• January 11 – Paul Simon is the first major artist to play in South Africa after the end of the cultural boycott.
• January 16 – Mick Jagger attends the Hollywood opening of his new movie, Freejack, at Mann's Chinese Theatre.
• January 26 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting US cities with Nuclear Weapons.

February

• February 7 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, forming the EU.
• February 8 – The Winter Olympics open in Albertville, France.
• February 18 – Vince Neil leaves Mötley Crüe, after 11 years as the band's lead singer, to spend more time on his career as a race car driver.
• February 23 – The Winter Olympics close in Albertville, France.
• February 24 – Nirvana's Kurt Cobain marries Hole's Courtney Love.
• February 24 – The U.S. Postal Service unveils two possible designs for an Elvis Presley stamp for fans to vote on. One design is of a "young" 1950s Elvis, and the other is of a much "older" 1970s Elvis. The "young" Elvis wins the vote, and is issued the following January.

March

• March 3 – Turkey's worst mine disaster kills 263 people in Zonguldak.
• March 10 – Prince wins the lifetime achievement award during the Soul Train Awards.
• March 12 – Mauritius becomes a Republic.
• March 13 – A 6.8 magnitude earthquake kills 500 people in Eastern Turkey.
• March 14 – Farm Aid Five takes place in Irving, Texas, hosted by Willie Nelson. Artists performing at the event include John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Paul Simon. About 40,000 people attend the event.
• March 18 – The Finnish parliament votes in favour of EU membership.
• March 24 – A Chicago, Illinois judge approves cash rebates of up to $3 to anyone proving they bought Milli Vanilli prior to when the lip synching scandal began on November 27, 1990.

April

• April 1 – Billy Idol, on trial for punching a woman in the face, pleads no contest. Idol is fined and ordered to make public service announcements against alcohol and drug use.
• April 5 – Bosnia and Herzegovina declares independence. Serb troops besiege Sarajevo.
• April 6 – The independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina is recognised by the EU and US.
• April 6 – Microsoft releases Windows 3.1.
• April 9 – Panama's former military leader Manuel Noriega is convicted of assisting Colombian cocaine cartels.
• April 9 – In the UK, the Conservative Party of Prime Minister John Major, is reelected.
• April 22 – Fuel that has leaked into a sewer, explodes in Guadalajara, Mexico, killing 215 people.
• April 24 – David Bowie marries fashion model Iman.
• April 27 – The British House of Commons elects Betty Boothroyd as its first female speaker.
• April 28 – The last remaining constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, form a new state, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is renamed Serbia and Montenegro in 2003.
• April 29 – LAPD Police Officers are acquitted of using force in the beating of Rodney King, with subsequent riots leading to 53 deaths.
• April 29 - NBA player Michael Jordan scores 56 points in a playoff game against the Miami Heat in what is considered one of the greatest games of his career.
• April 30 – In Los Angeles, California, Madonna's bustier is stolen from a display in Fredrick's Of Hollywood. A $1,000 reward is offered for its return.

May

• May – The 1st EJCF was held in Basel. It is a great success and will be held every three years (the next time was in 1995).
• May 10 – Sweden wins the Ice Hockey World Championship in Prague.
• May 23 – A Mafia bomb kills Italian anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone.

June

• June 1 – Venezuelan revolutionary Carlos (the Jackal) is sentenced to life imprisonment.
• June 2 – A referendum in Denmark narrowly rejects the Maastricht Treaty.
• June 20 – The kroon replaces the Soviet ruble as Estonia's main monetary unit.
• June 26 – In Sweden, Denmark wins Football's European championship, defeating Germany 2-0 in the final.
• June 28 – Estonia holds a constitutional referendum.
• June 29 – Algerian President Mohamed Boudiaf is killed by one of his bodyguards.
• June 30 – Fidel V. Ramos becomes President of the Philippines.

July

• July – Launch of the "Budafest" Summer Opera & Ballet Festival in Budapest.
• July 10 – Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering offences.
• July 13 – Yitzhak Rabin becomes Prime Minister of Israel.
• July 23 – Abkhazia declares independence from Georgia.
• July 25 – The Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, are opened.
• July 28 – Mary J. Blige releases her first album What's the 411?. It is a pivotal album in the world of R&B.
• July 31 – The Republic of Georgia joins the UN.

August

• August – Rozalla becomes the first artist from Zimbabwe to chart on Billboard.
• August 9 – The Summer Olympics in Barcelona close.
• August 10 – The UK Government bans the Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist paramilitary group.
• August 24 – Hurricane Andrew hits Florida.
• August 27 – John Lennon's original handwritten lyrics to "A Day in the Life" are sold by auction for $87,000.

September

• September 2 – An earthquake in Nicaragua kills at least 116 people.
• September 11 – Hurricane Iniki hits Kaua'i and O'ahu, Hawaii.

October

• October 2 – A riot in Carandiru Penitentiary, São Paulo, Brazil, results in a massacre.
• October 3 – Sinéad O'Connor stirs up controversy when she rips up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live
• October 4 – An Israeli plane crashes in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, killing 43 people.
• October 6 – Lennart Meri becomes Estonia's President.
• October 15 – In Russia, Andrei Chikatilo is found guilty of 52 murders.
• October 25 – Lithuania holds a constitutional referendum.
• October 31 – Pope John Paul II issues an apology and lifts the edict of Inquisition on Galileo Galilei.
• October 31 and November 7 – "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men posted its 12th and 13th consecutive weeks at #1, ending a 36-year record previously held by Elvis Presley. This record was ended on March 6 the next year by Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You".

November

• November 3 – Bill Clinton is elected President of the United States, defeating incumbent George H. W. Bush.
• November 3 – Rage Against the Machine releases their debut album.
• November 15 – Megan Jasper of Sub Pop creates the grunge speak hoax, tricking The New York Times into printing an article on a supposed slang used in the Seattle grunge scene.
• November 20 – A fire breaks out at Windsor Castle, causing £50 million in damage.
• November 24 – Queen Elizabeth II of the UK describes 1992 as an Annus Horribilis, due to scandals that have damaged the image of the Royal Family.
• November 24 – In China, a China Southern Airlines Flight crashes, killing 141 people.
• November 25 – Velvet Divorce: Czechoslovakia's Federal Assembly votes to split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on January 1, 1993.

December

• December 4 – US Military forces land in Somalia.
• December 6 – A 16th century Mosque, the Babri Masjid, is destroyed by Hindu extremists in Ayodhya, India.
• December 8 – The Copper mine in Falun, Sweden, closes after functioning for 1000 years.
• December 9 – In the UK, Prince Charles and Princess Diana publicly announce their separation.
• December 12 – An Earthquake hits Flores island, Indonesia, killing 2,500 people.
• December 21 – A plane on a Dutch DC-10 Martinair MP495 flight, crashes at Faro Airport in Portugal, killing 56 people.
• December 22 – In Tripoli, Libya a Boeing 727 Libyan Airlines plane and an MiG 23 aircraft collide, killing 157 people.
• December 22 – Dr. Martin Almada discovers the Archives of Terror, which detail tortures and killings committed by Latin American dictatorships.
• December 29 – Brazil's President Fernando Collor de Mello is found guilty on charges of stealing more than $32 million from the government, banning him from holding any elected office for 8 years.

Culture

• Johnny Carson retires from his job as host of the "Tonight Show", Jay Leno takes his place.
• The first in R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series published.

Births

January – March

• January 1 – Oren Williams, American actor
• January 1 – Jack Wilshere, English footballer
• January 19 – Shawn Johnson, American gymnast
• January 24 – Becky Downie, British artistic gymnast
• February 6 – Cara McCollum, American journalist (d. 2016)
• February 11 – Taylor Lautner, American actor
• February 11 – Georgia Groome, British actress
• February 21 – Phil Jones, British footballer
• February 29 – Jawed El Yamiq, Moroccon footballer
• March 4 – Jazmine Grace Grimaldi, daughter of Albert II, Prince of Monaco
• March 7 - Bel Powley, British actress
• March 10 – Emily Osment, American actress and singer

April – June

• April 4 – Alexa Nikolas, American actress
• April 7 – Alexis Jordan, American singer
• April 7 – Jessica Sara, American actress

• April 15 – Amy Diamond, Swedish singer
• May 3 – Melissa Wu, Australian diver
• May 12 – Malcolm David Kelley, American actor
• May 18 – Spencer Breslin, American actor
• May 22 – Chinami Tokunaga, Japanese singer
• May 23 – Nick Julian III, American Science
• June 14 – Dary Sabara and Evan Sabara, American actors
• June 26 – Jennette McCurdy, American actress
• June 30 – Lynx and Lamb Gaede, American neo-nazi musicians

July – September

• July 7 – Nathalia Ramos, Spanish actress
• July 8 – Benjamin Grosvenor, pianist
• July 12 – Eoghan Quigg, Irish singer
• July 21 – Rachael Flatt, American figure skater
• July 22 – Selena Gomez, American actress and singer
• August 4 – Cole and Dylan Sprouse, American actors
• August 4 – Tiffany Evans, American singer and actress
• August 20 – Demi Lovato, American actress and singer
• August 21 – Brad Kavanagh, British actor and singer
• September 16 – Nick Jonas, American actor and singer
• September 28 – Skye McCole Bartusiak, American actress

October – December

• October 1 – Gauri Shankar, Indian chess player
• October 22 – Sofia Vassilieva, American actress
• November 18 – Nathan Kress, American actor
• November 23 – Miley Cyrus, American actress and singer
• November 28 – Adam Hicks, American actor, rapper, singer, and songwriter
• December 18 – Bridgit Mendler, American actress and singer
• November 27 – Tola Slagowska, Polish singer
• December 23 – Spencer Daniels, American actor
• December 24 – Melissa Suffield, British actress

Deaths

January

• January 1 – Grace Hopper, American computer scientist (b. 1906)
• January 2 – Virginia Field, British actress (b. 1917)
• January 3 – Judith Anderson, Australian actress (b. 1897)
• January 9 – Bill Naughton, British playwright (b. 1910)
• January 18 – Aleksandr Almetov, Soviet ice hockey player (b. 1940)
• January 26 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (b. 1912)
• January 29 – Willie Dixon, American composer and musician (b. 1915)

February

• February 10 – Alex Haley, American writer (b. 1921)
• February 16 – Jânio Quadros, former President of Brazil (b. 1917)
• February 29 – La Lupe, Cuban singer (b. 1936)

March

• March 9 – Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1913)
• March 21 – John Ireland, Canadian movie actor (b. 1914)
• March 23 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist (b. 1899)
• March 31 – Alfredo De Angelis, Argentine musician (b. 1912)

April

• April 5 – Sam Walton, American businessman (b. 1918)
• April 6 – Isaac Asimov, Russian-born writer (b. 1920)
• April 7 – Ace Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1903)
• April 8 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-born pharmacologist (b. 1907)
• April 19 – Benny Hill, British comedian (b. 1924)
• April 21 – Vladimir Cyrillovich, Russian aristocrat (b. 1917)
• April 23 – Satyajit Ray, Indian movie maker (b. 1921)
• April 23 – Tanka Prasad Acharya, former Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1912)
• April 28 – Francis Bacon, Irish-born painter (b. 1909)

May

• May 6 – Marlene Dietrich, German actress (b. 1901)
• May 14 – Nie Rongzhen, Chinese military leader (b. 1899)
• May 17 – Lawrence Welk, American musician (b. 1903)
• May 23 – Giovanni Falcone, Italian judge (b. 1939)
• May 30 – Karl Carstens, former President of Germany (b. 1914)

June

• June 2 – Philip Dunne, American screenwriter and director (b. 1908)
• June 13 - Pumpuang Duangjan, Thai female singer (b. 1961)
• June 18 – Mordecai Ardon, Israeli painter (b. 1896)
• June 21 – Li Xiannian, President of the People's Republic of China (b. 1909)
• June 25 – James Stirling, British architect (b. 1926)
• June 28 – Mikhail Tal, former World chess champion (b. 1936)
• June 29 – Mohamed Boudiaf, President of Algeria (b. 1919)

July

• July 4 - Ástor Piazzolla, Argentine tango composer (b. 1921)
• July 13 – Albert Pierrepoint, British executioner (b. 1905)
• July 15 – Hammer DeRoburt, first President of Nauru (b. 1922)
• July 22 – John Meyendorff, Russian-born Orthodox scholar (b. 1926)
• July 23 - Suleiman Frangieh, former President of Lebanon (b. 1910)
• July 24 – Arletty, French singer and actress (b. 1898)
• July 29 – Michel Larocque, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1952)
• July 30 – Joe Shuster, Canadian comic artist (b. 1914)
• July 30 – Brenda Marshall, American actress (b. 1915)

August

• August 2 – Michel Berger, French singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
• August 5 – Robert Muldoon, former Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1921)
• August 5 – Jeff Porcaro, American musician (b. 1954)
• August 12 – John Cage, American composer (b. 1912)
• August 29 – Teddy Turner, British comedian (b. 1917)

September

• September 1 - Piotr Jaroszewicz, former Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1909)
• September 2 – Barbara McClintock, American geneticist (b. 1902)
• September 12 – Anthony Perkins, American actor (b. 1932)
• September 25 – Joseph Arthur Ankrah, Ghanaian politician (b. 1947)

October

• October 1 – Gert Bastian, German politician (b. 1923)
• October 1 – Petra Kelly, German politician (b. 1947)
• October 6 – Denholm Elliott, English actor (b. 1922)
• October 7 – Tevfik Esenc, last-known speaker of the Ubykh language (b. 1904)
• October 8 – Willy Brandt, former Chancellor of Germany (b. 1913)
• October 16 - Shirley Booth, American actress (b. 1898)
• October 25 – Roger Miller, American singer (b. 1936)

November

• November 2 – Hal Roach, American director and producer (b. 1892)
• November 7 – Alexander Dubček, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (b. 1921)
• November 10 – Chuck Connors, American actor (b. 1921)
• November 19 – Diane Varsi, American actress (b. 1938)
• November 21 – Kaysone Phomvihane, President of Laos (b. 1920)
• November 22 – Sterling Holloway, American actor (b. 1905)
• November 23 – Roy Acuff, American country musician (b. 1903)
• November 23 – Jean-François Thiriart, Belgian politician (b. 1922)

December

• December 3 – Nureddin al-Atassi, President of Syria (b. 1929)
• December 12 – Ali Amini, former Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1905)
• December 17 – Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)
• December 21 – Stella Adler, American acting teacher (b. 1901)
• December 21 – Albert King, American musician (b. 1923)
• December 24 – Peyo, Belgian comic artist (b. 1928)
• December 26 – Eve Poole, New Zealand politician (b. 1924)
• December 28 – Elfie Mayerhofer, Austrian actress and singer (b. 1917)
• December 29 – Vivienne Segal, American actress (b. 1897)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics: Georges Charpak
• Chemistry: Rudolph A. Marcus
• Medicine: Edmond H. Fischer, Edwin G. Krebs
• Literature: Derek Walcott
• Nobel Peace Prize: Rigoberta Menchu
• Economics: Gary Becker

Movies released

• 1991: The Year Punk Broke
• A Few Good Men
• A League of Their Own
• Aladdin
• Alien³
• Basic Instinct
• Batman Returns
• Bebe's Kids
• The Bodyguard
• The Crying Game
• Death Becomes Her
• Enchanted April
• Freejack
• The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
• Hero starring Dustin Hoffman
• Honeymoon in Vegas
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
• Honey, I Blew Up The Kid
• Howard's End
• The Last of the Mohicans
• The Lawnmower Man
• Lethal Weapon 3
• Malcolm X
• My Cousin Vinny starring Joe Pesci
• Of Mice and Men
• Patriot Games
• Pushing Hands
• Passenger 57
• The Player
• Radio Flyer
• Reservoir Dogs
• A River Runs Through It
• Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot
• Scent of a Woman
• Single White Female
• Sister Act
• Strictly Ballroom
• Universal Soldier
• Under Siege
• Unforgiven
• Wayne's World

TV Shows

• November 28 – Gumby is aired "Dolly for Minga", "The Lost Arrow" and "Clay Trix".

Video Games

• April 27 – Kirby first appears in Kirby's Dreamland.

Hit songs

• "Alive" – Pearl Jam
• "All 4 Love" – Color Me Badd
• "All I Want" – Toad the Wet Sprocket
• "Baby Got Back" – Sir Mix-A-Lot
• "Come As You Are" – Nirvana
• "End of the Road" – Boyz II Men
• "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad?" – Def Leppard
• "How Do You Talk To An Angel" – Whitney Houston
• "I Will Always Love You" – Whitney Houston
• "Jimmy Olsen's Blues" – Spin Doctors
• "Jump" – Kris Kross
• "Killing in the Name" – Rage Against the Machine
• "Layla" – Eric Clapton
• "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" – Spin Doctors
• "Missing You Now" – Michael Bolton
• "Mrs. Robinson" – Lemonheads
• "Mysterious Ways" – U2
• "One" – U2
• "Tears in Heaven" – Eric Clapton
• "To Be With You" – Mr. Big
• "Two Princes" – Spin Doctors
• "Under The Bridge" – Red Hot Chili Peppers
• "We Shall Be Free" – Garth Brooks
• "No One Else On Earth" - Wynonna Judd

New books

• All Around the Town – Mary Higgins Clark
• Anvil of Stars – Greg Bear
• The Bridges of Madison County – Robert James Waller
• The Children of Men – P.D. James
• The Crow Road – Iain Banks
• The Dark-thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural – Patricia McKissack
• Dolores Claiborne – Stephen King
• The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje
• Flour Babies – Anne Fine
• Frog in Winter – Max Velthujis
• Gerald's Game – Stephen King
• Hjärtans fröjd (Heart's Delight) – Per Nilsson
• Jazz – Toni Morrison
• Jewels – Danielle Steel
• Les derniers Géants (The Last Giants) – François Place
• Leviathan (Auster novel) – Paul Auster
• Looking for Alibrandi – Melina Marchetta
• Lords and Ladies – Terry Pratchett
• Maisy Goes to Playschool – Lucy Cousins
• Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus – John Gray
• Missing May – Cynthia Rylant
• Mixed Blessings – Danielle Steel
• Monster Blood – R.L. Stine
• Only You Can Save Mankind – Terry Pratchett
• Owl Babies – Martin Waddell, illustrated by Patrick Benson
• Paddy Clarke – Roddy Doyle
• Pagan's Crusade – Catherine Jinks
• The Pelican Brief – John Grisham
• The Queen and I – Sue Townsend
• Secrets of Love Magick – Gerina Dunwich
• See Ya, Simon – David Hill
• Shampoo Planet – Douglas Coupland
• Silent Passage – Gail Sheehy
• Small Gods – Terry Pratchett
• Somewhere in the Darkness – Walter Dean Myers
• The Stars Shine Down – Sidney Sheldon
• Stay Out of the Basement – R.L. Stine
• The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales – Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith
• The Tale of the Body Thief – Anne Rice
• Tales from Firozsha Baag – Rohinton Mistry
• T'choupi – Thierry Courtin
• There Will Be Wolves – Karleen Bradford
• The Thief of Always – Clive Barker
• Transit – Ben Aaronovitch
• The Trial of Madame Caillaux – Edward Berenson
• The Valkyries – Paulo Coelho
• Waiting to Exhale – Terry McMillan
• Welcome to Dead House – R.L. Stine
• What Hearts – Bruce Brooks
• Where's My Teddy? – Jez Alborough

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1992.