Editing 1991 (section)

=== April ===
* [[April 2]] – [[Economy of the Soviet Union|Government-imposed prices]] increase double or triple the cost of [[consumer goods in the Soviet Union]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Filatochev|first1=Igor|last2=Bradshaw|first2=Roy|year=1992|title=The Soviet Hyperinflation: Its Origins and Impact throughout the Former Republics|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/152269|journal=Soviet Studies|volume=44|issue=5|pages=739–759|doi=10.1080/09668139208412045|jstor=152269|issn=0038-5859|access-date=June 13, 2021|archive-date=June 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613002019/https://www.jstor.org/stable/152269|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Economic Collapse of the Soviet Union|url=https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/sovietcollapse.htm|access-date=2021-06-12|website=sjsu.edu|archive-date=July 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724100857/https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/sovietcollapse.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[April 3]] – [[Iraq disarmament crisis]]: The [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]] passes [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 687|Resolution 687]], which calls for the destruction or removal of all of [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|Iraq's chemical and biological weapons]] and a complete ban of [[ballistic missile]]s with a range greater than 150&nbsp;km. It also calls for an end to Iraq's [[State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)|support for international terrorism]]; it is accepted by Iraq three days later.<ref>{{Cite web|title=United Nations Security Council {{!}} Treaties & Regimes {{!}} NTI|url=https://www.nti.org/learn/treaties-and-regimes/un-security-council/|access-date=2021-06-12|website=nti.org|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513122735/https://www.nti.org/learn/treaties-and-regimes/un-security-council/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Security Council Resolution 687|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/unscom/Chronology/resolution687.htm|access-date=2021-06-12|publisher=United Nations|archive-date=June 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610103845/http://www.un.org/Depts/unscom/Chronology/resolution687.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[April 4]]
** [[U.S. senator|U.S. Senator]] [[John Heinz]] and six other people are killed when a [[Merion air disaster|helicopter collides with their plane]] over [[Merion Station, Pennsylvania|Merion]], [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Cushman|first1=John H. Jr.|date=April 5, 1991|title=Senator Heinz and 6 Others Killed in Midair Crash Near Philadelphia|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/05/us/senator-heinz-and-6-others-killed-in-midair-crash-near-philadelphia.html|access-date=2021-06-12|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507171620/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/05/us/senator-heinz-and-6-others-killed-in-midair-crash-near-philadelphia.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=King|first=Larry|date=April 5, 1991|title=Sen. Heinz, 6 others die in Pa. plane-copter collision Two children killed as debris hits school|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1991-04-05-1991095117-story.html|access-date=June 12, 2021|website=The Baltimore Sun|archive-date=June 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625062310/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1991-04-05-1991095117-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
** Forty people [[1991 Sacramento hostage crisis|are taken hostage]] in [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], California; six gunmen and hostages are killed.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gross|first1=Jane|date=April 6, 1991|title=6 Are Killed as 8-Hour Siege By Gang Ends in California|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/06/us/6-are-killed-as-8-hour-siege-by-gang-ends-in-california.html|access-date=2021-06-12|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705190520/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/06/us/6-are-killed-as-8-hour-siege-by-gang-ends-in-california.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Paddock|first1=Richard C.|last2=Dizon|first2=Lily|date=April 15, 1991|title=3 Vietnamese Brothers in Shoot-Out Led Troubled Lives : Crime: They had problems in school and apparently felt like failures. Some teachers express surprise at violence of siege at Sacramento store.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-15-mn-108-story.html|access-date=2021-06-12|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=May 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510054339/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-15-mn-108-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[April 5]]
** Former [[U.S. senator|U.S. Senator]] [[John Tower]] and 22 others are killed in [[Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311|an airplane crash]] in [[Brunswick, Georgia|Brunswick]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Knutson|first=Lawrence L.|title=Crash That Killed 23 Laid to Faulty Propellor Controls|url=https://apnews.com/article/70a5d06c92324ad02162adc3a5f4b214|date=April 28, 1992|access-date=June 12, 2021|work=Associated Press News|archive-date=March 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305015608/https://apnews.com/article/70a5d06c92324ad02162adc3a5f4b214|url-status=dead}}</ref>
**[[Space Shuttle Atlantis|Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'']] leaves an observatory in Earth's orbit to study [[gamma ray]]s before returning [[STS-37|on April 11]]. It is followed by [[Space Shuttle Discovery|Space Shuttle ''Discovery'']], which studies instruments related to the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]] from [[STS-39|April 29 to May 6]]. [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']] carries the [[Spacelab]] into orbit [[STS-400|on June 5]].
* [[April 9]] – The first [[Red Army|Soviet troops]] leave [[Poland]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/04/10/1st-soviet-troops-leave-poland/|work=Chicago Tribune|title=1st Soviet Troops Leave Poland|date=April 10, 1991|access-date=October 6, 2013|archive-date=December 28, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228202950/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-04-10/news/9102010956_1_presence-of-soviet-troops-soviet-soldiers-soviet-plans|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[April 10]]
** A [[South Atlantic tropical cyclone]] develops in the [[Southern Hemisphere]] off the coast of [[Angola]], the first of its kind to be documented by [[weather satellite]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 1991 "Angola Cyclone" – STORM2K|url=http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=116885|access-date=2021-06-12|website=storm2k.org|archive-date=October 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015230028/http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=116885|url-status=live}}</ref>
** The Italian ferry ''[[Moby Prince disaster|Moby Prince]]'' collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off [[Livorno]], [[Italy]], resulting in 140 deaths with one survivor.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1991/04/12/may-day-may-day.html|title=May – Day, May – Day Ci ha speronato una bettolina|newspaper=[[la Repubblica]]|date=April 12, 1991|page=5|access-date=September 25, 2011|first=Claudia|last=Fusani|language=it|archive-date=September 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925200450/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1991/04/12/may-day-may-day.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 
* [[April 12]] – The [[Warsaw Stock Exchange]] opens in [[Economy of Poland|Poland]].<ref>{{Cite journal|date=January 1, 2004|title=Trading on the Warsaw stock exchange—from reopening in 1991–2000|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1061951804000175|journal=Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation|volume=13|issue=2|pages=121–134|doi=10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2004.09.003|issn=1061-9518|last1=de la Rosa|first1=Denise|last2=Crawford|first2=Dean|last3=Franz|first3=Diana R.|access-date=2021-06-12|archive-date=October 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015230026/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1061951804000175|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[April 14]] – In the [[Netherlands]], thieves steal 20 paintings worth $500 million from the [[Van Gogh Museum]] in [[Amsterdam]]; they are found in an abandoned car near the museum less than an hour later.<ref>{{Cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=August 27, 2020|title=Factbox: High profile art thefts|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-netherlands-art-frans-hals-theft-fact-idUSKBN25N2KU|access-date=2021-06-12|archive-date=October 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015202553/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-netherlands-art-frans-hals-theft-fact-idUSKBN25N2KU|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Montgomery|first=Paul L.|date=April 15, 1991|title=Lost and Found: Huge van Gogh Theft Fails|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/15/arts/lost-and-found-huge-van-gogh-theft-fails.html|access-date=2021-06-12|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203064051/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/15/arts/lost-and-found-huge-van-gogh-theft-fails.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[April 15]]
** The [[European Bank for Reconstruction and Development]] (EBRD) is inaugurated.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The history of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)|url=https://www.ebrd.com/who-we-are/history-of-the-ebrd.html#:~:text=The%20year%20was%201991,%20the,business%20for%20the%20first%20time.|access-date=2021-06-12|website=ebrd.com|archive-date=August 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830103554/https://www.ebrd.com/who-we-are/history-of-the-ebrd.html#:~:text=The%20year%20was%201991,%20the,business%20for%20the%20first%20time.|url-status=live}}</ref>
** End of Apartheid: The [[European Economic Community]] lifts [[Disinvestment from South Africa|economic sanctions]] on [[South Africa]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Riding|first=Alan|date=April 16, 1991|title=European nations to lift sanctions on South Africa|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/16/world/european-nations-to-lift-sanctions-on-south-africa.html|access-date=2021-06-12|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029101424/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/16/world/european-nations-to-lift-sanctions-on-south-africa.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[April 16]] – [[April 18|18]] – [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] begins the first ever visit of a [[Japan–Soviet Union relations|Soviet leader to Japan]], but fails to resolve the [[Kuril Islands dispute|two countries' dispute]] over ownership of the [[Kuril Islands]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Weisman|first=Steven R.|date=April 16, 1991|title=Gorbachev on Peace Mission to Japan|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/16/world/gorbachev-on-peace-mission-to-japan.html|access-date=2021-06-12|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029103029/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/16/world/gorbachev-on-peace-mission-to-japan.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[April 17]] – The [[Dow Jones Industrial Average]] closes above 3,000 for the first time in history, at 3,004.46.<ref>{{Cite web|title=A History of The Dow Jones Industrial Average|url=https://apnews.com/article/50399f1ad8429b5259a2890d963a25fb|access-date=2021-06-12|work=Associated Press News}}{{dead link|date=December 2024|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Norris|first=Floyd|date=April 18, 1991|title=Market Place; At Last, Dow Closes Above 3,000|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/18/business/market-place-at-last-dow-closes-above-3000.html|access-date=2021-06-12|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029103054/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/18/business/market-place-at-last-dow-closes-above-3000.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[April 18]] – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq declares some of its [[chemical weapon]]s and materials to the UN, as required by [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 687|Resolution 687]], and claims that it does not have a [[biological weapons]] program.
* [[April 19]] – [[George Carey]] is enthroned as [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], the spiritual leader of the worldwide [[Anglican Communion]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Edward|last=Carpenter|title=Cantuar: The Archbishops in Their Office|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ee0-EsYR9aEC&pg=PA2|date=January 1, 1997|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-264-67449-0|pages=2|access-date=September 30, 2020|archive-date=7 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207101433/https://books.google.com/books?id=ee0-EsYR9aEC&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[April 22]]
**A 7.7 {{M|w|link=y}} [[1991 Limon earthquake|Limon earthquake]] strikes [[Costa Rica]] and [[Panama]] with a maximum Mercalli intensity, causing between 47 and 87 deaths and up to 759 injuries.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Today in Earthquake History|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/today/index.php?month=4&day=22|access-date=2021-06-12|publisher=United States Geological Survey|archive-date=July 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723195400/https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/today/index.php?month=4&day=22|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=April 23, 1991|title=Quake Hits Costa Rica and Panama : Disaster: The 7.4 temblor kills at least 19. Damage is heavy in Caribbean coastal area.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-23-mn-689-story.html|access-date=2021-06-12|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=July 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724185104/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-23-mn-689-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
**In [[Taiwan]], the [[Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion]] are abolished, having been in effect for 43 years.<ref>{{Cite web|title=History of Constitutional Revisions in the Republic of China|url=http://www.taiwandocuments.org/constitution07.htm|access-date=2021-06-12|website=taiwandocuments.org|archive-date=February 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211011151/http://www.taiwandocuments.org/constitution07.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Feldman">{{cite book|title=Constitutional Reform and the Future of the Republic of China|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|year=1991|isbn=9780873328807|editor1-last=Feldman|editor1-first=Harvey|series=Taiwan in the Modern World|pages=1, 3–7, 39}}</ref>
*[[April 23]] – [[Prime Minister of Iceland]] [[Steingrímur Hermannsson]] resigns following [[1991 Icelandic parliamentary election|an inconclusive parliamentary election]]; he is succeeded by [[Davíð Oddsson]] on April 30.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Prime Minister Ousted; Feminists Win Big in Election|url=https://apnews.com/article/91a35dba150251f6d9ccd697738fc695|access-date=2021-06-12|work=Associated Press News}}{{dead link|date=December 2024|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=NATO Who's who?: PM Iceland|url=https://www.nato.int/cv/hsg/ic/oddsson.htm|access-date=2021-06-12|website=nato.int|archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509235152/https://www.nato.int/cv/hsg/ic/oddsson.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[April 26]]
** A series of [[Tornado outbreak of April 26, 1991|55 tornadoes]] break out in the [[Midwestern United States|central U.S.]], killing 21. The most notable tornado strikes [[Andover, Kansas|Andover]], [[Kansas]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=US Department of Commerce|first=NOAA|title=Timeline for supercell that produced the Wichita/Andover Tornado|url=https://www.weather.gov/ict/AndoverTimeline|access-date=2021-06-12|website=weather.gov|archive-date=June 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613003530/https://www.weather.gov/ict/AndoverTimeline|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=US Department of Commerce|first=NOAA|title=The April 26, 1991 Great Plains Tornado Outbreak|url=https://www.weather.gov/oun/events-19910426|access-date=2021-06-12|website=weather.gov|archive-date=June 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613003524/https://www.weather.gov/oun/events-19910426|url-status=live}}</ref>
** [[Esko Aho]] at the age of 36 becomes the youngest-ever [[Prime Minister of Finland]].<ref>{{cite book|author=United States. Central Intelligence Agency|title=The World Factbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kVaOgbFeuXwC&pg=PA134|year=1989|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|pages=134|access-date=September 30, 2020|archive-date=December 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207101350/https://books.google.com/books?id=kVaOgbFeuXwC&pg=PA134#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:1991 Bangladesh Cyclone 29 apr 1991 0019Z.jpg|upright=0.75|thumb|[[1991 Bangladesh Cyclone]]]]
* [[April 29]]
** A [[1991 Bangladesh cyclone|tropical cyclone]] hits [[Bangladesh]], killing an estimated 138,000 people.<ref>{{cite book|author=United Nations. Dept. of Public Information|title=Yearbook of the United Nations. 45.1991(1992)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BTdmYFgvyi0C&pg=PA416|date=December 24, 1992|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|isbn=0-7923-1970-2|pages=416|access-date=September 30, 2020|archive-date=7 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207102643/https://books.google.com/books?id=BTdmYFgvyi0C&pg=PA416#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>
** A 7.0 {{M|w|link=y}} [[1991 Racha earthquake|earthquake]] in [[Racha]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], kills 270 people and leaves 100,000 others homeless.<ref name="Nikoleishvili">{{cite web|last=Nikoleishvili|first=I.|title=Earthquake in Racha and Middle Age Monuments|url=http://www.opentext.ge/art/archit/medieval/racha.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721025942/http://www.opentext.ge/art/archit/medieval/racha.htm|archive-date=July 21, 2011|access-date=August 10, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Arafiev">{{cite journal|last=Arafiev|first=S.S.|author2=Rogozhin E.A.|author3=Bykova V.V.|author4=Dorbath C.|year=2006|title=Deep Structure of the Racha Earthquake Source Zone from Seismic Tomography Data|url=http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/AInv/2006_PSE_Racha.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth|volume=42|issue=1|pages=27–40|bibcode=2006IzPSE..42...27A|doi=10.1134/s1069351306010034|s2cid=128784815|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807114528/http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/AInv/2006_PSE_Racha.pdf|archive-date=August 7, 2011|name-list-style=amp}}</ref>
* [[April 29]] – [[April 30|30]] – In [[Lesotho]], a bloodless coup ousts military ruler [[Justin Lekhanya]], with Chairman of the Military Council [[Elias Phisoana Ramaema]] replacing him two days later.<ref>{{cite book|author=((32nd 1991))|title=The Europa World Year Book, 1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CmOUWTetnQ4C|year=1991|publisher=Europa Publications Limited|isbn=978-0-946653-69-0|page=1664|access-date=April 11, 2021|archive-date=December 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207102947/https://books.google.com/books?id=CmOUWTetnQ4C|url-status=live}}</ref>