Events from the year 1992 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government President: George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) Vice President: Dan Quayle (R-Indiana) Chief Justice: William Rehnquist (Virginia) Speaker of the House of Representatives: Tom Foley (D-Washington) Senate Majority Leader: George J. Mitchell (D-Maine) Congress: 102nd
State governments Governors and lieutenant governors Governors
Lieutenant governors
Events
January January 1 – George H. W. Bush becomes the first U.S. president to address the Australian Parliament. January 5 – Seventeen-year-old Kelly Dae Wilson disappears in Gilmer, Texas. Her case became one of the biggest unsolved missing-persons cases in Texas. January 8 – George H. W. Bush is televised falling violently ill at a state dinner in Japan, vomiting into the lap of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and fainting. January 11 – Twelve-year-old Shanda Sharer is tortured and burned to death by four teenage girls in Madison, Indiana. The crime attracts international attention due to its brutality and the young age of the perpetrators. January 26 Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons. Super Bowl XXVI: The Washington Redskins defeat the Buffalo Bills 37–24 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. January 28 – George H. W. Bush delivers his final State of the Union Address.
February February 1 – The United States Coast Guard begins deporting the first of some 14,000 refugees from Haiti. February 10 Tom Harkin wins the Iowa Democratic Caucus. In Indianapolis, Indiana, boxer Mike Tyson is convicted of raping Desiree Washington. February 17 – A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sentences serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison. February 18 – In New Hampshire, U.S. President George H. W. Bush defeats Pat Buchanan in the Republican primary; Paul Tsongas leads the Democratic candidates. February 22 – On CNN's Larry King Live, Texas billionaire Ross Perot announces that he will run for U.S. president as an independent if volunteers put him on the ballot in all 50 states.
March March 10 – On 'Super Tuesday', U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton win most of the primaries held. March 22 – USAir Flight 405, a domestic flight from New York City to Cleveland, Ohio, crashes into the Flushing Bay moments after taking off from LaGuardia Airport, killing 27 of the 51 people on board. The causes of the accident were revealed to be ice on the aircraft and pilot error. March 30 – The 64th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, with Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs winning five awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Barry Levinson's Bugsy leads the nominations with ten. The telecast garners over 44 million viewers. March 31 – , the last active U.S. Navy battleship, is decommissioned at Long Beach, California.
April April 2 – In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of the murder of mob boss Paul Castellano and racketeering, and is later sentenced to life in prison. April 5 The World Wrestling Federation holds WrestleMania VIII from the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana, drawing a crowd of 62,167. Approximately 500,000 people march on Washington, D.C. in support of abortion rights in advance of oral arguments in the case Planned Parenthood v. Casey. April 6 Microsoft releases Windows 3.1. Barney & Friends debuts on PBS. April 8 – Former tennis player Arthur Ashe, 48, announces that he is suffering from the AIDS virus, which he is believed to have contracted from a blood transfusion during heart surgery in 1983. He had been diagnosed with HIV more than three years prior. April 9 – A Miami, Florida jury convicts former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega of assisting Colombia's cocaine cartel. April 13 – The Chicago flood occurs, causing approximately $2 billion in damages to the city (equivalent to $4.34 billion in 2023). April 25 – The 7.2 Cape Mendocino earthquake shakes the north coast of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing $48.3–75 million in losses and 98–356 injuries. This was the first instrumentally recorded event that showed shallow angle thrust movement on the southern Cascadia subduction zone. Two triggered strike-slip events caused additional destruction the following day. April 29–May 4 – In Simi Valley, California, a jury acquits four LAPD police officers accused of excessive force in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King, causing the 1992 Los Angeles riots and leading to 53 deaths and $1 billion in damage.
May May 1 – Eric Houston of Yuba County kills four, injures nine, and holds many others hostage at Lindhurst High School in Olivehurst, California. May 5 – Alabama ratifies a 202-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the Twenty-seventh Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a midterm or retroactive pay raise. May 16 – STS-49: Space Shuttle Endeavour lands safely after a successful maiden voyage. May 18 – The Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution is enacted. May 19 In San Francisco, U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle gives his famous Murphy Brown speech. In Massapequa, New York, Amy Fisher shoots Mary Jo Buttafuoco, wife of Joey Buttafuoco. May 22 – After 30 years, Johnny Carson retires as host of NBC's The Tonight Show. May 25 – Jay Leno becomes the new host of NBC's The Tonight Show, following the retirement of Johnny Carson.
June
June – As a result of the early 1990s recession and subsequent sluggish job creation, unemployment peaks at 7.8%, a level not seen since March 1984. This would contribute to President George H. W. Bush's defeat to Bill Clinton in the election later that year. June 1 – Kentucky celebrates its bicentennial statehood. June 15 – Delta Phi Beta, a South Asian fraternity is founded at the University of California, Berkeley.Delta Phi Beta June 16 – A federal grand jury indicts Caspar Weinberger for his role in covering up the Iran–Contra affair. June 17 – A 'Joint Understanding' agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this is later codified in START II). June 23 – Mafia boss John Gotti is sentenced to life in prison, after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering on April 2. June 24 The Franco-American Flag is officially raised for the first time in Manchester, New Hampshire. The flag was presented by singer Édith Butler as part of a tour. The Supreme Court rules 5–4 in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the first landmark abortion case since Roe v. Wade. In Casey the Court decided to uphold the "essential holding" of Roe that a woman has the right to an abortion but introduced a new "undue burden" standard which allows states to impose certain regulation so long as those regulations did not create a "substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion before the fetus attains viability." June 28 The 7.3 Landers earthquake shakes the Mojave Desert region of Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing $92 million in losses, three deaths and 400+ injuries. The 6.5 Big Bear earthquake shakes the San Bernardino Mountains region of Southern California about three hours later. This triggered event had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), causing moderate damage and some injuries.
July July – The Goosebumps series of children's horror fiction, penned by R. L. Stine, is first published. July 9 – Bill Clinton announces his selection of Al Gore as his running mate in the 1992 U.S. presidential election. July 10 – In Miami, Florida, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations. July 16 – Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton is nominated for U.S. president and Tennessee Senator Al Gore for vice president at the Democratic National Convention in New York City.
August
August 11 – The largest shopping mall in the U.S., Minnesota's Mall of America, constructed on 78 acres (316,000 m2), opens in Bloomington. August 20 – The Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas re-nominates U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle. Pat Buchanan, one of Bush's opponents in the primaries, delivers a controversial convention speech, in which he refers to a "religious war" in the country. August 21–22 – Events at Ruby Ridge, Idaho are sparked by a federal U.S. Marshal surveillance team, resulting in the death of a Marshal, Sam Weaver, and his dog, and the next day the wounding of Randy Weaver, the death of his wife Vicki, and the wounding of Kevin Harris. August 24–28 – Hurricane Andrew hits south Florida and dissipates over the Tennessee valley, killing 65 and causing US$26.5 billion in damage.
September September 5 – Batman: The Animated Series premieres on Fox Kids. September 11 – Hurricane Iniki hits the Hawaiian Islands, Kauai and Oahu. September 12 – STS-47: Dr. Mae Jemison becomes the first African American woman to travel into space, aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. September 23 – Operation Julin is the last nuclear test conducted by the United States at the Nevada Test Site. September 24 The Kentucky Supreme Court, in Kentucky v. Wasson, holds that laws criminalizing same-sex sodomy are unconstitutional, and accurately predicts that other states and the nation will eventually rule the same way. The Sci-Fi Channel launches with a broadcast of Star Wars.
October October 1 – The Turner Broadcasting System's Cartoon Network goes on the air. The Merrie Melodies short, Rhapsody Rabbit, is the very first cartoon to be broadcast on the network. October 2 – Pittsburgh International Airport's new facility opens in Findlay Township, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The new terminal is built as an expansion for USAir and an upgrade from the older Pittsburgh International Airport facility. October 3 – After performing a song protesting alleged child abuse by the Catholic Church, Sinéad O'Connor rips up a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live, causing huge controversy, leading the switchboards at NBC to ring off the hook. October 8 – The video game Mortal Kombat is released. October 9 The Chief of Naval Operations adopts the United States Navy's core values: Honor, Courage and Commitment. A 13-kilogram (29-pound) meteorite lands in the driveway of the Knapp residence in Peekskill, New York, destroying the family's Chevrolet Malibu. It becomes known as the Peekskill Meteorite. October 11 – Ross Perot, Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush participate in the first debate of the 1992 election at Washington University in St. Louis. October 13 – Al Gore, James Stockdale, and Dan Quayle participate in the 1992 vice presidential debate. October 14 – The A Bunch of Munsch episode "The Paper Bag Princess" is first broadcast on Showtime for the Showtime's Fall 1992 lineup opposite of the series debut of American Heroes & Legends, as part of the network's hour long block of kiddie-oriented programming. October 15 – Carole Simpson hosts the second debate of the presidential election at the University of Richmond. October 17 – Yoshihiro Hattori, a 16-year-old Japanese exchange student, mistakes the address of a party and is shot dead after knocking on the wrong door in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The shooter, Rodney Peairs, is later acquitted, sparking outrage in Japan. October 19 – Jim Lehrer hosts the final debate of the presidential election at Michigan State University. October 26 – Dry Tortugas National Park is established. October 29 – The Food and Drug Administration approves Depo-Provera for use as a contraceptive in the United States. October 31 – The pilot episode for X-Men airs on Fox Kids.
November