US space shuttle Atlantis docks with the station on June 27, which was the first time that a space shuttle attempted to dock with the station and it marked an important accomplishment and moment in space travel.
Nerve gas attack in Tokyo subway kills eight and injures thousands. The Aum Shinrikyo ("Supreme Truth") cult is to blame (March 20).
At the end of a sensational trial, former football star O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the brutal 1994 double murder of his estranged wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. In the epic 252-day trial, Simpson’s “dream team” of lawyers employed creative and controversial methods to convince jurors that Simpson’s guilt had not been proved “beyond a reasonable doubt,” thus surmounting what the prosecution called a “mountain of evidence” implicating him as the murderer.
Domestic terrorist bomb attack on a Federal building in downtown Oklahoma City destroys one-third of the building, killing 168 and injuring more than 680 others. Timothy McVeigh detonated a rental truck full of explosives parked in front of the building. His co-conspirator Terry Nichols assisted in the bomb's preparation.
In late 1993, record-breaking basketball player Michael Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls, who he had been playing with since being drafted in 1984. After returning in March of 1995, he went on to win three more NBA Finals with the Bulls in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Jordan permanently retired in 2003.
Quebec held a referendum on whether or not the Canadian province should declare its independence during October of 1995. The vote on independence had an extremely high turnout with about 93 percent of registered voters participating and the results were very close. The “No” vote won with 50.58 percent with 2,363,648 votes. The “Yes” vote lost by 54,288 votes.
During the month of February in 1995, balloonist Steve Fossett completed the very first solo hot air balloon flight across the Pacific Ocean, from South Korea and to Saskatchewan, Canada. Fossett continued to pursue ballooning and other world records during his career as an adventurer until his disappearance in 2007. Fossett’s plane vanished over Nevada during a scouting mission and he was officially declared dead in 2008.
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurs near Kobe, Japan, killing 6,433 people
An unprecedented heat wave strikes the Midwestern United States Temperatures exceed 104°F (40°C) in the afternoon for 5 straight days. At least 3,000 people die, 750 in Chicago, Illinois alone.