After a devastating Windsor Castle fire and assorted family crises, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II called 1992 her “annus horribilis,” or horrible year. The police beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles sparked one of the worst riots in U.S. history, while exploding sewers in Mexico killed hundreds. On the brighter side, South Africa ended apartheid, the U.S. and Russia declared the Cold War over, Mae Jemison became the first Black woman in space and a big purple dinosaur named Barney hit TV, singing about love, kindness and cleaning up.
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On March 17, 1992, white South Africans vote overwhelmingly in a referendum to end minority rule, by a margin of 68.7 percent to 31.2 percent. Thus ends the turbulent period called apartheid, a racial segregation policy that separated the minority white population by designating areas and activities prohibited to Black people.
ANC supporters carry a "Vote for all" banner during a "People's referendum" march in Pretoria supporting F.W. De Klerk's victory on "Yes" referendum on March 18, 1992. - A referendum on ending apartheid was held in South Africa on 17 March 1992. The referendum was limited to white South African voters, who were asked whether or not they supported the negotiated reforms begun by State President F. W. de Klerk two years earlier, in which he proposed to end the apartheid system that had been implemented since 1948. The result of the election was a large victory for the "yes" side, which ultimately resulted in apartheid being lifted. Universal suffrage was introduced two years later. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
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On June 23, 1992, Mafia boss John Gotti, who was nicknamed the “Teflon Don” after escaping unscathed from several trials during the 1980s, is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty on 14 accounts of conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering. Moments after his sentence was read in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, hundreds of Gotti’s supporters stormed the building and overturned and smashed cars before being forced back by police reinforcements.
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 20: Mafia Boss John Gotti, aka 'The Dapper Don' is photographed on a street corner January 20, 1987 in New York City. (Photo by Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images)
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On December 9, 1992, 1,800 United States Marines arrive in Mogadishu, Somalia, to spearhead a multinational force aimed at restoring order in the conflict-ridden country.
A Somali (2nd R), who disagrees with the military intervention in his country, argues briefly with two U.S. Marines shortly after they landed in Somalia 09 December 1992. U.S. forces are taking up positions at the city's airport and harbor, securing those points before the shipment of needed food aid begins. (Photo credit should read ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/GettyImages)
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