- May 11
- Sega of America begins shipping the Saturn video game system in the US. Price is US$399 with the VirtuaFighter game. 30,000 units are available for the initial launch, with ten game titles available. (Total sales in North America over its lifetime: 1.3 million.) [9]
- The first Electronic Entertainment Expo is held in Los Angeles, over three days. The show takes its name from Electronic Entertainment magazine. 350 game companies show 1300 games for video game systems and personal computers. Total attendance is 28,000. Sony introduces the PlayStation in a US$4 million booth, including an appearance by Michael Jackson. [9]
- In New York City, more than 170 countries decide to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions. [29]
- May 13
- An earthquake hits the regions of Kozani and Grevena in Greece, with an intensity of 6.6 on the Richter scale. 25 people injured, 12,000 homes damaged or destroyed. Damage estimate at US$450 million. [1] [29] [53]
- Chelsi Smith, 21, of USA, crowned 44th Miss Universe; Shanna Lynn Moakler, (age 19, Miss New York), replaces Chelsi Smith as Miss USA. [1]
- May 14
- Dalai Lama proclaims 6-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima 11th reincarnation of Panchen Lama, Tibet's second most senior spiritual leader. [1] [29]
- May 15
- People's Republic of China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor. [1]
- May 16
- Japanese police arrest cult leader Shoko Asahara and charged him with nerve-gas attack on Tokyo's subways two months earlier. [1] [29]
- In Loyalty Islands region of the south Pacific, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurs. [53]
- Jacques Chirac assumes the presidency of France. [29]
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- May 19
- World's youngest doctor, Balamurali Ambati, 17, graduates Mount Sinai. [1]
- Fox releases the film Die Hard: With A Vengeance to theaters. (Total world gross ticket sales: $366 million (1st for 1995).) [940]
- May 21
- Pope John Paul II canonizes John Sarkander during his visit to Olomouc, the Czech Republic. [29]
- May 23
- At the Sun World conference in San Francisco, California, Sun Microsystems introduces the Java interactive programming language. Code-name during development was Oak. [4]
- May 25
- The Supreme Court of Canada rules that sexual orientation is a prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. [29]
- May 26
- Microsoft chairman Bill Gates issues an internal memo "The Internet Tidal Wave", saying he believes the Internet to be the single most important development in the computer industry since the IBM Personal Computer. He gives the highest level of importance to the Internet, calling it "critical to every part of our business". [4]
- May 27
- On Sakhalin Island, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurs. About 1,989 people killed, about 750 injured. [53]
- May 28
- Neftegorsk, Russia is hit by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake, killing at least 2000 people (two-thirds of the town's population). [1] [29]
- June 2
- SS Captain Erich Priebke is extradited from Argentina to Italy. [29]
- June 5
- The Bose-Einstein condensate is first created, an extremely low-temperature fluid which contains properties and exhibits behaviors that are currently not completely understood. [5] [29]
- A bunker fuel barge collides with the freighter Sun Pulse off Singapore, leaking about 116,000 litres of fuel oil. [522]
- June 6
- U.S. astronaut Norman Thagard breaks NASA's space endurance record of 14 days, 1 hour and 16 minutes, aboard the Russian space station Mir. [29]
- June 8
- Downed U.S. Air Force pilot Captain Scott O'Grady is rescued by U.S. Marines in Bosnia-Herzegovina. [29]
- June 13
- French President Jacques Chirac announces the resumption of nuclear tests in French Polynesia. [29]
- June 15
- A powerful earthquake, registering a magnitude of 6.5, hits the city of Egion, Greece, resulting in 26 deaths and significant damage to many buildings. Estimate of damage at US$660 million. [29] [53]
- June 20
- Oil multinational Royal Dutch Shell caves in to international pressure and abandons plans to dump the Brent Spar oil rig at sea. The platform will be towed to Norway for dismantling on land. [29] [287.381]
- The Walt Disney Company announces plans for a fourth theme park in Florida: Disney's Animal Kingdom. The new park is expected to cost US$760 million to create, over a 200-hectare area. It is due to open in 1998. [6]
- June 22
- Japanese police rescue 365 hostages from a hijacked Nippon Airlines 747 at Hakodate airport. The hijacker was armed with a knife and demanded the release of Shoko Asahara. [29]
- June 24
- (to July 7) 5,000,000 view Christo's "wrapped" Reichstag in Berlin. [37]
- June 27
- American space shuttle Atlantis blasts off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is the 100th human space mission in American history. [129]
- June 29
- Lisa Clayton completes her 10-month solo circumnavigation from the Northern Hemisphere. [29]
- American space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian space station Mir to form the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth. This is the second time ships from two countries had linked up in space. [5] [29]
- The Sampoong Department Store collapses in the Seocho-gu district of Seoul, South Korea, killing 501 and injuring 937. [29]
- June 30
- The German Bundestag votes to send German troops to Bosnia as a part of the international peace keeping mission. [37]
- July 1
- Roman Herzog succeeds Richard von Weizäcker as Germany's President (Bundespräsident). [37]
- In response to UNSCOM's evidence, Iraq admits for first time the existence of an offensive biological weapons program, but denies weaponization. [29]
- July 4
- United Kingdom Prime Minister John Major wins his battle to remain leader of the Conservative Party. [29]
- July 6
- IBM completes its US$3.5 billion acquisition of Lotus Development, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary. [4]
- July 8
- A volcanic eruption begins on the island of Montserrat. [29]
- July 10
- Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi is freed from house arrest. [29]
- July 11
- Bosnian Serbs march into Srebrenica, taking the United Nations Dutch peacekeeping force hostage to prevent UN airstrikes. [1238.48]
- In the Myanmar-China border region, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake occurs. Six people killed, 99 injured, more than 100,000 houses destroyed and 42,000 damaged. [53]
- Ore carrier Iron Baron runs aground on a reef off southern Australia, spilling over 582,000 litres of fuel oil. [522]
- July 12
- (to July 16) Serbs round up and execute over 8000 male Muslims in Srebrenica. [1238.48]
- July 13
- Dozens of cities in the USA, most notably Chicago and Milwaukee, set all-time record high temperatures. Hundreds of people in these and other cities die as the heat wave reaches its peak. [29]
- July 16
- French President Jacques Chirac make a speech, formally apologizing for French involvement in the deportation of Jews during World War II. [10]
- July 17
- The Nasdaq Composite stock market index closes above the 1,000 mark for the first time. [5] [29]
- July 21
- In Gansu, China, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake occurs. Fourteen people killed, at least 60 injured, 5,000 left homeless, 4,500 houses destroyed and 5,000 houses damaged in the Yongdeng area. [53]
- (to July 26) The People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China fires missiles into the waters north of Taiwan. [29]
- July 23
- David Daliberti and William Barloon, two Americans held as spies by Iraq, are released by Saddam Hussein. [29]
- July 25
- The tanker Sea Prince burns off South Korea, leaking estimated 816,000 litres of fuel oil forming a slick 32km in diameter. [522]
- July 27
- Disney agrees to buy Capital Cities / ABC for one Disney share plus US$65 cash per ABC share. Total value of the deal is about US$20 billion. [6]
- July 30
- Near the coast of Northern Chile, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake occurs. Three people were killed, 58 injured, 630 left homeless and 115 houses destroyed. Also felt in southern Peru and at La Paz, Bolivia. Mild tsunami generated, measured at Hawaii, Alaska, Japan. [53]
- August 1
- Westinghouse Electric Corporation makes a deal to buy CBS for US$5.4 billion. [457]
- August 4
- Croatian forces launch Operation Storm against Serbian forces in Krajina, with the cooperation of the ARBiH, and force them to withdraw to central Bosnia. [29]
- August 5
- Croatian forces take Knin and continue to advance. [29]
- August 7
- Operation Storm ends with a United Nations-brokered ceasefire; remaining Serbian forces start surrendering. [29]
- August 9
- Shares of Netscape Communications are first made available to the public on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Before trading, shares are priced at US$28. The stock opens at US$71, reaching a high of US$74.75. The market value of the company becomes US$2.2 billion. This is the best opening day for a stock in Wall Street history for an issue of its size. [4]
- August 14
- An avalanche buries Alison Hargreaves, climbing Mount Everest without oxygen tank; she is reported dead. [29]
- Michael Ovitz is appointed president of the Walt Disney Company. His contract is for five years, with base salary US$1 million per year, and options to purchase 5 million shares of the Disney company. [6]
- August 21
- US District Court Judge Thomas Jackson holds the first and only hearing on the consent decree between Microsoft and the US Department of Justice. Within 17 minutes, he signs his approval of it. The decree will govern Microsoft's licensing practices of Windows for the next 6.5 years, barring the company from linking unrelated software licenses. The ruling comes after five years of investigation of monopolistic licensing practices. [4]
- August 23
- Quote by comedian Jay Leno about computers, at a rehersal for the Windows 95 launch: "I came illiterate, now I'm leaving virtually retarded.". [4]
- August 24
- Microsoft releases the Windows 95 operating system. This is the first consumer Windows version that does not require MS-DOS pre-installed. New features include integrated TCP/IP stack, dial-up networking, and long filenames. The software comprises over 11 million lines of code. The US$250 million publicity campaign includes US$12 million for the rights to the "Start Me Up" song by the Rolling Stones. This is the biggest marketing extravaganza for a consumer product ever. First day sales total about 300,000 copies. [4]
- August 28
- A Serbian Mortar bomb near a Sarajevo market square kills 37 civilians. [29]
- August 30
- The NATO bombing campaign against Serb artillery positions begins in Bosnia, continuing into October. At the same time ARBiH forces begin an offensive against the Serb Army around Sarajevo, central Bosnia and Bosnian Krajina. [29]
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