The Gulf War

Church and World Events

1990

July

18 Saddam Hussein threatens military action against Kuwait

24 Iraqi forces begin massing on the Kuwait border

August

2 Iraq invades Kuwait

6 Saudi Arabia requests assistance from U.S; UN Security Council imposes trade embargo against Iraq

7 Operation Desert Shield begins

8 Iraq announces annexation of Kuwait

10 Twelve Arab states vote to support Saudi Arabia militarily

22 President George W. H. Bush issues an executive order, calling selected reservists to active duty.

28 Iraq declares Kuwait to be a province of Iraq

September

11 President Bush threatens military force against Iraq

November

29 UN authorizes military intervention if Iraq does not withdraw from Kuwait

January

12 Operation Just Cause ends in Panama

23 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia begins to collapse

March

3 Lithuania declares independence from the Soviet Union; other Baltic states follow

15 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes president of the Soviet Union

April

2 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints releases FamilySearch computer program

24 U.S. launches Hubble Telescope

June

22 Checkpoint Charlie is dismantled in Berlin

July

27 Belorussia declares independence from the Soviet Union

October

3 Reunification of Germany is finalized

November

22 Margaret Thatcher resigns as U.K.'s prime minister

1991

January

12 U.S Congress authorizes President Bush to wage war and end Iraq's occupation of Kuwait

17 Desert Storm begins with air and missile attacks in Iraq and Kuwait

19 Three Scud missiles explode in Tel Aviv, Israel

22 Iraq ignites Kuwaiti oil well tanks

23 President Bush urges Saddam Hussein be brought to justice

26 Over 75,000 antiwar protesters march in Washington, DC

27 Allies bomb Iraqi-held oil facilities in Kuwait to stop Iraq from dumping oil into the Persian Gulf

29 Iraqis attack Khafji, Saudi Arabia; U.S. and U.S.S.R. issue communique, offering Iraq cease-fire if it makes "unequivocal commitment" to withdraw

31 Saudi and Qatari troops, backed by U.S. artillery, retake Khafji, Saudi Arabia; Iraq captures first U.S. female prisoner of war

February

1 Allies bomb ten-mile long Iraqi armored column heading to Saudi Arabia 

3 Allied air campaign passes 40,000 sorties

5 Syrian troops repulse Iraqi troops at Saudi-Kuwait border

6 U.S. F-15 fighters shoot down four Iraqi jets; 120 Iraqi aircraft flown to Iran

9 Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev warns military operations in Persian Gulf threaten to exceed UN mandate

11 President Bush says alliance is in no hurry to begin ground war

12 Allied forces open attacks against Iraqi forces in Kuwait

14 Coalition reports destroying 1,300 Iraqi tanks, 800 armored vehicles, and 1,100 artillery pieces

15 Iraq dismisses coalition terms as a "cruel hoax"

16 Iraq's UN ambassador says Iraq will use weapons of mass destruction if U.S. bombing continues

18 Floating mines strike two U.S. warships in the Gulf

19 Iranian newspaper claims Iraq has suffered 20,000 dead and 60,000 wounded; U.S. Marines strike Iraqi targets in Kuwait

22 President Bush issues ultimatum to Iraq: withdraw from Kuwait by noon February 23 to avoid a ground war

23 Allies' ground offensive begins at 4:00am.; Iraq sets ablaze about 150 Kuwait oil wells

24 Allied ground assault begins; Allied casualties are very light; over

25 Allied forces reach outskirts of Kuwait City; Iraqi Scud missile hits U.S. barracks in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia: 28 soldiers killed, 90 wounded; nearly 20,000 Iraqis taken prisoner; 270 Iraqi tanks destroyed 5,500 Iraqis captured 

26 U.S. reports Iraqi forces are in "full retreat"; Iraqi POWs number 63,000; Saddam Hussein announces Iraq will withdraw completely; residents of Kuwait City celebrate; U.S. Embassy in Kuwait returned to U.S. control

27 President Bush declares Kuwait liberated and suspends offensive operations

28 Kuwaiti troops raise flag in Kuwait City; President Bush declares suspension of offensive combat; states conditions for permanent cease-fire

March

10 U.S. forces begin withdrawal from Persian Gulf

14 The Emir of Kuwait returns to Kuwait after seven months of exile in Saudi Arabia

April

3 UN calls for destruction or removal of all Iraqi chemical and biological weapons

November

6 Last Kuwaiti oil fires (ignited by Iraqis) are extinguished

January

26 Civil war begins in Somalia

April

27 Latter-day Saint Church completes computerization of membership records worldwide

May

1 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints calls 500,000th full-time missionary

19 Croatia votes for independence in referendum

June

7 Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Philippines

12 Russia elects Boris Yeltsin president

19 Soviet occupation of Hungary ends

24 The Russian Republic grants formal recognition to the Church

25 Croatia and Slovenia declare independence from Yugoslavia

July

1 Warsaw Pact officially disbands

August

27 European Union recognizes independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

31 Kyrgyzstan declares independence from the Soviet Union

September

1 Uzbekistan declares independence from the Soviet Union; Latter-day Saint Church membership reaches 8 million

9 Tajikistan declares independence from the Soviet Union

21 Armenia receives independence from the Soviet Union

October

18 Azerbaijan declares independence from the Soviet Union

27 Turkmenistan declares independence from the Soviet Union

29 America's Galileo spacecraft is the first to visit an asteroid

December

4 Terry A. Anderson, a journalist, is released after seven years of captivity in Beirut

26 The Soviet Union officially dissolves