Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Andrew Wilson, and Brent Tully announce in April their discovery of possibly the largest black hole known. It has a mass several billion times that of the sun and was detected by observing the gravitational attraction on a large rotating disk of gas in the galaxy NGC 6240.
Volcanologists saved thousands of lives by successfully predicting the eruption of Pinatubo, a volcano on Luzon Island in the Philippines. When Pinatubo erupted on June 12, it shot so much sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere that it would cause a cooler climate worldwide for several years.
A total solar eclipse is seen in Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Brazil on July 11.
Sky phone begins equipping airlines with telephones that remain operational from anywhere on Earth.
Tim Berners-Lee writes the first Web browser for giving computer users access to information on the Web. He releases files describing his idea for the "World Wide Web" on August 6.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System is released in the U.S. on August 13.
IBM starts making personal computer with word-processing programs, making typewriters almost obsolete.
The Los Angeles Lakers lose against the Chicago Bulls, giving the Bulls their first NBA Championship.
The World Series is won by the Minnesota Twins after they defeated the Atlanta Braves 4 games to 3.
Author-illustrator Theodor Seuss Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss, dies in September at age 87.