Our Times

As promised, my guess at the ten most important world-historical events since 1993.

First, let's treat of the military/diplomatic matters.

1. January 1, 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement goes into effect.

2. May 1998, the first "euro" coins are minted.

3. September 11, 2001, enough said.

4. February 1, 2002, a kidnapped Wall Street Journal Reporter, Daniel Pearl, is murdered by his kidnappers in Pakistan.

5. October 16, 2002, George W. Bush signs the Iraq War Resolution.

Next, let's discuss politics, in a narrow sense, in some of the leading powers of the day.

6. March 1996, the Republic of China (i.e. Taiwan) holds its first-ever direct election for President.

7. December 5, 1996, The chairman of the Federal Reserve in the U.S., Alan Greenspan, gives a speech warning that stock values in the US may have become inflated due to "irrational exuberance."

8. June 2007, In the U.K., Tony Blair steps down, and his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, becomes both the new leader of the Labour Party and the new Prime Minister.

Finally, there are a couple other events that I can't bring myself to leave off any such list.

9. March 1995, Nick Leeson is arrested for his role in the collapse of one of the world's oldest banks, Barings. This became known as the "rogue trader" case.

10. February 1997, Scientists in Scotland announced that they've cloned a sheep, which they call Dolly.