A while back, I did this for the years 1991 through 2006. I rather tried make it sound like an FHTL, but the result was quite ASBish:
1991
- Gulf War: Coalition forces attack and later enter Iraq in order force Iraq out of Kuwait.
- Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan become independent from the Soviet Union.
- Foundation work laid for World Wide Web: HTML developed at CERN.
- Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia. Macedonia follows later the year.
- Apartheid regime in South Africa ended.
- Warsaw Pact is dissolved by it's members.
- Mt. Pinatubo erupts on the Philippines.
- The Soviet Union formally ceases to exist by the end of the year, and is renamed Russian Federation.
1992
- Bosnia declares independence from Yugoslavia, begin of the Bosnian War, eventually escalating it into a three-way war between the Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs, including atrocities and ethnic cleansing.
- Czechoslovakia votes to split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
1993
- Maastricht Treaty comes into effect, the European Community becomes the European Union.
- Failed military coup in Russia.
- US Military operation Somalia ends in disaster, and effectively leaves the country in the hand of warlords.
- Eritrea gains independence from Ethiopia.
- Chechnya declares independence from Russia.
World population reaches 5.5 billion.
1994
- Rwandan genocide: approximately 800,000 to 1 million Hutu are killed, about two million flee into neighbouring Zaire, destabilizing the country and fueling the later First and Second Congo Wars.
- NATO becomes involved int the Bosnian War. Bosniaks and Croats sign a peace agreement.
- Russia launches an attack on Chechnya in order to force it back into the federation. The battle culminates into fierce urban warfare in Chechnya's capital city of Grozny.
1995
- Austria, Finland and Sweden join the European Union.
- A major earthquake rocks the city of Kobe in Japan, devastating the city, killing 6,400 people and rendering 300,000 homeless
- 8,000 Bosniaks killed in the Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian War. In the following moths, Bosniak-Croat alliance, backed by NATO moves against the Serbs. A final peace agreement is signed in December, ending the Bosnian War. Approximately 100,000 people were killed and 1.8 million displaced.
1996
- The world's first cloned mammal, the sheep Dolly, is born in Edinburgh, Scotland.
- The radical islamic Taliban regime in Afghanistan conquers Kabul, effectively controlling the bulk of the country.
- Begin of the First Congo War.
- War in Chechnya ends. Approximately 100,000 people were killed.
1997
- The US Pathfinder mission lands on Mars, deploying the first exploration rover on another planet.
- In Zaire, Uganda-backed rebel forces take the capital city of Kinshasa: Mobutu's regime is overthrown and he is forced into exile, where he dies a few months later. Zaire is soon renamed into the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Russia joins the G7 nations, making it formally the G8.
1998
- terrorist leader Osama bin Laden declares jihad against 'all jews and crusaders'. In the following months and years, his terrorist group carries out multiple attacks, eventually sparking the 'War on Terrorism'.
- US embassies in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, are bombed by Al Qaida, killing over 200 people and injuring over 4,500.
- Rebel offensive against the Kabila government in Kinshasha triggers the Second Congo War. Kabila is only saved due to support by a number of allied African states (notably Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe).
- Pakistan launches a nuclear test.
- Assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) begins in Earth's orbit.
1999
- Major preparations are made to confront the pending Y2K.
- The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.
- In Canada, the Nunavut Territory becomes separate from the Northwest Territory.
- The European Union introduces a unified European currency, the Euro.
- World population reaches 6.0 billion people.
- Kosovo War: War between Yugoslavia and NATO due to attempt of ethnic cleansing by the Serbians in Kosovo. After three months, Serbia accepts NATO's peace conditions. In the meantime, over 300,000 Kosovar Albanians had fled into neighbouring Albania and Macedonia.
2000
- Y2K passes without the feared widespread computer failures.
- Off the coast of Aden, Yemen, the US missile destroyer USS Cole is badly damaged by suicide bombers.
- Work on the Human Genome Project begins.
- The Russian nuclear sub Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea, killing all 118 men on board.
2001
- September 11th attacks: Al Qaida terrorists hijack four US planes, flying two into the World Trade Center in New York and one into the Pentagon. A fourth goes down in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people are killed in the attacks. The US declares the 'War on Terrorism'.
- October: US-led coalition invades Afghanistan.
- November: US-led coalition takes Kabul.
- At the end of it's lifetime, the Russian space station Mir is burned up over the South Pacific during reentry.
- India's population reaches 1.0 billion people.
2002
- The Euro becomes the official currency in twelve EU nations (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain). Britain, Denmark and Sweden refuse to adopt the Euro.
- Outbreak of the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) disease in China, which develops into a near-pandemic over the next six months, infecting 8,000 people and killing over 700. China is worst hit, but a large number of cases also occures in Canda, Singapore and Taiwan. The Chinese government is critized for the poor initial management of the disease.
- East Timor becomes independent from Indonesia.
2003
- Human Genome Project completed: Human DNA completely mapped.
- Yugoslavia is renamed into the Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
- Second Congo War ends as the transitional government comes to power: 3.8 million people had died during the war.
- Space shuttle Columbia is destroyed upon reentry, killing all seven astronauts.
- US-led coalition invades Iraq.
2004
- Madrid train bombings: over 190 people killed, an offshot of Al Qaida claims responsibility.
- In it's very largest enlargement, ten nations join the European Union: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia
- Bulgaria, Estonia, Lavtia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO.
- Indian Ocean Earthquake triggers a tsunami that kills over 220,000 people, affecting southern Asia and even East Africa.
2005
- Pope John Paul II dies. The Bavarian cardinal Joseph Ratzinger becomes the new pope, Benedict XVI.
- Hurricane Katrina strikes the US Gulf Coast, killing over 1,800 people and devastating New Orleans.
2006
- Montenegro becomes independent, Union of Serbia and Montenegro dissolved. The last remnant of Yugoslavia thereby formally ceases to exist.
- North Korea launches a nuclear test, declaring itself a nuclear-capable nation. However, the detonation is much smaller than expected, less than a kiloton.
- World population reaches 6.5 billion.
- Israel launches a month-long war against Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.
- Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is brought to trial and executed.
- (December): Ethiopia invades Somalia in order to topple the local (Al Qaida-aligned) Islamic Courts Union, which had taken over the capital city in May.