Tag: 1994

Grunge rock icon Kurt Cobain dies by suicide

Modern rock icon Kurt Cobain dies by suicide on April 5, 1994. His body was discovered inside his home in Seattle, Washington, three days later by Gary Smith, an electrician, who was installing a security system in the suburban house. Despite indications that Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana, killed himself, several skeptics questioned the circumstances of his death and pinned responsibility on his wife, Courtney Love.

At least two books, including one penned by Love’s estranged father, and a nationally released documentary, Kurt & Courtney, openly expressed doubt that Cobain killed himself and all but accused Love of having her husband killed. Her volatile reputation and healthy list of enemies helped to circulate the rumors. However, police have concluded that Cobain’s death was the result of suicide.

Cobain’s downward spiral began taking shape in Italy the previous month. He went into a coma and nearly died after mixing champagne and the drug Rohypnol. The public was led to believe that the coma was induced by an accidental heroin overdose, since Cobain had a well-known problem with the drug.

Back at home in Seattle, the police were called to Cobain and Love’s home when he again threatened to kill himself. Although Cobain stated in a 1991 interview that he didn’t believe in guns, the officers confiscated four from his possession. As his wife and friends watched him spin out of control, they attempted to intervene. Cobain mostly ignored their concerns but reluctantly checked into a rehabilitation clinic in Los Angeles at the end of March.

On March 30, Cobain walked away from the clinic without informing his family or friends. For the next few days, Love could not locate him and decided to hire a private detective on April 3. The detective made contact with Cobain the following day in Seattle, but Cobain refused to return to Los Angeles.

In the meantime, Cobain had convinced a friend to buy him a gun, claiming he needed it for protection. On April 5, Cobain returned home. He had ingested enough Valium and heroin to reach near-fatal levels. In the apartment above the garage was Cobain’s sloppily written suicide note, quoting Neil Young’s lyric that it is “better to burn out than to fade away.”

Read more: Music Legends Who Lived Fast and Died at 27

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An anti-abortion activist goes on a murder spree


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Year
1994
Month Day
December 30

John Salvi III walks into two separate abortion clinics in Brookline, Massachusetts, and shoots workers with a rifle, killing two receptionists and wounding five other employees. He was captured the next day after firing 23 shots at a Norfolk, Virginia, medical clinic.

Salvi, who worked in a beauty salon in New Hampshire before his murderous rampage, was described by acquaintances as a “very odd” man. Despite his increasingly erratic behavior, Salvi’s parents resisted getting professional treatment for him. As his mental state deteriorated, he became a zealous anti-abortion activist.

In March 1996, Salvi’s trial jury rejected his insanity defense and convicted him of murder. After receiving two life sentences, he killed himself in prison in November 1996.

However, the fallout from Salvi’s attack did not end there. Richard Seron, one of the shooting victims, filed a lawsuit against the clinic’s landlord for failing to provide security measures Seron claimed would have prevented the attack. After losing that suit, Seron enraged abortion providers by lobbying against a law that would establish a buffer zone outside clinics. He further antagonized pro-choice activists by filing a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood, claiming that he was entitled to a $100,000 reward for assisting in the capture of John Salvi.

But even Richard Seron did not inspire as much public ire as Deborah Gaines, who was scheduled to have an abortion at one of the clinics on the day of the shooting. After the incident, she couldn’t go through with the abortion and decided to have the child. She later sued the clinic for wrongful life, arguing that the clinic should pay the costs of raising the child since their alleged negligence prevented her abortion. The case, however, was dismissed before trial.

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Former President Richard Nixon dies

Year
1994
Month Day
April 22

On April 22, 1994, former President Richard M. Nixon dies after suffering a stroke four days earlier. In a 1978 speech at Oxford University, Nixon admitted he had screwed up during his presidency but predicted that his achievements would be viewed more favorably with time. He told the young audience, “You’ll be here in the year 2000, see how I am regarded then.”

Nixon is most often remembered for his involvement in the Watergate scandal as president and for his Cold War-era persecution of suspected communists while serving as a U.S. senator. However, Nixon left a legacy as complex as his personality.

Nixon did not owe his success in politics to personality or charm: in fact, even many of his staunch supporters described him as cold, aloof, crude, arrogant and paranoid. President Dwight D. Eisenhower himself, whom Nixon served as vice president, claimed that Nixon would never win the presidency because the people don’t like him. After proving his former boss wrong, Nixon left the office in disgrace, resigning in the face of impending impeachment. His paranoia of political sabotage by his opponents had inspired him to authorize the wire-tapping of enemies and supporters alike. Ironically, it was the conversations he taped in his own office that led to his ultimate downfall.

Despite the immense disappointment and distrust in government that the Watergate scandal inspired in most Americans, Nixon was correct in assuming that some aspects of his leadership would be judged favorably with the passage of time. These include his bold efforts to improve diplomatic relations with China and Russia, as well as pushing lasting and influential legislation through Congress. Nixon’s legislative legacy includes the National Environmental Policy Act, passed in 1969, which created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. He also lowered the voting age to 18, established Amtrak, launched the space-shuttle program and authorized the formation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). During his retirement, several subsequent presidents consulted Nixon for his expertise in international affairs.

Nixon and his wife Pat are both buried on the grounds of his birthplace in Yorba Linda, California. The site is also the home of the Richard Milhous Nixon Presidential Library.

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