On April 1, 1991, the Columbia Winery releases Washington's first Syrah, inaugurating a new era in the state's red wine industry. Columbia winemaker David Lake (1943-2009) uses Syrah grapes that he an...
On Monday, April 1, 1991, citizens of Seattle -- already jittery from the George H. W. Bush administration's long saber-rattling PR campaign and then its January 17th Operation Desert Storm attack aga...
On April 12, 1991, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney recommends closure of the naval base at Sand Point, once again setting off a land fight. Magnuson Park supporters aim their attention at the entire ...
On the evening of Wednesday, April 17, 1991, members of the grunge-rock group Nirvana -- in the relative calm just prior to the frenzy that will begin to engulf them six months later -- perform a set ...
On the night of Tuesday, April 30, 1991, Seattle's Crocodile Cafe & Live Bait Lounge opens its grungy doors for business. It is located at 2200 2nd Avenue in downtown Seattle. That auspicious first ni...
On May 18 and 19, 1991, during Maritime Week celebrations, the public is invited on board the refurbished ferry Rhododendron to view changes made to the 44-year-old vessel. The rebuilt ferry is awaiti...
On May 23, 1991, U.S. District Court Judge William Dwyer (1929-2002) blocks timber sales in national forests to protect the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina). Dwyer rules in favor of t...
On May 23, 1991, Forks businesses except city offices and banks close as residents travel en masse to Olympia to take part in a rally protesting critical habitat protections for the northern spotted o...
On May 23, 1991, the Seattle League of Women Voters honors King County Councilwoman Lois North (b. 1921) as its Woman of the Year and King County Assessor Ruthe Ridder (b. 1929) with its Carrie Chapma...
On July 20, 1991, Earl Robinson (1910-1991) dies in an automobile accident on Southwest Admiral Way in West Seattle. Seattle-born Earl Robinson was a well-known composer, songwriter, and musician reme...
On August 20, 1991, nearly 20 all-girl rock groups, female-led bands, and female solo artists perform during an evening of punk and alternative rock music at Olympia’s Capitol Theater. It is an ...
On the evening of Friday the 13th in September 1991, the funky little counter-cultural and gay friendly nightclub Re-bar at 1114 Howell Street in downtown Seattle is the site of a music-business party...
In September 1991, the founders of Seattle's newest biotechnology firm, Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI), file incorporation documents with the office of the Washington secretary of state. The company (a...
On September 23, 1991, The Stranger, a weekly newspaper, begins publication. It is billed as an alternative to other alternative papers such as The Weekly and The Rocket. It is distributed free of cha...
On September 25, 1991, last-second negotiations to save the Music Hall Theatre from demolition officially come up short. The announcement dooms the once-proud theater, the last of the pre-Depression m...
On September 28, 1991, Hammering Man, a 48-foot-tall metal sculpture created by Jonathan Borofsky for the entrance to the new Seattle Art Museum, falls and is damaged. The 22,000-pound steel and alumi...
On September 28, 1991, the City of Enumclaw's new public library building is dedicated. The project was made possible when city voters approved a local library bond issue after two earlier proposals f...
On October 4, 1991, a Snohomish County Superior Court judge sentences James Arthur Schmitt, who had pled guilty to a series of arson fires in Mountlake Terrace, to 20 years in prison -- far beyond the...
On October 6, 1991, Washington native Wade Leslie takes eight seconds to make Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association history, scoring the first – and as of 2023, the only – perfect, 100-poi...
On October 12, 1991, the new $3.2 million Kent Regional Library (as it is then known) is formally dedicated. It is a joint project of the city of Kent and the King County Library System (KCLS). The pr...
On October 15, 1991, Bankruptcy Court Judge Frank D. Howard approves a settlement agreement that ends two years of controversy and litigation over who owns and controls 11 historic buildings that make...
On Wednesday, October 16, 1991, wildland fires kill two people and destroy 114 homes. The fires will burn for six days before they are contained. The 92 fires will be called the Spokane Firestorm and ...
On November 5, 1991, Washington voters narrowly approve Initiative 120, the Reproductive Privacy Act, codifying the tenets of the United States Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in state law a...
On November 7, 1991, the residents of Bainbridge Island vote to change the name of their city from Winslow to Bainbridge Island in response to Winslow's annexation of the entire island in 1990.