India conducts a series of nuclear weapons tests at Pokhran; Pakistan responds with its own tests later that month.
Crown Prince Dipendra shoots King Birendra and several other members of the royal family at Narayanhiti Palace in Kathmandu.
A magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra triggers tsunamis that kill around 230,000 people across many countries.
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the first woman to lead a Muslim-majority country, is killed in an attack in Rawalpindi.
Nepal's Constituent Assembly votes to abolish the Shah monarchy and declares a federal democratic republic.
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is shot dead by two Sikh bodyguards in New Delhi after Operation Blue Star, triggering anti-Sikh riots.
A methyl isocyanate gas leak from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal kills thousands, the world's worst industrial disaster.