November 18, 1992: DC Comics publishes Superman #75, titled "The Death of Superman." It was a desperate measure to sell more comic books, and it worked: It remains the biggest-selling single issue in comics history.
For the story, a new character was created. This was a creature from ancient times on Superman's home planet of Krypton, who had somehow come to Earth, and had begun wrecking towns across the Midwest, and moves east toward Metropolis. The Justice League -- without Superman -- collectively takes him on, and he knocks them all out.
That catches Superman's attention, and he tries to stop the creature, whom the media had dubbed "Doomsday." There was a final battle between them at the foot of the Daily Planet Building, where Superman, in his civilian identity of Clark Kent, worked. They beat each other senseless and bloody, their respective Kryptonian strengths overwhelming their respective Kryptonian invulnerabilities, until, at last, each lands a blow to the other's head, and they drop dead. Superman dies in the arms of Lois Lane.
Within the DC Universe, everyone mourns. Dignitaries from all over Earth attend his funeral. So do the Green Lantern Corps. So do representatives of many planets whose people Superman had saved. Apparently, despite the release date, his death took place after the Inauguration of President Bill Clinton on January 20, 1993, because he and First Lady Hillary Clinton were both depicted as speaking at the funeral, rather than the lame-duck President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara. But it must still have been in Winter, because snow was falling.
Of course, no one in the real world believed that DC would let Superman stay dead. After all, there had been Jesus and resurrection metaphors for the character before. And plenty of comic book characters, good and evil alike, had been presumed dead, only to return in one form or another.
Sure enough, after a Reign of the Supermen storyline featuring 4 imposters -- one of which became the superhero Steel and another the Teen Titans member Superboy -- Clark's Earth father, Jonathan Kent, had a heart attack, and met Clark in the afterlife, and they convinced each other to come back.
In The Adventures of Superman #505, published in October 1993 -- coinciding with the premiere of the ABC series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman -- it was confirmed that Superman was alive and back.
Of course, Doomsday didn't stay dead, either. And the story has been adapted, in animated form, in the 2016 film Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and alluded to in the 2019 CW Arrowverse production of Crisis On Infinite Earths. (UPDATE: In 2024, it was adapted in the 2024 CW Arrowverse show Superman and Lois.)
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November 18, 1992 was a Wednesday. This was also the day that the NBC sitcom Seinfeld aired its most famous (or infamous) episode, "The Contest." I have a separate entry for this event. The fact that Jerry Seinfeld is a major Superman fan, with a Superman magnet visible on his refrigerator and other memorabilia in his apartment, makes it even weirder.
Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. But there were 3 games played in the NBA. The Orlando Magic beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 120-110 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Utah Jazz beat the Boston Celtics, 92-91 at the Boston Garden. The Phoenix Suns beat the Sacramento Kings, 127-111 at the new AmericaWest Arena. (It's now named the Mortgage Matchup Center.)
There were 4 games played in the NHL. The New Jersey Devils beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands. Valeri Zelepukin, Tom Chorske and Alexander Semak scored the goals for New Jersey.
The Minnesota North Stars beat the Washington Capitals, 5-4 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. The Hartford Whalers beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-2 at the Hartford Civic Center. (It's now named the PeoplesBank Arena.) The Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.
None of these games held a moment of silence in memory of Superman before they started.
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