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, the character of Doomsday 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. 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, works. They beat each other senseless and bloody, their respective Kryptonian strength overhwelming 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: Earth, the Green Lanterns, anyplace Superman had saved. Apparently, despite the release date, it took place after the Inauguration of President Bill Clinton, because he and First Lady Hillary Clinton both spoke at Superman's funeral, rather than the lame-duck President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara.
Of course, no one believed that DC would let Superman stay dead. After all, there had been Jesus and resurrection metaphors for the character before. 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, has a heart attack, and meets Clark in the afterlife, and they convince 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 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.
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November 18, 1992 was a Wednesday. 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 Footprint 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 XL Center.) The Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.
None of these games held a moment of silence for Superman before they started.