The '1990s' refers to the time period between the beginning of
1990 and the end of
1999. The 1990s were marked by rapid progression of globalization following the collapse of the
Soviet Union and the end of the
Cold War. Key forces shaping the decade were the
recession of the late 80s, and the advent of
PCs in middle-class homes, resulting in the rise to prominence of the
internet. The
Internet would go on to revolutionize modern culture, and has served as a major medium for the integration and the spread of popular culture in the entire world.
The widespread adoption of
personal computers and the
Internet increased economic
productivity, while high levels of private investment in equity markets increased personal wealth among many Americans, Japanese, South Koreans, Australians and Europeans.
Economics

Skyline of ''
Sanhattan'', Santiago,
Chile's Financial District — Example of global economic growth during the 1990s.
Despite economic prosperity and democracy, there were problems in the 1990s that became more visible after the decade ended. In
Africa a rapid increase in incidence of
AIDS contributed to falling
life expectancy and zero or negative growth rates. In the
former Soviet Union GDP decreased as their economies restructured to produce goods they needed and some
capital flight occurred.
Financial crises in the developing world after
1994 (i.e. the Asian economic crises of 1997) began to undermine some support for a global economy.
Many countries, institutions, companies, and organizations experienced the 1990s as a prosperous time. Despite the
recession that affected much the world in late 1980s, high income economies such as the
United States,
Canada,
Ireland,
Australia, and
South Korea experienced steady economic growth for much of the decade.
In many countries, political stability and decreased militarization due to the winding down of the
Cold War led to economic development and higher standards of living for many citizens. These trends were also fueled by inexpensive fossil energy, with low petroleum prices caused by a glut of oil. Oil and gas were discovered in many countries in the former Soviet bloc, leading to economic growth and wider adoption of
trade between nations, but the 15 new nations of the old USSR, plus
Russia, struggled to adjust to the new economic reality. Consequently, the decade ended in a painful recession for it.
★
US economy ends the decade with a 4%
unemployment rate, personal incomes doubled from the recession in 1990, overall higher productivity. After the
1996 Welfare Reform act there was a great reduction of poverty rates, and the Wall Street stock exchange stayed over the 10,000 mark from 1999 to 2001.
★ After
1992 the booming of the US
stock market, in reference to which
Alan Greenspan coined the memorable phrase "
irrational exuberance", eventually merged into the
dot-com boom / dot-com bubble (2000 – 2001).
★
GATT update and creation of the
World Trade Organization and other global economic institutions, but opposition by anti-globalization activists showed up in nearly every GATT summit, like the violent street demonstrations in
Seattle in December 1999.
★ With the creation of the
E.U. there is 'free movement of labour' between member states, such as the 1992 and 1995 free trade agreements. The EU agreed to have a single currency, and the
Euro began circulation in March 1999 in 15 member states.
★ Philippines shown a great economic development after The
People Power revolt. The econimy gains 5% from its deficit until the
Asian financial crisis of 1997
★ The
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which phases out trade barriers between the
United States,
Mexico and
Canada is signed into law by
U.S. President Bill Clinton.
★ From
1990 until
1998 inclusive, the economy of
Russia and some former
USSR states was in a severe depression. Eastern European economies struggled after the fall of communism, but
Poland,
Hungary,
Estonia and
Lithuania saw healthy economic growth rates in the late 1990s.
★ Except for Great Britain, much of
Europe had serious economic problems, such as the massive 1995 general strikes in
France during its worst recession since
World War II. The French economy mildly rebounds at the end of the decade.
★ Democracy, economic reform and peace arrive in Latin America, while the sluggish economies of
Brazil, by a new emphasis on free markets for all their citizens, and
Mexico, under economist president
Ernesto Zedillo elected in 1994, were their best shape by the late 1990s.
★
Financial crisis hits
East and
Southeast Asia in
1997 and
1998 after a long period of phenomenal economic development. Japan was heavily affected, as was
Indonesia when the 30-year rule of dictator
Suharto ended in his resignation after widespread protests in May 1998. See
East Asian Tigers.
World-changing events
Significant events that occurred during or after 1990 which would influence the course of history and character of the decade, include:
★ The Iraqi
invasion of Kuwait in
August 2 1990.
★ The resignation of
Margaret Thatcher as leader of the
Conservative Party and
Prime Minister of the UK followed by the election and appointment of
John Major as her successor on
November 28, 1990.
★ The
Moscow Coup and subsequent break-up of the
Soviet Union in
December 21 1991.
Significant events that marked the passing of the decade include:
★ The resignation of
Russian
President Boris Yeltsin on
December 31,
1999 resulting in
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's succession to the position
★ World-wide New Year's Eve celebrations on
December 31 1999.
★ Worldwide concern about possible widespread computer malfunctions resulting from the
Year 2000 problem.
★ The
2000 Presidential Election in the United States of America, where two-term
Democrat Bill Clinton was succeeded by two-term
Republican George W. Bush in a close election clouded by controversies.
Social Trends
HIV Awareness
HIV awareness reached across the world in this decade, and many new drugs were developed to fight the spread of the disease.
Racial Tensions
Racial tensions, exacerbated by immigration and issues around
multiculturalism, manifested in
western Europe. In the United States the issue of
race relations, brought into the public consciousness by the
1992 Los Angeles riots, the
O.J. Simpson Murder Case in 1994 – 95, and the
Million Man March in 1995, served to make Americans more concerned about racial equality than at any time since the 1960s.
Science
★ Physicists develop
string theory and
M-theory.
★ Detection of
extrasolar planets orbiting
stars other than the sun.
★
Dolly the sheep is
cloned.
★
Human Genome Project begins.
★
DNA identification of individuals finds wide application in
criminal law.
★
Hubble Space Telescope launched in
1990; revolutionizes
astronomy.
★
Protease inhibitors introduced allowing
HAART therapy against
HIV; drastically reduces
AIDS mortality.
★
NASA's spacecraft
Pathfinder lands on
Mars and deploys a small roving vehicle,
Sojourner, which analyzes the planet's geology and atmosphere.
★ The
Hale-Bopp comet swings past the sun for the first time in 4,200 years in April
1997.
★ Development of
biodegradable products, replacing products made from
Styrofoam; advances in methods for
recycling of waste products (such as paper, glass, aluminum).
★
Genetically engineered crops are developed for commercial use.
★ Discovery of
dark matter,
dark energy,
brown dwarfs, and first confirmation of
black holes.
★ The
Galileo probe orbits
Jupiter, studying the planet and its moons extensively.
★ The
Global Positioning System (GPS) becomes fully operational.
★ Proof of
Fermat's last theorem is discovered by
Andrew Wiles.
Technology
Some technologies invented and improved during the 1990s:

Graphic representation of the
WWW
★ The
World Wide Web and
HTML are created by
Tim Berners-Lee.
★ The
Pentium processor is developed by
Intel.
★
Microsoft introduces
Windows 95 and later
Windows 98 to the market, which gain immediate popularity.
★ Explosive growth of the
Internet, perhaps caused by a decrease in the cost of
computers and other technology.
★ Advancements in
computer modems,
ISDN,
cable modems and
DSL lead to faster connection to the Internet.
★ The development of
Web browsers such as
Netscape Navigator and
Internet Explorer makes surfing the
World Wide Web easier and more
user friendly.
★ The
Java programming language is developed by
Sun Microsystems.
★ Businesses start to build
E-commerce websites; E-commerce-only companies such as
Amazon.com,
eBay,
AOL, and
Yahoo! grow rapidly.
★
Pagers are popular but ultimately are replaced by
Cell phones.
★
Cell phones become cheaper and reduce in size, but remain status symbols until they become common in the 2000s.
★
E-mail becomes popular; as a result
Microsoft acquires the popular
Hotmail.com webmail service.
★ The
Year 2000 problem (commonly known as Y2K), the computer glitch disaster expected to happen on
January 1,
2000.
★
Microsoft Windows operating systems become virtually ubiquitous on
IBM PCs.
★ Development of the free
Linux kernel is started.
★
CD burner drives are introduced.
★ The
DVD media format is developed and popularized.
Culture
Cultural Trends
★
Youth culture in the 1990s was characterized by
environmentalism and
entrepreneurship. Fashions were often
individualistic, tattoos and body piercing gained popularity, and "retro" styles inspired by fashions of the 1960s and 1970s were also prevalent. Some young people became increasingly involved in outdoor activities that combined embracing athletics with the appreciation of nature (such as
kayaking,
rock climbing,
windsurfing and
snowboarding).
★
Jam bands grew with popularity, the most famous were
Phish and
Dave Matthews Band
★ Following the 1980s media counter-culture lead by
tabloid talk shows popularized by
Oprah Winfrey in 1986, which provided high-impact media visibility for gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, and transgender people
[1] the 1990s saw a further increase in gay visibility in the mainstream media and the introduction of
outing. In 1990, the World Health Organization removed
homosexuality from its list of diseases. US TV shows like ''
Will and Grace'', ''
Friends'', ''
Thirtysomething'', ''
My So-Called Life'', ''
Roseanne'', ''
Dawson's Creek'', ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer'',
Melrose Place and ''
Ellen'' featured gay characters. Movies like ''
The Birdcage'', ''
In and Out'' and ''
Kiss Me, Guido'' saw mainstream success, and celebrities like
k.d. lang,
Rob Halford,
Elton John,
Melissa Etheridge,
Amanda Bearse and
George Michael all spoke openly about their sexuality. U.S. President
Bill Clinton generally held a pro-gay rights viewpoint.
★ The 500th anniversary of
Christopher Columbus' discovery of America in 1992 was popularly observed, despite controversy and protests against Columbus' expeditions victimization of
Native Americans. The holiday was labelled as
racist, in view of Native American experiences of
colonialism,
slavery,
genocide and cultural destruction.
★
Douglas Coupland publishes the novel '', popularizing the term
Generation X as the name of the generation born in the late 1960s and early 1970s (then college-age).
★ The
Grunge trend explodes due to the success of grunge bands such as
Alice in Chains,
Nirvana,
Pearl Jam and
Soundgarden. It is characterized by wearing flannel shirts, torn jeans,
Doc Martens,
Converse high top sneakers and long, straight hair. The fashion hits an ironic point in 1993, when the flannel clothing these bands wore (because it was cheap and warm and most of these musicians were very poor) became high fashion accessories.
Post Grunge bands would later gain widespread popularity by bands such as
Foo Fighters and
Creed
★
Reality television explodes on
MTV with the popularity of ''
The Real World'' (1992 – ); along with ''
Road Rules'' (1995 – ), ''
Real World/Road Rules Challenge'' (1998), and ''Real World'' reunions, these shows remained popular throughout the 1990s. Reality would become a staple of main networks in the early part of the 2000s.

A
Ford Taurus, which was one of the best selling vehicles in the U.S. throughout the decade.
★ Blood and gore in television and video games rises dramatically, along with language and sexual content, especially during the latter half of the decade; a Parental Ratings system for television is introduced in
1997 because of related complaints.
★
Video games become more advanced and popular. Rivals
Nintendo and
Sega dominate the early 1990s. The
Sony PlayStation and
Nintendo 64 would later dominate the late 1990s and remain popular beyond
1999. Sega's
Dreamcast (
1998) marked the end of Sega's role in the console market.
Simulation and
God games rise in popularity in the late 1990s, with games such as ''
SimCity 2000'' and ''
SimCity 3000.
★
Body art, in the form of
body piercing and
tattoos becomes commonplace for young people. This trend continues into the 2000s.
★
Extreme sports reached a new height in popularity, and by
1995, were given their own annual tournament on US cable network ESPN, the X-Games.
★
Recreational outdoor sports such as
rock climbing,
mountain biking,
sky diving,
snowboarding,
mountain climbing,
bungee jumping,
in-line skating,
kayaking,
windsurfing and
rowing become hugely popular.
★
Extended alcohol sales are implemented in the US to reduce alcohol abuse.
★ The exploitation of the collectability of
comic books results in a trend of "gimmick" packaging and storylines (most notably The
Death of Superman). The comic book industry collapses as interest in print comics decreases among younger generations and casual readers. Comic books disappear as a familiar sight at the newsstands. As comics, including Japanese
manga and other graphic novels become more available in bookstore chains, the role of the comic book store as a source for comics and social gathering wanes. The domination by industry giants
Marvel Comics and
DC Comics ends as various independents, such as
Image Comics produce popular titles. The era of comic book collecting for speculative
investment ends.
Webcomics by amateur
cartoonists become popular.
★ Conversion to
Block scheduling became a trendy initiative for United States schools.

The Ford Explorer, which sparked the SUV craze among families in the 90s. The Explorer was also one of the most popular vehicles in the 90s
★ Due to the success of the
Ford Explorer,
Sport Utility Vehicles became very popular among families, and effectively replaced the
station wagon as the stereotypical family vehicle.
★ Major 1990s slang words/phrases, mostly related to
hip hop culture, include: "dawg" "homie", "phat", "da bomb", "tight", "word to your mother", "
Talk to the hand [because the face ain't listening]", "it's goin' down", "You go girl!", "yo", "whatever!", "all that and a bag of chips".
★ Young adult and teenage fiction books become popular due to the efforts of
R.L. Stine and
Christopher Pike throughout the entire 1990s.
★
Dogma 95 becomes an important European artistic film movement by the end of the decade.
★
Eurodance music dominates
discotheques and has numerous major mainstream hits in European (and to a lesser extent, North American) music charts.
★ Mainstream "
Techno", as it is dubbed by the media, became hugely popular in Europe and the U.S. From the early
raves of 1990 to about 1996,
electronic music gradually gained widespread recognition as a new genre in its own right. This trend reached a head in the latter part of the decade as underground parties were largely replaced by massive commercially sponsored parties, and as music media such as
MTV began coverage of it.
★
Media consolidation leads to increased segmentation in styles of music.
★ 24-hour
CNN coverage (
Wolf Blitzer) during the
Gulf War leads to increased awareness and coverage of world events and knock-off
Infotainment shows such as
A Current Affair and
Geraldo Rivera-style journalism.
★
Hip-hop culture grows; by the end of the decade
hip hop gained more and more popularity.
★ Grunge culture sparks as
glam metal dies off in late
1991 and
1992, allowing other styles of heavy metal to return to prominence when the popular
groove metal group
Pantera hits number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart with their third album ''
Far Beyond Driven''. The
grunger subculture associated with grunge becomes very prominent in this decade. Due to grunge's huge success,
Kurt Cobain and
Eddie Vedder become the spokesmodels of Generation X.
★
Tupac Shakur of
Death Row Records and
The Notorious BIG of
Bad Boy Records, wage a cultural war in the
hip hop music scene, leading to the murder of both Shakur in 1996 and BIG in 1997.
★ National conservative political commentators such as
Rush Limbaugh,
G. Gordon Liddy emerge on United States
AM Radio, influencing the 1994
Contract for America and criticism of
Bill Clinton
★
Electronic Music is hugely
popular on
Top 40 radio from
1990 to present and up to
1996 or
1997 in the U.S. Popular artists include
The Prodigy,
Eiffel 65 and
Fatboy Slim.
★
Alternative rock replaces
Grunge around
1995.
Nu-metal, a genre popularized by the 1994 self-titled album by
Korn, becomes a major genre of rock around the year
1997 along with
post-grunge and alternative rock.
★
Indie/
hipster culture appears during the mid-1990s.
Emo and
scene culture flourishes in the late 1990s, most likely around the later part of 1998.
★
Teen pop makes a comeback in the late 1990s, starting in the year
1997 with artists such as the
Spice Girls,
Hanson,
Aqua,
Backstreet Boys,
Christina Aguilera,
Britney Spears,
N'SYNC and many more.
★
Christian music peaks in the mid to late 1990s.
★
R&B Music and hip-hop influenced R&B, such as music groups like
The Fugees,
Boyz II Men and
TLC (who became the greatest selling female group of all time), are big in the 1990s.
★ The introduction of affordable, smaller
satellite dishes in the mid-1990s to expand cable services had carried up to 500
television channels.
Fashion
The 1990s in popular culture is typically referred to as the decade of "anti-fashion". In reality, anti-fashion was only one of many trends in fashion in the 1990s. The fashion of the 1990s was characterized by minimalist styles, and many overlapping, often contradictory trends. The most significant event was the rise of grunge fashion in 1992. In the late 1990s there was a move away from grunge. Retro clothing inspired by the 1960s and 1970s was popular for much of the 1990s.
Music
★
Rock was the primary taste throughout most of the decade.
Hip hop gained popularity towards the very end of the decade. Popular styles include '
Grunge' (
Nirvana,
Sonic Youth,
The Smashing Pumpkins,
Stone Temple Pilots,
Pearl Jam,
Alice in Chains,
Soundgarden), '
Post-Grunge' (
Collective Soul,
Third Eye Blind,
Everclear,
Creed,
Foo Fighters,
Bush), '
Heavy Metal' and '
Alternative Metal' (
Nine Inch Nails,
Metallica,
Pantera,
Tool), '
Black Metal' gained a large number of fans in Northern Europe, '
Britpop' and 'British Rock' (
Oasis,
Blur,
Suede,
Pulp,
Radiohead,
The Verve,
Travis), '
Pop-Punk' (
Green Day,
Offspring,
Rancid,
Blink-182), '
Third Wave Ska' (
No Doubt,
Sublime,
Reel Big Fish,
Mighty Mighty Bosstones), '
indie rock'
Fugazi,
Pavement,
Neutral Milk Hotel,
The Flaming Lips,
Modest Mouse),
jam bands (
Dave Matthews Band,
Phish), and '
Nu Metal' (
Korn,
Limp Bizkit) towards the end of the decade. Singer-songwriters include
Alanis Morissette,
Beck,
Elliott Smith,
Jeff Buckley, and
Jewel. '
Emo music' which, would later become a staple of
rock music, began receiving commercial and critical acclaim. Notable examples include
Sunny Day Real Estate's
Diary and
Weezer's
Pinkerton, which have since become highly influental on the genre.
Radiohead's popularity exploded in 1997 with the release of OK Computer. Most notable, though, was the explosion of Grunge band Nirvana into the mainstream, who found a large audience in the youths of the '90s through their apathetic attitude and their appeal to
Generation X.
★
Hip hop music diversifies throughout the decade and experiences numerous trends, beginning with the commercial success of
pop rappers
MC Hammer,
Tone Loc,
Young MC,
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and
Vanilla Ice. Other major developments include the proliferation of
alternative/
jazz rap (
De La Soul,
Beastie Boys,
Arrested Development,
Digable Planets,
Native Tongues, and
A Tribe Called Quest) and the
West Coast G-Funk/
Gangsta Rap phenomena (
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony,
Cypress Hill,
Dr. Dre,
NWA,
Snoop Doggy Dogg,
Warren G,
Coolio, and
Tupac Shakur), followed by the
resurgence of the New York hip hop scene (
The Wu Tang Clan,
Boot Camp Clik,
Nas,
Mobb Deep, and
The Notorious B.I.G.), and pop rap (
Puff Daddy,
Will Smith, and
Jay-Z).
★ Smoothly produced
Teen pop held over from the late 1980s into
1991, returns with the
Spice Girls and
Take That in Britain and the
Backstreet Boys in America beginning in
1997, ultimately leading to stars like
Britney Spears,
★ NSYNC and
Christina Aguilera, while
Madonna continues to have success with her influential
Dance-pop. Michael Jackson continues making arresting music and finds international popularity growing. "Black Or White" released in 1991, becomes a huge global hit, remaining at #1 in the US charts for 7 weeks.
★ American
Club/
Dance music is very
popular from
1990 to
1996, with acts like
C&C Music Factory,
Ce Ce Peniston,
Crystal Waters,
RuPaul,
Black Box, &
Dee-Lite. Similarly, Eurodance gains popularity in the
United States, with many Eurodance artists scoring club hits on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Billboard Hot 100
radio. These artists include
Technotronic,
Corona,
Cappella,
N-Trance,
Culture Beat,
Reel 2 Real,
Capital Sound,
Jam & Spoon,
E-Type,
Maxx,
La Bouche,
Indra,
Le Click,
Pharao,
Real McCoy,
Ice MC,
Me & My,
JK,
Cappella,
2 Unlimited,
Dr. Alban,
Masterboy,
Basic Element,
AB Logic,
Fun Factory,
Mr. President,
Shaman and
Snap.
★
R&B Music such as
Quiet Storm is
popular with
artists such as such
Babyface,
Tevin Campbell,
Brian McKnight,
Monica,
Brandy, and
Faith Evans. R&B
girl groups such as
TLC,
Destiny's Child,
SWV, and
En Vogue are hugely popular as well. In addition,
Aaliyah,
The Fugees (and later
Lauryn Hill's solo act), and
Mary J. Blige combine
hip hop with R&B in the 1990s (see
hip hop soul). Artists such as
Toni Braxton,
Whitney Houston, and
Mariah Carey appeal to the
Top 40 crowd with their
ballad songs in the early to mid-1990s. R&B
Boy Bands are big throughout the 1990s such as
Jodeci,
Dru Hill,
Blackstreet,
112 and especially
Boyz II Men who appealed to the Top 40 crowd are popular as well.
★
Music festivals such as
Lollapalooza or
Woodstock became popular; a fusing of
genres from
alternative rock,
rap,
punk rock and
garage bands.
★
Latin music becomes popular outside a Spanish-speaking audience with crossover hits by
Ricky Martin,
Jennifer Lopez,and
Selena, the hit dance song ''
Macarena'' and others. As
Hispanic culture grows in the US, other Latin music genres took root, like
Tejano music in the
Southwestern United States is a mixed music genre: accordion based Mexican conjunto, Texan country, and modern pop merged to produce a new sound.
★ Music becomes more profane, by end of decade a
Parental Advisory sticker becomes acceptable rather than controversial.
★ In America,
country music becomes more
mainstream with popular chart topping artist such as
Garth Brooks,
Shania Twain,
LeAnn Rimes,
Billy Ray Cyrus,
Faith Hill, and
Tim McGraw. The genre will also build up a more extensive audience world-wide, which sees the first English 24 hour terrestrial country station open in
1994.
★ Popular
hard rock bands maintain a strong presence into the 1990s.
Guns N' Roses,
Def Leppard,
Ozzy Osbourne, and
Van Halen were all still quite popular through the mid-1990s.
Aerosmith and
Bon Jovi's popularity and success spanned the entire decade and both were extremely popular at the turn of the new millennium.
★ Music resumes its political content after the hiatus of the 1980s. Starting in
1996, the
Tibetan Freedom Concert draws up to 120,000 people per year to a rock festival for the benefit of the cause of the
International Tibet Independence Movement. Also, socially aware metal bands such as
Rage Against the Machine and
System of a Down form.
★
Electronic music becomes widely recognized at
rave parties in Europe/USA and, later in the decade, in popular culture. The drug
methylenedioxymethamphetamine, (also called Ecstasy or MDMA) is popularized by the burgeoning
rave culture.
Electronic music is highly popularized in mainstream culture later in the decade by
The Prodigy, among other artists of the
big beat genre.
★ 1980s backlash, beginning in about
1994 and lasting into the mid-1990s. During most of the 1990s, anything "Eighties" was considered to be ultimately uncool. As a result, people start wearing straighter hair, darker clothes and acoustic music becomes popular in opposition to the bright synthpop of the 1980s.
Television
★ 'North America'
★
★ ''
Seinfeld'' becomes enormously popular in the United States, lasting from
1989 to
1998 and spawning a new sitcom subgenre.
★
★ ''
The Simpsons'' (
1989 – ) becomes popular with adult audiences, eventually paving the way for many adult-oriented
animated television shows throughout the next 10 years, including ''
Beavis and Butthead, ''
South Park'' and ''
Family Guy''.
★
★
Professional wrestling became popular throughout the 1990s. In the late 1990s, the
Monday Night Wars was the biggest impact for professional wrestling with the
World Wrestling Federation (present day World Wrestling Entertainment),
World Championship Wrestling, and
Extreme Championship Wrestling. By the early 2000s, the WWF came out of the wars victorious over both WCW and ECW.
★
★
Twin Peaks, David Lynch's surrealistic crime drama, runs on ABC for two seasons, expanding the limits for prime time subject matter and quirky characters, and pushing TV producers and directors toward adapting a more cinematic filming style for television programming -- an influence still visible in the 2000s.
★
★
20th Century Fox and
BBC collaborate to produce the 1996 television movie of the
science fiction series
Doctor Who, starring
Paul McGann as the Doctor.
★
★
NASCAR Racing starts to become
popular on US
TV in the mid to late 1990s. Popular NASCAR drivers during this era are the late
Dale Earnhardt,
Rusty Wallace,
Jeff Gordon,
Mark Martin,
Dale Jarrett, and
Bobby Labonte.
★
★ Pro Basketball sees high US
TV ratings in the 1990s with stars like
Larry Bird,
Magic Johnson,
Michael Jordan,
Karl Malone,
Shawn Kemp,
Reggie Miller,
David Robinson,
Penny Hardaway and
Patrick Ewing.
★
★ US Saturday morning children's television programming, Like
Fox Kids, reaches its peak popularity in the early and mid 1990s considered by many to be a "renaissance" in American animation. Everything from ''
Animaniacs'', ''
Garfield and Friends'', ''
Eek! The Cat'', '', '', ''
The Tick'',
Donkey Kong Country (TV series) and ''
Tiny Toons'', to television adaptations of popular video game characters ''
Super Mario'' and ''
Sonic the Hedgehog''.
★
★ The
Disney experiences an animation renaissance with the popularity of
The Disney Afternoon shows in the early and-mid-1990s, such as ''
DuckTales'', ''
Darkwing Duck'', ''
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers'', ''
TaleSpin'' and ''
Goof Troop''.
★
★
Nickelodeon gains popularity with the
Nicktoons block of shows, such as ''
Doug'', ''
Rugrats'', ''
The Ren and Stimpy Show'', ''
Rocko's Modern Life'', ''
AAAHH!!! Real Monsters'' and ''
Hey Arnold!''.
★
★ ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', originally from the 1980s, remain popular in the early and-mid-1990s.
★
★ ''
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers'' gains popularity with children in the mid 1990s, leading to the entire
Power Rangers series.
★
★
Anime becomes popular in the United States in the late 1990s with shows like ''
Sailor Moon'', ''
Samurai Pizza Cats'', ''
Pokémon'', ''
Dragonball Z'', and ''
Cowboy Bebop''.
★
★
MTV moves away from music videos and into original television shows such as ''
The Real World'', which is often cited as the main inspiration for the
Reality TV boom of the 2000s.
★
★
Cartoons aimed at an adult audience become popular. Among the most successful are ''
The Simpsons'' (
1989 – ), ''
The Ren and Stimpy Show'' (
1991 –
1996), ''
Beavis and Butt-head'' (
1993 –
1997), ''
Daria'' (
1997 –
2002), ''
South Park'' (
1997 – ), ''
King of the Hill'' (
1997 – ), ''
Family Guy'' (
1999 –
2002,
2005 – ) and ''
Futurama'' (
1999-
2003,
2008-).
★
★ US
Television networks increase
programs aimed at
twenty- and
thirty-somethings. Some of the most popular are ''
Roseanne'' (
1988 –
1997), ''
Seinfeld'' (
1989 –
1998), ''
Beverly Hills 90210'' (
1990 –
2000), ''
Melrose Place'' (
1992 –
1999), ''
Friends'' (
1994 –
2004), ''
Party of Five'' (
1994 –
2000), and ''
Ally McBeal'' (
1997 –
2002).
★
★ Television shows involving human interaction with dangerous wildlife become popular. Most notably shows like
The Crocodile Hunter, a popular series starring
Steve Irwin, which began airing in 1996.
The Crocodile Hunter, and other similar shows (many of which involved
Steve Irwin) remained popular into the 2000s.
★
★ Notable American television
sitcoms aimed at the teen/preteen market include ''
Full House'' (
1987 –
1995), ''
Family Matters'' (
1989 –
1998), ''
Blossom'' (
1991 –
1995), ''
Boy Meets World'' (
1993 –
2000), and ''
3rd Rock from the Sun'' (
1996 –
2001),''
Smart Guy'' (
1997 –
1999), ''
Sister Sister'' (
1994 –
1999), among others.
★
★ The sci – fi/fantasy TV genre saw three successful ''
Star Trek'' spinoffs: '' (
1987 –
1994), '' (
1993 –
1999), and '' (
1995 –
2001). It also featured other massively popular shows, such as ''
The X-Files'' (
1993 –
2002); ''
Stargate SG-1'' (
1997 –
2007); ''
Sliders'' (
1995 –
2000); '' (
1993 –
1999); and '' (
1995 –
2001), the spinoff of ''Hercules'' that went on to drastically dwarf its predecessor in popularity, notoriety, controversy, and overall viewership. Another notable series in the fantasy genre was ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (
1997 –
2003) which never had very high ratings but quickly received a cult following as well critical acclaim. It inspired many other series with the superhero/struggle of real life theme, such as ''
Charmed'' (
1998 –
2006) and Buffy's spin-off ''
Angel'' (
1999 –
2004).
★
★ The
Disney Channel changes from classic Disney programming to live action programming starting in the late 1990s, especially around the year
1998. No longer a pay-subscription channel in 1996, the channel expanded their young audience on basic cable. See
Zoog Disney. By
1999, the "MTV-esque"
Zoog Disney along with
Playhouse Disney was the main focus of the Disney Channel, causing classic Disney shorts and shows such as the
Nutty Professor to experience backlash.
★
★
Cartoon Network starts showing more original programming in a form of
Cartoon Cartoons that almost changed the face of the network by
1999.
★
★ On
May 22,
1992, after 30 years,
Johnny Carson retired as host of the
Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on
NBC, with
Jay Leno taking over as host on
May 25. The choice of Leno over
Late Night host and Carson protege
David Letterman is instrumental in Letterman signing a deal with
CBS in January 1993. Letterman aired his final NBC show on
June 25,
1993 and the
Late Show with David Letterman premiered on
August 30,
1993.
★
★ The highest-rated shows on network television:
★
★
★
1989 –
1990: ''
The Cosby Show'' and ''
Roseanne''
★
★
★
1990 –
1991: ''
Cheers''
★
★
★
1991 –
1992: ''
60 Minutes''
★
★
★
1992 –
1993: ''
60 Minutes''
★
★
★
1993 –
1994: ''
60 Minutes''
★
★
★
1994 –
1995: ''
Seinfeld''
★
★
★
1995 –
1996: ''
ER''
★
★
★
1996 –
1997: ''
ER''
★
★
★
1997 –
1998: ''
Seinfeld''
★
★
★
1998 –
1999: ''
ER''
★
★
★
1999 –
2000: ''
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire''
★ 'United Kingdom'
★
★ UK television — Popular comedies include
The Fast Show,
Jeeves and Wooster,
One Foot in the Grave,
Only Fools and Horses,
Men Behaving Badly,
Red Dwarf,
Spaced,
Royle Family,
Mr. Bean and
Father Ted amongst many others.
ITV has a string of successful crime dramas including
Cadfael,
Prime Suspect,
Inspector Morse and
Cracker.
★
★
BSkyB obtain the rights to the English
FA Premier League in 1992, producing high revenues for the league and becoming the bedrock of the subscription television service, holding a monopoly on the rights until 2007.
★
★ British public service television channel
Channel 4 is granted independence from the
Independent Broadcasting Authority, and begins showing US programmes such as ''
Friends'' and ''
ER'' in peak viewing time.
★ 'Europe'
★
★ New private channels in
Germany:
RTL,
SAT1,
Pro7,
VOX,
VIVA, and in
France:
Canal Plus.
★
★ Eastern European television enjoys less government restrictions and carries more American programming.
★ 'Middle East'
★
★
Al Jazeera begins broadcasting in 1996, subsidised by a grant from the
emir of Qatar and expanded their programming range across the Arabic-speaking world.
Computer and video games
★
3-D graphics become the standard by end of decade. Although
FPSs had long since seen the transition to full 3D, other genres begin to copy this trend by the end of the decade.
★
Lara Croft became the first video game sex symbols, becoming a recognisable figure in the entertainment industry throughout the late 1990s.
★ The
console wars, primarily between
Sega (
Sega Mega Drive (marketed as the Sega Genesis in North America), introduced in
1988) and
Nintendo (
Super NES, introduced in
1990), sees the entrance of
Sony with the
PlayStation in
1994, which becomes the first successful CD-based console (as opposed to cartridges). By the end of the decade, Sega's hold on the market becomes tenuous after the commercial failures of the
Saturn in
1994 and the
Dreamcast in
2001.
★
Mario finds a rival in
Sonic the Hedgehog with the release of the
original game on the Genesis in 1991.
★
Nintendo released the first 3-D styled video game ''
Donkey Kong Country'' for the SNES in 1994, and three sequels to further advance video game design.
★
Arcade games rapidly decrease in popularity.
★ Fighting games like
Capcom's ''
Street Fighter II'',
Sega's futuristic ''
Virtua Fighter'' and the more violent ''
Mortal Kombat'' from
Acclaim prompted the video game industry to adopt a game rating system, and hundreds of knock-offs are widely popular in mid-to-late1990s.
★ Sony's
PlayStation becomes the top selling game console and changes the standard media storage type from
cartridges to
compact discs in consoles.
★ ''
Doom'' (
1993) bursts onto the world scene and instantly popularizes the
FPS genre, and even how games are played, as Doom is among the first games to feature multiplayer capabilities. It is not until ''
Quake'' (
1996), however, that game developers begin to take multiplayer features into serious consideration when making games. ''
Half-Life'' (
1998) features the next evolutionary step in the genre with continual progression of the game (no levels in the traditional sense) and an entirely in-person view, and becomes one of the most popular computer games in history.
★ The
strategy genre becomes popular with games such as ''
Dune II'' (
1992) and '' (
1994). ''
Command & Conquer'' (
1995) and '' (
1995) further advance and popularize the genre. ''
StarCraft'' (
1998) becomes the second-best selling game in computer game history.
★ ''
Final Fantasy'' first debuted in 1990 for the NES, and remains among the most popular video game franchises, with 11 total sequels to date, with another in development, plus numerous spin-offs and related titles.
★
Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing games (MMORPGs) see their entrance into the computer game world with ''
Ultima Online'' in
1997, although they don't gain widespread popularity until ''
EverQuest'' and ''
Asheron's Call'' in
1999. MMORPGs go on to become among the most popular genres in the 2000s.
★
Pokémon entered the world scene with the release of the original
Game Boy ''
Pokemon Red'' and ''
Pokemon green'' games in
Japan in
1996, later changed to
pokemon red and
pokemon blue for worldwide release in 1998. It soon becomes popular in the U.S. and is adapted into a popular children's
anime series and
trading card game, among other media forms. Its popularity reaches its peak near the end of the decade, but rapidly declines early on in the 2000s, although it still retains a large cult following.
Popular video games of the 1990s
'1990'
★ ''
Super Mario Bros. 3''
★ ''
Final Fantasy''
★ ''
Wing Commander''
★ ''
Commander Keen''
'1991'
★ ''
Civilization''
★ ''
Sonic the Hedgehog''
★ ''
Street Fighter II''
★ ''
Super Mario World''
★ ''
Final Fantasy IV/II''
★ ''
Duke Nukum''
'1992'
★ ''
Mortal Kombat''
★ ''
Dune II''
★ ''
Ultima VII: The Black Gate''
★ ''
Virtua Racing''
★ ''
★ ''
Kirby's Dream Land''
★ ''
Wolfenstein 3D''
★ ''
Super Mario Kart''
★ ''
Sonic the Hedgehog 2''
'1993'
★ ''
★ ''
Virtua Fighter''
★ ''
Star Fox''
★ ''
Kirby's Adventure''
★ ''
★ ''
Secret of Mana''
★ ''
Myst''
★ ''
Doom''
★ ''
Mega Man X''
'1994'
★ ''
Sonic the Hedgehog 3''
★ ''
★ ''
★ ''
Super Metroid''
★ ''
★ ''
Final Fantasy VI/III''
★ ''
Donkey Kong Country''
★ ''
Sonic & Knuckles''
'1995'
★ ''
Crash Bandicoot''
★ ''
★ ''
★ ''
Descent''
★ ''
Chrono Trigger''
★ ''
Command & Conquer''
★ ''
Tekken''
★ ''
★ ''
Twisted Metal''
'1996'
★ ''
Duke Nukem 3D''
★ ''
Resident Evil''
★ ''
Quake''
★ ''
Super Mario 64''
★ ''
★ ''
Tomb Raider''
★ ''
Super Mario RPG''
★ ''
Diablo''
★ ''
'1997'
★ ''
Mario Kart 64''
★ ''
Diddy Kong Racing''
★ ''
Star Fox 64''
★ ''
GoldenEye 007''
★ ''
Final Fantasy VII''
★ ''
Tomb Raider II''
★ ''
Fallout''
★ ''
Total Annihilation''
★ ''
★ ''
★ ''
Age of Empires''
★ ''
Wild 9''
'1998'
★ ''
★ ''
Spyro the Dragon''
★ ''
StarCraft''
★ ''
Unreal''
★ ''
Banjo-Kazooie''
★ ''
Final Fantasy Tactics''
★
''Pokémon Red'' and ''Blue''
★ ''
Metal Gear Solid''
★ ''
Tomb Raider III''
★ ''
Parasite Eve''
★ ''
Half-Life''
★ ''
'1999'
★ ''
★ ''
EverQuest''
★ ''
Super Smash Bros.''
★ ''
Homeworld''
★ ''
Sonic Adventure''
★ ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater''
★ ''
Soul Calibur''
★ ''
★ ''
Unreal Tournament''
★ ''
Quake III Arena''
★ ''
Internet
★ Beginnings of
MP3 music downloading; in
1999 and
2000 the
Napster controversy.
★ The first MP3 Player, the
MPMan, is released in late spring of 1998. It came with 32Mb of flash memory expandable to 64Mb.
★ The Internet begins to affect pop culture, beginning around
1996.
★ Most television stations establish an Internet presence during the later half of the decade.
★ Earliest examples of Internet film.
★
Bulletin Board System interest decreases heavily with introduction of the Web.
★
Pornography on the Internet launches and grows rapidly (one of the few industries to experience growth during dot.com bust of 2000)
★ A concept of online social ettiquette, "
Netiquette" begins to form in 1995.
★ Online chat debuts in the mid 1990s, along with social networking and teen community sites such as
Classmates.com and
Xanga in the late 1990s.
International Issues
Politically, the 1990s was an era of spreading democracy. The former countries of the
Warsaw Pact moved from totalitarian regimes to democratically-elected governments. The same happened in other non-communist countries, such as
Taiwan,
Chile,
South Africa, and
Indonesia. Capitalism made great changes to the economies of communist countries like
China and
Vietnam, and even
Cuba where old-school leader
Fidel Castro continued to blast American corruption.
The improvement in relations between the countries of
NATO and the former members of the
Warsaw Pact ended the
Cold War both in
Europe and other parts of the world. In 1993, the Prime Minister of
Israel,
Yitzhak Rabin, and
PLO leader
Yasser Arafat shook hands in agreement for peace, at the conclusion of peace talks sponsored by US president
Bill Clinton. The outcome of these talks, known as the
Oslo Accords, was an agreement by
Israel to allow
Palestinian self-government.
Conflicts like the
Balkan Wars, the
Rwandan genocide, the
Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia and the first
Gulf War, as well as the continuation of
terrorism, led some to hypothesize a
Clash of Civilizations, but the decade was also a time of peace in terror-ridden
Northern Ireland when the
IRA agreed to a truce in
1994. This marked the beginning of the end of 25 years of violence between the two sectarian groups, Protestant and Catholic, and the start of political negotiations.
In the United States
In the
United States,
Bill Clinton was president for much of the decade. Under Clinton, the United States was involved in few foreign wars and saw a resurgence of liberal movements. However, the end of the Cold War dramatically changed the political landscape of the world as the long-standing "Communism vs. Capitalism" conflict essentially came to an end. One result of this was the establishment of political allegiances between many developing countries, and concurrent changes within their own governments. Great strides were made towards Israeli-Palestinian peace in the early part of the decade, due to official
PLO recognition of
Israel in 1993. However, later in the decade, the peace process became derailed and eventually the conflict escalated once again, especially in the
2000s.
Al Qaeda became visible as a terrorist threat against the U.S. after the bombing of the American embassies in
Kenya and
Tanzania in 1998.
★ The bombing of the
World Trade Center in U.S. (
1993) by an explosive-filled van leads to awareness in U.S. of international
terrorism as a rising threat.
★ U.S. Congressman
Newt Gingrich crafts his manifesto "
Contract with America", leading his
Republican Party to become the controlling majority in the
U.S. House of Representatives.
★ U.S. president
Bill Clinton's sex scandal with
Monica Lewinsky and his
impeachment trial in
1998, which lasts the entire year.
In Canada
★
Quebec, in a rekindled wave of separatism by
French-Canadian activists, almost seceded from the dominion in a
provincial referendum on
October 30,
1995.
In Europe
★
Germany reunified on
3 October 1990 and, after integrating the economic structure and provincial governments, focused on modernization of the former communist East. People who were brought up in a communist culture became integrated with those living in democratic western Germany.
★ On
December 8,
1991, the presidents of
Russia,
Ukraine and
Belarus signed the
Belavezha Accords which declared the
Soviet Union dissolved and established the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), in its place.
★ The
European Community becomes the
European Union on January 1,
1993.
★ The birth of the "Second Republic" in
Italy, with the
Mani Pulite investigations of
1994.
★
Civil Unions for gay partners legalized in some European countries (
Denmark,
Netherlands,
Norway and
Sweden).
★ A decade of women presidents in the
Republic of Ireland.
In the United Kingdom
★ The
United Kingdom, after a recession in
1991 –
92 and its withdrawal from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism on
Black Wednesday, experienced sustained economic growth that stretched into the new millennium.
★ In the UK in 1994, Tony Blair becomes leader of the British Labour Party and begins the "New Labour" project moving the party to the centre of British politics, which in 1997 ends 18 years of government by the Conservative party in a landslide election victory.
★
Peace process begins in
Northern Ireland in
1995.
In the Middle East
★
Gulf War (resulting from
Iraq's invasion of
Kuwait) and
United Nations embargo on
Iraq in
1991.
★ North Yemen and South Yemen merge to form
Yemen (
1991).
★
Israeli Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin and
Palestinian Prime Minister Yasser Arafat agree to the
Peace Process at the culmination of the
Oslo Accords, negotiated by the
United States President Bill Clinton on
September 13,
1993.
★ In 1994, a peace treaty is signed between
Israel and
Jordan.
In Eastern Europe
★ Break up of the
Soviet Union in
1991 — the end of the
Cold War,
United States becomes sole world
superpower. The Cold War was officially declared over on
December 31,
1992.
★ Dissolution of
Czechoslovakia into
Czech Republic and
Slovakia (
1993).
★
Balkan war in former
Yugoslavia in
1995.
★
Kosovo war begins in late
1998. Roughly 12,000 people are killed during open hostilities between
Serbian military forces and ethnic
Albanian forces. The
UN sends in peace keeping forces after
NATO military actions result in a Serbian military withdrawal by early 1999. The US deploys American police officers to serve with the United Nations to help build a Kosovo police force.
★ The
First Chechen War war
1994 –
1996;
Second Chechen War started in
1999, and is ongoing.
In Asia
★ In Japan, after three decades of economic growth put them in third place in the world's economies, the situation worsened after
1993. The recession went on into the early 2000s, bringing an end to the seemingly unlimited prosperity that the country had hitherto enjoyed. However, the rise of free market economics in
China under more
socialist regulation had not slowed that country's economic prosperity in the 1990s, and its economic growth continues.
★ Less affluent nations such as
India,
Malaysia and
Vietnam also saw tremendous improvements in economic prosperity and quality of life during the 1990s. Optimism and hopes were high following the collapse of Communism, and restructuring following the end of the Cold War was beginning. However, there was also the continuation of terrorism in
Third World regions that were once the "frontlines" for American and Soviet foreign politics, particularly in Asia.
★ South-East Asia economic crisis starting from 1997.
★
Spratly islands controversy became one of the most controversial issue in South East Asia.
Malaysia,
Thailand,
Vietnam and
People's Republic of China wants to occupied the zone. But the sovereign country
Philippines aimed for its hurisdiction.
★ The
Tibetan Freedom Concert brings 120,000 people together in the interest of increased human rights and autonomy for
Tibet from
China.
★
Portugal hands sovereignty of
Macau to the
People's Republic of China on
December 20,
1999.
★
East Timor breaks away from
Indonesian control in
1999, merely a year after the fall of
Soeharto from power, ending a twenty-four year
guerrilla war with more than 200,000 casualties. The
UN deploys a peace keeping force, spearheaded by the
Australian and
New Zealand armed forces. America deploys US police officers to serve with the
International Police element, to help train and equip an East Timorese police force.
★ Great Britain hands sovereignty of
Hong Kong to the
People's Republic of China on
July 1,
1997.
★ In May 1999,
Pakistan sends troops covertly to occupy strategic peaks in
Kashmir. A month later the
Kargil War with
India results in a political fiasco for
Nawaz Sharif, followed by a military withdrawal to the
Line of Control. The incident leads to a military
coup in October in which the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is ousted by Army Chief
Pervez Musharraf.
In Africa
★ End of
apartheid in
South Africa (
1994) and election of
ANC government of
Nelson Mandela.
★
Eritrea gains independence from
Ethiopia (
1993).
★ Military actions in
Somalia in
1993 lead to questions of the United States' role as a police officer of the world. (See also
Battle of Mogadishu).
★
Rwandan genocide kills one million people, in
1994.
★ The
Second Congo War started in
1998 in central
Africa and includes 5 different cultures and 7 different nations. It goes on until
2002.
Significant events
★ The
Oklahoma City Bombing, the bombing of a federal building in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killed 168. Bombing suspect
Timothy McVeigh claimed he bombed the building in retaliation for the
1993 Waco massacre.
★ The
Waco massacre prompted a nationwide debate in the U.S. about the
freedom of association right of the
Michigan Militia,
Montana Militia and other radical groups.
★ In France,
Princess Diana dies in a car accident in
1997. Debates of
accident vs.
assassination rage well into the 2000s.
★ The
European Union forms in 1992 under the
Maastricht Treaty.
★
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was elected President of
South Africa in 1994, becoming the first black-President in South African history.
★ The
1992 Los Angeles riots occurred, with 52 deaths and 5,500 property fires in a 100-square mile riot zone. The riots were a result of the state court acquittal of three White and one Hispanic L.A. police officers by an all-white jury in a police brutality case involving motorist
Rodney King, but in 1993, all four officers were convicted in a federal civil rights case.
★ The
Omagh bombing in
Omagh,
County Tyrone,
Northern Ireland which kills 29 civilians and injures hundreds more.
★
O.J. Simpson's trial, described in the media as the "
trial of the century", but on
October 3,
1995, Simpson was found "not guilty" of double-murder of ex-wife
Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend,
Ronald Goldman. In the 1997 civil case, Simpson was held responsible and had to pay financial damages to the victims' families.
★ The
Channel Tunnel across the
English Channel opens in 1994, connecting
France and
England. As of 2007 it is the second-longest rail tunnel in the world, but with the undersea section of 37.9 km (23.55 miles) being the longest undersea tunnel in the world.
★
1994 midterm election:
The Republican Party took control of the
U.S. House of Representatives and the
U.S. Senate for the first time in 40 years.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich assumes the role of antagonist to the
Clinton Administration.
★ US president
Bill Clinton was caught in a media-frenzied sex scandal over his intern
Monica Lewinsky, first announced on
January 21,
1998. After the U.S. House of Representatives
impeached Clinton on
December 19,
1998 for perjury under oath, following an investigation by federal prosecutor
Kenneth Starr, the Senate acquitted Clinton of the charges on
February 12,
1999 and he finished his second term.
★ The
Columbine school shooting occurred on
April 20,
1999, at
Littleton, Colorado when two student gunmen took the Columbine high school library hostage and killed 12 students, a teacher and the two committed suicide, making it the deadliest high school shooting in United States history.
★ The
Anita Hill vs.
Clarence Thomas federal case of
October 10 –
October 12,
1991, involved claims by Hill that Thomas committed
sexual harassment against her. Thomas was not charged, but Hill became a national celebrity and a martyr to
women's rights, triggering awareness on the issue of workplace sexual harassment. Thomas went on to become an Associate Justice of the
United States Supreme Court.
★ In the
United Kingdom, the first
cloned mammal,
Dolly the sheep was confirmed by the
Roslin Institute, and was reported by global media on
February 26,
1997. Dolly would trigger a raging controversy on cloning and
bioethical concerns regarding possible human cloning continue to this day.
★
Y2K spread fear throughout the
United States and eventually the world in the last half of the decade particularly
1999. Many feared that it would cause the world to end on new years day on
January 1,
2000 due to a massive computer crash. It became huge in popular culture and many people stocked up on supplies for fear of a disaster. One year later,
January 1,
2001 was the beginning of the
3rd millennium, as well the
21st century and the official end of the
20th century.
★ A
magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit the Philippines on
July 16,
1990 and killed around 1000 people in
Baguio City.
Other significant events

The Flame of Liberty, which sits above the entrance to the Paris tunnel in which
Princess Diana died in 1997, as global mourning accompanied the event.
★ The
illegal immigration issue in the US gains momentum in
1994, when
California voters approved
Proposition 187, a controversial initiative that would prevent undocumented immigrants from using public services, later was blocked by federal courts.
★
Gun politics in the US over the
1993 Brady Bill had banned or regulated most kinds of
automatic weapons and semi-automatic weapons. The law called for a 5-day waiting period for potential gun-owners to be checked for past crimes before they can purchase a firearm.
★ ''You go, girl!'' becomes a popular phrase in the media as feminism is more widely accepted and publicized with The
Spice Girls, the
WNBA,
women's boxing, ''
Sex and the City'' and others showcasing modern femininity and challenged the problem of
sexism.
★ With help from clinical
fertility drugs, an
Iowa mother, Bobbie McCaughey, gave birth to the first surviving
septuplets in 1997. There followed a media frenzy and widespread support for the family.
★ In August
1995,
NASA scientists announced, then debunked a big "discovery" of "martian" microscopic life on an asteroid originated from
Mars, found in
Antarctica and examined to only find mineral formation, not
alien bacteria.
★
Kenny Everett dies shortly after confirming that he has
AIDS.
★
Freddie Mercury,
Kurt Cobain and
Tupac Shakur become the decade's most publicized deaths, in 1991, 1994 and 1996 respectively.
★ Divorce and scandal rocked the
British Royal House of
Windsor.
★ The murder of
Selena Quintanilla, Tejano superstar from Texas.
★ Sex and violence in the media increase, especially in the late part of the decade.
Profanity in music reaches peak in the late1990s.
★ Models
Pamela Anderson and
Anna Nicole Smith become major
sex symbols during the 1990s.
★
Cindy Crawford becomes the most successful supermodel of the decade.
★ The movie
Titanic becomes a cultural phenomenon throughout the world and eventually becomes the biggest grossing movie of all time making almost 2 billion dollars world wide in a span of little over a year.
★
Major League baseball players went on strike in August 12,
1994, thus ended the season, canceled the
World Series the first time in 90 years, and went on until
March 29,
1995 when players and team owners in agreement.
★ The
Vieques controversy.
★
Crime levels in the U.S. peak in
1991, begin to fall afterwards, reaching the lowest levels since the late1960s by end of decade.
★ In the U.S.
drug use reaches an all-time low in
1992 before increasing, reaching its peak in
1997 before declining again.
★ Examples of the decade's worst natural disasters:
Hurricane Andrew strikes South
Florida in August
1992, the devastating
1994 Northridge Earthquake in
Los Angeles, the Midwest US
floods of
1993 along the
Mississippi River and the
blizzard-ice storm over eastern
Canada in February
1998.
★ People are
evacuated from the volcanic
Caribbean island of
Montserrat, a
British overseas territory. The Soufirre Hills erupt in
1995 and continued on until 2002.
★
Mount Pinatubo, a dormant volcano in the island of
Luzon in the
Philippines erupted in 1991 to decimate nearby towns and an American air force base permanently abandoned by hot ash fall and under mudslides.
★
Mother Teresa, the
Roman Catholic nun who won the
Nobel Peace Prize, dies at age 87.
★ 21-year-old
Golfer Tiger Woods wins the
Masters Tournament by a record 12 strokes; becoming both the youngest and the first
American of
multiracial descent to win the
Masters.
★ The
Olympic Park Bombing on
July 27,
1996 at
that year's Summer Olympics in
Atlanta, Georgia which kills 2 and injures 111.
★ School violence in the US is brought into the national spotlight with numerous incidents, such as the
Columbine High School massacre.
★
John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife
Carolyn Bessette and sister-in-law
Lauren Bessette are killed when Kennedy's private plane crashes off the coast of
Martha's Vineyard.
★
American cyclist Lance Armstrong wins his first
Tour de France in
1999, less than two years after battling
testicular cancer.
★ Debate on
assisted suicide highly publicized by
Michigan doctor
Jack Kevorkian, charged with multiple counts of
homicide of his terminally ill patients through the decade.
★
Seinfeld becomes highly popular.
★ Beer
keg registration becomes popular public policy in U.S.
★
California voters passed
Proposition 215 in
1996, to legalize
cannabis only for medical purposes, the debate over legalization of marijuana in the U.S. goes on today.
★
The Rachel,
Jennifer Aniston's hairstyle on the hit show
Friends, becomes a cultural phenomenon with millions of women copying it worldwide.
★ Controversy surrounded
The Prodigy with the release of the track 'Smack My Bitch Up'. The National organization for Women(NOW) claimed that the track was "advocating violence against women" due to the lyrics of that song. The music video (directed by Jonas Åkerlund) featured a first-person POV of someone going clubbing, indulging in large amounts of drugs and alcohol, getting into fist fights with men, abusing women and picking up a prostitute. At the end of the video the camera pans over to a mirror, revealing the subject to be a woman.
★ The model 1300
Wonderbra style has a resurgence of popularity in Europe in 1992 which kicks off a multinational media sensation, the 1994 re-introduction of "The Wonderbra" brand, and a spike in push-up, plunge bras around the world.
People
World leaders
★ Prime Minister
Bob Hawke (
Australia)
★ Prime Minister
Paul Keating (
Australia)
★ Prime Minister
John Howard (
Australia)
★ President
Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello (
Brazil)
★ President
Fernando Henrique Cardoso (
Brazil)
★ President
Zhelyu Zhelev (
Bulgaria)
★ President
Petar Stoyanov (
Bulgaria)
★ Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney (
Canada)
★ Prime Minister
Kim Campbell (
Canada)
★ Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien (
Canada)
★ "Paramount Leader"
Deng Xiaoping (
People's Republic of China)
★ President
Jiang Zemin (
People's Republic of China)
★ President
Lee Teng-hui (
Republic of China (Taiwan)
★ President
Franjo Tudman (
Croatia)
★ President
Václav Havel (
Czechoslovakia and (
Czech Republic after the breakup of Czechoslovakia))
★ Prime Minister
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (
Denmark)
★ President
Hosni Mubarak (
Egypt)
★ President
François Mitterrand (
France)
★ President
Jacques Chirac (
France)
★ Chancellor
Helmut Kohl (
Germany)
★ Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder (
Germany)
★ Governor
David Clive Wilson (
Hong Kong (under British rule))
★ Governor
Christopher Francis Patten (
Hong Kong (under British rule))
★ Chief Executive
Tung Chee Hwa (
Hong Kong,
People's Republic of China)
★ Prime Minister
Vishwanath Pratap Singh (
India)
★ Prime Minister
Chandra Shekhar (
India)
★ Prime Minister
P. V. Narasimha Rao (
India)
★ Prime Minister
H. D. Deve Gowda (
India)
★ Prime Minister
Inder Kumar Gujral (
India)
★ Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee (
India)
★ President
Mohammad Khatami (
Iran)
★ President
Saddam Hussein (
Iraq)
★ Prime Minister
Yitzhak Shamir (
Israel)
★ Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin (
Israel)
★ Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu (
Israel)
★ Emperor
Akihito (
Japan)
★ Governor
Vasco Joaquim Rocha Vieira (
Macau (under Portuguese rule))
★ Chief Executive
Edmund Ho (
Macau,
People's Republic of China)
★ President
Carlos Salinas (
Mexico)
★ President
Ernesto Zedillo (
Mexico)
★ President
Yasser Arafat (
Palestinian Authority)
★
Pope John Paul II (
Vatican City)
★ President
Corazon Aquino (
Philippines)
★ President
Fidel Ramos (
Philippines)
★ President
Joseph Estrada (
Philippines)
★ President
Lech Walesa (
Poland)
★ President
Aleksander Kwaśniewski (
Poland)
★ Prime Minister
Ruud Lubbers (
Netherlands)
★ Prime Minister
Wim Kok (
Netherlands)
★ Prime Minister
Mike Moore (
New Zealand)
★ Prime Minister
Jim Bolger (
New Zealand)
★ Prime Minister
Jenny Shipley (
New Zealand)
★ Prime Minister
Helen Clark (
New Zealand)
★ President
Ion Iliescu (
Romania)
★ President
Emil Constantinescu (
Romania)
★ President
Boris Yeltsin (
Russia)
★ Taoiseach
Charles Haughey (
Republic of Ireland)
★ Taoiseach
Albert Reynolds (
Republic of Ireland)
★ Taoiseach
John Bruton (
Republic of Ireland)
★ Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern (
Republic of Ireland)
★ President
Boris Yeltsin (
Russia)
★ President
Wee Kim Wee (
Singapore)
★ President
Ong Teng Cheong (
Singapore)
★ President
Sellapan Ramanathan (
Singapore)
★ President
Frederik Willem de Klerk (
South Africa)
★ President
Nelson Mandela (
South Africa)
★ President
Kim Dae-jung (
South Korea)
★ President
Mikhail Gorbachev (
Soviet Union)
★ King
Juan Carlos I (
Spain)
★ President
Felipe González (
Spain)
★ President
José María Aznar (
Spain)
★ President
Hafez al-Assad (
Syria)
★ President
Turgut Özal (
Turkey)
★ President
Süleyman Demirel (
Turkey)
★ Prime Minister
Tansu Çiller (
Turkey)
★ Queen
Elizabeth II (
United Kingdom et al.)
★ Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher (
United Kingdom)
★ Prime Minister
John Major (
United Kingdom)
★ Prime Minister
Tony Blair (
United Kingdom)
★ President
George H.W. Bush (
United States)
★ President
Bill Clinton (
United States)
★ President
Hugo Chávez (
Venezuela)
★ President
Slobodan Miloševic' (
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
Entertainers