97 Fun Facts About The 1990s

Which 1994 sitcom followed six twentysomethings in Manhattan and became one of the decade's most-watched shows?

Friends premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994, and ran for 10 seasons. The show followed Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross through their lives in Manhattan.

Kurt Cobain was the lead singer of which iconic grunge band?

Kurt Cobain fronted Nirvana, whose 1991 album Nevermind and its hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" are credited with bringing grunge into the mainstream.

What was the name of the virtual pet toy from Japan that became a worldwide craze in 1997?

The Tamagotchi was created by Bandai and released in Japan in 1996, then worldwide in 1997. The small egg-shaped device let users care for a virtual pet.

Which 1997 James Cameron film became the highest-grossing movie of all time, a record it held until 2010?

Titanic earned over $1.84 billion worldwide upon its initial release, making it the first film to gross over $1 billion. Avatar surpassed it in 2010.

What phrase did AOL users hear when they successfully connected to the internet?

AOL's "You've got mail" greeting was recorded by Elwood Edwards in 1989 on a cassette deck in his own living room, and it lent its name to the 1998 Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan film.

Which basketball legend led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships during the 1990s?

Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to two three-peats: 1991-1993 and 1996-1998. He is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time.

Which U.S. President was impeached by the House of Representatives in December 1998?

Bill Clinton was impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice related to the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He was acquitted by the Senate in February 1999.

What collectible plush toys, made by Ty Inc., caused a massive buying frenzy in the late 1990s?

Beanie Babies became one of the biggest fads of the 1990s. Ty Inc. created artificial scarcity by retiring certain designs, leading to a speculative market where some were valued at thousands of dollars.

Steven Spielberg directed which 1993 dinosaur blockbuster based on a Michael Crichton novel?

Jurassic Park was released on June 11, 1993, and became the highest-grossing film at that time with $914 million worldwide. Its groundbreaking CGI dinosaurs revolutionized visual effects.

Because of two-digit year storage, the Y2K bug meant computers could mistake 2000 for which year?

With years stored as two digits, '00' could be read as 1900 instead of 2000. The global fix was estimated at $400-600 billion, and the quiet rollover is credited to years of pre-emptive work by programmers.

Which rapper, whose 1996 double album All Eyez on Me went Diamond, was fatally shot near Las Vegas that September?

Tupac Shakur was shot on September 7, 1996, in Paradise, Nevada, after attending the Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand, and died six days later.

Which British royal died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997?

Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris. Her funeral was watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide, making it one of the most-watched events in television history.

What was the name of the first widely used web browser, released in 1993?

Mosaic, developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), was released in 1993 and is credited as the first browser to display images inline with text, making the web accessible to ordinary users.

In the 1990s TV show "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," who played the title character?

Will Smith starred as a fictionalized version of himself in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which ran on NBC from 1990 to 1996. The show launched his acting career.

Which Nintendo handheld, released in 1989, dominated portable gaming in the 1990s?

Nintendo's Game Boy, launched in 1989, was the decade's best-selling handheld; Game Boy and Game Boy Color together sold about 118 million units, and Tetris, bundled with it in North America and Europe, was its killer app.

Which 1990s boy band sang "I Want It That Way"?

The Backstreet Boys released "I Want It That Way" in 1999 as part of their album Millennium. It reached number one in over 25 countries and remains one of the most iconic pop songs of the decade.

What verdict did the jury deliver in the O.J. Simpson murder trial on October 3, 1995?

The jury found Simpson not guilty of both murders on October 3, 1995. An estimated 100 million people watched or listened; long-distance call volume fell 58 percent and NYSE trading dropped 41 percent while it was read.

Oversized plaid shirts of which fabric became the unofficial uniform of early-1990s grunge?

Flannel shirts, cheap Pacific Northwest workwear worn loose and open over T-shirts, became the grunge signature once Seattle bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam wore them, and the look spread from skaters into mainstream stores.

Which golfer won the 1997 Masters at 21 by a record 12 strokes?

Tiger Woods won the 1997 Masters with a score of 18-under par, finishing 12 strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Kite. He was 21 years old and became the first person of African or Asian heritage to win a major golf championship.

At midnight on 1 July 1997, the United Kingdom handed which territory over to China?

Hong Kong returned under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, in which China pledged to keep "one country, two systems" for 50 years; Macau followed from Portugal in December 1999.

Which 1998 Tiger Electronics toy seemed to learn English the longer you owned it?

The Furby spoke only 'Furbish' out of the box and slipped in more English over time; more than 40 million sold in the three years after its 1998 debut.

In which 1999 film does Keanu Reeves swallow a red pill and wake up in a mechanical pod?

The Matrix (1999), written and directed by the Wachowskis, popularized the slow-motion "bullet time" effect, in which the camera appears to move at normal speed while the action crawls.

The Soviet Union officially dissolved on December 25 of which year?

The Soviet Union was formally dissolved on December 25, 1991, when Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president. This ended the Cold War and led to the independence of 15 former Soviet republics.

Which snug neck accessory, often plastic in the late 1990s, was worn by stars like Gwyneth Paltrow?

The look is ancient: Sumerian artisans crafted golden chokers around 2500 BC, and Paltrow wore one to the 1999 Academy Awards.

Whose single-season record of 61 home runs did Mark McGwire break in 1998?

Roger Maris set the single-season home run record of 61 in 1961. McGwire broke it on September 8, 1998, in a race with Sammy Sosa that captivated the nation. The record was later broken by Barry Bonds with 73 in 2001.

Which Japanese franchise, conceived by Satoshi Tajiri, began with two handheld RPGs in February 1996?

Pokemon Red and Green, released in Japan on February 27, 1996, were sleeper hits before spawning manga, a trading card game, an anime and films, and reached North America as Red and Blue in 1998.

Which search engine, founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University, launched in 1998?

Google was founded on September 4, 1998, by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. It quickly distinguished itself from competitors with its PageRank algorithm, which ranked search results by the number and quality of links pointing to each page.

Which Seinfeld character was known for sliding through Jerry's apartment door?

Cosmo Kramer, played by Michael Richards, was loosely based on Kenny Kramer, a real former neighbor of co-creator Larry David; Richards' bursting, sliding entrances became the show's signature running gag.

What nickname was given to the 1992 US Olympic men's basketball squad, the first with active NBA players?

The Dream Team won gold in Barcelona in 1992, beating opponents by an average of 44 points, after FIBA voted in 1989 to admit professionals to the Olympics.

Who bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995?

Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb outside the federal building, killing 168 people including 19 children, the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil until September 11, 2001. He was executed in June 2001.

Which Notorious B.I.G. album, released 16 days after his 1997 murder, became a huge posthumous hit?

Life After Death was released on March 25, 1997, just 16 days after Biggie was shot and killed in Los Angeles on March 9. The double album debuted at number one and has since been certified Diamond.

In 1998, which country hosted the FIFA World Cup, with the host nation winning the tournament?

France beat Brazil 3-0 at the new Stade de France to lift their first title, becoming only the sixth nation to win the World Cup on home soil.

Which 1994 Disney animated film featured the songs "Circle of Life" and "Hakuna Matata"?

The Lion King (1994) became the highest-grossing animated film of its time. Elton John and Tim Rice's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" won the Oscar for Best Original Song, and Hans Zimmer's score won Best Original Score.

Which programming language did Brendan Eich create in 10 days in 1995?

Eich built it at Netscape in 10 days in May 1995; it was called Mocha, then LiveScript, and renamed JavaScript to ride Java's hype.

Which 1991 operation was the U.S.-led coalition's offensive to liberate Kuwait?

Operation Desert Storm began on January 17, 1991, with a massive aerial bombing campaign against Iraqi forces. The ground war lasted just 100 hours before Kuwait was liberated. The operation was part of the broader Gulf War.

Which 1990s talk show host became famous for episodes that devolved into on-stage fights?

The Jerry Springer Show became notorious in the mid-1990s for its outrageous guests and frequent physical altercations. The show's catchphrase "Jerry! Jerry!" became a pop culture staple.

What was the name of the sheep born in 1996, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell?

Dolly the sheep was born on July 5, 1996, at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. She was cloned from a mammary gland cell and named after Dolly Parton. Her birth sparked worldwide debate about the ethics of cloning.

Which grunge band released the album "Ten" in 1991, featuring hits like "Alive" and "Jeremy"?

Pearl Jam's debut album Ten was released on August 27, 1991. It eventually reached number two on the Billboard 200 and has been certified 13x platinum. "Jeremy" won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Video of the Year.

What 1990s denim trend saw jeans with extremely wide leg openings, often dragging on the ground?

JNCO, short for "Judge None Choose One", made the signature ultra-wide jeans of the late 1990s, with its biggest cuts boasting leg openings of 50 inches.

Which Mike Judge MTV series about two music-video-obsessed teens aired from 1993 to 1997?

Beavis and Butt-Head ran on MTV from 1993 to 1997, with Mike Judge voicing both title characters; the spin-off Daria, about their classmate Daria Morgendorffer, premiered in 1997.

Which browser dominated the early web before losing the "browser wars" to Microsoft's Internet Explorer?

Netscape Navigator held most of the browser market in the mid-1990s but had all but vanished by 2003; Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows to beat it was central to the 1998 U.S. antitrust case against Microsoft.

In what year did Nelson Mandela become the first Black president of South Africa?

Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as President of South Africa on May 10, 1994, following the country's first fully democratic election. He had spent 27 years in prison before his release in 1990.

Which online auction site did Pierre Omidyar found in 1995?

eBay's first sale was a broken laser pointer for $14.83; the winning bidder explained that he collected broken laser pointers.

Which 1995 David Fincher film followed detectives investigating murders based on the seven deadly sins?

Se7en starred Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as detectives tracking a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motif. The film's shocking ending — "What's in the box?" — became one of cinema's most iconic twists.

Which rover rolled off Mars Pathfinder after its July 4, 1997 landing?

Named for abolitionist Sojourner Truth by a 12-year-old essay winner, the microwave-sized rover was built for 7 days and ran for 83.

Which 1990s R&B trio scored number-one hits with "Creep", "Waterfalls" and "Unpretty"?

"Waterfalls" became the biggest hit of the group's career, and with more than 60 million records sold they rank among the five best-selling American girl groups of all time.

Which treaty, in force from November 1993, created the European Union and introduced EU citizenship?

The Maastricht Treaty, signed by the twelve member states in February 1992, created the European Union and committed members to a single currency; Germany was the last to ratify before it took effect on 1 November 1993.

Which nonlinear 1994 Quentin Tarantino film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes?

Pulp Fiction won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1994 and was nominated for seven Academy Awards; its interwoven storylines and sharp dialogue revived John Travolta's career.

Who became the first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State in 1997?

Madeleine Albright was sworn in as Secretary of State on January 23, 1997, under Bill Clinton, the first woman in the post; Condoleezza Rice followed in 2005 and Hillary Clinton in 2009.

Which medical drama, set in a fictional Chicago hospital, premiered on NBC in 1994?

The acclaimed medical drama 'ER' premiered on NBC on September 19, 1994, becoming a staple of the network's 'Must See TV' lineup.

Which free operating system kernel did a Finnish student first release in 1991?

Linus Torvalds, a 21-year-old University of Helsinki student, announced Linux in August 1991 and posted version 0.01 on September 17, 1991, inviting others to contribute code.

Which NFL team lost four consecutive Super Bowls from 1991 to 1994?

The Buffalo Bills lost Super Bowls XXV through XXVIII, to the Giants, Washington and the Cowboys twice, the only team to reach four straight Super Bowls.

Who sang "My Heart Will Go On", the theme from the 1997 film Titanic?

Céline Dion recorded "My Heart Will Go On", written by James Horner and Will Jennings; it won the Oscar for Best Original Song and topped charts worldwide in 1998.

Which 1999 M. Night Shyamalan film gave Haley Joel Osment the line "I see dead people"?

The Sixth Sense, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, starred Bruce Willis as a child psychologist; it earned six Oscar nominations and was 1999's second-highest-grossing film.

Which NBA star announced in November 1991 that he had tested HIV-positive and was retiring?

Magic Johnson made the announcement on November 7, 1991, after 12 seasons with the Lakers; he returned for the 1992 All-Star Game and the Barcelona Olympics that summer.

Which director helmed the critically acclaimed 1994 drama 'The Shawshank Redemption'?

Frank Darabont wrote and directed 'The Shawshank Redemption,' which, despite a modest box office performance, went on to become one of the most beloved and highly-rated films of all time.

Which 1997 comedy stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as Agents J and K, policing aliens living secretly on Earth?

Men in Black, Barry Sonnenfeld's comedy, cast Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith as Agents K and J, investigating crimes tied to aliens living secretly on Earth.

Which rapper's Dr. Dre-produced major-label debut, The Slim Shady LP, came out in 1999?

Eminem's The Slim Shady LP, released in February 1999 on Aftermath/Interscope, launched the single "My Name Is" and won the Grammy for Best Rap Album.

Which 1996 Wes Craven slasher opened with Drew Barrymore's character being killed by Ghostface?

Scream, directed by Wes Craven from a Kevin Williamson script, was released in December 1996 and revived the teen slasher; Neve Campbell starred as Sidney Prescott.

The R&B group Destiny's Child released their self-titled debut album in what year?

Destiny's Child launched their career with their self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the hit single 'No, No, No.'

In 1994, roughly 100 days of mass killings in which African country targeted the Tutsi ethnic group?

The killing began the day after President Juvénal Habyarimana's plane was shot down on 6 April 1994, and ended when the Rwandan Patriotic Front captured the last government-held territory in July.

The 1992 Los Angeles riots erupted after four LAPD officers were acquitted over the beating of which man?

Rodney King's March 1991 beating was filmed by bystander George Holliday from his apartment balcony; the six days of unrest after the April 29, 1992 acquittals left more than 50 people dead and caused over $1 billion in damage.

Which April 1998 agreement ended most of the Troubles violence in Northern Ireland?

The Good Friday Agreement was signed in Belfast on 10 April 1998 and approved six weeks later in referendums held on the same day on both sides of the Irish border.

Opened in 1994, the Channel Tunnel connects Folkestone in England with which town in northern France?

The tunnel's French terminal is at Coquelles, just outside Calais; its 37.9 km undersea section was the longest of any tunnel in the world when it opened in May 1994.

German reunification was completed on 3 October of which year, celebrated as German Unity Day?

Reunification took effect on 3 October 1990, less than eleven months after the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989; East and West Berlin became a single city the same day.

Which reigning world chess champion did IBM's Deep Blue beat in a 1997 match?

Garry Kasparov had beaten Deep Blue 4-2 in their first six-game match in Philadelphia in 1996, then lost the May 1997 New York rematch 3½-2½.

The 1993 Oslo I Accord was an interim peace agreement between Israel and which organization?

Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo I Accord in Washington on 13 September 1993 after secret talks in Norway; it led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza.

The April 1999 school shooting at Columbine High School, planned primarily as a bombing, took place in which US state?

Colorado's Columbine High School attack was planned primarily as a bombing; the two seniors opened fire only after the homemade bombs they planted inside the school failed to detonate.

Which space telescope, launched in 1990, needed a 1993 shuttle mission to fix its flawed main mirror?

Hubble's primary mirror had been ground to the wrong shape, causing spherical aberration; astronauts on STS-61 in December 1993 fitted the COSTAR corrective optics that restored the intended image quality.

Which free-trade agreement did Bush, Mulroney and Salinas sign in December 1992?

NAFTA, signed by George H.W. Bush, Brian Mulroney and Carlos Salinas on 17 December 1992, took effect on 1 January 1994 and superseded the 1988 Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement.

The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency on 1 January of which year?

The euro launched on 1 January 1999, replacing the European Currency Unit at 1:1 for electronic transactions; physical notes and coins did not reach wallets until 1 January 2002.

The 51-day 1993 siege of David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound took place near which Texas city?

The Mount Carmel compound lay a few miles outside Waco; the ATF's planned surprise raid was blown when a tipped-off reporter asked a mail carrier for directions, and the carrier was Koresh's brother-in-law.

The Dayton Agreement of November 1995 ended a three-and-a-half-year war in which country?

Negotiated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, the deal split Bosnia and Herzegovina into two entities, Republika Srpska and a Croat-Bosniak federation, and was formally signed in Paris on 14 December 1995.

Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in November 1995 at the end of a peace rally in which city?

Rabin was shot in Tel Aviv's Kings of Israel Square on 4 November 1995 by Yigal Amir, a far-right law student who opposed the peace accords Rabin had signed with the Palestinians.

In February 1993, a van bomb in the garage of which New York landmark killed six people?

The February 26, 1993 World Trade Center bomb was meant to topple the North Tower into the South Tower; it failed, but six people died and about 50,000 were evacuated that day.

In which year did Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone first appear in British bookshops?

Bloomsbury published J. K. Rowling's debut on 26 June 1997; Scholastic retitled it Sorcerer's Stone for the US edition of September 1998.

Which Category 5 hurricane devastated South Florida in August 1992?

Hurricane Andrew made landfall near Homestead, Florida, on August 24, 1992, as a Category 5 storm, destroying about 25,000 homes and ranking as the costliest U.S. hurricane until Katrina in 2005.

The 1994 attack on skater Nancy Kerrigan was arranged by the ex-husband of which rival?

Kerrigan recovered to win silver at Lillehammer; Harding was later banned from the sport for life.

Which sprinter won both the 200 m and 400 m at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics?

Michael Johnson won the 200 m in a world-record 19.32 seconds and the 400 m in 43.49 in Atlanta, the first man to take both at one Games; he retained the 400 m in Sydney in 2000.

Whose 56-year-old record for consecutive games played did Cal Ripken Jr. break in September 1995?

Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 games had stood since 1939; Ripken's 2,131st straight game on September 6, 1995, was later voted baseball's most memorable moment, and his streak reached 2,632.

Which security guard was wrongly hounded as a suspect after the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Park bombing?

The FBI cleared Richard Jewell in October 1996; the real bomber, Eric Rudolph, was not caught until 2003.

Napster, launched in June 1999, was founded by Shawn Fanning and which future Facebook president?

Sean Parker, then 19, co-founded Napster with Shawn Fanning and became Facebook's first president in 2004; Napster's centralised song index made it easy to shut down, which lawsuits did in July 2001.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) sends three film students into the Appalachian woods near Burkittsville, in which state?

Maryland's Burkittsville is the setting; principal photography lasted just eight days and produced about 20 hours of improvised footage.

Who wrote the 1986 novel that became Forrest Gump (1994)?

Winston Groom published Forrest Gump in 1986; Eric Roth adapted it for the screen, and visual effects dropped Tom Hanks into archive footage of presidents and rock stars.

Who wrote Britney Spears's 1998 debut single "...Baby One More Time"?

Max Martin wrote and produced it with Rami Yacoub; released in October 1998, it topped the charts in more than 20 countries, including the US and the UK.

How many weeks did the Bayside Boys remix of "Macarena" spend at number one in the US in 1996?

The Bayside Boys remix held the Hot 100's top spot for 14 weeks in 1996; VH1 later named Los del Río's song the greatest one-hit wonder of all time.

Which producer made Jagged Little Pill (1995) with Alanis Morissette in Hollywood?

Glen Ballard co-wrote and produced Jagged Little Pill; it won Album of the Year at the 1996 Grammys, with Morissette, then 21, the youngest winner of that prize at the time.

Toy Story (1995), the first fully computer-animated feature, was which studio's first film?

Pixar's first feature earned John Lasseter a Special Achievement Oscar for the techniques behind it, and its script drew the first Best Original Screenplay nomination ever given to an animated film.

Which nation won the 1994 World Cup in the USA, the first final decided on penalties?

The Rose Bowl final finished 0-0 after extra time. Roberto Baggio skied the decisive kick, handing Brazil a record fourth title.

Whitney Houston's 1992 hit 'I Will Always Love You' was written and first recorded by whom?

Dolly Parton wrote it in 1973 as a farewell to her mentor Porter Wagoner; Houston's version from The Bodyguard spent a then-record 14 weeks at number one.

Microsoft's Windows 95 launch ads were built around which 1981 Rolling Stones single?

Microsoft licensed the Rolling Stones' 1981 single "Start Me Up", from Tattoo You, for Windows 95's August 24, 1995 launch campaign, playing on the operating system's new Start button.

Which cult released the nerve agent sarin on the Tokyo subway during rush hour in March 1995?

Aum Shinrikyo members released sarin in five coordinated attacks on three lines on 20 March 1995, killing more than a dozen people and injuring thousands; the cult had begun in 1984 as a yoga and meditation class.

Who scored the winning penalty for the US against China in the 1999 Women's World Cup final?

Brandi Chastain buried the fifth US kick past Gao Hong, then whipped off her shirt before 90,185 at the Rose Bowl; the image made the covers of Sports Illustrated, Time and Newsweek.

The 1997 Heaven's Gate mass suicide was timed to the closest approach of which comet?

Marshall Applewhite and 38 followers died in Rancho Santa Fe in late March 1997, believing a UFO trailing Comet Hale-Bopp would carry them away; the group's website had announced the 'closure'.

FBI agents arrested 'Unabomber' Ted Kaczynski in 1996 at his remote cabin in which state?

The cabin outside Lincoln, Montana, had no electricity or running water; inside, agents found bomb parts and some 40,000 pages of handwritten journals.

In 1995's 'Battle of Britpop', whose 'Country House' outsold Oasis's 'Roll with It'?

Blur's "Country House" sold 274,000 copies to 216,000 for "Roll with It" in August 1995, the best week for UK singles in a decade; Oasis went on to be far bigger commercially.

How many Grammys did Lauryn Hill win in one night in 1999, a record at the time for a woman?

Lauryn Hill took home five Grammys on 24 February 1999, including Album of the Year, the first time a hip-hop album had won it; her lead single "Doo Wop (That Thing)" had debuted at number one.