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See also 1990s, the band
The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, sometimes informally including popular culture from the late 1980s and shortly after the year 2000. The 1990s were marked with rapid progression of globalization and global capitalism following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Key forces shaping the decade were the recession and popularization of personal computers in the early 1990s and the dot-com boom and rise of the Internet in the late 1990s.
In the United States, much of the decade was characterized by the presidency of Bill Clinton and his era of "8 years of peace, progress and prosperity" but the first terrorist attack on American soil took place in the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993 from two Egyptian suspects to have ties with Al-Qaeda under Osama Bin Laden; later the suspect of twin-bombings of two US embassies in Africa (Nairobi, Kenya and Dar Es Saleem, Tanzania on August 21, 1998 and Clinton authorized missile attacks on Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan as well bin Laden's factories in Sudan, but failed to alter the radical Islamic terror campaign.
The 1990's is remembered by the popularity of TV sitcoms like NYPD Blue, Seinfeld, Friends and The Simpsons and the revived popularity of animation (especially Disney animation). Freddie Mercury dies in 1991 of AIDS, Queen releases its final album in 1995, called Made in Heaven. Also in 1991 was basketball athlete Magic Johnson's first retirement after he learned on having HIV, the virus that caused AIDS but has returned to sports in 1996, and tennis star Arthur Ashe's discovery of HIV/AIDS but he dies in 1993. Others believe we still experience the 1990s in some ways because of similar music genres (definitive 1990s genres such as Grunge exist in some form or another during the 2000s decade), similar video game franchises (Sonic the Hedgehog series, Star Fox), fashions (straight hair, body art, hipster scene), and social concerns (globalization, environmentalism, political correctness, corporate culture, and media violence/sex/profanity).
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Overview
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.
The United Kingdom, after a recession in 1991-92 and devaluation of its currency on Black Wednesday, experienced sustained economic growth that stretched into the new millennium. But the situation worsened for Japan after three previous decades of economic growth to put them third place in the world's economies, struggled after 1993 and their recession went on to the early 2000's put an end to the period of unlimited prosperity it enjoyed.
Less affluent nations such as Malaysia also saw tremendous improvements in economic prosperity and quality of life during the 1990s. While optimism and hopes were high following the collapse of Communism, restructuring following the end of the Cold War was beginning. 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.
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 fuelled 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 struggles to adjust their living standards in the 1990s, the decade ends in a painful recession.
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 and Europeans. The economic gains of the 1990s were unevenly distributed throughout society, widening the gap between the wealthiest and poorest citizens in some countries; critics of capitalism contend that this should not have been allowed to happen to the extent that it did.
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, Argentina, South Africa, and Indonesia. Capitalism made great moves in changing the economics of communist countries like China and Vietnam, even in Cuba.
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. Israel and PLO leader Yasser Arafat shook hands in agreement for peace under US president Bill Clinton at the White House talks in 1993. The Oslo Accords resulted in an agreement by Israel to allow Palestinian self-government.
Despite the 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 states of 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 globalization.
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 is a time for peace in terror-ridden Northern Ireland when the IRA agreed to a truce in 1994 brought an end of 25 years of violence between the two sectarian groups, Protestant and Catholic, into having talks for a dual-government.
Racial tensions brought forward by immigration and multi-cultural issues appeared in western Europe and the United States, where the issue on race relations brought on by the Los Angeles Riots of 1992, the O.J. Simpson Trial in 1994-95 and the Million Men March in 1996, made more Americans concerned of racial equality not seen not since the 1960s when its' society grows diverse and became more tolerant of minority groups.
Youth culture in the 1990s was characterized by environmentalism, anti-globalization in some parts 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 and snowboarding).
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Technology
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The 1990s were a time of great change - mainstreaming and improving technologies invented and used first during the 1980s.
Explosive growth of the Internet, decrease in the cost of computers and other technology.
Cell phones become cheaper and decreased in size, but are status symbols until they become common in the 2000s.
Year 2000 problem (commonly known as Y2K), the computer glitch disaster expected to happen (but hasn't, probably was prevented by computer program year-dating upgrades) on January 1, 2000.
Development of free operating system Linux is started.
The DVD media format is developed and popularized.
Increasing Internet speeds and new software make online music piracy and later video piracy possible on a 'grass roots' basis.
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Bookending events
Significant events that occurred around 1990 which would influence the course of history and character of the decade, include:
Significant events that marked the passing of the decade include:
The US presidential election fiasco in 2000.
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Science
Junior physicists Utilized exploration in Space and Time fundamentals, Initiating the creation of the New string theory and M-theory.
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.
The Galileo probe orbits Jupiter, studying the planet and its moons extensively.
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War, peace, and politics
North Yemen and South Yemen merge to form Yemen (1991).
Military actions in Somalia in 1993 lead to questions of the United States' role as a policing officer of the world. (See also, Black Hawk Down).
Quebec, Canada in a rekindled wave of separatism by French-Canadian activists, almost seceded from, but remains in the dominion on a provincial election on October 30, 1995.
Kosovo war begins in late 1998. Roughly 12,000 people are killed during open hostelities 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.
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Economics
US economy ends the decade in 4% unemployment, personal incomes doubled than in recession-hit 1990, overall productivity higher than a decade ago, reduction of poverty rates after the 1996 Welfare Reform act, and the wall street stock exchange was over the 10,000 mark from 1997 to 2001.
With the creation of the E.U. there is free movement of labour between member states.
Since 1990 till 1998 inclusive, the economy of Russia and some former USSR states was in a severe depression.
Except for Britain, much of Europe had serious economic problems, such as the 1995 massive employee strikes in France during it's worst recession since world war II, but their economy mildly rebounds in the end of the decade.
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Culture
Indie/hipster culture appears during the mid 1990s. Emo and scene culture flourishes in the late 1990s, most likey around the later part of 1998 and this subscultures is influenced by such as artists including The Smashing Pumpkins.
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United States/Canada
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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* the '90s saw a further increase in gay visibility in the mainstream media and the introduction of outing. Bisexuality becomes more trendy by the late part of the decade. 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, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 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 and George Michael all openly admitted their sexuality. US President Bill Clinton generally held a pro-gay rights viewpoint.
The US celebrates 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of America in 1992 was popularily observed, despite controversy and protests against Columbus' expeditions victimized Native Americans. The holiday was charged with racism in nature of Native Americans experienced colonialism, slavery, genocide and cultural destruction followed in the five centuries.
The Grunge trend explodes due to the success of grunge bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots. 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.
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.
Thong underwear and thong bikinis become popular in America, following a decade-long trend from Europe, and continuing on 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.
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 newstands. 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.
Major 1990s slang words/phrases, mostly related to hip hop culture, include: "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!", "Wasssuppp!"
Young adult and teenage fiction books become popular due to the efforts of R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike throughout the entire 90s.
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Europe
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.
Techno sweeps European dance clubs and discotheques in the mid-1990s, then to reach America by 1997 and take on the world by the year 2000.
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Music
Rock and roll becomes an alternative taste, although it still outsells hip hop at the beginning of the decade. Popular styles include grunge (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden), post-grunge (Collective Soul, Third Eye Blind, Everclear, Creed), heavy metal and alternative metal (Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Pantera, Tool), black metal took on a big number of music fans in Northern Europe, Britpop and British rock (Oasis, Blur, Suede, Pulp, Radiohead, The Verve, Travis), pop-punk and Commercial-Punk (Green Day, Offspring, Rancid, Blink-182), third wave ska (No Doubt, Sublime, Mighty Mighty Bosstones), indie rock (Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Pavement, The Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse), jam bands (Dave Matthews Band, Phish), and nu metal (KoЯn, Limp Bizkit) towards the end of the decade. Singer-songwriters include Alanis Morissette, Beck, and Jeff Buckley, and the multi platinum success Jewel.
R&B Music such as Quiet Storm is popular with artists such as such Babyface, Brian McKnight, Monica, Brandy, and Faith Evans. R&B girl groups such as TLC, SWV, and En Vogue are hugely popular as well. Also, artists like Aaliyah, Lauryn Hill, and Mary J. Blige combine hip hop with R&B in the 1990s. Artists like Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey appeal to the Top 40 crowd with their ballad songs in the early to mid 90s. R&B Boy Bands are big throughout the 90s such as Jodeci, Dru Hill, Blackstreet, 112 and especially Boyz II Men who appealed to the Top 40 crowd are popular as well.
Latin music becomes popular outside a Spanish-speaking audience with crossover hits by Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, 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 Southwest US is a mixed Mexican conjunto (accordion based)-Texan country-modern pop music.
1980s backlash, beginning in about 1992 and lasting into the 2000s. 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 '80s.
Music becomes more profane, by end of decade a Parental Advisory sticker becomes acceptable rather than controversial.
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Television
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Seinfeld, which spawned a new form of sitcoms, becomes enormously popular in the United States and lasts from 1989 to 1998.
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.
The sci-fi/fantasy TV genre saw three successful Star Trek spinoffs: The Next Generation (1987-1994), Deep Space Nine (1993-1999), and Voyager (1995-2001). It also featured other massively popular shows, such as The X-Files (1993-2002); Stargate SG-1 (1997-); Sliders (1995-2000); (1993-1999); and, of course, (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 fantasy genre was Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) which never had very high ratings but received a cult following quickly as well critical acclaim. It inspired many other series with the super hero/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 they 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.
The highest-rated shows on network television:
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.
Eastern European television enjoys less government restrictions and carries more American programming.
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.
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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.
Nintendo released the first 3-D styled video game Donkey Kong Kountry for the SNES in 1994, and three sequels to further advance video game design.
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 and becomes one of the most popular computer games in history.
Pokémon entered the world scene with the release of the original Game Boy Pokemon Red and Green games in Japan in 1996. 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.
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Internet
The first MP3 Player, the MPMan, is released in late spring of 1998. It came with 32Mb of flash memory expandable to 64Mb.
Internet begins to affect pop culture, beginning around 1996.
Most television stations gain Internet presence during the later half of the decade.
Earliest examples of Internet film.
Pornography on the internet launches and peaks in the late 1990s.
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9 Most Significant events (US history)
The Los Angeles Riots of 1992, the worst civil unrest incident in US history, 52 deaths and 5,500 property fires in a 100-square mile riot zone. The riots are a result of the state court acquittal of 4 white L.A. police officers by an all-white jury in a police brutality case involving motorist Rodney King, but in 1993, all 4 officers were convicted in a federal civil rights case.
1994 US mid-term elections: Republican party takes back both house and senate. The first time since 1954 for Republicans to have majority of US senatorial seats, and Republicans take congress after minority status since 1964-five previous administrations. House speaker Newt Gingrich proved powerful enough over government and his reforms changed American politics but resigned in December 1998 after another, yet smaller Republican victory.
US president Bill Clinton caught in a media-frenzied sex scandal over his intern Monica Lewinski, first announced on January 21 1998. After US government attempts to impeach Clinton for perjury under oath, brought by federal prosecutor Ken Starr, all charges overturned on December 21, 1998 and the case was formally dropped, February 12, 1999, and Clinton finished his second term. At the time, he received a 70% Gallup poll approval rating.
This was the nation's worst school shooting, was declared a national tragedy, and brought more awareness to the issue on acts of school violence.
The Anita Hill vs. Clarence Thomas federal case of October 10-12, 1991, involved charges by Hill that Hon. Thomas committed sexual harassment against her. Despite Hon. Thomas wasn't charged of his acts on Anita Hill, she became a national celebrity and a martyr to women's rights triggered awareness on the issue of workplace sexual harassment. Hon. Thomas went on to become justice of the US supreme court.
The first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep was confirmed by a Scottish scientist firm announced to, then was reported by global media on February 26, 1997. Dolly would trigger a raging controversy on cloning and bioethical concerns of possible human cloning efforts to this day.
January 1, 2000 was the beginning of the 3rd millennium, as well the 21st century and the end of the 1990s and 20th century, is considered the ultimate event of the lifetime of over 6 billion people around the world at the time.
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Other significant events
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The illegal immigration issue in the US gains momentum in 1994, when California voters approved Prop. 187, a controversal initative that would prevent illegal immigrants from using public services, later was blocked by federal courts.
With help from clinical fertility drugs, An Iowa mother gave birth to the first surviving sextuplets in 1997, brought on a media frenzy and widespread support for the family.
In August 1995, NASA scientists announced, then debunked a "discovery" of "martian" microscopic life on an asteroid originated from Mars, found in Antarctica and examined to find mineral formation, not alien bacteria.
Sex and violence in the media increase, especially in the late part of the decade. Profanity in music reaches peak in the late '90s.
Major League baseball players went on strike in August 12, 1994, thus ended the season, cancelled the World Series the first time in 90 years, and went on until March 21, 1995 when players and team owners in agreement.
Crime levels in the U.S. peak in 1991, begin to fall afterwards to the lowest levels since the late 1960s at 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.
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 ashfall and under mudslides.
California voters passed Prop. 215, to legalize marijuana only for medical purposes, the debate for legal pot in the U.S. goes on today.
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World leaders
My apologies on my inability to put two image jpgs of the decade's greates presidents I nominate to have their pics in the article. Would one of you wikis know how to do this programming the jpgs to show up? Thank you.
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Entertainers
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