1990 Facts, Fun Trivia and History |
Quick Facts from 1990: |
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The Year of The Horse The year of the horse is one of the 12 years in the Chinese zodiac cycle. The horse is the seventh animal in the cycle. The years of the horse include: 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026, 2038, 2050, and 2062 The year of the horse is associated with energy, enthusiasm, and freedom. People born in the year of the horse are said to be independent, intelligent, and have a good sense of humor. They are also said to be active, energetic, and love to be around people. They are also known to be very popular and have many friends. They are also said to be successful in their careers and have a good sense of self-worth. They are also known to be quite direct and can be impatient with those who are slower than them. They are also known to be quite impulsive and can sometimes be reckless. |
Top Ten Baby Names of 1990: Jessica, Ashley, Brittany, Amanda, Samantha, Sarah, Stephanie, Jennifer, Elizabeth Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua, Daniel, David, Andrew, James, Justin |
Fashion Icons and Sex Symbols: Elle Macpherson |
Hollywood Hunks and Leading Men: Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Richard Gere, Michael Hutchence, Patrick Swayze, Sean Connery |
“The Quotes:” “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” – Mrs. Fletcher in a Lifecall commercial “I do not like broccoli. I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m the President of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.” |
Time Magazine’s Man of the Year: George H. W. Bush |
Miss America: Debbye Tucker (Columbia, MO) |
Miss USA: Carole Gist (Michigan) |
The Scandals: Rocker Chuck Berry was accused and sued by several women who claimed that he had installed a video camera in the ladies’ bathrooms at two of his St. Louis restaurants. Rob and Fabrice, better known as Milli Vanilli, have to return their “Best New Artist” Grammy because they didn’t sing on their hit album. |
Airplane Celebrity Death: Stevie Ray Vaughan |
Pneumonia Celebrity Death: Jim Henson |
The End of the Cold War |
The reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990, marked the official end of the Cold War and the beginning of a new era of European history. The reunification process began in earnest in 1989, when the communist government of East Germany collapsed and the Berlin Wall was dismantled. On October 3, 1990, the five East German states officially joined the Federal Republic of Germany, which had been West Germany’s government since World War II’s end. This event was met with widespread celebration and marked the end of the division of Germany that had existed since the end of World War II. This event also marked the end of the Cold War, as the reunification of Germany was seen as the final step in the collapse of Soviet-style communism in Eastern Europe. |
Nelson Mandela Released From A South African Prison |
Nelson Mandela’s release from prison on February 11, 1990, after 27 years of incarceration, marked a turning point in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Nelson Mandela was arrested in 1962 and was convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government. He was sentenced to life in prison and was held at the infamous Robben Island prison. During his time in prison, Mandela became an international symbol of resistance against the racist and oppressive system of apartheid in South Africa.
In the 1980s, the international community, including the United Nations, called for his release. Finally, on February 11, 1990, President F.W. de Klerk announced that Mandela would be released from prison. This event was met with widespread celebration both in South Africa and around the world. Mandela’s release marked the beginning of a new era in South Africa as he became the country’s first democratically-elected President in 1994. His Presidency focused on reconciliation and nation-building, which helped to heal the deep racial divisions in the country. His leadership and commitment to peace and equality made him iconic worldwide. |
The Persian Gulf War |
The Persian Gulf War, also known as the Gulf War, was a conflict that lasted from August 2, 1990, to February 28, 1991. The war began when Iraq, under the leadership of President Saddam Hussein, invaded and annexed Kuwait. The United Nations (UN) responded by passing a resolution condemning the invasion and demanding that Iraq withdraw its forces from Kuwait. A coalition of countries, led by the United States, was formed to force Iraq out of Kuwait. The coalition launched a massive air campaign in January 1991, followed by a ground invasion in February.
The war ended after a hundred hours of ground operations, with Iraq’s military being quickly defeated. Kuwait was liberated, and the coalition declared a ceasefire. The war had a significant impact on the Middle East and the world. Iraq’s military was severely damaged, leaving the country in a state of economic and political turmoil. The coalition’s victory also established the United States as the dominant military power in the region and led to a change in the balance of power within the region. It also highlighted the importance of oil in the global economy, as it was a major factor in the conflict. The war had many casualties, both military and civilian, and it also caused significant environmental damage. |
World News: North and South Yemen, also known as the Yemen Arab Republic and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, unified as the Republic of Yemen. A Community Charge (poll tax) takes effect in England and Wales amid widespread protests. Shortly after Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned, the abolition of the poll tax was announced on 21 March 1991. In Iran, the Manji-Rudbar Earthquake struck with a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, Killing between 35 and 50,000 people. On May 17, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed homosexuality from its list of diseases. Iraq invaded Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War. Operation Desert Shield began as the United States and the United Kingdom sent troops into Kuwait. US President George H.W. Bush and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed a treaty (Agreement on Destruction and Non-production of Chemical Weapons and on Measures to Facilitate the Multilateral Convention on Banning Chemical Weapons) to end chemical weapon production and begin destroying their respective stocks. Lech Walesa became president of Poland, and withdrew from the Warsaw Pact. In December, the German federal election (the first election held since German reunification) was won by Helmut Kohl, who became Chancellor of Germany. Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa after 27 years of imprisonment. Paleontologist Sue Hendrickson found one of the largest and most well-preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex fossilized skeletons near Faith, South Dakota in August. They named the T-Rex “Sue.” West Germany won the FIFA World Cup Final (Association football): West Germany defeated Argentina 1–0, in Italy. The Channel Tunnel workers from the United Kingdom and France met beneath the English Channel seabed, making the first ground connection between the United Kingdom and the mainland of Europe since the last ice age, 8,000 years ago. The CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Ban on the Trade of Ivory went into effect. The first McDonald’s in Moscow, Russia opened eight months after construction began on May 3, 1989. On September 10, the first Pizza Hut opened up in the Soviet Union. On September 11, the first Pizza Hut opened in the People’s Republic of China. The removal of the wall began in June of 1990 and by October, the reunification of West and East Germany was completed. Demolition on the wall was finished in 1992. Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Douglas Wilder became the first elected African American governor in Virginia. |
Pop Culture Facts & History: Art thieves stole 12 paintings of art and a Shang dynasty vase worth some $500 million – the greatest known property theft in history, from the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston. They were never recovered. On September 29, Washington, D.C.’s National Cathedral was finished. Construction began on September 29, 1907. Smoking was banned on all cross-country flights in the United States. The first ban on smoking in bars in the US was passed in San Luis Obispo, California. The first self-wringing mop (The Miracle Mop) was invented in 1990 by Joy Mangano. On July 30, 1990, the first Saturn (“A new kind of car company”) was built, a red 1991 model-year Saturn SL2. According to the 1990 United States Census, there were 248,709,873 residents in the U.S. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was closed for repairs over 11 years due to safety concerns of it falling over. On June 7, 1990, Nickelodeon Studios and Universal Studios Orlando opened in Florida. On June 8, the 1990 FIFA World Cup began in Italy. It was the first broadcast of digital HDTV in history. The inventor of the internet, Tim Berners-Lee published his formal proposal – World Wide Web/Internet protocol (HTTP) and WWW language (HTML) – for the World Wide Web in November 1990. Russian Garry Kasparov holds his title by winning the World Chess Championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov. President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act. Boston Herald reporter Lisa Olson was sexually harassed by multiple New England Patriots players while trying to conduct a locker room interview. Carried on the Space Shuttle Discovery, NASA’s STS-31 mission deployed the Hubble Space Telescope. In a joint effort between the ESA and NASA, the Ulysses spacecraft was launched in 1990. The probe’s mission was studying the Sun and solar system’s magnetic field, also known as the heliosphere. Launched in 1972, 18 years after its launch, the US Space Probe Pioneer reached a distance of 46.5 billion miles beyond all planetary orbits President George H. W. Bush posthumously awarded Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal. Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh was sold for a (then) record $82.5 million. The 1990 England world cup song, World in Motion by New Order, was originally called ‘E for England’, but was vetoed by the FA, because of the rampant Ecstasy Drug Culture in England at the time. Cost of a Superbowl ad in 1990: $700,000 |
Doomsday Clock: 10 minutes to midnight, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. 1990: “As one Eastern European country after another (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania) frees itself from Soviet control, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev refuses to intervene, halting the ideological battle for Europe and significantly diminishing the risk of all-out nuclear war. In late 1989, the Berlin Wall falls, symbolically ending the Cold War. “Forty-four years after Winston Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech, the myth of monolithic communism has been shattered for all to see.” |
The Habit: The “cool” people were watching Twin Peaks on ABC, everybody was watching Macauley Culkin in Home Alone. The really, really cool people were wearing parachute pants, just like M.C. Hammer. Can’t touch that. |
1st Appearances & 1990’s Most Popular Christmas Gifts, Toys and Presents: Batman action figures, Bob Mackie Barbie, Madeline Ragdoll, Tribond Game, Power Drencher water gun, Taboo |
Popular and Best-selling Books From 1990: The Bad Place by Dean Koontz The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum The Buddah of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi The Burden of Proof by Scott Turow Daddy by Daniel Steel The Dark Place by Stephen King Devices and Desires by P.D. James Four Past Midnight by Stephen King L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy Memories of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss The Plains of Passage by Jean M. Auel September by Rosamunde Pilcher The Stand by Stephen King Thanos Quest by Jim Starlin and Ron Lim The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle The Wheels on the Bus by Paul O. Zelinsky |
Best Film Oscar Winner: Driving Miss Daisy (presented in 1990) |
1990 Entries to The National Film Registry: All About Eve (released in 1950) All Quiet on the Western Front (released in 1930) Bringing Up Baby (released in 1938) Dodsworth (released in 1936) Duck Soup (released in 1933) Fantasia (released in 1940) The Freshman (released in 1925) The Godfather (released in 1972) The Great Train Robbery (released in 1903) Harlan County, U.S.A. (released in 1976) How Green Was My Valley (released in 1941) It’s a Wonderful Life (released in 1946) Killer of Sheep (released in 1977) Love Me Tonight (released in 1932) Meshes of the Afternoon (released in 1943) Ninotchka (released in 1939) Primary (released in 1960) Raging Bull (released in 1980) Rebel Without a Cause (released in 1955) Red River (released in 1948) The River (released in 1938) Sullivan’s Travels (released in 1941) Top Hat (released in 1935) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (released in 1948) A Woman Under the Influence (released in 1974) |
The Big Movies: (according to boxofficemojo) 1. Home Alone 2. Ghost 3. Dances With Wolves 4. Pretty Woman 5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 6. The Hunt For Red October 7. Total Recall 8. Die Hard 2: Die Harder 9. Dick Tracy 10. Kindergarten Cop |
1990 Most Popular TV shows: 1. Cheers (NBC) 2. 60 Minutes (CBS) 3. Roseanne (ABC) 4. A Different World (NBC) 5. The Cosby Show (NBC) 6. Murphy Brown (CBS) 7. Empty Nest (NBC) 8. America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC) 9. The Golden Girls (NBC) 10. Designing Women (CBS) |
1990 Billboard Number One Songs: December 23, 1989 – January 13, 1990: Another Day In Paradise – Phil Collins January 20 – February 9: February 10 – March 2: March 3 – March 23: March 24 – April 6: April 7 – April 13: April 14 – April 20: April 21 – May 18: May 19 – June 8: June 9 – June 15: June 16 – June 29: June 30 – July 21: July 21 – August 3: August 4 – August 31: September 1 – September 7: September 8 – September 14: September 15 – September 29: September 29 – October 5: October 6 – October 12: October 13 – October 19: October 20 – October 26: October 27 – November 2: November 3 – November 9: November 10 – November 30: December 1 – December 7: December 8, 1990 – January 4, 1991: |
1990 United States Census: Total US Population: 248,709,873 1. New York, New York – 7,322,564 2. Los Angeles, California – 3,485,398 3. Chicago, Illinois – 2,783,726 4. Houston, Texas – 1,630,553 5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – 1,585,577 6. San Diego, California – 1,110,549 7. Detroit, Michigan – 1,027,974 8. Dallas, Texas – 1,006,877 9. Phoenix, Arizona – 983,403 10. San Antonio, Texas – 935,933 |
Sports: World Series Champions: Cincinnati Reds Superbowl XXIV Champions: San Francisco 49ers NBA Champions: Detroit Pistons Stanley Cup Champs: Edmonton Oilers U.S. Open Golf Hale Irwin U.S. Tennis: (Men/Ladies) Pete Sampras/Gabriela Sabatini Wimbledon (Men/Women): Stefan Edberg/Martina Navratilova NCAA Football Champions: Colorado & Georgia Tech NCAA Basketball Champions: UNLV Kentucky Derby: Unbridled World Cup (Soccer): West Germany |