1995 Fun Facts, Trivia and History

Quick Facts from 1995:

• American Home Grown Terrorism: Oklahoma City Bombing: a truck bomb at Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killed 168 people and injured nearly 700 people.
• The Top Song was One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men
• Influential Songs include: I Wish by Skee-Lo, I Like It, I Love It by Tim McGraw, This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan and You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette
• The Movies to Watch include Toy Story, Apollo 13, 12 Monkeys, Babe, Jumanji, Braveheart, and Mr. Holland’s Opus
• The Java computer language was invented.
• People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive: Brad Pitt
• Notable books include: The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans and The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
• Price of Ballpark Hot Dogs, 16 oz: $1.49
  Price of IBM Aptiva 486DX2-66 Computer, with the monitor, in 1995: $1799.00
• Forbes Magazine announced that Bill Gates was the richest man in the world with a net worth of $12.9 billion dollars.
• 1 ounce of gold value: $387.00
• The Funny Late Night Host: Jay Leno
  The Funny Late Late Night Host: Tom Snyder
• The Conversation:  Did O.J. Simpson kill his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman?
• The Private Conversation: During the filming of Batman Forever, Jim Carrey approached Tommy Lee Jones to say hello. Jones replied, “I hate you. I really don’t like you… I cannot sanction your buffoonery.”

“The Quotes”
“Houston, we have a problem”
– Tom Hanks, in ‘Apollo 13’
(paraphrased from the actual quote – “Houston, we’ve had a problem here”)

Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s first words to US President Clinton upon meeting him in 1995 were, “Do you think O.J. did it?”
On October 3, 1995, when OJ Simpson was acquitted of murder on both counts, so much work stopped to pay attention to the verdict that it cost American companies an estimated $480 million in lost productivity.

“No Soup For You!”
The Soup Nazi on TV’s Seinfeld. The location was based on a real place and character, found at Al Yeganeh’s Soup Kitchen in New York.

“If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit!”
– Defense Attorney Johnnie Cochran at O.J. Simpsons murder trial

The Scandals:
Drew Barrymore table danced for David Letterman on his talk show, and, with her back to the audience, flashed David by lifting up her shirt.

Patrick Combs deposited one of those fake “winning lottery checks” for $95,093.35. His bank took the deposit, and after several weeks, he took out the cash. The whole story can be found on his website.

Marlon Brando, as a guest on Larry King Live, kissed a surprised Larry on the mouth. We know you don’t really need to see it, but we included a picture.

Cindy Crawford and husband Richard Gere took out a full-page ad in the London Times to proclaim their heterosexuality. The 1994 marriage ended in 1995.

Pop Culture Facts & History:
The Rock and Roll Hall of fame opened in Cleveland, Ohio.

The 1995 Whitney Houston single Exhale holds the record for longest streak at #2 on the Hot 100, having been there for 11 straight weeks. All 11 of those weeks, it was runner-up to the same song, One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men.

Newsweek published an article scoffing the future of the internet. It laughed at the idea that people would get news, learn, or buy airline tickets online.

Oasis was so popular in the UK in 1995 that a single was released in November of that year of just audio of both Noel and Liam Gallagher arguing during an interview entitled Wibbling Rivalry and it charted, peaking at 52.

Blue M&Ms didn’t exist until 1995 when a poll was held to replace the tan shade of M&M that was deemed redundant in addition to the brown M&M. The color choice was pink, blue or purple… blue won.

Dolly (the clone) the Sheep was born on July 5th and lived for seven years.

La Chupacabra, the legendary goat sucking beast was first named by Silverio Pérez, a Puerto Rican comedian, in March of 1995.

Convict Daniel Luther Heiss discovered that the key pictured on his prisoners’ information handbook was the master key for the entire Berrimah jail in Darwin, Australia. Another inmate, Shane Baker, was a trained jeweler, replicated it and both escaped.

The X Games were the first broadcast on ESPN.

Jim Carrey was nominated for Worst New Star in the 1995 Golden Raspberry Awards for his roles in Dumb & Dumber, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and The Mask.

Starbuck’s Frappuccino was released in 1995.

Actor James Cromwell had such a significant personal experience playing farmer Hoggett in the 1995 film Babe that he became an ethical vegan.

A coffee company in Syracuse, NY, renamed itself Federal Espresso in 1995, using branding that Federal Express(FedEx) claimed belonged to them. Federal Express sued and won. The company has gone by the name Freedom of Espresso ever since.

People have been meeting online via Match.com since 1995.

AuctionWeb began in San Jose, California, on September 3, 1995, by Pierre Omidyar. The company officially changed the name of its service to ‘eBay’ in September 1997.

The first professional sports game streamed online was the Mariners vs the Yankees in September 1995. The Seattle Mariners beat the New York Yankees 6-5.

CNET launched www.shareware.com (now downloads.digitaltrends.com/)

Tom Kenny (the voice of Spongebob) and Jill Talley (the voice of Karen, Plankton’s computer wife) have been married since 1995.

The automobile ‘Blind Spot’ problem was solved in 1995 when engineer George Platzer published a 16 pages paper detailing the correct setup procedure of side-view mirrors.

The George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine was released.

Windows 95 was the second most installed piece of software on computers in 1995. Video game DOOM was first.

Todd McFarlane’s Spawn action figures made action figures cool again, even for comic book geeks.

Salmon sushi wasn’t introduced in Japan until 1995 when Norwegian businessmen convinced Japanese businessmen that Atlantic Salmon was safe to eat raw.

In 1975, Leonard Nimoy published his autobiography I Am Not Spock. In 1995, he published a second volume: I Am Spock.

JavaScript was created by Netscape programmer Brendan Eich. It was first released under the name of LiveScript and included with Netscape Navigator 2.0 in September ’95. It was officially renamed JavaScript on December 4.

When he landed back on Earth on March 22, cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returned with the record for space flight – 437 days.

“Cheese-eating surrender monkeys” is an insult used to refer to French people. It first appeared in the Simpsons (1995) when Willy says “Bonjoooouuurrr, ya cheese-eatin’ surrender monkeys” to a French class. The term has since entered two Oxford Quotation Dictionaries.

The lowest PGA score of 63 was played by Michael Bradley and Brad Faxon.

George Samuel Hurst invented the first resistive touchscreen who received US Patent (#3,911,215) on October 7, 1975. and produced the first version in 1982.

Rock Musician Heart Failure Death: Jerry Garcia

Queen of Tejano Pop Star Murder: Selena, killed by the ex-president of her fan club.

Cost of a Super Bowl ad in 1995: $1,150,000

Mysteries:
After the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, there was a mysterious detached leg found in the rubble of the destroyed building. Since all 168 victims’ legs have been accounted for, the left leg has perplexed investigators and has yet to be traced back to an owner.

The government of China kidnapped a 6-year-old Tibetan boy, the Panchen Lama, and replaced him with a puppet of their own choosing. The real Panchen Lama was the youngest political prisoner in the world at the time of his arrest and has never been heard from since.

Nobel Prize Winners:
Physics – Martin L. Perl, Frederick Reines
Chemistry – Paul J. Crutzen, Mario J. Molina, F. Sherwood Rowland
Medicine – Edward B. Lewis, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Eric F. Wieschaus
Literature – Seamus Heaney
Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel – Robert Lucas, Jr.*
Peace – Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

*Robert Lucas, upon receiving a Nobel Prize in economic sciences, was only awarded half the prize money. His ex-wife had placed a clause in their divorce settlement in 1988 stating she would receive half the prize money if he won the prize in the following 7 years.

The Habits:
The First X (EXtreme) Games took place in July 1995 in Rhode Island.

The college girls (and their older/younger sisters) were all listening to Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill album.

Watching the film Babe, about a happy little pig, with your family

1995 Billboard Number One Songs:
December 3, 1994 – January 13, 1995:
On Bended Knee – Boyz II Men

January 14 – January 27:
Here Comes the Hotstepper – Ini Kamoze

January 28 – February 24:
Creep – TLC

February 25 – April 14:
Take A Bow – Madonna

April 15 – June 2:
This Is How We Do It – Montell Jordan

June 3 – July 7:
Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman – Bryan Adams

July 8 – August 25:
Waterfalls – TLC

August 26 – September 1:
Kiss From A Rose – Seal

September 2 – September 8:
You Are Not Alone – Michael Jackson

September 9 – September 29:
Gangsta’s Paradise – Coolio

September 30 – November 24:
Fantasy – Mariah Carey

November 25 – December 1:
Exhale (Shoop Shoop) – Whitney Houston

December 2, 1995 – March 22, 1996:
One Sweet Day – Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men