1992 History, Trivia and Fun Facts

1992 Trivia, History and Fun Facts

• The New Word: A Japanese word, “Bushusuru,” was coined after George H.W. Bush publicly vomited on the Prime Minister of Japan during a formal state dinner. The word literally means “to do the ‘Bush’ thing” or to “vomit in public.”
• The Top Song was I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston
• The Movies to Watch include A League of Their Own, Sister Act, The Bodyguard, Unforgiven and A Few Good Men
• The Most Famous Person in America was probably
• Notable books include: The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Walker and Dr Atkins’s New Diet Revolution by Robert Atkins
• Price of CD (Compact Disk) in 1992: $11.98
  Cost of a daily newspaper: 25 cents
  Skippy peanut butter, 64 oz: $5.99
• The Funny Late Night Host: Johnny Carson
• Acting Awards: Jack Nicholson was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actor and a Razzie for worst actor for his role in 1992’s Hoffa.

“The 1992 Quotes:”
“You can’t handle the truth!”
– Jack Nicholson, in A Few Good Men

“There’s no crying in baseball!”
– Tom Hanks, in A League of Their Own

“Friends don’t let friends drive drunk”
– U.S. Dept. of Transportation

“It’s the economy, stupid”
“I didn’t inhale.”
– Candidate for President Bill Clinton

“Giant sucking sound”
– Candidate for President Ross Perot

“Made from the best stuff on Earth”
-Snapple ad

“Can we all just get along?”
-Beating victim (from the LAPD) Rodney King, to help quell the riots taking place in his name.

The Scandals:
Woody Allen (age 56) left his long-term partner Mia Farrow after she discovered his secret affair with her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn (age 21).

Long Island Lolita Amy Fisher shot the wife of her lover, Joey Buttafuoco (pronounced Butt-a-foo-co), Mary Jo Buttafuoco in the face. Mary Jo survived and later divorced her husband.

Booty-shaking dancing entered the mainstream with Sir Mixx-a-Lot’s Baby Got Back

Princess Diana and Prince Charles separated and later divorced shortly after his affair with his long-time love Camilla Parker Bowels was revealed.

Pop Culture News:
Energy Star is a program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy since 1992 that promotes energy efficiency.

Since 1992, the US Military has collected and stored a DNA record on every service member.

There are no longer any battleships in the United States Navy, the last one, USS Missouri, having been retired in 1992.

Taco Bell first tried to enter the Mexican market in 1992, but the restaurants all closed within two years.

In 1992, 28800 rubber duckys fell off a cargo ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Paul Lynch (Great Britain) did 124 push-ups with one finger.

Home Alone (1990) is the highest-grossing Christmas film of all time in the US Box Office having a gross of $285.76 million. It was followed by How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), The Grinch (2018), Polar Express (2004), and Home Alone 2 (1992) respectively.

Disney’s Aladdin was originally to be set in Baghdad but the studio was forced to change it due to the outbreak of the Gulf War. They scrambled the letters in Baghdad to create the fictional city of Agrabah.

The opening scene in Robert Altman’s The Player is a continuous tracking shot that lasts for over eight minutes.

Sharon Stone played the same character from 1992’s Basic Instinct in the 1993 Schwarzenegger action movie Last Action Hero.

18-year-old Michelle Knapp’s 1980 Chevy Malibu was hit by a 28-pound meteor on October 9, 1992.

The first SMS text message ever sent was on December 3, 1992. It was sent by a 22-year-old test engineer from his computer to a phone. The message simply read “Merry Christmas”.

Sega orchestrated the world’s first global launch of a video game, Sonic the Hedgehog 2. They chose a Tuesday and dubbed the event “Sonic 2sday”. At the time, new games would release at different stores on different days. Thanks to Sega, Tuesday is now the industry standard.

A Calvin and Hobbes comic from 1992 referred to the start of the universe as the Horrendous Space Kablooie, saying that “The Big Bang” was too boring. The term Horrendous Space Kablooie (or HSK) has since become popular among scientists and has been used in books and university courses.

The hippest company founded in 1992 was probably Tony Hawk and Per Welinder’s Birdhouse Skateboards.

Rock band Weezer got its name because frontman Rivers Cuomo had the nickname due to his asthma, and the band thought it would make a great name when they formed in 1992.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have never had a number 1 single in the US Billboard Hot 100 charts. Under the Bridge peaked at number 2 in 1992.

MTV introduced The Real World reality TV show. Prior to this, the network was known for running music videos 24 hours a day, believe it or not.

National Public Radio (NPR) ran a spot with former President Richard Nixon saying he was running for president again. It was an actor, not Nixon, and the segment was an April Fools’ prank.

Toronto Blue Jays baseball player Joe Carter pulled an amazing prank on teammate Derek Bell by pretending to raffle off his car mid-game. He rode onto the field in it and the announcer read off a fake winning ticket #pranks

Famous boxing announcer Michael Buffer got his catchphrase “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” trademarked in 1992. He has earned hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Lithuania could not afford to send its men’s basketball team to the 1992 Olympics, so the Grateful Dead sent the team colorful, free-flowing tie-dye warm-up jerseys. The team took the bronze medal.

Nike made a Super Bowl commercial where an animated Bugs Bunny played basketball with a real-live Michael Jordan. The commercial was so successful that Warner Brothers decided to turn it into a whole movie, Space Jam.

The Anaheim Mighty Ducks were founded by the Walt Disney Company and the team name was inspired by the 1992 Disney film The Mighty Ducks.

Cost of a Superbowl ad in 1992: $850,000

The Basketball Dream Team

The 1992 Dream Team consisted of the best basketball players in the world. The team played against all comers at the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona and won by an average of 44 points. An initial 10 player roster was announced on September 21, 1991 with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird as co-captains. They were joined by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Chris Mullin, David Robinson and Patrick Ewing.

The final 12 player roster was announced in May 1992. The Dream Team dominated its opponents, winning the gold medal against Croatia with a score of 117-85.

Some of the players who did not make the initial cut but were eventually added to the team included Clyde Drexler, Christian Laettner and Magic Johnson. Magic Johnson said, “I look to my right, there’s Michael Jordan… I look to my left, there’s Charles Barkley or Larry Bird… I didn’t know who to throw the ball to!”

Michael Jordan said that the biggest benefit for him was that he learned more about his teammates’ weaknesses.

Shocking News:
A North Dakotan teen, John Thompson, was home alone when he had both of his arms chopped off by a tractor in a freak farming accident. However, he still managed to get up, go inside, and dial for help via holding a pencil in his mouth. He survived.

There were 2,641 bank robberies in Los Angeles in 1992 – averaging one every 45 minutes.

Singer Sinéad O’Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II during a performance on Saturday Night Live to protest the abuse of children within the Catholic Church.

Ryugyong Hotel is an unopened 105 story hotel in North Korea. Despite being erected in 1992, it is still unfinished and known as the “hotel of doom.”

George H.W Bush attended a banquet hosted by Japan Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, which Bush vomited on his lap and fainted.

China did not establish relations with South Korea until 1992. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, China recognized only North Korea.

Chewing gum has been banned in Singapore since 1992. Exceptions have been made since 2004 for chewing for medical or therapeutic reasons.

The 27th amendment, which forbids Congress from raising their own pay during their term, was proposed by James Madison in 1789 and wasn’t ratified until 1992.

Marlon Wayans was cast as Robin in the 1992 film “Batman Returns” and still receives income from the film despite his character getting cut from the film.

Antarctica is the only continent on Earth, where dogs are banned. Being used as sled dogs for exploration up until 1992, they were banned from Antarctica over concerns that the dogs might transfer diseases to the seal population.

Burmese pythons have overrun the Florida Everglades partly as a result of Hurricane Andrew destroying a breeding facility in 1992, which released hundreds of snakes.

1992 Billboard Number One Songs:
December 7, 1991- January 24, 1992:
Black Or White – Michael Jackson

January 25 – January 31:
All 4 Love – Color Me Badd

February 1 – February 7:
Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me – George Michael/Elton John

February 8 – February 28:
I’m Too Sexy – Right Said Fred

February 29 – March 20:
To Be With You – Mr. Big

March 21 – April 24:
Save the Best For Last – Vanessa Williams

April 25 – June 19:
Jump – Kris Kross

June 20 -July 3:
I’ll Be There – Mariah Carey

July 4 – August 7:
Baby Got Back – Sir Mix-A-Lot

August 8 – August 14:
This Used To Be My Playground – Madonna

August 15 – November 13:
End of the Road – Boyz II Men

November 14 – November 28:
How Do You Talk To An Angel – The Heights

November 29, 1992 – March 5, 1993:
I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston