1990s

Millennia: 1st millennium - 2nd millennium - 3rd millennium
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1960s 1970s 1980s - 1990s - 2000s 2010s 2020s
Years: 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999


The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive. Sometimes it is wrongly used to refer to the era from 1991 up to and including 2000. This other decade is rightly designed by the 200th decade. They are the last decade of the 20th Century, but some historians consider them to be the same social era as the 21st Century (see Short twentieth century).

The 90s were marked with rapid progression of democracy, 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 Gulf War; popularization of Personal Computers and the Internet, leading to the .com boom.

Contents

Overview

While optimism and hopes were high following the collapse of Communism, the backlash of the Cold War's effect was only beginning, precipitating the continuation of terrorism in Third World regions that were once the frontlines for American and Soviet foreign politics, particularly in Asia. However, during the 1990s many First World economies such as the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and South Korea experienced steady economic growth for nearly the entire decade. The United Kingdom, after the recession of 1991-92 and Black Wednesday, experienced a run of 51 consecutive quarters of economic growth that stretched into the new millennium. Even less affluent nations such as Malaysia saw tremendous improvements in economic prosperity and quality of life during the 1990s. It should be noted though, that at least in the United States the economy was in a rut during the first half of the decade.

Many countries, institutions, companies, and organizations experienced the 1990s as "a prosperous time." In many Western countries, political stability and decreased militarization due to the winding down of the Cold War lead to economic growth and higher standards of living for many upper class citizens. These trends were also fuelled by inexpensive fossil energy, with low petroleum prices being due to a glut of oil on the market. Oil and gas were discovered in many countries in the former Soviet bloc, leading to economic growth and wider adoption of Western-style free market economies and free trade between nations.

The widespread adoption of personal computers and the Internet increased economic productivity, while unprecedented levels of private investment in equity markets created a perception of growing personal wealth among many Americans and Europeans. However, critics of western-style capitalism contend that the economic gains of the 1990s were unevenly distributed throughout society, widening the gap between the wealthiest and poorest citizens.

Politically, the 1990s was an era of spreading democracy. The former countries of the Warsaw Pact rapidly evolved from totalitarian regimes to elected governments. The same was true in many nations of the developing world, such as Taiwan, Chile, South Africa, and Indonesia.

The thaw in relations between the countries of NATO and the formers members of the Warsaw Pact ended the Cold War both in Europe and in its peripheral conflicts in the developing world.

Despite the perception of prosperity and democracy, there was a significant dark side of the 1990s that only 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 halved as massive capital flight occurred. Financial crises in the developing world after 1994 began to undermine support for globalization. And tragic 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. Nevertheless, many of these problems remained below the surface of popular consciousness in the West until the 2000s.

Youth culture in the 1990s was characterized by environmentalism, materialism, anti-globalization, entrepreneurship, and artistic vulgarity (see Criticism of the 1990s). Fashions were often individualistic, most notably involving unique personal tattoos and excessive piercing of body parts to accommodate jewelry, and also very "retro". "Retro" became a thriving youth market and accusations that the 1970s had been rewritten to accommodate this were levelled in Britain. Young people became increasingly involved in outdoor activities that combined athletics with the appreciation of nature (such as kayaking and rock climbing).

In 1991, violent crime reached its peak in the United States. The mid and late 1990s saw a precipitous drop in crime rates all across the country.

Technology

The 1990s were a time of great change - mainstreaming and improving technologies invented and used first during the 1980s.

Graphic representation of the WWW

Science

War, peace, and politics

Economics

Culture

Trends/Various

  • 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 Martins, Converses and having long, straight hair.
  • 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 televison is introduced in 1997 because of related complaints.
  • Video games become more advanced and popular, although are still vastly inferior technologically to those of the 2000s. Rivals Nintendo and Sega dominate the early '90s while the Sony PlayStation debuts in 1995 and remains popular until the fall of 2000 when the PS2 debuted.


  • 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.
  • Dogma 95 becomes the leading European artistic film movement by the end of the decade.
  • 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 dissapear 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 a social mecca for fans 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 collecting comics 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", "Audi 5000", "tight", "word to your mother", "Talk to the hand", "You go girl!", and "Wasssuppp!"

Music

  • Rock music begins to be referred to as "alternative" as it is originated in 1980s underground rock and 1970s punk and begins to lose popularity to hip hop. Beginning in about 1994 rock music became primarily punk-based and more sincere as gangsta rap and later pop-rap and post-gangsta rap took its place as "party 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.

Television

  • Seinfeld becomes the most popular show on television in the United States and lasts throughout most of the 90's.
  • US Saturday morning children's television programming reaches its peak popularity in the early to mid 90s with everything from Animaniacs, Garfield and Friends and Tiny Toons, to television adaptations of popular video game characters Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. This period is considered by some to be a "renaissance" in American animation.
  • 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.

Computer and video games

Internet

  • Beginnings of MP3 music downloading; in 1999 and 2000 the Napster controversy occurred
  • Internet begins to affect pop culture, beginning around 1996
  • Most television stations gain Internet presence during latter half of decade
  • Earliest examples of Internet film

Other significant events

People

World leaders

Entertainers

Films

See also: 1990s in film

Books & Literature

See also : 1990s Books

Sports figures

See also: 1990s in sports

American Football 
Troy Aikman
Terrell Davis
John Elway
Brett Favre
Jim Kelly
Dan Marino
Joe Montana
Jerry Rice
Bruce Smith
Emmitt Smith
Barry Sanders
Deion Sanders
Reggie White
Steve Young
Athletics (Track & Field)
Sergey Bubka
Linford Christie
Haile Gebrselassie
Hicham El Guerrouj
Michael Johnson
Australian Rules Football 
Tony Lockett
Baseball 
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Derek Jeter
Greg Maddux
Mark McGwire
Cal Ripken, Jr
Sammy Sosa
Ken Griffey, Jr.
Larry Walker
Basketball 
Charles Barkley
Larry Bird
Kobe Bryant
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Allen Iverson
Michael Jordan
Karl Malone
Shaquille O'Neal
Scottie Pippen
David Robinson
Dennis Rodman
John Stockton
Boxing 
Oscar De La Hoya
George Foreman
Evander Holyfield
Mike Tyson
Cricket 
Curtly Ambrose
Allan Donald
Ian Healy
Brian Lara
Glenn McGrath
Muttiah Muralitharan
Mark Taylor
Sachin Tendulkar
Courtney Walsh
Shane Warne
Steve Waugh
Cycling 
Marco Pantani
Lance Armstrong
Miguel Induráin
Football (soccer)
Roberto Baggio
Franco Baresi
Dennis Bergkamp
Eric Cantona
Paul Gascoigne
Ryan Giggs
Gheorghe Hagi
Oliver Kahn
Jurgen Klinsmann
Jari Litmanen
Paolo Maldini
Rivaldo
Ronaldo
Romario
David Seaman
Peter Schmeichel
Alan Shearer
Hristo Stoitchkov
Davor Suker
George Weah
Zinedine Zidane
Golf 
Tiger Woods
Ice Hockey 
Wayne Gretzky
Mario Lemieux
Pavel Bure
Motor Sport 
Dale Earnhardt
Jeff Gordon
Colin McRae
Michael Schumacher
Ayrton Senna
Rowing
Steve Redgrave
Matthew Pinsent
Rugby Union 
Jonah Lomu
Rugby League 
Andrew Johns
Brad Fittler
Skating 
Michelle Kwan
Nancy Kerrigan
Alpine Skiing  
Alberto Tomba
Nordic Skiing 
Bjørn Dæhlie
Tennis 
Andre Agassi
Jennifer Capriati
Steffi Graf
Martina Hingis
Anna Kournikova
Pete Sampras
Monica Seleš
Serena Williams
Venus Williams

See also

External links