1990s

The decade saw greater attention to multiculturalism and advance of alternative media. Public education about safe sex curbed HIV in developed countries. Generation X bonded over musical tastes. Humor in television and film was marked by ironic self-reference mixed with popular culture references. Alternative music movements like grunge, Eurodance, and hip-hop, became popular, aided by the rise in satellite and cable television, and the internet. New music genres such as drum and bass, post-rock, happy hardcore, denpa, and trance emerged. Video game popularity exploded due to the development of CD-ROM supported 3D computer graphics on platforms such as Sony PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and PCs.

The 1990s saw advances in

International wars

• The Congo Wars began in the 1990s.^[6]
  • The First Congo War (October 24, 1996 – May 16, 1997) resulted in the overthrow of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, his 32 rule of Zaire, which was then renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • The Second Congo War (August 1998 – July 2003) started in Central Africa and involved multiple nearby nations.
• The Gulf War (August 2, 1990 – February 28, 1991).
  • Iraq was left in severe debt after the
    invaded and conquered Kuwait
    .
  • The UN (United Nations) immediately condemned the action and a coalition force led by the United States was sent to the Persian Gulf. Aerial bombing of Iraq began in January 1991, and one month later, the UN forces drove the Iraqi army from Kuwait in four days.
• Two wars were fought in the region of Chechnya:
  • The
    air support, they were set back by Chechen guerrillas and raids on the flatlands. The resulting widespread demoralization of Russian federal forces, and the universal^{[citation needed]} opposition of the Russian public to the conflict, led Boris Yeltsin's government to declare a ceasefire in 1996 and sign a peace treaty
    a year later.
  • The
    Russian apartment bombings, which were blamed on the Chechens. In this military campaign, Russian forces largely recaptured the separatist region of Chechnya^{[citation needed}
    ] and the outcome of the First Chechen War – in which the region gained de facto independence as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria – was essentially reversed.
• The Eritrean–Ethiopian War (1998–2000) was commenced by the invasion of Ethiopia by Eritrea due to a territorial dispute.^[7] The conflict resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides^[8] and a peace agreement in December 2000.^[9]
• The
  Army Chief Pervez Musharraf
  . This conflict remains the only war fought between the two declared nuclear powers.

• The Yugoslav Wars (1991–1995) followed the breakup of Yugoslavia, beginning on June 25, 1991, after the republics of Croatia and Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia. These wars were notorious for war crimes and human rights violations, including ethnic cleansing and genocide, with the overwhelming majority of casualties being Muslim Bosniaks.
  • The Ten-Day War (1991) was a brief military conflict between Slovenian TO (Slovenian Territorial Defence) and the Yugoslav People's Army ("JNA") following Slovenia's declaration of independence.
  • The Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995) was fought in modern-day Croatia between the Croatian government (having declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) and both the Yugoslav People's Army ("JNA") and Serb forces, who established the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina ("RSK") within Croatia.
  • The Bosnian War (1992–1995) involved several ethnically-defined factions within Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats, as well as a smaller Bosniak faction led by Fikret Abdić. The Siege of Sarajevo (1992–1995) marked the most violent urban warfare in Europe since World War II at that time, as Serb forces bombarded and attacked Bosnian-controlled and populated areas of the city. War crimes occurred, including ethnic cleansing and the destruction of civilian property.
  • The final fighting in the Croatian and Bosnian wars ended in 1995 with the success of Croatian military offensives against Serb forces. This led to the mass exodus of Serbs from Croatia, Serb losses to Croat and Bosniak forces, and the signing of the Dayton Agreement, which internally partitioned Bosnia and Herzegovina into a Republika Srpska and a Bosniak-Croat Federation.
• The Kosovo War (1998–1999) was a war between Albanian separatists and Yugoslav military and Serb paramilitary forces in Kosovo. That conflict began in 1996 and escalated in 1998, with increasing reports of atrocities.
  • In 1999, the
    Yugoslavia (then composed of only Serbia and Montenegro) to pressure the Yugoslav government to end its military operations against Albanian separatists in Kosovo
    . The intervention lacked UN approval yet was justified by NATO based on accusations of war crimes committed by Yugoslav military forces working alongside nationalist Serb paramilitary groups. Finally, after months of bombing, Yugoslavia conceded to NATO's demands, and NATO forces (later UN peacekeeping forces) occupied Kosovo.
• The South African Border War (1990) was a border war between Zambia, Angola, and Namibia that began in 1966 and ended in 1990.

Civil wars and guerrilla wars

• The First Liberian Civil War occurred from 1989 until 1997 and led to the death of around 200,000 people.
• The Ethiopian Civil War (1991) was an internal conflict that had been raging for over twenty years. Its end coincided with the establishment of a coalition government of various factions.
• The Algerian Civil War (1991–2002) was caused by a group of high-ranking army officers canceling the first multi-party elections in Algeria.^[10]
• The Somali Civil War (1991–present) included the Battle of Mogadishu.
• The
  Tutsis and Hutu political moderates were killed by the Hutu-dominated government under the Hutu Power ideology. For approximately 100 days between 500,000^[11] and 1,000,000^[12]
  people were killed. The United Nations and major states came under criticism for failing to stop the genocide.
• political deadlock between Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the Supreme Soviet
  (Russia's parliament at this time) resulting in Yeltsin ordering the controversial shelling of the Russian parliament building by tanks.
• The Tajikistani Civil War (1992–1997) occurred when the Tajikistan government was pitted against the United Tajik Opposition, resulting in the death of between 50,000 and 100,000 people.
• The
  NAFTA
  . The uprising lasted 12 days, bringing worldwide attention to the Zapatistas, and continued through the rest of the 1990s.
• The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001) was formed at the end of the Afghan Civil War, when the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 1996. They ruled during the later Afghan Civil War until their ousting 2001.
• The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1998) involved 30 years of conflict that ended on 10 April 1998, when the Good Friday Agreement was signed.
• 1999 East Timorese crisis.

Coups

Terrorist attacks

• The
  international terrorism
  as a potential threat.
• Markale market massacres in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1994) – soldiers of the Army of Republika Srpska deliberately targeted Bosniak (then known as "Bosnian Muslims") civilians.
• Argentina's Jewish community planted a car bomb in the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina headquarters in Buenos Aires
  , killing 85 people and injuring hundreds, making it the first ethnically targeted bombing and deadliest bombing in Argentine history.
• Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995) – soldiers of the Army of Republika Srpska and members of Serbia's Scorpions paramilitary group committed mass murder of Bosniak civilians.^{[citation needed}
  ]
• Oklahoma City bombing (1995) in the United States – the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma killed 168 people, becoming the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States at that time. Suspect Timothy McVeigh claimed he bombed the building in retaliation for the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff and the Waco siege a year later.^[13]
• The 1996 Manchester bombing (1996) – on 15 June 1996, the IRA set off a bomb in Manchester, England. The bomb, placed in a van on Corporation Street in the city center, targeted the city's infrastructure and economy and caused widespread damage, estimated by insurers at £700 million (£1 billion as of 2011^[update]). Two hundred and twelve people were injured, but there were no fatalities.
• The 1998 United States embassy bombings – Al-Qaeda militants carried out bomb attacks on United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. In retaliation, U.S. naval military forces launched cruise missile attacks against Al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan.
• The Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland (1998) – a bombing in Omagh, County Tyrone, that killed 29 civilians and injured hundreds more.
• LAX bombing plot (1999) – Ahmed Ressam, an Islamist militant associated with Al-Qaeda, was arrested when attempting to cross from Canada into the United States at the Canada-U.S. border on 14 December 1999. It was later discovered that he intended to bomb Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) during millennium celebrations. This was the first major attempted terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda on United States soil since the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and marked the beginning of a series of attempted terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda against the United States that would continue into the 21st century.

Decolonization and independence

• Independence of Namibia (1990) – the Republic of Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990. Walvis Bay
  , initially retained by South Africa, joined Namibia in 1994.
• Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia
  .
• Independence of Eritrea (1993) – Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia
  .
• Slovak Republic adopts the Declaration of Independence from the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (Czechoslovakia
  ).
• Independence of Palau (1994) – Palau gained independence from the United Nations Trusteeship Council.
• People's Republic of China
  on 1 July 1997.
• Independence of East Timorese (1999) – East Timor broke away from Indonesian occupation, only a year after the fall of Suharto from power, ending a 24-year guerrilla war and genocide with more than 200,000 casualties. The UN deployed a peacekeeping force spearheaded by Australia's armed forces. The United States deployed police officers to serve with the Interpol element to help train and equip an East Timorese police force.
• Handover of Macau (1999) – Portugal handed sovereignty of Macau (Portuguese Macau) to the People's Republic of China on 20 December 1999.
• USSR
  .
  • Armenia – the Armenian SSR became the Republic of Armenia following the Declaration of Independence of Armenia.
  • Azerbaijan – the Azerbaijan SSR became the Republic of Azerbaijan.
  • Declaration of State Sovereignty
    .
  • Estonia – Estonian SSR became the Republic of Estonia.
  • Georgia – The Georgian SSR became the Republic of Georgia.
  • Kazakhstan – the Kazakh SSR became the Republic of Kazakhstan.
  • Kyrgyzstan – the Kirghiz SSR became the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
  • Latvia – the Latvian SSR became the Republic of Latvia.
  • Lithuania – the Lithuanian SSR became the Republic of Lithuania
  • Moldova – the Moldavian SSR became the Republic of Moldova.
  • Tajikistan – the Tajik SSR became the Republic of Tajikistan.
  • Turkmenistan – the Turkmen SSR became the Republic of Turkmenistan.
  • Ukraine – the Ukrainian SSR became the Republic of Ukraine
  • Uzbekistan – the Uzbek SSR became the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Political trends

• The 1990s saw an increased spread of capitalism and third way policies.^[14] The former countries of the Warsaw Pact moved from single-party socialist states to multi-party states with private sector economies.^[14] The same wave of political liberalization occurred in the capitalist and newly industrialized countries (including First and Third World countries), such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Market reforms made incredible changes to the economies of Second World socialist countries such as China and Vietnam.
• Ethnic tensions and violence in former Yugoslavia during the 1990s created a greater sense of ethnic identity among nations in newly independent countries and a marked increase in the popularity of nationalism.

Prominent political events

Africa

• apartheid and white-minority rule in South Africa. Apartheid ended in South Africa in 1994.^[15]
• Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa in 1994, becoming the first democratically elected president in South African history, and ending a long legacy of apartheid white rule in the country.[15]

Americas

• The establishment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on January 1, 1994, created a North American free-trade zone consisting of Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
• Canadian politics was radically altered in the
  New Democratic Party collapsed as well, with their sets declining from 44 to 9. The Liberal Party of Canada was the only genuinely 'national' political party left standing. Regionally-based parties, such as the Quebec-based Bloc Québécois and the almost entirely Western Canada-based Reform Party of Canada
  , rose from political insignificance to being major political parties.
• After the collapse of the
  Francophone Québécois
  nationalists, who sought for Quebec to become an independent country and forced a referendum on the question of independence in 1995.
  • The
    Anglophone
    country. If accepted, Quebec would have become an independent country with an economic association with Canada. Quebec's voters narrowly rejected the proposal.
• Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former Haitian priest, became the first democratically elected President of Haiti in 1990. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a Roman Catholic parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies to become a priest of the Salesian order. Aristide was later forced into exile in the Central African Republic and South Africa and returned to Haiti after several years.
• Ernesto Zedillo was elected President of Mexico in the 1994 presidential election, making him the last of an uninterrupted 72-year-long succession of Mexican presidents from the dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The original PRI candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta, was assassinated several months prior.
• Due to
  internal conflict and an economic crisis, Alberto Fujimori rose to power in Peru and remained in office for eleven years. His administration was marked by economic development but also by numerous human rights violations (La Cantuta massacre, Barrios Altos massacre) and a rampant corruption network set up by Vladimiro Montesinos
  .
• The sluggish
  Carlos Saúl Menem (Argentina), President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (Chile), President Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico), and President Fernando Henrique Cardoso
  (Brazil), in their best shape by the late 1990s.
• United States President Bill Clinton was a dominant political figure in international affairs during the 1990s, known primarily for his attempts to negotiate peace in the Middle East and end the ongoing wars occurring in the former Yugoslavia, his promotion of international action to decrease human-created climate change, and his endorsement of advancing free trade in the Americas.
• After a failed coup attempt in 1992, Hugo Chávez, politician and former member of the Venezuelan military, is elected President of Venezuela
  in 1998.
• Kenneth Starr
  , the Senate acquitted Clinton of all charges on February 12, 1999. He served out the remainder of his second term.
• California voters passed
  Proposition 215 in 1996, which legalized cannabis
  for medicinal purposes.

• In 1990, the Lebanese Civil War came to a close and a return to political normalcy in Lebanon began. With peace among all factions in Lebanon, the rebuilding of the country and its capital, Beirut, began.
• 1990 Nepalese revolution, a multiparty movement against the one-party Panchayat rule in Nepal. It led to the end of absolute monarchy in Nepal and the restoration of democracy.
• Palestinian Prime Minister Yasser Arafat agree to the Israeli–Palestinian peace process at the culmination of the Oslo Accords
  , negotiated by the United States President, Bill Clinton, on 13 September 1993.
  • By signing the Oslo accords, the Palestine Liberation Organization recognized Israel's right to exist. At the same time, Israel permitted the creation of an autonomous Palestinian National Authority consisting of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, which was implemented in 1994.
  • Israeli military forces withdrew from these Palestinian territories in compliance with the accord, which marked the end of the First Intifada (a period of violence between Palestinian Arab militants and Israeli armed forces from 1987 to 1993).
  • The Palestinian National Authority was created in 1994 following the Oslo Accords, giving Palestinian Arab people official autonomy over the Gaza Strip and West Bank, though not official independence from Israel.
• On 4 November 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing extremist who opposed the signing of the Oslo Accords.
• North Yemen and South Yemen merged to form Yemen in 1991.
• Lee Kuan Yew resigned as the Prime Minister of Singapore on 28 November 1990, a position he had held since 1959, to Goh Chok Tong. Lee remained in the cabinet as Senior Minister.
• In July 1994, North Korean leader Kim Il Sung died, having ruled the country since its founding in 1948. His son Kim Jong Il, who succeeded him, took over a nation on the brink of complete economic collapse. Famine had caused a significant number of deaths in the late 1990s, and North Korea gained a reputation for being an important hub of money laundering, counterfeiting, and weapons proliferation. The country's ability to produce and sell nuclear weapons became a prominent concern in the international community.
• In 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in Burma won a majority of seats in the first free election conducted in 30 years. But the SPDC refused to relinquish power, beginning a peaceful^{[citation needed]} struggle that began in the 1990s and continued for several decades, primarily fueled by Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters to demand the end of military rule.
• Indonesian President Suharto resigned after ruling the country for 32 years (1966–1998), following the riots on several cities in Indonesia. His resignation marked the beginning of the Reform era.
• In India, the former prime minister
  Tamil Tigers, beginning a period of economic liberalization led by new Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao
  .
• After democratic reforms and steady economic growth in the four
  Asia-Pacific MNNAs by the United States and Canada, after the Revolutions of 1989
  .
  • In the Philippines, following the People Power Revolution of 1986 under the Corazon Aquino presidency until 1992, democratic reforms and economic policies implemented by two Presidents were elected by Fidel V. Ramos in 1992, and Joseph Estrada in 1998.
  • South Korea and Taiwan became developed countries, and two of the Four Asian Tigers in the 1990s. Following democratic reforms in 1988, neoliberal policies were implemented by President Kim Young-sam (South Korea) and President Lee Teng-hui (Taiwan), both who led their countries during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
  • Japan saw eight different prime ministers serve during the 1990s in what was at first called the "Lost Decade" but later became referred to as the "Lost Decades of the Heisei Era". These included Morihiro Hosokawa, who won the 1993 Japanese general election and formed an opposition coalition until 1996.

Europe

• The improvement in relations between NATO countries and the former members of the Warsaw Pact led to the end of the Cold War, both in Europe and other parts of the world.
• German reunification – on 3 October 1990, East and West Germany reunified as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall. After reintegrating their economic structure and provincial governments, Germany focused on the modernization of the formerly communist East. People brought up in socialist East Germany became integrated with those living in capitalist West Germany.
• Margaret Thatcher, who had been the United Kingdom's Prime Minister since 1979, resigned as Prime Minister on 22 November 1990 after being challenged for leadership of the Conservative Party by Michael Heseltine. This was because of widespread opposition to the introduction of the controversial Community Charge, and the fact that her key allies such as Nigel Lawson and Geoffrey Howe resigned over the deeply sensitive issues of the Maastricht Treaty and Margaret Thatcher's resistance to Britain joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. Less than two years later, on the infamous Black Wednesday of September 1992, the pound sterling crashed out of the system after the pound fell below the agreed exchange rate with the Deutsche Mark.
  • John Major replaced Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister in 1990.
• The
  coup attempt by communist hardliners attempted to revert the effects of Gorbachev's policies. Yeltsin's counter-revolution was victorious, and on 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned from the presidency, which led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Yeltsin became president of the Soviet Union's successor, the Russian Federation, and presided over a period of political unrest, economic crisis, and social anarchy. On 31 December 1999, Yeltsin resigned, leaving Vladimir Putin
  as acting president.
• The European Union was formed in 1992 under the Maastricht Treaty.
• The
  Good Friday Agreement,^[18] was key to producing a positive change of attitude by the Republicans towards a negotiated settlement. The joint declaration also pledged the governments to seek a peaceful constitutional settlement and promised that parties linked with paramilitaries (such as Sinn Féin) could take part in the talks so long as they abandoned violence.^[19]
• The IRA agreed to a truce in 1994. This marked the beginning of the end of 25 years of violence between the IRA and the United Kingdom and the start of political negotiations.
• Tony Blair became Prime Minister in 1997 following a general election.
• The
  Belfast Agreement (a.k.a. the Good Friday Agreement) was signed by the U.K. and Irish politicians on 10 April 1998, declaring a joint commitment to a peaceful resolution of the territorial dispute between Ireland and the United Kingdom over Northern Ireland. The 1998 Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum was held on 22 May 1998, with majority approval.^[20]
• The
  National Assembly for Wales was established following the 1997 Welsh devolution referendum, in which a majority of voters approved the creation of the National Assembly for Wales.^[21]
• In September 1997, the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum was put to the Scottish electorate and secured a majority in favor of the establishment of a new Scottish Parliament.^[22][23]

Assassinations and attempts

Prominent assassinations, targeted killings, and assassination attempts include:

Disasters

Natural disasters

The 1990s saw a trend in frequent and more devastating natural disasters, breaking many previous records. Although the 1990s was designated by the United Nations as an International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction as part of its program to prevent losses due to disasters, disasters would go on to cause a record-breaking US$608 billion worth of damage—more than the past four decades combined.^[38]

• The most prominent natural disasters of the decade include:
  Chi-Chi earthquake
  in Taiwan.
• A magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit the Philippines on 16 July 1990 and killed around 1000 people in Baguio.
• After 600 years of inactivity, Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted and devastated Zambales and Pampanga in June 1991.
• July 1995 – Midwestern United States heat wave – An unprecedented heat wave strikes the Midwestern United States for most of the month. Temperatures peak at 106 °F (41 °C), and remain above 94 °F (34 °C) in the afternoon for 5 straight days. At least 739 people died in Chicago alone.

• St. Kitts and Nevis, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, the United States and Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States) – more than any other hurricane since Hurricane Inez
  of the 1966 season. The total estimated costs were $60 billion (about $110 billion in 2022).
• September 1996 – Hurricane Fran made landfall in North Carolina, causing significant damage throughout the entire state.
• Hurricane Iniki hit the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands on 11 September 1992, making it one of the costliest hurricanes on record in the eastern Pacific.
• A flood hits the Red River Valley in 1997 becoming the most severe flood since 1826.
• In December 1999, torrential rains and flash floods killed tens of thousands of Venezuelans living in the state of Vargas in a natural disaster known as the Vargas tragedy.

Non-natural disasters

• Gulf War oil spill: Resulting from actions taken during the Gulf War in 1991 by the Iraq military, the oil spill caused considerable damage to wildlife in the Persian Gulf, especially in areas surrounding Kuwait and Iraq.
• July 11, 1991: A
  Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  , killing 261 people.
• December 15, 1991: The
  Salem Express sinks in the Red Sea
  , killing more than 450 people.
• October 4, 1992:
  Bijlmer
  neighbourhood of Amsterdam while attempting to return to the airport. A total of 43 people were killed, including the plane's crew of three and a "non-revenue passenger." Several others were injured.
• July 26, 1993:
  Haenam
  , South Korea, killing 68 people.
• April 26, 1994: China Airlines Flight 140, an Airbus A300, crashed just as it was about to land at Nagoya Airfield, Japan, killing 264 and leaving only seven survivors.
• September 8, 1994:
  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  , killing 132 people.
• September 28, 1994: The car ferry MS Estonia sinks in the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people.
• June 29, 1995: The Sampoong Department Store collapses in Seoul, South Korea, killing 502 people.
• December 20, 1995: American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, hit a mountain in Colombia at night, killing 159 people.
• July 17, 1996: Trans World Airlines Flight 800, a Boeing 747-131 exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, killing 230.
• November 12, 1996: A
  collided over the town of Charkhi Dadri, outside New Delhi
  , India, killing 349.
• August 6, 1997: Korean Air Flight 801, a Boeing 747-300, crashed into a hill on the island of Guam, killing 228 people.
• September 26, 1997: Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 crashed in bad weather, killing 234.
• September 2, 1998: Swissair Flight 111, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Nova Scotia near the towns of Peggy's Cove and Bayswater, killing 229.
• October 31, 1999:
  Nantucket, Massachusetts
  , killing 217.

Economics

Many countries, institutions, companies, and organizations were prosperous during the 1990s. High-income countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Western Europe experienced steady economic growth for much of the decade during the Great Moderation. However, in the former Soviet Union, GDP decreased as their economies restructured to produce goods they needed, and some capital flight occurred.

• In 1993, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was updated to include the creation of the World Trade Organization, with the 76 existing GATT members and European Communities becoming the founding members of the World Trade Organization on 1 January 1995. Opposition by anti-globalization activists showed up in nearly every GATT summit, like the demonstrations in Seattle in December 1999.
  • The anti-globalization protests in the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 in Seattle began on 30 November 1999. This marked the beginning of a steady increase in anti-globalization protests in the first decade of the 21st century and increasing hostility to neoliberalism.
• U.S. inflation moderated, beginning in 1990 at 5.39%, falling to a low of 1.55% in 1998 and rising slightly to 2.19% in 1999.^[39]
• The G20 or Group of Twenty formed on the 26 September 1999.

North America

• The decade is seen as a time of great prosperity in the United States and Canada, largely because of the unexpected advent of the Internet and the explosion of technology industries. The U.S. and Canadian economies experienced their longest period of peacetime economic expansion, beginning in 1991. Personal incomes doubled from the recession in 1990, and there was higher productivity overall. The New York Stock Exchange stayed over the 10,500 mark from 1999 to 2001.
• After the 1992 boom of the US
  overvaluation
  of assets and the stock market generally.
• The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which phases out the trade barriers between the United States, Mexico, and Canada, was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

Asia

• In the People's Republic of China, the government announced the major privatization of state-owned industries in September 1997. China entered the 1990s in a turbulent period due to the aftermath of both the Tiananmen Square Massacre and hardline politicians' efforts to rein in private enterprise and attempt to revive old-fashioned propaganda campaigns. Relations with the United States deteriorated sharply, and the Chinese leadership was further embarrassed by the disintegration of communism in Europe. In 1992 Deng Xiaoping travelled to southern China in his last major public appearance to revitalize faith in market economics and stop the country's slide back into Maoism. Afterward, China recovered and would experience explosive economic growth during the rest of the decade. Despite this, dissent continued to be suppressed, and Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin launched a brutal crackdown against the Falun Gong religious sect in 1999. Deng Xiaoping died in 1997 at the age of 93. Relations with the US deteriorated again in 1999 after the bombing of the Chinese embassy during the bombing of Serbia by NATO forces, which caused three deaths, and allegations of Chinese espionage at the Los Alamos Nuclear Facility.
• Financial crisis hits East and Southeast Asian countries between 1997 and 1998 after a long period of phenomenal economic development, which continues into 1999. This crisis begins to be felt by the end of the decade.
• In Japan, after three decades of economic growth put them in second place in the world's economies, the county experienced an economic downturn after 1993. The recession went on into the early first decade of the 21st century, ending the seemingly unlimited prosperity that the country had previously enjoyed.
• Less affluent nations such as India, Malaysia, and Vietnam also saw tremendous improvements in economic prosperity and quality of life during the 1990s. Restructuring following the end of the Cold War was beginning. However, 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.

Europe

• By 1990, Soviet leader
  heart and alcohol troubles, Yeltsin stepped down from office on the last day of 1999, handing power to Vladimir Putin
  .
• Russian financial crisis in the 1990s resulted in mass hyperinflation and prompted economic intervention from the International Monetary Fund and western countries to help Russia's economy recover.
• The first McDonald's restaurant opened in Moscow in 1990 with then-President of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR and future Russian President Boris Yeltsin attending, symbolizing Russia's transition towards a capitalist free market economy and a move towards adopting elements of Western culture.
• Oil and gas were discovered in many countries in the former Soviet bloc, leading to economic growth and broader adoption of trade between nations. These trends were also fueled by inexpensive fossil energy, with low petroleum prices caused by increased oil production. Political stability and decreased militarization due to the winding down of the Cold War led to economic development and higher living standards for many citizens.
• Most of Europe enjoyed growing prosperity during the 1990s. However, problems including the massive 1995 general strikes in France following a recession and the difficulties associated with German reunification led to sluggish growth in these countries. However, the French and German economies improved in the latter half of the decade. Meanwhile, the economies of Spain, Scandinavia and former Eastern Bloc countries accelerated at rapid speed during the decade. Unemployment rates were low due to many having experienced a deep recession at the start of the decade.
• After the early 1990s recession, the United Kingdom and Ireland experienced rapid economic growth and falling unemployment that continued throughout the decade. Economic growth would continue until the Great Recession, marking the longest uninterrupted period of economic growth in history.
• Some Eastern European economies struggled after the fall of communism, but Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania saw economic growth in the late 1990s.
• With the creation of the
  1992 and 1995 free trade agreements
  .
  • The Euro is adopted by the European Union on 1 January 1999, which begins a process of phasing out the former national currencies of EU countries.^[40]

South America

• A Latin American common market, Mercosur, was established in 1991. Mercosur's origins are linked to the discussions for the constitution of a regional economic market for Latin America, which go back to the treaty that established the Latin American Free Trade Association in 1960, which was succeeded by the Latin American Integration Association in the 1980s.

Science and technology

Technology

The 1990s were a revolutionary decade for digital technology. Between 1990 and 1997, household PC ownership in the US rose from 15% to 35%.^[42] Cell phones of the early-1990s and earlier ones were very large, lacked extra features, and were used by only a few percent of the population of even the advanced nations. Only a few million people used online services in 1990, and the World Wide Web, which would have a significant impact on technology for many decades, had only just been invented. The first web browser went online in 1993.^[43] By 2001, more than 50% of some Western countries had Internet access, and more than 25% had cell phone access.

Electronics and communications

• On 6 August 1991, CERN, a pan-European organization for particle research, publicized the new World Wide Web project.^[44] Although the basic applications and guidelines that make the Internet possible had existed for almost two decades, the network did not gain a public face until the 1990s.
• Driven by mass adoption, consumer
  80486-class processor at the start of the popularization of the World Wide Web mid-decade,^[46] to over 1 GHz CPUs with close to a gigabyte
  of RAM by 2000.
• Y2K spread fear throughout the United States and eventually the world in the last half of the decade, particularly in 1999, about possible massive computer malfunctions on 1 January 2000. As a result, many people stocked up on supplies for fear of a worldwide disaster. After significant effort to upgrade systems on the part of software engineers, no failures occurred when the clocks rolled over into 2000.
• Advancements in computer modems, ISDN, cable modems, and DSL led to faster connections to the Internet.
• The
  first Pentium microprocessor is introduced and developed by the Intel Corporation
  .
• Email becomes popular; as a result, Microsoft acquires the popular Hotmail webmail service.
• AIM and ICQ
  are two early protocols.
• Businesses start to build
  Amazon.com, eBay, AOL, and Yahoo!
  grow rapidly.
• The introduction of affordable, smaller satellite dishes and the DVB-S standard in the mid-1990s expanded satellite television services that carried up to 500 television channels.
• The first MP3 player, the MPMan, is released in the late spring of 1998. It came with 32 MB of flash memory expandable to 64 MB. By the mid-2000s, the MP3 player would overtake the CD player in popularity.
• The first GSM network is launched in Finland in 1991.
• Digital single-lens reflex cameras and regular digital cameras become commercially available. They would replace film cameras by the mid-2000s.
• IBM introduces the 1-inch (25 mm) wide Microdrive hard drive in 170 MB and 340 MB capacities.
• Apple Computer in 1998 introduces the iMac all-in-one computer, initiating a trend in computer design towards translucent plastics and multicolour case design, discontinuing many legacy technologies like serial ports
  , and beginning a resurgence in the company's fortunes that continues to this day.
• CD burner drives are introduced.
• The CD-ROM drive became standard for most personal computers during the decade.
• The DVD media format is developed and popularized along with a plethora of Flash memory card standards in 1994.
• Pagers are initially popular but ultimately are replaced by mobile phones by the early-2000s.
• Hand-held satellite phones are introduced towards the end of the decade.
• The
  Desert Shield. Though CNN had been running 24-hour newscasts since 1980, it was not until the Gulf War that the general public took notice, and others imitated CNN's non-stop news approach.^[47]
• Portable CD players, introduced during the late 1980s, became very popular and profoundly impacted the music industry and youth culture during the 1990s.
• In 1992, Fujitsu introduced the world's first 21-inch (53 cm) full-color display plasma display television set.

• 
  A typical early 1990s personal computer.
• 
  An early portable CD player, a Sony Discman model D121.
• 
  Mobile phones gained massive popularity worldwide during the decade.
• 
  Pagers became widely popular.

Software

• Microsoft Windows operating systems become virtually ubiquitous on IBM PC compatibles.
• Microsoft introduces Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows 98 to the market, which gain immediate popularity.
• Macintosh System 7 was released in 1991. For much of the decade, Apple would struggle to develop a next-generation graphical operating system, starting with Copland and culminating in its December 1996 buyout of NeXT and the 1999 release of Mac OS X Server 1.0.
• The development of web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer makes surfing the World Wide Web easier and more user-friendly.
• The Java programming language is developed by Sun Microsystems (later acquired by Oracle in 2009–2010).
• In 1991, development of the free Linux kernel is started by 21-year-old Linus Torvalds in Finland.
• SolidWorks computer-aided design software for Windows released in 1995.
• Macromedia Shockwave Player for multimedia in browsers released in 1995.
• Winamp media player first released 1997.
• QuickTime media player created 1991.

Rail transportation

The opening of the Channel Tunnel between France and the United Kingdom saw the commencement by the three national railway companies of Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom, respectively SNCB/NMBS, SNCF and British Rail of the joint Eurostar service.

On 14 November 1994 Eurostar services began between Waterloo International station in London, Gare du Nord in Paris and Brussels South in Brussels.^[48][49][50] In 1995 Eurostar was achieving an average end-to-end speed of 171.5 km/h (106.6 mph) between London and Paris.^[51] On 8 January 1996 Eurostar launched services from a second railway station in the UK when Ashford International was opened.^[52] Journey times between London and Brussels were reduced by the opening of the High Speed 1 line on 14 December 1997.

Automobiles

The 1990s began with a recession that dampened car sales. General Motors suffered huge losses because of an inefficient structure, stale designs, and poor quality. Sales improved with the economy by the mid-1990s, but GM's US market share gradually declined to less than 40% (from a peak of 50% in the 1970s). While the new Saturn division fared well, Oldsmobile fell sharply, and attempts to remake the division as a European-style luxury car were unsuccessful.

Cars in the 1990s had a rounder, more streamlined shape than those from the 1970s and 1980s; this style would continue early into the 2000s and to a lesser extent later on.

• Physicists develop M-theory.
• Detection of
  extrasolar planets orbiting stars
  other than the Sun.
• In the United Kingdom, the first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep was confirmed by the Roslin Institute, and was reported by global media on 26 February 1997. Dolly would trigger a raging controversy on cloning, and bioethical concerns regarding possible human cloning continue to this day.^[53]
• Human Genome Project begins under the leadership of Francis Collins.
• DNA identification of individuals finds wide application in criminal law. Brazil, United States, United Kingdom, Russia and The Netherlands established their own national DNA database.
• Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 and revolutionized astronomy. Unfortunately, a flaw in its main mirror caused it to produce fuzzy, distorted images. This was corrected by a Space Shuttle repair mission in 1993.
• HAART
  therapy against HIV; drastically reduces AIDS mortality.
• 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 in April 1997.
• Development of biodegradable products, replacing products made from polystyrene foam; advances in methods for recycling of waste products (such as paper, glass, and aluminum).
• Genetically engineered crops are developed for commercial use.
• Discovery of dark matter, dark energy, brown dwarfs, and first confirmation of black holes.
• The Galileo probe orbits Jupiter, studying the planet and its moons extensively.
• Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 (formally designated D/1993 F2, nicknamed String of Pearls for its appearance) was a comet that broke apart and collided with Jupiter in July 1994, providing the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of Solar System objects.
• The Global Positioning System (GPS) becomes fully operational.
• Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem is discovered by Andrew Wiles.
• Construction started in 1998 on the International Space Station.

Society

The 1990s represented continuing social liberalization in most countries, coupled with an increase in the influence of capitalism, which would continue until the Great Recession of the late 2000s/early 2010s.

• extreme sports
  and outdoor activities that combined embracing athletics with the appreciation of nature.
• In 1990 the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of diseases.^[54] Increasing acceptance of openly homosexual people occurred in the western world, slowly starting in the early 1990s,^[55] Biphobia towards bisexual men became somewhat fashionable amongst heterosexual women and gay men, while lesbians and bisexual women complained of being commodified by publishing and film industries to cater to heterosexual men.
• Following the murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer by a stalker, America's first anti-stalking laws, including California Penal Code 646.9 were passed in 1990. California also passed the first cyberstalking law in 1999 (§646.9 of the California Penal Code).
• Transdisciplinarity in academia. The 1st World Congress of Transdisciplinarity, Convento da Arrabida, was in Portugal, November 1994.
• Child abduction warnings on emergency broadcasting systems, such as
  Amber Alerts
  became standard in such cases.
• Midlife crisis is a major concern in domestic violence, social implications and suicides for middle-aged adults in the 1990s.
• Aggressive marketing tactics for
  psychoactive drugs and used to treat ADHD
  , inappropriate prescribing by doctors.

The 1989 EPA total ban on asbestos was overturned in 1991.^[58]

In 1996, (Anderson, et al. v. Pacific Gas & Electric, file BCV 00300) alleged contamination of drinking water with hexavalent chromium and the case was settled for (US) $333 million, a new record for a direct-action lawsuit.

Third-wave feminism

• Anita Hill and other women testify before the United States Congress on being sexually harassed by Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Thomas was narrowly confirmed by the United States Senate, but Hill's testimony, and the testimony of other harassed women, begins a national debate on the issue.
• Record numbers of women are elected to high office in the United States in 1992, the "Year of the Woman."
• Violence against women takes centre stage as an essential issue internationally. The Violence Against Women Act was passed in the United States, which greatly affected the world community through the United Nations. The law's author, Joe Biden, UN Ambassador and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Hillary Clinton (see below) have become vocal advocates of action against violence against women.
• Women reach great heights of power in the United States government. Hillary Clinton, leading policy proposals, traveling abroad as a State Department representative to 82 nations, advising her husband, and being elected a
  Air Force, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg joins Sandra Day O'Connor as the second woman on the U.S. Supreme Court
  .
• More nations than ever before are led by elected women Presidents and Prime Ministers. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's 1988 victory in Pakistan makes great strides for women leaders in Muslim states. In Turkey, Tansu Çiller became the first female prime minister in 1993.
• In popular culture, British pop group the
  Girl Power!", while country music superstar Shania Twain declared female supremacy in her 1995 hit song "Any Man of Mine
  ."

Marketing campaigns aimed at young adults in wealthy English-Speaking Countries were informed by unscientific theories about selling to so-called Generation X and Baby boomers. Few people embraced the labels Generation X and Baby Boomer as self-descriptors. Films with characters depicting the Generation X stereotype included Slacker, The Brady Bunch Movie and Austin Powers.

Substance abuse

• In Western countries, Fashion and Music magazines embrace heroin chic.
• Peak in numbers of heroin overdose deaths.
• An estimated fifty percent of deaths of 15-54 in post-Soviet Russia are blamed on alcohol abuse.^[59]
• More restrictions on tobacco advertising in some countries.

Slavery and human trafficking

See: History of slavery, Global Slavery Index, Slavery in contemporary Africa, Slavery in Asia, Debt bondage in India, Child labour in Pakistan, Sex trafficking in China, Nike sweatshops

• Pakistan

Pakistan's government passed laws to end caste based slavery: - 1992 Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act. - 1995 Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Rules.

Civil rights

• Saudi Arabia: Women to drive movement. 6 November 1990, 47 Saudi women in Riyadh protested Saudi government's ban on women drivers.
• United States: 1992 Rosa Parks: My Story, the autobiography of Rosa Parks is published.

Additional significant events

• Worldwide New Year's Eve celebrations on December 31, 1999, welcoming the year 2000.

Europe

• 1991 –
  January Events (Lithuania) – Soviet Union military troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius
  , killing 14 people and wounding 1000.
• In Paris,
  Dodi Al-Fayed, were killed in a car accident in August 1997, when their chauffeured, hired Mercedes-Benz S-Class crashed in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel. The chauffeur, Henri Paul, died at the scene, as did Al-Fayed. Diana and an Al-Fayed bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, survived the accident. The Princess of Wales died at a Paris hospital hours later. The bodyguard, Rees-Jones, is the sole survivor of the now infamous accident.^[60]
• Mother Teresa, the Roman Catholic nun who won the Nobel Peace Prize, dies at age 87.^[61]
• The birth of the "Second Republic" in Italy, with the
  Mani Pulite
  investigations of 1994.
• The Channel Tunnel across the English Channel opens in 1994, connecting France and England. As of 2022^[update] it is the third-longest rail tunnel in the world, but with the undersea section of 37.9 km (23.5 mi) being the longest undersea tunnel in the world.
• The resignation of President Boris Yeltsin on 31 December 1999 resulted in Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's succession to the position.

North America

• Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 13 people and then themselves during the Columbine High School shooting in April 1999, which would inspire a number of future school shooters to commit similar offenses.
• Ronald Goldman
  .
• With help from clinical
  septuplets
  in 1997. There followed a media frenzy and widespread support for the family.
• Lauren Bessette are killed when Kennedy's private plane crashes off the coast of Martha's Vineyard
  in July 1999.
• Debate on assisted suicide, highly publicized by Michigan doctor Jack Kevorkian, surfaces when Kevorkian is charged with multiple counts of homicide of his terminally ill patients through the decade.
• Beer keg registration becomes a popular public policy in the United States.
• The 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' purported discovery of the Americas in 1992 was popularly observed in the United States, despite controversy and protests against the victimization of Native Americans by Columbus' expeditions. The holiday was labeled by some as racist, in view of Native American experiences of colonialism, slavery, genocide, and cultural destruction.
• gay. This sparks intense national and international media attention and outrage. Shepard becomes a major symbol in the LGBT rights movement and the fight against homophobia. Claims of crystal methamphetamine related "meth rage" as a contributing factor in the crime surfaced in 2013.^[62]
• Toni Lawrence. According to Loveless, she was jealous of her former partner Amanda Heavrin's relationship with Sharer Sharer.^{[citation needed}
  ]
• Kristen French. Karla told the investigators that she reluctantly did what Paul told her to do because he was abusive, and was given a plea deal
  . She was sentenced to 12 years in prison (10 years for Mahaffy and French, and two years for Tammy). Later, investigators discovered the crime videotapes, proving that Karla was a willing participant. But by that time the deal had already been made. In 1995, Paul was sentenced to life in prison. Karla was released from prison in 2005.
• Polly Klaas (January 3, 1981 – October 1993) was kidnapped by Richard Allen Davis
  from her home during a slumber party. She was later strangled to death. After her death, her father, Marc Klaas, established the KlaasKids Foundation.
• Jonbenet Ramsey (August 6, 1990 – December 25, 1996) was a child beauty pageant contestant who was missing and found dead in her Boulder, Colorado
  , home. The crime terrified the nation and the world. Her parents were initially considered to be suspects in her death but were cleared in 2003 when DNA from her clothes was tested. To this day, her murderer has not been found and brought to justice.
• Lorena Bobbitt was charged with malicious wounding for severing her husband John Bobbitt's penis after she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Bobbitt, for which he was charged. Both parties were acquitted of their respective crimes. The story was notable because of the use of Microsurgery
  to re-attach the man's penis.
• hitman
  to kill the mother of her daughter's junior high school cheerleading rival.
• American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor John Denver died in a plane crash in Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove on October 12, 1997.
• Scandal rocked the sport of
  gold medal
  .
• all-white jury in a police brutality case involving motorist Rodney King
  . In 1993, all four officers were convicted in a federal civil rights case.

• Massive immigration wave of Jews from the Commonwealth of Independent States to Israel – With the end of the Soviet Union, Israel faced a mass influx of Russian Jews, many of whom had high expectations the country was unable to meet. Israel also came under an Iraqi missile attack during the Gulf War but acquiesced to US pressure not to retaliate militarily, which could have disrupted the US-Arab alliance. The US and Netherlands then rushed anti-missile batteries to Israel to defend the country against missile attacks.
• The Spratly Islands issue became one of the most controversial islands in Southeast Asia.
• The closing Mass of the X
  record gathering
  of the Roman Catholic Church.
• The Philippines celebrates the 100th anniversary of Philippine Independence in 1998 with its theme: "Kalayaan: Kayamanan ng Bayan."

Popular culture

• 
  The

  Super Nintendo and N64 (pictured) were a hit in the 1990s. Video games like Super Mario World and 64, Sonic The Hedgehog, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Donkey Kong Country, Goldeneye 007, Final Fantasy VII, Tekken 3, Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro The Dragon, Metal Gear Solid, Half-Life, and Doom

  were all popular.
• 
  The Dreamcast (Sega's final video game console) launched in Japan in 1998, and launched in North America and Europe the following year. The system saw the release of games like Sonic Adventure and Soulcalibur.
• 
  Popular cartoons of the 1990s included Doug, Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy, Beavis and Butt-Head, Daria, Arthur, Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, The Simpsons, Pokémon, Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Batman: The Animated Series, and The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat.
• 
  TV shows like Seinfeld, Frasier, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Friends, The X-Files, ER, Beverly Hills, 90210, Mr. Bean, Home Improvement, Baywatch, Cops, Wings, and Law & Order were popular in the 1990s.
• 
  Grunge was a genre of music and subculture popular in the 1990s, as modeled here by Krist Novoselic (left) and Kurt Cobain of the band Nirvana, one of the most influential bands of the decade. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains were also popular bands of this genre.
• 
  Technological advancements like the internet, personal computers, and the World Wide Web were popular in the 1990s. The Y2K bug in the late 1990s affected popular culture. Y2K was a computer bug occurring when computers switched from the years 1999 to 2000, some computers reset to 1900.
• 
  Crystal Pepsi was a popular drink in the 1990s, which was re-released for a limited run in the summer of 2016. Drinks like Surge released in 1997 and were also popular in the 1990s.
• 
  In the 1990s videotapes were used for personal home video recordings and recording television airings. VHS tapes could be put in devices such as VCRs, which were popular in the decade.
• 
  Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow released in the late 1990s, which launched the globally popular Pokémon franchise, pictured above the GameBoy cartridges.
• 
  Five Olympic Games were held in the 1990s, Albertville and Barcelona in 1992, Lillehammer in 1994, Atlanta in 1996 and Nagano in 1998 (all held in the post-Cold War decade).
• 
  The "Disney Renaissance" of the 1990s produced critically and commercially successful animated films like the first ever CGI motion picture Toy Story (produced with Pixar), and traditionally animated films such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King, later it was adapted into live-action remakes.
• 
  US President Bill Clinton merged with popular culture in the 1990s. Bill Clinton played saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show, and the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal made TV headlines in 1998.
• 
  Shibuya became Tokyo's popular youth hangout in the 1990s, part of the Heisei Power cultural movement during the Lost Decades in Japan.
• 
  Popular computing softwares like Windows 95 and 98 by Microsoft defined 1990s aesthetics.
• 
  In the 1990s crime and spy comedy films were extremely popular like Wild at Heart, Hana-bi, Pulp Fiction, L.A. Confidential, New Jack City, Boyz n the Hood, Goodfellas, and the Austin Powers film series.
• 
  The 1990s saw the use of earlier internet search engines, such as Google in its infancy, JumpStation, Ask.com, and AltaVista.
• 
  In the 1990s

  The Spice Girls

  gained popularity. These bands are among the highest selling girl groups of all time.

Film

Live-action films

Dogme 95 became an important European artistic motion picture movement by the decade's end. Also in 1998, Titanic by director James Cameron (released in late 1997) became the highest-grossing film of all time, grossing over $1.8 billion worldwide. It would hold this record for over a decade until 2010 when James Cameron's Avatar (released in December 2009), took the title.^[64]

Live-action films featuring computer-animated characters became popular, with films such as Casper, James and the Giant Peach, 101 Dalmatians, Men in Black, Small Soldiers and Stuart Little proving financially successful. Live-action/traditional cel animated film featuring traditional characters like Cool World, The Pagemaster and Space Jam were prevalent as well.

Animated films

In 1994, former Disney employee

Meanwhile, films by Pixar's parent company, Disney became popular once more when the studio returned to making family-oriented animated musical films. Disney Animation was navigating the "Disney Renaissance", through both animated theatrical films and animated television series on the Disney Channel (owned by Walt Disney Television). The "Disney Renaissance" began with The Little Mermaid in 1989 and ended with Tarzan in 1999. Films of this era include Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Mulan.

Japanese anime films remained popular throughout the 1990s with the release of Studio Ghibli films such as Only Yesterday, Porco Rosso, Pom Poko, Whisper of the Heart, Princess Mononoke (which became the highest-grossing anime film at the time) and My Neighbors the Yamadas. Other significant anime films which gained cult status include Roujin Z, Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama, Patlabor 2: The Movie, Ninja Scroll, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Ghost in the Shell, Memories, The End of Evangelion, Perfect Blue, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, and the Pokémon film series, which started with Pokémon: The First Movie.

Other significant animated films have also gained cult status, such as

In India,Shah Rukh Khan got rise in his stardom by Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dil To Pagal Hai.

Award winners

Highest-grossing

The 25 highest-grossing films of the decade are:^[85]

Music

Music artists and genres

Whitney Houston (left), Celine Dion (center) and Mariah Carey (right) were three of the highest-selling and popular female musical artists of the decade.

Music marketing became more segmented in the 1990s, as

Graffiti murals of Tupac Shakur (left) and The Notorious B.I.G. (right), two significant cultural figures throughout the 1990s who helped popularize the genre of gangsta rap.

Rappers

1994 became a breakthrough year for punk rock in California, with the success of bands like Bad Religion, Social Distortion, Blink-182, Green Day, the Offspring, Rancid and similar groups following. This success would continue to grow over the next decade. The 1990s also became the most important decade for ska punk/reggae rock, with the success of many bands like Smash Mouth, Buck-O-Nine, Goldfinger, Less Than Jake, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Murphy's Law, No Doubt, Reel Big Fish, Save Ferris, Sublime and Sugar Ray.

The

Blur (left) and Oasis (right) became some of the most internationally popular Britpop bands of the decade.

In the United Kingdom, the alternative rock

The Tibetan Freedom Concert, organized by Beastie Boys and the Milarepa Fund, brought 120,000 people together in the interest of increased human rights and autonomy for Tibet from China.

Controversies

Controversy surrounded the Prodigy with the release of the track "Smack My Bitch Up". The National Organization for Women (NOW) claimed that the track was "advocating violence against women" due to the song's lyrics, which are themselves sampled from Ultramagnetic MCss' Give the Drummer Some. The music video (directed by Jonas Åkerlund) featured a first-person POV of someone going clubbing, indulging in drugs and alcohol, getting into fist fights, abusing women and picking up a prostitute. At the end of the video, the camera pans over to a mirror, revealing the subject to be a woman.

Deaths of artists

Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain, Selena, Eazy-E, Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. were the most publicized music-related deaths of the decade, in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997 respectively. Richey Edwards of Manic Street Preachers was publicized in the media in 1991 following an incident involving Steve Lamacq backstage after a live show, in which Edwards carved '4 Real' into his arm. Edwards' disappearance in 1995 was highly publicized. He is still missing but was presumed dead in 2008.

Television

Main article:

1990s in television

Comedies and sitcoms

and others.

Drama shows

1993 saw the debut of the

Jake and The Fatman

Medical dramas started to come into television in the 1990s. In 1994, ER, which originally starred Anthony Edwards, Noah Wyle and George Clooney, was a domestic and international success, lasting until 2009 and spawned similar series such as Grey's Anatomy (2005–present). It made NBC the most-watched channel in the United States. This show launched the career of George Clooney. That same year, Chicago Hope, that starred Héctor Elizondo, Mandy Patinkin and Adam Arkin, was also a popular series for CBS, lasting between 1994 and 2000.

Crime drama and police detective shows returned to the spotlight after soap operas died down. After the successful debuts of Law & Order, NYPD Blue, Homicide: Life on the Street, Fox debuted New York Undercover, which starred Malik Yoba and Micheal DeLorenzo, is notable for featuring two people of color in the main roles. Nash Bridges, a comeback vehicle for Don Johnson, lasting six seasons (1996–2001), dealt with escapist entertainment instead of tackling social issues.^[107]

Beverly Hills, 90210 ran on Fox from 1990 to 2000. It established the teen soap genre, paving the way for Dawson's Creek, Felicity, Party of Five, and other shows airing later in the decade. The show was then remade and renamed simply 90210 and premiered in 2008. Beverly Hills, 90210, and its spin-off Melrose Place also became a popular TV show throughout the 1990s. Baywatch became the most-watched TV show in history ^{[citation needed]} and influenced pop culture.

Sex and the City's portrayal of relationships and sexuality caused controversy and acclaim, leading to a new generation of sexually progressive television shows in the 2000s.

Other television shows and genres

Fantasy and science fiction shows were popular on television, with NBC airing

Significant fashion trends of the 1990s include:

• Earth and jewel tones, as well as an array of minimalist style and design influences, characterize the 1990s, a stark contrast to the camp and bombast seen in the brightly colored fashion and design trends of the 1980s.
• The Rachel, Jennifer Aniston's hairstyle on the hit TV show Friends
  , became a cultural phenomenon, with millions of women copying it worldwide.
• The
  African-Americans
  in the early 1990s.
• The Curtained Haircut increased in popularity in fashion and culture among teenage boys and young men in the 1990s, mainly after it was popularized in the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day by the actor Edward Furlong.
• The model 1300 Wonderbra style has a resurgence of popularity in Europe in 1992, which kicks off an international media sensation, the 1994 return of "The Wonderbra" brand, and a spike in the push-up, plunge bras around the world.
• Additional fashion trends of the 1990s include the
  Pogs and Dr. Martens
  shoes.
• Bleached-blond hair became very popular in the late 1990s, as were men with short hair with the bangs "flipped up."
• The 1990s also saw the return of the 1970s teenage female fashion with long, straight hair and denim hot pants.
• Beverly Hills, 90210 sideburns also became popular in the early and mid-1990s.
• Slap bracelets were a popular fad among children, preteens, and teenagers in the early 1990s and were available in a wide variety of patterns and colors. Also popular among children were light-up sneakers, jelly shoes, and shoelace hair clips.
• The Grunge hype at the beginning of the decade popularized flannel shirts among both genders during the 1990s.
• Heroin chic appeared sporadically across film, fashion models and grunge music, but gave way by end of the US recession and the emergence of internet "geek" culture (a sassy tech-literate style centered on web searching and drinking coffee).
• Grunge- and
  hip-hop-inspired anti-fashion saw an expansion of the slouchy, casual styles of past decades, mostly seen in baggy and distressed jeans, cargo shorts and pants, baseball caps (often worn backward), chunky sneakers, oversized sweatshirts, and loose-fitting tees with grandiloquent graphics and logos
  .
• Svelte fashion was also popular from the beginning of the 1990s and into the 2000s, as the new millennium began. The rivalry of sloppy grunge fashion versus more expensive clothing made for fitter bodies was a repeat of the rock versus disco rivalry of a decade ago. Nineties fashion became darker, slinkier, and more futuristic-looking clothing in the late 1990s, with Keanu Reeves in The Matrix as a style icon.
• Tattoos and piercings became part of the mainstream aesthetic. American model Christy Turlington revealed her belly button piercing at a fashion show in London in 1993. In the late 1990s, some females got lower back tattoos and men opted for tribal style arm bands or back pieces.

• 
  Tamagotchi and Furby were popular iconic toys among children around the world in the 1990s, also in the 2000s
• 
  Pogs

  was a popular street game among children around the world during the decade
• 
  Grunge-style fashion became a trend in the 1990s, modeled here by teen actor Jonathan Brandis
• 
  Boots like Timberlands and Dr. Martens became popular. Hiking, motorcyclist and safety boots were all part of the general trend towards grunge fashion in footwear
• 
  Will Smith donning a Hi-top fade in 1993, a popular hairstyle of the early decade
• 
  Paula Abdul modeling a semi-transparent black dress, curled hair and smoky eye makeup at the 62nd Academy Awards in 1990
• 
  Jane Leeves sporting a slip dress in 1995
• 
  Example of late 1990s

  goth fashion

Video games

Video game consoles

Arcade games rapidly decreased in popularity, mainly due to the dominance of handheld and home consoles.^[108]

Video games

Mario as Nintendo's mascot finds a rival in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1991. Sonic the Hedgehog would go on to become one of the most successful video game franchises of the decade and of all time.

Notable video games of the 1990s include:

Sony's PlayStation becomes the top-selling video game console and changes the standard media storage type from cartridges to compact discs (CDs) in home consoles. Crash Bandicoot is released on September 9, 1996, becoming one of the most successful platforming series for the Sony PlayStation. Spyro The Dragon, released on September 9, 1998, also became a successful platforming series. Tomb Raider's Lara Croft became a video game sex symbol, becoming one of the most recognizable figures in the entertainment industry throughout the late 1990s.

Resident Evil is released in 1996 and Resident Evil 2. Both games became the most highly acclaimed survival-horror series on the PlayStation at the time it was released. It is credited with defining the survival horror genre and with returning zombies to popular culture, leading to a renewed interest in zombie films by the 2000s.

Video game genres

3D graphics become the standard by the decade's end. Although FPS games had long since seen the transition to full 3D, other genres began to copy this trend by the end of the decade. The most notable first shooter games in the 1990s are GoldenEye 007 and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six.

The violent nature of fighting games like

The real-time strategy (RTS) genre is introduced in 1992 with the release of Dune II. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) popularizing the genre, and Command & Conquer and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1995, setting up the first major real-time strategy competition and popularizing multiplayer capabilities in RTS games. StarCraft in 1998 becomes the second best-selling computer game of all time. It remains among the most popular multiplayer RTS games today, especially in South Korea. ^{[citation needed]} Homeworld in 1999 becomes the first successful 3D RTS game. The rise of the RTS genre is often credited with the fall of the turn-based strategy (TBS) genre, popularized with Civilization in 1991. Final Fantasy was introduced (in North America) in 1990 for the NES and remains among the most popular video game franchises, with many new titles to date and more in development, plus numerous spin-offs, sequels, films and related titles. Final Fantasy VII, released in 1997, especially popularized the series.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) see their entrance with Ultima Online in 1997. However, they do not gain widespread popularity until EverQuest and Asheron's Call in 1999. MMORPGs become among the most popular video game genres until the 2010s.

The best-selling games of the 1990s are listed below (note that some sources disagree on particular years):

• 1990: Super Mario World^[109]
• 1991: Sonic the Hedgehog^[109]
• 1992: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins^[109]
• 1993: Super Mario All-Stars^[109]
• 1994: Donkey Kong Country^[109]
• 1995:
  Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island^[109] or Mortal Kombat 3^[110]
• 1996:
  Pokémon Red and Blue^[109] or Super Mario 64^[110]
• 1997: Gran Turismo^[109] or Mario Kart 64^[110]
• 1998:
  Pokémon Yellow^[109] or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time^[110]
• 1999: Pokémon Gold and Silver^[109] or Donkey Kong 64^[110]

• 
  Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) released in 1990 and is the successor to the Nintendo Entertainment System
• 
  The European PAL version of the Mega Drive launched in 1990, later becoming the highest-selling fourth-gen console in Europe.
• 
  Nintendo's Game Boy was a popular handheld game console during the 1990s.
• 
  The Atari Jaguar released in 1993, becoming part Fifth-gen of video game consoles.
• 
  The Nintendo 64 was released in 1996. Super Mario 64 was the best-selling game of the decade.
• 
  The

  best-selling gaming console

  of its time.
• 
  The game Tomb Raider, launched in 1996, became particularly popular during the decade and as a result Lara Croft's character eventually became a cultural icon in the video game industry
• 
  Private

  LAN parties

  were at the peak of their popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s when broadband Internet access was unavailable or too expensive for most people