History & Politics | Music | Television | Movies | Sports
Let’s get this decade started! Choose from the links above to jump directly to your area of interest or scroll down the page and enjoy all that 1990 had to offer from current events to music, TV, movies and sports.
The operative word for 1990 was change. It was a new decade and with it came change across many fronts. Mandela is released from prison, Gorbachev is elected to lead the Soviet Union, the Hubble Telescope is launched and the World Wide Web is created. It was a new world on the way to new places. New technologies and freedoms would change the shape of society worldwide.
Strike a pose, cuz you can’t touch this . . . year.
• Manuel Noriega surrenders to U.S. forces after acting as dictator of Panama for 5 years. • Time Inc and Warner Communications, two of the largest media companies in the world merge to create giant Time Warner. • Flamboyant political figure and mayor of Washington D.C. Marion Barry is arrested for possession of crack cocaine in an F.B.I. sting set up in a D.C. hotel room. • South African freedom fighter and political leader Nelson Mandela is released from prison after being kept behind bars for 27 due to his tireless work to end apartheid. • East and West Germany end decades of political separation when they are finally reunified and Germany is once again a whole country. • Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the president of the Soviet Union, ushering in an era of change that would see the end of Communist Party rule. Gorbachev would go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize later that year. • The Hubble Space Telescope, an orbital observatory capable of peering into the farthest reaches of space, is launched aboard the space shuttle Discovery and begins operation. • The nation of Iraq invades Kuwait, setting off the events that will culminate in the first Gulf War. The United States is quick to respond, leading a U.N. coalition force into the region and defeating Iraq to end the occupation. • Controversial British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigns. She is replaced by Conservative leader John Major, who would lead the country for the next 7 years. • The World Wide Web is created, along with the first ever web page and web browser. • The Chunnel, a tunnel linking the island of Great Britain to mainland France, completes its initial construction phase, with workers from each country meeting underneath the English Channel for the first time. • Notorious leader of the Gambino crime family John Gotti is arrested and charged with racketeering, murder and a host of other criminal activities. • An enormous earthquake, measuring 7.7 on the Richter Scale hits the Philippines, killing 1,600 people. • The first McDonald’s restaurant opens in Moscow, becoming for many a symbol of the nation's new progressive free market ideology. |
Nelson Mandela is release from prison after 27 years Mikhail Gorbachev is elected president of the Soviet Union John Gotti, leader of the Gambino crime family, is arrested |
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Mr. Bean (1990-1995) |
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Twin Peaks (1990-1991) |
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Law and Order (1990-present) |
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America’s Funniest Home Videos (1990-present) |
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Beverly Hills 90210 (1990-2000) |
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Cheers (1982-1993) |
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Murphy Brown (1988-1998) |
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Roseanne (1988-1997) |
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Dances With Wolves |
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Home Alone |
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Pretty Woman |
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The Hunt For Red October |
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
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Kindergarten Cop |
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Ghost |
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Wild at Heart |
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Days of Thunder |
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Dick Tracy |
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Total Recall |
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Awakenings |
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Goodfellas |
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Pump Up The Volume |
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Arachnophobia |
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Die Hard 2: Die Harder |
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Jacob’s Ladder |
• Derrick Cope wins the Daytona 500 but Dale Earnhardt takes the overall NASCAR Winston Cup Championship • The Cincinnati Reds take all four games of the World Series against the Oakland A’s. • The Edmonton Oilers with their 5th Stanley Cup in 6 years by handily defeating the Boston Bruins in the playoff finals. • Arie Luyendyk takes the checkered flag at the Brickyard to win the Indianapolis 500 for the first time. • The Detroit Pistons crush the Chicago Bulls in the final game of the playoffs to win their second straight NBA title. • Mike Tyson loses his Heavyweight boxing title to James Buster Douglas in a surprising result that shocks fans of the sport. • Martina Navratilova takes the Women’s title at Wimbledon for a record nineth time, while Stefan Edberg reigns as the Men’s champion. • Unbridled, a very successful thoroughbred wins the Kentucky Derby along with the Breeder’s Cup Classic. • Nick Faldo wins the prestigious Masters Tournament in golf but charismatic Australian Greg Norman walks away with the PGA Tour’s overall money lead. • The San Francisco 49’s score 55 points – the most ever by a single team in Super Bowl History – to win Super Bowl XXIV over the Denver Broncos. • Popular Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna wins his second Formula 1 driver’s championship. |
Ron Dibbler celebrates the Cincinnati Reds’ World Series sweep James Buster Douglas knocks out Mike Tyson |