1990's Events and Timelines: All the 411 about 1995

History & Politics | Music | Television | Movies | Sports

With the decade half over, 1995 did not leave us "High and Dry." It came to bat and has us all Waiting to Exhale.

Technology was again at the forefront as Internet giants Yahoo! and eBay came into existence. Not only could you search the Web and find virtually anything, now you could also sell all your old crap while you bid on other’s discarded treasures.

TV had us all going MAD ("He looka like a man!") while we watched oddball characters like Ren & Stimpy. Blossom taught us how to wear floppy (and in retrospect, ugly) hats with big flowers on them while Cher and Dionne schooled us on how to wear plaid skirts in Clueless.

The movies took us to the moon with Apollo 13 and into the secret world of toys

with Disney’s animated hit Toy Story. They also gave us a peak into the lives of Hackers and the mind of a sadistic killer in Se7en. (Do you know what is in the box?)

Don’t dismiss this middle year or give it the "Run-Around," ‘cuz it wasn’t just "Good," it was "Boombastic!"

HISTORY & POLITICS

• The World Trade Organization comes into being, an event that would lead to protests and

controversy around the world on the part of citizens concerned about the economic ramifications of streamlined global trade.

• Kevin Mitnick, a notorious computer hacker, is finally captured by the FBI.

• Close to 6,500 people are killed when an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale

strikes the city of Kobe in Japan.

• Steve Fosset flies across the Pacific Ocean in a hot air balloon, taking off in South Korea

and landing in Saskatchewan, Canada.

• Barings Bank, the oldest investment bank based in the United Kingdom is brought down

through the actions of a single broker in the Tokyo Stock Exchange that incur over 1 billion dollars in losses.

• Yahoo!, the popular search engine, web directory and email service is founded by Jerry

Wang and David Filo.

• 168 people are murdered by domestic terrorists in Oklahoma City when a bomb destroys

a significant portion of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

• 11.5 billion dollars in damage occur and 100 lives are lost as 11 hurricanes pound the

Atlantic coast in one of the busiest storm seasons on record.

• eBay, another giant of internet commerce comes into being as an online auction house.

• The Million Man March reaches the Capitol Buildings in Washington, D.C. The March

consisted of black men and was organized in order to address the concerns regarding national social problems and voter apathy.

• Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, is assassinated. Rabin had won the Nobel Peace

Prize for his efforts in reducing the violence in the Middle East the year before.

Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building is destroyed and 168 people lose their life during the Oklahoma City bombing

Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building is destroyed & 165 lose their life in the Oklahoma City bombing.

Yahoo! and eBay, two Internet giants, are founded

Yahoo! and eBay, two Internet giants, are founded.

Steve Fosset flies across the Pacific Ocean in a hot air balloon

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MUSIC

• Gangsta’s Paradise – Coolio
• You Are Not Alone – Michael Jackson
• Boombastic – Shaggy
• Buddy Holly – Weezer
• Lightning Crashes – Live
• Connection – Elastica
• Creep – TLC
• You Oughta Know – Alanis Morissette
• This Is A Call – Foo Fighters
• This Is How We Do It – Montell Jordan
• Kiss From A Rose – Seal
• Macarena – Los del Rio
• Good – Better Than Ezra
• Missing – Everything But The Girl
• Run-Around – Blues Traveler
• Wonderwall – Oasis
• When I Come Around – Green Day
• Fantasy – Mariah Carey
• Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?– Bryan Adams
• Any Man Of Mine – Shania Twain
• One Of Us – Joan Osborne
• High And Dry – Radiohead
• Shook Ones Pt. II – Mobb Deep
• Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing – Chris Isaak
• It’s Oh So Quiet – Björk
• Only Happy When It Rains – Garbage
• Bullet with Butterfly Wings – Smashing Pumpkins

Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill

Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

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TELEVISION

	NewsRadio With Phil Hartman, Andy Dick and Dave Foley in the cast, this sitcom about the daily operations of a radio station kept audiences in stitches.

	JAG An unlikely drama concerning the legal proceedings of the U.S. Navy, JAG proved to have ten years of staying power in prime time.

	The Drew Carey Show The geeky comedian’s own half hour of musings of the average guy trapped in an average job.

	MADtv Although it was critically savaged, FOX’s answer to Saturday Night Live is still going strong today more than a decade after it hit late night television with its unique brand of sketch comedy.

	Star Trek: Voyager With a female captain and a ship trapped far from home, this iteration of the Star Trek franchise captured a new flock of viewers in the wake of the cancellation of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

	Blossom A show about a teenage girl dealing with an overdose of testosterone in the form of two brothers and a single father that also introduced Joey Lawrence as a hunky bad boy.

	Ricki Lake Daytime talk got a little bit trashier as this would-be competitor to Oprah did its best to book the most scandalous and ridiculous guests possible.

	Ren & Stimpy Oddball animation and a sense for the absurd highlighted this cartoon favorite that certainly wasn’t directed at kids.

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MOVIES

	GoldenEye Starring Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Famke Janssen The first Bond film with Brosnan in the title role and the first female M marks the series’ return to chronicling the world’s most famous British Secret Service agent.

	Batman Forever Starring Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey The Dark Knight returns to face two new villains and gains a sidekick in the character of Robin to help him in his eternal fight against crime.

	Apollo 13 Starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton Historical drama that tells the tale of American astronauts in the late 60’s who find their journey to the moon interrupted by technical failure. Only their ingenuity and resourcefulness allow them to safely return home again.

	Jumanji Starring Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst and Bonnie Hunt A board game becomes a portal into a land of fantasy in this family film with a twisting, turning plot and a strong moral message.

	Pocahontas Starring Mel Gibson, Irene Devard and John Kassir An animated take on the life and times of Native American princess Pocahontas, as produced by Disney.

	Casper Starring Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman and Eric Idle Combining computer graphics and live action, the story of everyone’s favorite friendly ghost is brought to life in a modern setting.

	Toy Story Starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Don Rickles Once again computer animation would rule the day, this time in story from Pixar about the secret life of toys that would stun audiences with its incredibly sophisticated technical wizardry.

	Se7en Starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey A dark thriller in which two detectives race against time to discover who is murdering seemingly random victims using methods based on the seven deadly sins.

	Before Sunrise Starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy An independent film that covers a 24 period in which two twenty-somethings discover each other and themselves in Vienna before going their separate ways forever.

	Dangerous Minds Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, George Dzundza and Robin Bartlett A former Marine becomes a teacher in a tough school and must win her way into the hearts of her students before they become prey to their own lifestyles.

	Clueless Starring Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd A modern day, super-rich, Valley-Girl-esque take on Jane Austin’s Emma that paved the way for 90s fashion trends like short skirts and chunky-heeled shoes.

	Desperado Starring Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and Steve Buscemi Action film from director Robert Rodriguez that would help establish him as one of the hottest young names in Hollywood.

	Don Juan DeMarco Starring Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway Depp steps into his role as a modern-day Don Juan with remarkable poise, leading audiences on a quest for true love and self-discovery.

	Hackers Starring Angelina Jolie, Jonny Lee Miller and Matthew Lillard Highly stylized depiction of young internet junkies who stumble upon a high-tech plot to destroy the world’s oceans unless an exorbitant ransom is paid.

	Leaving Las Vegas Starring Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth Shue and Julian Sands Wrenching story of one man’s decision to drink himself to death and the hooker with a heart of gold determined to stop him.

	Strange Days Starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Basset and Juliette Lewis Set on New Year’s Eve, 1999, Fiennes must discover who is killing off the people in his circle of friends before they get to their final intended target – his former lover.

	Twelve Monkeys Starring Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis and Madeleine Stowe A convoluted sci-fi thriller involving time travel, a terrible plague and the end of the world.

	Waiting to Exhale Starring Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett and Loretta Devine A group of female friends help each other through the ups and downs of their complicated love lives.

	Dead Man Walking Starring Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn and Robert Prosky An indictment of the death penalty that examines the depths of the human soul.