What happened in the 1990s?
The 1990s brought the World Wide Web, mobile phones, the end of the Cold War and a new millennium on the horizon.
108 events, oldest first.
Timeline of The 1990s
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1990
Buster Douglas knocks out Mike Tyson
Douglas was a 42-to-1 underdog when he floored the unbeaten champion in Tokyo.
History of sport
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1990
Germany is reunified
Reunification came less than a year after the Berlin Wall fell.
Politics & society history
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1990
Home Alone is released
It was the highest-grossing live-action comedy for many years.
Pop culture history
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1990
Lech Wałęsa is elected president of Poland
The former shipyard electrician had led Solidarity, the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union.
Politics & society history
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1990
Martina Navratilova wins her ninth Wimbledon singles title
It is still the record for Wimbledon singles titles.
History of sport
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1990
Namibia gains independence
It was one of the last African countries to gain independence.
Politics & society history
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1990
Nelson Mandela is released from prison
He had spent 27 years behind bars.
Politics & society history
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1990
Photoshop 1.0 is released
It was created by brothers Thomas and John Knoll and at first ran only on Apple Macintosh computers.
Science & technology history
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1990
Sue, the most complete T. rex, is found
The skeleton is named after the fossil hunter who spotted it.
Natural history & deep time
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1990
The first McDonald's opens in Moscow
Tens of thousands of people queued on opening day.
Food & brand history
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1990
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air first airs
Will Smith owed so much tax when he took the role that the IRS took a large share of his early pay.
Pop culture history
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1990
The Hubble Space Telescope is launched
Its main mirror was ground very slightly wrong, and astronauts had to fit corrective optics.
History of exploration
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1990
The Three Tenors' first concert
Their concert album became one of the best-selling classical records ever.
Pop culture history
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1990
Voyager 1 takes the 'Pale Blue Dot' photo
In it, Earth is a speck less than a pixel wide.
History of exploration
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1991
A webcam is set up to watch a coffee pot
Cambridge scientists used it to check whether the pot was empty before walking over.
Science & technology history
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1991
Aung San Suu Kyi wins the Nobel Peace Prize
She was under house arrest in Myanmar, so her two sons accepted the prize for her in Oslo.
Politics & society history
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1991
Linus Torvalds releases the first Linux kernel
He called it "just a hobby, won't be big and professional"; Linux now runs most of the world's servers.
Science & technology history
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1991
Michael Jordan wins his first NBA title
His Chicago Bulls beat Magic Johnson's Los Angeles Lakers in the final.
History of sport
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1991
Mount Pinatubo erupts
It cooled global temperatures by about 0.5°C for more than a year.
Natural history & deep time
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1991
Nirvana releases Nevermind
It knocked Michael Jackson's Dangerous off the top of the US album chart.
Pop culture history
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1991
Ötzi the Iceman is found in the Alps
Hikers first thought he was a modern climber; he had died about 5,300 years earlier.
History of exploration
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1991
Sonic the Hedgehog is released
He was designed to give Sega a mascot to rival Mario.
Pop culture history
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1991
Street Fighter II hits arcades
Its famous combo moves began as a bug that let players chain attacks together, which the developers kept.
Pop culture history
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1991
The first Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded
They honour research that first makes people laugh, and then makes them think.
Science & technology history
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1991
The first Women's World Cup
Held in China, it was won by the United States.
History of sport
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1991
The Gulf War
Retreating Iraqi forces set hundreds of Kuwaiti oil wells on fire.
Modern history
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1991
The Soviet Union is dissolved
It ended on Christmas Day, when Mikhail Gorbachev resigned.
Politics & society history
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1991
The World Wide Web goes public
The first website explained what the web was and how to use it.
Science & technology history
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1992
Bill Clinton is elected US president
During the campaign he played the saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show.
Politics & society history
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1992
Disney's Aladdin is released
It was the highest-grossing film worldwide that year, and Robin Williams improvised much of the Genie.
Pop culture history
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1992
Pakistan win the Cricket World Cup
Captain Imran Khan told his struggling side to fight "like cornered tigers"; he later became prime minister.
History of sport
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1992
The basketball Dream Team plays at the Olympics
The US team of NBA stars won its games by an average of almost 44 points.
History of sport
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1992
The first text message is sent
It read 'Merry Christmas' and was sent from a computer to a phone.
Science & technology history
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1992
The Maastricht Treaty creates the European Union
It also laid the groundwork for the euro.
Politics & society history
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1992
The world's largest McDonald's opens in Beijing
The Wangfujing restaurant had around 700 seats and served about 40,000 people on its first day.
Food & brand history
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1993
Jurassic Park is released
The T. rex roar mixed recordings of a baby elephant, a tiger and an alligator.
Pop culture history
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1993
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers first airs
Its fight scenes were borrowed from the Japanese series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger.
Pop culture history
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1993
Rabin and Arafat shake hands on the Oslo Accords
The deal was negotiated in secret in Norway before the famous handshake on the White House lawn.
Politics & society history
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1993
Shane Warne bowls the 'Ball of the Century'
It was his very first ball in an Ashes Test.
History of sport
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1993
The video game Doom is released
So many players rushed to download it that it overloaded the University of Wisconsin network hosting it.
Science & technology history
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1994
Amazon is founded
It started out selling only books, run from a garage near Seattle.
Food & brand history
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1994
Brian Lara scores a record 375 in a Test match
Weeks later he scored 501 not out for Warwickshire, another world record.
History of sport
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1994
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 hits Jupiter
It was the first collision of two solar system bodies ever observed.
Science & technology history
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1994
Friends first airs
The show was originally going to be called Insomnia Cafe.
Pop culture history
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1994
Nelson Mandela becomes president of South Africa
He was elected in the country's first fully democratic election.
Politics & society history
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1994
Netscape Navigator web browser is released
Its code later became the basis of the Mozilla Firefox browser.
Science & technology history
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1994
Pizza Hut takes orders online with PizzaNet
The trial service only worked in Santa Cruz, California, long before online food ordering was normal.
Food & brand history
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1994
Riverdance debuts at the Eurovision Song Contest
The seven-minute interval act in Dublin was so popular that it grew into a worldwide stage show.
Pop culture history
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1994
The Channel Tunnel opens
Its undersea section is the longest of any tunnel in the world.
Science & technology history
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1994
The first smartphone, IBM Simon, goes on sale
It had a touchscreen and apps 13 years before the iPhone.
Science & technology history
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1994
The Lion King is released
Its animators studied real lions brought into the studio.
Pop culture history
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1994
The Sony PlayStation is released
It grew out of a failed partnership between Sony and Nintendo.
Pop culture history
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1995
Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU
Norway negotiated to join at the same time, but its voters said no in a referendum.
Politics & society history
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1995
Bollywood hit Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is released
A Mumbai cinema screened it daily for over two decades, the longest run in Indian film history.
Pop culture history
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1995
Philip Pullman's Northern Lights is published
In the United States it was renamed The Golden Compass.
Art & literature history
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1995
South Africa win the Rugby World Cup
Nelson Mandela presented the trophy wearing a Springbok shirt.
History of sport
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1995
Starbucks launches the Frappuccino
The name blends frappé and cappuccino and came from a Boston coffee chain that Starbucks had bought.
Food & brand history
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1995
The Dayton Agreement ends the Bosnian War
It was negotiated at an air force base in Ohio.
Modern history
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1995
The first item is sold on eBay
It was a broken laser pointer, bought by a collector of broken laser pointers.
Science & technology history
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1995
The first planet around a Sun-like star is found
Its discoverers won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2019.
Science & technology history
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1995
Toy Story is released
It was the first feature-length film made entirely with computer animation.
Pop culture history
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1995
Windows 95 is released
Microsoft paid to use the Rolling Stones' 'Start Me Up' in its launch adverts.
Science & technology history
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1995
Wolves are reintroduced to Yellowstone
Their return changed the behaviour of elk and even helped rivers.
Natural history & deep time
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1996
Bridget Jones's Diary is published
It began as a newspaper column and loosely reworks the plot of Pride and Prejudice.
Art & literature history
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1996
Dolly the sheep is born
The first mammal cloned from an adult cell was named after Dolly Parton.
Science & technology history
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1996
Hotmail launches free web-based email
It launched on US Independence Day to symbolise freedom from internet providers' email.
Science & technology history
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1996
Muhammad Ali lights the Olympic cauldron
His role in Atlanta was kept secret until he appeared, trembling from Parkinson's, torch in hand.
History of sport
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1996
Pokémon Red and Green launch in Japan
Creator Satoshi Tajiri was inspired by his childhood hobby of collecting insects.
Pop culture history
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1996
Starbucks opens its first store outside North America
It opened in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district, and Japan soon became one of its biggest markets.
Food & brand history
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1996
The Spice Girls release 'Wannabe'
It topped the charts in more than 30 countries.
Pop culture history
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1996
The Tamagotchi goes on sale
Tens of millions of the digital pets were sold worldwide.
Pop culture history
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1997
Comet Hale-Bopp lights up the sky
It was visible to the naked eye for about 18 months.
Natural history & deep time
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1997
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is published
Twelve publishers rejected it before Bloomsbury took it on.
Art & literature history
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1997
Hong Kong is handed back to China
China promised 'one country, two systems' for 50 years.
Modern history
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1997
IBM's Deep Blue beats Garry Kasparov at chess
Kasparov had beaten an earlier version of the machine the year before.
Science & technology history
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1997
McDonald's Happy Meals give away Teenie Beanie Babies
About 100 million Happy Meals sold in just ten days, and the promotion ran out weeks early.
Food & brand history
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1997
Netflix is founded
It started out renting DVDs by post.
Food & brand history
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1997
Princess Diana dies in Paris
Her funeral was watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people.
Modern history
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1997
Sojourner becomes the first Mars rover
The little rover was about the size of a microwave oven.
History of exploration
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1997
Teletubbies first airs
The baby face in its sun belonged to a real nine-month-old girl, Jess Smith.
Pop culture history
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1997
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opens
Frank Gehry's titanium building drew so many visitors that experts coined the term "the Bilbao effect".
Art & literature history
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1997
The Kyoto Protocol is adopted
It was the first treaty setting binding targets to cut greenhouse gases.
Politics & society history
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1997
The Toyota Prius goes on sale in Japan
It was the world's first mass-produced hybrid car.
Science & technology history
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1997
Tiger Woods wins his first Masters
Aged just 21, he won by a record 12 strokes.
History of sport
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1997
Titanic is released in cinemas
James Cameron dived to the real wreck a dozen times while making it.
Pop culture history
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1998
Apple launches the colourful iMac G3
The "i" stood for internet, and it was one of the first computers sold without a floppy disk drive.
Science & technology history
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1998
Cattle are cloned for the first time
Japanese scientists cloned eight calves from a single cow.
Science & technology history
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1998
France win the World Cup on home soil
Zinedine Zidane headed two goals in the 3–0 final win over Brazil.
History of sport
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1998
Google is founded
Its original name was BackRub.
Science & technology history
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1998
John Glenn returns to space aged 77
He became the oldest person to fly in space, and doctors studied how spaceflight affected his ageing body.
History of exploration
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1998
Michael Jordan wins his sixth NBA title
He was named finals MVP all six times.
History of sport
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1998
The Angel of the North is put up in Gateshead
Antony Gormley's steel figure has wings wider than those of a Boeing 757.
Art & literature history
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1998
The Furby goes on sale
The US National Security Agency banned Furbies from its offices, fearing they might record secrets.
Pop culture history
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1998
The Good Friday Agreement is signed
It was approved by large majorities in referendums on both sides of the Irish border.
Politics & society history
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1998
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? first airs
It began on British TV before spreading to over 100 countries.
Pop culture history
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1999
Big Brother first airs
The reality show began in the Netherlands.
Pop culture history
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1999
Boris Yeltsin resigns as president of Russia
He announced it in a televised New Year's Eve address and handed power to Vladimir Putin.
Modern history
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1999
Emoji are invented in Japan
Shigetaka Kurita's original set of 176 emoji is now in New York's Museum of Modern Art.
Pop culture history
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1999
Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef first airs
The title referred to the stripped-back food, not the chef.
Food & brand history
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1999
Manchester United win the Treble
They won the Champions League final with two stoppage-time goals against Bayern Munich.
History of sport
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1999
Napster launches
The file-sharing service was created by a college student and shut down within about two years.
Science & technology history
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1999
Scotland's devolved parliament opens
It was the first Scottish parliament in nearly 300 years.
Politics & society history
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1999
Serena Williams wins her first Grand Slam title
She won the US Open aged 17.
History of sport
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1999
Sony's robot dog AIBO goes on sale
The first 3,000 sold out online in just 20 minutes, despite costing about $2,000 each.
Science & technology history
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1999
SpongeBob SquarePants first airs
Creator Stephen Hillenburg taught marine biology before he became an animator.
Pop culture history
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1999
The first nonstop balloon flight around the world
Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones flew for nearly 20 days.
History of exploration
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1999
The Matrix is released
Its green 'digital rain' code was made from scanned sushi recipes.
Pop culture history
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1999
The Sopranos first airs
It is often credited with starting TV's 'golden age' of drama.
Pop culture history
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