1990s

From Includipedia, the inclusionist encyclopedia

The 1990s refers to the time period between the beginning of 1990 and the end of 1999. The 1990s were marked by rapid progression of globalization following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Key forces shaping the decade were the recession of the late '80s, and the advent of PCs in middle-class homes, resulting in the rise to prominence of the internet. The Internet would go on to revolutionize modern culture, and has served as a major medium for the integration and the spread of popular culture in the entire world. The 1990s are between The short twentieth century and the Cold War and the War on Terrorism declared by U.S President Bush after the 9/11 attacks.

The widespread adoption of personal computers and the Internet increased economic productivity, while high levels of private investment in equity markets increased personal wealth among many Americans, Japanese, South Koreans, Australians and Europeans.

[edit] Economics

Despite economic prosperity and democracy, there were problems in the 1990s that became more visible after the decade ended. In Africa a rapid increase in incidence of AIDS contributed to falling life expectancy and zero or negative growth rates. In the former Soviet Union GDP decreased as their economies restructured to produce goods they needed and some capital flight occurred. Financial crises in the developing world after 1994 (i.e. the Asian economic crises of 1997) began to undermine some support for a global economy.

Many countries, institutions, companies, and organizations experienced the 1990s as a prosperous time. Despite the recession that affected much of the world in the late 1980s, high income economies such as the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and South Korea experienced steady economic growth for much of the decade.

In many countries, political stability and decreased militarization due to the winding down of the Cold War led to economic development and higher standards of living for many citizens. These trends were also fueled by inexpensive fossil energy, with low petroleum prices caused by a glut of oil. Oil and gas were discovered in many countries in the former Soviet bloc, leading to economic growth and wider adoption of trade between nations, but the 15 new nations of the old USSR, plus Russia, struggled to adjust to the new economic reality. Consequently, the decade ended in a painful recession for it.

• US economy ends the decade with a 4% unemployment rate, personal incomes doubled from the recession in 1990, overall higher productivity. After the 1996 Welfare Reform act there was a great reduction of poverty rates, and the Wall Street stock exchange stayed over the 10,000 mark from 1999 to 2001.
• After 1992 the booming of the US stock market, in reference to which Alan Greenspan coined the memorable phrase "irrational exuberance", eventually merged into the dot-com boom / dot-com bubble (2000 – 2001).
• GATT update and creation of the World Trade Organization and other global economic institutions, but opposition by anti-globalization activists showed up in nearly every GATT summit, like the violent street demonstrations in Seattle in December 1999.
• With the creation of the E.U. there is free movement of labor between member states, such as the 1992 and 1995 free trade agreements. The EU agreed to have a single currency, and the Euro began circulation in March 1999 in 15 member states.
• Philippines shown a great economic development after The People Power revolt. The economy gains 5% from its deficit until the Asian financial crisis of 1997.
• The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which phases out trade barriers between the United States, Mexico and Canada is signed into law by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
• From 1990 until 1998 inclusive, the economy of Russia and some former USSR states was in a severe depression. Eastern European economies struggled after the fall of communism, but Poland, Hungary, Estonia and Lithuania saw healthy economic growth rates in the late 1990s.
• Except for Great Britain and Ireland, much of Europe had serious economic problems, such as the massive 1995 general strikes in France during its worst recession since World War II. The French economy mildly rebounds at the end of the decade.
• Democracy, economic reform and peace arrive in Latin America, while the sluggish economies of Brazil, by a new emphasis on free markets for all their citizens, and Mexico, under economist president Ernesto Zedillo elected in 1994, were their best shape by the late 1990s.
• Financial crisis hits East and Southeast Asia in 1997 and 1998 after a long period of phenomenal economic development. Japan was heavily affected, as was Indonesia when the 30-year rule of dictator Suharto ended in his resignation after widespread protests in May 1998. See East Asian Tigers.

[edit] World-changing events

Significant events that occurred during or after 1990 which would influence the course of history and character of the decade, include:

• The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 2 1990.
• The German reunification in october 3 1990 as a result of the fall of the Berlin Wall
• The resignation of Margaret Thatcher as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the UK followed by the election and appointment of John Major as her successor on November 28, 1990.
• The Moscow Coup and subsequent break-up of the Soviet Union in December 21 1991.

Significant events that marked the passing of the decade include:

• The resignation of Russian President Boris Yeltsin on December 31, 1999 resulting in Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's succession to the position
• World-wide New Year's Eve celebrations on December 31 1999.
• Worldwide concern about possible widespread computer malfunctions resulting from the Year 2000 problem.
• The 2000 Presidential Election in the United States of America, where two-term Democrat Bill Clinton was succeeded by two-term Republican George W. Bush in a close election clouded by controversies.

[edit] Social Trends

[edit] HIV Awareness

HIV awareness reached across the world in this decade, and many new drugs were developed to fight the spread of the disease.

[edit] Racial Tensions

Racial tensions, exacerbated by immigration and issues around multiculturalism, manifested in western Europe. In the United States the issue of race relations, brought into the public consciousness by the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the O. J. Simpson murder case in 1994 – 95, and the Million Man March in 1995, served to make Americans more concerned about racial equality than at any time since the 1960s.

[edit] Science

• Physicists develop string theory and M-theory.
• Detection of extrasolar planets orbiting stars other than the sun.
• Dolly the sheep is cloned.
• Human Genome Project begins.
• DNA identification of individuals finds wide application in criminal law.
• Hubble Space Telescope launched in 1990; revolutionizes astronomy.
• Protease inhibitors introduced allowing 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 Styrofoam; advances in methods for recycling of waste products (such as paper, glass, 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.
• The Global Positioning System (GPS) becomes fully operational.
• Proof of Fermat's last theorem is discovered by Andrew Wiles.
• Construction starts on the International Space Station - 1996/1997

[edit] Technology

Some technologies invented and improved during the 1990s:

• The World Wide Web and HTML are created by Tim Berners-Lee.
• The Pentium processor is developed by Intel.
• Microsoft introduces Windows 95 and later Windows 98 to the market, which gain immediate popularity.
• Explosive growth of the Internet, perhaps caused by a decrease in the cost of computers and other technology.
• Advancements in computer modems, ISDN, cable modems and DSL lead to faster connection to the Internet.
• 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.
• Businesses start to build E-commerce websites; E-commerce-only companies such as Amazon.com, eBay, AOL, and Yahoo! grow rapidly.
• Pagers are popular but ultimately are replaced by Cell phones.
• Cell phones become cheaper and reduce in size, but remain status symbols until they become common in the 2000s.
• E-mail becomes popular; as a result Microsoft acquires the popular Hotmail.com webmail service.
• The Year 2000 problem (commonly known as Y2K), the computer glitch disaster expected to happen on January 1, 2000.
• Microsoft Windows operating systems become virtually ubiquitous on IBM PCs.
• Development of the free Linux kernel is started by Linus Torvalds in Finland.
• CD burner drives are introduced.
• The DVD media format is developed and popularized.

[edit] Culture

[edit] Cultural Trends

• Youth culture in the 1990s was characterized by environmentalism and entrepreneurship. Fashions were often individualistic, tattoos and body piercing gained popularity, and "retro" styles inspired by fashions of the 1960s and 1970s were also prevalent. Some young people became increasingly involved in outdoor activities that combined embracing athletics with the appreciation of nature (such as kayaking, rock climbing, windsurfing and snowboarding).
• Jam bands grew with popularity, the most famous were Phish and Dave Matthews Band.
• Following the 1980s media counter-culture lead by tabloid talk shows popularized by Oprah Winfrey in 1986, which provided high-impact media visibility for gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, and transgender people [1] the 1990s saw a further increase in gay visibility in the mainstream media and the introduction of outing. In 1990, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of diseases. US TV shows like Will and Grace, Friends, Thirtysomething, My So-Called Life, Roseanne, Dawson's Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Melrose Place and Ellen featured gay characters. Movies like The Birdcage, In and Out and Kiss Me, Guido saw mainstream success, and celebrities like k.d. lang, Rob Halford, Elton John, Melissa Etheridge, Amanda Bearse and all spoke openly about their sexuality. U.S. President Bill Clinton generally held a pro-gay rights viewpoint.
• The 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of America in 1992 was popularly observed, despite controversy and protests against Columbus' expeditions victimization of Native Americans. The holiday was labeled by some as racist, in view of Native American experiences of colonialism, slavery, genocide and cultural destruction.
• Douglas Coupland publishes the novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularizing the term Generation X as the name of the generation born in the late 1960s and early 1970s (then college-age).
• The Grunge trend explodes due to the success of grunge bands such as Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. It is characterized by wearing flannel shirts, torn jeans, Doc Martens, Converse high top sneakers and long, straight hair. The fashion hits an ironic point in 1993, when the flannel clothing these bands wore (because it was cheap and warm and most of these musicians were very poor) became high fashion accessories. Post Grunge bands would later gain widespread popularity by bands such as Foo Fighters and Creed.
• Reality television explodes on MTV with the popularity of The Real World (1992 – ); along with Road Rules (1995 – ), Real World/Road Rules Challenge (1998), and Real World reunions, these shows remained popular throughout the 1990s. Reality would become a staple of main networks in the early part of the 2000s.

• Blood and gore in television and video games rises dramatically, along with language and sexual content, especially during the latter half of the decade; a Parental Ratings system for television is introduced in 1997 because of related complaints.
• Video games become more advanced and popular. Rivals Nintendo and Sega dominate the early 1990s. The Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64 would later dominate the late 1990s and remain popular beyond 1999. Sega's Dreamcast (1999) marked the end of Sega's role in the console market. Simulation and God games rise in popularity in the mid-late 1990s, with games such as SimCity 2000, Microsoft Flight Simulator 95, 98 and RollerCoaster Tycoon (game).
• Body art, in the form of body piercing and tattoos becomes commonplace for young people. This trend continues into the 2000s.
• Extreme sports reached a new height in popularity, and by 1995, were given their own annual tournament on US cable network ESPN, the X-Games.
• Recreational outdoor sports such as rock climbing, mountain biking, sky diving, snowboarding, mountain climbing, bungee jumping, in-line skating, kayaking, windsurfing and rowing become hugely popular.
• Extended alcohol sales are implemented in the US to reduce alcohol abuse.
• The exploitation of the collectability of comic books results in a trend of "gimmick" packaging and storylines (most notably The Death of Superman). The comic book industry collapses as interest in print comics decreases among younger generations and casual readers. Comic books disappear as a familiar sight at the newsstands. As comics, including Japanese manga and other graphic novels become more available in bookstore chains, the role of the comic book store as a source for comics and social gathering wanes. The domination by industry giants Marvel Comics and DC Comics ends as various independents, such as Image Comics produce popular titles. The era of comic book collecting for speculative investment ends. Webcomics by amateur cartoonists become popular.
• Conversion to Block scheduling became a trendy initiative for United States schools.

• Due to the success of the Ford Explorer, Sport Utility Vehicles became very popular among families, and effectively replaced the station wagon as the stereotypical family vehicle.
• Major 1990s slang words/phrases, mostly related to hip hop culture, include: "dawg" "homie", "phat", "da bomb", "tight", "word to your mother", "Talk to the hand [because the face ain't listening]", "it's goin' down", "You go girl!", "yo", "whatever!", "all that and a bag of chips".
• Young adult and teenage fiction books become popular due to the efforts of R. L. Stine and Christopher Pike throughout the entire 1990s.
• Dogme 95 becomes an important European artistic film movement by the end of the decade.
• Eurodance music dominates discotheques and has numerous major mainstream hits in European (and to a lesser extent, North American) music charts.
• Mainstream "Techno", as it is dubbed by the media, became hugely popular in Europe and the U.S. From the early raves of 1990 to about 1996, electronic music gradually gained widespread recognition as a new genre in its own right. This trend reached a head in the latter part of the decade as underground parties were largely replaced by massive commercially sponsored parties, and as music media such as MTV began coverage of it.

• Media consolidation leads to increased segmentation in styles of music.
• 24-hour CNN coverage (Wolf Blitzer) during the Gulf War leads to increased awareness and coverage of world events and knock-off Infotainment shows such as A Current Affair and Geraldo Rivera-style journalism.
• Hip-hop culture grows; by the end of the decade hip hop gained more and more popularity.
• Grunge culture sparks as glam metal dies off in late 1991 and 1992, allowing other styles of heavy metal to return to prominence when the popular groove metal group Pantera hits number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart with their third album Far Beyond Driven. The grunger subculture associated with grunge becomes very prominent in this decade. Due to grunge's huge success, Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder become the spokesmodels of Generation X.
• Tupac Shakur of Death Row Records and The Notorious BIG of Bad Boy Records, wage a cultural war in the hip hop music scene, leading to the murder of both Shakur in 1996 and BIG in 1997.
• National conservative political commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordon Liddy emerge on United States AM Radio, influencing the 1994 Contract for America and criticism of Bill Clinton.
• Electronic Music is hugely popular on Top 40 radio from 1990 to present and up to 1996 or 1997 in the U.S. Popular artists include The Prodigy, Eiffel 65 and Fatboy Slim.
• Alternative rock replaces Grunge around 1995. Nu-metal, a genre popularized by the 1994 self-titled album by Korn, becomes a major genre of rock around the year 1997 along with post-grunge and alternative rock.
• Indie/hipster culture appears during the mid-1990s. Emo and "scene" culture flourishes in the late 1990s, most likely around the later part of 1998.
• Teen pop makes a comeback in the late 1990s, starting in the year 1997 with artists such as the Spice Girls, Hanson, Aqua, Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, N'SYNC and many more.
• Christian music peaks in the mid to late 1990s.
• R&B Music and hip-hop influenced R&B, such as music groups like The Fugees, Boyz II Men and TLC (who became the greatest selling female group of all time), are big in the 1990s.
• The introduction of affordable, smaller satellite dishes in the mid-1990s to expand cable services had carried up to 500 television channels.

[edit] Fashion

See also: 1990s in fashion

The 1990s in popular culture is typically referred to as the decade of "anti-fashion". In reality, anti-fashion was only one of many trends in fashion in the 1990s. The fashion of the 1990s was characterized by minimalist styles, and many overlapping, often contradictory trends. The most significant event was the rise of grunge fashion in 1992. In the late 1990s there was a move away from grunge. Retro clothing inspired by the 1960s and 1970s was popular for much of the 1990s.

[edit] Music

• Rock was the primary taste throughout most of the decade. hip hop gained popularity towards the very end of the decade. Popular styles include alternative rock (Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Smashing Pumpkins), grunge (Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden), post-grunge (Collective Soul, Third Eye Blind, Everclear, Creed, Foo Fighters, Bush), heavy metal and alternative metal (Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Pantera, Tool), black metal gained a large number of fans in Northern Europe, Britpop and British rock (Oasis, Blur, Suede, Pulp, Radiohead, The Verve, Travis), pop-punk (Green Day, The Offspring, Rancid, Blink-182), third wave ska (No Doubt, Sublime, Reel Big Fish, Mighty Mighty Bosstones), indie rock Fugazi, Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse), jam bands (Dave Matthews Band, Phish), and nu metal (Korn, Limp Bizkit, Deftones) towards the end of the decade. Singer-songwriters include Alanis Morissette, Beck, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley, and Jewel. Emo music which, would later become a staple of rock music, began receiving commercial and critical acclaim. Notable examples include Sunny Day Real Estate's Diary and Weezer's Pinkerton, which have since become highly influential on the genre. Radiohead's popularity exploded in 1997 with the release of OK Computer. Most notable, though, was the explosion of Grunge band Nirvana into the mainstream, who found a large audience in the youths of the '90s through their apathetic attitude and their appeal to Generation X.
• Hip hop music diversifies throughout the decade and experiences numerous trends, beginning with the commercial success of pop rappers MC Hammer, Tone Loc, Young MC, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and Vanilla Ice. Other major developments include the proliferation of alternative/jazz rap (De La Soul, Beastie Boys, Arrested Development, Digable Planets, Native Tongues, and A Tribe Called Quest) and the West Coast G-Funk/Gangsta Rap phenomena (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony,Cypress Hill, Dr. Dre,NWA,Snoop Doggy Dogg, Warren G, Coolio, and Tupac Shakur), followed by the resurgence of the New York hip hop scene (The Wu Tang Clan, Boot Camp Clik, Nas, Mobb Deep, and The Notorious B.I.G.), and pop rap (Puff Daddy, Will Smith, and Jay-Z).
• Smoothly produced Teen pop held over from the late 1980s into 1991, returns with the Spice Girls and Take That in Britain and the Backstreet Boys in America beginning in 1997, ultimately leading to stars like Britney Spears, *NSYNC and Christina Aguilera, while Madonna continues to have success with her influential Dance-pop. Michael Jackson continues making arresting music and finds international popularity growing. "Black Or White" released in 1991, becomes a huge global hit, remaining at #1 in the US charts for 7 weeks.
• American Club/Dance music is very popular from 1990 to 1996, with acts like C&C Music Factory, Ce Ce Peniston, Crystal Waters, RuPaul, Black Box, & Dee-Lite. Similarly, Eurodance gains popularity in the United States, with many Eurodance artists scoring club hits on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Billboard Hot 100 radio. These artists include Technotronic, Corona, Cappella, N-Trance, Culture Beat,Reel 2 Real, Capital Sound, Jam & Spoon, E-Type, Maxx, La Bouche, Indra, Le Click, Pharao, Real McCoy, Ice MC,Me & My, JK, Cappella, 2 Unlimited, Dr. Alban, Masterboy, Basic Element, AB Logic, Fun Factory, Mr. President, Shaman and Snap.
• R&B Music such as Quiet Storm is popular with artists such as such Babyface, Tevin Campbell, Brian McKnight, Monica, Brandy, and Faith Evans. R&B girl groups such as TLC, Destiny's Child, SWV, and En Vogue are hugely popular as well. In addition, Aaliyah, The Fugees (and later Lauryn Hill's solo act), and Mary J. Blige combine hip hop with R&B in the 1990s (see hip hop soul). Artists such as Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey appeal to the Top 40 crowd with their ballad songs in the early to mid-1990s. R&B Boy Bands are big throughout the 1990s such as Jodeci, Dru Hill, Blackstreet, 112 and especially Boyz II Men who appealed to the Top 40 crowd are popular as well.
• Music festivals such as Lollapalooza or Woodstock became popular; a fusing of genres from alternative rock, rap, punk rock and garage bands.
• Latin music becomes popular outside a Spanish-speaking audience with crossover hits by Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez,and Selena, the hit dance song Macarena and others. As Hispanic culture grows in the US, other Latin music genres took root, like Tejano music in the Southwestern United States is a mixed music genre: accordion based Mexican conjunto, Texan country, and modern pop merged to produce a new sound.
• Music becomes more profane, by end of decade a Parental Advisory sticker becomes acceptable rather than controversial.
• In America, country music becomes more mainstream with popular chart topping artist such as Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes, Billy Ray Cyrus, Faith Hill, and Tim McGraw. The genre will also build up a more extensive audience world-wide, which sees the first English 24 hour terrestrial country station open in 1994.
• Popular hard rock bands maintain a strong presence into the 1990s. Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, and Van Halen were all still quite popular through the mid-1990s. Aerosmith and Bon Jovi's popularity and success spanned the entire decade and both were extremely popular at the turn of the new millennium.
• Music resumes its political content after the hiatus of the 1980s. Starting in 1996, the Tibetan Freedom Concert draws up to 120,000 people per year to a rock festival for the benefit of the cause of the International Tibet Independence Movement. Also, socially aware metal bands such as Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down form.
• Electronic music becomes widely recognized at rave parties in Europe/USA and, later in the decade, in popular culture. The drug methylenedioxymethamphetamine, (also called Ecstasy or MDMA) is popularized by the burgeoning rave culture. Electronic music is highly popularized in mainstream culture later in the decade by The Prodigy, among other artists of the big beat genre.
• 1980s backlash, beginning in about 1994 and lasting into the mid-1990s. During most of the 1990s, anything "Eighties" was considered to be ultimately uncool. As a result, people start wearing straighter hair, darker clothes and acoustic music becomes popular in opposition to the bright synthpop of the 1980s.
• Contemporary Christian Music continued to increase in popularity, with artists such as DC Talk, Jars of Clay, Amy Grant and Sixpence None the Richer all releasing platinum selling albums. Songs such as Baby Baby by Amy Grant, Flood by Jars of Clay, and Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer were all Top 40 hits..

[edit] Television

• North America
  • Seinfeld becomes enormously popular in the United States, lasting from 1989 to 1998 and spawning a new sitcom subgenre.
  • The Simpsons (1989 – ) becomes popular with adult audiences, eventually paving the way for many adult-oriented animated television shows throughout the next 10 years, including Beavis and Butthead, South Park, Family Guy and King of the Hill.
  • Professional wrestling became popular throughout the 1990s. In the late 1990s, the Monday Night Wars was the biggest impact for professional wrestling with the World Wrestling Federation (present day World Wrestling Entertainment), World Championship Wrestling, and Extreme Championship Wrestling. By the early 2000s, the WWF came out of the wars victorious over both WCW and ECW.
  • Twin Peaks, David Lynch's surrealistic crime drama, runs on ABC for two seasons, expanding the limits for prime time subject matter and quirky characters, and pushing TV producers and directors toward adapting a more cinematic filming style for television programming -- an influence still visible in the 2000s.
  • 20th Century Fox and BBC collaborate to produce the 1996 television movie of the science fiction series Doctor Who, starring Paul McGann as the Doctor.
  • NASCAR Racing starts to become popular on US TV in the mid to late 1990s. Popular NASCAR drivers during this era are the late Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, and Bobby Labonte.
  • Pro Basketball sees high US TV ratings in the 1990s with stars like Shaq, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Shawn Kemp, Reggie Miller, David Robinson, Penny Hardaway and Patrick Ewing.
  • US Saturday morning children's television programming, Like Fox Kids, reaches its peak popularity in the early and mid 1990s considered by many to be a "renaissance" in American animation. Everything from Animaniacs, Garfield and Friends, Eek! The Cat, X-Men, Batman, The Tick, Donkey Kong Country (TV series) and Tiny Toons, to television adaptations of popular video game characters Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog.
  • The Disney experiences an animation renaissance with the popularity of The Disney Afternoon shows in the early and-mid-1990s, such as DuckTales, Darkwing Duck, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin and Goof Troop.
  • Nickelodeon gains popularity with the Nicktoons block of shows, such as Doug, Rugrats, The Ren and Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, AAAHH!!! Real Monsters and Hey Arnold!.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, originally from the 1980s, remain popular in the early and-mid-1990s.
  • Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers gains popularity with children in the mid 1990s, leading to the entire Power Rangers series.
  • Anime becomes popular in the United States in the late 1990s with shows like Sailor Moon, Samurai Pizza Cats, Pokémon, Dragonball Z, Saint Seiya, Ranma ½, Cowboy Bebop and Neon Genesis Evangelion.
  • MTV moves away from music videos and into original television shows such as The Real World, which is often cited as the main inspiration for the Reality TV boom of the 2000s.
  • Cartoons aimed at an adult audience become popular. Among the most successful are The Simpsons (1989 – ), The Ren and Stimpy Show (1991 – 1996), Beavis and Butt-head (1993 – 1997), Daria (1997 – 2002), South Park (1997 – ), King of the Hill (1997 – ), Family Guy (1999 – 2002, 2005 – ) and Futurama (1999-2003, 2008-).
  • US Television networks increase programs aimed at twenty- and thirty-somethings. Some of the most popular are Roseanne (1988 – 1997), Seinfeld (1989 – 1998), Beverly Hills 90210 (1990 – 2000), Melrose Place (1992 – 1999), Friends (1994 – 2004), Party of Five (1994 – 2000), and Ally McBeal (1997 – 2002).
  • Television shows involving human interaction with dangerous wildlife become popular. Most notably shows like The Crocodile Hunter, a popular series starring Steve Irwin, which began airing in 1996. The Crocodile Hunter, and other similar shows (many of which involved Steve Irwin) remained popular into the 2000s.
  • Notable American television sitcoms aimed at the teen/preteen market include Full House (1987 – 1995), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990 - 1996), Family Matters (1989 – 1998), Blossom (1991 – 1995), Boy Meets World (1993 – 2000), and 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996 – 2001),Smart Guy (1997 – 1999), Sister Sister (1994 – 1999), among others. Many of these were concentrated on ABC's Friday night block TGiF.
  • The sci – fi/fantasy TV genre saw three successful Star Trek spinoffs: The Next Generation (1987 – 1994), Deep Space Nine (1993 – 1999), and Voyager (1995 – 2001). It also featured other massively popular shows, such as The X-Files (1993 – 2002); Babylon 5(1993 – 1998); Stargate SG-1 (1997 – 2007); Sliders (1995 – 2000); Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1993 – 1999); and Xena: Warrior Princess (1995 – 2001), the spinoff of Hercules that went on to drastically dwarf its predecessor in popularity, notoriety, controversy, and overall viewership. Another notable series in the fantasy genre was Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 – 2003) which never had very high ratings but quickly received a cult following as well critical acclaim. It inspired many other series with the superhero/struggle of real life theme, such as Charmed (1998 – 2006) and Buffy's spin-off Angel (1999 – 2004).
  • The Disney Channel changes from classic Disney programming to live action programming starting in the late 1990s, especially around the year 1998. No longer a pay-subscription channel in 1996, the channel expanded their young audience on basic cable. See Zoog Disney. By 1999, the "MTV-esque" Zoog Disney along with Playhouse Disney was the main focus of the Disney Channel, causing classic Disney shorts and shows such as the Nutty Professor to experience backlash.
  • Cartoon Network starts showing more original programming in a form of Cartoon Cartoons that almost changed the face of the network by 1999.
  • On May 22, 1992, after 30 years, Johnny Carson retired as host of the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on NBC, with Jay Leno taking over as host on May 25. The choice of Leno over Late Night host and Carson protege David Letterman is instrumental in Letterman signing a deal with CBS in January 1993. Letterman aired his final NBC show on June 25, 1993 and the Late Show with David Letterman premiered on August 30, 1993.
  • The highest-rated shows on network television:
    • 1989 – 1990: The Cosby Show and Roseanne
    • 1990 – 1991: Cheers
    • 1991 – 1992: 60 Minutes
    • 1992 – 1993: 60 Minutes
    • 1993 – 1994: 60 Minutes
    • 1994 – 1995: Seinfeld
    • 1995 – 1996: ER
    • 1996 – 1997: ER
    • 1997 – 1998: Seinfeld
    • 1998 – 1999: ER
    • 1999 – 2000: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
• United Kingdom
  • UK television — Popular comedies include The Fast Show, Jeeves and Wooster, One Foot in the Grave, Only Fools and Horses, Men Behaving Badly, Red Dwarf, Spaced, Royle Family, Mr. Bean and Father Ted amongst many others. ITV has a string of successful crime dramas including Cadfael, Prime Suspect, Inspector Morse and Cracker.
  • High rated programmes this decade include the launch of the National Lottery in 1994, the Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales in 1995, and her funeral two years later,
  • The 'docusoap' genre is popular in the late 1990s, with shows like Airport making celebrities out of the people in them.
  • BSkyB obtain the rights to the English FA Premier League in 1992, producing high revenues for the league and becoming the bedrock of the subscription television service, holding a monopoly on the rights until 2007.
  • British public service television channel Channel 4 is granted independence from the Independent Broadcasting Authority, and begins showing US programmes such as Friends and ER in peak viewing time.
  • Channel 5 is launched in 1997 and becomes the country's fifth and final terrestrial channel.
  • Satellite and cable television becomes widespread, characterised by the battle and eventual merger of British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television at the start of the decade, and the launch of digital television in 1998. Satellite channels rise from a handful in 1990 to almost a hundred by 1999.
  • Prize limits on gameshows are lifted in 1993, leading to shows with much bigger prizes, especially the launch of Who Wants to be a Millionaire in 1998, soon launched around the world. Channel 4's TFI Friday becomes the first programme to give away a million pounds to a contestant at the end of 1999.
• Europe
  • New private channels in Germany: RTL, SAT1, Pro7, VOX, VIVA, and in France: Canal Plus.
  • Eastern European television enjoys less government restrictions and carries more American programming.
• Middle East
  • Al Jazeera begins broadcasting in 1996, subsidised by a grant from the emir of Qatar and expanded their programming range across the Arabic-speaking world.

[edit] Computer and video games

• 3-D graphics become the standard by end of decade. Although FPSs had long since seen the transition to full 3D, other genres begin to copy this trend by the end of the decade.
• Lara Croft became the first video game sex symbol, becoming a recognisable figure in the entertainment industry throughout the late 1990s.
• The console wars, primarily between Sega (Sega Mega Drive (marketed as the Sega Genesis in North America), introduced in 1988) and Nintendo (Super NES, introduced in 1990), sees the entrance of Sony with the PlayStation in 1994, which becomes the first successful CD-based console (as opposed to cartridges). By the end of the decade, Sega's hold on the market becomes tenuous after the commercial failures of the Saturn in 1994 and the Dreamcast in 2001.
• Mario finds a rival in Sonic the Hedgehog with the release of the original game on the Genesis in 1991.
• Nintendo released the first 3-D styled video game Donkey Kong Country for the SNES in 1994, and three sequels to further advance video game design.
• Arcade games rapidly decrease in popularity.
• Fighting games like Capcom's Street Fighter II, Sega's futuristic Virtua Fighter and the more violent Mortal Kombat from Acclaim prompted the video game industry to adopt a game rating system, and hundreds of knock-offs are widely popular in mid-to-late1990s.
• Sony's PlayStation becomes the top selling game console and changes the standard media storage type from cartridges to compact discs in consoles.
• Doom (1993) bursts onto the world scene and instantly popularizes the FPS genre, and even how games are played, as Doom is among the first games to feature multiplayer capabilities. It is not until Quake (1996), however, that game developers begin to take multiplayer features into serious consideration when making games. Half-Life (1998) features the next evolutionary step in the genre with continual progression of the game (no levels in the traditional sense) and an entirely in-person view, and becomes one of the most popular computer games in history.
• The real-time strategy (RTS) genre is introduced in 1992 with the release of Dune II. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) popularizes the genre, with Command & Conquer and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1995 sets up the first major real-time strategy competition and popularizes 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 to this day, especially in South Korea. 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. The Civilization franchise is the only TBS franchise that remains popular.
• Final Fantasy first debuted (in North America) in 1990 for the NES, and remains among the most popular video game franchises, with 11 total sequels to date, with another in development, plus numerous spin-offs and related titles. Final Fantasy VII, released in 1997, especially popularized the series.
• Zelda continues its massive popularity with a series of groundbreaking games, including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, released in 1998, which is considered one of the best and most groundbreaking games of all time.
• Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing games (MMORPGs) see their entrance into the computer game world with Ultima Online in 1997, although they don't gain widespread popularity until EverQuest and Asheron's Call in 1999. MMORPGs go on to become among the most popular genres in the 2000s.
• Pokémon entered the world scene with the release of the original Game Boy Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green games in Japan in 1996, later changed to Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue for worldwide release in 1998. It soon becomes popular in the U.S. and is adapted into a popular children's anime series and trading card game, among other media forms. Its popularity remains well into the 2000s.

[edit] Popular video games of the 1990s

1990

• Super Mario Bros. 3
• Final Fantasy
• Wing Commander
• Commander Keen

1991

• Civilization
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Street Fighter II
• Super Mario World
• Final Fantasy IV/II
• Duke Nukem

1992

• Mortal Kombat
• Dune II
• Ultima VII: The Black Gate
• Virtua Racing
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• Kirby's Dream Land
• Wolfenstein 3D
• Super Mario Kart
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2

1993

• Star Wars: X-Wing
• Virtua Fighter
• Star Fox
• Kirby's Adventure
• The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
• Secret of Mana
• Myst
• Doom
• Mega Man X

1994

• Rise of the Triad
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3
• Star Wars: TIE Fighter
• Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
• Super Metroid
• Maximum Carnage
• Final Fantasy VI/III
• Donkey Kong Country
• Sonic & Knuckles

1995

• Crash Bandicoot
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
• Star Wars: Dark Forces
• Descent
• Chrono Trigger
• Command & Conquer
• Tekken
• Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
• Twisted Metal

1996

• Duke Nukem 3D
• Resident Evil
• Quake
• Super Mario 64
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert
• Tomb Raider
• Super Mario RPG
• Diablo
• Twisted Metal 2: World Tour

1997

• Mario Kart 64
• Diddy Kong Racing
• Star Fox 64
• GoldenEye 007
• Final Fantasy VII
• Tomb Raider II
• Fallout
• Total Annihilation
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
• Age of Empires
• Wild 9

1998

• Crash Bandicoot: Warped
• Spyro the Dragon
• StarCraft
• Unreal
• Banjo-Kazooie
• Final Fantasy Tactics
• Pokémon Red and Blue
• Metal Gear Solid
• Tomb Raider III
• Parasite Eve
• Half-Life
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

1999

• Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!
• EverQuest
• Super Smash Bros.
• Homeworld
• Sonic Adventure
• Harvest Moon 64
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
• Soul Calibur
• Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
• Unreal Tournament
• Quake III Arena
• Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun

[edit] Internet

• Beginnings of MP3 music downloading; in 1999 and 2000 the Napster controversy.
• The first MP3 Player, the MPMan, is released in late spring of 1998. It came with 32Mb of flash memory expandable to 64Mb.
• The Internet begins to affect pop culture, beginning around 1996.
• Most television stations establish an Internet presence during the later half of the decade.
• Earliest examples of Internet film.
• Bulletin Board System interest decreases heavily with introduction of the Web.
• Pornography on the Internet launches and grows rapidly (one of the few industries to experience growth during dot.com bust of 2000)
• A concept of online social ettiquette, "Netiquette" begins to form in 1995.
• Online chat debuts in the mid 1990s, along with social networking and teen community sites such as Classmates.com and Xanga in the late 1990s.

[edit] International Issues

Politically, the 1990s was an era of spreading democracy. The former countries of the Warsaw Pact moved from totalitarian regimes to democratically-ele