1990's Pop Culture

  • Gardener Heist

    Gardener Heist

    Two thieves entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and stole 13 pieces of rare artwork valued at approximately $500 million. Within 81 minutes, the thieves, disguised as policemen, were able to talk their way into the closed museum, detain the guards, steal the artwork, and make their getaway unmolested.
  • President Bush and Broccoli

    President Bush and Broccoli

    There are a lot of people in the world who don’t like broccoli, but when word got out in March 1990 that U.S. President George H.W. Bush had gone so far as to ban it from Air Force One, broccoli-hating made the news.
  • Hubble Launch

    Hubble Launch

    NASA's Hubble Space Telescope was launched April 24, 1990, on the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
  • Operation Desert Sotrm

    Operation Desert Sotrm

    The first airland battle in the Gulf war. Spanning from January 1991 to April 1991.
  • Magic Johnson Announces he has HIV

    Magic Johnson Announces he has HIV

    Contrary to popular belief, only some moments truly transcend sports and shake the world. Great plays or broken records might resonate with fans, but there are usually only a handful of situations that can define a decade. We like to think that athletes do things that can change the world, but very few do. Earvin "Magic" Johnson's November 7th, 1991 announcement that he was HIV positive was one of those moments.
  • Mall of America opens in Minnesota

    Mall of America opens in Minnesota

    Now the largest mall in America, the Mall of America contains a variety of attractions such as theme parks and a downtown area.
  • Clinton Elected as President

    Clinton Elected as President

    Clinton won the 1992 presidential election (370 electoral votes) against Republican incumbent George H. W. Bush (168 electoral votes) and billionaire populist Ross Perot (0 electoral votes), who ran as an independent on a platform that focused on domestic issues.
  • Czechoslovakia Splits

    Czechoslovakia Splits

    The middle European country splits into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
  • Northridge Earthquake

    Northridge Earthquake

    1994 Northridge earthquake kills 72 and injures 9,000 in the Los Angeles area and causes $20 billion in damage.
  • Nelson Mandela becomes first President of South Africa

    Nelson Mandela becomes first President of South Africa

    After successfully fighting against the Apartheid regime, Mandela is elected preisdent
  • Okalhoma City Bombing

    Okalhoma City Bombing

    Oklahoma City bombing kills 168 and wounds 800. The bombing is the worst domestic terrorist incident in U.S. history, and the investigation resulted in the arrests of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols
  • Olympic Park Bombing

    Olympic Park Bombing

    Centennial Olympic Park bombing at Summer Olympics in Atlanta kills 1 and injures 111.
  • Clinton Reelected as President

    Clinton Reelected as President

    President Bill Clinton is re-elected over Republican candidate Bob Dole in the presidential election.
  • Market Drop

    Market Drop

    Sparked by a global economic crisis scare, the Dow Jones Industrial Average follows world markets and plummets 554.26, or 7.18%, to 7,161.15.
  • Bill is Back

    Bill is Back

    Former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones accuses President Clinton of sexual harassment.
  • Columbine Shooting

    Columbine Shooting

    Two teenage students murder 13 other students and teachers at Columbine High School. It sparked debates on gun control and bullying.
  • Market Goes Up

    Market Goes Up

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark for the first time, at 10,006.78
  • Deadly Tornado in Oklahoma

    Deadly Tornado in Oklahoma

    A violent tornado outbreak in Oklahoma kills 50 people and becomes the first to produce a tornado that causes $1 billion in damage.
  • EgyptAir Flight 990

    EgyptAir Flight 990

    The first officer deliberately crashes EgyptAir Flight 990 south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing 217.
  • Y2K

    Y2K

    Along with the rest of the world, the U.S. prepares for the possible effects of the Y2K bug in computers, which was feared to cause computers to become inoperable and wreak havoc.