1990 German reunification
An agreement is reached for a two-stage plan to reunite Germany, and the destruction of the Berlin Wall by East Germany officially starts on June 13, (although Brandenburg gate was brought down at the end of 1989). East and West Germany merge their economies on July 1st.
1990-1 Gulf War
Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, prompting worldwide outrage. Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator, claimed that Kuwait stole Iraqi oil to justify his invasion. The United Nations promptly imposed economic sanctions, and the United States initiated Operation Desert Shield. This included a buildup of US and Allied forces in Saudi Arabia until January 1991, when Operation Desert Storm was launched. Kuwait was liberated due to Desert Storm, and the Iraqi Army was forced to retreat. When the Iraqi Army returned to its homeland, the Allies quickly offered a cease-fire.
1990-4 Birth of the Internet
The “interlinked hypertext documents” system was created in 1989, but it wasn’t until 1990 and 1991, when it experienced its first test runs and became widely known, that it changed the world as everyone knew it. All of its components were created in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee, a CERN computer scientist. These included HTTP, HTML, and the concept of browsers and servers, which we now take for granted. The Internet was a curiosity outside of CERN until 1994, when Netscape, Java, and Javascript were introduced. Microsoft’s invention of Internet Explorer accelerated its evolution, and the rest is history.
1991-9 Disney Renaissance
Beauty and the Beast debuted in 1991, followed by Aladdin in 1992 and The Lion King in 1994. The success of these resulted in what is now known as the Disney Renaissance, which refers to the company’s recovery from its cinematic downturn, which lasted from 1977 to 1991. Film analysts attribute this downturn to the retirement of one of Disney’s greatest animators, Don Bluth in 1981, which also contributed to the postponement of The Fox and the Hound’s debut. After 1994, Disney’s comeback continued with films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pocahontas, Mulan, and Tarzan. And, while the Disney Renaissance ultimately ended, it did so on a high note.
1991 Fall of the Soviet Union
Economic stagnation, such as excessive military spending and low investment in the service and consumer industries, paved the way for the Soviet Union’s dissolution. Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of tolerance and openness to nationalist and dissenting opinions also played a significant role. In August 1991, Lithuania became the first Soviet member state to quit the Union, with Latvia and Estonia following in September. Other member states followed in the coming months, with Gorbachev formally recognizing the Union’s demise in December 1991. The fall of the Soviet Union signalled the end of the Cold War, and some saw it as proof that liberal democracy, rather than Communism, indicated humanity’s way forward.
1991 Super Nintendo
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES, debuted in the United States in 1991 and quickly became the most popular gaming console of the 90s. Known for its advanced graphics and classic games such as “Donkey Kong Country,” “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past,” and “Super Mario World,” Nintendo sold nearly 50 million systems worldwide.
1992 Funeral of Princess Diana
On December 9, 1992, John Major, the then-UK Prime Minister, confirmed that Prince Charles and Princess Diana had officially parted ways. However, their divorce would not be formalized until 1996. Princess Diana’s death – In the early hours of August 31, 1997, brought the world to a standstill. The stunning Princess died in a car accident in Paris while trying to flee the paparazzi with her fiance, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul. Diana was admired worldwide for her charitable activities; over two and a half billion people watched her funeral.
1993 Hubble Telescope
NASA’s space telescope, arguably the most famous telescope in existence, was named after American astronomer Edwin Hubble. NASA believed that by installing Hubble in orbit, it would be able to capture more detailed photographs without the atmosphere warping light from deep space. Ironically, a faulty mirror prevented Hubble’s launch until 1993, when it was replaced. Hubble has captured an estimated 1 million photographs, ranging from the births and deaths of stars to galaxies and black holes millions of light-years away.
1994 End of Apartheid
Apartheid refers to South Africa’s segregation policy, which began in 1948. It established strict limits for the jobs that people of colour could have. It also determined where people could live, which public utilities they could access, and what services they could receive. By 1990, worldwide outrage had finally compelled the apartheid regime to negotiate with the ANC. In 1994, the ANC secured the opportunity to run for election and won an overwhelming majority in the South African Parliament, effectively ending apartheid on April 27, 1994. The date is now a South African public holiday known as Freedom Day.
1996 Dolly the Sheep
Contrary to popular belief, Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned, not the first animal. Dolly, born at the Roslin Institute in Scotland, was also the first clone created from adult animal cells. Scientists could previously only create clones from embryonic cells. Dolly’s success signified a significant victory for cloning science. However, it sparked alarm among opponents of the field and sparked a new debate about the ethics of cloning. Dolly, unfortunately, had to be euthanized at age six after being diagnosed with an incurable lung tumor.
1997 Exploration of Mars
Although it was not as well-publicized as Neil Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind,” NASA’s Pathfinder mission was an equally significant scientific achievement. The Pathfinder spacecraft deployed a landing vehicle and a robotic rover to the Martian planet for the first time on July 4, 1997, supplying scientists on Earth with a wealth of data on Mars’ atmosphere, rocks, and soil. While Pathfinder did not uncover life, it provided the best evidence that the planet was once humid and possibly sustained life.
1997 Microsoft saved Apple
Bill Gates announced in 1997, when Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy, that Microsoft would throw Steve Jobs’ struggling business a lifeline financially to the tune of a $150 million investment. $150 million was a massive investment back then. Following the event, Jobs famously told the audience that people had to let go of the notion that Microsoft had to lose in order for Apple to win.
1997 – Harry Potter
In 1997, J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was released worldwide, giving audiences their first look into the magical world of the young wizard Harry Potter. (The book was initially named “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” in the United States.) Rowling famously penned the book in coffee shops while on welfare and was turned down by various publishers. Since then, the Harry Potter books have gone on to become among the best-selling books in history, as well as the foundation for a multibillion-dollar franchise that encompasses movies, games, and an upcoming television series.
1997-8 Google
The search engine was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin and initially utilized Stanford’s website with the domains google.stanford.edu and z.stanford.edu. The pair originally constructed a search engine they wanted to call “Backrub” from their dorm rooms that exploited links to determine the relevance of particular pages on the World Wide Web. On September 15, 1997, the domain google.com was registered, and Google was born in their friend Susan Wojcicki’s garage in Menlo Park, California. The name was inspired by the mathematical equation for one followed by one hundred zeros. It accurately expressed Larry and Sergey’s goal of collating the world’s knowledge and data and making it accessible and beneficial to all.
1997-9 Y2K Bug
The Y2K or Millennium Bug referred to a widespread concern among computer programmers in the 1990s who feared that computers would be unable to handle the changeover from 1999 to 2000, resulting in general breakdowns worldwide. In fact, some estimated that the computer meltdown may cost up to $600 billion. Others went so far as to predict a global catastrophe, causing a surge in hoarding activity towards the end of 1999. However, only a few crashes took place during the transition, thanks to the unnoticed hard work of computer programmers who proactively modified the computer software to enable them to cope with the change.
1998 International Space Station
Plans for the station, called “Freedom” in reaction to the Soviet Mir space station, date back to the 1980s. With the Cold War’s end, NASA chose a different name for its anticipated space station in accordance with the new post-war order. They also resolved to allow Russians to participate in the program alongside Europeans and Japanese. While the first modules of the ISS were launched into space in 1998, it didn’t become ready for human habitation until 2000.
1999 Napster
In 1999, a peer-to-peer file-sharing program named Napster rose to prominence as an apparently prophetic method to usher in the new century. Young people all over the world quickly become accustomed to accessible digital content. While Napster would eventually pay its dues for copyright infringement, the online corporation helped set a precedent for the next generation: we expected our entertainment and music content for free or inexpensive, and we wanted it on demand, at the touch of our fingertips on our computer.
Globalization and Multiculturalism
There was a widespread view that the decade had failed to deliver on the promises it began with. From the 1990s onward, several events shattered the world’s hopes for long-term peace and prosperity. These include genocide, war in Africa and Southern Europe, and economic issues in Eastern Europe. Communist China, too, survived the fall of the Soviet Union and slowly built its might to compete with the United States. Terrorist assaults continued to occur and increase in severity during the last decade. The fact that the West prospered despite the issues experienced elsewhere in the world during the decade tainted the appeal of multiculturalism and globalism.
1990
January 3 – United States invasion of Panama: General Manuel Noriega is deposed as leader of Panama and surrenders to the American forces.
February 11 – Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison, near Cape Town, South Africa, after 27 years behind bars
February 13 – German reunification: An agreement is reached for a two-stage plan to reunite Germany, and The destruction of the Berlin Wall by East Germany officially starts on June 13, East and West Germany merge their economies on July 1st.
February 15 = The United Kingdom and Argentina restore diplomatic relations after 8 years (after Argentina's invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982).
March 21 – After 75 years of South African rule since World War I, Namibia becomes independent.
April 1 – The Community Charge (poll tax) takes effect in England and Wales amid widespread protests
April 1 – Strangeways Prison riot: The longest prison riot in Britain's history begins at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, and continues for 3 weeks and 3 days, until April 25.
April 24 – The Hubble Space Telescope is launched aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.
May 22 = Cold War: The leaders of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen announce the unification of their countries as the Republic of Yemen.
June 2 – The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawns 88 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 12; 37 tornadoes occur in Indiana, eclipsing the previous record of 21 during the 1974 Super Outbreak.
June 24 – Kathleen Margaret Brown and Irene Templeton are ordained as priests in St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast, becoming the first female Anglican priests in the United Kingdom
August 2 = Gulf War: Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War.
October – Tim Berners-Lee begins his work on the World Wide Web, 19 months after his seminal 1989 outline of what would become the Web concept.
November – The earliest known portable digital camera sold in the United States ships.
November 22 – British PM Margaret Thatcher announces she will not contest the second ballot of the leadership election for the Conservative Party.
