Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s - 1990s - 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s
Years: 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Events and Trends Reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990 Explosive growth of the Internet; decrease in the cost of computers and other technology Genocide in Rwanda kills one million people, in 1994. Development of GATT, the World Trade Organization and other global economic institutions Cloning (of Dolly, the sheep) achieved Break up of the Soviet Union in 1991 -- the end of the Cold War, United States as sole world superpower Human Genome Project begun Global human impact on the environment widely accepted Peace process begins in Northern Ireland. Balkan war in former Yugoslavia Gulf War and embargo on Iraq After 1992 the booming of the stock market, which stretched into the dot-com boom/dot-com bubble Bill Clinton's sex scandal with Monica Lewinsky and his Impeachment trial Grunge music Year 2000 problem (commonly known as Y2K) Eritrea gains independence from Ethiopia End of apartheid in South Africa and election of ANC government of Nelson Mandela North Yemen and South Yemen merge to form Yemen A decade of women presidents in the Republic of Ireland Divorce and scandal rocks the British Royal House of Windsor Assasination of Selena Quintanilla O.J's trial, called by many the trial of the century You go, girl! becomes a popular phrase as the media gives feminist movements a boost with The Spice Girls, the WNBA, women's boxing, Sex and the City and others showcasing feminine talent. The Vieques controversy World Leaders Prime Minister Bob Hawke (Australia) Prime Minister Paul Keating (Australia) Prime Minister John Howard (Australia) Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (Canada) Prime Minister Jean Chretien (Canada) Deng Xiaoping (People's Republic of China) President Jiang Zemin (People's Republic of China) President Lee Teng-hui (Republic of China on Taiwan) President Hosni Mubarak (Egypt) President François Mitterrand (France) President Jacques Chirac (France) Chancellor Helmut Kohl (Germany) Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (Germany) Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee (India) President Mohammad Khatami (Iran) President Saddam Hussein (Iraq) Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Israel) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel) Emperor Akihito (Japan) First Minister David Trimble (Northern Ireland) President Yasser Arafat (Palestinian Authority) Pope John Paul II Taoiseach Charles Haughey (Republic of Ireland) Taoiseach Albert Reynolds (Republic of Ireland) Taoiseach John Bruton (Republic of Ireland) Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (Republic of Ireland) President Boris Yeltsin (Russia) President Frederik Willem de Klerk (South Africa) President Nelson Mandela (South Africa) Mikhail Gorbachev (Soviet Union) Queen Elizabeth II (United Kingdom) Prime Minister John Major (United Kingdom) Prime Minister Tony Blair (United Kingdom) President George H. W. Bush (United States) President Bill Clinton (United States) Entertainers Sandra Bullock Tim Burton Bush Jim Carrey Phil Collins Kevin Costner Harrison Ford Mel Gibson Green Day Tom Hanks Helen Hunt Samuel L. Jackson Ashley Judd Nicole Kidman Demi Moore Shawn Mullins Mike Myers and Dana Carvey (Wayne's World) Jack Nicholson Nirvana The Offspring (Smash) Michelle Pfeiffer Red Hot Chili Peppers Julia Roberts Meg Ryan Adam Sandler M. Night Shyamalan Mira Sorvino Quentin Tarantino Billy Bob Thornton Uma Thurman Bruce Willis Sports figures Cal Ripken Jr Mark McGwire Roger Clemens Barry Sanders Emmitt Smith Brett Favre Michael Jordan Karl Malone David Robinson Wayne Gretzky Mario Lemieux Patrick Roy Pete Sampras Andre Agassi Dale Earnhardt Evander Holyfield Miguel Induraín Music Ace of Base (The Sign) Aerosmith (Get a Grip) Alan Jackson (A Lot About Livin' (And a Little About Love)) Alanis Morissette (Jagged Little Pill) Alice in Chains (Dirt) Anthrax (Persistence of Time) Aphex Twin (Selected Ambient Works 85-92) Ash (1977) Backstreet Boys (Backstreet's Back) Beck (Mellow Gold) Beenie Man (Blessed) Billy Ray Cyrus (Some Gave All) blink-182 (Enema of the State) Blur (Parklife) Boyzone (Where We Belong) Buju Banton (Till Shiloh) Bush (Sixteen Stone) The Cardigans (First Band on the Moon) Celine Dion (Let's Talk About Love) Christina Aguilera (Christina Aguilera) Clint Black (The Hard Way) Cradle of Filth (Dusk & Her Embrace) D'Angelo (Brown Sugar) Da Brat (Funkdafied) Dixie Chicks (Wide Open Spaces) DMX (It's Dark and Hell Is Hot) Dr. Dre (The Chronic) Dr. Octagon (Dr. Octagonecologyst) Eminem (The Slim Shady LP) Emperor (In the Nightside Eclipse) Erykah Badu (Baduizm) Fugazi (Repeater) Garth Brooks (Ropin' the Wind) Get Up Kids (Something to Write Home About) Green Day (Dookie) Guru (Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1) GZA (Liquid Swords) Hootie and the Blowfish (Cracked Rear View) Kid Rock (Devil Without a Cause) Kris Kross (Totally Krossed Out) Lauryn Hill (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill) Limp Bizkit (Significant Other) Lush (Split) Madonna (Ray of Light) Marilyn Manson (Antichrist Superstar) Mary J. Blige (What's the 411) MC Hammer (Too Legit to Quit) My Bloody Valentine (Loveless) Nas (Illmatic) Nine Inch Nails (The Downward Spiral) Nirvana (Nevermind) NOFX (Punk in Drublic) Notorious B.I.G (Life After Death) Oasis (Definitely Maybe) The Offspring (Smash) OutKast (Aquemini) Pantera (A Vulgar Display of Power) Paul Oakenfold (Global Underground: Oslo) Pearl Jam (Ten) Pennywise (Pennywise) The Prodigy (The Fat of the Land) Radiohead (OK Computer) Raekwon (Only Built 4 Cuban Linx) Rancid (And Out Come the Wolves) Red Hot Chili Peppers (Blood Sugar Sex Magik) Reverend Horton Heat (Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em) Ricky Martin (A Medio Vivir) Ride (Nowhere) Sepultura (Chaos A.D) Shania Twain (Come on Over) The Smashing Pumpkins (Siamese Dream) Spacemen 3 (Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs to) The Spice Girls (Spice World) Stone Temple Pilots (Core) Sunny Day Real Estate (How It Feels to Be Something On) Tool (Ænima) A Tribe Called Quest (The Low End Theory) Tupac Shakur (2pacalaypse Now) Type O Negative (Bloody Kisses) The Vandals (Quickening) Weezer (The Blue Album) White Zombie (La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1) Wilco (Being There) Wu-Tang Clan (Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)) See also: 1990s music groups, List of rock and roll albums in the 1990s