1990s

The 1990s (often referred to as the '90s) was the decade that began on January 1, 1990 and ended on December 31, 1999.

From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993; The World Wide Web becomes more popular worldwide; Boris Yeltsin and followers stand on a tank against the August Coup, which leads to the end of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991; Dolly the sheep is the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell; The funeral procession of Diana, Princess of Wales, who dies in 1997 from a car crash in Paris, and is mourned by millions; Hundreds of thousands of Tutsi people are killed in the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s – 1990s – 2000s 2010s 2020s
Years:	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Categories:	Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments

Many important world events happened in the 1990s. One was the fall of the Soviet Union, which ended the Cold War. Two genocides, in Rwanda and Serbia, happened in the '90s. In South Africa, Apartheid ended. The European Union was established, and the Gulf War was fought in the Middle East.

There were major developments in computer technology. The World Wide Web (invented in 1989) became extremely popular and connected people around the world. Microsoft and Apple grew significantly.

In sports, West Germany, Brazil, and France each won a FIFA World Cup. In Major League Baseball, World Series winners included the Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, and Florida Marlins.

Events

These are just a few of the major world events that occurred in the 1990s:

• 1990 - 1991 – Gulf War
• 1990 – German reunification
• 1991 – The end of the Cold War.
• 1991 – Breakup of Yugoslavia, followed by the Yugoslav wars.
• 1991 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union
• 1991 – Rosuvastatin was patented. It was approved for medical use in the United States twelve years later.
• 1991 – Wawasan 2020 (Vision 2020) was introduced by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
• 1992 – The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union.
• 1993 – Dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
• 1994 – Genocide in Rwanda
• 1994 – End of Apartheid in South Africa.
• 1995 – Bosnian genocide
• 1997 – Handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China.

Notable people

World leaders

Africa

• In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak was President from 1981-2011
• In South Africa, Nelson Mandela was President from 1994–1999, and Thabo Mbeki was President from 1999–2008

Asia

• In China, Jiang Zemin was General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002
• In Libya, Muammar al-Gaddafi was dictator from 1969 to 2011
• In Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad was Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003
• In North Korea, Kim Il-Sung was dictator from 1948-1994, and Kim Jong-il was dictator from 1994 to 2011
• When the Soviet Union existed, Mikhail Gorbachev was its leader from 1985–1991
• After the Soviet Union fell, Boris Yeltsin was President of Russia from 1991 to 1999

Europe

• In France, François Mitterrand was President from 1981 to 1995, and Jacques Chirac was President from 1995 to 2007
• In Germany, Helmut Kohl was Chancellor until 1998, and Gerhard Schröder was Chancellor from 1998-2005
• In Palestine, Yasser Arafat was the first President of the Palestinian National Authority from 1994-2004
• In Poland, Lech Wałęsa was President from 1990-1995
• In Serbia, Slobodan Milošević was President from 1989 to 2000
• In the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II was Queen throughout the decade (she served from 1952-2022)
• Also in the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister (PM) from 1979 to 1990; John Major was PM from 1990 to 1997; and Tony Blair was PM from 1997 to 2007
• Pope John Paul II led Vatican City and the Catholic Church in the 1990s (this was the last full decade he would serve as Pope; he died in 2005)

Middle East

• In Iraq, Saddam Hussein was President from 1979–2003
• In Israel, Yitzhak Rabin was Prime Minister from 1992-1995, when he was assassinated

North and South America

• In Cuba, Fidel Castro was Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976, then President from 1976 - 2008
• In Peru, Alberto Fujimori was President from 1990–2000
• In the United States, George H. W. Bush was President until 1993, and Bill Clinton was President from 1993–2001

Athletes

• Andre Agassi, American tennis player
• Barry Bonds, American baseball player
• Ken Griffey Jr., American baseball player
• Michael Schumacher, German Formula 1 driver
• Michael Jordan, American basketball player
• Pete Sampras, American tennis player

Musical artists

• Backstreet Boys, American boy band
• Britney Spears, American singer
• Celine Dion, singer
• Madonna, singer-songwriter
• Mariah Carey, singer
• Nirvana, rock band
• The Prodigy, electronic dance group
• Spice Girls, music group
• Tupac Shakur, American rapper (murdered in 1996)
• Whitney Houston, singer

Actors

• Arnold Schwarzenegger, American actor
• Brad Pitt, American actor
• Eddie Murphy, American actor and comedian
• Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian and talk show host
• George Clooney, American actor
• Jim Carrey, Canadian-American actor and comedian
• Julia Roberts, American actor/actress
• Mel Gibson, American actor
• Nicole Kidman, Australian-American actress
• Oprah Winfrey, American actress and talk show host
• Robin Williams, American actor and comedian
• Sandra Bullock, American actress
• Steven Seagal, American actor
• Tom Cruise, American actor
• Tom Hanks, American actor

Others

• Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft
• Diana, Princess of Wales (killed in a car crash in 1997)
• Gianni Versace, fashion designer
• Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple

Other websites

Source for some items:

• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ Archived 2013-05-10 at the Wayback Machine
• http://m-w.com/