1990 History

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1990 Following the Iraq invasion of Kuwait Desert Shield Begins as the United States and UK send troops to Kuwait. The US enters a bad recession which will have repercussions over the next few years throughout the world. This is also the year "The Simpson's" is seen for the first time on FOX TV. Following the Berlin Wall falling East and West Germany reunite. In technology Tim Berners-Lee publishes the first web page on the WWW and it shown that there is a hole in the Ozone Layer above the North Pole, also the First in car GPS Satellite Navigation System goes on sale from Pioneer.

Cost of Living 1990

How Much things cost in 1990
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 5.39%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 2633
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 10.00%
Average Cost of new house $123,000.00
Average Income per year $28,960.00
Average Monthly Rent $465.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas $1.34
Price for a new Isuzu Rodeo $12,4900.00
IBM PS1 Computer From $999.00-$1,999.00


What Events Happened in 1990
  • Saddam Hussein orders Iraq invasion of Neighboring Kuwait
  • Operation Desert Shield Begins as the United States and UK send troops to Kuwait
  • Lech Walesa becomes president of Poland
  • The Saturn range of cars are launched by GM
  • Earthquake in Iran kills 50,000
  • Americas Favorite animated family "The Simpson's" is aired on Fox for the first time
  • The US Enters a Major Recession
  • A Formal Ban on the Trade of Ivory is introduced
  • Nelson Mandella is released from Prison in South Africa after 28 years
  • Industrialized countries agree to stop dumping waste into the oceans of the world.
  • John M. Poindexter (Former national security adviser) is convicted on multiple felony counts
  • Margaret Thatcher announces her resignation as British PM
  • A stampede of religious pilgrims in a pedestrian tunnel in Mecca leaves 1,400 dead
  • A fire at an unlicensed social club called "Happy Land" in New York City kills 87
  • Opposition Parties in South Africa are legalized Nelson Mandella released from prison and becomes leader of the African National Congress ( ANC )
  • The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns of it falling over
  • East and West Germany reunite including currency and economies
  • President George Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a historic agreement to end production of chemical weapons
  • Throughout the year demonstrations are held in cities in the UK in protest at the new poll tax
  • Philippines, an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter Scale kills over 1600
  • Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and reform his nation
  • Tim Berners-Lee publishes a more formal proposal for the World Wide Web and the first web page is written
  • Channel Tunnel workers from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 meters beneath the English Channel seabed, establishing the first ground connection between the United Kingdom and the mainland of Europe since the last ice age
  • Art thieves steal 12 works of art from the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston
  • Prisoners Riot in Strangeways Prison in Manchester, England keeping control of the prison for 25 days
  • Namibia Gains Independence From South Africa
  • Boris N. Yeltsin becomes president of the Russian republic.
  • West Germany Wins 1990 World Cup in Italy
  • Customs officers seize the barrel (130 feet long) of a "Supergun" bound for Iraq
  • Great Britain is gripped by a heat wave and the highest recorded temperatures in British History are recorded of 37.1C, or 99F in Nailstone, Leicestershire

Popular Culture 1990

  • The Sci/Fi Channel on Cable TV starts transmitting
  • Twin Peaks premieres on ABC
  • The Milli Vanilli duo's producer reveals that the Grammy winning pop duo were lip synching in the songs on the album which gained them the award

Popular Films

  • Home Alone
  • Ghost
  • Dances with Wolves
  • Pretty Woman
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • The Hunt for Red October
  • Total Recall
  • Die Hard 2
  • Dick Tracy
  • Edward Scissorhands,
  • The Godfather Part III

Popular Musicians

  • Tears For Fears
  • Kylie Minogue
  • Janet Jackson with " Black Cat "
  • Jon Bon Jovi with " Blaze of Glory "
  • Erasure
  • Maxi Priest
  • Rod Stewart
  • Depeche Mode
  • The Blues Brothers
  • Garth Brooks
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • Billy Joel
  • Phil Collins
  • Vanilla Ice with " Ice Ice Baby "
  • Whitney Houston
  • Aerosmith
  • Cher
  • Dannii Minogue
  • Mariah Carey
  • The B-52's

Technology 1990

  • The Space Shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit revolutionizing astronomy.
  • Tim Berners-Lee publishes a more formal proposal for the World Wide Web and the first web page is written
  • Microsoft Releases Windows 3.0
  • A 16 megabit chip is shown for the first time
  • The First Known Case of AIDS is traced back to 1959
  • The Space Probe Voyager launched in 1977 photographed the Solar System at a distance of 3.7 miles from the SUN
  • 18 years after its launch the US Space Probe Pioneer reaches a distance of 46.5 billion miles beyond all planetary orbits
  • Depletion of the Ozone Layer is discovered above the North Pole
  • The First in-car Satellite Navigation System is sold by Pioneer


Research for this year is provided by The People History.
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Find out more about the 90s at ThePeopleHistory.com.