1990
1990s Era
Act I
The World Stage
1990
5.3B
people on Earth when this year began
Today
8.2B
+2.9B more people since
🇺🇸
US President
George H. W. Bush
🇬🇧
UK Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher / John Major
🇺🇳
UN Secretary-General
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Defining Moments
Nelson Mandela released from prison
German reunification
Iraq invades Kuwait
Hubble Space Telescope launched
Act II
Culture & Entertainment
#1 Song
Hold On
Wilson Phillips
- ♪ MC Hammer - Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em
- ♪ Sinéad O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
#1 Movie
Home Alone
Oscar Best Picture: Dances with Wolves
- 🎥 Home Alone
- 🎥 Ghost
- 🎥 Pretty Woman
Top TV Shows
- 📺 Cheers
- 📺 Roseanne
- 📺 60 Minutes
- 📺 The Simpsons (debut)
Notable Books
- 📚 Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
Act III
Technology & Science
World Wide Web invented (Tim Berners-Lee)
Adobe Photoshop 1.0
GPS made available for civilian use
Space
Hubble Space Telescope launched • Voyager 1 takes 'Pale Blue Dot' photo
Nobel Peace Prize
Mikhail Gorbachev
Nobel Physics
Jerome Friedman, Henry Kendall, Richard Taylor
Act IV
Cost of Living
Gas / Gallon
$1.16
Today: $3.50
Milk / Gallon
$2.78
Today: $4.15
Movie Ticket
$4.23
Today: $11.75
Average Home
$123,000
Today: $420,000
New Car
$16,000
Today: $49,500
Postage Stamp
$0.25
Today: $0.73
Average Salary
$23,600 / year (min wage: $3.8/hr)
Act V
Sports Champions
World Series
Cincinnati Reds
NBA Finals
Detroit Pistons
Super Bowl
San Francisco 49ers (SB XXIV)
FIFA World Cup
West Germany (1990 WC)
Act VI
Our Planet
CO₂ Levels
0
parts per million
Today: 422 ppm
Temperature Anomaly
+0.45°C
vs. pre-industrial average
Today: +1.45°C
Life Expectancy
75.4 years
Internet
World Wide Web invented but not yet public