1990 History, Trivia and Fun Facts

• Politics: The Americans With Disabilities Act was signed into law by by President George H. W. Bush.
• The Top Song was Because I Love You (The Postman Song) by Stevie B
• The Big Movies included Home Alone, Ghost and Dances with Wolves
• Price of a loaf of bread in 1990: 70 cents
  Nintendo Game Boy: $89.97
• The World Population was ~ 5,219,000,000
• K'NEX was invented in 1990 by Joel Glickman.
• And... The Billboard "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop" chart was called the "Hot Black Singles" chart from 1982-1990.

"I've fallen and I can't get up"
- Mrs. Fletcher in a Lifecall commercial

"I do not like broccoli. I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm the President of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli."
- George H.W. Bush

Richard Nixon may have been a fan of rap music. In a 1990 interview with the New York Times, he said, "I have often thought that if there had been a good rap group around in those days I might have chosen a career in music instead of politics."

First Lady Barbara Bush criticized The Simpsons as "the dumbest thing I've ever seen." Marge wrote a letter to her, in character, politely telling her not to be so judgmental and explaining that her family tried their best. Mrs Bush later apologized for her "loose tongue".

Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai from 1958 to 1990, said of their oil-centric economy: "My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel."

After the first four episodes of Seinfeld aired in the summer of 1990, NBC took a leap of faith and ordered 13 more. Larry David said, "I don't have any more stories to tell, Jerry turn the order down." Jerry didn't listen and said "Yes" to the pickup.

In Home Alone (1990) when they counted the people for the trip they say there's 17 people in total. An odd number between two vans means they will be split 8/9. Since Kevin was missing both vans had 8 people instead, making each group assume they were on the 8-people van...

The first documented crash between two cars fitted with Airbags, two 1989 Chrysler LeBaron, occurred; both drivers walked away with minor Injuries from a crash they would not have survived without airbags.

There was an anti-drug PSA called Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue, about Bugs Bunny, Kermit the Frog, Slimer, Garfield, the Chipmunks, Michelangelo from TMNT, ALF, and other cartoons scaring a 14-year-old marijuana addict. It aired all around the globe.

The first rap single to reach #1 in the US was Ice Ice Baby in 1990. The first rap single to reach #1 in Canada was Rapper's Delight in 1980.

Emerson Moser, Crayola's senior moulder, after working 37 years and moulding ~1.4 billion crayons, revealed he was actually blue-green color blind.

IMDb, now owned by Amazon, is one of the oldest websites on the internet, and began on Usenet in 1990 as a list of "actresses with beautiful eyes".

A 200-person, .02 sq. mile trailer park in Texas incorporated and became a city just to open a liquor store. Until 2007, Mobile City was the only place in Rockwall county you could buy any kind of alcohol outside of a restaurant.

Bart Gets An F was the highest rated episode of The Simpsons. 33.6 million viewers tuned in during its original airing on October 11, 1990.

Chuck Norris was the first Westerner in documented Tae Kwon Do history to be awarded the rank of 8th Degree Black Belt Grand Master.

Air India moved Over 111,000 people from Amman to Mumbai, by operating 488 flights lasting 59 days to evacuate Indian expatriates from Kuwait and Iraq during the Gulf War. This feat is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most people evacuated by a civil airliner.

Microsoft included Solitaire in Windows, in part, to familiarize people with drag and drop operations. Many new computer users were still unfamiliar with graphical user interfaces.

World Wide Web/Internet protocol (HTTP) and WWW language (HTML) created by Tim Berners-Lee.

ABC aired 11 episodes of an ill-fated police-drama-presented-as-a-musical called Cop Rock. TV guide dubbed it "the single most bizarre TV musical of all time."

Ben Franklin donated $5,000 each piece to Boston and Philadelphia in 1790 stipulating they can only withdraw funds in 1890 and 1990. Each city withdrew $500,000 in 1890 and over $20,000,000 in 1990.

The World Health Organization listed homosexuality as a mental illness until the May 17th, 1990.

Stephen King's fictional town of Castle Rock was inspired by the fictional mountain fort of the same name in Lord of the Flies, in turn inspired the name of Rob Reiner's production company, Castle Rock Entertainment, which produced the 1990 film Lord of the Flies.

The record for fastest coast to coast flight is held by the SR-71 Blackbird. On March 6th 1990, Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida flew the SR-71 Blackbird from Los Angeles, California to Dulles International Airport in Virginia in 68 minutes 17 seconds.

During the first gulf war in 1990, NBC delayed the start time to the Tonight Show by 5 minutes, to give their affiliates more time to cover the conflict. Once local stations had those 5 precious minutes, they never gave them back. This is why all late night shows in the US start at 11:35 pm.

Disabled activists got out of their wheelchairs and crawled up the steps of the Capitol, inconveniencing Senators to encourage a vote on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Cost of a Superbowl ad in 1990: $700,000

McDonald's Cooked their Fries in 93% Beef Fat (Tallow) until 1990, when they Switched to Vegetable Oil.

Ken Griffey, Jr. played With His Dad during the MLB season of 1990, and in one game, Sr. and Jr. hit back-to-back home-runs.

Vaso Cubrilovic, one of the conspirators who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, escaped the death penalty because he was under 20. He survived the Great War, got a PhD, survived WWII, became the Yugoslavian Minister of Agriculture, and died in 1990.

Neo Geo by SNK, Batman action figures, Bob Mackie Barbie, Madeline Ragdoll, Tribond Game, Power Drencher water gun, Taboo, Super Mario World video game

Disney Adventures Magazine (1990-2007)

Martha Stewart Living began publication

Entertainment Weekly began publication

(according to boxofficemojo)
1. Home Alone
2. Ghost
3. Dances With Wolves
4. Pretty Woman
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
6. The Hunt For Red October
7. Total Recall
8. Die Hard 2: Die Harder
9. Dick Tracy
10. Kindergarten Cop

Another 48 Hours, Arachnophobia, Awakenings, Back to the Future Part III, Bird on a Wire, Dances With Wolves, Days of Thunder, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Dick Tracey, Edward Scissorhands, Flatliners, The Godfather Part III, Ghost, Goodfellas, Hard to Kill, Home Alone, The Hunt for Red October, Kindergarten Cop, Look Who's Talking Too, Misery, Presumed Innocent, Pretty Woman, Problem Child, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Three Men and a Little Lady, Total Recall