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Highlights of the ’90s

Tadashi

Written by Tadashi

Modified & Updated: 23 Sep 2023

Jessica Corbett

Reviewed by Jessica Corbett

Expert Verified Editorial Guidelines
Back to the 90's

The 1990s made up the last decade of the 20th century. This naturally made it a historical transition, to the modern age of our 21st century. Learn more about how the world changed at that time with this list of the highlights of the ’90s.

Quick Facts
Essential Facts
Interesting Facts
  1. The ’90s marked the last decade of the second millennium of the Common Era (CE) calendar.
  2. According to the United Nations (UN), the world’s population grew by 1.6 billion people, or 30%, during the 1990s.
  3. Worldwide economic growth varied between 1.5% from 1990 to 1994 and 2.5% from 1995 to 1999.
  4. The ’90s set a world record for a decade’s worth of damage from natural disasters, at $608 billion.
  5. The USA, in particular, saw the worst flooding in its history since the 19th century.
  1. The Unification of Yemen finally took place in 1990.
  2. The World Wide Web opened for public use in 1991.
  3. Japan formally apologized for forcing Korean women into prostitution during WWII in 1992.
  4. The UN designated the year 1993 as the International Year for Indigenous People.
  5. Russia and the USA agreed in the 1994 Kremlin Accords to stop preprogramming nuclear missiles at each other.
  6. The Internet became completely privatized in 1995.
  7. France conducted its last nuclear weapons test in 1996.
  8. US President Bill Clinton banned federal funding for cloning research and development in 1997.
  9. Europe later joined the ban on cloning research and development in 1998.
  10. A worldwide ban against the use of landmines began in 1999.
  1. Multiculturalism became a global phenomenon in the ’90s.
  2. The ’90s saw personal computer ownership in the USA alone rise from 15% to 35%.
  3. Vehicle designs in the ’90s adopted a rounded and streamlined appearance.
  4. World leaders began to take a serious interest in the environment in the ’90s.
  5. The World Health Organization (WHO) removed homosexuality from the list of recognized diseases and disorders in the ’90s.
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