1990s

The 1990s is often remembered as a decade of relative peace and prosperity: The Soviet Union fell, ending the decades-long Cold War, and the rise of the Internet ushered in a radical new era of communication, business and entertainment. However, the decade was not without violence and tragedy, including the Bosnian genocide, the Rodney King beating and subsequent L.A. Riots, and the first bombing of the World Trade Center.

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Author Douglas Coupland revisits a golden age of U.S. culture: the 1990s.

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Featured Overview

Author Douglas Coupland revisits a golden age of U.S. culture: the 1990s.

2:25m watch

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Timothy McVeigh developed his suspicion of government authority at a young age—but two pivotal events pushed him over the edge.

Newly arrived Marines are led through an encampment near an airfield during the Persian Gulf War's Operation Desert Shield.

The Persian Gulf War, or Operation Desert Storm, began in 1991 after President Saddam Hussein of Iraq ordered the invasion and occupation of neighboring Kuwait.

Born in the ashes of World War II, the currency used by 19 European countries went into effect on January 1, 1999.

Beanie Babies

In the 1990s, hysteria over Ty Inc's $5 plush toys fed a wave of theft, fraud and market manipulation. Values soared—then plummeted.

Waco Siege

What Happened at the Waco Siege?

Learn about the Waco Siege and how cult leader David Koresh lived as a polygamist among his Branch Davidian followers at the Mount Carmel Center. Discover the 51-day siege, which ended in a deadly FBI raid on April 19, 1993.

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1990s
Flowers left outside the home of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy on N. Moore St. in New York City.

The son of the famous president died in the 1999 accident, along with his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her sister Lauren Bessette.

Beanie Babies

In the 1990s, hysteria over Ty Inc's $5 plush toys fed a wave of theft, fraud and market manipulation. Values soared—then plummeted.

What Drove Heaven's Gate Followers to Mass Suicide?

In 1997, 39 members of a religious sect were found dead by suicide inside a San Diego mansion. Why did they do it?

Manhattan mit World Trade Center / New York(GERMANY OUT) New York (Stadt). New York, USA: Skyline von Manhattan mit den Türmen des World Trade Centers. WTC, Twin Towers.

The attack by a group of Islamic fundamentalists announced the growing threat of terrorism on US soil.

Flames from burning jet fuel on the waters off of Long Island from the TWA Flight 800 Boeing 747-100 aircraft that exploded on July 17, 1996 near East Moriches, New York.

Speculation fueled theories that a terrorist act had caused the crash that killed the 230 on board, but an investigation later concluded it was a tragic mechanical error.

The 1990 protest demonstrated the barriers that inaccessible buildings create for people with disabilities.

Biosphere II

In the 1990s, eight adventurers spent two years separated from the rest of the world inside a futuristic greenhouse meant to mimic a spaceship—on Earth.

Born in the ashes of World War II, the currency used by 19 European countries went into effect on January 1, 1999.

Newt Gingrich was offended that Clinton hadn't talked to him on Air Force One.

Newt Gingrich

A strategy to give congressional campaigns a unified, national message under the "Contract With America" led to a Republican sweep.

Flat sheet of Philip Morris' Marlboro cigarette cartons rolling along conveyor belt, 1993.

On April 2, 1993, the stock price of Phillip Morris dropped a whopping 26 percent, the largest price drop of any company―until Facebook's July 2018 tumble.

President Bill Clinton, with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at his side, emphatically denies having affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.  (Photo by Diana Walker//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Remember when a little-known web blog helped blow up a presidency? And a music-streaming service called Napster wreaked havoc in the recording industry?

Timothy McVeigh developed his suspicion of government authority at a young age—but two pivotal events pushed him over the edge.

Fire and smoke consuming the David Koresh-led Branch Davidian cult compound, 1993.  (Credit: Mark Perlstein/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

The Branch Davidians fell from public view after the disastrous raid of their compound, but they maintained a presence in Waco, Texas—and around the world.

President Bill Clinton addressing a White House conference to discuss ideas about how best to reform Social Security to ensure its solvency well into the 21st century, 1998.

Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign placed welfare reform at its center, claiming that his proposal would “end welfare as we have come to know it.”

Relief workers and investigators looking through the rubble after the Oklahoma City bombing. (Credit: Greg Smith/REA/Redux)

When a truck bomb detonated outside a federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, it was the biggest terror attack in U.S. history—and launched the F.B.I.'s largest-ever manhunt.

Overhead of smoking fire consuming David Koresh-led Branch Davidian cult compound. (Credit: Time Life Pictures/Fbi/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

What really happened during the 1993 siege between the government and mysterious cult leader David Koresh may never be known. But intriguing clues remain.

Learn what motivated white right-wing terrorists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols to commit the Oklahoma City Bombing, which killed 168 people on April 19, 1995. Discover the federal and local clean up efforts and the fate of McVeigh and Nichols.

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Learn about the Waco Siege and how cult leader David Koresh lived as a polygamist among his Branch Davidian followers at the Mount Carmel Center. Discover the 51-day siege, which ended in a deadly FBI raid on April 19, 1993.

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Bree Newsome discusses the impact and legacy of the Rodney King trial.

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Monica Lewinsky surrounded by photographers as she gets into a car on her way to the FBI Headquarters. (Credit: Jeffrey Markowitz/Sygma via Getty Images)

When Michael Isikoff broke the story of Ken Starr's investigation into the Lewinsky affair 20 years ago, he had no idea how much it would change the presidency and the country.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 6: Randy Weaver (C) shows a model of his Ruby Ridge, Idaho cabin to US Senator Arlen Specter, R-PA ,(L), 06 September on Capitol Hill during Senate hearings investigating the events surrounding the 1992 standoff with federal agents. Weavers' wife and son were killed by FBI agents during the seige. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read PAMELA PRICE/AFP via Getty Images)

Ruby Ridge was the location of a violent 11-day standoff between an Idaho family and federal agents in 1992 that sparked the modern American militia movement.

Monica Lewinsky meets with President ClintonA photograph showing former White House intern Monica Lewinsky meeting President Bill Clinton at a White House function submitted as evidence in documents by the Starr investigation and released by the House Judicary committee September 21, 1998.

The Monica Lewinsky scandal in the late 1990s involved President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern in her early 20s. In 1995, the two began a sexual relationship that continued sporadically until 1997. The impeachment of Bill Clinton was initiated in December 1998 by the House of Representatives for charges of lying under oath and obstructing justice.

Branch Davidian Compound BurningThe Branch Davidians' Mount Carmel compound outside of Waco, Texas, burns to the ground during the 1993 raid by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Nearly 80 members of the religious group were killed in the fire, which ended the 51-day standoff between the Davidians the ATF. | Location: Near Waco, Texas, USA. (Photo by �� Greg Smith/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

The Waco Siege was a 51-day standoff between federal agents and members of a millennial Christian sect called the Branch Davidians at a Texas compound in 1993.

What caused the L.A. riots? Historians and experts chronicle the decades of tension that came to a head during that pivotal week in 1992.

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LOS ANGELES - Riot April 30

The Los Angeles riots erupted across the southern California city in spring 1992 after four LAPD officers were acquitted of assaulting motorist Rodney King.

Author Douglas Coupland revisits a golden age of U.S. culture: the 1990s.

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The 1990s were a decade marked by the collapse of the Soviet Union, the emerging popularity of grunge music and the rapid rise of the World Wide Web.

The man who gave the world "Generation X" looks back at the oft-maligned 1990s.

U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno testifies to a House subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington about the 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. (Credit: DAVID AKE/AFP/Getty Images)

Find out what happened to the key players in the siege of the Branch Davidian cult compound on February 28, 1993.

Oklahoma City BombingN220195 02: FILE PHOTO: Protective covering drapes over the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, April 19, 1995 where a terrorist bomb killed 168 people. On the fifth anniversary of the bombing, survivors, victims'' family members, friends and rescue personnel gathered at the bombing site April 19, 2000 to officially dedicate a national park built to honor the people killed in the 1995 bombing. (Photo by J. Pat Carter/Liaison)

The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, carried out by Timothy McVeigh, killed 168 people and left hundreds more injured.

A view from the parking lot at the rear of Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, shows the cafeteria and library with windows missing on April 22, 1999, at the site where fourteen students and one teacher were killed on April 20, 1999 when two students opened fire on their classmates.

Columbine was a major school shooting on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

Anniversary of the slaughter of Srebrenica, Bosnia, where more than 8000 Muslim civilians were killed in 1995 by the Serbian army. Funeral prayer is performed for the 175 newly identified Srebrenica victims during the mass burial ceremony at Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial and Cemetery in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, July 11, 2014.

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, Bosnian Serb forces targeted Bosniak Muslims and Croatian civilians in attacks that killed 100,000 people over three years.