random retro-spective
700 million watched
on television
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married at St Paul's Cathedral,
July 29th 1981
welcome to the 1990s
Welcome to the decade in which Nelson Mandella walked free from jail, leaves on the line caused train delays, the Channel Tunnel opened, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky fell out and girl power took over the charts.
There's an overview of the whole decade on this page but to find out more about one particular year use the links below or to the right to take you straight to your favourite nineties year.
1990
Margaret Thatcher resigned as leader of the Conservative Party, John
Major was the new leader
Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in jail
The Duchess of York gave birth to a daughter, Eugenie Victoria
Under the Channel the last inch of chalk separating France from England
was removed
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1990
1991
Plans were announced to form a British superleague of football
British Rail blamed leaves on the line for train delays
Elizabeth Taylor married for the eighth time
President Bush suffered a mild heart attack whilst out jogging
Freddie Mercury, the lead singer with Queen, died
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1991
1992
Euro Disney, a £6.4m amusement park near Paris, opened
Mythical movie star Marrlene Dietrich died at her Paris apartment
The Royal Mint introduced a new, smaller 10p coin
Queen Elizabeth described the year as an "Annus Horribilis"
Plans were announced for a fifth terminal at Heathrow Airport
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1992
1993
Buckingham Palace opened its doors to visitors
The Government announced plans to privatise British Rail
Two ten-year-old boys were charged with the murder of toddler James Bulger
A siege at Waco, Texas, ended as FBI agents sent in the tanks
Tennis star Monica Seles was stabbed during a match in Hamburg
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1993
1994
The Queen and Francois Mitterand opened the Channel Tunnel
Television satellite dishes were banned in Iran
Tony Blair beat John Prescott to take over as leader of the Labour Party
A major earthquake in Los Angeles killed dozens of people
Prince Charles quit playing polo after suffering back problems
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1994
1995
The Queen conducted her first visit to South Africa in nearly 50 years
An earthquake in Japan killed 4,000 people in the city of Kobe
Blur won four awards at the Brits
Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was freed after serving
a three-year sentence for rape
Footballer Eric Cantona was banned after attacking a fan
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1995
1996
The Princess of Wales agreed to a request from Prince Charles for a divorce
Bill Clinton won a second term in the White House
The movie Evita, featuring Madonna, was the Christmas box office hit
The Olympic Games in Atlanta were spoilt by a crude bomb which killed
two people in Centennial Park
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1996
1997
New Labour swept to power at the General Election
A research team at The Roslin Institute in Edinburgh created a clone of
Dolly the sheep
150 years of British rule in Hong Kong came to an end
Juliette Binoche won an Oscar for her role in The English Patient
The comet Hale-Bopp was visible in the night sky
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1997
1998
The contents of the Millennium Dome were unveiled
The film Titanic, starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslett, won 11
Oscars
George Michael was charged by LA police with a "lewd act" in
a public toilet
Frank Sinatra died at the age of 82, leaving a $200m fortune
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1998
1999
Fans queued for miles to see the new Star Wars movie "Episode One"
Elections took place for the new Scottish & Welsh Assemblies
Prince Edward & Sophie Rhys Jones were married
An earthquake devastated western and central Colombia
Companies were preparing themselves for computer meltdown because of the
threat of the millennium bug
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1999