The Ultimate '90s Trivia Quiz

The 1990s: A Decade of Advancements in Technology, Pop Culture and Environmental Awareness

• The 1990s began on January 1, 1990, and ended on December 31, 1999, and was known as the "post-Cold War decade."
• The decade saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union, making the US the world's sole superpower.
• Multiculturalism, alternative media, and the McMansion version of postmodern architecture remained strong throughout the decade.
• The decade saw advances in technology, including the World Wide Web, gene therapy, and cloning.
• The 1990s saw the rise of alternative music movements like grunge, Eurodance, and hip-hop.
• The computer game industry boomed again, rivalling the music and movie markets, and video game popularity exploded with the development of CD-ROM supported 3D computer graphics on platforms such as PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and PC's.
• The internet provided a degree of anonymity for individuals skeptical of the government and led to the words troll and netiquette enter the English language.
• Major wars that began in the 1990s include the First and Second Congo Wars, the Yugoslav Wars, and the Gulf War.
• The world population grew from 5.3 to 6.1 billion people, with approximately 1.35 billion births and 525 million deaths.
• The 1990s saw a trend in frequent and more devastating natural disasters, breaking many previous records.
• The decade was prosperous for many countries, institutions, companies, and organizations, with high-income countries experiencing steady economic growth.
• The 1990s represented continuing social liberalization in most countries, coupled with an increase in the influence of capitalism, and an increase in environmental awareness.The 1990s: A Decade of Film, Music, and Television

Film:

• Dogme 95 was an important European artistic motion picture movement in the 1990s.
• The film Titanic became the highest-grossing film of all time, grossing over $1.8 billion worldwide.
• Crime films were extremely popular and garnered several awards throughout the decade.
• Live-action films featuring computer-animated characters became popular.
• Toy Story, the first full-length CGI movie, made by Pixar, was released in 1995 and revolutionized animated films.
• Japanese anime films remained popular throughout the 1990s.
• Family-centric animated feature films began to gain popularity through the late-1990s.
• The 25 highest-grossing films of the decade include Titanic, Jurassic Park, and The Lion King.

Music:

• Grunge, gangsta rap, R&B, and alternative rock entered the mainstream.
• Hip hop became the best-selling music genre by the mid-1990s.
• The rise of industrial music and nu metal occurred during the decade.
• Country music became a worldwide phenomenon thanks to Billy Ray Cyrus, Shania Twain, and Garth Brooks.
• Britpop emerged in the United Kingdom as part of the more general Cool Britannia culture.
• J-pop emerged in Japan as part of the more general Heisei Power cultural movement.
• Contemporary quiet storm and R&B continued to be quite popular among adult audiences originating from African-American communities.
• The Tibetan Freedom Concert, organized by Beastie Boys and the Milarepa Fund, brought 120,000 people together.

Television:

• TV shows, mostly sitcoms, were popular with American audiences.
• Series such as Roseanne, Cheers, and The Cosby Show were viewed throughout the 1990s.
• Friends, That '70s Show, and Ellen were popular sitcoms in the late-1990s.Television Shows, Video Games and Fashion Trends of the 1990s

Television Shows:

• Popular TV shows of the 90s included Sex and the City, Arliss, Dream On, ER, Chicago Hope, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Naked Truth, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, and more.
• Saturday Night Live experienced a new era of success during the 1990s, launching the careers of popular comedians and actors such as Chris Farley, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler, and others.
• Medical dramas such as ER and Chicago Hope became popular, as did crime drama and police detective shows such as Law & Order, NYPD Blue, and Homicide: Life on the Street.
• Beverly Hills, 90210, Baywatch, and Melrose Place became popular TV shows throughout the 1990s.
• Fantasy and science fiction shows, such as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Touched By an Angel, and Charmed, gained a following.
• Reality television gained popularity in the 1990s, with shows such as Judge Judy, Eco-Challenge, and Cops.
• Animated shows, such as The Simpsons, Beavis and Butt-Head, Daria, South Park, and Family Guy, became popular.
• Japanese anime gained popularity in the US, with shows such as Sailor Moon, Digimon, Pokémon, and Dragon Ball Z.

Video Games:

• Video game consoles released in the 1990s include the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast.
• Notable video games of the 1990s include Super Mario World, Pokémon Red and Blue, GoldenEye 007, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, and StarCraft.
• Sony's PlayStation becomes the top-selling video game console and changes the standard media storage type from cartridges to compact discs (CDs) in home consoles.
• 3D graphics become the standard by the decade's end, and FPS games such as GoldenEye 007 and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six gain popularity.
• The real-time strategy (RTS) genre is introduced with the release of Dune II in 1992, and popularized by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Command & Conquer, and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.

Fashion Trends:

• Significant fashion trends of the 1990s include grunge, hip-hop, preppy, and minimalist styles.

• Popular accessories included chokers, platform shoes, and oversized jackets.

• Body modification trends included tattoos and piercings, with navel piercings becoming especially popular.Overview of the 1990s

• The Final Fantasy franchise, introduced in 1990, remains highly popular with many new titles, sequels, spin-offs, and related media.

• The introduction of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) with Ultima Online in 1997, and their subsequent rise in popularity with games like EverQuest and Asheron's Call in 1999.

• The most popular websites launched during the decade include IMDb, eBay, Amazon, GeoCities, Netscape, Yahoo!, AltaVista, AIM, ICQ, Hotmail, Google, and Napster.

• Napster, the first peer-to-peer file sharing internet service that focused exclusively on sharing MP3 files for music, was launched in 1999 and became massively popular before being shut down in 2001 due to legal disputes over copyright infringement and digital piracy.

• The 1990s continued trends in established musical genres such as Gangsta Rap, Grunge, Industrial Rock, and Deep House.

• The era saw the rise of several prominent actors and directors, including Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, and Quentin Tarantino.

• Athletes such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Muhammad Ali continued to dominate their respective sports in the 1990s.

• Popular literature from the decade includes "The Firm" by John Grisham, "The Bridges of Madison County" by Robert James Waller, and "The Celestine Prophecy" by James Redfield.

• The decade saw significant advancements in architecture, with notable projects including the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

• The best-selling video games of the decade include titles such as Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tomb Raider, and GoldenEye 007.

• The 1990s saw the rise of the internet and the beginning of the modern era of technology and communication, with significant advancements in personal computing, mobile phones, and the internet.