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Born in 1990? Here's the world you arrived into

In 1990, "Hold On" topped the charts, Home Alone packed theaters, a stamp cost 25¢, the average home went for about $122,900.

What things cost in 1990

A $1.16 gallon of gas in 1990 has the buying power of roughly $2.80 in 2024 dollars. A 25¢ stamp is around 60¢ today, and a $4.23 movie ticket is about $10.15.

The biggest moments of 1990

• The Hubble Space Telescope launched in April.
• Germany was officially reunified on October 3.
• Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web.

• McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Moscow in January, and tens of thousands of Soviets lined up around the block for a Big Mac.
• Smoking was banned on virtually all U.S. domestic flights in February, clearing the air at 30,000 feet for good.
• Twin Peaks premiered in April, and "Who killed Laura Palmer?" became the water-cooler question of the year.

Toys, TV & trends of 1990

• The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie hit theaters and Turtle toys, cereal, and pizza parties took over childhood.
• Super Mario Bros. 3 finally reached American shelves and became one of the best-selling video games of all time.
• Slap bracelets were at peak popularity, so popular that some schools famously banned them.

• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air premiered in September 1990, and kids everywhere could soon rap the entire theme song from memory.
• The Nintendo World Championships toured 29 cities, letting kids compete on Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, and Tetris like rock stars.
• Troll dolls staged a huge comeback, their neon hair sprouting from lockers, desks, and pencil toppers across America.

The music scene

In 1990, rap officially crossed over to the pop charts: MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" and his parachute pants were everywhere, and Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" became the first rap single to top the Hot 100. A 20-year-old newcomer named Mariah Carey debuted with "Vision of Love" and served notice that a generational voice had arrived. The year's strangest chart story: Milli Vanilli were stripped of their Grammy in November after admitting they hadn't sung a note on their own album.

At the movies

Ghost surprised everyone by becoming the year's biggest movie worldwide, its pottery-wheel scene instantly iconic. Home Alone parked itself at No. 1 for twelve straight weekends and turned 10-year-old Macaulay Culkin into the most famous kid on Earth, while Pretty Woman made Julia Roberts America's sweetheart. At the spring Oscars, Driving Miss Daisy collected Best Picture honors for 1989's films.

Cartoons kids loved

• The Simpsons
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Tiny Toon Adventures

The fall of 1990 brought the Disney Afternoon, a two-hour weekday block that made 3 p.m. appointment viewing for a generation. Steven Spielberg's Amblin teamed with Warner Bros. to give Tiny Toon Adventures movie-sized budgets and genuinely sharp writing, proving TV cartoons no longer had to look cheap. The pieces of the great 1990s animation boom were falling into place.

The world in 1990

• World population: about 5.3 billion
• U.S. President: George H.W. Bush
• Nelson Mandela was released from prison in February

• Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, and a massive international coalition began assembling in the Persian Gulf.
• Margaret Thatcher resigned in November after 11 years as Britain's Prime Minister, the longest run of the 20th century.
• Solidarity hero Lech Walesa was elected president of Poland in December, completing the country's remarkable turnaround.

1990 birthday questions

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