From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
1990 was a year in the 20th century. It is a common year.
- January 2 - All My Children airs its 20th anniversary special. The characters Joe and Ruth Martin sit down with Erica Kane, her mother Mona, and Phoebe Wallingford as they go through scrapbook pictures which segue into memorable clips from the show's past twenty years.
- January 21 - MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with musical guest, Squeeze
- February 6 - Billy Idol is involved in a serious motorcycle accident, resulting in several broken bones. Idol had been scheduled to have a major role in Oliver Stone's film The Doors, but had to back out of the project due to his injuries.
- February 8 - 50 year old songwriter Del Shannon dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
- February 11 - James "Buster" Douglas KOs Mike Tyson to win heavyweight boxing crown.
- February 11 - Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is freed from Victor Verster prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.
- February 14 - 50,000 fans watch The Rolling Stones play the first of 10 concerts at Tokyo's Korakuen Dome, the beginning of the Stones' first ever tour of Japan.
- February 16 - Ike Turner is sentenced to 4 years in prison for possession of cocaine.
- February 17 - Aerosmith appears in the Saturday Night Live sketch Wayne's World, where they perform the Wayne's World theme song.
- February 27 - In Time Magazine, Milli Vanilli "singer" Rob Pilatus states that their group is, "more talented than any Bob Dylan or Paul McCartney. Mick Jagger can't produce a sound. I'm the new Elvis."
- March 3 - Freedom To Party Demonstration London, organised by Party Promoters including Genesis'88 Biology parties Sunrise/Back to the Future for later club licences and all night Music and Dance Licences for large-scale Dance Parties Staged free-party later that night in Watford UK (12,000 people).
- March 18 - 12 paintings worth $100 million are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the biggest art theft in US history.
- March 20 - Gloria Estefan's tour bus is involved in an accident. Estefan suffers several broken several bones in her back.
- March 21 - Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.
- March 25 - Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee is arrested for allegedly exposing his backside during a performance in Augusta, Georgia
- April 4 - Gloria Estefan returns to Miami, Florida after undergoing back surgery in March following a tour bus accident.
- April 6 - Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee suffers a mild concussion after falling off of scaffolding above his elevated drum kit during a performance in New Haven, CT.
- April 7 - Neil Young, Elton John, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Guns N' Roses and Jackson Browne perform at Farm Aid IV in Indiana. John dedicates "Candle in the Wind" to AIDS patient Ryan White during his performance. White died later that evening
- April 25 - Jimi Hendrix's Fender Stratocaster that he used to perform his famous version of the "Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock, is auctioned off in London for $295,000
- April 30 - The long-lost pilot film to I Love Lucy airs on CBS as a special.
- May 8 - In Los Angeles, California, Tom Waits wins a $2.5 million lawsuit against Frito-Lay for unlawfully using a sound alike of Waits in its Doritos television commercials.
- May 26 - Gin Blossoms sign a contract with A&M Records
- July - The Cruise of Deception storyline airs on Days of Our Lives.
- September - In the UK, two singles, "Groove is in the Heart" by Deee-Lite and "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band (featured in a current TV jeans commercial), are announced to have sold the same number of copies in one week and a tie-break is used to decide which should be number one. "The Joker" wins.
- September 11 - After a decade of performing in the Francophone world, Céline Dion makes her formal English-language debut when she releases her album Unison.
- October - Jamaaladeen Tacuma records Boss of the Bass, that will be a blockbuster in 1991
- Fall - For the first time, Amy Grant and Gary Chapman hold a night of music at their Franklin, Tennessee Riverstone Farm, for local teenagers. Performers included Rich Mullins, Rick Elias, Charlie Peacock, Wes King and Michael W. Smith. The event becomes known as "The Loft".
- November 23 - Bad Religion releases Against the Grain, their first album released in the 90s. To date, the album remains the last to feature the "classic" line-up. It also features one of their signature songs, "21st Century (Digital Boy)", which would be re-recorded on their 1994 album Stranger Than Fiction.
- November 27 - "Vocal" group Milli Vanilli admits to lip-synching hits such as "Girl You Know It's True." They later have their Grammy award revoked.
- December - The Smashing Pumpkins begin recording Gish, which will be a blockbuster album in 1991
- December 13 - Genesis'88 stage weekly Acid House night in legally acquired warehouse in Stratford London under the banner imagine
- December 22 - Lech Wałęsa sworn in as President of Poland
- CBS starts airing its daytime lineup in stereo sound, after competition from NBC and ABC necessitated the change in standard.
- Chris Farley and Adam Sandler join Saturday Night Live.
- The poorly received Cop Rock preimieres on television, TV's first (and last) musical police drama.
- Legislation is signed into United States law requiring close captioning decoders in all large color TVs manufactured after July 1, 1993.
- January 7 - Liam Aiken, American actor
- January 30 - Jake Thomas, American actor
- February 11 - Q'Orianka Kilcher, German-born actress
- February 13 - Erdini Qoigyijabu, eleventh Panchen Lama
- February 23 - Christian Copelin, American actor
- February 28 - Anna Muzychuk, Ukrainian chess player
- March 7 - Abigail and Brittany Hensel, American conjoined twins
- March 23 - Princess Eugenie of York
- March 24 - Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian-born actress
- April 9 - Kristen Stewart, American actress
- April 10 - Alex Pettyfer, British actor
- April 15 - Emma Watson, British actress
- May 1 - Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress
- May 2 - Kay Panabaker, American actress
- May 16 - Thomas Sangster, English actor
- July 1 - Emil Wennström, Swedish musician (Guitar)
- July 24 - Daveigh Chase, American actress
- September 26 - Harm Koster, A Dutch graphical artist.
- October 5 - Sumeet Soni, Youngest CG(Computer Graphics) Artist,Animator.
- October 18 - Carly Schroeder, American actress
- October 22 - Jonathan Lipnicki, American actor
- November 7 - Marisa Siketa, Australian actress
- November 27 - Shane Haboucha, American actor
- November 30 - Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess player
- December 17 - Ashley Edner, American actress
- December 20 - Joanna Noelle Levesque, American singer
[change] Nobel Prizes
- The Bourne Ultimatum - Robert Ludlum
- The Burden of Proof - Scott Turow
- The Cardinal Virtues - Andrew Greeley
- Clear and Present Danger - Tom Clancy
- Devices and Desires - P. D. James
- Eric - Terry Pratchett
- Four Past Midnight - Stephen King
- Get Shorty - Elmore Leonard
- A Graveyard for Lunatics - Ray Bradbury
- Heads - Greg Bear
- Harvest - Belva Plain
- Homecoming - John Bradshaw
- An Inconvenient Woman - Dominic Dunne
- Joy - Marsha Hunt
- Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
- Last Chance to See - Douglas Adams & Mark Cawardine
- Liberty and Power - Harry L. Watson
- Message From Nam - Danielle Steel
- Moving Pictures - Terry Pratchett
- Pilgrimage - James A. Michener
- Queen of Angels - Greg Bear
- September - Rosamund Pilcher
- The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Version - Stephen King
- A Tenured Professor - John Kenneth Galbraith
- The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
- Use of Weapons - Iain M. Banks
- Vineland - Thomas Pynchon
[change] Films released
