1990s Timeline: Key Dates, Events And Milestones

The 1990s in order, one year at a time, from 1990 to 1999.

Each year gives the headline of the year, the news that mattered, and the music, screen and sport people remember.

Useful for quizzes, school projects, reminiscence sessions and milestone birthday cards.

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1990

  • Thatcher resigned, Gazza cried, and the country spent a fortnight thinking England might actually win it.
  • Margaret Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister in November after eleven years, and John Major replaced her.
  • The poll tax demonstration in Trafalgar Square in March turned into a riot, and the tax was abandoned soon afterwards.
  • Nelson Mandela was released from prison in February after twenty-seven years.
  • Germany reunified in October.
  • The Righteous Brothers' 'Unchained Melody', re-released after the film Ghost, was the best-selling single of the year in the UK.
  • Ghost, Home Alone and Pretty Woman were the films of the year.
  • Italia 90. England reached the semi-final and lost to West Germany on penalties, and Paul Gascoigne's tears became one of the defining British sporting images.
  • Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1990

1991

  • Bryan Adams would not get off the top of the chart, the Soviet Union ceased to exist, and Freddie Mercury died.
  • The Gulf War began in January and ended in February.
  • The Soviet Union was formally dissolved in December.
  • Freddie Mercury died on 24 November, one day after publicly confirming he had AIDS.
  • Terry Waite and John McCarthy were released after years held hostage in Lebanon.
  • Bryan Adams spent sixteen consecutive weeks at number one with '(Everything I Do) I Do It for You', from the Robin Hood film - still the longest unbroken run in UK chart history.
  • Terminator 2: Judgment Day and The Silence of the Lambs were the films of the year.
  • England lost the Rugby World Cup final to Australia at Twickenham.
  • Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1991

1992

  • Black Wednesday, a general election nobody predicted correctly, and the Premier League arrived.
  • John Major won the April general election, a result almost every poll had got wrong.
  • Black Wednesday, 16 September, saw the pound crash out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
  • Windsor Castle was badly damaged by fire in November, and the Queen described the year as an annus horribilis.
  • The separation of the Prince and Princess of Wales was announced in December.
  • Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You', from The Bodyguard, was Christmas number one and went on to be the best-selling single of 1992 and much of 1993.
  • Wayne's World, Basic Instinct and Reservoir Dogs were the films people talked about.
  • The Premier League was formed, beginning play in August 1992.
  • Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1992

1993

  • Mr Blobby was Christmas number one, which is somehow not the strangest thing about the year.
  • James Bulger was murdered in Liverpool in February, and the case dominated the year.
  • The Bishopsgate bomb caused enormous damage in the City of London in April.
  • Stephen Lawrence was murdered in April in a racist attack in south east London; the failures of the investigation became a defining national story over the following decade.
  • Buckingham Palace opened to the public for the first time, to pay for the Windsor Castle repairs.
  • Meat Loaf's 'I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)' spent seven weeks at number one and was the best-selling single of the year.
  • Jurassic Park and Schindler's List were both released - the same director, in the same year.
  • The Grand National was declared void after two false starts - the only time it has happened.
  • Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1993

1994

  • The Lottery started, the Channel Tunnel opened, and Wet Wet Wet would not leave the number one spot.
  • The National Lottery launched in November, with the first draw watched by over twenty million people.
  • The Channel Tunnel opened in May.
  • Tony Blair became leader of the Labour Party in July following the death of John Smith.
  • The IRA announced a ceasefire in August.
  • Wet Wet Wet's 'Love Is All Around', from Four Weddings and a Funeral, spent fifteen weeks at number one. The band eventually deleted it themselves to stop it.
  • Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Lion King, Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump all came out in the same year.
  • Manchester United won the Premier League and FA Cup double.
  • Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1994

1995

  • Blur against Oasis on the Six O'Clock News, and Toy Story changed films for good.
  • Barings Bank collapsed in February after losses run up by a single trader, Nick Leeson.
  • The fiftieth anniversary of VE Day was marked with events across the country in May.
  • The Srebrenica massacre took place in July during the Bosnian war.
  • The Rosemary West trial concluded in November.
  • The Britpop chart battle: Blur's 'Country House' against Oasis's 'Roll With It' in the week of 20 August. Blur won, and it led the national news.
  • Toy Story was released - the first fully computer-animated feature film.
  • Blackburn Rovers won the Premier League, still the last club outside the traditional big names to do so for decades.
  • Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1995

1996

  • Football came home, nearly, and the Spice Girls arrived and took the entire decade with them.
  • The Dunblane primary school shooting in March led to the near-total ban on handguns in Britain.
  • The Manchester bomb in June destroyed much of the city centre; nobody was killed, and it reshaped the city.
  • Dolly the sheep was born in July at the Roslin Institute, though not announced until the following year.
  • The BSE crisis led to a worldwide ban on British beef in March.
  • The Fugees' 'Killing Me Softly' was the best-selling single of the year.
  • Trainspotting was released in February and became the British film of the decade.
  • Euro 96 was held in England. England reached the semi-final and lost to Germany on penalties, with Gareth Southgate missing.
  • Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1996

1997

  • A landslide in May, a death in August, and the best-selling single in British history.
  • Tony Blair won a landslide general election on 1 May, ending eighteen years of Conservative government.
  • Diana, Princess of Wales, died in Paris on 31 August. Her funeral on 6 September drew one of the largest television audiences ever recorded in Britain.
  • Hong Kong was handed back to China on 1 July.
  • Scotland and Wales voted for devolution in September referendums.
  • 'Candle in the Wind 1997' by Elton John, released after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, became the best-selling single in UK chart history.
  • The Full Monty was the British film of the year and one of the most successful ever made here.
  • Manchester United won the Premier League again.
  • Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1997

1998

  • The Good Friday Agreement, a World Cup sending off nobody forgave, and Furby.
  • The Good Friday Agreement was signed on 10 April.
  • The Omagh bombing in August killed twenty-nine people, the deadliest single attack of the Troubles.
  • Google was founded in September.
  • The Human Rights Act was passed, incorporating the European Convention into UK law.
  • Cher's 'Believe' was Christmas number one and the best-selling single of the year, built on the vocal effect that defined the next decade of pop.
  • Titanic dominated cinemas and the Oscars.
  • France won the World Cup on home soil. England went out to Argentina on penalties after David Beckham's sending off, and he spent a year being vilified for it.
  • Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1998

1999

  • An eclipse over Cornwall, a millennium everybody was quietly worried about, and boy bands everywhere.
  • The total solar eclipse of 11 August crossed Cornwall, and a large part of the country travelled south west to see it, mostly through cloud.
  • The euro launched as an accounting currency on 1 January, without the UK.
  • The Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales met for the first time.
  • The Macpherson Report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence was published in February and used the term institutional racism about the Metropolitan Police.
  • Britney Spears' '...Baby One More Time' was the best-selling single of the year.
  • The Matrix, Star Wars: Episode I, Notting Hill and The Sixth Sense were the films of the year.
  • Manchester United won the treble: the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League, the last of those with two injury-time goals against Bayern Munich.
  • Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1999

How to use this timeline

  • Quiz round: read an event and ask for the year, or read a year and ask for what happened.
  • Reminiscence: start at the year someone left school and read forwards.
  • Milestone birthday: read the timeline from their birth year to the year they turned 18.
  • Anyone born in 1990 turns 50 in 2040, 60 in 2050 and 70 in 2060.

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Found your words? Now find the card

Shop prints and posters Pin badges Look back to 1990 Look back to 1991

How to write it so it lands

  • Read the timeline alongside the decade history guide: one gives the order, the other gives the story.
  • For a birthday card, pick the one event from their birth year that still gets a reaction.
  • Years rarely change neatly at the decade line. Check the year either side before setting a quiz question.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the key dates of the 1990s?

The timeline above runs from 1990 to 1999, with the headline events of each year in order. Thatcher resigned, Gazza cried, and the country spent a fortnight thinking England might actually win it.

What happened in 1990?

Thatcher resigned, Gazza cried, and the country spent a fortnight thinking England might actually win it. There is a full page for 1990 at /blogs/news/look-back-to-1990.

Are the dates accurate?

Yes. Every date, name and event on this page is real and comes straight from our year-by-year pages, so the timeline and the year pages always agree.

Can I use this for a quiz or a school project?

Yes, freely. Print it, read it out, copy it - no permission needed. We make greeting cards, prints and pin badges; these pages are free.

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