Question 1

Which 1991 Nirvana album, featuring "Smells Like Teen Spirit", brought grunge to the mainstream?

Accepted Answer

Nevermind. Nevermind famously knocked Michael Jacksons Dangerous off the top of the Billboard 200 in January 1992 and has sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

Question 2

How many original members did the British group Spice Girls have?

Accepted Answer

Five. Scary (Mel B), Sporty (Mel C), Posh (Victoria), Ginger (Geri) and Baby (Emma) became one of the most successful girl groups in history, with over 100 million records sold.

Question 3

Which two American boy bands competed for the top of the 90s pop charts?

Accepted Answer

Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. Both were created by impresario Lou Pearlman. Backstreet Boys debuted internationally in 1995 with NSYNC following in 1997, fueling a late-90s boy-band boom.

Question 4

In 1998, which artist released the debut single "Baby One More Time"?

Accepted Answer

Britney Spears. Released in October 1998, Baby One More Time hit number one in over 20 countries. The debut album of the same name went on to sell over 25 million copies worldwide.

Question 5

Which Whitney Houston cover of a Dolly Parton song dominated the charts in 1992?

Accepted Answer

I Will Always Love You. Featured in the soundtrack to The Bodyguard, Houstons version spent 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Question 6

Which Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men duet topped the US chart for 16 weeks in 1995-96?

Accepted Answer

One Sweet Day. Released in November 1995, One Sweet Day held the record for the longest run at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for over two decades.

Question 7

Which two influential American rappers were both killed in drive-by shootings in 1996 and 1997?

Accepted Answer

Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.. Tupac was shot in Las Vegas in September 1996 and died on September 13. The Notorious B.I.G. was killed in Los Angeles in March 1997. Both murders remain officially unsolved.

Question 8

Which MTV series, launched in 1989, popularized stripped-back acoustic performances throughout the 90s?

Accepted Answer

MTV Unplugged. MTV Unplugged sessions by Eric Clapton, Nirvana, Mariah Carey and others produced some of the decades most acclaimed live albums and reshaped how artists released music.

Question 9

Which 1993 Steven Spielberg film featured dinosaurs brought back to life through cloning?

Accepted Answer

Jurassic Park. Based on Michael Crichtons 1990 novel, Jurassic Park combined animatronics and groundbreaking CGI to become the highest-grossing film up to that point, taking over 900 million dollars.

Question 10

Which 1997 James Cameron film became the first to gross over 1 billion dollars worldwide?

Accepted Answer

Titanic. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, Titanic held the title of highest-grossing film of all time until Camerons own Avatar in 2009. It won 11 Academy Awards.

Question 11

Which 1994 Quentin Tarantino film features intersecting stories about Los Angeles criminals?

Accepted Answer

Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction won the Palme dOr at Cannes in 1994 and revitalized the careers of John Travolta and Bruce Willis. It is widely credited with sparking the independent film boom of the late 90s.

Question 12

In "Forrest Gump" (1994), what does Forrest say "Life is like" in his most quoted line?

Accepted Answer

A box of chocolates. Tom Hanks won the Oscar for Best Actor for the role. The film also won Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Zemeckis) and a total of six Academy Awards in 1995.

Question 13

Which 1994 Disney animated film featured songs like "Circle of Life" and "Hakuna Matata"?

Accepted Answer

The Lion King. The Lion King was the highest-grossing film of 1994 and earned Elton John and Tim Rice an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight".

Question 14

Which 1995 Pixar release became the first feature film created entirely with computer animation?

Accepted Answer

Toy Story. Directed by John Lasseter, Toy Story introduced Woody and Buzz Lightyear and launched the modern era of CG animation. It earned John Lasseter a Special Achievement Oscar.

Question 15

In "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994), what is the name of Tim Robbinss character?

Accepted Answer

Andy Dufresne. Frank Darabonts adaptation of a Stephen King novella underperformed at the box office but became one of the most beloved films ever after its home-video release and IMDb success.

Question 16

Which 1999 sci-fi film starring Keanu Reeves popularized "bullet time" effects?

Accepted Answer

The Matrix. Directed by the Wachowskis, The Matrix won four Academy Awards and changed how action sequences were shot. Its slow-motion 360-degree shots became one of the most imitated effects of the era.

Question 17

How many main characters does the sitcom "Friends" have, and what are their first names?

Accepted Answer

Six (Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe). Friends ran on NBC from 1994 to 2004, making household names of its six leads. Its theme song, "Ill Be There for You" by The Rembrandts, became a 90s anthem.

Question 18

In "Seinfeld", what is the name of Jerrys across-the-hall neighbor played by Michael Richards?

Accepted Answer

Cosmo Kramer. Seinfeld ran from 1989 to 1998 on NBC and became one of the most influential sitcoms ever. Co-created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, it was famously a "show about nothing".

Question 19

In "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", what city does Will move to live with relatives?

Accepted Answer

Los Angeles (the Bel-Air neighborhood). Starring Will Smith, the NBC sitcom ran from 1990 to 1996 and helped launch Smiths film career. The theme song is one of the most recognizable in TV history.

Question 20

In 1990, "Beverly Hills, 90210" debuted on which American TV network?

Accepted Answer

Fox. Beverly Hills, 90210 helped establish Fox as a major network and ran until 2000. It launched several primetime teen dramas and made stars of Jason Priestley and Shannen Doherty.

Question 21

In "The X-Files", what are the first names of agents Mulder and Scully?

Accepted Answer

Fox and Dana. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson played FBI agents investigating paranormal cases on Foxs hit drama, which ran from 1993 to 2002 in its original run.

Question 22

Which 1997 supernatural drama starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as a high-school student fighting demons?

Accepted Answer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Created by Joss Whedon and based on his 1992 film, Buffy ran for seven seasons on The WB and UPN and is credited with helping define the modern serialized drama.

Question 23

In which year did HBOs "The Sopranos" debut, helping launch the prestige TV era?

Accepted Answer

1999. The Sopranos premiered on January 10, 1999, and ran for six seasons. Critics widely credit the show with kicking off the era of prestige cable drama.

Question 24

In "The Simpsons" episode "Marge vs the Monorail", who is the conman selling the town a monorail?

Accepted Answer

Lyle Lanley. Written by Conan O Brien and aired in 1993, the episode is widely cited as one of the greatest in The Simpsons history. The catchy monorail song is still quoted today.

Question 25

Which Japanese-made handheld virtual pet, released in 1996, became a global phenomenon?

Accepted Answer

The Tamagotchi. Created by Bandai, the Tamagotchi required players to feed, clean up after and play with a digital pet. Over 80 million units have been sold across its various releases.

Question 26

Which collectible plush toys, sold by Ty Inc., became a major investment fad in the late 90s?

Accepted Answer

Beanie Babies. Beanie Babies, launched in 1993, exploded in popularity in 1996-99 with collectors paying thousands for rare versions. The market famously crashed soon after, leaving most worthless.

Question 27

What does Y2K refer to, and on which date was it predicted to cause computer failures?

Accepted Answer

The Year 2000 problem, expected at midnight on January 1, 2000. Many older systems stored years as two digits, raising fears that they would misread 00 as 1900. Massive remediation efforts meant the rollover passed with relatively few problems.

Question 28

Which talking robotic plush toy from Tiger Electronics was the must-have Christmas gift of 1998?

Accepted Answer

Furby. Furbies started speaking "Furbish" and gradually "learned" English. The toy sold over 40 million units in its first three years and was briefly banned from the NSA over fears it could record conversations.

Question 29

In which year did Tim Berners-Lees World Wide Web become publicly available for free?

Accepted Answer

1991. Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web at CERN. On August 6, 1991, he posted a short summary online and made the technology free for anyone to use, transforming the internet.

Question 30

Which free webmail service, founded in 1996, was acquired by Microsoft a year later?

Accepted Answer

Hotmail. Founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith, Hotmail launched on July 4, 1996, and was sold to Microsoft in December 1997 for around 400 million dollars. It later became Outlook.com.

Question 31

Which Nintendo home console launched in North America in 1996 with games such as Super Mario 64?

Accepted Answer

The Nintendo 64. Released in June 1996 in Japan and September 1996 in North America, the N64 used cartridges instead of CDs and introduced an analog stick that became standard for 3D gaming.

Question 32

Which giggling plush doll, launched by Tyco in 1996, caused parents to fight in toy stores?

Accepted Answer

Tickle Me Elmo. Based on the Sesame Street character, Tickle Me Elmo became the holiday toy of 1996. Demand far outstripped supply, leading to dramatic store-floor scuffles that made the evening news.

Question 33

In which year did the Soviet Union officially dissolve, marking the end of the Cold War?

Accepted Answer

1991. On December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union officially dissolved, splitting into 15 independent republics. Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned as president the day before.

Question 34

In 1995, which former NFL star was acquitted in a televised criminal trial that gripped America?

Accepted Answer

O.J. Simpson. Simpson was acquitted on October 3, 1995, of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. The case became one of the most-watched legal events in US history.

Question 35

In which year was Nelson Mandela released from a South African prison after 27 years?

Accepted Answer

1990. Mandela was freed on February 11, 1990. He went on to win the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. de Klerk and was elected South Africas first Black president in 1994.

Question 36

In what year did Princess Diana die in a car crash in Paris?

Accepted Answer

1997. Diana, Princess of Wales, died in the early hours of August 31, 1997, after a car crash in the Pont de lAlma tunnel in Paris. Her funeral was watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide.

Question 37

On July 1, 1997, sovereignty over Hong Kong was transferred from which country to which country?

Accepted Answer

From the United Kingdom to China. After 156 years of British rule, Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty as a Special Administrative Region under the "one country, two systems" framework.

Question 38

Which European war in the early 1990s broke up the former Yugoslavia?

Accepted Answer

The Bosnian War (or the Yugoslav Wars more broadly). The Yugoslav Wars (1991-2001) included conflicts in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and later Kosovo. The Bosnian War (1992-95) was the deadliest, ended by the Dayton Accords.

Question 39

In 1996, scientists in Scotland announced the first cloned mammal from an adult cell. What was the animals name?

Accepted Answer

Dolly the sheep. Dolly was born on July 5, 1996, at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh. Her existence was announced publicly in February 1997 and revolutionized genetic research.

Question 40

Which two countries signed the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 to bring peace to Northern Ireland?

Accepted Answer

The United Kingdom and Ireland. Signed on April 10, 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was a major step toward ending the decades-long Troubles in Northern Ireland. It was ratified by referendums in both jurisdictions.

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