February 1, 1990 Washington DC
President Bush, in his State of the Union address, calls for further privatization of state owned industries.
April 3, 1990
Congress votes to privatize and break up AT&T.
September 12, 1990
Congress votes to privatize and deregulate the electricity and water industries.
March 4, 1991
The Bureau of Economic Analysis confirms 2 straight quarters of economic contraction, a recession. Blame falls on the failures of prominent Saving and Loans Institutions such as Home State, Midwest Federal, Lincoln, and Silverado.
June 3, 1991
The BEA announces the US economy grew during Q2 1991, but unemployment continues rising.
August 2, 1991
Construction finishes on the sea level canal in Panama. It has a virtually unlimited capacity, needed with the booming shipping industry.
November 30, 1991 Guangzhou, China
The US is the champion team in the first ever women's World Cup. This is in stark contrast to their men's team which, the year before, lost in the Group stage.
December 4, 1991 New York City, New York
Pan American Airlines, once an icon of Americana and dominator of the skies, goes bankrupt. The post-deregulation world has greatly squeezed margins in the airline business.
February 17, 1992 Milan, Italy
Mario Chiesea, a Socialist member of the Italian Parliament is arrested for bribery. After his party abandons him, he begins to squeal. The investigations would unveil an elaborate network of corruption within the Italian political system. The scandal becomes known as Tangentopoli or Bribesville. It would result in half of Italy's MPs being investigated for corruption, the collapse of all major parties, and changes to the constitution.
June 2, 1992
Unemployment peaks at 7.7%. Bush's approval rating hits 32%.
July 25, 1992 Barcelona, Spain
The 1992 Summer Olympics Kick off.
August 21, 1992 Ruby Ridge, Idaho
US marshalls show up at the cabin of Randy Weaver to arrest him on a firearms charge. This begins an 11 day standoff which results in Weaver, his wife Vicki, and a US marshall dying. This catalyzes the militia movement.
August 23, 1992 Miami, Florida
Hurricane Andrew makes landfall. The storm would result in 15 deaths and $42 billion in damage in today's money.
November 3, 1992
The Labor ticket of Tennessee Senator Al Gore and New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley defeats Vice President Dan Quayle.
December 2, 1992 Rome, Italy
Bettino Craxi, head of the Italian Socialist Party, is officially accused of corruption.
January 22, 1993 Stonewall, Texas
Former President Lyndon Johnson dies. He is best remembered for the creation of Medicare and America's victory the South African War.
February 11, 1993
Craxi resigns
April 19, 1993 Waco, Texas
A 2 month standoff between the ATF and members of the Branch Davidians cult ends in tragedy when the home of the leader, David Koresh, catches fire, killing 82 Davidians.
April 30, 1993 Meyrin, Switzerland
CERN puts the software for the World Wide Web into the public domain. The internet is born.
October 3, 1993 Washington DC
Congress votes to end all farm subsidy programs. Gore calls it a "valuable contribution in the fight against wasteful government spending".
November 6, 1993 New Zealand
New Zealanders vote in their general election and in a referendum to implement proportional representation. They overwhelmingly vote yes making New Zealand the last country to eliminate first past the post.
January 17, 1994 Los Angeles, California
An earthquake hits southern California causing 57 deaths and 8700 injuries. Extensive damage is caused to the freeway system.
March 27, 1994 Rome, Italy
In the first elections after the Tangentopoli scandals, Media Mogul Silvio Berlusconi becomes Italy's prime minister. He is a controversial figure, his detractors claim he's corrupt, sleazy, demagogic, and a liar. His supporters claim he tells it like it is and that he's a clean politician despite being implicated in the Tangentopoli scandals.
May 6, 1994 English Channel
The Channel Tunnel or Chunnel between Dover, England and Calais, France opens.
June 12, 1994 Los Angeles, California
Nicole Brown Simpson, the wife of former NFL star OJ Simpson, is found dead along with Ron Goldman. Evidence quite clearly implicates Simpson. The trial becomes a major media spectacle.
June 17, 1994 Chicago, Illinois
The 1994 FIFA World Cup kicks off at Soldier Field.
July 5, 1994 Seattle, Washington
Jeff Bezos founds Amazon which goes on to become a dominant internet retailer.
July 17, 1994 Pasadena, California
Brazil defeats Italy in penalty kicks in the World Cup Final.
October 3, 1994 Washington DC
Congress extends Medicare to cover long term care for below poverty seniors.
December 15, 1994 Mountain View, California
Netscape Navigator is released.
April 19, 1995 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
A bomb destroys the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building. 168 people die in the worst terror attack in US history. The perpetrator is identified as Militia Movement sympathizer Tim McVeigh. Gore tells the nation:
"The bombing in Oklahoma City was an attack on innocent children and defenseless citizens. It was an act of cowardice and it was evil. The United States will not tolerate it, and I will not allow the people of this country to be intimidated by evil cowards."
The Federal Government begins a crackdown on the militia movement.
July 15, 1995
The Bering Strait Tunnel opens. It took 17 years to complete, the Russians having to build several hundred kilometers of railroad, plus the low temperatures greatly limited when construction could take place.
July 26, 1995 Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Former President George Romney dies. Gore praises Romney for his steadfast support for Environmental Protection.
October 3, 1995 Los Angeles, California
A jury finds OJ Simpson "Guilty" of 2 counts of First Degree Homicide [1].
November 22, 1995
Pixar's
Toy Story debuts.
1995: Concerns begin to rise about the "Year 2000 Problem" or Y2K. Most computers are designed to record their dates as 2 digits, so at Midnight on January 1, 2000, the dates will rollover, potentially causing enormous glitches on vital computer systems. Predictions about Y2k turn into mass hysteria with claims that human civilization will collapse and nuclear power plants will all meltdown. Governments and corporations all over the world work to fix their systems.
July 5, 1996 Edinburgh, Scotland
Scottish scientists successfully clone a sheep, which gets named Dolly. The name Dolly came from Dolly Parton, in reference to the fact that the DNA for the cloning was extracted from a mammary cell.
July 8, 1996 London, England
The Spice Girls release their debut single
Wannabe
July 19, 1996 Atlanta, Georgia
The 1996 Summer Olympics kick off.
July 27, 1996
A bomb is detonated at a concert at Centennial Park near the olympics. 2 people die and 111 are injured. Richard Jewell, a security guard who noticed the bomb and cleared most of the spectators, is suspected. He would later be exonerated and launch defamation lawsuits against various news organizations.
August 22, 1996 Washington DC
Gore signs a law imposing work requirements on recipients of cash welfare.
August 28, 1996 London, England
Charles and Diana, the Prince and Princess of Wales, respectively, divorce.
November 5, 1996
Gore defeats Kansas Senator Bob Dole for a 2nd term.
May 5, 1997 St Petersburg, Russia
Russia marks 100 years since "The Last Decree", when Tsar Michael II enacted the nation's Basic Law, which turned Russia from an Absolute Monarchy to a Constitutional Monarchy.
May 11, 1997 New York City, New York
IBM's Deep Blue computer defeats Russian Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. This is the first time a computer has defeated the top human chess player.
July 1, 1997 Hong Kong
The colony of Hong Kong is handed from Britain to China. China gave up the area in 1898 in a 99 year lease. At the time, Britain was the world's most powerful country and China was a decaying empire. The handover is symbolic of the shift of power back to the east. Hong Kong is to be just like any other Chinese city.
August 31, 1997 Paris, France
Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car accident when she and her boyfriend tried to speed away from paparazzi.
November 3, 1997 Washington DC
Congress votes to privatize the Postal Service and end its first class mail monopoly.
December 19, 1997 Los Angeles, California
James Cameron's
Titanic is released. The movie, about a fictional romance on that ship's real ill-fated maiden voyage, would be a huge box office hit.
January 2, 1998 Washington DC
The Bureau of Economic Analysis uprates productivity growth for 1996 from 1.5% to 2%. This is no blip. The rise of computers and the internet has revived the nation's productivity growth. Sadly, this boom would peter out in 2005.
March 2, 1998
Gore signs the Civil Rights Act of 1998. Discrimination against gays is banned and openly gay persons are allowed to serve in the military.
May 18, 1998
The Justice Department launches a lawsuit against Microsoft for anticompetitive business practices.
September 4, 1998 Menlo Park, California
Google is founded by Larry Page. [2] It becomes the de facto Internet search engine, to the point that looking up something on the internet becomes known as "Googling".
January 1, 1999 Warsaw, Russia
The world launches into a brave new era as the World Dollar becomes the currency of most nations.
January 11, 1999 New York City, New York
Jon Stewart takes over the Daily Show from Craig Kilborn.
December 31, 1999
People around the world count down to the year 2000. There is excitement about a new milllennium but some fear about Y2K. Meanwhile, control of the Panama Canal is handed over to the government of Panama.
[1] I'm guessing that the lack of racist cops would result in a different verdict.
[2] Sergei Brin was born in Moscow and I'm assuming that he stays there ITTL, although I'm sure he is still very successful.