On This Day: August 2, 1990 — Iraq Invaded Kuwait and Changed the Middle East Forever
At 2 a.m. on August 2, 1990, 120,000 Iraqi troops and 700 tanks stormed into Kuwait. The country fell in hours. The world would never be the same.
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On This Day: July 31, 1991 — Bush and Gorbachev End the Nuclear Nightmare
It was July 31, 1991, and the world was holding its breath. In the gilded halls of the Kremlin, two men sat down at a long table and did something nobody had thought possible a decade earlier: they agreed to actually get rid of the nukes. Not all of them. Not even most of them….
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On This Day: July 30, 1999 — The Blair Witch Project Terrified a Generation
The summer of 1999 was already crowded with blockbusters — The Phantom Menace, Austin Powers, The Sixth Sense — but nothing that summer, or arguably that entire decade, landed quite the way a $60,000 hand-held horror movie did when it went wide on July 30, 1999. The Blair Witch Project would gross $248.6 million worldwide,…
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On This Day: July 27, 1996 — The Night the Olympics Stood Still
The 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics were supposed to be America’s triumphant centennial Games — the hundredth anniversary of the modern Olympics, held on home soil, a celebration broadcast to the entire world. For twelve days it was exactly that. Then, in the early hours of July 27, a backpack changed everything. America’s Olympics Atlanta had…
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On This Day: July 26, 1990 — The ADA Changed America Forever
Quick Answer: On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law at a ceremony on the White House South Lawn attended by 3,000 people. The first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities in any country, the ADA banned discrimination in employment, public spaces, transportation, and…
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On This Day: July 23, 1996 — The Magnificent Seven Win America’s First Olympic Gymnastics Gold
Quick Answer: On July 23, 1996, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team — nicknamed the Magnificent Seven — won America’s first-ever Olympic team gold in women’s gymnastics at the Atlanta Games. The victory came down to Kerri Strug’s final vault, which she landed on a badly sprained ankle, before being carried to the medal podium by…
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On This Day: July 22, 1991 — Jeffrey Dahmer Arrested in Milwaukee
Quick Answer: On July 22, 1991, Milwaukee police arrested serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer after his would-be victim Tracy Edwards escaped from his apartment with a handcuff still dangling from one wrist. Officers entered Apartment 213 at the Oxford Apartments and found human remains — including severed heads in the refrigerator. Dahmer confessed to 17 murders…
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Crystal Pepsi: The 1992 Clear Cola That Flopped Hard
Crystal Pepsi launched in 1992 with a $40M Van Halen Super Bowl ad, then flopped fast. The full story of the clear cola, Tab Clear sabotage, and 2016 comeback.
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How G-Funk Turned West Coast Rap Into an Endless Summer
In the heart of golden age hip-hop, Dr. Dre slowed the tempo, cranked the synths, and made the West Coast sound like a cruise down Crenshaw with the top down.
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On This Day: July 19, 1996 — Muhammad Ali Lights the Atlanta Flame
On July 19, 1996, a trembling Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic cauldron in Atlanta — the best-kept secret in Games history and its greatest moment.
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On This Day: July 17, 1994 — Baggio’s Miss Wins Brazil the Cup
On July 17, 1994, Brazil beat Italy in the 1994 World Cup final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. After 120 goalless minutes in blistering heat, the match became the first World Cup final ever decided by a penalty shootout. Brazil won 3–2 when Roberto Baggio blazed Italy’s final kick over the crossbar, handing…
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On This Day: July 16, 1993 — Free Willy Made Us All Cry
On July 16, 1993, Warner Bros. released Free Willy, the story of a troubled foster kid and a captive orca who wanted out. It grossed $153.7 million on a $20 million budget, closed with Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There,” and — in the strangest twist of all — sparked a real-world campaign that eventually…
