The 90's was filled with the most interesting people that were seen in quite a while. Most of these people actions impacted the world in enormous ways. Some impacted it very well, others not so well. Every person has the ability to change the world, these people truly succeeded.
George H. W. Bush was the 41st president of our nation. He had previously served as Reagan's vice president and held the position of president from the years of 1989 to 1993. During that time he was heavily involved in the middle east, particularly with the Persian Gulf War during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
Bill Clinton assumed the office of president of the United States, directly after George W. Bush. During his presidency, our country had one of the most economically prosperous decades in our nations history. He did pretty well as a president, dealing well with a handful of hostage situations and international affairs. Speaking of affairs, however, he ran into quite a bit of trouble in the middle of his term. A woman had decided to press charges against him for sexual harassment; following it up, prosecutors questioned the secret service and learned of another woman, whom Clinton denied having sexual relations with. This statement was dissected to the point where impeachment proceedings began in the belief that he had lied on the stand.
This man (Slobadan Milosevic) was a dictator in Eastern Europe who was committing genocide against anybody of the ethnic decent of Albanian. The U.N. quickly stepped in to deal with his vile crimes against humanity. However it wasnt until the year 2000 that he was forced out of office. He initially refused to give up his position even though he lost democratically, but eventually succumbed to the people. Immediately after he was then tried by the UN for his crimes.
Osama Bin Laden was a rebel leader in the middle east. We as a country decided to fund him and his group in order to oust the soviet presence in afghanistan. This was primarily due to our fear of the domino effect of course, however we had no idea what effect we were truly creating in the process. After the soviets left the area we quickly lost interest. This left Osama in a tough position with no financial support. He then developed a deep seeded hate for the U.S. for abandoning him and his Al-Quida group. Later down the line he organized his revenge with the bombing of the twin towers. It wasn't until a decade later that he was finally caught and killed for his actions.
A political figure in South Africa, Nelson Mandela reached the peak of his importance in the 1990's. Part of the socialist and communist parties in South Africa, Mandela dealt with quite a bit of opposition. He was a strong adversary to apartheid and racial segregation. He started out with nonviolent methods but then abandoned that and co-founded a militant group which launched a series of bombing attacks on the government. Mandela served 27 years in prison before returning to politics. It was in the nineties that he became the first ever Black man to hold the position of President of South Africa. Although he was labeled a terrorist at one point, he never drifted from his moral belief in racial equality.
Lead singer of Nirvana, Curt Cobain was a major pop culture icon. Known for his grungy hairstyle and great music. Cobain shocked the nation on april 5th 1994 when he shot himself in the head. The reason behind his final actions were reportedly due to clinical depression and a terrible heroin addiction. He was promptly cremated thereafter, leaving the music industry and his family, terribly wounded.
Selena Quintanilla Perez was a tejano pop singer. She reached critical acclaim in South and Central America for her amazing singing ability. She never quite became popular in America during that decade; she was just about to debut with her crossover album when she was fatally shot by her manager.