10 Moments From the 90s That Made The World Stand Still

Top 10 Moments From the 90s That Left Us Speechless

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for those unexpected and notable moments from the 90s that left our mouths ajar with nothing to say

#10: Tyson Bites Ear

Boxing fans expect a lot of things. They expect to see guys punch each other, they expect guys to get hurt, tired, maybe even a little bloody. But until 1997, they never expected to see one guy bite off a piece of the other guy’s ear. That’s exactly what happened though, in the third round of the Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson fight on June 28th of that year. Tyson, frustrated with Holyfield’s headbutting, chomped off a piece of his right ear and spit it out. Later in the round he bit the left ear. And talk about the unexpected, this moment came 7 years after Tyson had shocked the world in 1990 getting himself knocked out by the 42:1 underdog, Buster Douglas.

#9: The Death of Kurt Cobain

As a founder of the band Nirvana, a father of the grunge music scene, and one of the most important and influential voices of his generation, Kurt Cobain said a lot with his music. And yet, his death via a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on April 5, 1994 left us all speechless. Since his passing though, it seems like everyone has had something to say about Cobain and various conspiracy theories regarding his passing. But for that one moment, there were really no words for the shock that came with the news that the world had lost an icon. We also can’t forget the shocking death of another music icon, two years later when Tupac Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas.

#8: The Death of Princess Diana

There have been many shocking deaths throughout history, but few deaths shocked the entire world more than that of Princess Diana on August 31st, 1997. Diana was beloved around the globe, and the report of the Paris car crash that put her in the hospital was breaking news that evening and pretty much all everyone was talking about for days to follow. The outpouring of sadness around the world cannot truly be understood if you weren’t around at the time. But the fact that about 2.5 billion people watched her funeral live on television on September 6th indicates the impact of her passing.

#7: Ayrton Senna’s Crash

Three years before the car crash that took the life of Princess Diana, another car crash left people speechless - especially fans of Formula One racing. On May 1st 1994 Ayrton Senna was leading the San Marino Grand Prix when, on lap 7, his car ran off the track and hit a concrete barrier at 131 miles per hour. Senna died on the scene. The day before, another driver, Roland Ratzenberger, had crashed and died during a qualifying run. And while those accidents were shocking and tragic, Senna’s death did lead Formula One to create a series of new safety protocols to better protect their drivers.

#6: OJ Simpson is Found Not Guilty

There are few moments in history that are so big that everyone remembers where they were when it happened. The OJ Simpson verdict is one of those moments. If we’re being honest, the entire OJ case is one of those moments - from the low-speed chase in the white Bronco (watched by 95 million people) to the trial itself and the aforementioned verdict. The OJ Simpson murder case took over our lives from June of 1994 until the verdict in October of 1995. It felt like everyone had an opinion about the case, the evidence, and Simpson’s guilt. And 57% of the country, 150 million people, found themselves in front of a television on October 3, 1995 to witness the verdict live.

#5: Bosnian War

Rather than just one moment, this is an event that left us speechless for three years as this horrible and brutal war raged on between 1992 and 1995 in the then-region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moments of violence, destruction and ethnic cleansing had the rest of the world looking on in horror. In the end over 60 people were convicted of war crimes and more than 100,000 people lost their lives - with 2.2 million more finding themselves displaced. It was the most disastrous conflit Europe had experienced since the end of World War II.

#4: Operation Desert Storm

Operation Desert Storm was the second part of the Gulf War which took place between 1990 and 1991. Part one, known as Operation Desert Shield, began in August of 1990 and involved the buildup of military forces by the American-led coalition following Iraq’s invasion, and occupation, of Kuwait. Phase two, Operation Desert Storm, was the use of all that military might - starting with massive aerial bombings on January 17th, 1991. Bombing that we all watched live, every day on the news. On February 24th the ground war began, and 100 hours later the war was over and Kuwait was liberated.

#3: Waco Siege

On February 28th, 1993 the ATF had planned on raiding the ranch in Waco, Texas that was home to the Branch Davidians religious cult. They suspected the Dividians of stockpiling illegal weapons and planned on a surprise raid to serve their search warrants. Well, through a series of events, the group was warned in advance and were armed and ready when the ATF showed up. What followed was a 51-day siege that ended on April 19th when the Dividians set the compound on fire in response to the FBI throwing in tear gas. In the end, the loss of life included four federal agents and 82 Branch Davidians.

#2: Rodney King Beating/LA Riots

With the advent of smartphones, footage of Black men being the victims of police brutality has become all too common. But it’s been going on for a lot longer than that, and the 1990s was no exception. When video footage of Rodney King being beaten by four police officers hit the news, it hit us all right in the gut. To see him lying on the ground as the officers kicked, stomped, clubbed and stunned him was - and still is - so hard to watch. But as speechless as that left us all, when the officers were acquitted by a jury, many Black residents of Los Angeles couldn’t keep quiet any longer. And for 6 days LA was on fire - literally and metaphorically.

#1: Oklahoma City Bombing

On April 19th, 1993 the 51-day Waco siege ended. On April 19th, 1995 a truck bomb blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. That date wasn’t a coincidence. Timothy McVeigh picked it because his attack was set in motion by the siege at Waco and what he saw as the government's growing control of and regulations on private citizens. Especially when it came to guns. The bombing was - and still is - the deadliest act of domestic terrorism the United States has ever seen, and those who saw it, whether in person or on television, were no doubt left speechless in sadness.

Don’t go speechless on us now. Let us know your thoughts on this list. Leave us a comment below.