Where did this Happen?: 1990s Edition Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. On 25 January 1990 a female Head of State became the first in recent times to give birth while holding office. Which country was she leading at the time?

Answer: Pakistan

Benazir Bhutto was the daughter of former Pakistani Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. When she was elected as the Prime Minister of the country in 1988, she became the first woman to head a Muslim majority democracy. She went on to serve two separate terms as the 11th and 13th Prime Minister. On 25 January 1990 she gave birth to a daughter while the Prime Minister, becoming the first female Head of State to do so in modern times.

It took nearly three decades for this feat to be repeated when New Zealand's Prime Minster Jacinda Arden gave birth while holding office in 2018.

2. In late 1991, an asset price bubble collapse in which country marked the beginning of a stagnant economic period dubbed as the "Lost Decade"?

Answer: Japan

After the end of the Second World War, Japan undertook an extensive rebuilding of the country's economy. This led to a strong growth till the end of the 1980s. This coupled with relatively loose lending policies led to the creation of an asset price inflation.

When this bubble burst suddenly in late 1991, it brought the economy to a grinding halt. Without sufficient global or local experience to draw on in dealing with this crisis, the stagnation continued for many years leading to this period becoming known as the "Lost Decade".

3. In which country was the Treaty of the European Union signed on 7 February 1992 further advancing the formation of the EU and laying the foundation for the common euro currency?

Answer: Netherlands

The treaty is better known as the Maastricht Treaty after the place where it was signed - Maastricht, Netherlands. It was with this treaty that the European Economic Community expanded beyond just economic integration to form the European Union. It laid the foundation for the creation of a common currency, the euro, which was then formally adopted as notes and coins on 1 January 2002 by many members of the EU.

4. Which country ceased to exist on 1 January 1993 as a consequence of the Velvet Divorce?

Answer: Czechoslovakia

The formal dissolution of the former country of Czechoslovakia took place on 1 January 1993 leading to the formation of two separate countries - Czech Republic and Slovakia. The seeds were sown in 1989 when the Velvet Revolution led to the end of the Communist Party's rule of the country.

The Velvet Revolution was so named as it was a non-violent, bloodless transition of power. While there are many reasons given for why the two countries decided to separate, including ethnic differences, in the end it probably worked with both economies growing well since.

5. April to July 1994 saw a bloody period in which African country when the Hutus launched a genocide against the Tutsis?

Answer: Rwanda

The Rwandan genocide of 1994 is one of the bloodiest periods of the region's history with around 70% of the country's Tutsi population killed. Estimates of people massacred range from 500,000 to one million. The Rwandan civil war began in 1990 but the carnage of 1994 stemmed from the death of the country's President when the jet he was travelling in was shot down.

The 100 day period that followed saw the politically leading Hutus target and kill as many of the Tutsis as they could. The country has since embarked on a long and painful journey towards unification of the tribes and growth and identity as Rwandans rather than Hutus or Tutsis.

6. On 30 October 1995 which country held a referendum to decide if one of its French speaking provinces should become an independent country?

Answer: Canada

The 1995 referendum was the second one held to decide on Quebec's independence. Culturally and linguistically differing significantly from the rest of the country, Quebec had had calls for independence from Canada beginning in the 1960s. A referendum held in 1980 had voted against it.

Another one was held in 1995 and featured the largest voter turnout in Quebec's history till then at 93.52%. Those calling for independence lost by a very narrow margin with those voting to stay polling 50.58% of the total votes.

7. On 5 July 1996 history was created when a sheep was cloned. In which country did this take place?

Answer: Scotland

The cloning of the sheep took place at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. Keith Campbell and Ian Wilmut were part of the team that worked on this project. Using a cell from a mammary gland, she was created through a nuclear transfer. When she was born on 5 July 1996, she was named Dolly, after the legendary singer and actress Dolly Parton with Wilmut saying, "Dolly is derived from a mammary gland cell and we couldn't think of a more impressive pair of glands than Dolly Parton's".

8. Which country moved its capital from Almaty to Astana on 10 December 1997?

Answer: Kazakhstan

Almaty is the largest city of Kazakhstan and served as its capital in different forms from 1929 to 1997. On 10 December 1997, the country relocated its capital to Astana. Astana is a planned city that was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.

It houses the country's government as well as its Supreme Court. Originally known as Akmola, it was renamed as Astana in 1997 when it became the capital. Astana means 'capital city' in Kazakh. The city was renamed yet again to Nur-Sultan on 29 March 2019 in honour of the country's long-serving President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

9. December 1998 saw the impeachment of the President of which major world power?

Answer: United States of America

Bill Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States of America. He began his second term as President in 1997. In 1998 his presidency was rocked by a sexual scandal involving him and a 22 year old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. At first Clinton denied any sexual involvement with Lewinsky. Subsequent investigations found this to be untrue and in December 1998, Clinton was impeached on one charge of perjury and one charge of obstruction of justice.

This made him only the second US President, after Andrew Johnson, to be impeached.

He was acquitted by the Senate in February 1999 and went on to serve his full second term.

10. 24 December 1999 saw an Indian passenger aircraft hijacked on its way from Kathmandu, Nepal to New Delhi, India. Which country was the hijacked plane finally taken to?

Answer: Afghanistan

Indian Airlines Flight 814 was on a short trip from Kathmandu, Nepal to New Delhi, India when it was hijacked mid-air. The hijackers first asked for the plane to be taken to Lahore, Pakistan. Lack of sufficient fuel led to the plane landing in Amritsar, India on the pretext of refueling.

Unfortunately, despite landing within Indian territory, the Indian government was unable to capitalize on this situation. The aircraft took off without completing the refueling and landed in Lahore. It landed again in Dubai where 27 passengers were released along with the body of a passenger stabbed by the hijackers. Ultimately the plane landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan where the remaining 150 passengers were held hostage until the Indian government capitulated and agreed to free three militants.

The ordeal finally ended on 31 December 1999 when the militants were freed and the passengers flown back to India. One of the freed militants, Maulana Masood Azhar, went on to form the Jaish-e-Mohammed, a group that has carried out multiple terror attacks on Indian soil in the last two decades.

Source: Author zorba_scank

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The 1990s were an eventful decade. From the fall of the Soviet Empire to the creation of the World Wide Web, this decade saw it all. Guess the country where each memorable event took place.

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