What Was News When
What Was News When |
|
Started |
And now, here's a look at the events that took place the week Rugrats first went on the air in August 1991.
A Greek cruise ship, Oceanos, sunk off the coast of South Africa. (8/5/1991)
The Cuban government allows its citizens, aged 20 or over, to travel abroad, provided that the host country issued the visa for the traveler. (8/5/1991)
Fidel Castro turned 65. (8/13/1991)
About 2000 Pro-Life protesters were arrested outside an abortion clinic in Wichita, KS. (8/7/1991)
General Norman Swartzkopf, the officer who lead the allied forces to victory in the Gulf War, leaves Central Command on 8/8, with retirement on 8/31.
Beirut hostages John McCarthy (Britain, 8/9), Jerome Leyraud (France, 8/10) and Edward Tracy (US, 8/11) were released from rebel forces in Lebanon.
Shapour Bakhtiar, a former Iranian Prime Minister who replaced the Shah after his death, was murdered in Paris. (8/8/1991)
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was near financial collapse, with a deficit of 1.1 billion Rubles (8/8/1991); the Soviet Union would break up later that year.
Final Exit, a how-to book on suicide, was America's #1 best seller; copies were hard to find at bookstores. (8/10/1991)
Albanians flee from communist Albania to Italy, forcing the Italian government to turn some refugees away. (8/10/1991)
The Oakland (CA) Tribune, at the time the only minority-owned major daily paper in the US, announced that they received enough money to keep running, just hours before the final edition was to have hit the presses. (8/14/1991)
For a look at Television
on the week that Rugrats started, click here.
Here's what was released at theaters the weekend of August 11, 1991:
Bingo -- starring Cindy Williams
The Doctor -- starring William Hurt
Delirious -- starring John Candy
Double Impact -- starring Jean-Claude Van Damme
Pure Luck -- starring Danny Glover and Martin Short
And here's the top 10 films on the weekend of 8/4/1991:
1. Hot Shots!
2. Terminator 2 -- starring Arnold Schwarzenegger
3. Doc Hollywood -- starring Michael J. Fox
4. Boyz N The Hood
5. 101 Dalmatians (re-release of 1961 animated film)
6. Robin Hood, Prince Of Thieves
7. Mobsters
8. Body Parts
9. Regarding Henry
10. Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
Here's the top 10 list of sales and rentals for 8/4/1991:
| Sales | Rentals | |
| 1 | The Terminator | Misery |
| 2 | The Jungle Book | Goodfellas |
| 3 | Robin Hood (Disney) | Edward Scissorhands |
| 4 | Pretty Woman | Kindergarten Cop |
| 5 | The Little Mermaid | Reversal Of Fortune |
| 6 | The Three Tenors In Concert | Green Card |
| 7 | Richard Simmons' Sweatin' To The Oldies | Look Who's Talking Too |
| 8 | (A Playboy video that I won't mention the title of) | L.A. Story |
| 9 | The Prince And The Pauper (Disney) | Postcards From The Edge |
| 10 | Star Trek V: The Final Frontier | The Grifters |
Here are the top tens for the Pop Singles, Pop Albums and Country Singles
for the week of 8/9/1991, according to
Billboard® Magazine;
©1991Billboard Publications, Inc.
| Pop Singles | Pop Albums | Country Singles | |
| 1 |
I Do It For You Bryan Adams |
Unforgettable Natalie Cole |
She's In Love With The Boy Trisha Yearwood |
| 2 |
P.A.S.S.I.O.N. Rythm Syndicate |
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Van Halen |
Here We Are Alabama |
| 3 |
Every Heartbeat Amy Grant |
Spellbound Paula Abdul |
You Know Me Better Than That George Strait |
| 4 |
Summertime D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (the latter a.k.a. Will Smith) |
Gonna Make You Sweat C&C Music Factory |
Here's A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares) Travis Tritt |
| 5 |
It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over Lenny Kravitz |
Luck Of The Draw Bonnie Raitt |
Fallin' Out Of Love Reba McEntire |
| 6 |
Temptation Corina |
Out Of Time REM |
Somewhere In My Broken Heart Billy Dean |
| 7 |
Fading Like A Flower Roxette |
Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves Motion Picture Soundtrack |
Lord Have Mercy On A Country Boy Don Williams |
| 8 |
I'll Be There The Escape Club |
Cooleyhighharmony Boyz II Men |
Small Town Saturday Night Hal Ketchum |
| 9 |
Right Here, Right Now Jesus Jones |
Time, Love and Tenderness Michael Bolton |
Don't Rock The Jukebox Alan Jackson |
| 10 |
Wind Of Change Scorpions |
No Fences Garth Brooks |
Down To My Last Teardrop Tanya Tucker |
Carlos Santana pleaded No Contest on a marijuana posession charge in Houston, TX. (8/8/1991)
Calvin & Hobbes was still in newspapers, but was in repeats from 1986, as creator Bill Watterson took a long sabbatical during 1991 -- the strip would return with fresh strips in early 1992.
Major League Baseball's top teams this week:
| American League | East | Toronto |
| West | Minnesota (best in MLB) | |
| National League | East | Pittsburgh |
| West | Los Angeles |
Cleveland was the worst; Montreal was the second-worst.
At the Pan-Am Games in Havana, Cuba:
John Daly won the PGA golf championship (8/11/1991).
J.D. McDuffie, NASCAR legend, died in a race accident at Watkins Glen, NY, on 8/11/1991.
How much the world's money was worth on August 9, 1991, compared with those of May 4, 2001:
| 8/9/1991 | 5/4/2001 | |||
|
One Unit of Local Currency in US$ |
US$1 in Local Currency |
One Unit of Local Currency in US$ |
US$1 in Local Currency |
|
| Australia | A$1 = US$.78 | US$1 = A$1.28 | A$1 = US$.52 | US$1 = A$1.92 |
| Belgium | 1FB = US$.03 | US$1 = 35.40FB | 1FB = US$.02 | US$1 = 45.10FB |
| Britain | £1 = US$1.70 | US$1 = 59p | £1 = US$1.43 | US$1 = 70p |
| Canada | C$1 = US$.87 | US$1 = C$1.15 | C$1 = US$.65 | US$1 = C$1.54 |
| European Union | 1 ECU* = US$1.20 | US$1 = .84 ECU | E1 = US$.90 | US$1 = E1.12 |
| France | 1FF = US$.17 | US$1 = 5.82FF | 1FF = US$.14 | US$1 = 7.33FF |
| Germany | 1DM = US$.58 | US$1 = 1.73DM | 1DM = US$.46 | US$1 = 2.18DM |
| Hong Kong | HK$1 = US$.13 | US$1 = HK$7.76 | HK$1 = US$.13 | US$1 = HK$7.80 |
| Ireland | £1 = US$1.57 | US$1 = 64p | £1 = US$1.14 | US$1 = 88p |
| Italy | 1 Lira = US$.0008 | US$1 = 1282 Lira | 1 Lira = US$.0005 | US$1 = 2163 Lira |
| Japan | ¥1 = US$.007 | US$1 = ¥137 | ¥1 = US$.008 | US$1 = ¥121 |
| Mexico | MX$1** = US$.0003 | US$1 = MX$3038 | N$1 = US$.11 | US$1 = N$9.26 |
| Netherlands | 1 Guilder = US$.52 | US$1 = 1.93 Guilders | 1 Guilder = US$.41 | US$1 = 2.47 Guilders |
| New Zealand | NZ$1 = US$.57 | US$1 = NZ$1.75 | NZ$1 = US$.42 | US$1 = NZ$2.38 |
| Philippines | P$1 = US$.04 | US$1 = P$27.24 | P$1 = US$.02 | US$1 = P$50.31 |
| Singapore | SG$1 = US$.58 | US$1 = SG$1.72 | SG$1 = US$.55 | US$1 = SG$1.82 |
| South Africa | 1 Rand = US$.35 | US$1 = 2.85 Rands | 1 Rand = US$.12 | US$1 = 8.03 Rands |
| Spain | 1 Escudo = US$.009 | US$1 = 107 Escudos | 1 Escudo = US$.005 | US$1 = 186 Escudos |
| Switzerland | 1FS = US$.66 | US$1 = 1.51FS | 1FS = US$.58 | US$1 = 1.73FS |
| Taiwan | T$1 = US$.04 | US$1 = T$26.74 | T$1 = US$.03 | US$1 = T$32.88 |
| Turkey | 1 Lira = US$.0002 | US$1 = 4398 Lira | 1 Lira = US$.00000085 | US$1 = 1,172,000 Lira |
* -- The ECU, in 1991, was not a form of currency, but a "basket" of currencies of their member nations. In the late-1990s, it became a form of currency as the Euro. Since 1999, the currency units of most of its member countries are fixed to the Euro, in transition for the Euro to replace them in 2002.
** -- The Mexican peso was reformulated in 1993, in response to runaway inflation and the fast-sinking peso.
These notable people died this week:
Think your new computer's cheap or state-of-the art? Take a gander at these 1991 computer ads from Circuit City. At the time, Intel's 80386 processor was top-of-the-line, and many IBM-based computers had no Windows (Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS 5.0 were released in 1991). Also at the time, the internet was still available only to a privileged few, though services such as Prodigy and America On Line were available (though you couldn't stay on long without being charged high rates).
Also in 1991, faxes existed, though they cost a pretty penny. Look at this ad, also from Circuit City:
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