Mental Floss

THE '90S

Robby Benson and Paige O'Hara in Beauty and the Beast (1991).

As the new 'Beauty and the Beast'—starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens—readies for its big-screen premiere, the tale as old as time is ready to enchant a new generation of audiences.

Stacy Conradt
Frank Micelotta Archive/Getty Images

On April 5, 1994, the music world mourned the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who died by suicide at the age of 27.

Roger Cormier




You love them.

While children of the '90s might remember topping their pencils with the miniature wild-haired figures, children of the '60s were all over that trend too.

Erika Berlin


Amazon

JNCOs were quintessentially '90s jeans, worn largely (at least at first) by skaters and nonconformists and known for mega-wide leg openings—and now, the brand is back.

Colin Gorenstein


Mark Bellomo

If you visited an older, well-established McDonald’s franchise during the latter part of the 1990s—specifically one of the corporation’s two-story restaurants boasting a “McDonald’s PlayLand”—you may have noticed some odd shapes and unfamiliar characters

Mark Bellomo
Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images

Nintendo's groundbreaking console just turned 25. Find out why the system had such a big impact (and why the company needed to sell protective gloves for one particular game.)

Jason Serafino
YouTube

'Home Improvement'—which premiered 25 years ago, on September 17, 1991—was a sitcom documenting the work and home life of Tim “The Toolman” Taylor, stand-up comedian Tim Allen’s interpretation of a man unjustifiably secure in his knowledge of power tools

Roger Cormier








PBS

Between 1995 and 1998, PBS fed kids classic tales like 'Ivanhoe' through a wise-cracking Jack Russell Terrier. And now it looks like he's getting his own feature film.

Kristin Hunt
NBC

Still airing in syndication more than a quarter-century later, the once-critically panned teen sitcom has become a cultural phenomenon.

Abbey Stone
toytoystoys4 on eBay

For nearly as long as there have been movies, there have been food and snack brands appearing in movies, either as intentional product placements or unintentional props of the times.

Andrew LaSane


20th Century Fox

Though Titanic was plagued with production problems, James Cameron's epic disaster/romance went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of all time.

Lilit Marcus




ToysandGames

It was a sprawling beach scene populated by hundreds of characters, including one dressed slightly inappropriately for the climate: Waldo, the sweater-sporting explorer who “hides” in every crowd scene illustrated by Martin Handford for his 'Where’s Waldo

Jake Rossen


YouTube

Netflix's 'Fuller House' might finally reveal whether Uncle Jesse's nightmare of needing hair plugs came true.

Roger Cormier
YouTube

The series ran for five seasons on MTV beginning in 1997. Here are some facts about the show even 'Sick, Sad World' doesn’t know.

Roger Cormier