Those guys are heathens. Yeah. These guys are
animalistic heathens. Yeah, they're holding
the jungle back, tiger. Jungle? Yes, sir. No, I think the defendants
are jungle people. We the jury find the
defendant not guilty of the crime of assault by force
likely to produce great bodily injury and with a deadly weapon. 1992, a year when America's
temper boiled over. '92 would be a year
of political change, the end of an era
of a comedy giant-- Come on! Come on! --and when our soda
tastes would go clear. We're going to talk about
the news, culture, sports, and entertainment, and all
that was weird in the '90s. This is Timeline. [MUSIC PLAYING] Don't worry. We've got you. This video is all about 1992. But before we get started,
be sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel. And let us know in the
comments below what you were doing in 1992. Now, are you ready for '92? Stay right where you are. This is 1992. And that is so
degrading to women. Eew. What do you mean? She's got the whip. We start the year off
with some bad news for women in Orange County,
California, as the FDA or Food and Drug Administration
urged doctors to stop implanting
silicone breasts. I am requesting a moratorium on
the further use of all silicone gel breast implants. Risks, of course,
being silicone gel leaking from a ruptured implant,
but also the interference with breast cancer screening
x-rays and implant hardening. Two days later, on January
8, while attending a banquet hosted by Japanese Prime
Minister, Kiichi Miyazawa, US President George H.W
Bush fainted after vomiting in the Prime Minister's lap. Bush, who was on a 12
day tour of Asia related to trade issues,
fainted in his chair between the second and
third courses, came to, and then vomited. I always recommend vomiting
before your main course. Bush left early. And his wife, Barbara,
gave a speech in his place. Must have been something he ate. In late January, the
Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo
Bills 37 to 24. This also made Washington
just the fourth NFL team in history, along with the
Steelers, Raiders, and 49ers, to win three Super Bowls. The Bills, on the other hand,
became only the third team in NFL history, along with
the Broncos and Vikings, to lose two Super
Bowls in a row. The next day, former
heavyweight champ Mike Tyson was put on trial for the sexual
assault of Miss Black Rhode Island, Desiree Washington. You hurt me. And I was big enough
to stand up to you and tell you you need help. Two weeks later, on February 10,
after 10 hours of deliberation, Tyson was found guilty. The verdict was appealed
by Tyson's attorney, Alan Dershowitz of all people. But they lost that. Tyson was sentenced
to six years in prison and was released
in March of 1995 after serving only three years. I have absolutely no
thoughts about Mike Tyson. He's finished. And finally, in January, sports
broadcasting legend Howard Cosell announced his retirement. Cosell began his
broadcasting career hosting a show about
Little League baseball in New York for ABC. By the early 1960s, Howard was
covering boxer Muhammad Ali. And just have a little
dance like we're boxing. And for just one second, I
have to time it for one second. And was probably
most famous as he went to announce 14 seasons of
ABC's Monday Night Football. And it was in that capacity
when on December 8, 1980, Cosell stunned the world,
announcing John Lennon had been assassinated. An unspeakable tragedy. John Lennon shot twice in
the back, dead on arrival. Sticking with sports,
on February 8, the Winter Olympics began
in Albertville, France, marking the last time the
Winter and Summer games were held in the same calendar year. These games featured over 1,800
athletes from 64 countries. This set of games featured
several new events, including free skating,
short track speed skating, and women's biathlon. Two days later,
author Alex Haley, responsible for works
like Roots, died. Born on August 11,
1921, in Ithaca, New York, Haley, who graduated
high school at only 15, dropped out of college in 1939
and enlisted in the military. He would serve in the
Coast Guard for 20 years. Do you still like to
write on the water? Oh, I do. I go on cargo ships is
what you're talking about. And I go because it's the best
isolation I know in this world. And I was 20 years
in the Coast Guard. So I love the sea. And I love ships. He retired in 1959
to pursue writing. Haley is credited as
the creator of Playboy interview, first published
in September of 1962. Haley interviewed Martin Luther
King, Jr., Sammy Davis, Jr., and Quincy Jones, among others. One of these interviews
even formed the basis for the Autobiography of
Malcolm X, which was published to great acclaim in 1965. In mid-February in a
Wisconsin courthouse, the notorious man eater,
killer Jeffrey Dahmer, was convicted and sentenced to
15 terms of life imprisonment. Eddie is gone, the victim
of your senseless killing. Where do we go from here? You took my mother's
oldest grandchild from her. And for that, I can
never forgive you. I don't want to
ever see my mother have to go through this again. Never, Jeffrey. Jeffrey, I hate you! [BLEEP] I hate you! This has never been a case
of trying to get free. I didn't ever want freedom. Frankly, I wanted
death for myself. Dahmer would spend his
first year of incarceration in solitary confinement
for his own protection. After being transferred
to a less secure unit, he became a
born-again Christian. That didn't last
long because just a little over two years
later, on November 28, 1994, Dahmer, who left his
cell for work detail, was assaulted by fellow
inmates with a metal bar. Dahmer died a day later. On February 27, a
16-year-old sports prodigy named Tiger Woods made his PGA
debut at the Nissan Los Angeles Open in California. I love the competition. I love competing against
other players, especially when they're better than me. Woods, the youngest player to
compete in the PGA in 30 years, failed to make the cut. But he was still named Golf
Digest's amateur player of the year. We may hear more from
Tiger later on this decade. [MUSIC PLAYING] Confessions. Eavesdrop on real people telling
their innermost secrets-- I'm afraid my husband
will find out. --darkest desires. The safe was left
unlocked today. $2 per minute. Secrets that have to be told. On March 6, the Michelangelo
computer virus struck. Computer users won't be
joining in all the celebrations for Michelangelo's birthday
this Friday because on that day, a new and deadly virus is
scheduled to strike computers around the world. Once a system was
infected with the virus, it would copy itself onto any
floppy disk the computer was commanded to write on, which
made the virus easy to spread by accident. Complicating
matters was the fact that a computer could be
secretly infected for years as long as it wasn't booted
on that particular date. Experts got in the
habit of advising users not to boot their
computers on March 6. And by 1997, no further
cases were reported. Impossible because you
don't know the answer. Nobody could answer
that question. Your Honor? Can you answer the question? No, it is a trick question. Why is it a trick question? Because Chevy didn't
make a 327 in '55. And it wasn't offered in the
Bel Air with a four barrel carb till '64. The fact is Ms. Stafford is
the voice of Woody Woodpecker. [APPLAUSE] She does the wonderful
voice of Woody Woodpecker. We to hear that voice. Would you? [LAUGHTER] On March 17, voice
actor Grace Stafford, who voiced Woody
Woodpecker, died. While Woody was originally
voiced by animation legend Mel Blanc, legal troubles between
him and producer Walter Lantz led to the part being recast. Stafford, professional
actress, who also happened to be
Walter Lantz's wife, offered to take the role. But she was turned down
because the character was male. Not to be deterred, Stafford
recorded an audition tape and sent it in anonymously. Lantz loved the unknown actor
and chose them for the role. Oh, hey, it's you, my wife. In late March, on a local
New York's Sunday edition, Democratic presidential
candidate Bill Clinton admitted to having experimented
with marijuana as a teenager. When asked whether
he had ever broken a state or an international
law regarding drugs, Clinton responded-- I experimented with
marijuana a time or two. And I didn't like it, and
didn't inhale, and never tried it again. [APPLAUSE] And the Oscar goes to
The Silence of the Lambs. [APPLAUSE] On March 30,
Silence of the Lambs took home all of the top honors
at the 64th Academy Awards. Not only did it
win Best Picture, but also won Best Director, Best
Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was only the
third time in history that a single film swept all of
the so-called big five Academy Awards. Silence of the Lambs was
also the first horror film to ever win the big prize and
is notable as the first movie to be released on home video
prior to winning Best Picture. Heading into April, John
Gotti, "The Teflon Don" of New York's
Gambino crime family, was convicted of five
murders, including the assassination of his
predecessor, Paul Castellano. This time, the charges stick. And "The Teflon Don" may now
spend the rest of his life in prison. John Gotti guilty on all counts. The government's star witness,
Gotti's former right hand man who turned rat,
Sammy "The Bull" Gravano. The 51-year-old Gotti
was also convicted on a slew of other
counts, including murder conspiracy, gambling,
loan sharking, and obstruction of justice. Fast forward to a
decade later when Gotti would die in prison of cancer. "The Don" was only 61. Four days later, iconic science
fiction author Isaac Asimov, who authored over
375 books, died. Born in Petra Vichy,
Russia, Asimov came to the United States in
1923, growing up in Brooklyn. Asimov's books included I,
Robot, Fantastic Voyage, and The Foundation trilogy. Asimov was considered one of
the big three of science fiction along with Arthur C.
Clarke and Robert Heinlein. On April 10, the comedy
world lost a legend when stand-up Sam Kenison died
in a head-on car collision while on his way
to a gig in Nevada. The 38-year-old comic was
actually a former Pentecostal preacher before he started
performing as a comedian. Kenison, popular
for his trademark-- Oh! --quickly moved up from
playing small comedy clubs to appearing on late night TV
to memorable roles in films like Rodney Dangerfield's
Back To School. In mid-April, consumers
showed up at supermarkets to a novel sight, Crystal Pepsi. Although technically, it
wasn't the first clear cola, the product was
sold saying, you've never seen a taste like this. And even used Van Hagar's songs
Right Now in their commercials. In its first year, Crystal Pepsi
had sold nearly $500 million worth of soda. However, Pepsi's nemesis,
the Coca-Cola company, quickly followed up with
their own concoction. Tab Clear. Suddenly, everything is clear. Executives would later
admit that Tab Clear was made to specifically
dupe consumers into thinking that Crystal
Pepsi was a diet drink. The sabotage was a success. As we fast forward to
1993, Crystal Pepsi would be pulled off the market. But Crystal Pepsi
lovers rejoice. The clear beverage has been
revived on limited occasions since. We're finally ready to
relaunch Crystal Pepsi. On April 22 at 11:30 AM, dozens
of sewers in Guadalajara, Mexico exploded. More than 200
people were killed. And over 1,000
buildings were damaged. The explosion was caused by
a gas leak, which had already been evident to both the Mexican
government and the National Oil Company. Residents of
Guadalajara had reported a foul smell in the air, a
stinging in their throats and noses, and bouts of nausea. No real investigation
was undertaken. 20 square blocks of
Guadalajara were destroyed. And craters 200 feet deep opened
in two separate locations. [MUSIC PLAYING] Ragu introduces Chicken
Tonight Simmer Sauces. And suddenly,
everybody's saying-- I feel like chicken tonight. Like chicken tonight. Just brown the chicken,
simmer, and serve. I feel like chicken tonight,
like chicken tonight. We go to Simi
Valley, California, where police officers Stacey
Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, and Theodore
Briseno were put on trial for the beating of Rodney King. Just two weeks later,
the prosecution would rest its case. The jury reached
a verdict, finding all four officers not guilty. The verdict did
not go over well. This is a prejudiced valley. You got a plane ticket, cash
it in, and get the heck out of Dodge. This is going to be
a bad place to live. Massive rioting broke out
in and around Los Angeles. I knew when they moved the
whole case to Simi Valley and whatever, some stuff
was really going to go down. Nothing that has happened
to Rodney King is new. In the past, we tried
to settle matters like this with non-violence. They ain't getting nowhere. So the only way you can
do it is with violence. We can't take no more. The next six days were marked
by looting, arson, and assaults, which were only stopped by the
intervention of the California National Guard and
the US military. Go home. Get back home. Go. By the time it was over, 63
people were dead, over 2,300 were injured, and more than
12,000 were under arrest. Property damage
estimates were later placed at well over $1 billion. And you call this Black power? You're mad at the white man. Why are you destroying
my business? I tried to make it. Two of the four
officers would later be found guilty of federal
civil rights violations. And King would be
awarded $3.8 million in a civil suit
against the officers. Heading into May,
Rodney King himself made his first
statement to the media. In front of a
crowd of reporters, King pleaded for an end to the
violence with the now famous-- Can we all get along? On May 11, Carlos Herrera,
the inventor of the margarita, died. According to his
relatives, Herrera first invented the drink at Rancho La
Gloria, a restaurant he opened just South of Tijuana in 1935. A few years later, he
first mixed white tequila with lemon juice, shaved
ice, triple sec, and salt. In mid-May, we go to
Long Island, New York, where Mary Jo Buttafuoco
was shot by Amy Fisher. Fisher, as it turns out,
was having an affair with Mary Jo Buttafuoco's
husband, Joey Buttafuoco, who she met the year before
at Buttafuoco's auto shop. Pretending to be her own
fictional sister, Ann Marie, Fisher came to the
house to confront Mary Jo about the affair. Mary Jo Buttafuoco
asked Fisher to leave. Fisher responded by
shooting her in the face. While Mary Jo Buttafuoco
was deafened in one ear and her face was partially
paralyzed, she survived. Fisher was eventually
sentenced to 15 years in prison, of which she served
eight, before being paroled. Buttafuoco! This is the true story-- True story-- --of seven strangers --picked to live in a loft-- --and have their lives taped. --and start getting real. The Real World. It would be on May 22
where late night would be the end of an era when Johnny
Carson, host of The Tonight Show, said goodbye in
a farewell episode. Carson took over the show
from Jack Paar in 1962. Some of the famous
faces that appeared included John Wayne, Richard
Nixon, Elizabeth Taylor, Orson Welles, and Ella Fitzgerald. And I hope when I find
something that I want to do, and I think you
will like, and come back, that you'll be as gracious
and inviting into your home as you have been. I bid you a very
heartfelt good night. [APPLAUSE] On June 2, 1992, Arkansas
Governor Bill Clinton clinched the
Democratic nomination for President of
the United States when he won the California
Democratic primary. This election is about putting
power back in your hands. While this win officially
won the primary for him, the writing had long
been on the wall. As early as March 20,
The New York Times had observed that the
withdrawal of Senator Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts
gave Clinton a clear path to the nomination. On June 14, Michael Jordan
and the Chicago Bulls defeated the
Portland Trailblazers to win their second
consecutive NBA championship. Paxon with the rebound. Time running down. The Chicago Bulls have
won the NBA championship for the second straight season. Patrons on Chicago's
Division Street put down the kielbasa,
taking the streets to dance and celebrate. But things quickly
got out of hand. Two taxi cabs were overturned
and a wave of violence swept through the neighborhoods
on the city's south and west sides. Over 200 civilians
and nearly 100 police officers were injured in
the ensuing celebrations. In mid-June, Vice
President Dan Quayle was conducting a spelling
bee during a visit to a school in New Jersey when
a 12-year-old, William Figueroa, wrote the word
potato on the board. Quayle jumped in to
correct the boy, based on an inaccurate flash card
prepared by the teacher, telling the boy the
word was supposed to have an E on the end of it. The story would become a late
night talk show punchline for years afterwards. On June 28, medical
history was made when a 35-year-old
man received a baboon liver in the first
transplant of its kind. The 11 hour operation
was performed by doctors at the University
of Pittsburgh's Presbyterian University Hospital. The unnamed patient ultimately
died 70 days after the surgery. But the operation did
prove the effectiveness of an experimental
immunosuppressant drug. On June 29, Algerian
President Mohammed Boudiaf was assassinated in
the city of Inaba. The assassin would
turn out to be one of the president's
own bodyguards, Lieutenant Lamarr
Lambarek Boumaarafi, a religious extremist who was
believed to have acted alone. Boumaarafi was
sentenced to death three years after the shooting. The sentence was
never carried out. He remains in
prison to this day. On July 22, at age
51, Wayne McLaren, better known as the Marlboro
man, succumbed to lung cancer. McLaren, who had a pack and
a half a day smoking habit, had been diagnosed with the
disease just two years earlier. After learning of his
diagnosis, McLaren embarked on an
anti-smoking campaign, which included powerful
commercials that showed him in his hospital
bed just prior to his death. The tobacco industry
used my brother in ads to create an image that
smoking makes you independent. Mind you with all
those tubes in you, how independent
can you really be? Just hold it right there. Hold it. You just shot an unarmed man. Well, he should
have armed himself if he's going to decorate
his saloon with my friend. On August 8, the US men's
national basketball team, more famously known
as the Dream Team, crushed the Croatian team 117
to 85 in Barcelona, Spain. The team roster, which
included 11 Hall of Famers, including Jordan, Magic,
Byrd, Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, John
Stockton, Clyde Drexler, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Chris
Mullin, and Christian Laettner. Well, that last one may
not be so impressive. The win would clinch a perfect
8-0 record for the team and annihilated all
of their opponents by an average of
43.8 points per game. [MUSIC PLAYING] Sunday, the country's hot for
Clint Black, Kathy Mattea, Travis Tritt, and the
Kentucky Headhunters. A spectacular new Hot
Country Nights, NBC Sunday. Civilization has not been the
same since the first shopping mall open in America. Is the age of the mall
the beginning or the end of civilization as we know it? The $625 million Mall
of America officially opened in Bloomington,
Minnesota. Occupying nearly
80 acres, the mall included nearly 300 stores,
restaurants, and bars, as well as Knott's Camp's
Snoopy theme park, which was the mall's centerpiece. First proposed in 1978,
construction on the complex didn't begin until 1989. Officials estimated that over
150,000 people toured the mall on its first day. Over 20,000 visited
the theme park. And the complex's 13,000 parking
spots were full throughout. Mall of America. [APPLAUSE] Listen, you're not going to
do Arsenio and Leno, are you? I've got to. [BLEEP] Hey, it's the business. Get used to it. Blow me. On August 17, famed writer,
director, and comedian Woody Allen publicly
announced that he was in a relationship
with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of
composer Andre Previn and Allen's
ex-girlfriend, Mia Farrow. In a written
statement, Allen says, "Regard my love
for Soon-Yi, it's real and happily all true." It later came to light that
Allen was in possession of nude Polaroids of Soon-Yi. And allegations later emerged
that he had sexually abused Farrow's daughter, Dylan. On August 21, US
Marshals looking to apprehend white separatist
Randall Weaver for his failure to appear in court
on firearms charges began surveillance
on his property located at Ruby Ridge
in northwest Idaho. Marshals encountered Weaver's
14-year-old son, Randy, who was in the woods at the
time with a family friend. A shootout erupted. And it would ultimately take
the lives of Sammy Weaver as well as one of the marshals. The events would prompt
an 11 day standoff. Weaver and Harris would face
federal criminal charges, including first degree murder. But they were acquitted
of all of them except the original
bail violation and gun charge faced by Weaver. On August 24, category
five Hurricane Andrew struck the Bahamas,
Florida, and Louisiana. The storm remains the single
most destructive hurricane in terms of property damage
to ever strike Florida. The hurricane ultimately
did what in today's terms would amount to over $100
billion worth of damage. In late August, Arthur
Leigh Allen, long suspected to be the Zodiac Killer,
died at the age of 58 in his Vallejo, California home. Allen, who was the subject
of Robert Graysmith's 1986 bestselling book,
Zodiac, had been a suspect since the earliest
days of the investigation. With only
circumstantial evidence, police couldn't definitively
tie Allen to any of the crimes. In 2002, a partial
DNA profile developed from the saliva on the stamps
and envelopes of the Zodiac Killer's letters didn't
match Allen's DNA. Police handwriting experts
were unable to match any sample of Allen's writing
to the Zodiac's letters. In 2010, a former lead
detective on the case stated that all
evidence against Allen had turned out to be negative. On September 7, Fay
Vincent, commissioner of Major League Baseball since
1989, resigned his position. Vincent, who was not
popular with team owners due to his perceived
favoritism toward the player's union during the
previous year's lockout, had recently lost a
no confidence vote by a margin of 18 to nine. Ultimately, the
owners gave the job to Milwaukee Brewers
owner Bud Selig, who had been occupying the
job as acting commissioner since Vincent had departed. On September 12, Jan
Davis and Mark Lee became the first married couple
to go into space together. Traveling aboard the
shuttle Endeavor, the couple was also
accompanied by Mae Jemison, who became the first
African-American woman to fly in space, and Mamoru
Mohri, 44, who became the first
Japanese citizen to fly on an American spacecraft. However, while the
mission was a success, Davis and Lee would
divorce in 1998. Wow, a whole channel of
nothing but cartoons. Yes, I do think you're handsome. On October 3, singer
Sinead O'Connor appeared on Saturday Night
Live as the musical guest. O'Connor sang an acapella
version of Bob Marley's War in which she changed the lyric
to mention child abuse intended to draw attention to the
Roman Catholic Church. While singing the word
evil, O'Connor held up a photo of Pope John Paul II. Then, she tore
the photo saying-- Fight the real enemy. Network executives banned
O'Connor from the show. On the very same day, Bill
Gates, founder of Microsoft, became the youngest person
to top the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans. The 36-year-old
college dropout was listed as having a net
worth of $6.3 billion, which topped Telecom
magnate John W. Kluge, who had held the list's
top spot for the previous three years. Gates would occupy the
top spot on the list until 2018 when he was surpassed
by Amazon's Jeff Bezos. Let me just get this straight. You don't ever tip, huh? I don't tip because
society says I have to. All right, I mean, I'll tip if
somebody really deserves a tip. If they really put
forth the effort, I'll give them something extra. But I mean, this
tipping automatically, it's for the birds. The question is,
can I get Wolverine before he turns me into
shish kebab with those claws? Well, Bob, seeing as how
these claws are adamantium, you've got to ask
yourself, do I feel lucky? On November 3, Democratic
presidential candidate Bill Clinton became
President-elect as he defeated incumbent
President George H.W. Bush. The American people have
voted to make a new beginning. Clinton won by over 5 million
votes and 202 electoral votes. He also beat independent
candidate H. Ross Perot, who won 20 million
votes, nearly 19% of the entire vote,
the highest percentage of any third-party
candidate in 80 years. You didn't hear the sergeant? Outside. I suggest you look
outside that window. And until I'm satisfied
that Brother Johnson is receiving proper medical
care, nobody will move. In mid-December, the North
American Free Trade Agreement, better known as NAFTA,
was signed into law by the administrations of
the US President George H.W. Bush, Canadian
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and Mexican President
Carlos Salinas de Gortari. The agreement,
among other things, called for the gradual
reduction of duties, tariffs, and other trade barriers
between the three nations. It also secured
intellectual property rights and established
strict measures to be taken against industrial theft. And finally, on December 27,
crooner Harry Connick, Jr. was arrested at New
York's Kennedy Airport after a handgun was found
in his carry-on bag. The 24-year-old singer was taken
to a police station in Queens where he was charged
with fourth degree possession of a weapon, which
is a misdemeanor in New York. According to Connick,
the gun had been a gift. And he had been misinformed
about the state's gun laws. Satisfied he had
no criminal intent, the charges against the singer
were ultimately dismissed. And that's how 1992 ended. 1993 was just days away. It would be a year where
a cult would catch fire, a blackhawk would go down,
and a basketball legend would call it quits. But that is for next year. You're just going to have to
find a way to pass the time. You got a joint? Coming soon, 1993. All right, all right, all right. So what do you think? What do you love about 1992? Let us know in the
comments below. And while you're
at it, check out some of these other
Timeline videos. [MUSIC PLAYING]
Love weird history!