1. Independence Day was the biggest movie of the year, while The Nutty Professor and Mission: Impossible were among the 10 highest-grossing films of the year.
Columbia
Universal
Paramount
2. JTT was the biggest teen heartthrob around...
Primedia
3. ...while Denzel Washington was People's "Sexiest Man Alive."
Time Inc.
4. The Daily Show first aired with Craig Kilborn as host.
Comedy Central / Via reddit.com
5. Rosie O'Donnell became the "Queen of Nice" after launching her afternoon talk show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show.
NBC / Via youtube.com
6. Tupac Shakur was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
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7. Oprah launched her book club and picked Jacquelyn Mitchard's The Deep End of the Ocean as her first selection.
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Allen Lane
8. Nintendo 64 was first released...
9. ...and so were Tamagotchis.
Via en.wikipedia.org
10. Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill was the best-selling album of the year.
Warner Music Group
11. Jay Z, the Spice Girls, and the Backstreet Boys all dropped their debut albums.
Def Jam
Sony Music
Sony Music
12. Los Del Rio had the biggest song of the year with "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)." It was also the biggest culture fad of the year.
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13. Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day" spent 12 consecutive weeks (16 all together, including four weeks in 1995) at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is still the record.
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14. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The Adventures of Pete & Pete both aired their final episodes...
NBC
Nickelodeon
15. ...while Nickelodeon -- which at the time was the most-watched basic cable channel -- began airing Kenan & Kel, Blue's Clues, and Hey Arnold.
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon
16. TGIF's lineup looked like this:
ABC
ABC
ABC
17. Tickle Me Elmo was the MUST-HAVE Christmas gift of the year.
Fisher Price / Getty Images
18. Dolly the Sheep became the first mammal ever cloned.
Getty Images
19. AOL was the biggest website around, and only about 20 million people had access to the internet.
AOL / Via youtube.com
20. Mulder and Scully (aka David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) were TV's most shipped couple.
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21. And finally, Michael Jordan made his cinematic debut in a little movie called Space Jam.
Warner Bros.
And we all believed we could fly.