29 Pop Culture Moments That Happened Summer Of 1996 That Feel Like Both Yesterday And 50 Years Ago
This is what summer looked like 25 years ago.
1. Friends wrapped up its second season with "The One With Barry and Mindy's Wedding":
Warner Bros. / Courtesy: Everett Collection
The show was part of NBC's Must-See TV lineup, alongside The Single Guy, Caroline in the City, and Seinfeld.
2. Bob Barker was still the host of The Price is Right — which celebrated its 25th anniversary with a big primetime special:
CBS/ Game Show Flashback/ youtube.com
3. Watching Nick at Nite meant Block Party Summer and Lucy Tuesdays:
Viacom/ youtube.com
4. The Rosie O'Donnell Show made its debut and became an instant hit:
Frank Micelotta Archive / Getty Images
5. Also making its debut that summer was The Daily Show, which was hosted by Craig Kilborn...
Viacom/ Pill Cosby/ youtube.com
6. ...and Kenan & Kel:
Nickelodeon / Courtesy: Everett Collection
7. If you had the internet, you were most likely using AOL — and, of course, it was dial-up:
AOL / Via youtube.com
FYI: Only 20 million Americans had the internet that year.
8. And, of course, a movie night at home usually meant going down to Blockbuster and renting a movie:
oisfsehgfusd/ youtube.com
9. The Nintendo 64 was released in Japan — but it wouldn't be released in the US until September:
Yvonne Hemsey / Getty Images
10. Mariah Carey had one of the biggest songs of the summer with "Always Be My Baby":
Sony Music/ youtube.com
11. As did the Fugees with their cover of "Killing Me Softly With His Song":
Fugees/ youtube.com
12. The Fugees' album The Score was also one of the biggest-selling albums that summer, as was Nas's It Was Written:
Sony Music
13. Primitive Radio Gods had the biggest alt-rock song with "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand":
Los40Music90'sMusicVideos/ youtube.com
14. And a little group called the Spice Girls released a new song in July called "Wannabe":
Spice Girls/ youtube.com
15. The 1996 Summer Olympics were in full swing down in Atlanta...
David Taylor / Getty Images
16. ...and Kerri Strug and the Magnificent Seven took home the gold in gymnastics:
Doug Pensinger / Getty Images
Strug landed the vault that helped the team win, despite having a badly injured ankle.
17. The Chicago Bulls beat the Seattle SuperSonics during Game 6 to win the NBA Finals — with Michael Jordan being named MVP:
Brian Bahr / AFP via Getty Images
18. Prince Charles and Princess Diana officially divorced after being separated for nearly four years:
Kent Gavin/Mirrorpix / Getty Image
19. Tom Cruise had one of the biggest blockbusters of the summer with Mission: Impossible...
Paramount
It was also the third-highest-grossing movie of the year.
20. ...and he was also still married to Nicole Kidman:
Vince Bucci / AFP / Getty Images
21. While Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow were Hollywood's it couple:
Lawrence Schwartzwald / Getty Images
23. Denzel Washington was named People's Sexiest Man Alive:
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
24. The Nutty Professor was also one of the biggest movies of that summer:
Universal Pictures
The film helped launch Eddie Murphy's comeback.
25. While Independence Day was the biggest film of the summer — establishing Will Smith as a blockbuster star:
20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved. Courtesy: Everett Collection
The film was also the biggest movie of the year.
26. Speaking of Will, his show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, aired its final episode:
NBC
27. MTV 2 launched and promised to only show music videos:
Chris Hattings/ Viacom/ youtube.com
28. Tickle Me Elmo hit the shelves in July, and we had NO idea just what we were in for:
Tyco / Via muppet.wikia.com
29. And finally, if you attended a wedding, quinceañera, bar/bat mitzvah, sleepover, birthday, and/or backyard party that summer, then you probably danced the "Macarena."
BMG U.S. Latin
"Macarena" was not only the biggest song of summer, but also the biggest song of the year.