I was reminded of this because as we all know by now, Bill & Melinda Gates have broken up.
I immediately thought of the Douglas Coupland’s classic Microserfs when the characters (who previously worked at Microsoft) found out that Bill & Melinda got married in early 1994:
Then, I remembered Start Me Up.
Which I always associate with the launch of Windows 95 in the late Summer of 1995, because it was used big time in the commercials for the operating system.
[The lady in commercial using laptop in a taxi cab – who was doing that in 1995 – who is doing that today?]
I also associate Windows 95 with my mom and I going to WalMart on a regular basis that Summer. WalMart was a ~new thing~ for us after we avoided it for the first few years of it being open in our town due to store being ~too crowded~. On the outside of our WalMart, there was this huge banner advertising Windows 95 arriving on August 24th. It looked just like this photo I had to mock up in Pixlr because I surprisingly couldn’t find one online.
From my local newspaper, Daily Press:
Cold Pizza Hut < Windows 95 at the CompUSA in Norfolk. 2,000 customers at the midnight launch!
Here’s the Coke commercial. I’ve noticed in nearly all the photos I’ve found of guys in stores buying Windows 95, they’re all dressed like Bill. That polo shirt/baggy khaki combo.
I got excited to see that I could find archives of the newspaper from Staunton, VA, where I lived for 2 years while I finished college. Only one person bought it at the KMart in Waynesboro!
While tropical storm-like weather plagued Central Florida, Alan Blalock still went out in the elements to get a copy.
The price signs at Sam’s Club still look like that in 2021.
Wait, so Allen in the photo bought it on launch day, but wasn’t installing it until the end of the year?
Jay Leno helped Bill Gates introduce Windows 95 in a show shown at computer stores. Of course he had to tell a lame O.J. trial joke:
Windows 95 can do so many things, it can keep track of all of O.J.’s alibi at once.
I still haven’t found any news coverage of these “computer geek costume balls”.
At CompUSA you could take a 3 hour $79 class on Windows 95.
This is definitely one of those newspaper articles I remember distinctively growing up. My hometown of Hampton, Virginia went bananas when our Wal-Mart expanded into a Super Center and began offering fried chicken in the deli. I originally thought it was because it tasted good and that’s why people were flocking. Nope, just cheap food. Personally, it’s too salty for me.
Dr. Beck Weathers was stuck on Mount Everest during a blizzard in May of 1996, 8 people wound up dying from exposure from the blizzard. When found after descending to a camp on the mountain, fellow hikers believed that he was so frostbitten and ill from exposure that he would die that night. The group tried to make Weathers comfortable in his last hours. However, he beat the odds and survived. He was guided to a helocopter and was flown to a hospital. Weathers nose, fingers on both hands, his right arm, and parts of his feet were all lost to frostbite.
He still worked as a pathologist, in a 2003 interview:
You adjust to doing things differently. God bless Velcro and elastics. But anything that requires fingers, I can’t do. I have a gal Friday who is a master’s-level physician’s assistant, specifically trained in the area of pathology, and what she offers is almost exactly what I can’t do. I hate to say that we have a hand-and-glove relationship, but that’s essentially how it works.
82. Mommy gets a new haircut (May 23)
After 36 years with the same frumpy bob, Mommy finally has a new ‘do.
Today, comics readers get their first look at the make-over of the character in the popular comic strip “Family Circus.” The author of the strip, Bil Keane of Paradise Valley, Ariz., apparently decided to update her hair after a reader complained that the pointy chin-length cut Mommy has had since the feature’s debut in 1960 was old-fashioned. 1
83. Steve Forbes runs for President (and hosts Saturday Night Live)
Businessman, and Forbes magazine founder, Steve Forbes tried to run for president as a Republican with a “flat tax” campaign. He won Arizona and Delaware!
(I cannot find the original source for this image)
84. The “Boulder” WalMart
No no no, not in Boulder, Colorado. This was a WalMart in Dickson City, Pennsylvania that shut down suddenly due to safety precautions – because a boulder rolled into it in December of 1996.
DICKSON CITY – The company that warns customers to “watch out for falling prices” had to close a store Tuesday because of falling boulders. The Wal-Mart store on Route 6 in Dickson City closed on the recommendation of an engineering firm hired to investigate a continuing problem with boulders rolling from the adjacent Bell Mountain. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman at the corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., said Wednesday that store officials are looking for another location and hope to reopen by the weekend, the last of the Christmas shopping season. One of the boulders at the back of the store was taller than the building. 2
87. “Apple Doesn’t Fall” closes after one performance (4/16)
“The Apple Doesn’t Fall …,“ a comedy by Trish Vradenburg, closed on Sunday after one performance at the Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street. Directed by Leonard Nimoy and starring Margaret Whitton and Florence Stanley, it had 19 previews. 3
88. Jeff Foxworthy & Sinbad hosted the American Music Awards (January)
With a pistol in his pocket, comedian Martin Lawrence ran into traffic on busy Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks on Tuesday, cursing and screaming at oncoming cars until he was taken away by police and hospitalized, authorities and witnesses said.
Lawrence, star of the television sitcom "Martin” and the films “Bad Boys” and “A Thin Line Between Love & Hate,” was found in the middle of Ventura Boulevard at Tyrone Avenue about 12:30 p.m., said Sgt. Bert Mora of the Los Angeles Police Department.
After police restrained Lawrence, he was taken to Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center and later released to his personal physician, Dr. William Young of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Mora said.
A witness–who declined to be identified but who said he was an acquaintance of Lawrence–said the actor was cursing, waving his hands and yelling, “Fight the establishment!” He said Lawrence ran out of the street when police arrived and tried to fight them off when they attempted to restrain him. 4
90. Woody gets arrested for planting seeds (6/1)
91. HoTMaiL Launches (7/4)
In June the product was ready to launch, at that time they had 15 employees working for them. They launched it on July 4, 1996 – Independence Day – as Sabeer and jack thought free email was a great Independent idea and populist tool. Every body who owned a computer had their own email accounts, but with webmail, they could log on from anywhere in the world. The first users found it all by themselves and then it spread like a forest fire. there were 100 in first hour, 200 in second hour and 250 in third hour. the idea was so intuitively powerful that 80% of those who signed up for Hotmail; learned about it from a friend. 5
92. Jackie Stern
Florida man wears medal without honor
Stern December 4, 1996 Web posted at: 8:20 a.m. EST From Correspondent Robert Vito
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (CNN) – Wherever 67-year-old Jackie Stern went in this south Florida community, he brought along his Medal of Honor, awarded by Congress to military personnel who have risked life in combat beyond the call of duty.
Speeches to Gulf War veterans, war stories at police stations and appearances at public occasions were all ripe moments for Stern to share his heroic past.
The only problem with Stern’s highly visible patriotism is that he was living a lie. He had not earned the Medal of Honor – he had bought it.
“He marched around in parades. He came around reviewing ROTC troops, even coming in here to get photographed wearing the medal,” said Sgt. Dan Ciacciarelli of the Broward County Sheriff’s Department. “He’s pretty brazen.”
For nearly 10 years, Stern bragged he had won the medal for bravery in the Korean War. He even went so far as to include a prisoner of war tag on the front of his car and a license plate on the back bearing a purple heart.
But in real military life, ‘Captain’ Jack Stern never made it past private.
Eventually Stern’s public displays provoked suspicion among some in the community. His tall tale unraveled when police learned he had never even set foot on a continent where the U.S. was involved in a conflict.
Faced with the truth, Stern pleaded guilty to federal charges involving the unearned medal of honor.
In a federal courtroom, the former bread truck driver and polygraph operator apologized to veterans. He said his actions had been stupid and pitiful.
His son blamed his father’s behavior on a massive stroke in 1985 that left him partially paralyzed.
Stern said he bought the medal at a military show for $800. The medal turned out to be authentic but not officially issued.
Stern could have been sentenced to six months in jail; instead, the judge placed him on one year’s probation and ordered him to write letters of apology to the 171 surviving recipients of the Medal of Honor. 6
According to the Los Angeles Times, actor Charlie Sheen paid $5,000 for a chance at Anaheim Stadium. He bought all the seats behind the left-field fence for a recent game between the California Angels and Detroit Tigers in hopes of catching a ball.
Sheen sat with three friends on an aisle about 20 rows up, pounding a glove in anticipation of a home run that never came.
“Anybody can catch a foul ball. I want to catch a fair ball,” Sheen said.
He chose to set himself apart from the crowd because “I didn’t want to crawl over the paying public. I wanted to avoid the violence.” 7
94. Febreze is test marketed
Procter & Gamble Co. will begin test marketing Febreze Fabric Refresher May 20. P&G said Febreze, which can be used on clothing or upholstery, uses a proprietary technology to trap odor molecules from such sources as cigarette smoke, pets or cooking. TV and print ads by Grey Advertising, highlighting situations where Febreze can be used, will run in the Phoenix; Boise, Idaho; and Salt Lake City test markets. 8
95. Keith Luecke
She’s a kid. Sitting in Judge William Walker’s courtroom last week, Alecia Campbell watched the room fill with television cameras. She watched as the man accused of corrupting her minced into the room, hobbled by an ankle chain. Her blunt features were shiny, no makeup, not even lipstick. Maybe she’s not allowed. Her mother was there, looking grim. Alecia chewed gum.
Is she a troubled child? Is she incorrigible? I don’t know. But I know she is 14 years old. And she looks and acts her age.
He is a 34-year-old man who left his wife and seven children to live with an eighth-grade girl in a sleazy motor lodge.
[…]
The court will see whether he is guilty of breaking the law. Here’s what I saw. He repeatedly winked and smiled at the young girl sitting across the courtroom from him. He mouthed the words, “I love you” twice, “I miss you” once.
He avoided the eyes of Chris Luecke, his wife of 12 years. She sat quietly, resting one freckled arm along the back of the pew-like seat about 6 inches from Alecia’s face. Her eyes, blue almost violet, missed nothing.
Leaving the courtroom, Mrs. Luecke walked directly across the street to her attorney’s office to file for divorce. 9
—
BATAVIA, OHIO BATAVIA, Ohio (AP) _ A former church youth director who once taught a program called “True Love Waits” was sentenced Wednesday to at least 12 years in prison for having an affair with a 13-year-old girl.
Keith Luecke, 33, pleaded guilty to child stealing and corrupting a minor.
He met Alecia Campbell, now 15, when she began dating Luecke’s son, and they disappeared together for 78 days after he was to have appeared in court on charges related to their relationship in April.
They were found by authorities on June 28 at a motel in Hanahan, S.C.
“I pray that God brings peace to you and your family,” Luecke said to the girl’s family. “To Alecia, I never meant to harm you or cause you pain, because I do love you.” 10
96. This comic.
cuz people used to joke that Bob Dole was too old. He’s still alive 21 years later!
So I’m finally done with this series. It took way longer than I had anticipated. I didn’t think it would be this hard to come up with 96 minor things about 1996!
5. “Sabeer Bhatiya, Los Angeles, Large Indian Company, Scott Mc Nealy MBA’80, Steve Wozniak and Marc Andreesen, Sabeer Bhatiya : The founder of “Hotmail.com”: Is He Great or Is He Lucky…, Sabeer Bhatiya, Los Angeles, Large Indian Company, Scott Mc Nealy MBA’80, Steve Wozniak and Marc Andreesen, Apple Computers, Jack Smith, American Online account, web – HOTMAIL, Microsoft’s financial muscles.” Accessed January 28, 2016. http://classic-web.archive.org/web/20070210043942/http://4to40.com/legends/print.asp?id=131
Josh King was Bill Clinton’s “Advance Guy” who pre planned events for the president. Bill was in France for the G7 Summit, and gnats plagued the area where he was to speak at. I’ll let Josh King fill in the rest from his book Off Script:
1.
56. Water Joe
While still around, but extremely hard to find now, Water Joe came on the scene when people’s coffee obsession was growing. Water Joe was a caffeinated water, which also came around the time people became more conscious about the water they drank:
Imagine coffee without the coffee, soda pop with just the pop. That’s Water Joe, perhaps the strangest New Age beverage yet – artesian well water mixed with a dollop of caffeine.
In the Midwest, where Water Joe appeared in October, it is proving the beverage of choice for a surprising mix of people united solely by their need for a jolt: truckers and traveling salesmen whose stomachs rebel at the fifth or sixth cup of coffee or can of cola, bartenders and students trying to stay alert in the wee hours, coffee fanatics seeking ways to brew java with an extra kick and folks who want their breakfast orange juice to be a real eye-opener. 2
I was so excited to find Water Joe after reading about it in Seventeen. For some reason I thought it was going to taste like coffee? I was disappointed.
57. Blues Clues debuts
We began searching for Blues Clues in 1996. Steve sipped syrup in the first episode.
3
58. Fiona Apple’s Tidal is released (July 23, 1996)
59. Wal-Mart censoring albums
The cover of John Mellencamp’s new CD, “Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky,” depicts Mr. Mellencamp surrounded by two children and a dog. In the background on either side of him are faded-out drawings of Jesus and a devil. At Wal-Mart, Jesus and the devil have been airbrushed out.
Elsewhere in the discount-chain racks, songs have been dropped from albums by Jackyl and Catherine Wheel; a Nirvana song title has been changed from “Rape Me” to “Waif Me,”, and music by White Zombie, 311, Type O Negative, Primitive Radio Gods, Beck, Outkast and dozens more groups has been altered to remove obscenities.
[…]Other albums he was looking for, including No. 1 albums by Tupac Shakur and Snoop Doggy Dogg, were not available in the store because of Wal-Mart’s chainwide policy not to carry any album affixed with the industry’s standard “parental advisory” label denoting explicit lyrics.
[…]The soundtrack to the movie “Beavis and Butt-head Do America,” for example, cleared both its record label, Geffen, and Anderson before it was rejected by Wal-Mart because of a chainwide ban on Beavis and Butt-head merchandise. 4
I found this while looking at newspapers on the defunct Google Newspapers.
62. ValuJet tries to take off again (9-30-1996)
Following the ValuJet crash in the Everglades in May of 1996, ValuJet Airlines was grounded due to safety concerns. ValuJet took off again that fall, and only stayed up in the air for a few more months until merging with AirTran in November of 1997. 5
63. Mystery Science Theater 3000 ends on Comedy Central (5-18-1996)
The last episode of MST3K to premiere on Comedy Central was “Laserblast”.
1. King, Josh. Off Script: An Advance Man’s Guide to White House Stagecraft, Campaign Spectacle, and Political Suicide. MacMillian. 2016. 48-49.
In April of 1989, a customer complained that the bottle of Listerine that she bought from a Texas WalMart made burned her mouth when she used it. Due to contamination fears that were rampant in the 1980s, WalMart pulled bottles of Listerine off shelves, and sent the bottle the woman complained about, and other samples to the Warner-Lambert company, the (then) manufacturer of Listerine.
After lab tests of the samples, the results were in.
The woman mistook the tingly effects of Listerine to burning. yup.
saleintothe90s 