29 Pop Culture Moments That Happened Summer Of 1996 That Feel Like Both Yesterday And 50 Years Ago
1.Friends wrapped up its second season with "The One With Barry and Mindy's Wedding":
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:
3.Watching Nick at Nite meant Block Party Summer and Lucy Tuesdays:
4.The Rosie O'Donnell Show made its debut and became an instant hit:
5.Also making its debut that summer was The Daily Show, which was hosted by Craig Kilborn...
6....and Kenan & Kel:
7.If you had the internet, you were most likely using AOL — and, of course, it was dial-up:
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:
9.The Nintendo 64 was released in Japan — but it wouldn't be released in the US until September:
10.Mariah Carey had one of the biggest songs of the summer with "Always Be My Baby":
11.As did the Fugees with their cover of "Killing Me Softly With His Song":
12.The Fugees' album The Score was also one of the biggest-selling albums that summer, as was Nas's It Was Written:
13.Primitive Radio Gods had the biggest alt-rock song with "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand":
14.And a little group called the Spice Girls released a new song in July called "Wannabe":
15.The 1996 Summer Olympics were in full swing down in Atlanta...
16....and Kerri Strug and the Magnificent Seven took home the gold in gymnastics:
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:
18.Prince Charles and Princess Diana officially divorced after being separated for nearly four years:
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:
21.While Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow were Hollywood's it couple:
22.And Cameron Diaz was Hollywood's newest it girl after starring in The Mask:
23.Denzel Washington was named People's Sexiest Man Alive:
24.The Nutty Professor was also one of the biggest movies of that summer:
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:
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:
27.MTV 2 launched and promised to only show music videos:
28.Tickle Me Elmo hit the shelves in July, and we had NO idea just what we were in for:
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.
