1990

1990 was the 119th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

• April: Magic City Art Connection at Linn Park.
• 1990 U. S. Census counted 265,968 persons living in the city of Birmingham, a 6.5% drop from the previous decade.
• An engineering study determined that the Vulcan statue was in danger of collapse.
• Matilda, who lived to become the "World's Oldest Chicken", was born.
• Ken Mullinax donated a marble headstone for the graves of Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley at Greenwood Cemetery.
• The first Cahaba Thunder drumline competition was held at Hewitt-Trussville High School.
• A bid to incorporate Center Point failed.
• The Friends of Crestwood Park were formed by Pride Forney.
• April 20: President George H. W. Bush visited Birmingham-Southern College to proclaim National Recycling Month and attended a fundraising lunch for Bill Cabaniss at the BJCC.
• August: the 117th Tactical Reconnaisance Group deployed to the United Arab Emirates in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm
• October 16: The town of Indian Springs Village filed for incorporation.
• The 1990 elections brought Gary White and Jim Carns onto the Jefferson County Commission and Mark Gaines into the Alabama Legislature.
• Thanksgiving: Homewood High School's marching band appeared in the New York Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for the fifth time.
• The AmSouth-Sonat Tower displayed a huge American flag across its facade to honor troops returning from Operation Desert Storm.
• Guard William E. Donaldson was stabbed to death at the West Jefferson Correctional Facility.
• LaVondia Bryant-Square founded the Nathifa Dance Company.
• A bond issue for the City of Hoover provided funds for a new Hoover Public Library.

Business

• Bradford Building Company was founded.
• The Eastwood Mall Theater and the Pitcher Show both closed.
• Millard Deason bought 25 restaurants in the Pasquale's Pizza & Pasta chain.
• Billy Braden bought Braden's Furniture from his father, Vernon Braden.
• Metalplate expanded into Houston, Texas.
• Jimmy's Hot Dogs and Burgers opened in Lakeview.
• The Florida Grille opened on Oxmoor Road.
• Krypton Broadcasting bought WCAJ and changed the call letters to WABM.
• Ty Nguyen opened the Texaco Super Deli in East Lake.
• September 22: Highland Booksmith was founded.

Media

• Origins of Dance, voice recording by Timothy Leary.

Sports

• Ramsay High School won the AHSAA volleyball championship.
• Gerry DiNardo replaced Watson Brown as head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores.
• Jeff Brantley made the National League All-Star team.
• January 23: Patty Moise set a record 217.498 mph run at the Talladega Superspeedway.
• April 1: Neil Bonnett suffered a life-threatening crash at Darlington, South Carolina.
• April 18: The World League of American Football selected Birmingham as a host city.
• April 19: Terry Francona made his last Major League appearance as a player.
• July 29: The Birmingham Barons Cesar Bernhardt tied a record with 3 triples in a game at Columbus, Georgia
• Wayne Grady won the 1990 PGA Championship at Shoal Creek amidst a firestorm of controversy over the club's all-white membership.
• August 16: Former UAB Blazers center Alan Off signed with the Miami Heat.
• November 17: Ashley Johnson won the men's title and Christine Pfitzinger of Massachusetts set a women's course record with her winning time of 32:33 in the Vulcan Run
• December: Alabama State University won the 1990 Magic City Classic at Legion Field, 24-20 over Alabama A&M.
• December: Gene Stallings won his first Iron Bowl game.
• December 21: Chan Gailey was announced as head coach of the Birmingham Fire.
• December 28: North Carolina State defeated Brett Favre's Southern Mississippi 31-27 in the last All-American Bowl at Legion Field

Works

• Mr Destiny starring Courteney Cox
• "Who Cleans Up After You've Reached Your Goal in the Athletic Effort", sculpture by Lonnie Holley
• "Concert Piece", orchestral composition by Ezra Sims
• Meet the Applegates starring Glenn Shadix
• The Long Walk Home starring Dorothy Love Coates
• Bird on a Wire, directed by John Badham
• Eating, starring Frances Bergen

Books

• Early Barefootz, collected comic strips by Howard Cruse.
• Tender, novel by Mark Childress
• History of the Shelby Iron Company 1862-1868 by Joyce Jackson (reprint of her 1948 master's thesis)
• MINE by Robert R. McCammon
• Hugo L. Black and the Dilemma of American Liberalism by Tony Allen Freyer
• srebmun by Mary Ann Sampson

Buildings

• Alabama Power Building
• Rast Hall, a residence hall at UAB
• Sun Valley Elementary School
• Elton B. Stephens Science Center at Birmingham-Southern College
• Office Building 1200 at Liberty Park
• The Federal Courthouse Building on 5th Avenue North was rededicated in memory of Robert Vance.
• The City of Birmingham purchased the Carver Theatre.
• The disc golf course at George Ward Park was completed.
• Construction began on a new John Carroll Catholic High School in Wildwood.
• Pepper Place was redeveloped by the Sloss Real Estate Company.

Music

• The 2nd annual City Stages music festival was held downtown with headliners Bo Diddley and the Commodores.
• Rock band Brother Cane was founded as Chyld.
• Rock band Every Alice on Earth was formed in Montevallo.
• Brand New Dance and Duets, albums by Emmylou Harris

People

• Ken Lass became sports anchor for WVTM.
• Ron Blankenship served 7 months for 3rd degree assault.
• Guitarist Eric Essix entered the Berklee School of Music.
• Stephen Rolfe Powell became an instructor at the Muhkina Glass Institute in Leningrad.
• Paul Cordes Wilm and his brother Peter entered the University of Montevallo.
• Hank Hartsfield became Deputy Manager for Operations in the Space Station Projects Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
• Jack Fields joined the staff of the BJCC.
• Karen Graffeo began teaching at the University of Montevallo.
• Ralph Langley served as interim pastor at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church following the retirement of James A. Newell.
• Samford University debate coach William Slagle was convicted of murdering a student, Rex Copeland.
• Joseph Raya retired.
• Louis Willie became the first black member of the Shoal Creek Golf Club.
• Bill West succeeded Jerry Haynes as Chief of the Homewood Police Department.

Awards

• Resha Riggins was crowned Miss Alabama.
• Hank Ballard was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
• Biologist E. O. Wilson won the Crafoord Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
• James Reese Europe, Joseph Giattina, William W. Handy, J. Earl Hensley, Nuncie LeBerte, William Lee, Irene Monroe, William Nappi, Jimmy Randolph, and Evelyn Wallace were inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.
• David Brower won the Gold Award for Cinematography from the Broadcast Promotion and Marketing Executives.
• Polly Holliday was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
• Sandra Storm was Birmingham Woman of the Year.
• Quilter Nora Ezell was given the Folk Heritage Award by the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

Graduations

• Congressman Artur Davis from Harvard University
• Entrepreneur John Cassimus from the University of Alabama
• Attorney Antonio Spurling from Ensley High School
• Police Chief Mike Coppage from UAB
• Quarterback Jay Barker from Hewitt-Trussville High School

Deaths

• March 6: Baseball player Joe Sewell
• May 10: Novelist Walker Percy* July 13: William Norrell Thomas was executed for the 1976 murder of Quenette Shehane.
• Art collector Eugenia Woodward Hitt

See also List of Jefferson County homicides in 1990

See also

• 1990 Birmingham Barons
• 1990 UAB Blazers
• 1990 Iron Bowl

Context

In 1990 Time Inc. and Warner Communications merged to form Time Warner. Washington D.C. mayor Marion Berry was arrested in a drug sting. The San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl XXIV. The first McDonald's in Russia opened. Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched. West Germany won the FIFA World Cup. The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed. Iraq invaded Kuwait and triggered the Gulf War. Mikhail Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Cincinnati Reds won the World Series. The first World Wide Web page was authored.

Notable films of 1990 included Best Picture Dances With Wolves and top grosser Home Alone. Other notable films included Ghost, Pretty Woman, Goodfellas and The Bonfire of the Vanities.

Actress Emma Watson and murder victim JonBenét Ramsey were born. Notable deaths included those of Ava Gardner, Keith Haring, Sarah Vaughan, Greta Garbo, Ralph Abernathy, Sammy Davis, Jr, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Leonard Bernstein, Roald Dahl, and Aaron Copland.

1990s

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