1995 Tranniversary: Reid, Ed
In 1995, the state Mississippi becomes the last state to approve the abolition of slavery as it ratifies the 13th amendment. The thirteenth amendment was nationally ratified in 1865, but was not initially accepted by all states at the time. The drug, Saquinavir, was approved by the FDA and improved the treatment for persons living with HIV and AIDS. In Abel v. United States of America, district judge Eugene Nickerson ruled that the provision of the 1993 law barring LGBT military personnel from saying they are LGBT infringed on their First and Fifth Amendment rights. U.S. President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 12968 which banned discrimination based on sexual orientation as it established uniform policies for allowing government employees access to classified information. San Francisco outlawed discrimination based on gender identity.
“Toy Story” was Pixar’s first feature film that was almost an entirely-CGI movie. Other notable movies of that year included Billy Madison, Friday, Batman Forever, Pocahontas, Apollo 13 and Clueless. The best picture oscar went to the movie “Braveheart”. Nicolas Cage won best actor for his role in "Leaving Las Vegas". Best actress was awarded to Susan Sarandon for her starring role in "Dead Man Walking". “Xena Warrior Princess” starring Lucy Lawless debuted and soon reached cult TV status. The top song of the year and top male vocalist was Seal and his song, "Kiss from a Rose". Alanis Morisette won best album for “Jagged Little Pill”. The top female vocalist of the year was Annie Lennox and “No More ‘I Love Yous’”. Other notable tunes of 1995 included “Gangsta’s Paradise,” “Waterfalls,” and “Creep”. The Grateful Dead played their last concert together with Jerry Garcia who died of a heart attack that year.
Major political events of the year included the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh and an accomplice, Terry Nichols, parked a pickup truck full of explosives in front of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma. McVeigh detonated the device, killing 168 people and wounding 680 others. Following an ultimatum from the Unabomber, The Washington Post and The New York Times publish his manifesto, following advice and support from the FBI.In the case dubbed the “trial of the century”, O. J. Simpson was found not guilty of murdering his former wife Nicole Simpson and her boyfriend, Ronald Goldman.
Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov set the record for the longest amount of time in space, completing 366 days.Bosnian Serb troops killed over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men. This genocide was the worst mass killing on European soil since WW2. Seamus Heaney was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature "for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past"
In sports, the San Francisco 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers to win the Super Bowl. The Atlanta Braves beat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series.