1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999

1990 to 1999: Decade of Affluence & Anxietyvarious newspaper articles include a 1990-1999: Timeline from the Fort Wayne History Stories about time periods in the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper.

1990

1990 - Amtrak ends passenger-train service to Fort Wayne. Copied from the 1990-1999: Timeline from the Fort Wayne History Stories about time periods in the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper.

1990, March - Plock, Poland becomes a sister city.

1990, April 8 - Ryan White, a hemophiliac, formerly of Kokomo, died at age 18 in Indianapolis. An AIDS patient, his courageous struggle for acceptance gained national attention. See over 5,000 Ryan White letters on Indiana Memory.

April 8, 2023 post by Indiana Historical Bureau on Facebook:

#OTD In 1990, 18-year-old Kokomo native Ryan White died of complications of AIDS at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. He passed away surrounded by his mother, grandparents, and singer Elton John. White acquired the disease through contaminated hemophilia treatments. He experienced discrimination due to his HIV-positive diagnosis and school administrators barred him from attending school in Howard County because they feared the spread of the disease through casual contact. Eventually the Whites moved to Cicero in Hamilton County and Ryan enrolled at Hamilton Heights High School. There, the principal and student body president welcomed him and encouraged accurate and informative discussions about HIV/AIDS. An obituary published by the New York Times noted that White "put the face of a child on AIDS and served as a leader for gaining greater understanding and compassion for those with the deadly disease." 1,500 people, including First Lady Barbara Bush, Michael Jackson, and Elton John, attended his funeral at Second Presbyterian in Indianapolis and a choir from Hamilton Heights sang "That’s What Friends Are For." Governor Evan Bayh ordered Statehouse flags to be flown at half-mast in his honor.Learn more at: https://www.nytimes.com/.../ryan-white-dies-of-aids-at-18...

The image below is courtesy of the PBS. 

Indiana Historical Bureau on Facebook has many posts about Ryan White.

1990, June - construction workers stumbled upon the Gronauer Lock from the Wabash and Erie Canal while working on the widening of US 24 just East of I-469. The News-Sentinel newspaperhad a four page pullout by Bob Caylor published February 19, 1991, or 1992, posted July 27, 2017 by Hofer and Davis, Inc. Land Surveyors on Facebook.

1990, June 11 - The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down law prohibiting desecration of American flag from Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989). Flag burning constitutes symbolic speech that is protected by the First Amendment from Facts and Case Summary - Texas v. Johnson on uscourts.gov. Read more at the National Flag Day Foundationand Guidelines for Display of the Flag from U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs from Pointers from the Flag Code, just in time for Flag Day by Intern Talia Berday-Sacks published June 10, 2014 onSmithsonian National Museum of American History blog.

1990, July 26 - President George Bush signs into law the Americans with Disabilities Act. ADA was the world's first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities. This Act inspired other nations to pass their own civil rights legislation. 

1990, October 3 - German Reunification - Chancellor Helmut Kohl - Reunification of Germany, 1990 at The National Archives.

1990, November 14 - George Bush, 41st President of the United States, 1989 ‐ 1993, issued Proclamation 6230—National American Indian Heritage Month, 1990 shown at The American Presidency Project. See National Native American Heritage Month on our Indians - Native Americans page.

November 3, 2022 post by the U.S. Census Bureau on Facebook:

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed a joint resolution designating November as National American Indian Heritage Month.

Also known as American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) Heritage Month, the commemoration offers Americans an opportunity to better understand the culture and history of the AIAN population. 

Check out our #CensusHistory page to learn more:

November 2021 U.S. Census Bureau History: American Indians and Alaska Natives

1991

1991 - A grim new record is set in Allen County: 29 people die in homicides this year. Fort Wayne Fury plays its first game. Copied from the 1990-1999: Timeline from the Fort Wayne History Stories about time periods in the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper.

1991 - Baer Field - Fort Wayne Municipal Airport renamed Fort Wayne International Airport

1991 - WWW world wide web opens to general public. The browser was released outside CERN in 1991, first to other research institutions starting in January 1991 and to the general public on the Internet in August 1991.

1991, January 1 - 3rd highest flood stage of 23.9 feet on the Maumee River from Fort Wayne Indiana Climate at the National Weather Service.

1991, April - last Friday of April is declared Arbor Day in Indiana. Originally, April 11, 1884 was declared the first Arbor Day in Indiana. Between 1884 and 1912, Arbor Day was observed on various dates at the discretion of the governor. The most common date was the last Friday of October. It is not known why a fall date was chosen over a spring day. On March 10, 1913, the Indiana legislature passed a bill setting the third Friday of April as Arbor Day. In 1929, an amendment was passed in the legislature changing the date to the second Friday in April. Due to frequent conflicts with school spring vacations and the fact that Arbor Day occasionally fell on Good Friday, the date was again changed in 1991 to the last Friday of April, corresponding to the official date of the National Arbor Day. Copied from Learn more about Indiana Arbor Day on the Indiana DNR - Indiana Department of Natural Resourcesweb site.

1992

1992, June 6 - Gera, Germany becomes a sister city.

1992,  October 3 - an Open House was held at a Wabash & Erie Canal excavation site 8 miles east of Fort Wayne adjacent to U.S. 24 during the building of I-469. See The Library of Congressphotos posted June 2, 2019 on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook.

1993

1993 - World Wide Web (www.) Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http:) is created, laying the foundation for point-and-click navigation through an Internet heavy with photos, graphics, sound and movies.

1993 - Thirty-seven die in Allen County homicides, a new record. Copied from the 1990-1999: Timeline from the Fort Wayne History Stories about time periods in the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper.

1993, April 10 - Fort Wayne Wizards play first professional baseball in Fort Wayne since the Fort Wayne Daisies.

1993, April 28 - at Ft. Wayne, Indiana, the first entry was made into the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. Due to these efforts, today everyone can access this information for free on the National Park Services Soldiers and Sailors Database website. Posted April 28, 2016 by the Federation of Genealogical Societies on Facebook. See our Civil War page.

1993, April 30 - CERN made the World Wide Web technology available on a royalty-free basis. Read more about the First URL active once more at Restoring the first website and First Website Restored for 20th Anniversary of Open Web at PC Mag.com.

1993, June 02 - The United States House of Representatives created its constituent e-mail system from History, Art & Archives United States Hours of Representatives.

1993, September 2 - historic St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Fort Wayne burns down.

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1994

1994 -

1. Forty-one die in Allen County homicides, setting another record.
2. 200th anniversary of Fort Wayne's founding.
3. Ground is broken for Headwaters Park, the flood-control idea everyone from environmentalists to local government supports.
4. Copied from the 1990-1999: Timeline from the Fort Wayne History Stories about time periods in the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper.

1994 - the AWS (Anthony Wayne Services) Fantasy of Lights of corporate sponsored lights started at Franke Park.

1994, January 19 - the Fort Wayne temperature dropped to -19° , while New Whiteland south of Indianapolis logged -36° said to be the coldest temperature in state history. Copied from The cold old days published February 2, 2019 in The Journal Gazette newspaper.

1994, October 16-24 - Fort Wayne Bicentennial 1794-1994. The Answer Book special insert published in October 1994 by Fort Wayne Newspapers. Celeberate Fort Wayne 1794-1994 16-page special insert published October 6, 1994 in The Journal Gazette newspaper. Life in Fort Wayne from 1794 to 2094 Our Family Album special 16-page insert with lots of photos of old newspaper clippings published October 23, 1994 in The Journal Gazette newspaper was shown in a few photos posted December 21, 2019 on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook. Michael Hawfield wrote nearly two dozen articles in the I Remember History online tour of Summit City history from the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper.

1995

1995 - A trio of new attractions opens in Fort Wayne: Science Central, a new Lincoln Museum and Headwaters Park. Copied from the 1990-1999: Timeline from the Fort Wayne History Stories about time periods in the archivesof The News-Sentinel newspaper.

1995, July 28 - The Korean War Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. - Korean War Veterans Memorial at NPS.gov.

1995, October 23 - Interstate I-469 bypass around Fort Wayne opened.

1996

1996, April 29 - the IHSAA (Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc.) voted to move to multi-class sports ending the single class basketball tourney.

1996, September 24 - the United States and the world's other major nuclear powers signed a treaty to end all testing and development of nuclear weapons.

1997

1997, October 30 - About 600,000 tires in a tire dump at 2323 Bowser Avenue started burning around 1 p.m., forcing hundreds to evacuate. Copied from the 1990-1999: Timeline from the Fort Wayne History Stories about time periods in the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper, Evacuations from tire fire at 1,000: fight may take days by Kimberly Puplito and Jennifer Dawn Gibson published September 1, 1997 and State seeks dump site in tire fire aftermath by Jennifer Dawn Gibson published September 3, 1997 in The Journal Gazette newspaper.

1998

1998 - Former Gov. Evan Bayh defeats Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke to become Indiana's junior senator. Steel Dynamics Inc. announces plans to build $350 million steel mill in Whitley County near Allen County border. Copied from the 1990-1999: Timeline from the Fort Wayne History Stories about time periods in the archivesof The News-Sentinel newspaper.

1998 - Irene Walters and Kathy Carrier worked on the effort that won Fort Wayne the title of All-America City

Fred the Mastodon uploaded Jan 25, 2013 by IndianaStateMuseum
Fred the Mastodon will be the centerpiece of a new exhibit, Indiana's Ice Age Giants: The Mystery of Mammoths and Mastodons, opening Nov. 2013. Mounting this 13,000-year-old skeleton with 85% real bone was a long process, captured in part in this time-lapsed video.

1998 - Dan Buesching was digging up peat in the pond for the family peat buisness and hauled up a mastodon tooth-filled skull, leg bones, part of a pelvis, two large leg bones and other parts. IPFW students soon joined in the excavation, and in the end it turned out Buesching’s find was one of the most complete mastodon skeletons ever found in this part of the country. Read about the mounted skeleton now on display as Fred the Mastodon at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis in the newspaper article Prehistoric find finally on display by Frank Gray January 25, 2013 formerly on The Journal Gazette newspaper now on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

1. They donated the fossil to the Indiana State Museum where they have it on display. You can also visit the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and at Science Central in Fort Wayne, Indiana to see the casting. Copied from Bueschings Peat Moss & Mulch About page. See Buesching Peat Moss.
2. In 2004, Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne University celebrated their 40th anniversary with Mastodons on Parade 102 artist painted mastodons scattered around the area.
3. Fred the Mastodon moves to permanent home at the Indiana State Museum published March 2, 2018 at INDIANA STATE MUSEUM & HISTORIC SITES IndianaMuseum.org.
4. Remains of a mastodon that perished millennia ago are being put back together at the University of Michigan. The skeleton of the 11,000-year-old female Owosso mastodon was taken apart this spring after standing inside the Ann Arbor school's natural history museum since 1947. Crews began reassembling her bones this week inside the new Biological Sciences Building next door to the museum. The ancient, elephant-like mammal eventually will stand beside a cast of the male Buesching mastodon that was found near Fort Wayne, Indiana. Both will be positioned in the five-story atrium of the U-M Museum of Natural History, which opens to the public in April. Copied from Mastodon skeleton reassembly gets underway at U. of Michigan by Mike Householder published August 12, 2018 by CBS WANE-TV NewsChannel 15.
5. The Intriguing Life, Death, and Afterlife of an Indiana Mastodon Scientists have pieced together a detailed biography—including a search for love and a violent end. Gemma Tarlach June 14, 2022 on AtlasObscura.com.
6. A Mystery That Took 13,200 Years to Crack Hidden in the tusk of a 34-year-old mastodon was a record of time and space that helped explain his violent death. by Peter Brannen published June 22, 2022 on The Atlantic.com.
7. The mastodon was made the Indiana state fossil in 2022 under House Bill 2013 at Indiana General Assembly IGA.IN.GOV.
8. February 21, 2022 Indiana lawmakers name mastodon as first state fossil on WFYI.com.
9. The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites secured Fred from the Buesching family in 2006 and spent more than a year having him mounted and prepared to be exhibited. His skeleton, which is about 9 feet tall and 25 feet long, has been on display since 2013. Copied from These Old Bones Will Tell Your Story, December 18, 2020, Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites. Over 500 comments to October 6, 2023 post Where Have All The Mastodons Gone? about 2005 Mastodons on Parade art pieces made by FW artists including a comment about Fred.

10. June 23, 2023 post by Science Central on Facebook:

    Did you know mud is a big reason why the remains of Fred the Buesching Mastodon survived for over 13,000 years?

    At Mud Day on Tuesday, June 27, learn about how mud kept Fred intact until he was discovered in 1998

    Mud Day is presented by Buesching's Peat Moss & Mulch.

11. June 27, 2023 post by Science Central on Facebook:

    Thank you to everyone who joined us for Mud Day!

    We loved seeing visitors learn more about mud, water, animals, fossils… and, of course, Fred the Buesching Mastodon!

    This year marks the 25th anniversary of Fred’s discovery and we’re honored to have a casting of his skeleton on permanent display.

    Special thanks go to:

    Buesching's Peat Moss & Mulch, the event’s presenting sponsor

    Allen County Partnership for Water Quality

    Giving Gardens of Indiana

    Indiana Department of Natural Resources

1998, April 9 - Retired General Colin Powell talks to kids on Thursday, April 9, at the Boys & Girls Club of Allen County. He became an Army general, but Powell wants children to understand that he was just a kid once, too. The back cover of his book shows him at 10, dressed in what he still remembers as "a hideous suit." Copied from THIS DAY IN HISTORY: April 9 in photos published April 9, 2018 by The News-Sentinel newspaper.

1998, December 19 - the House of Representatives approves two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, charging him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice. Clinton, the second president in American history to be impeached, vowed to finish his term. Read more about President Clinton Impreached on History.com.

1999

1999 - About 8 inches of snow fall in a storm that began early Jan. 2, thwarting traffic for days. It was the biggest snowfall of the decade. Fort Wayne passes restrictions on smoking in public places. Restaurants must ban smoking unless they have enclosed smoking areas. Copied from the 1990-1999: Timeline from the Fort Wayne History Stories about time periods in the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper.

1999, January 7 - President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial begins. Forty-second President, 1993-2001 on The National Museum of American History.

1999, October 1 - Fort Wayne Pistons owner Fred Zollner is inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

1999, October 15 - The Courthouse Green, a one acre plaza on the east side of the Allen County Courthouse was dedicated on October 15, 1999. It was created when the block of buildings along Court Street were torn down. See Courthouse Green at FortWayneParks.org.

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