It's been said the '90s are the '60s turned on their head.
There may be some truth to that, but so far the decade's major trends have been hard to pin down.
One of the first things we did in 1993 was welcome a new president to the White House, and as Bill Clinton was fond of saying, we got "two for the price of one."
Hillary Rodham Clinton was the embodiment of the feminist ideal, intelligent, driven, and comfortable enough to relax in her role as America's best-known working woman.
The culture of beauty seemed schizophrenic this year.
Supermodels became "waif-like." While Fabio epitomized beefcake. Cindy Crawford's personality unfolded from the pages of fashion magazines into popular exercise videos and MTV.
Men wore their hair longer and sideburns made a mild comeback, but the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies might have taken the trend a little too far with their greasy tresses and scraggly beards.
Americans were making more money -- the average household salary was $30,000.
But the huge disparity between rich and poor endured.
Interest rates were the lowest in 25 years, making big-ticket buys more affordable.
The average house went for $115,000.
Cars in 1993 were rounder, safer, and more reliable.
The Ford Taurus was the best-selling car in the United States.
Manufacturers bet a more environmentally-concerned consumer would buy "clear" products, that looked more like mountain springwater than beer, cola, or cleaning liquid.
A gallon of milk went for about two bucks -- unleaded gas cost half that.
Stamps were 29 cents, and by the way, this is the year the King of Rock 'N Roll got his.
Music was all over the charts in 1993.
Frank Sinatra invited contemporary artists like U-2's Bono to join him in CD duets.
Seattle "grunge" sensations Pearl Jam and Nirvana put out sophomore efforts, and earned critical raves.
And a newcomer with a rap sheet longer than his comical canine name brought the term "gangsta rap" into mainstram consciousness.
On television, ABC's gritty, critically acclaimed police drama "NYPD Blue" introduced partial nudity and foul language to network television.
At CBS News, Dan Rather was joined on the anchor set by Connie Chung.
NBC's "Seinfeld," a self-described show about "nothing," was "the" hip sit-com.
While "Cheers" called it quits after 11 seasons.
And in a much-anticipated and heavily litigated move, David Letterman jumped networks, finally getting his cherished Johnny Carson time-slot.
Many of the books we read reflected our culture's homage to broadcast stars.
Jerry Seinfeld had a best seller.
So did ideological bookend radio and TV talkshow hosts Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh.
While she didn't sell as many books, American author Toni Morrison won this year's Nobel Prize for Literature, the first black woman to do so.
Romance was back in bloom in 1993.
The novel "Bridges of Madison County" sold over four million copies.
And Hollywood films "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Age of Innocence" were big hits.
Speaking of romance, some newly released surveys discovered we talked about sex a lot more than we actually had it.
Turns out the average American man and woman had sexual intercourse about once a week.
Except, evidently, during the massive snowstorm that hit the eastern United States in March of '93.
Nine months later, as the year was closing, hospitals in the east reported twice the number of new births as usual.
This was just one year in an age of transformation.
The ways of delivering information and entertainment are growing, as evidenced by this new medium.
