20 years is a long period of time, but by the same token it can absolutely fly by, and then you realise that your youth is gone and your good looks...well you never had good looks so that's not  a loss. 

With that in mind, and sparked by the first in our list of events that took place a full 20 years ago and make us feel old, we've decided to cast our minds back to a time and a place where the world was a simpler place with loads of really iconic stuff happening. The year is 1994, the place...well all over the shop really.

O.J. took a White Bronco on a highway chase

On this day in 1994, O.J. Simpson took the police and the entire population of America on a car chase across the 405 freeway in Los Angeles, after he was wanted in relation to the double homicide of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman in her Brentwood home. With a gun pointed at his head as his friend Al Cowlings drove the vehicle, millions tuned in to see what would happen. It was a shock move from a man who was known for his exploits on the sports field and the Naked Gun movies, but the trial afterwards made not only him a household name, but also brought incredible fame to his team of lawyers: Johnnie Cochran, Bobby Shapiro, and a certain Robert Kardashian. His kids went on to do something or other on the TV...

OJ got off, with his lawyers using the famous "if the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit" defence, and then went on to write a book years later entitled If I Did It. Yeah, not the best idea ever.

 

Ray Houghton scored that goal against Italy

Along with Robbie Keane's goal against Germany in 2002, this may well be our most treasured World Cup memory, given that  we haven't got too many to look back on anyway. However, this particular moment, on the 18th of June, was particularly sweet: it was revenge for the goal in Italia '90, and it was a cracker of a goal too in the United States in front of a Giants Stadium that was packed with both Italians and Irish in equal measure, given the relationship that both nations have with that city. Not only that, but Paul McGrath went on to perform heroics to make this a game that would really live long in the memory. 'Houghton with the shot...and it's there!'

The Lion King was released

On June 15th 1994, one of the most iconic Disney movies ever made was released, with a soundtrack that drove parents mad all around the world for years afterwards with kids singing 'Hakuna Matata' incessantly until they hit their early thirties themselves.

Since its release, there have been plenty of sequels, even a hugely successful stage adaptation, as well as a few theories about what the real meaning of the movie might be, from being inspired by Shakespeare's Hamlet to being an allegory for restoring the monarchy and ensuring the lower classes don't get too uppity. Talk about ruining your childhood...

Kurt Cobain passed away

The big news in music in 1994 was the loss of Kurt Cobain, who was found dead at his home in Seattle in April. If you are old enough to remember it, then it's a real 'where were you when' moment; the exact feeling that that you had when you learned of the news is pretty hard to forget. Perhaps the most iconic moment was when MTV News presenter Kurt Loder delivered the news, interrupting regular programming to make the announcement, and the anchor became forever associated with his coverage of the incident.

Weezer's blue album 

While there were plenty of album releases in 1994, including Green Day's Dookie and Blur's Parklife (which we're sure we'll be pilloried for not listing as the main album here), Weezer's self-titled album, which later became known as 'The Blue Album', was released and showed the band at their bizarre and catchiest best with some songs that we never tire of hearing to this day. 'Buddy Holly' was the big hit, but 'Undone - The Sweater Song' is a towering juggernaut of nerd rock that has yet to be surpassed, in our humble opinion.

Friends debuted on our screens

Apart from Echo Island, there was one other big TV debut in 1994, as a little show that went by the name of Friends hit screens in America. On September 22nd, the world was first introduced to Phoebe, Monica, Chandler, Joey, Ross and Rachel, and teenage boys around the world discovered Jennifer Aniston for the first time, a name that they would never forget again.

Pic via CollegeSocial.com

Soon there would be coffee houses all around the globe where we could waste time and sit on couches to chat with our friends about life when we really should have been in work earning money, but in 1994 the idea of having somewhere like that was fairly exotic and real cosmopolitan, like. Back then, if you said to someone 'we were on a break' or 'how you doin?', they wouldn't have a clue what you were on about.

Could we be feeling any older right now?