The document provides a historical timeline of iconic Amul advertisements from 1976 to 2023 that commented on or referenced significant political, social, cultural, and technological events and developments in India and around the world over the past nearly 50 years. The timeline is organized by decades and includes over 100 brief entries describing the events depicted in Amul ads through that period.

1. Iconic Amul
ads: A brief
history of India
(and the world)
1976 to 2023
All Images Courtesy Amul

2. 1970s

3. 1976: Amul pokes fun at the sterilisation
drives conducted during the national
Emergency

4. 1976: Helmets are made compulsory
in Bombay

5. 1978: Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay becomes the first physician in
India (and second in the world) to perform in-vitro fertilization
resulting in a test tube baby “Durga”

6. 1979: Lata Mangeshkar is awarded an honorary
doctorate for her contribution to music

7. 1980s

8. 1980: Americans boycott Moscow Olympics
during cold war period

9. 1981: Hollywood classic Kramer vs Kramer, starring Dustin
Hoffman & Meryl Streep, sweeps the Academy Awards, winning
9 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor

10. 1982: Ayatollah Khomeini, the supreme leader
of Iran following the Iranian revolution, during
the height of the Iran-Iraq War

11. 1982: On the 50th anniversary of Tata
Airlines' first flight, JRD Tata takes to the
skies as Superman

12. 1983: USSR's Soyuz T-9 launch vehicle, intended to visit
the Salyut 7 space station, is destroyed on the launch pad.
Cosmonauts aboard Salyut 7 are 'stranded' in space, with
no ability to return

13. 1983: India wins Cricket World Cup for the first time

14. 1987: Signing of the historic Perestroika reforms in the USSR
signals an end to the Cold War

15. 1986: VP Singh is one of the most prominent Congress dissidents.
He'd later become India's 7th PM in a brief and tumultuous
premiership that lasted less than a year

16. 1989: Football sensation Diego Maradona is at
the peak of his powers, winning the UEFA cup
with his team, Napoli

17. 1989: BJP comes into national prominence as elections give
rise to coalition politics for the first time with no majority

18. 1990s

19. 1990: The gulf war begins between Saddam Hussein's
Iraq and a US-led coalition in response to Iraq's
invasion of Kuwait

20. 1991: Russians are queueing up for bread as the
Soviet Union collapses. Boris Yeltsin becomes
President of Russia

21. 1991: India liberalises ushering in decades of
economic progress

22. 1992: Civil riots break out in Bombay after the
demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya

23. 1992: Recommendations of Mandal Commission on
reservations are implemented after the Supreme Court
upholds the government order and states caste is an
"acceptable indicator of backwardness"

24. 1993: Maruti Udyog in collaboration with
Japan's Suzuki, introduces the iconic Zen
hatchback on Indian roads

25. 1994: Foreign liquor brands start pouring into
India post liberalisation

26. 1997: India's political landscape is rapidly changing as three
governments fall in quick succession, including the 16-day tenure of
Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996

27. 1997: Extensive coverage of the election candidates on
TV in the years begins following the entry of cable TV in
India

28. 1998: India conducts the second Pokhran nuclear
test, 24 years after the first one and declares itself
a Nuclear Power

29. 1998: Bill Clinton lies in his testimony about his
relationship with Monica Lewinsky, leading to his
impeachment

30. 1999: The Military led by Gen Pervez Musharraf
stages a coup in Pakistan as Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif is placed under house arrest

31. 2000s

32. 2000: The Dot-Com Bubble bursts

33. Popular TV quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati
launches, a clone of the iconic British series 'Who
Wants to be a Millionaire?'

34. 2001: An appeal against terrorism In the post 9/11
world

35. 2002: Hit song Las Ketchup tops the charts

36. 2003: Three women Chief Ministerial candidates are
victorious: Sheila Dikshit - Delhi, Vasudhara Raje Scindia
- Rajasthan and Uma Bharati - Madhya Pradesh

37. 2004: Bollywood 'Swades', starring Shah Rukh Khan,
releases to critical acclaim & becomes a cult classic

38. 2005: India enacts RTI in a landmark decision that
brings accountability and transparency to the
forefront of the Indian democracy

39. 2007: Narendra Modi leads the BJP to victory in the
Gujarat Assembly Election to become Chief
Minister of the State for his second straight tenure

40. 2008: India successfully launches Chandrayaan,
the country's first lunar probe

41. The Taj reopens its Tower Wing, just three weeks after the
devastating Mumbai terror attack

42. 2008: Iraqi journalist attacks US President George
Bush with a shoe during a press meet in Baghdad

43. 2009: Barack Obama is elected as the first black
president of the United States.

44. 2009: Avatar releases and goes on to become the
highest grossing movie of all-time

45. 2010s

46. 2010: India hosts the Commonwealth Games

47. 2010: Radia tapes are leaked revealing the 2G
spectrum scam

48. 2011: India wins the Cricket World Cup for the
second time

49. 2012: Activist Anna Hazare launches an anti-
corruption rally

50. 2012: Nationwide protests erupt on women's safety after
the Nirbhaya tragedy

51. 2012: Tribute to Molly Kurien, the silent lady of
India's milk revolution

52. 2013: Arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York
sparks diplomatic spat between India and U.S.

53. 2013: Lokpal bill is introduced in Rajya Sabha after
a nationwide protest against corruption, led by
Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal

54. 2014: Mangalyaan or MOM is put into Mars orbit,
making India the fourth country in the world with
an inter-planetary mission

55. 2014: Narendra Modi wins the Indian General
Elections with a historic mandate

56. 2015: The Miss Universe crown is accidentally
given to the wrong contestant

57. 2016: Donald Trump wins the U.S. Presidential
Elections

58. 2016: India demonetises in an unprecedented move,
withdrawing all ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes from circulation

59. 2017: Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor gains national recognition
for tweeting big words like 'Rodomontade'! Fun Fact: the
iconic Amul girl is modelled on Tharoor's sisters

60. 2019: Prices of onions rise exorbitantly

61. 2019: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) imposes a 4
year ban on Russia from top sporting events for tampering
with doping tests

62. 2020s

63. 2020: Movie icon Rajnikanth turns 70

64. 2021: Leena Nair is appointed as new global CEO of French
luxury fashion house Chanel

65. 2022: Elon Musk buys Twitter

66. 2022: Argentina wins World Cup

67. 2023: Gold hits all time high

68. 2023: RRR's Naatu Naatu wins Oscar