Historical Events in 1999

Events 1 - 200 of 295

• Jan 1 International Year of Elderly
• Jan 1 The Euro currency is introduced.
• Jan 2 A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 19 inches (487 mm) in Chicago, where temperatures plunge to -13°F (-25°C); 68 deaths are reported.

• Jan 3 Israel detains, and later expels, 14 members of Concerned Christians.
• Jan 3 NASA's Mars Polar Lander launched, mission later fails after communication lost trying to land on Mars (Dec 3 1999)
• Jan 4 Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as Governor of Minnesota
• Jan 4 Gunmen open fire on Shiite Muslims worshipping in an Islamabad mosque, killing 16 people and injuring 25.
• Jan 6 An agreement is reached by the NBA and the players union to end a 204-day lockout which shortened the season by 50 games
• Jan 7 NBA Board of Governors unanimously ratifies a new 6-year collective bargaining agreement between the league and the National Basketball Players Association

• Jan 14 Mel Lastman, Mayor of Toronto, calls in the Army to help with snow removal and emergency medical evacuations after major snowstorm hits the city
• Jan 15 The Racak incident: 45 Albanians in the Kosovo village of Racak are killed by Yugoslav security forces
• Jan 20 The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet cafés.
• Jan 21 In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the US Coast Guard intercepts a ship carrying 4,300 kg of cocaine
• Jan 22 Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons are burned alive by radical Hindus while sleeping in their car in Eastern India

• Jan 25 After an inquiry into a corruption scandal, 6 International Olympic Committee members are expelled
• Jan 25 Earthquake hits Colombia, South America, killing around 300 and injuring 1000

• Feb 3 In Jammu and Kashmir the political party Democratic Janata Dal (Jammu and Kashmir) is revived.
• Feb 4 MV New Carissa runs aground near Coos Bay, Oregon
• Feb 4 Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot dead by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race-relations in the city.
• Feb 7 Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.
• Feb 11 Pluto moves further away from the sun than Neptune regaining its status as solar system's outermost planet, a title it will retain for 228 years

• Feb 12 Scientists warn about harmful impacts on health of genetically modified (GM) food

• Feb 15 PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) leader Abdullah Öcalan is arrested in Kenya

• Feb 16 Kurdish rebels take over Greek and Kenyan embassies across Europe and hold hostages after the two countries helped Turkey arrest one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Öcalan [1]

• Feb 20 Toronto Maple Leafs play their first NHL home game at Air Canada Centre; Steve Thomas scores overtime winner in a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens

• Feb 23 An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31
• Feb 23 British TV drama "Queer as Folk" written by Russell T. Davies, starring Aidan Gillen, Craig Kelly and Charlie Hunnam premieres on Channel 4

• Feb 23 Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey

• Feb 24 A China Southern Airlines Tupolev TU-154 airliner crashes on approach to Wenzhou airport in eastern the People's Republic of China, killing 61.
• Feb 24 The State of Arizona executes Karl LaGrand, a German national involved in an armed robbery, in spite of Germany's legal action to attempt to save him.

• Feb 27 Aston Villa are the last Premier League team to play a match with an all-English starting XI in a 4-1 defeat by Coventry
• Feb 27 Korea International School is founded by Soon-Il Chung
• Feb 27 Olusegun Obasanjo becomes Nigeria's first elected president since mid-1983
• Mar 1 Daryll Cullinan scores South African cricket record 275no in the drawn 1st Test against New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland; Gary Kirsten 128
• Mar 3 "Fortunate" single by soul singer Maxwell released (Billboard Music Award Best R&B Single of the Year, 1999)
• Mar 5 Paul Okalik is elected first Premier of Nunavut

• Mar 11 Infosys becomes the first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
• Mar 12 Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.

• Mar 20 Legoland, California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California

• Mar 21 Swiss aviator Bertrand Piccard and British aviator Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
• Mar 22 "Amazed" single released by Lonestar (Billboard Song of the Year 1999)

• Mar 23 Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña

• Mar 24 Kosovo War: NATO commences air bombardment against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
• Mar 24 Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire: 39 people die when a Belgian transport truck carrying flour and margarine caught fire in the Mont Blanc Tunnel.

• Mar 26 The "Melissa worm" infects Microsoft word processing and e-mail systems around the world.

• Mar 29 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 10,006.78 - above the 10,000 mark for the first time ever
• Mar 30 Craig Kilborn becomes the host of "The Late Late Show" on CBS; hosts the program through 2004

• Apr 1 Detroit Pistons guard Joe Dumars becomes 10th player in NBA history to play 1,000 games with the same team and one of 8 to play 1,000 games with his only team; scores 18 points in 107-75 rout of Chicago Bulls
• Apr 1 Nunavut is established as a Canadian territory carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories.
• Apr 1 Philadelphia 76ers head coach Larry Brown wins his 900th pro game with an 88-84 win over Miami Heat; Brown record: 671-547 NBA, 229-107 ABA, combined 900-654

• Apr 7 The World Trade Organization rules in favor of the United States in its long-running trade dispute with the European Union over bananas
• Apr 8 Haryana Gana Parishad, a political party in the Indian state of Haryana, merges with the Indian National Congress.
• Apr 9 Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, President of Niger, is assassinated at the airport in Niamey, Niger
• Apr 12 US President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving "intentionally false statements" in a sexual harassment civil lawsuit.
• Apr 14 A severe hailstorm strikes Sydney, Australia causing A$1.7 billion in insured damages, the most costly natural disaster in Australian history
• Apr 14 NATO mistakenly bombs a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees - Yugoslav officials say 75 people are killed

• Apr 17 NFL Draft: University of Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch first pick by Cleveland Browns
• Apr 17 Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall, NYC; performers include: Sting, Elton John, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, Don Henley, Ricky Martin and Charles Aznavour
• Apr 18 Wayne Gretzky plays his last game in the NHL, as his New York Rangers lose 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins
• Apr 19 German Reichstag reopens with new glass dome by architect Norman Foster
• Apr 19 The German Bundestag returns to Berlin.
• Apr 19 The Space Needle, built in 1961, is declared a local historic landmark by city council of Seattle, Washington
• Apr 20 Columbine High School massacre: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 13 people and injure 24 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School, Colorado
• Apr 22 Luis Garavito [The Beast, Tribilín], Colombian serial killer described as "the world's worst serial killer" (138-300+ victims) apprehended
• Apr 26 BBC presenter Jill Dando shot and killed outside her London home - launches Metropolitan Police's largest murder enquiry, crime remains unsolved [1]
• Apr 27 Nevada State Museum discovers the oldest mummy in North America - on the shelves of their own museum, after the Spirit Cave Mummy radiocarbon dates to over 9,400 years old [1]
• Apr 29 Avala TV Tower near Belgrade is destroyed in NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
• Apr 30 Cambodia joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bringing the total members to 10

• May 2 John Elway announces his retirement from the NFL
• May 2 Panamanian election, 1999: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama
• May 3 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is slammed by an F5 tornado killing forty-two people, injuring 665, and causing $1 billion in damage. The tornado was one of 66 from the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak.
• May 3 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time in its history at 11,014.70.
• May 3 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Stephen Hendry of Scotland defeats Welshman Mark Williams, 18-11 for a record 7th world crown

• May 7 Guinea-Bissau President João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira is ousted in a military coup
• May 7 Jury finds "The Jenny Jones Show" and Warner Bros. liable in death of Scott Amedure, after purposely deceiving Jonathan Schmitz to appear on a same-sex crush episode. Schmitz later kills Amedure, jury awards Amedure's family $25 million
• May 7 Kosovo War: In Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade

• May 8 Nancy Mace becomes the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel military college (South Carolina)
• May 12 Sir David Steel becomes the first Presiding Officer (speaker) of the modern Scottish Parliament.
• May 13 Carlo Azeglio Ciampi is elected 10th President of Italy
• May 15 Columbus Crew Stadium (now Historic Crew Stadium), the 1st Major League Soccer stadium constructed in the United States
• May 18 "Millennium" 3rd studio album by the Backstreet Boys is released - one of the best-selling albums of all time, over 30 million copies sold

• May 19 Andrew Motion is appointed British Poet Laureate for 10 years, the first to request a definite term

• May 23 52nd Cannes Film Festival: "Rosetta" directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne wins the Palme d'Or
• May 24 Venezuela enters the Antarctic Treaty System.
• May 25 The United States House of Representatives releases the Cox Report detailing People's Republic of China's nuclear espionage against the U.S. over prior two decades

• May 28 Two Swedish police officers are murdered with their own fire arms by the bank robbers Jackie Arklöv and Tony Olsson after a dramatic car chase
• May 29 Olusegun Obasanjo takes office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule
• May 29 Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station.
• May 30 Super Rugby Final, Carisbrook, Dunedin: Canterbury Crusaders retain title with a 24-19 win over Otago Highlanders; flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens kicks 3 penalties, a conversion & dropped goal for the winners

• Jun 2 The Bhutan Broadcasting Service brings television transmissions to the Kingdom for the first time
• Jun 6 53rd Tony Awards: "Fosse" (musical) and "Side Man" (play) win
• Jun 6 Largest jailbreak in Brazilian history at the Putim maximum security prison in Brazil, 345 prisoners run from the main gate. In the ensuing manhunt, two fugitives are killed and five innocent bystanders are accidentally jailed.
• Jun 6 Sydney Swans Australian Rules Football forward Tony Lockett breaks Gordon Coventry's VFL/AFL career goals record with 1,300th major early in 145-94 win v Collingwood at the SCG
• Jun 9 Kosovo War: the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and North Atlantic Treaty Organization sign a peace treaty.
• Jun 10 Kosovo War: NATO suspends its air strikes after Slobodan Milošević agrees to withdraw Serbian forces from Kosovo.
• Jun 12 Kosovo War: Operation Joint Guardian begins - a NATO-led United Nations peacekeeping force KFor enters the province of Kosovo in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

• Jun 22 Former Mpumalanga premier, Ndaweni Mahlangu causes a storm within political circles with his now infamous statement, "It is acceptable for politicians to lie", South Africa

• Jun 25 In his first state of the nation address, South African President Thabo Mbeki promises to tackle rampaging crime; the nation's murder rate is the third highest in the world and more than 49,000 cases of rape were reported in 1998
• Jun 26 NHL Draft: Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL) center Patrik Stefan first pick by Atlanta Thrashers
• Jun 27 ATB go to No.1 on the UK singles chart with "9pm, Till I Come"
• Jun 27 The Chemical Brothers go #1 on the UK album chart with 'Surrender', their second #1 album

• Jun 30 NBA Draft: Duke power forward Elton Brand first pick by Chicago Bulls
• Jul 1 The Scottish Parliament is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth on the day powers are transferred from the old Scottish Office in London to the new devolved Scottish Executive in Edinburgh

• Jul 6 U.S. Army private Barry Winchell dies from baseball-bat injuries inflicted in his sleep the previous day by fellow soldiers for his relationship with transgendered showgirl and former Navy combat medic, Calpernia Addams

• Jul 8 Allen Lee Davis is executed by electrocution by the state of Florida, the last use of the electric chair for capital punishment in Florida

• Jul 9 Days of student protests begin after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory at the University of Tehran
• Jul 10 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA: US beats China, 5-4 on penalties; 0-0 a.e.t; US second World Cup

• Jul 15 Scientists uncover possible reason for SS Waratah's disappearance 100 years later; The SS Waratah was a luxury steamer which did not reach its destination in 1909, and no trace of the wreckage was ever found
• Jul 15 The inaugural game at the Seattle Mariners' Safeco Field held in Seattle, Washington

• Jul 20 Falun Gong is banned in the People's Republic of China, and a large scale crackdown of the practice is launched
• Jul 23 ANA Flight 61 is hijacked in Tokyo, Japan.
• Jul 23 Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan is crowned King Mohammed VI of Morocco on the death of his father

• Jul 26 Fighting ceases between India and Pakistan in the Kargil War, Kashmir, after two months of fighting
• Jul 31 Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector - NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface

• Aug 3 Thierry Henry transfers from Juventus to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million
• Aug 5 St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire becomes only the 16th MLB player to reach the 500 home run milestone as the Cardinals lose 10-2 v San Diego at Busch Stadium

• Aug 9 Charles Kennedy wins the race to succeed Paddy Ashdown as the leader of the Liberal Democrats, UK

• Aug 9 The Diet of Japan enacts a law establishing the Hinomaru as the official national flag, and "Kimi Ga Yo" as national anthem.
• Aug 11 American rock group "KISS" receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• Aug 11 The Salt Lake City Tornado tears through the downtown district of the city, killing one.
• Aug 11 Total solar eclipse in India-North -France (2m23s)

• Aug 14 New Zealand win their 3rd Tri Nations Rugby Series as South Africa edges Australia, 10-9 in Cape Town; All Blacks' only defeat comes in final round dead rubber, 28-7 against Wallabies in Sydney
• Aug 15 Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria; some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.
• Aug 17 A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes İzmit, Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000.
• Aug 19 In Belgrade tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Slobodan Milošević as president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
• Aug 26 Michael Johnson breaks the 400 metres world record with a time of 43.18 seconds.
• Aug 28 Philip Glass' Symphony No. 5 "Requiem, Bardo, Nirmanakaya", for chorus and orchestra, premieres at the Salzburg Festival led by Dennis Russell Davies, in Salzburg, Austria
• Aug 30 East Timorese vote for independence in a referendum.

• Aug 31 A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashes during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 65, including 2 on the ground.

• Aug 31 The first of a series of apartment bombings in Moscow, killing one person and wounding 40 others.

• Sep 3 Mario Lemieux's ownership group officially takes over the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins; Lemieux is first player in the modern era of sports to buy the team he once played for
• Sep 4 MLB's Cincinnati Reds set a National League record with 9 home runs as they rout the Philadelphia Phillies, 22-3

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