Events Date 1999 December | History by KabAstro

Jay-Z Stabbing

Dec 1 Rapper Jay-Z stabs record executive Lance "Un" Rivera at a night club in New York

Dec 2 The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive
Dec 3 NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander moments before the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere
Dec 3 Ottawa Senators' right wing Kevin Dineen becomes 5th player in NHL history to score 300 career goals and record 2,000 penalty minutes; picks up a misconduct penalty in 7-4 loss to NJ Devils
Dec 3 Worcester cold storage and warehouse fire in Worcester, Massachusetts claims lives of 6 firefighters
Dec 4 8th SEC Championship Game: #7 Alabama beats #5 Florida, 34-7
Dec 5 88th Davis Cup: Australia beats France in Nice (3-2)
Dec 7 The RIAA files a lawsuit against the Napster file-sharing client, on charges of copyright infringement.
Dec 8 10th Billboard Music Awards: Brittney Spears, Backstreet Boys, and Creed win
Dec 13 65th Heisman Trophy Award: Ron Dayne, Wisconsin (RB)
Dec 14 Flash floods in Venezuela after torrential rainfall results in the deaths of thousands of people and causes a total collapse in the state's infrastructure

Bruin Players Post Records

Dec 17 Ray Bourque becomes just the 3rd player in NHL history to score 1,100 assists, and goaltender Byron Dafoe records his 100th NHL victory in Boston Bruin's 3-1 win over the Thrashers in Atlanta

Dec 17 The United Nations General Assembly passes resolution 54/134 designating November 25 as the annual International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women
Dec 18 NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.
Dec 20 Portugal returns Macau to China

Ballon d'Or

Dec 21 Ballon d'Or: FC Barcelona's Brazilian midfielder Rivaldo is named best football player in Europe ahead of Manchester United midfielder David Beckham and Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko

Dec 21 The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid.
Dec 22 The Spanish Civil Guard finds near Calatayud (Zaragoza) another van loaded by ETA with 750 kg of explosives (see related event on December 21, 1999).

John Paul II Opens Holy Door

Dec 24 Opening of St Peter's Holy Door by Pope John Paul II in approach of 3rd millennium

Dec 25 Pope John Paul II personally opens the Holy Doors of St. John Lateran in Rome to mark the Jubilee
Dec 26 Severe weather in France kills over 100 people and causes extensive damage to property, trees and the French national power grid (see Lothar).