Historical Events in 1999

Events 1 - 200 of 371

• Jan 1 65th Sugar Bowl: #3 Ohio State beats #8 Texas A&M, 24-14
• Jan 1 85th Rose Bowl: #9 Wisconsin beats #6 UCLA, 38-31
• Jan 1 International Year of Elderly

• Jan 1 The Euro currency is introduced.
• Jan 2 65th Orange Bowl: #7 Florida beats #18 Syracuse, 31-10
• 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 College Football, 1st BCS National Championship, Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, AZ: #1 Tennessee beats #2 Florida State, 23-16, at 28th Fiesta Bowl
• 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 9 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Mark Philippoussis clinches Australia's unassailable 2-0 lead, (ends 2-1), with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Sweden's Jonas Björkman; Australia's first title

• 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 17 NFC Championship, Metrodome, Minneapolis: Atlanta Falcons beat Minnesota Vikings, 30-27 (OT)
• 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
• Jan 25 Supernatural horror film "The Blair Witch Project" premieres at the Sundance Film festival

• Jan 31 15th Sundance Film Festival: "Three Seasons" wins Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
• Jan 31 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Yevgeny Kafelnikov becomes first Russian, male or female, to win an Australian title; beats Thomas Enqvist of Sweden 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-6

• Jan 31 Super Bowl XXXIII, Pro Player Stadium, Miami, FL: Denver Broncos beat Atlanta Falcons, 34-19; MVP: John Elway, Denver, QB
• 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 7 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: AFC beats NFC, 23-10; Keyshawn Johnson, NY Jets, QB; Ty Law, New England Patriots, CB
• Feb 10 49th Berlin International Film Festival: "The Thin Red Line" wins the Golden Bear
• 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 14 30th NAACP Image Awards: "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" wins Outstanding Motion Picture

• Feb 15 Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party, widely recognized as terrorist organization), was arrested in Kenya.
• Feb 15 Wayne Gretzky records 5 assists in NY Rangers' 7-4 win over the Predators; takes a 1,000 point lead over Gordie Howe in all time NHL scoring lead; Gretzky's only appearance in Nashville
• Feb 16 Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrested one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Öcalan.

• 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 26 15th Soap Opera Digest Awards - General Hospital wins
• 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 6 20th Big East Men's Basketball Tournament: Connecticut beats St. John's, 82-63
• Mar 7 40th SEC Men's Basketball Tournament: Kentucky beats Arkansas, 76-63
• Mar 7 46th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: #1 Duke beats #15 North Carolina, 96-73

• 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 19th Golden Raspberry Awards: An Alan Smithee Film "Burn Hollywood Burn" wins
• 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 25 13th Soul Train Music Awards: Luther Vandross, R. Kelly & Lauryn Hill win

• Mar 26 The "Melissa worm" infects Microsoft word processing and e-mail systems around the world.
• Mar 26 Tom Snyder's final appearance as host of "The Late Late Show" on CBS, after 777 episodes
• Mar 28 18th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Purdue beats Duke, 62-45; Boilermakers' Ukari Figgs is named Most Outstanding Player

• Mar 28 PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: David Duval wins by 2 strokes from Scott Gump; Duval's father Bob wins Senior Tour's Emerald Coast Classic on the same day

• Mar 29 61st NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Connecticut beats Duke, 77-74; Huskies' first title in first title game
• Mar 29 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 10006.78 - 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 10 152nd Grand National: Irish 10/1 shot Bobbyjo, ridden by jockey Paul Carberry wins by 10 lengths from Blue Charm

• Apr 11 Neil Jenkins converts a Scott Gibbs try to give Wales a famous, 32-31 win over England at Wembley Stadium; allows Scotland to win final Five Nations Rugby Championship; reverts to 6 teams in 2000
• 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 Senior PGA Championship, PGA National GC: Allen Doyle wins first of 4 Senior PGA major titles with a 2 stroke margin over runner-up Vicente Fernández of Argentina
• 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 103rd Boston Marathon: Joseph Chebet of Kenya takes men's title in 2:09:52; 3-peat for Fatuma Roba of Ethiopia in women's race in 2:23:25
• Apr 19 German Reichstag reopens with new glass dome by architect Norman Foster
• Apr 19 The German Bundestag returns to Berlin.
• 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 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 1 125th Kentucky Derby: Chris Antley wins aboard Charismatic for his second Derby victory (1991 on Strike The Gold)

• 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 9 45th British Academy Television Awards: "Father Ted" Best Comedy, "The Cops" Best Drama
• 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 124th Preakness: Chris Antley wins aboard Charismatic for the second leg of an unsuccessful Triple Crown campaign
• 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 19 Lazio of Italy win 39th European Cup Winner's Cup against Mallorca of Spain 2-1 in Birmingham

• 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 26 7th UEFA Champions League Final: Manchester United beats Bayern Munich 2-1 at Barcelona

• 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 44th Eurovision Song Contest: Charlotte Nilsson for Sweden wins singing "Take Me to Your Heaven" in Jerusalem
• 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 Indianapolis 500: Kenny Bräck of Sweden wins after race leader Robby Gordon runs out of fuel with just over one lap to go
• 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
• May 31 NHL Eastern Conference Final: Buffalo Sabres beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 games to 1

• Jun 2 The Bhutan Broadcasting Service brings television transmissions to the Kingdom for the first time
• Jun 4 NHL Western Conference Final: Dallas Stars beat Colorado Avalanche, 4 games to 3
• Jun 5 131st Belmont: Jose Santos aboard Lemon Drop Kid wins in 2:27.88

• 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 LPGA Championship Women's Golf, DuPont CC: Juli Inkster shoots final round 65 to win by 4 strokes ahead of runner-up Liselotte Neumann; completes career grand slam

• Jun 27 The Chemical Brothers go #1 on the UK album chart with 'Surrender', their second #1 album
• Jun 27 WLAF World Bowl 7, Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf: Frankfurt Galaxy beats Barcelona Dragons, 38-24

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