1999 Timeline

• Hugo Chavez is elected president of Venezuela.

• Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a proponent of assisted suicide, is found guilty of second-degree

murder for his part in the death of a man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It was his first conviction after decades of facilitating the deaths of terminally ill patients.

• The Northwest Territory of Canada is split in order to provide an area of self-governance

for the country’s native Inuit people. It is named Nunavut.

• Two students murder 13 people and then commit suicide in what would become known

as the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado.

• Napster, a file-sharing application that allows millions of people to trade music and

movies digitally over the internet is first made available. The program would highlight the growing copyright concerns of the music industry and spark a revolution in music distribution.

• An incredible earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale does terrible damage to

Turkey, killing over 17,400 people and leaving close to 50,000 injured.

• A coup attempt in Pakistan sees General Pervez Musharraf assume power.

• NATO forces attack Yugoslavia in order to prevent further genocide being committed

against Albanians living in the country.

• The 6 billionth person populating the Earth is born.

• Nelson Mandela steps down as president of South Africa, ending his reign as the

country’s first black head of state.

• World panic about the Y2K bug, a perceived software glitch that will affect computer

systems when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, 1999 reaches the height of its intensity.

• Mambo No. 5 – Lou Bega
• No Scrubs – TLC
• The Bad Touch – Bloodhound Gang
• Bailamos – Enrique Iglesias
• American Woman – Lenny Kravitz
• Scar Tissue – Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Beautiful Stranger – Madonna
• What’s My Age Again – Blink 182
• That Don’t Impress Me Much – Shania Twain
• Waiting For Tonight – Jennifer Lopez
• Livin’ la Vida Loca – Ricky Martin
• Bills, Bills, Bills – Destiny’s Child
• Nookie – Limp Bizkit
• Unpretty – TLC
• What It’s Like – Everlast
• Smooth – Santana feat. Rob Thomas
• My Own Worst Enemy – Lit
• Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) – Offspring
• Larger Than Life – Backstreet Boys
• Kiss Me – Sixpence None The Richer
• Cowboy – Kid Rock
• Genie In A Bottle – Christina Aguilera
• Wild Wild West – Will Smith
• (You Drive Me) Crazy – Britney Spears
• You Get What You Give – New Radicals
• Freak On A Leash – Korn
• Every Morning – Sugar Ray

The Sopranos
Gangster drama that would capture the attention of millions of fans across the world.

Family Guy
In the spirit of The Simpsons crossed with All In The Family, this animated sitcom focused on the zany antics of Peter Griffin and his wife, children and dog.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Hosted by Regis Philbin, this game show asked contestants a series of questions escalating in difficulty and of course, payoff, with the top of the pyramid holding a 1 million dollar prize.

Futurama
From the same creative team that brought the Simpsons to life, Futurama follows the adventures of a hapless young man accidentally frozen in the 1990’s and then revived thousands of years into the future.

SpongeBob SquarePants
Bizarre cartoon about a sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea that would cross age lines to find incredible popularity.

Tenacious D
Comedian Jack Black gets his own television program that allows him to explore his absurd musical stylings.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Continuing the police and courtroom drama of the original Law & Order, the spin-off series examines cases involving sexually based crimes.

The West Wing
Intense drama set in the American White House that adopts a high degree of realism and an unflinching eye towards the personal and political life of the president and his staff.

American Beauty
Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Benning and Thora Birch
Oscar-winning film about a man’s mid-life crisis and the disintegration of his family in suburban America.

Toy Story 2
Starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Annie Potts and John Ratzenberger
Straight-up sequel to the enormously popular Pixar hit about what toys do when their owners are in the other room.

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Starring Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Seth Green, Verne Troyer, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Mindy Sterling and Rob Lowe
The continuing adventures of 60’s British secret agent Austin Powers in a film that did much better at the box office than the original upon which it is based.

The Sixth Sense
Starring Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment and Toni Collette
The chilling suspense and horror flick that gave the world the eternal catchphrase ‘I see dead people.’

The World Is Not Enough
Starring Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau and Denise Richards
James Bond finished out the decade with a bang in this action spectacular that saw the debonair hero tackle yet another international conspiracy.

Notting Hill
Starring Julia Roberts, Emma Chambers and Hugh Grant
An unlikely romance between an everyday guy and a beautiful movie star provides comic fodder in this charming British film.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Starring Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor
The long-awaited prequel to the original Star Wars films that would top the year’s box office receipts with close to 1 billion dollars.

The Matrix
Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving and Joe Pantoliano
Startlingly fresh action film that would tie together strong science-fiction elements with revolutionary special effects that changed the genre forever.

Tarzan
Starring Minnie Driver, Tony Goldwyn and Rosie O’Donnell
Disney’s final animated film of the 90’s takes liberties with the traditional Tarzan story but still delivers fun and adventure to the audience.

The Mummy
Starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo and Oded Fehr
One of the growing number of effects-oriented blockbusters that had come to define the latter part of the decade when it came to box office success, The Mummy is a romp through Egypt involving the pursuit of a dreadful monster of historical origin.

Being John Malkovich
Starring John Malkovich, John Cusack and Cameron Diaz
Left-field fantasy comedy about a puppeteer who discovers a portal into actor John Malkovich’s brain.

The Boondock Saints
Starring Sean Patrick Flannery, Billy Connolly and Norman Reedus
Two brothers living in Boston become vigilantes and fight the mob in this film that would emerge from the decade as one of the most underrated of its day.

The Blair Witch Project
Starring Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams
A pop culture phenomenon that initially convinced many viewers that it was in fact a documentary, the movie follows three film students into the woods as they try to piece together the mystery of the dreaded Blair Witch.

Cruel Intentions
Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Philippe and Reese Witherspoon
Classic French drama infused with a sexy modern Hollywood aesthetic that attracted considerable attention from young audiences.

Boys Don’t Cry
Starring Hilary Swank, Chloe Sevigny and Peter Sarsgaard
True story of a woman who tried to live as a man only to be discovered and murdered by her Nebraskan circle of friends. Swank would win an Oscar for Best Actress.

The Iron Giant
Starring Vin Diesel, Jennifer Aniston and Christopher McDonald
Animated tale of a giant robot and the boy who loves him that would reveal a sensitive side rarely seen in science fiction.

Office Space
Starring Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, Stephen Root and Gary Cole
This ultimate encapsulation of dead end employment would inspire legions of office workers to endlessly quote the film amongst themselves while simultaneously forcing them to take a sobering look at their own personal situations.

Three Kings
Starring George Clooney, Ice Cube and Mark Wahlberg
One of the first films to examine the Gulf War from a soldier’s perspective.

David Cone throws a perfect game for the Yankees

Serena Williams wins her first
women’s US Open