Events 1999 in the United States

1 events

1.1 january
1.2 february
1.3 march
1.4 april
1.5 may
1.6 june
1.7 july
1.8 august
1.9 september
1.10 october
1.11 november
1.12 december
1.13 ongoing

events
january

january 2 – snowstorm leaves 14 inches (36 cm) of snow in milwaukee, wisconsin , 21 inches (53 cm) in chicago, illinois, killing 68.
january 6 – dennis hastert becomes speaker of united states house of representatives.
january 7 – senate trial in impeachment of u.s. president bill clinton begins. had been impeached house of representatives on december 19.
january 21 – in 1 of largest drug busts in american history, united states coast guard intercepts ship on 9,500 pounds (4,300 kg) of cocaine aboard, headed houston, texas.

february

february 12: president clinton acquitted senate



february 4

unarmed west african immigrant amadou diallo shot dead 4 plainclothes new york city police officers on unrelated stake-out, inflaming race-relations in city.
the new carissa runs aground near coos bay, oregon.


february 12 – impeachment of bill clinton: president bill clinton acquitted senate.
february 15 – rapper big l shot death.
february 19 – president bill clinton issues posthumous pardon u.s. army lt. henry ossian flipper.
february 23 – white supremacist john william king found guilty of kidnapping , murdering african american james byrd jr. dragging him behind truck 2 miles (3 km).
february 24 – lagrand case: state of arizona executes karl lagrand, german national involved in armed robbery led death. karl s brother walter executed week later, in spite of germany s legal action in international court of justice attempt save him.

march

march 2 – brand new mandalay bay hotel , casino opens on las vegas strip.
march 3 – walter lagrand executed in gas chamber in arizona.
march 4 – in military court, united states marine corps captain richard j. ashby acquitted of charge of reckless flying resulted in deaths of 20 skiers in italian alps, when low-flying jet hit gondola cable.
march 8 – supreme court of united states upholds murder convictions of timothy mcveigh oklahoma city bombing.
march 11 – infosys becomes first indian company listed on nasdaq stock exchange.
march 17 – roth ira introduced u.s. senator william v. roth, jr.
march 20 – legoland california, legoland outside of europe, opens in carlsbad, california.
march 21 – 71st academy awards held @ dorothy chandler pavilion in los angeles, california shakespeare in love winning best picture.
march 25 – enron energy traders allegedly route 2,900 megawatts of electricity destined california town of silver peak, nevada, population 200.
march 26 – michigan jury finds dr. jack kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder administering lethal injection terminally ill man.
march 27 – kosovo war: u.s. f-117 nighthawk shot down serbian forces.
march 29 – first time, dow jones industrial average closes above 10,000 mark, @ 10,006.78.

april


april 1: atc traffic korean air lines flight 36 , air china flight 9018 collide @ o hare international airport in chicago.



april 1 – air china flight 9018, boeing 747, taxies onto active runway @ o hare international airport during takeoff of korean air flight 36, boeing 747, resulting in crash. flight 36 averted collision taking off , missing air china aircraft 75 feet. there 8 people on air china cargo plane , 379 on korean air flight.
april 5 – in laramie, wyoming, russell henderson pleads guilty kidnapping , felony murder, in order avoid possible death penalty conviction hate crime killing of matthew shepard.
april 7 – world trade organisation rules in favor of united states in long-running trade dispute european union on bananas.
april 8 – bill gates personal fortune exceeds us$100 billion, due increased value of microsoft stock.
april 12 – u.s. president bill clinton cited contempt of court giving intentionally false statements in sexual harassment civil lawsuit.
april 20 – columbine high school massacre: 2 littleton, colorado teenagers, eric harris , dylan klebold, open fire on teachers , classmates, killing 12 students , 1 teacher, , themselves. deadliest shooting @ high school in u.s. history. shooting sparks debate on school bullying, gun control , violence in media.

may

may 3 – 6: 1999 oklahoma tornado outbreak



may 1

the animated children s tv series spongebob squarepants debuts on cable network nickelodeon.


may 3

norman j. sirnic , karen sirnic murdered serial killer angel maturino resendiz in weimar, texas.
the dow jones industrial average closes above 11,000 first time, @ 11,014.70.


may 3–6 – 1999 oklahoma tornado outbreak spawns 140 tornadoes, including f5 in moore, oklahoma kills 38 people highest wind speeds ever recorded.
may 5 – microsoft releases windows 98 (second edition) (from 1998).
may 8 – nancy mace becomes first female cadet graduate military college of south carolina.
may 19 – star wars: episode – phantom menace released in theaters. becomes highest grossing star wars film.
may 25 – united states house of representatives releases cox report details people s republic of china s nuclear espionage against u.s. on prior 2 decades.
may 29 – space shuttle discovery completes first docking international space station.
may 31 – sean elliott of san antonio spurs hits memorial day miracle against portland trail blazers in 1999 nba playoffs.

june

june 1 – american airlines flight 1420 overruns runway in little rock, arkansas killing 11 people.
june 8 – government of colombia announces include estimated value of country s illegal drug crops, exceeding half billion dollars, in gross national product.
june 12 – texas governor george w. bush announces seek republican party nomination president of united states.
june 19 – horror author stephen king hit in car accident on route 5 in north lovell, maine bryan smith.
june 23 – phillips explosion of 1999 kills 2 , injures 3 in pasadena, texas.

july

july 2

benjamin nathaniel smith begins 3-day killing spree targeting racial , ethnic minorities in illinois , indiana.
lawrence summers sworn in new secretary of treasury, succeeding robert rubin.


july 5 – july 6 – u.s. army pfc. barry winchell bludgeoned in sleep @ fort campbell, kentucky fellow soldiers; dies next day injuries.
july 8 – major flash flood in las vegas swamps hundreds of cars, smashes mobile homes , kills 2 people.
july 10 – u.s. soccer player brandi chastain scores game winning penalty kick against china in fifa women s world cup.
july 16 – off coast of martha s vineyard, plane piloted john f. kennedy, jr. crashes, killing him , wife carolyn bessette kennedy , sister lauren bessette.
july 20 – mercury program: liberty bell 7 raised atlantic ocean.
july 22 – first version of msn messenger released microsoft.
july 23–25 – woodstock 99 festival held in new york
july 25 – lance armstrong wins first tour de france.
july 26 – last checker taxi cab retired in new york city , auctioned off approximately $135,000.
july 31

mark o. barton kills family. went on murder spree @ trading firm worked at, killing total of 12 people in atlanta, georgia. later committed suicide @ gas station when cornered police.
nasa intentionally crashes lunar prospector spacecraft moon, ending mission detect frozen water on lunar surface.



august

august 10 – buford o. furrow, jr. wounds 5 , kills 1 during los angeles jewish community center shooting.

september

september 7 – viacom , cbs merge.
september 15 – larry gene ashbrook murders 7 people , commits suicide @ wedgwood baptist church in fort worth, texas.
september 23 – nasa announces has lost contact mars climate orbiter.
september 27 – detroit tigers host kansas city royals in final game @ tiger stadium

october

october 9 – last flight of sr-71.
october 13 – united states senate rejects ratification of comprehensive test ban treaty (ctbt).
october 16 – 7.1 mw hector mine earthquake shook mojave desert region of southern california maximum mercalli intensity of vii (very strong), causing 4–5 injuries , limited damage.
october 27 – new york yankees sweep atlanta braves win 25th world championship.
october 31 – egyptair flight 990, travelling new york city cairo, crashes off coast of nantucket, massachusetts, killing 217 on board. ntsb later reports co-pilot, gameel al-batouti, deliberately crashed plane, egyptian authorities dispute claim.

november

november 18: aggie bonfire collapse



november 30: wto protests in seattle



november 2 – byran uyesugi kills 7 people @ xerox building in honolulu, hawaii.
november 18 – aggie bonfire collapses in college station, texas, killing 12.
november 30 – in seattle, washington, protests against wto meeting anti-globalization protesters catch police unprepared , force cancellation of opening ceremonies.

december

december – unemployment rate drops 4%, lowest level since january 1970.
december 3 – nasa loses radio contact mars polar lander, moments before spacecraft enters martian atmosphere.
december 7 – recording industry association of america files lawsuit against napster file-sharing client alleging copyright infringement.
december 18 – nasa launches orbit terra platform, carrying 5 earth observation instruments, including aster, ceres, misr, modis , mopitt.
december 31 – u.s. turns on complete administration of panama canal panamanian government, stipulated in torrijos–carter treaties of 1977.

ongoing

iraqi no-fly zones (1991–2003)
dot-com bubble (c. 1995–c. 2000)
lewinsky scandal (1998–1999)