1999 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s – 1990s – 2000s 2010s 2020s
Years:	1996 1997 1998 – 1999 – 2000 2001 2002

1999 was a year that started on a Friday in the Gregorian calendar. It was also the last year of the 1990s decade.

Key Events of 1999

January: New Beginnings and Disasters

January 1 – The Euro currency was officially created.
January 2 – A big snowstorm hit Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois, causing 68 deaths.
January 4 – Gunmen attacked a mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 16 people.
January 6 – Dennis Hastert became the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
January 10 – A large part of the famous chalk cliff at Beachy Head in England fell into the sea.
January 20 – China announced new rules for using the Internet, especially for Internet cafes.
January 25 – A strong 6.1 Richter scale earthquake hit western Colombia, killing at least 1,000 people.

February: Changes in Leadership and Nature's Fury

Countries that started using the Euro in 1999/2002

February 2 – Hugo Chávez became the President of Venezuela.
February 7 – King Hussein of Jordan passed away, and his son Abdullah II became the new king.
February 10 – Avalanches in the French Alps near Geneva killed at least 10 people.
February 11 – Pluto moved further away from the Sun than Neptune in its orbit. It had been closer since 1979.
February 23 – A huge avalanche destroyed the village of Galtür, Austria, killing 31 people.
February 27 – Colin Prescot and Andy Elson set a new record for staying in a hot air balloon for 233 hours and 55 minutes, trying to fly around the world.

March: New Alliances and Internet Attacks

Orbit of Pluto – a view from above.

March 1 – The Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines, which bans landmines, officially started.
March 4 – A U.S. Marine Corps pilot was found not guilty after his jet hit a cable car in the Italian Alps, killing 20 skiers.
March 12 – Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic joined NATO, a military alliance.
March 21 – Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones became the first people to fly around the Earth in a hot air balloon.
March 24 – NATO started air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia because they refused a peace treaty. This was the first time NATO attacked a country.
March 24 – A fire in the Mont Blanc Tunnel killed 39 people and closed the tunnel for almost 3 years.
March 26 – The Melissa worm computer virus attacked the Internet.
March 29 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a stock market index, closed above 10,000 points for the first time.

April: New Territories and Tragic Bombings

Map of Nunavut

April 1 – Nunavut, a new territory for the Inuit people, was created in Canada.
April 5 – Two men suspected of being involved in the Pan Am flight 103 bombing in 1988 were given to Scottish authorities for trial.
April 9 – Ibrahim Baré Maînassara, the president of Niger, was killed.
April 17 – A nail bomb exploded in a market in Brixton, South London.
April 26 – British TV presenter Jill Dando was shot and killed outside her home in London.
April 30 – Cambodia joined ASEAN, a group of Southeast Asian countries.
April 30 – A third nail bomb exploded in a pub in Soho, London, killing three people and injuring many. This was part of a hate campaign.

May: Tornadoes, Movies, and Milestones

May 1 – The cartoon show SpongeBob SquarePants first aired on Nickelodeon (TV Channel).
May 3 – The strongest tornado ever recorded (an F5) hit Moore, Oklahoma, killing 38 people.
May 3 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 11,000 points for the first time.
May 7 – During the Kosovo War, a NATO aircraft accidentally bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, killing 3 Chinese workers.
May 19 – Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released in movie theaters.
May 26 – Manchester United won the UEFA Champions League football tournament.
May 27 – Slobodan Milošević, the president of Yugoslavia, was charged with war crimes.
May 29 – Nigeria ended military rule and became a republic with Olusegun Obasanjo as president.

June: Music, Technology, and Peace Treaties

The first iBook Laptop.

June 1 – Napster, a new service for downloading music, was launched.
June 1 – American Airlines Flight 1420 crashed while landing in Little Rock, Arkansas, killing 11 people.
June 2 – The King of Bhutan allowed television broadcasts in the Kingdom for the first time.
June 9 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO signed a peace treaty to end the Kosovo War.
June 12 – NATO peacekeeping forces entered Kosovo.
June 14 – Thabo Mbeki was elected President of South Africa.
June 21 – Apple Computer released the first iBook, a new kind of Laptop.

July: Sports, Space, and Festivals

July 1 – The Scottish Parliament was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth, giving Scotland more power to govern itself.
July 7 – Hicham El Guerrouj ran the fastest mile ever recorded in Rome.
July 10 – USA soccer player Brandi Chastain scored the winning penalty kick against China in the FIFA Women's World Cup.
July 16 – A plane piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr. crashed off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, killing him, his wife, and her sister.
July 20 – The Falun Gong spiritual practice was banned in China.
July 22 – The first version of MSN Messenger was released by Microsoft.
July 23 – Mohammed VI became king of Morocco after his father passed away.
July 23–25 – The Woodstock 99 music festival was held in New York.
July 25 – Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France cycling race.
July 31 – NASA intentionally crashed the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into the Moon to look for water.

August: Earthquakes and Eclipses

August 7 – Hundreds of Chechen fighters invaded the Russian republic of Dagestan, starting a short war.
August 11 – A total solar eclipse was seen across Europe and Asia.
August 17 – A massive 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck İzmit in Turkey, killing over 17,000 people.
August 30 – East Timor voted to become independent from Indonesia.

September: More Earthquakes and Gaming

September 7 – A 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit Athens, Greece, killing 143 people.
September 9 – Sega released the Dreamcast video game console.
September 14 – Kiribati, Nauru, and Tonga joined the United Nations.
September 21 – A strong 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan, killing about 2,400 people.

October: World Population and Plane Crashes

October 1 – Pudong International Airport opened in Shanghai, China.
October 5 – Thirty-one people died in a train crash west of London, England.
October 12 – The World population reached 6 billion people. The 6 billionth person (according to the UN) was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
October 27 – Gunmen attacked the Armenian Parliament, killing the Prime Minister and 7 others.
October 31 – EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 people on board.

November: Disasters and New Leaders

November 6 – Australians voted against a plan to replace the Queen with a president, keeping Australia a monarchy.
November 12 – Another 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Duzce in Turkey, killing 845 people.
November 18 – The Aggie Bonfire collapsed in College Station, Texas, killing 12 people.
November 19 – Mikhail Gorbachev suggested creating an International Men's Day, which is now celebrated every year on this date.
November 27 – Helen Clark became the second female Prime Minister of New Zealand.
November 30 – The ExxonMobil Corporation merger was completed, creating the largest company in the world.

December: Historic Transfers and Resignations

December 3 – Tori Murden became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean alone in a rowboat.
December 3 – NASA lost contact with the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft as it entered the Martian atmosphere.
December 20 – The control of Macau was transferred from Portugal to China after 422 years.
December 31 – The United States handed over full control of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian Government.
December 31 – Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin became the acting President.

Notable People Who Passed Away in 1999

January

January 4 – Iron Eyes Cody, American actor.
January 11 – Fabrizio De André, Italian singer.
January 21 – Susan Strasberg, American actress.
January 25 – Robert Shaw, American conductor.

February

Hussein of Jordan

Glenn Seaborg

February 7 – King Hussein of Jordan.
February 8 – Iris Murdoch, Irish writer.
February 15 – Henry Way Kendall, American physicist and Nobel Prize winner.
February 20 – Gene Siskel, American movie critic.
February 25 – Glenn Seaborg, American chemist and Nobel Prize winner.

March

Stanley Kubrick

March 2 – Dusty Springfield, English singer.
March 3 – Gerhard Herzberg, German-born chemist and Nobel Prize winner.
March 4 – Harry Blackmun, American judge.
March 7 – Stanley Kubrick, American movie director.
March 8 – Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player.
March 12 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-born violinist.
March 21 – Ernie Wise, British comedian.

April

Arthur Leonard Schawlow

April 10 – Jean Vander Pyl, American television actress (voice of Wilma Flintstone).
April 12 – Boxcar Willie, American country music singer.
April 14 – Anthony Newley, English actor and singer.
April 20 – Rick Rude, American professional wrestler.
April 28 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist and Nobel Prize winner.
April 30 – Alf Ramsey, English football manager.

May

DeForest Kelley

May 2 – Oliver Reed, English actor.
May 8 – Dirk Bogarde, English actor.
May 10 – Shel Silverstein, American writer and poet.
May 23 – Owen Hart, Canadian professional wrestler.

June

June 5 – Mel Tormé, American singer.
June 11 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (played Dr. McCoy in Star Trek).
June 27 – Jorgos Papadopoulos, military ruler of Greece.

July

King Hassan II of Morocco

July 2 – Mario Puzo, American writer (wrote The Godfather).
July 8 – Charles Conrad, American astronaut.
July 16 – John F. Kennedy, Jr., American lawyer and son of President John F. Kennedy.
July 23 – King Hassan II of Morocco.
July 26 – Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and Nobel Prize winner.