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1999

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the song, see 1999 (song)

For the tv series, see Space: 1999

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

1999 by topic:
Arts
Architecture - Art - Film - Literature Music (Country, UK) - Television - Home video
Science and technology
Archaeology - Aviation - Birding/Ornithology Meteorology - Rail transport - Radio - Science
By country
Australia - Canada - France - Germany - India Ireland - Malaysia - Mexico - New Zealand - Pakistan Singapore - South Africa - UK - Wales - Zimbabwe
Other topics
Awards - Sport - Law - State leaders - Religious leaders - Video gaming
Birth and death categories
Births - Deaths
Establishments and disestablishments categories
Establishments - Disestablishments
Works category
Works

**1999 in other calendars**
Gregorian calendar	1999 MCMXCIX
Ab urbe condita	2752
Armenian calendar	1448 ԹՎ ՌՆԽԸ
Chinese calendar	4695 – 4696 戊寅 – 己卯
Ethiopian calendar	1991 – 1992
Hebrew calendar	5759 – 5760
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2054 – 2055
- Shaka Samvat	1921 – 1922
- Kali Yuga	5100 – 5101
Iranian calendar	1377 – 1378
Islamic calendar	1420 – 1421
Japanese calendar	Heisei 11

1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. 1999 was the year of Cancer, the Crab in traditional astrology. In the Chinese Calendar it is the Year of the Hare.

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Events

Kosovo War
Y2K preparation was a major event in 1999 both in actual events and in media over-reporting.
The human population of the world surpassed six billion. The United Nations Population Fund designated October 12 as the approximate date for this event.

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January

Euro banknotes

January 1 - The Euro currency is introduced.
January 1 - An avalanche destroys a school gymnasium during New Year celebrations in Kangiqsualujjuaq in far northern Quebec, killing 9.
January 2 - A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern USA, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow at Milwaukee, Wisconsin and 19 inches (487 mm) at Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, temperatures plunge to -13°F (-25°C), and 68 deaths are reported.
January 4 - Gunmen open fire on Shiite Muslims worshipping in a mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 16 people and injuring 25.
January 5 - Apple Computer releases the Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White).
January 12 - The remains of Christina Marie Williams are found 3 miles (5 km) from her home on the old Fort Ord military base.
January 12 Britney Spears' debut album is released.
January 13 - After 13 years of playing NBA basketball, NBA superstar Michael Jordan announces his second retirement from basketball.
January 20 - The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet cafes.
January 21 - War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 9,500 pounds (4.3 t) of cocaine aboard, headed for Houston, Texas.
January 25 - A 6.0 Richter scale earthquake hits western Colombia, killing at least 1,000.
January 31 - The Denver Broncos win their second consecutive Super Bowl, defeating the Atlanta Falcons, 34-19, in Super Bowl XXXIII...

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February

Orbit of Pluto - polar view.

February 4 - Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot dead by 4 plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race-relations in the city.
February 5 - Mike Tyson is sentenced to a year's imprisonment, fined $5,000, and ordered to serve 2 years probation and perform 200 hours of community service for the August 31, 1998 assault on two people after a car accident.
February 7 - King Hussein of Jordan dies from cancer, and his son Abdullah II inherits the throne.
February 10 - Avalanches in the French Alps near Geneva kill at least 10.
February 11 - Pluto, a dwarf planet with an eccentric orbit, moves further from the Sun than Neptune. It had been nearer than Neptune since 1979, and will become again in 2231.
February 12 - President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.
February 12 - John Myatt and John Drewe are sentenced for art forgery for 1 and 6 years, respectively.
February 15 - Rapper Big L (Lamont Coleman), is shot and killed with 7 bullets to the head and chest, just blocks from his home in Harlem.
February 16 - In Uzbekistan, a bomb explodes and gunfire is heard at the government headquarters, in an apparent assassination attempt against President Islam Karimov.
February 16 - Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrests one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Öcalan.
February 16 - In Jasper, Texas, testimony begins in the trial of John William King who is accused of dragging African American James Byrd Jr. to death in an apparent hate crime. King is later convicted and sentenced to the death penalty.
February 21 - The Albertinkatu shootings in Helsinki, Finland: Three men are killed and 1 wounded at a shooting range.
February 22 - Moderate Iraqi Shiite cleric Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr is assassinated.
February 23 - Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.
February 23 - White supremacist John William King is found guilty of kidnapping and killing African American James Byrd Jr by dragging him behind a truck for two miles (3 km).
February 23 - An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31.
February 24 - LaGrand Case: The State of Arizona executes Karl LaGrand, a German national involved in an armed robbery that led to a death. Karl's brother Walter is executed a week later, in spite of Germany's legal action in the International Court of Justice to attempt to save him.
February 27 - While trying to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon, Colin Prescot and Andy Elson set a new endurance record after being in a hot air balloon for 233 hours and 55 minutes.
February 27 - Olusegun Obasanjo becomes Nigeria's first elected president since mid-1983.

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March

March 1 - One of four bombs detonated in Lusaka, Zambia, destroys the Angolan Embassy.
March 1 - Rwandan Hutu rebels kill and hack to pieces 8 foreign tourists at the Buhoma homestead, Uganda.
March 1 - The Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines comes into force.
March 3 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones begin their attempt to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon without stopping.
March 3 - Karl LaGrand is executed in the gas chamber.
March 4 - Monica Lewinsky's book detailing her affair with Bill Clinton goes on sale in the United States.
March 4 - In a military court, Captain Richard Ashby of the United States Marines is acquitted of the charge of reckless flying which resulted in the deaths of 20 skiers in the Italian Alps, when his low-flying jet hit a gondola cable.
March 12 - Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic join NATO.
March 15 - The The European Commission under the presidency of Jacques Santer resigns over allegations of corruption.
March 16 - The game EverQuest is released.
March 17 - The Roth 401(k) is introduced by U.S. Senator William Roth, Jr.
March 20 - Serbs launch an offensive in Kosovo.
March 21 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
March 22 - U.S. pro-euthanasia doctor Jack Kevorkian goes on trial for murder in Pontiac, Michigan. He is later convicted of second-degree murder.
March 23 - Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña.
March 24 - NATO launches air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which refused to sign a peace treaty. This marks the first time NATO attacked a sovereign country.
March 24 - Fire in the Mont Blanc Tunnel kills 39 nine people, closing the tunnel for nearly 3 years.
March 25 - Enron energy traders allegedly route 2,900 megawatts of electricity destined for California to the town of Silver Peak, Nevada, population 200.
March 26 - The Melissa worm attacks the Internet.
March 26 - A Michigan jury finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man (the incident was videotaped and aired on the September 17, 1998 edition of 60 Minutes).
March 29 - For the first time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark, at 10,006.78.
March 29 - UConn defeats Duke, despite overwhelming predictions to the contrary, for the NCAA championship in men's basketball.
March 31 - The Matrix, first episode of the Matrix trilogy movies, is released in theaters.

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April

Map of the Nunavut

April 1 - Nunavut, an Inuit homeland, part of the Northwest Territories, becomes Canada's third territory.
April 5 - Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 are handed over to Scottish authorities for eventual trial in the Netherlands. The United Nations suspends sanctions against Libya.
April 5 - In Laramie, Wyoming, Russell Henderson pleads guilty to kidnapping and felony murder, in order to avoid a possible death penalty conviction for the apparent hate crime killing of Matthew Shepard.
April 7 - Kosovo War: Kosovo's main border crossings are closed by Serbian forces to prevent ethnic Albanians from leaving.
April 7 - A bomb explodes at the Valley of the Fallen Church in Spain - GRAPO claims responsibility.
April 9 - Ibrahim Baré Maînassara, president of Niger, is assassinated.
April 17 - A nail bomb explodes in the middle of a busy market in Brixton, South London.
April 18 - "The Great One" Wayne Gretzky plays his final game in the NHL.
April 19 - MySpace.com is officially introduced to the Internet, though MySpace-beta has been around since 1998.

Harris and Klebold caught on the high school's security cameras during the Columbine High School massacre

April 20 - Columbine High School massacre: Two Littleton, Colorado teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, open fire on their teachers and classmates. The teenagers kill 12 students and 1 teacher, and then themselves. See
April 25 - The term of Tuanku Jaafar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman as the 10th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia ends.
April 26 - Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Al-Haj, Sultan of Selangor, becomes the 11th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
April 28 - The first issue of one of the most popular webcomics, Sexy Losers, which later reaches one million users a month, is published.
April 30 - Cambodia joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), bringing the total members to 10.
April 30 - A third nail bomb (see April 17) explodes in the Admiral Duncan pub in Old Compton Street, Soho, London, killing a pregnant woman and 2 friends and injuring 70 others, including her husband. This is part of a hate campaign against ethnic minorities and gay people by David Copeland.

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May

May 1 - Spongebob Squarepants first airs on Nickelodeon.
May 2 - Norman J. Sirnic and Karen Sirnic are murdered by Angel Maturino Resendiz in a parsonage in Weimar, Texas (his fourth and fifth victims in his fourth incident).
May 3 - Photo driver licences and banknotes made out of polymer substrate are introduced to New Zealand.
May 3 - A F5 tornado slams into Moore, Oklahoma, killing 38 people - the second strongest tornado ever recorded in United States history. (See Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak). A possible tornado outbreak with similar force will take place sometime in the next 250-500 years.
May 3 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time, at 11,014.70.
May 5 - Microsoft releases Windows 98 Second Edition.
May 6 - Elections are held in Scotland and Wales for the new Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales.
May 7 - A jury finds The Jenny Jones Show and Warner Bros liable in the shooting death of Scott Amedure, after the show purposely deceived Jonathan Schmitz to appear on a secret same-sex crush episode.
May 7 - Kosovo War: In the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, 3 Chinese embassy workers are killed and 20 wounded, when a NATO aircraft mistakenly bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
May 7 - In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup.
May 8 - Goalkeeper Jimmy Glass saves Carlisle United from certain death when he scores a last minuite goal against Plymouth Argyle and relegates Scarborough instead.
May 8 - Nancy Mace becomes the first female cadet to graduate from The Military College of South Carolina.
May 12 - David Steel becomes the first Presiding Officer (Speaker) of the modern Scottish Parliament.
May 13 - Carlo Azeglio Ciampi is elected President of Italy.
May 17 - Ehud Barak is elected prime minister of Israel.
May 18 - The Backstreet Boys release their album, Millennium.
May 19 - Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is released in theaters.
May 20 - Bluetooth is announced.
May 23 - In Kansas City, Missouri, wrestler Owen Hart (Blue Blazer) falls 90 feet (30 m) to his death while being lowered into a World Wrestling Federation ring during WWF Over the Edge.
May 26 - The Indian Air Force launches an attack on intruding Pakistan Army troops and mujahadeen militants in Kashmir.
May 26 - Manchester United wins the UEFA Champions League at the Nou Camp stadium, Barcelona, beating Bayern Munich to lift their third unprecedented major trophy, after winning the English Premier League and FA Cup.
May 26 - The Madejczyk Massacre Bridgman, Michigan school shooting plot is averted.
May 26 - The first Welsh Assembly in over 600 years opens in Cardiff.
May 27 - The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands indicts Slobodan Milošević and 4 others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.
May 28 - In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo de Vinci's newly-restored masterpiece "The Last Supper" is put back on display.
May 31 - Nigeria gets a democratic president in Olusegun Obasanjo.

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June

the original iBook

June 1 - The initial release of Napster arguably changes the face of the music industry forever.
June 1 - 'solid - the socialist youth is formed in Hannover, Germany.
June 2 - After decades of fighting off outside technological influences like television, the King of Bhutan allows television transmissions to commence in the Kingdom for the first time, coinciding with the King's Silver Jubilee (see Bhutan Broadcasting Service).
June 5 - The AIS, the armed wing of the FIS, agrees in principle to disband in Algeria.
June 6 - In Brazil, 345 prisoners escape from Putim prison through the front gate.
June 8 - The government of Colombia announces it will include the estimated value of the country's illegal drug crops, exceeding half a billion US dollars, in its gross national product.
June 9 - Kosovo War: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO sign a peace treaty.
June 10 - Kosovo War: NATO suspends its air strikes after Slobodan Milošević agrees to withdraw Serbian forces from Kosovo.
June 12 - Kosovo War: Operation Joint Guardian begins - NATO-led United Nations peacekeeping forces KFOR enter the province of Kosovo in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
June 12 - Texas Governor George W. Bush announces he will seek the Republican Party's nomination for President of the United States.
June 15 - George Morber Senior and Carolyn Frederick are murdered by Angel Maturino Resendiz in Gorham, Illinois (his 8th and 9th victims, in his 7th and final incident).
June 15 - The White Stripes release their self-titled debut album.
June 18 - The J18 international anti-globalization protests are organized in dozens of cities around the world, some of which lead to riots.
June 19 - The Dallas Stars defeat the Buffalo Sabres in triple overtime of game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals to win their first Stanley Cup. Brett Hull scores the controversial cup-winning goal to seal the victory.
June 19 - Stephen King is hit in a car accident on Route 5 in North Lovell, Maine by Bryan Smith.
June 21 - Apple Computer releases the first iBook.
June 22 - Limp Bizkit releases Significant Other, which debuts at #1 and sells 634,000 copies in its first week. The first single "Nookie" is biggest rock song of the year.

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July

NASA's Lunar Prospector

July 2 - Benjamin Nathaniel Smith begins a 3-day killing spree targeting racial and ethnic minorities in Illinois and Indiana, USA.
July 5 - US Army Pfc. Barry Winchell is bludgeoned in his sleep at Fort Campbell, Kentucky by fellow soldiers. He dies on July 6 as a result of his injuries.
July 7 - In Rome, Hicham El Guerrouj runs the fastest mile ever recorded - a mere 3:43:13.
July 11 - India recaptures Kargil, forcing the Pakistan Army to retreat. India announces victory ending the two-month conflict.
July 16 - Off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, a plane piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr. crashes, killing him and his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and her sister Lauren Bessette.
July 20 - Mercury program: Liberty Bell 7 is raised from the Atlantic Ocean.
July 22 - The first version of MSN is released by Microsoft.
July 23 - Mohammed VI of Morocco becomes king upon the death of his father Hassan II.
July 23 to July 25 - The Woodstock 99 festival is held in New York.
July 23 - ANA Flight 61 is hijacked in Tokyo.
July 25 - Lance Armstrong wins his first Tour de France.
July 27 - Twenty-one persons die in a canyoning disaster near Interlaken, Switzerland.
July 31 - Mark O. Barton kills 9 in Atlanta, Georgia.
July 31 - NASA intentionally crashes the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the lunar surface.

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August

August 2 - M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense is released into theaters.
August 7 - Hundreds of Chechen guerrillas invade the Russian republic of Dagestan, triggering a short war.
August 8 - ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire premieres, and will become the highest-rated show of the United States 1999-2000 TV season.
August 8 - The first Callatis Festival, the largest music &culture festival in Romania, is held.
August 9 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin fires his Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet.
August 10 - Buford O. Furrow, Jr. wounds 5 and kills one during the August 1999 Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting.
August 10 - The Atlantique Incident occurs as an intruding Pakistan Navy plane is shot down in India. The incident sparks tensions between the 2 nations, coming just a month after the end of the Kargil War.
August 11 - A total solar eclipse is seen in Europe and Asia.
August 11 - An F-2 tornado rips through downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, killing 1 person and injuring over 100.
August 17 - A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Istanbul and northwestern Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000. This earthquake is the first of a long series of unrelated but frequent earthquakes throughout the world during the years 1999 and 2000. Some connect the earthquake to the fact that the Umbra of the August 11 solar eclipse was right above Istanbul.
August 19 - In Belgrade, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević.
August 22 - Mandarin Airlines Flight 642 crashes in Hong Kong.
August 26 - Michael Johnson captures the 400 M. world record.

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September

Sega Dreamcast

September 7 - A powerful magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits Athens, killing 143 people and injuring more than 2,000.
September 8 - The first of a series of Russian apartment bombings occurs. Subsequent bombings occur on September 1 and 16, while a bombing on September 22 fails.
September 9 - Sega releases the Dreamcast video game console worldwide (on 9/9/99), breaking video game and entertainment sales records in the first 24 hours.
September 11 - Eric Milton of the Minnesota Twins pitches a 7-0 no-hitter against the Anaheim Angels.
September 14 - Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations.
September 21 - The Chi-Chi earthquake in central Taiwan kills about 2,400 people.

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October

Mars Climate Orbiter during tests

October - NASA loses one of its probes, the Mars Climate Orbiter.
October 5 - Thirty-one people die in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash, west of London, England.
October 12 - Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attempts to dismiss Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf and install ISI director Khwaja Ziauddin in his place. Senior Army generals refuse to accept the dismissal. Musharraf, who was out of the country, attempts to return in a commercial airliner. Sharif orders the Karachi airport to not allow the plane to land. The generals lead a coup, ousting Sharif's administration and taking over the airport. The plane lands with only a few minutes of fuel to spare, and Musharraf takes control of the government.
October 12 - The 6 billionth person in the world, according to the UN is born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
October 13 - The United States Senate rejects ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
October 15 - The National Geographic Society reveals the fossil of Archaeoraptor in a press conference (the fossil is later found to be a forgery).
October 18 Michigan attorney Michael Pawluk sails solo-single-handed over 2,500 nautical miles (4600 km) on a 30 foot (10 m) boat, when his wife demands "some space".
October 25 - Golfer Payne Stewart, 42, dies in an aircraft accident in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
October 27 - Gunmen open fire in the Armenian Parliament, killing Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian, Parliament Chairman Karen Demirchian, and 6 other members.
October 27 - The New York Yankees complete a 4 game sweep of the Atlanta Braves to win their second consecutive World Series.
October 31 - EgyptAir Flight 990 traveling from New York City to Cairo crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on-board. When the pilot leaves the cockpit, the co-pilot causes the 767 to enter a steep dive, resulting in impact with the Atlantic Ocean.
October 31 - Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran Church leaders sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, ending a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation.
October 31 - Nerf Arena Blast is released by Atari, Inc. and Visionary Media, Inc.
October 31 - Canadian race car driver Greg Moore dies in an accident during the Marlboro 500, at the California Speedway in Fontana, California.

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November

Helen Clark

November 5 - United States v. Microsoft: U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issues a preliminary ruling that the software company Microsoft has "monopoly power" (on April 3, 2000 Jackson finds that Microsoft violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act).
November 6 - Australians vote to keep the British Queen as their head of state.
November 9 - TAESA Flight 725 crashes a few minutes after leaving the Uruapan airport en-route to Mexico City; 18 people are killed in the accident.
November 12 - A 7.2-magnitude earthquake strikes Duzce and northwestern Turkey, killing 845 and injuring 4,948.
November 18 - In College Station, Texas, 12 are killed and 28 injured at Texas A&M University when a huge bonfire under construction collapses.
November 19 - In Istanbul, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) ends a two-day summit by calling for a political settlement in Chechnya and adopting a Charter for European Security.
November 20 - The People's Republic of China launches the first Shenzhou spacecraft.
November 20 - John Carpenter becomes the first top prize winner of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and breaks the record of the largest single win on a United States game show.
November 22 - Wayne Gretzky is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, his number 99 permanently retired by the NHL.
November 26 - An earthquake and tsunami strike Vanuatu.
November 26 - The Norwegian passenger ferry MS Sleipner sinks, killing 16 people on board.
November 27 - Helen Clark, of the New Zealand Labour Party, becomes the first elected woman Prime Minister in New Zealand history.
November 28 - A man wielding a samurai sword enters St Andrew's Catholic Church in Thornton Heath and injures 11.
November 28 - Jorge Batlle, of the Colorado Party, is elected president of Uruguay.
November 30 - In Seattle, Washington, the first major mobilization of the anti-globalization movement catches police unprepared and forces the cancellation of the opening ceremonies of the WTO Meeting of 1999 (protests end on December 3).
November 30 - Rocker Gary Glitter is jailed for sexual offences.

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December

The Millennium Dome opens in London.

December 2 - The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive.
December 3 - After rowing for 81 days and 2,962 nautical miles (5486 km), Tori Murden becomes the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by rowboat alone, when she reaches Guadeloupe from the Canary Islands.
December 3 - NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander, moments before the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere.
December 12 - President Lt. General Umar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir of Sudan dismisses the National Assembly, during an internal power struggle between him and speaker of the Parliament Hasan al-Turabi.
December 14 - Algerian Ahmed Ressam is arrested while crossing the United States-Canada border at Port Angeles, Washington, when United States Customs finds explosives in the trunk of his automobile. The arrest causes fears of a terrorist attack in the United States, and is a major factor in the cancellation of a public New Year's celebration in Seattle. Ressam is later convicted in a plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on New Year's Eve.
December 15 - Torrential rains cause catastrophic floods and mudslides in the coastal regions of Venezuela, killing an estimated 25,000 people and leaving 100,000 others homeless.
December 17 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (Unmovic) is created to replace UNSCOM. The U.N. Security council once again orders Iraq to allow inspections teams immediate and unconditional access to any weapons sites and facilities. Iraq rejects the resolution.
December 18 - NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.

Vladimir Putin

December 20 - Macau is handed over to the People's Republic of China by Portugal.
December 20 - The Vermont Supreme Court orders the state to legalize same-sex unions.
December 21 and December 22 - The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts near Calatayud (Zaragoza) a Madrid-bound van driven by ETA and loaded with 950 kg of explosives. The next day, another van loaded with 750 kg is found not far from there. The incident is known as la caravana de la muerte (the caravan of death). Shortly after 9/11, ETA confirms their plan had been to blow down Torre Picasso.
December 24 - Indian Airlines Flight 814, en route from Kathmandu, Nepal to Delhi, India is hijacked and taken to Kandahar, Afghanistan.
December 29 - Former Beatle George Harrison is stabbed several times in the chest by Michael Anram, who had broken into his home. Harrison's wife wrestles the knife out of the assailant's hand before the police arrive. The man apparently believes that Harrison is the devil. He is later charged with attempted murder.
December 31 - Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, to be replaced by Vladimir Putin.
December 31 - Five hijackers, who had been holding 155 hostages on an Indian Airlines plane, leave the plane with 2 Islamic clerics that they had demanded be freed.
December 31 - Millennium celebrations begin worldwide (technically the Millennium starts in 2001 not 2000). HM Queen Elizabeth II opens the Millennium Dome at Greenwich, London.
December 31 - Concerns arise of serious Y2K problems with computer systems.
December 31 - The Panama Canal is transferred to Panamanian control.

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Unknown Dates

Honda Insight is the first hybrid-fuel automobile imported into the United States.
Naruto (manga) is created by Masashi Kishimoto.
Millennium cruises take place
The Finnish epic, Kalevala published for the fifth time in the English Language. This time by Keith Bosley.

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Births

July 1 - Charles Armstrong-Jones

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