Chronology of United States of America

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References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2012 January 26.


1999

January 2
  • A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow at Milwaukee, Wisconsin and 19 inches (487 mm) at Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, temperatures plunge to -13 degrees F (-25 degrees C), and 68 deaths are reported. [20]
January 4
  • Aluminum Company of America changes its company name to Alcoa Incorporated. [228]
January 7
  • For the first time since the 1868 impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the trial of President Clinton begins in the Senate. [129]
January
  • The US Mint launches the 50-state 25-cent coin series by releasing the Delaware coin to circulation. About 750 million coins have been produced. [343.11]
January 21
  • 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. [20]
February 4
  • Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot dead by New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race relations in the city. [20]

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February 12
  • The US Senate votes on whether to remove President Bill Clinton from office. The president is acquitted on both articles of impeachment. [129]
March 4
  • In a military court, United States Marine Corps Captain Richard Ashby 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. [20]
March 16
  • Sony Online Entertainment releases the EverQuest game for personal computers in the USA. [4]
March 22
  • U.S. pro-euthanasia doctor Jack Kevorkian goes on trial for murder in Pontiac, Michigan. [20]
March 25
  • Enron energy traders allegedly route 2,900 megawatts of electricity destined for California to the town of Silver Peak, Nevada, population 200. [20]
March 26
  • A Michigan jury finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man. [5] [20]
March 29
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 10,000 (10,006.78) for the first time. [20] [227]
April 19
  • The US Navy kills a civilian guard in the Naval Base at Vieques, an island east of Puerto Rico which the Navy has used since 1943. The death of the civilian officer sparks off a civil disobedience campaign throughout the island of Puerto Rico to protest the presence of the Navy on the island. [20]
April 20
  • Two Littleton, Colorado teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, open fire on their Columbine High School teachers and classmates, killing 12 students and one teacher, and then themselves. [1] [20]
May 2
  • Norman J. Sirnic and Karen Sirnic are murdered by the serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz in a parsonage in Weimar, Texas (his fourth and fifth victims in his fourth slaying incident). [20]
May 3
  • A Force 5 tornado slams into Moore, Oklahoma, killing 38 people - the second strongest tornado ever recorded in United States history. [20]
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 (11,014.70) for the first time. [20] [227]
May 4
  • The White House holds a ceremony launching the Sacagawea dollar program. [403.60] [621.58]
May 8
  • Nancy Mace becomes the first female cadet to graduate from The Military College of South Carolina. [5] [20]
May 22
  • The television show Mortal Kombat: Conquest last airs in the US. 22 shows aired during the season. [9]
June 12
  • Texas Governor George W. Bush announces he will seek the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. [20]
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). [20]
  • IBM releases the 37.5 GB Deskstar 37GP hard drive, the world's largest personal computer hard drive. It features 5400-rpm motor, five platters, 2 MB cache buffer, ATA-4 interface. Price is US$350. [4]
June 16
  • Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles auctions a US 1907 Saint-Gaudens, Ultra-High Relief, Roman Numerals gold double eagle, PR-67 PCGS, for $1.21 million to Tangible Asset Galleries, the first $1 million coin at auction. [525.79]
June 18
  • The Second Global Street Party is held around world including Bangladesh, USA, Uruguay, Spain, Germany, England (10,000 in London), Switzerland, Nigeria (10,000 in Port Harcourt). [20] [287.444]
July 2
  • Benjamin Nathaniel Smith begins a three-day killing spree targeting racial and ethnic minorities in Illinois and Indiana, USA. [20]
July 3
  • In Weirs Beach, New Hampshire, USA, over six hours Billy Mitchell plays a "perfect" game of the arcade game Pac-Man, achieving the highest score that the game allows: 3,333,360. This can only be accomplished by guiding Pac-Man to eat every dot, fruit, and ghost in all 256 levels without dying. [9]
July 5
  • U.S. Army Pfc. Barry Winchell is bludgeoned in his sleep at Fort Campbell, Kentucky by fellow soldiers; he dies the next day from his injuries. [20]
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. [20]
July 20
  • Liberty Bell 7, part of the US Mercury program, is raised from the Atlantic Ocean. [20]
  • Apple Computer introduces the iBook portable computer. It features 12.1-inch TFT display, 300 MHz G3 processor, 4 MB ATI Rage Mobility graphics chip, CD-ROM drive, 32 MB RAM, modem, USB and 10/100Base-T Ethernet ports, 3 GB hard drive, keyboard, Mac OS 8.6, V.90 modem, AppleWorks software, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator, and comes in a translucent cover in tangerine or blueberry colors. Battery power lasts about six hours. Price is US$1599; weight is 6.6 pounds; size is 2 x 13.5 x 11.6 inches. [4]
July 23
  • Space shuttle Columbia blasts off, carrying 12 Proof 2000-W Sacagawea half-ounce 0.9167 fine gold dollar pieces into space. [464.52]
  • The Woodstock 99 festival is held in New York. [20]
July 26
  • The last Checker taxi cab is retired in New York City and auctioned off for approximately US$135,000. [20]
July 29
  • The Rock 'N' Roller Coaster attraction opens in the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney World in Florida. [6]
July 31
  • Mark O. Barton kills nine in Atlanta, Georgia. [20]
August 10
  • Buford O. Furrow, Jr. wounds five and kills one in the Los Angeles, California, Jewish Community Center. [20]
August 11
  • An F-2 tornado rips through downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, killing one person and injuring over 100. [20]
August 15
  • The maiden voyage of the Disney Wonder cruise ship takes place. [69]
August 30
  • Bowers and Merena auctions the Watters-Childs Collection. A US 1804 Draped Bust dollar PR-68, finest known, believed to have been in the Sultan of Muscat presentation set, first public offering since 1945, sells for $4.14 million, a world record price for a rare coin. [352.24] [404.14] [520.52] [525.79]
September 9
  • Sega releases the Dreamcast video game system in the USA. Price is US$199. In the first 24 hours, Sega sells US$97 million worth of hardware and software, setting an entertainment industry record for highest-grossing day. [9]
September 15
  • For the first time in its 28-year history, most of Walt Disney World in Florida is closed for the day, due to the threat of Hurricane Floyd. Disney's Animal Kingdom re-opens at 12:00 PM for resort guests. [6]
September
  • The American government administration severs all military ties with the Indonesian military. [240.48]
October 7
  • The 1999 Connecticut quarter dollar is introduced. [466.92]
October 13
  • The United States Senate rejects ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). [20]
October 16
  • In Southern California, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurs. Few injuries, light damage. [53]
October 31
  • EgyptAir Flight 990 traveling from New York City to Cairo crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on-board. [20]
November 5
  • US District Judge Thomas Jackson issues his 207-page Findings of Fact, ruling that Microsoft has monopoly power over personal computer operating systems, and uses that power to harm American consumers. [4] [20]
November
  • The US Senate passes the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, which makes operating a virtual casino or sports book on the Internet a federal crime. [328.100]
November 18
  • In College Station, Texas, 12 are killed and 28 injured at Texas A&M University when the annual Aggie Bonfire collapses while under construction. [20]
November 19
  • John Carpenter becomes the first top prize winner of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and breaks the record of the largest single win (US$1 million) on a United States game show. [20]
  • Disney releases the Walt Disney Pictures animated feature film Toy Story 2 to theaters in the USA. North American theater gross receipts: US$245.9 million. [6]
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). [20]
  • Exxonmobil Corporation merger is completed, and forms the largest company in the world. [20]
December 1
  • Exxon changes its company name to Exxon Mobil Company. [228]
December 2
  • AlliedSignal Incorporated changes its company name to Honeywell International. [228]
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, Washington. Ressam is later convicted in a plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on New Year's Eve. [20]
December 18
  • NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments: ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT. [5] [20]
December 20
  • The Vermont Supreme Court orders the state to legalize same-sex unions. [20]
December 31
  • US turns over complete administration of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian Government as stipulated in the Torrijos-Carter Treaty of 1977 free of liens and debts, in good operation and with a $1 billion investment program in place designed to ensure continued first class service to the maritime world. At the transfer, more than 97 percent of the Canal's 9,000 workers are Panamanian. [20] [129] [150.62]

End of 1999. Next: 2000.

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A list of references to all source material is available.

Other web pages of interest:

  • Chronology of United States of America Coins
  • United States of America Coins: Type Collecting
  • Today in USA History
  • Chronology of World History
  • This Day in History
    Last updated: 2012 January 26.
    Copyright © 2010-2012 Ken Polsson (email: ken@kpolsson.com).
    URL: http://worldtimeline.info/usa/
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