File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman
Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...
; the 1999 İzmit earthquake
On the 17th of August, 1999 at 3:01 AM local time, a catastrophic magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Kocaeli Province of Turkey, causing monumental damage and 17,127–18,373 deaths. Named for the quakes proximity to the northeastern city of Izm ...
kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre
On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...
, one of the first major school shootings in the United States; the Year 2000 problem ("Y2K"), perceived as a major concern in the lead-up to the year 2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
; the Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millenn ...
opens in London; online music downloading platform Napster
Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application. It originally launched on June 1, 1999, with an emphasis on digital audio file distribution. Audio songs shared on the service were typically encoded in the MP3 format. It was founded by Shawn ...
is launched, soon a source of online piracy; NASA loses both the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander; a destroyed T-55 tank near Prizren
)
, settlement_type = Municipality and city
, image_skyline = Prizren Collage.jpg
, imagesize = 290px
, image_caption = View of Prizren
, image_alt = View of Prizren
, image_flag ...
during the Kosovo War., 300x300px, thumb
rect 0 0 200 200 Death and state funeral of King Hussein
The state funeral of King Hussein of Jordan took place in Amman on 8 February 1999. He was pronounced dead on 7 February 1999 at 11:43 AM at the King Hussein Medical Center. The funeral was the largest gathering of royalty and world leaders sin ...
rect 200 0 400 200 1999 İzmit earthquake
On the 17th of August, 1999 at 3:01 AM local time, a catastrophic magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Kocaeli Province of Turkey, causing monumental damage and 17,127–18,373 deaths. Named for the quakes proximity to the northeastern city of Izm ...
rect 400 0 600 200 Columbine High School massacre
On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...
rect 0 200 300 400 Kosovo War
rect 300 200 600 400 Year 2000 problem
rect 0 400 200 600 Mars Climate Orbiter
rect 200 400 400 600 Napster
Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application. It originally launched on June 1, 1999, with an emphasis on digital audio file distribution. Audio songs shared on the service were typically encoded in the MP3 format. It was founded by Shawn ...
rect 400 400 600 600 Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millenn ...
1999 was designated as the
International Year of Older Persons.
Events
January
*
January 1 – The
euro currency is established and the
European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
*
January 3
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69, 69 – The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.
* 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (ex ...
– The
Mars Polar Lander is launched by
NASA.
*
January 25
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
* 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty ...
– The 6.2
Armenia, Colombia earthquake hits western
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, killing at least 1,900.
February
*
February 7 –
Abdullah II inherits the throne of Jordan, following the death of his father King
Hussein.
*
February 11
Events Pre-1600
*660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
* 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
–
Pluto moves along its eccentric orbit further from the Sun than
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...
. It had been nearer than Neptune since
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
, and will become again in
2231.
*
February 12 – U.S. President
Bill Clinton is acquitted in
impeachment proceedings in the
United States Senate.
*
February 16
** In
Uzbekistan, an apparent
assassination
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
attempt against President
Islam Karimov takes place at government headquarters.
** Across Europe,
Kurd ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...
ish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after
Turkey arrests one of their rebel leaders.
*
February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
**
Kurd ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...
ish rebel leader
Abdullah Öcalan
Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish and Kurdish for "uncle"), is a political prisoner and founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Öcalan was based in Syria from ...
is charged with
treason in
Ankara, Turkey.
**
1999 Galtür avalanche
The Galtür avalanche occurred on 23 February 1999 in the Alpine village of Galtür, Austria. At high and traveling at , the powder avalanche overturned cars, destroyed buildings and buried 57 people. By the time rescue crews managed to arrive, ...
: An
avalanche destroys the village of Galtür, Austria, killing 31.
*
February 27
Events Pre-1600
* 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
* 425 – The University of Constantinople ...
– While trying to circumnavigate the world in a
hot air balloon, Colin Prescot and Andy Elson set a new endurance record after being aloft for 233 hours and 55 minutes.
March
*
March 1
** One of four bombs detonated in
Lusaka
Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...
,
Zambia, destroys the
Angolan Embassy.
**
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
n
Hutu rebels kill and dismember eight foreign tourists at the Buhoma homestead,
Uganda.
** The
Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines comes into force.
*
March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
* 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
– Former
Warsaw Pact members Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic join
NATO.
*
March 15 – The
Santer Commission of the EU resigns over allegations of corruption.
*
March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
**
Bertrand Piccard and
Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a