1999 in the United States

Incumbents

Federal government

• President: Bill Clinton
• Vice President: Al Gore
• Chief Justice: William Rehnquist
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Newt Gingrich , Dennis Hastert
• Senate Majority Leader: Trent Lott
• Congress: 105th, 106th

  Governors

Lieutenant governors

Events

January

• January 2 - A snowstorm leaves of snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and in Chicago, Illinois, killing 68.
• January 6 - Dennis Hastert becomes Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
• January 7 - The Senate trial in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton begins. He had been impeached by the House of Representatives on December 19.
• January 21 - In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over of cocaine aboard, headed for Houston, Texas.
• January 31 - The adult animated sitcom Family Guy debuts on the Fox network after Super Bowl XXXIII.

  February

• February 4
• *Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot dead by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race-relations in the city.
• *The New Carissa runs aground near Coos Bay, Oregon.
• February 12 - Impeachment of Bill Clinton: President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the Senate.
• February 15 - Rapper Big L is shot to death.
• February 19 - President Bill Clinton issues a posthumous pardon for U.S. Army Lt. Henry Ossian Flipper.
• February 23 - White supremacist John William King is found guilty of kidnapping and murdering African American James Byrd Jr. by dragging him behind a truck for 2 miles.
• 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.

  March

• March 2 - The brand new Mandalay Bay hotel and casino opens on the Las Vegas Strip.
• March 3 - Walter LaGrand is executed in the gas chamber in Arizona.
• March 4 - In a military court, United States Marine Corps Captain Richard J. 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.
• March 8 - The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the murder convictions of Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing.
• March 11 - Infosys becomes the first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
• March 17 - The Roth IRA is introduced by U.S. Senator William V. Roth Jr.
• March 20 - Legoland California, the only Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California.
• March 21 - The 71st Academy Awards are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California with Shakespeare in Love winning Best Picture.
• 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 - A Michigan jury finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man.
• March 27 - Kosovo War: A U.S. F-117 Nighthawk is shot down by Serbian forces.
• March 29 - For the first time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark, at 10,006.78.

  April

• April 1 - Air China Flight 9018, a Boeing 747, taxies onto an active runway at O'Hare International Airport during the takeoff of Korean Air Flight 36, another Boeing 747, nearly resulting in a crash. Flight 36 averted a collision by taking off early and missing the Air China aircraft by 75 feet. There were 8 people on the Air China cargo plane and 379 on the Korean Air flight.
• 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 killing of Matthew Shepard.
• April 7 - The World Trade Organization rules in favor of the United States in its long-running trade dispute with the European Union over bananas.
• April 8 - Bill Gates' personal fortune exceeds US$100 billion, due to the increased value of Microsoft stock.
• April 12 - U.S. President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving "intentionally false statements" in a sexual harassment civil lawsuit.
• April 15 - Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz are exonerated of the rape and murder of Debbie Carter and released from prison. Both had spent eleven years in prison, with Williamson on death row, and having come within five days of execution.
• April 20 - Columbine High School massacre: Two Littleton, Colorado teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, open fire on their teachers and classmates, killing 12 students and 1 teacher, and then themselves. It would be the deadliest shooting at a high school in U.S. history at the time. The shooting sparks debate on school bullying, gun control and violence in the media.

  May

• May 1
• *The animated children's TV series SpongeBob SquarePants debuts on the cable network Nickelodeon.
• May 3
• *Norman J. Sirnic and Karen Sirnic are murdered by serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz in Weimar, Texas.
• *The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time, at 11,014.70.
• May 3–6 - 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak spawns 140 tornadoes, including an F5 in Moore, Oklahoma that kills 38 people with the highest wind speeds ever recorded.
• May 5 - Microsoft releases Windows 98.
• May 8 - Nancy Mace becomes the first female cadet to graduate from The Military College of South Carolina.
• May 19 - is released in theaters. It becomes the highest grossing Star Wars film.
• May 25 - The United States House of Representatives releases the Cox Report which details the People's Republic of China's nuclear espionage against the U.S. over the prior two decades.
• May 29 - Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station.
• May 31 - Sean Elliott of the San Antonio Spurs hits the Memorial Day Miracle against the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1999 NBA Playoffs.

  June

• June 1 - American Airlines Flight 1420 overruns the runway in Little Rock, Arkansas, killing 11 people.
• 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 12 - Texas Governor George W. Bush announces he will seek the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States.
• June 19 - Horror author Stephen King is hit in a car accident on Route 5 in North Lovell, Maine by Bryan Smith.
• June 23 - The Phillips explosion of 1999 kills 2 and injures 3 in Pasadena, Texas.

  July

• July 2
• * Benjamin Nathaniel Smith begins a 3-day killing spree targeting racial and ethnic minorities in Illinois and Indiana.
• * Lawrence Summers is sworn in as the new Secretary of Treasury, succeeding Robert Rubin.
• July 5 - July 6 - 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.
• July 8 - A major flash flood in Las Vegas swamps hundreds of cars, smashes mobile homes and kills 2 people.
• July 10 - U.S. soccer player Brandi Chastain scores the game winning penalty kick against China in the FIFA Women's World Cup.
• 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 Messenger is released by Microsoft.
• July 23–25 - The Woodstock '99 festival is held in New York.
• July 25 - Lance Armstrong wins his first Tour de France.
• July 26 - The last Checker taxi cab is retired in New York City and auctioned off for approximately $135,000.
• July 29
• *Mark O. Barton kills his family. He then went on a murder spree at the trading firm he worked at, killing a total of 12 people in Atlanta, Georgia. He later committed suicide at a gas station when cornered by police.
• *NASA intentionally crashes the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the lunar surface.

  August

• August 10 - Buford O. Furrow Jr. wounds 5 and kills 1 during the Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting.

  September

• September 7 - Viacom and CBS merge.
• September 15 - Larry Gene Ashbrook murders 7 people and then commits suicide at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
• September 23 - NASA announces that it has lost contact with the Mars Climate Orbiter.
• September 27 - The Detroit Tigers host the Kansas City Royals in the final game at Tiger Stadium.

  October

• October 9 - The last flight of the SR-71.
• October 13 - The United States Senate rejects ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
• October 16 – The 7.1 Hector Mine earthquake shook the Mojave Desert region of Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII, causing 4–5 injuries and limited damage.
• October 27 - The New York Yankees sweep the Atlanta Braves to win their 25th world championship.
• October 31 - EgyptAir Flight 990, traveling from New York City to Cairo, crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on board. The NTSB later reports that the co-pilot, Gameel Al-Batouti, deliberately crashed the plane, however Egyptian authorities dispute this claim.

  November

• November 2 - Byran Uyesugi kills 7 people at a Xerox building in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• November 18 - The Aggie Bonfire collapses in College Station, Texas, killing 12.
• November 24 - Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 2 is released in theaters.
• November 30 - In Seattle, Washington, protests against the WTO meeting by anti-globalization protesters catch police unprepared and force the cancellation of opening ceremonies.

  December

• December - The unemployment rate drops to 4%, the lowest level since January 1970.
• December 3 - NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander, moments before the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere.
• December 7 - The Recording Industry Association of America files a lawsuit against the Napster file-sharing client alleging copyright infringement.
• December 18 - NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform, carrying 5 Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.
• December 31 - The U.S. turns over complete administration of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian government, as stipulated in the Torrijos–Carter Treaties of 1977.

  Ongoing

• Iraqi no-fly zones
• Dot-com bubble
• Lewinsky scandal

  Births

January

• January 5
• * Miguel Morales, rapper
• * Marc Yu, musician
• January 6 - Devin Albert, actor
• January 13 - Nicholas Art, actor
• January 18 - Karan Brar, actor
• January 19 - Jonathan Taylor, American football player
• January 20 - Shannon Tavarez, actress
• January 28 - Preston Strother, actor

  February

• February 1 - Lola Forsberg, actress
• February 7 - Bea Miller, singer-songwriter and actress
• February 10 - Tiffany Espensen, Chinese-born actress
• February 18 - Lorraine McNamara, ice dancer
• February 19
• * Joseph Ryan Harrington, actor and dancer
• * Jackson Pace, actor

  March

• March 5
• * Madison Beer, singer
• * Colin Schooler, American football player
• March 26
• * Scarlett Stitt, actress
• * Quinn Sullivan, songwriter and musician
• March 31 - Sawyer Fredericks, singer-songwriter

  April

• April 2 - Sophie Reynolds, actress
• April 6 - Kwesi Boakye, actor
• April 8 - Ty Panitz, actor
• April 9 - Lil Nas X, rapper, singer and songwriter
• April 11 Ash Milley; singer, dancer, actress, church goer.
• April 20 - Carly Rose Sonenclar, actress, singer and songwriter
• April 29 - Morgan Turner, actress

  May

• May 3 - Rory Staunton, notable victim
• May 4 - Rachel Duffy, actress
• May 5
• * Nathan Chen, figure skater
• * Bobby Coleman, actor
• May 11
• * Kaitlyn Dias, actress
• * Sabrina Carpenter, actress
• * Madison Lintz, actress
• May 18 - Teo Halm, actor
• May 24 - Charlie Plummer, actor
• May 28 - Cameron Boyce, actor
• May 30 - Sean Giambrone, actor and voice actor
• May 31 - Emily Evan Rae, actress

  June

• June 2 - Madison Leisle, actress
• June 11 - Katelyn Nacon, actress
• June 13 - Alexis Roland, snowboarder
• June 20 - Kayla Maisonet, actress
• June 22 - Cam Akers, American football player
• June 26 - Harley Quinn Smith, actress
• June 27 - Chandler Riggs, actor

  July

• July 14 - Camryn Magness, singer
• July 30 - Joey King, actress

  August

• August 4 - Kelly Gould, actress
• August 9 - Ariana Guido, actress
• August 19 - Ethan Cutkosky, actor
• August 21 - Maxim Knight, actor
• August 22 - Ricardo Hurtado, actor and singer

  September

• September 7 - Cameron Ocasio, actor
• September 14 - Tom Schaar, skateboarder
• September 21 - Brennan LaBrie, journalist
• September 22 - Tallan Latz, guitarist

  October

• October 3 - Aramis Knight, actor
• October 14 - Laura Zeng, rhythmic gymnast
• October 15 - Bailee Madison, actress

  November

• November 1 - Buddy Handleson, actor
• November 10 - Kiernan Shipka, actress
• November 29 - River Alexander, actor

  December

• December 2 - Samuel Armas, notable fetal patient
• December 6 - Ryan Wynott, actor
• December 14 - Karley Scott Collins, actress
• December 18 - YBN Nahmir, rapper and songwriter

  Full date unknown

• Lex, notable canine

  Deaths

January

• January 4 – Iron Eyes Cody, Italian-American actor
• January 12 – Betty Lou Gerson, American actress
• January 18 – Sarah Louise Delany, American author and educator
• January 21 – Susan Strasberg, American actress
• January 23 – John Osteen, American televangelist
• January 25 – Robert Shaw, American conductor
• January 31 – Norm Zauchin, American baseball player

  February

• February 1 – Paul Mellon, American philanthropist
• February 6 – Jimmy Roberts, American singer
• February 7 – Bobby Troup, American actor, jazz pianist, singer and songwriter
• February 14
• * Buddy Knox, American singer and songwriter
• * John Ehrlichman, American Watergate scandal figure
• February 15
• * Big L, American rapper
• * Henry Way Kendall, American physicist
• February 18
• * Andreas Feininger, French-born American photographer
• * Noam Pitlik, American actor and director
• February 20 – Gene Siskel, American film critic
• February 21 – Gertrude B. Elion, American scientist
• February 22 – William Bronk, American poet
• February 24
• * Andre Dubus, American short-story writer
• * Virginia Foster Durr, American civil rights activist
• February 25 – Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist
• February 28 – Bill Talbert, American tennis player

  March

• March 1 – Ann Corio, American dancer and actress
• March 3 – Jackson C. Frank, American folk musician
• March 4
• * Harry Blackmun, American judge
• * Del Close, American actor, writer, and teacher
• March 5 – Richard Kiley, American actor
• March 7
• * Sidney Gottlieb, American intelligence official
• * Stanley Kubrick, American film director, and producer, died in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
• March 8
• * Peggy Cass, American actress and comedian
• * Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player, advertising spokesman
• March 12 – Yehudi Menuhin, American violinist
• March 13
• * Lee Falk, American writer, theater director, and producer
• * Garson Kanin, American playwright and screenwriter
• March 22 – David Strickland, American actor
• March 26 – David Holliday, American actor
• March 29 – Joe Williams, American singer

  April

• April 4
• * Faith Domergue, American actress
• * Early Wynn, American baseball player
• April 10 – Jean Vander Pyl, American television actress
• April 12 – Boxcar Willie, American country music singer
• April 14 – Ellen Corby, American actress
• April 20
• * Eric Harris, American mass murderer
• * Dylan Klebold, American mass murderer
• * Rick Rude, American professional wrestler
• April 21 – Charles "Buddy" Rogers, American silent film actor
• April 22 – Bert Remsen, American actor
• April 25
• * Herman Miller, American screenwriter and producer
• * Roger Troutman, American funk musician
• April 27 – Al Hirt, American trumpeter and bandleader
• April 28
• * Rory Calhoun, American television and film actor
• * Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist

  May

• May 8 – Dana Plato, American actress
• May 10 – Shel Silverstein, American poet, singer-songwriter, cartoonist, screenwriter, and author of children's books
• May 13 – Gene Sarazen, American golfer
• May 17 – Henry Jones, American actor
• May 18 – Betty Robinson, American athlete
• May 19 – Candy Candido, American voice actor
• May 23
• * Owen Hart, Canadian-American professional wrestler
• * John T. Hayward, American admiral
• May 26 – Waldo Semon, American inventor

  June

• June 3 – Charlene Pryer, American professional baseball player
• June 5 – Mel Tormé, American singer
• June 9 – Andrew L. Stone, American screenwriter, director and producer
• June 11 – DeForest Kelley, American actor
• June 19 – Paul Montgomery, American entrepreneur and inventor
• June 25 – Fred Trump, American real estate developer, father of Donald Trump
• June 27
• * Isaac C. Kidd, Jr., American admiral
• * Marion Motley, American football player
• June 29 – Allan Carr, American producer

  July

• July 1
• * Edward Dmytryk, Canadian-American film director
• * Guy Mitchell, American singer
• * Sylvia Sidney, American actress
• July 2 – Mario Puzo, American author
• July 3 – Mark Sandman, American rock musician and artist
• July 6 – Carl Gunter Jr., American farmer and politician
• July 7 – Julie Campbell Tatham, American writer
• July 8 – Pete Conrad, American astronaut, naval aviator, and aeronautical engineer
• July 9 – James Farmer, American civil rights leader
• July 11 – Helen Forrest, American jazz singer
• July 16
• * John F. Kennedy Jr., American journalist and lawyer
• * Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, American actress and model
• July 20 – Sandra Gould, American actress
• July 22 – Gar Samuelson, American drummer
• July 29 – Anita Carter, American singer

  August

• August 2 – Willie Morris, American writer
• August 3 – Leroy Vinnegar, American musician
• August 4 – Victor Mature, American actor
• August 10 – Anthony Stanislas Radziwill, American television executive and filmmaker
• August 14
• * Lane Kirkland, American union leader
• * Pee Wee Reese, American baseball player
• August 23 – Norman Wexler, American screenwriter
• August 24 – Mary Jane Croft, American radio and television actress

  September

• September 5 – Allen Funt, American television personality
• September 7 – Jim Keith, American author
• September 8 – Moondog, American musician and composer
• September 9
• * Catfish Hunter, American baseball player
• * Ruth Roman, American actress
• September 12 – Allen Stack, American swimmer
• September 22 – George C. Scott, American actor
• September 25 – Marion Zimmer Bradley, American writer

  October

• October 2
• * Lee Lozano, American artist
• * Danny Mayo, American songwriter
• October 3 – Paul Burris, American baseball player
• October 4 – Art Farmer, American jazz trumpeter
• October 5 – Alex Lowe, American mountaineer
• October 6 – Gorilla Monsoon, American professional wrestler and announcer
• October 7
• * David A. Huffman, American computer scientist
• * Helen Vinson, American actress
• October 8 – John McLendon, American basketball coach
• October 9 – Milt Jackson, American musician
• October 10 – George Forrest, American writer
• October 12 – Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player
• October 19 – James C. Murray, American politician
• October 24 – John Chafee, American politician
• October 25 – Payne Stewart, American golfer
• October 26 – Abraham Polonsky, American screenwriter and director
• October 27
• * Frank De Vol, American arranger, composer, and actor
• * Robert Mills, American physicist

  November

• November 1
• * Theodore Hall, American physicist and spy
• * Walter Payton, American football player
• November 4 – Daisy Bates, American civil rights activist, publisher, journalist, and lecturer
• November 9 – Mabel King, American actress and singer
• November 11 – Mary Kay Bergman, American voice actress
• November 15 – Gene Levitt, American television writer, producer, and director
• November 16 – Daniel Nathans, American microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• November 18
• * Paul Bowles, American novelist
• * Horst P. Horst, American photographer
• * Doug Sahm, American musician
• November 29 – Gene Rayburn, American television personality

  December

• December 2
• * Joey Adams, American comedian
• * Charlie Byrd, American jazz musician and classical guitarist
• December 3
• * John Archer, American actor
• * Scatman John, American musician, singer, and songwriter
• * Madeline Kahn, American actress and singer
• December 4 – Rose Bird, American activist and judge
• December 12
• * Paul Cadmus, American artist
• * Joseph Heller, American novelist
• December 17
• * Rex Allen, American actor, singer, and songwriter
• * Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist
• December 20
• * Irving Rapper, American film director
• * Hank Snow, Canadian-American country musician
• December 23 – John P. Davies, American diplomat
• December 26 – Curtis Mayfield, American musician and composer
• December 27 – Leonard Goldenson, American television executive
• December 28 – Clayton Moore, American actor
• December 30 – Sarah Knauss, American supercentenarian, verified oldest person in the world
• December 31 – Elliot Richardson, American politician and lawyer