1999 World History Thabo Mbeki (1942–) Eileen Collins (1956– ) NASA 1999 U.S. agrees to ease restrictions on Cuba(Jan. 4).Dennis Hastert elected to replace Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House(Jan. 6).NBA ends 191-day labor dispute(Jan. 6).International Olympic Committee expels six members as bribery scandal widens(Jan. 24).King Hussein of Jordan dies(Feb. 7).Senate acquits President Clinton of impeachment charges(Feb. 12).Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo elected president of Nigeria(Feb. 28).First nonstop balloon flight around world completed in 20 days by Bertrand Piccard (Switzerland) and Brian Jones (UK)(March 1–20).Marine pilot acquitted in killing of 20 in 1998 Italian ski gondola accident; Italians outraged(March 4).U.S. accuses China of stealing nuclear secrets(March 5).Joe DiMaggio dies at age 84(March 8). Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary join NATO(March 12).NATO launches air strikes on Serbia to end attacks against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo(March 24).Dr. Jack Kevorkian convicted of second-degree murder in assisted-suicide case(March 26).“Melissa” computer virus spreads through the Internet(March 27).Libya hands over two suspects in 1988 Pan Am jet bombing(April 5).Two Colo. students go on shooting spree in ColumbineHigh School, killing 15, including themselves(April 20).NATO bombs mistakenly hit Chinese embassy in Belgrade(May 7).Citadel graduates its first woman(May 8).Crime rate in U.S. falls for seventh consecutive year(May 16).Ehud Barak defeats Benjamin Netanyahu in Israeli prime minister election(May 17).U.S. inspects suspected nuclear weapons site in North Korea, finds nothing(May 20–24).Serbs sign agreement to pull troops out of Kosovo after 11 weeks of NATO air attacks(June 9).Nelson Mandela retires as president of South Africa; succeeded by Thabo Mbeki(June 16).Britain's Prince Edward marries Sophie Rhys-Jones(June 19). Kurdleader Abdullah Ocalan sentenced to death for treason in Turkey(June 29).White supremacist goes on shooting spree in Midwest, killing three including self and wounding eight(July 2–5).U.S. soccer team tops China for women's World Cup(July 10).Taiwanese leader Lee Teng-hui challenges “One China” policy(July 11).Serial killer Rafael Reséndez-Ramirez surrenders himself to U.S. authorities(July 13). John F. Kennedy, Jr., wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette killed in plane crash off coast of Martha's Vineyard(July 16).Col. Eileen Collins becomes first female to head a space shuttle mission(July 16).Falun Gong meditation sect banned by Chinese government(July 22).Day-trader kills 9 and wounds 13 in two Atlanta brokerage offices before committing suicide(July 29).Yeltsin replaces Prime Minister Stepashin with Vladimir Putin in fourth government shakeup in 17 months(Aug. 9).Islamic militants declare independence for Dagestanand announce holy war against Russia(Aug. 10).White supremacist opens fire at Jewish community center in LA, wounding five and killing one as he flees(Aug. 10).More than 17,000 people die in 7.4 earthquake in Turkey(Aug. 17).Attorney General Janet Reno reopens investigation of 1993 Waco, Tex., stand-off(Aug. 25).People of East Timorvote for independence from Indonesia(Aug. 31).Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and PLO leader Yasir Arafat announce peace accord(Sept. 4).Larry Gene Ashbrook goes on rampage in Tex. church, killing seven and himself(Sept. 15).NASA accidentally loses $125 million spacecraft as it orbits Mars(Sept. 23).Dozens of people exposed to radiation in Japan's worst nuclear accident(Sept. 30).Russia sends ground troops to Chechnya as conflict with Islamic militants intensifies(Oct. 1).World population reaches six billion milestone(Oct. 11).Military coup led by Gen. Pervez Musharraf overthrows Pakistani government(Oct. 12).Tobacco companies admit to harm caused by cigarette smoking(Oct. 13).Senate rejects 1996 nuclear test-ban treaty; international leaders upset by U.S. stand(Oct. 13).Indonesia elects Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahidpresident(Oct. 20).Pro golfer Payne Stewart and five others killed in plane crash(Oct. 25).EgyptAir flight crashes over Atlantic, killing all 217 on board(Oct. 31).Judge finds Microsoft to be a monopoly(Nov. 5).U.S. and China reach landmark trade agreement(Nov. 15).China launches first spacecraft(Nov. 21).Five-year-old Cuban refugee Elián González gets caught in politically charged custody battle(Nov. 25).World Trade Organization conference disrupted by violent protests in Seattle (Nov. 29et seq.). New Northern Ireland government begins self-rule for first time in 25 years(Dec. 2).Muslim terrorists hijack Indian Airlines jet with 189 on board(Dec. 24).

1998 World History 1998 Ramzi Ahmed Yousef sentenced to life for 1993 World Trade Center bombing(Jan. 9).Pope John Paul II visits Cuba(Jan. 21–25).President accused in White House sex scandal; denies allegations of affair with White House intern, Monica Lewinsky (Jan. 21et seq.). President outlines first balanced budget in 30 years(Feb. 3).U.S. plane cuts ski cable in Italy and sends car plunging; 20 killed(Feb. 3).Thousands dead in Afghanistan quake (Feb. 4et seq.). U.S. court rules line-item veto unconstitutional(Feb. 12).Serbs battle ethnic Albanians in Kosovo(March 5et seq.). U.S. drops condemnation of China's human rights record(March 13).Hindu nationalist Vajpayee becomes India's prime minister(March 19).FDA approves Viagra, male impotence drug(March 27).Federal judge in Arkansas throws out Paula Jones case(April 1).Landmark peace settlement, the Good Friday Accord, reached in Northern Ireland(April 10).U.S. trade deficit biggest in decade(April 17).Europeans agree on single currency, the euro(May 3).Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski, sentenced to four life terms(May 4).India conducts three atomic tests despite worldwide disapproval(May 11, 13).Indonesian dictator Suhartosteps down after 32 years in power(May 21).Pakistan stages five nuclear tests in response to India's(May 29, 30).Serbs renew attack on Kosovo rebels(June 1).Life sentence meted out to Terry Nichols, convicted in Oklahoma City bombing fatal to 168(June 4).Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha dies(June 8).Congress votes to overhaul IRS(July 9).Iraq ends cooperation with UN arms inspectors(Aug. 5).U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzaniabombed(Aug. 7).Clinton admits to affair with White House intern in televised address to nation(Aug. 17).Russia fights to avert financial collapse(Aug. 17).U.S. cruise missiles hit suspected terrorist bases in Sudan and Afghanistan(Aug. 20).North Korea fires missile across Japan(Aug. 31).Swissair jet crashes; kills 229(Sept. 2).Starr Report by independent counsel outlines case for impeachment proceedings against president(Sept. 11).Senate sustains veto of bill to outlaw late-term abortions(Sept. 18).Iran lifts death threat against Salman Rushdie(Sept. 24).German chancellor Helmut Kohl defeated by Gerhard Schröder(Sept. 27).U.S. budget surplus largest in three decades(Oct. 5).Matthew Shepard, gay Wyoming student, fatally beaten in hate crime(Oct. 6).NATO, on verge of air strikes, reaches settlement with Milosevic on Kosovo(Oct. 12).Former Chilean dictator Pinochet arrested in London(Oct. 16). Wye Mills Agreementbetween Netanyahu and Arafat moves Middle East peace talks forward(Oct. 23).More than 10,000 die in Central American hurricane, Mitch(Nov. 1).Democrats unexpectedly gain five House seats in national election; Republicans keep control of House and Senate(Nov. 3).House Speaker Gingrich to step down(Nov. 9).House panel drafts impeachment charges; votes along party lines to approve four articles(Dec. 11–12).Clinton orders air strikes on Iraq(Dec. 16–19).House impeaches President Clinton along party lines on two charges, perjury and obstruction of justice(Dec. 19).

1997 World History Hale-Bopp Comet NASA Mother Teresa (1910–1997) Archive Photos Princess Diana (1961–1997) Archive Photos 1997 Two Hutu sentenced to death in Rwandan genocide(Jan. 3).Floods cause wide damage in U.S. West(Jan. 5).Newt Gingrich reelected as House Speaker(Jan. 7).Hebron agreement signed; Israel gives up large part of West Bank city of Hebron(Jan. 16).U.S. shuttle joins Russian space station(Jan. 17).Gingrich found guilty of ethics violations(Jan. 17).President Clinton starts second term(Jan. 20).U.S., U.K., and France agree to freeze Nazis' gold loot(Feb. 3).O. J. Simpson found liable in civil suit(Feb. 5).Deng Xiaoping, Chinese leader, dead at 92(Feb. 19).Israeli government approves establishment of Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, a setback in Middle East peace process(Feb. 26). Tornadoeswreak havoc in Arkansas, Ohio, and Kentucky(March 3).State of anarchy in Albania when third of population loses savings because of pyramid schemes(March 13). Hale-Bopp cometis the closest it will be to Earth until 4397(March 22). Heaven's Gatecult members commit mass suicide in California(March 27).U.S. Appeals Court upholds California ban on affirmative action(April 8).U.S. judge upholds California marijuana law(April 11). Tiger Woodsbreaks multiple records in Masters golf tournament(April 13).Fire kills 300 pilgrims outside Mecca(April 15).Senate, 74–26, approves chemical-weapons treaty(April 24).Thousands flee North Dakota flood(April 27).Sergeant Major of the Army, Gene C. McKinney, charged in sex cases(May 7).Russian president Yeltsin signs Chechnya peace treaty(May 12).U.S.-Russian spaceship linkup in orbit ends(May 21).U.S. jobless rate for May reported 4.8%, lowest since 1973(June 6).European Union bolsters currency merger(June 16).Congress votes major tax cuts(June 26).Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule(June 30).U.S. spacecraft begins exploration of Mars(July 4).Andrew Cunanan murders fashion designer Gianni Versace(July 15). Khmer Rougehold trial of longtime leader Pol Pot(July 25).White House and GOP agree on measure to balance budget(July 28).U.S. spacecraft transmits thousands of pictures from Mars(Aug. 8).Clinton exercises new line-item veto(Aug. 11).Timothy J. McVeigh sentenced to death for Oklahoma City bombing(Aug. 14).Princess Diana, 36, killed with two others in Paris car crash(Aug. 31).Three Islamic suicide bombers kill four persons in Jerusalem(Sept. 4). Mother Teresadead at 87(Sept. 5).Swiss plan first payment to Holocaust victims(Sept. 17).Militant Taliban leaders seize Kabul(Sept. 27).Iraq expels all U.S. members of UN arms-inspection team(Oct. 29).GOP victorious in off-year elections(Nov. 4).Pakistani convicted in 1993 CIA killings(Nov. 10).Two convicted in New York World Trade Center bombing(Nov. 12).Egyptian Islamic militants kill 62 at Luxor tourist site(Nov. 17).FBI ends 16-month investigation of crash of Flight 800 off Long Island; denies sabotage(Nov. 18).European Union plans to admit six nations(Dec. 13).U.S. company launches first commercial spy satellite(Dec. 24).Paris court convicts “Carlos the Jackal” of murder(Dec. 24).

1995 World History Seamus Heaney (1939– ) Archive Photos William J. Clinton (1946– ) The White House Yitzhak Rabin (1922–1995) Archive Photos 1995 Republicans take control of Congress(Jan. 4).More than 5,000 dead in Japanese earthquake(Jan. 17et seq.). Criminal trial of O. J. Simpsonopens in California(Jan. 24).U.S. rescues Mexico's economy with $20-billion aid program(Feb. 21).Senate rejects balanced-budget amendment(March 2).Nerve gas attack in Tokyo subway kills eight and injures thousands. The Aum Shinrikyo(“Supreme Truth”) cult is to blame(March 20).Major League Baseball strike ends(April 2).Appeals court upholds woman's plea to enter Citadelmilitary academy(April 13).UN Council votes easier sanctions for Iraq(April 14).Scores killed as terrorist's car bombblows up block-long Oklahoma City federal building(April 19); Timothy McVeigh, 27, Army veteran, arrested as suspect(April 21);authorities seek second suspect, link right-wing paramilitary groups to bombing(April 22).Death toll 2,000 in Rwandamassacre(April 22).Fighting escalates in Bosniaand Croatia(May 1).U.S. shuttle docks with Russian space station(June 27).F.B.I. suspends four in Idaho siege inquiry(Aug. 11).France explodes nuclear device in Pacific; wide protests ensue(Sept. 5).Senator Bob Packwood of Oregon resigns under pressure for sexual and official misconduct(Sept. 6).Israelis and Palestinians agree on transferring West Bank to Arabs(Sept. 24).Los Angeles jury finds O. J. Simpson not guilty of murder charges(Oct. 3).Pope John Paul IIvisits U.S. on whirlwind tour(Oct. 4–8).Warring parties agree on cease-fire in Bosnia(Oct. 5).Million Man March draws hundreds of thousands of black men to capital(Oct. 16).Quebec narrowly rejects independence from Canada(Oct. 30).Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabinslain by Jewish extremist at peace rally(Nov. 4).U.S. servicemen admit rape of Japanese schoolgirl in Okinawa(Nov. 7). Nigeriahangs writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other minority rights advocates(Nov. 10).Irish voters approve end to constitutional ban on divorce(Nov. 24).Combatants sign Bosnia peace treaty(Dec. 14).House move stalls Congress–White House negotiations to avert government shutdown(Dec. 20). Seamus Heaneywins Nobel prizefor literature.

1996 World History Ella Fitzgerald (1918–1996) Archive Photos Madeleine Albright (1937– ) U.S. State Department Kofi Annan (1938– ) United Nations 1996 U.S. budget crisis in fourth month(Jan. 3).Clinton approves resumption of many government operations(Jan. 6).Senate ratifies major arms reduction treaty(Jan. 26). Franceannounces end to nuclear tests(Jan. 29).At least 73 dead in Sri Lankan suicide bombing(Feb. 1).Suicide bombers kill 59 in Israel(March 4).Bob Dole sweeps Republican primaries(March 5).Britain alarmed by deadly cow disease (March 20et seq.). UN tribunal charges war crimes by Bosnian Muslims and Croats(March 22).Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown killed in plane crash(April 3).FBI arrests suspected Unabomber(April 3).Clinton signs line-item veto bill(April 9).President blocks ban on late-term abortions(April 10).ValuJet crashes in Everglades; all 110 aboard killed(May 11). Chechnyapeace treaty signed(May 27).Israel elects Benjamin Netanyahuas prime minister(May 31). Chinaagrees to world ban on atomic testing(June 6).Leaders in Balkans sign accord on arms limits(June 14).Jazz great Ella Fitzgeralddies(June 15).Truck bomb kills 19 at U.S. base in Saudi Arabia(June 25). Boris Yeltsinis reelected in Russian election(July 3).Prince Charlesand Princess Dianaagree on divorce(July 12).747 airliner crashesin Atlantic off Long Island; all 230 aboard perish(July 17).Bomb mars Summer Olympic games in Atlanta(July 25).Clinton signs bill to raise minimum wage(Aug. 2).Congress passes welfare reform bill(Aug. 2);approved by Clinton(Aug. 22).Republican convention opens in San Diego(Aug. 12);Bob Dole and Jack Kemp nominated(Aug. 14).Democrats convene in Chicago(Aug. 26).Iraqis strike at Kurdish enclave(Aug. 31);after warning, U.S. attacks Iraq's southern air defenses(Sept. 2–3);Iraq halts attacks on U.S. planes enforcing flight exclusion zones in north and south(Sept. 13).Violence flares in Jerusalem over Israel opening tourist tunnel(Sept. 24).Taliban Muslim fundamentalists capture Afghancapital(Sept. 27).Ethnic violence breaks out in Zairian refugee camps(Oct. 13);thousands of refugees from Rwanda and Burundi abandon camps(Oct. 21).Clinton-Gore ticket wins national election; Republicans retain control of Congress(Nov. 5).Mid-air collision in India kills 342(Nov. 12).Texaco settles racial bias suit(Nov. 15).Hundreds of thousands of Hutu refugees return to Rwanda(Nov. 15–18).Clinton appoints Madeleine Albrightas first female U.S. secretary of state(Dec. 5). Kofi Annannamed UN secretary-general(Dec. 13).FBI agent charged with spying for Moscow(Dec. 18).Thousands march in Belgrade in continuing protest against president's annulment of election results(Dec. 26).