This day in history. Read about what happened today. A short and interesting account of historical events and facts about this day as well as any other day of the year. Find historical birthdays, deaths, tragedies, war events, disasters and sports events.

This year in history
In the year 1999

	January 1st	The Euro currency was introduced. It was first used only for banking purposes and was later introduced physical coins and banknotes in 2002.
	January 10th	The first episode of the hit television series, The Sopranos, aired on the HBO cable channel.
	February 4th	Venezuelan politician, Hugo Chavez Frias, was elected president of Venezuela.
	February 10th	An avalanche in the French Alps killed 10 people.
	February 12th	United States president, Bill Clinton, was acquitted by the United States Senate during his impeachment trial which had been brought forth due to the Lewinski scandal.
	February 23th	An huge avalanche destroyed most of the village of Galtur, Austria. 31 people died in the incident.
	February 24th	A China Southern Airlines passenger aircraft crashed in eastern China, resulting in the death of 61 people.
	February 27th	Olusegun Obasanjo was elected as Nigeria's president. He was the first elected president since 1983 when a military coup had taken place.
	March 7th	American film director, Stanley Kubrick, died at the age of 70. He was one of the most critically acclaimed film directors of American 20th century cinema. He directed such classics as Spartacus, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey. He was also the director of one of the most controversial films of the 20th century, A Clockwork Orange, which was one of the few non pornographic movies to ever receive an X rating in the United States (although it was later changed to an R rating).
	March 8th	American baseball player, Joe DiMaggio, died at the age of 84. He was one of the most celebrated baseball players of all time, who is also remembered for his high profile wedding to celebrity superstar, Marilyn Monroe.
	March 12th	The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined the NATO alliance. All of them were previously members of the Warsaw Pact.
	March 24th	NATO commences air bombardment of Yugoslavia.
	March 26th	The "Melissa worm" virus, infects e-mail systems around the world.
	April 9th	Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, president of Niger, was assassinated at the airport of the capital city of Niamey.
	April 19th	The German parliament, the Bundestag, was moved to Berlin after 50 years of being housed in Bonn.
	April 20th	Teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered the Columbine High school armed with machine guns and pipe bombs killing 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide.
	May 2nd	British actor, Oliver Reed, died at the age of 61. He gained international fame as a film star in the 60's and 70's. He died during the time he was filming his last role as the gladiator trainer Proximo, in the movie 'Gladiator'.
	May 3rd	A force 5 tornado struck Oklahoma City, USA killing 42 people and injuring more than 600.
	May 7th	Pope John Paul II travelled to Romania. This was the first time a pope of Rome had travelled to an Eastern Orthodox country in almost one thousand years, ever since the Great Schism in 1054.
	June 5th	American singer, Mel Torme, died at the age of 74. He is considered as one of the most talented and influential Jazz singers of all time.
	June 6th	345 prisoners escaped from a maximum security prison in Brazil. It was one of the largest jailbreaks in history.
	June 10th	NATO forces ended their aerial bombing campaign of Serbia after Serb troops begin to withdraw from Kosovo. The campaign lasted eleven weeks.
	June 11th	American actor, DeForest Kelley, died at the age of 78. He was best known for his starring role as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the Star Trek television series and movies.
	June 27th	Greek dictator, George Papadopoulos, died at the age of 79. He was the head of the military coup that took place in Greece on April 21, 1967 and lasted until 1974.
	July 2nd	American author, Mario Puzo, died at the age of 79. He is most famous for his work, The Godfather.
	July 16th	John F. Kennedy Jr. along with his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, were killed in a plane crash off the coast of Massachusetts. He was the son of assassinated US president He was the son of President John F. Kennedy.
	July 22nd	Microsoft released the first version of its MSN Messenger software.
	July 23th	All Nippon Airways Flight 61 was hijacked after taking off from Tokyo airport. The lone hijacker was eventually overpowered by the plane's crew, however the pilot was fatally wounded in the struggle.
	July 25th	American cyclist, Lance Armstrong, won his first Tour de France. He was able to accomplish one of the great victories of human spirit, as his victory came after he had been diagnosed and treated for lung, brain and testicular cancer
	August 19th	A huge rally took place in the Serb capital, Belgrade, demanding the resignation of President Slobodan Milosevic.
	September 7th	An earthquake of 5.9 magnitude on the Richter scale hits Athens, Greece. Over 100 people died in its wake.
	September 11th	Tennis player, Serena Williams, won her first Grand Slam tournament winning the US open. She was the first African American woman to win a Grand Slam tournament in 41 years.
	September 13th	119 people were killed after a bomb exploded in Moscow, Russia.
	September 21st	An earthquake, measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, struck central Taiwan, causing the death of approximately 2,400 people.
	September 22nd	American actor, George C. Scott, died at the age of 72. He is best remembered for his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the movie, Patton, as well as his portrayal of General Buck Turgidson in Dr. Strangelove.
	September 23th	A Qantas air passenger jet overrun the runway in Bangkok's airport. Only minor injuries were reported in what is the worst accident in the history of the Australian airline company.
	October 5th	Two trains collided in Ladbroke Grove, London, resulting in the death of 33 people.
	October 12th	American basketball player, Wilt Chamberlain, died of a heart attack at the age of 63. He is considered as one of the best basketball players of all time and one that revolutionized the game. Oddly enough he made far more money from his investments in real estate than he did when he was a basketball superstar.
	October 13th	The United States Senate rejected ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The treaty was meant to ban all forms of nuclear explosion testing, in all environments.
	October 30th	The Miss Saigon musical was performed for the last time in London after 10 years and 4264 performances.
	October 31st	An EgyptAir passenger flight travelling from New York City to Cairo crashed off the coast of Massachusetts, resulting in the death of all 217 people on-board. The investigation into the cause of the accident determined that the co-pilot intentionally crashed the plane into the sea.
	November 19th	The People's Republic of China launched the Shenzhou 1 spacecraft which carried their first ever astronaut to space.
	December 19th	Portugal transferred sovereignty of Macau to China. The Portuguese had settled in Macau in 1535.
	December 26th	Severe weather conditions over France resulted in the death of more than one hundred people.
	December 31st	Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, resigned from office leaving then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President.
	December 31st	The United States handed control of the Panama Canal over to Panamanian government.

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