On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
In 1998, the world population was approximately 6,007,066,690 people[†]
1998MrBeast, American YouTuber[†]
James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson, commonly known by his online alias MrBeast, is an American YouTuber, media personality, and businessman. His YouTube videos, where he often hosts elaborate challenges and philanthropic efforts, are known for their fast pace and high production values. With over 404 million subscribers, he has the most subscribers on any YouTube channel; he is also the third-most-followed creator on TikTok, with over 115 million followers.
1998Dani Olmo, Spanish footballer[†]
Daniel Olmo Carvajal is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or left winger for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team.
1998Jesse Puljujärvi, Finnish ice hockey player[†]
Jesse Puljujärvi is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL).
1998Allan McLeod Cormack, South African-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1924)[†]
Allan MacLeod Cormack was a South African and American physicist, academic, and Nobel laureate. He was Professor of Physics at Tufts University and won the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on X-ray computed tomography (CT), a significant and unusual achievement since Cormack did not hold a doctoral degree in any scientific field.
1998Eddie Rabbitt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1941)[†]
Edward Thomas Rabbitt was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974. Later in the 1970s, Rabbitt helped to develop the crossover-influenced sound of country music prevalent in the 1980s with such hits as "Suspicions", "I Love a Rainy Night", and "Every Which Way but Loose". His duets "Both to Each Other " with Juice Newton and "You and I" with Crystal Gayle later appeared on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and All My Children.
1998Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.[†]
Mercedes-Benz, commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG is based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Mercedes-Benz AG manufactures luxury vehicles and light commercial vehicles, all branded under the Mercedes-Benz name. From November 2019 onwards, the production of Mercedes-Benz-branded heavy commercial vehicles has been managed by Daimler Truck, which separated from the Mercedes-Benz Group to form an independent entity at the end of 2021.
Nasdaq Considers Move Nasdaq may move its headquarters and stock market to Manhattan from Washington. Page B10. Ireland Unites in Commerce Ulster's Protestant business establishment is making deals with its Irish Catholic counterpart. Page A3.
Howard W French special report on failure of United Nations investigation to establish facts in one of most troubling mysteries of Congo's seven-month civil war: disappearance and presumed killings of tens of thousands of Hutu refugees; refugees disappeared as they were being driven clear across Africa's third-largest country by rebel army of Laurent Kabila in his successful effort to overthrow dictator Mobutu Sese Seko; UN puts toll at 180,000 people; failure of inquiry was fault of many--not just Congolese; though Kabila pledged to cooperate, Congolese used every tactic to frustrate inquiry; UN made crucial concessions to Kabila's Government that weakened inquiry; Congo's neighbors, particularly Rwanda and Uganda, that sponsored Kabila's rebellion were hostile to any investigation that might disclose details of their involvement; Western nations, led by US, were eager to cement their ties to new authorities in Kinshasa and pressed UN to give in to Congolese demands; map; photo (M)
Article discusses explosive power of St Louis Cardinals baseball player Mark McGwire; photo (M)
Digital versatile disk drive is poised to replace CD-ROM drive as standard equipment on computers; DVD disks look much like CDs, but can hold 25 times as much data, including high-resolution, full-length movies; drive will also play existing CDs; consumers are skeptical, citing dearth of available software and plans for even better, faster DVD-ROM machines; photo; table (L)
Interview with Lillian Ross, whose memoir, Here but Not Here: A Love Story, describes 40-year affair with William Shawn, editor of New Yorker magazine for more than three decades, who died in 1992; photos (M)
Market Place column describes two investor lawsuits filed against Sunbeam Corp, charging company used off-season promotion for barbecue grills last winter to artificially inflate its results for 1997, in order to more easily obtain financing to acquire three companies; investor lawsuits call this early-buy promotion deliberately misleading; products remained in retailers' inventory until weather warmed; now, in what should be good period for grill sales, Sunbeam has fewer orders than it would otherwise because of its 'early buy' program; Sunbeam has issued warnings twice this year about slowing sales, causing its stock to plummet, and is expected to report loss for first quarter (M)
Battle is raging between spammers, who use Internet to send commercial junk E-mail, and various other Internet factions; Internet access providers complain bulk mail clogs and slows down system; subscribers who get mail complain about its content; spammers have developed techniques to work in stealth, while anti-spammers use variety of retaliatory techniques; both sides see freedom of speech at risk; tables; photos (L)
Evelyn Nieves Our Towns column discusses successful legal battle waged by ice cream vendor Jeffrey Cabaniss against Stafford Township, NJ, ordinance that banned him from playing music on his truck; photo (M)
Gov George E Pataki and Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani, negotiating what would be biggest change in admissions standards at City University of New York in nearly 30 years, agree on plan to end all remedial classes at system's 11 four-year colleges; plan, which is presented to committee of university trustees, would bar students who do not pass university's placement tests in reading, writing and mathematics; Giuliani, continuing his attack on university, names task force headed by former Yale University pres Benno C Schmidt Jr, to investigate it; Giuliani photo (M) university estimates that over 11,000 students could be affected each year;
Lack of tangible progress at latest round of US-Israeli-Palestinian talks in London raised few eyebrows after so many false starts over past 16 months; what may have been more significant was that Clinton Administration was no longer self-effacing 'facilitator,' but full-fledged negotiator--sitting opposite Israel; shift was evident in defiant tone with which Prime Min Benjamin Netanyahu treated US demand that Israel withdraw from 13 percent of West Bank as minimum price for reviving peace talks in Washington (M)
Daimler Benz AG, German industrial giant that makes Mercedes-Benz automobiles, will acquire Chrysler Corp in estimated $36 billion merger expected to be announced on May 7; deal will be biggest industrial takeover and biggest acquisition of American company by foreign buyer; it will reshape US automobile industry by uniting America's third-largest car maker with Germany's renowned producer of luxury cars; companies' combined auto sales totaled $131 billion in 1997; new company will be called DaimlerChrysler; it will be jointly run for number of years by Daimler-Benz chief exec Jurgen Schrempp and Chrysler chief exec Robert J Eaton, and it is thought Schrempp could take control after their joint term; photos (M)
Peter Schickele receives commission for musical ode honoring Franklin Roosevelt and New Deal from New Heritage Music Foundation in project with Mannes College of Music to create works that commemmorate people, events or themes central to American history; Dan Welcher will write oratorio inspired by speeches of John F Kennedy; Chen Yi, concerto honoring Eleanor Roosevelt and Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Behzad Ranjbaran, homage to Thomas Jefferson; David Ott, orchestral work inspired by space program; photo; 13th season of Central Park's Summerstage, free concert series, will begin on June 13 and is expected to draw 13 million people before ending on August 16; singer Rosemary Clooney, who turns 70 on May 23, is celebrating 10th-anniversary engagement at Rainbow and Stars, where she has sung every year since cabaret opened in 1989; photo; Yohei Sasakawa, president of Nippon Foundation, will present Juilliard School with $1 million endowment to establish Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fund; fellowship fund for graduate students in music is named after his father who used fortune amassed in motorboat racing to begin foundation (M)