On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
Portrait 1080 × 1920 PNG · created on your device
Laila Ali, 21-year-old daughter of Muhammad Ali, says she will become professional boxer; prospect infuses women's professional boxing, desperate for true stars, with both promise and worry; her father is reportedly alarmed but supportive; photos (M)
Andrew McCarthy and Rick Stear are reunited with Ellen Burstyn and director Michael Wilson in Hartford Stage production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night; Burstyn photo; Edvard Grieg's known works increase by more than 40 after trove of his compositions is uncovered by German musicologist; some of pieces will have their premieres in Leipzig in March; The Thin Red Line, Terrence Malick's film about World War II battle for Guadalcanal, wins Berlin Film Festival's top award; lyricist and singer Johnny Mercer will be celebrated by Michael Feinstein at Weill Recital Hall; Feinstein photo; Jessica Goldberg, 25-year-old New York playwright, is named winner of $5,000 principal award of 21st annual Susan Smith Blackburn Prizes (M)
David Wells, at news conference to trumpet his arrival with Toronto Blue Jays, discusses his trade from New York Yankees; photo (M)
New York City police officers begin new campaign against drunken driving by seizing cars of three drivers; Mayor Rudolph Giuliani says even those ultimately acquitted of drunken driving in criminal court still face prospect of losing cars through proceedings in civil courts; civil libertarians plan legal challenges to new policy, considered among strictest against drunken driving nationwide; Francisco Almonte, who was arrested eight times for drunken driving and was on probation following last arrest, and Pavel Grinberg, who had no prior arrests, are the first to have cars seized; photos (M)
Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column discusses criticism of pitcher Roger Clemens and his record in post season games; photo (M)
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of February 17, 1999, covering February 23, 1999.
Britney Spears
Lauryn Hill
The Offspring
Foxy Brown
*NSYNC
1999The Renegade, American wrestler (born 1965)[†]
Richard L. Wilson was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name The Renegade, where he was a one-time WCW World Television Champion.
1999Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.[†]
Kurds, or the Kurdish people, are an Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syria. Consisting of 30–45 million people, the global Kurdish population is largely concentrated in Kurdistan, but significant communities of the Kurdish diaspora exist in parts of West Asia beyond Kurdistan and in parts of Europe, most notably including: Turkey's Central Anatolian Kurds, as well as Istanbul Kurds; Iran's Khorasani Kurds; the Caucasian Kurds, primarily in Azerbaijan and Armenia; and the Kurdish populations in various European countries, namely Germany, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
1999An avalanche buries the town of Galtür, Austria, killing 31.[†]
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, other animals, and earthquakes. Primarily composed of flowing snow and air, large avalanches have the capability to capture and move ice, rocks, and trees.
In 1999, the world population was approximately 6,089,006,339 people[†]