On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
In 1999, the world population was approximately 6,089,006,339 people[†]
1999Jesser, American YouTuber[†]
Jesse Riedel, better known as Jesser, formerly JesserTheLazer, is an American YouTuber who makes videos based around basketball, being the largest basketball creator on the platform. His videos usually include challenges or meeting professional athletes.
1999Alex O'Connor, English media personality[†]
Alex J. O'Connor, also known as CosmicSkeptic, is an English YouTuber and podcaster, best known for his videos on atheism and philosophy. He attended St John's College at the University of Oxford and graduated with a degree in philosophy and theology.
1999Michael Aris, Cuban-English author and academic (born 1946)[†]
Michael Vaillancourt Aris was a British historian who wrote and lectured on Bhutanese, Tibetan, and Himalayan culture and history. He was the husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, who would later become State Counsellor of Myanmar.
1999Kosovo War: An American Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk is shot down by a Yugoslav Army SAM, the first and only Nighthawk to be lost in combat.[†]
The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It was fought between the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), which controlled Kosovo before the war, and the Kosovo Albanian separatist militia known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The conflict ended when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intervened by beginning air strikes in March 1999 which resulted in Yugoslav forces withdrawing from Kosovo.
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HIP Health Plan of New Jersey, insolvent and set to close down, still has estimated 50,000 policyholders who have not changed to new plan; most are elderly and are confused at losing familiar, convenient services; medical professionals have set up new practices; mental health providers continue therapy sessions, although they have yet to be approved by alternative HMO's (M)
Clinton Adm and Orgn for Security and Cooperation in Europe say that they have received reports from refugees fleeing Kosovo and others that estimated 15,000 to 20,000 ethnic Albanian civilians were put on forced march in central Kosovo by Serbian forces; Adm cautions that it does not have satellite imagery to confirm accounts; but State Dept says it will monitor 'unfolding events in Kosovo' and collect evidence of any war crimes, like summary executions (M)
Ohio State will play Connecticut and Duke will play Michigan State in Final Four of NCAA Basketball Tournament on March 27; photo (M)
About New York Column on Bushwick Center of El Puente, community organization and 'hothouse of hope' where minority youths can study and talk with counselors; director Asenhat Gomez, 24, came to US from Dominican Republic seven years ago with no English, no father and no money; Gomez, profiled in 1993 New York Times series Children of the Shadows, is now Hunter College graduate who has applied to medical school (S)
Europeans, who have age-old shopping habits, are just now warming to shopping on World Wide Web; on-line shopping accounted for just $1.2 billion of Europe's $1.9 trillion in retail sales last year, compared with $8 billion in on-line sales and $2.6 trillion in total sales in US; European on-line entrepreneurs have reasons to be optimistic; Internet use is rising in Europe as its cost falls, thanks in large part to deregulation of telecommunications; governments, troubled by Europe's lag behind North America, are pushing for more Internet use, and as result, on-line stores are spreading; American companies like IBM are actively promoting electronic commerce among their European customers; graph; photo (M)
Dr Jack Kevorkian, who claims he has helped more than 130 people commit suicide, is convicted of murder for giving fatal injection to a man with terminal illness; it is a verdict that people on both sides of assisted suicide debate believe will have profound impact on discussion of contentious, emotional subject now that its most visible proponent could spend much of rest of his life in jail; Kevorkian, 70, is convicted in death of Thomas Youk; prosecutors had charged Kevorkian with first-degree murder, which requires premeditation, but jury returns verdict of second-degree murder, which does not require premeditation; Kevorkian faces minimum sentence of 10 to 25 years in prison; photos (M)
Military is seen disclosing few details about bombing of Serbia; even as Pres Clinton's national security advisers flood television airways with interviews to justify NATO's air campaign against Yugoslavia, American military has clammed up on many of most basic details of operation; Pentagon briefers have refused to discuss what pilots are trying to bomb, or whether they have destroyed particular targets; photo of Pentagon spokesman Kenneth H Bacon (M)
Renault SA exec vice pres Carlos Ghosn is leading French car maker's plan to invest $5 billion in Nissan Motor Co; he has to turn around company that is at center of Japan's insular industrial establishment; no other Western executive has ever reached such pivotal position in one of Japan's corporate giants; Nissan is $36.5 billion in debt, stemming from losses in five of last six years; Ghosn is expected to become Nissan's chief operating officer under agreement that will give Renault 35 percent stake in company; photo (M)
Cornell University's $55-million plan to pump frigid water from Lake Cayuga to cool campus buildings, as alternative to conventional air conditioning, draws protests from environmentalists who fear that warmer water would choke glacial lake with algae and bacteria; Cornell scientists and engineers say system could actually improve conditions in lake, as well as saving on electricity and reducing coal burning; opponents charge New York State granted permits in violation of Clean Water Act, which bars new releases of anything, even recycled lake water, into 'impaired' waters like south tip of lake; photos; map (M)
Police Comr Howard Safir, after weeks of protest over combative police policies of Giuliani administration, unveils major changes in Street Crime Unit aimed at averting confrontations like that in which four white officers gunned down Amadou Diallo last month; Safir, reflecting Giuliani's more conciliatory approach to biggest crisis of his tenure, says that 50 of 380 officers in overwhelmingly white unit will be replaced with minority members, and that all of its officers will work in uniform to minimize potentially deadly confusion in heat-of-the-moment faceoffs on streets; some observers say that change to uniforms could hinder officers who often rely on stealth; Safir says unit, whose members roam in unmarked cars searching for crimes and suspected robbers, rapists and gunmen, has made 67 percent fewer arrests since shooting of Diallo on Feb 4, apparently because its officers have been affected by storm of criticism and protest; photos (L)
Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column on Duke's 81-69 defeat of Georgia in semifinals of women's NCAA basketball tournament; notes that Duke will play Michigan State in semifinals of men's tournament; photo (M)
Daily protests organized by Al Sharpton over police shooting of Amadou Diallo have become venue for variety of people to express frustrations with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani; some marchers clearly come to shake fists at television cameras and watch celebritites be arrested, but others, including whites like Arthur Strimler, put aside mistrust of Sharpton to join demonstrations; photos (M)