On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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James Sterngold's Arts in America column on increasing number of older Americans attending summer poetry camps nationwide; describes his experience at camp for poetry writers in Idyllwild, Calif; photo (M)
P.& G. to Pay $2.3 Billion For Pet Food Maker Iams Procter & Gamble is expanding its mix of top-selling brands by acquiring Iams, the maker of premium pet food, for $2.3 billion. The deal, P.& G.'s largest acquisition in dollar terms, moves the consumer products maker into a market-leading position in the high end of the $25 billion pet food market. And it is a first step in the company's strategy to speed growth by diversifying beyond its traditional categories. Shares of P.& G. rose 50 cents, to $93.25. [Page C2.]
Special report, Vale of Tears, notes that India and Pakistan have fought over Kashmir for 50 years; Indian officials estimate that 24,000 people have died during past decade, but others say that many more have perished; life in Srinagar, Kashmir, has assumed quality of war-weary numbness and morbid fatalism after ten years of mayhem; map; photos (M)
Article on New York City's rooftop gardeners who cultivate own trophy vegetables--from professionally tended Upper East Side orangeries to walk-ups in Brooklyn; photos (M)
New York City widens its effort to monitor parolees more closely by having police accompany parole officers on some of their visits; similar initiatives are being tried around country, but aggressiveness of efforts in New York have alarmed civil libertarians and some parole officers, who express concerns that parolees are becoming targets of illegal searches and harassment by police; police officials and politicians laud city's parole efforts; want to bring all of initiatives under one task force and export tactics to other communities around state (M)
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of August 11, 1999, covering August 12, 1999.
Limp Bizkit
Backstreet Boys
Various Artists
Ricky Martin
Hot Boys
1999Matthijs de Ligt, Dutch footballer[†]
Matthijs de Ligt is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester United and the Netherlands national team.
1999Dream, American YouTuber[†]
Clay, known online as Dream, is an American YouTuber, Twitch streamer, speedrunner, and musician primarily known for creating Minecraft content.
1999Jule Niemeier, German tennis player[†]
Jule Niemeier is a German professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 61, achieved on 7 November 2022.
1999GK Barry, social media star and presenter[†]
Grace Eleanor Keeling, known professionally as GK Barry, is an English internet personality, social media influencer and presenter. Keeling began posting on video-sharing platform TikTok in 2020 whilst completing a film studies degree at Nottingham Trent University, during which she worked on the BBC soap opera Doctors. After one year of posting lifestyle videos on the app, she surpassed 1 million followers. She began presenting a podcast, Saving Grace, in April 2022, which sees her interviewing various celebrities. She has since gone on to tour the Saving Grace podcast around the UK. In 2024, Keeling joined the cast of Loose Women as a panellist, making her the youngest regular panellist in the show's 25-year history. She went on to appear in the twenty-fourth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! later that year. In 2025, she made her acting debut, with a cameo as Vanessa in the Netflix original series Missing You.
1999Jean Drapeau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 37th Mayor of Montreal (born 1916)[†]
Jean Drapeau was a Canadian politician who served as mayor of Montreal for 2 non-consecutive terms from 1954 to 1957 and from 1960 to 1986. Major accomplishments of the Drapeau Administration include the development of the Montreal Metro entirely underground mass transit subway system running on 'whisper quiet' rubber wheels, a successful international exposition Expo 67 as well as the construction of a major performing arts centre, the Place des Arts. Drapeau also secured the hosting of the 1976 Summer Olympics and was instrumental in building the Olympic Stadium and then world's tallest inclined tower. Drapeau was responsible for securing a Major League Baseball franchise, with the creation of the Montreal Expos in 1969. Drapeau's main legacy is Montreal's attainment of global status under his administration. He was the longest serving mayor of Montreal.
In 1999, the world population was approximately 6,089,006,339 people[†]