random retro-spective
Smiling but at what cost?
Paul McCartney was fined
for importing cannabis into Sweden, 1972
the retro hour: 1999
We've been through the archive and compiled everything we think you need to know about the year. To make it easier for you to find what you're looking for, everything is organised into categories.
the top stories
BBC television presenter Jill Dando was shot dead outside her home in
London
An earthquake devastated much of central and western Columbia. It measured
six on the Richter scale.
American president Bill Clinton was cleared of perjury and obstructing
the course of justice after it was alleged he'd lied to a federal jury
over his affair with Monica Lewinsky
King Hussain of Jordan died at the age of 63
There was a total eclipse of the sun over Britain. (The next one will
be in 2090).
A flood of celebrity weddings took place, including David Beckham to Victoria
Adams, Zoe Ball and Norman Cook and, perhaps most notably, Prince Edward
to Sophie Rhys-Jones.
Desmond Lynam left BBC Sport to join ITV
Sir Simon Rattle became the new conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra
Elections took place for the new Scottish and Welsh Assemblies
on the chart
The Best Female at the Brits was Des'Ree. Robbie Williams won the award
for Best Male. The Manic Street Preachers took the awards for Best Group
and Best Album.
David Beckham and Victoria Adams married in Ireland
Zoe Ball and Fatboy Slim were married
Rod Stewart and Rachel Hunter split up
The Eurovision Song Contest was won by Charlotte Nilsson of Sweden with
Take Me To Your Heaven
on the tv and at the cinema
News at Ten and Noel's House Party were screened for the last time
Bonnie the Blue Peter dog retired from the show
Ernie Wise, Rod Hull, Derek Nimmo and Johnny Morris died
The top shows of the year were: Coronation Street, EastEnders, Who Wants
To Be A Millionaire, Heartbeat and A Touch Of Frost
Fans queued for miles to see the new Star Wars movie, Episode One
The film Shakespeare In Love won seven Academy awards including Best Screenplay
for Tom Stoppard. Remember when Gwyneth Paltrow
was reduced to tears when she picked up the Best Actress Oscar for the
film?
Box office hits were Notting Hill, Waking Ned, A Bug's Life and Star Wars
- The Phantom Menace
sports achievements and milestones
Prince Naseem Hamed picked up an MBE
Alex Ferguson was knighted in the Queen's birthday honours
Manchester United completed the treble - they won the Premiership, the
FA Cup and the European Cup
Bobby Jo was first past the post in the Grand National at Aintree
Scot Paul Lawrie won the Open Championship
Tennis: Steffi Graf won the Women's Singles title at the French Open,
Pete Sampras and Lindsay Davenport won Wimbledon
Mika Hakkinen was the Formula 1 World Champion
and finally
Companies were preparing themselves for computer meltdown because of
the threat of the millennium bug
Sinead O'Connor was ordained as a priest
New words included digerati - referring to the cultural elite of the internet