- July 22
- Persecution of Falun Gong begins. Falun Gong is banned in the People's Republic of China under Jiang Zemin. [20]
- July 23
- ANA Flight 61 is hijacked in Tokyo, Japan. [20]
- Mohammed VI of Morocco becomes king upon the death of his father Hassan II. [20]
- July 27
- Twenty-one people die in a canyoning disaster near Interlaken, Switzerland. [20]
- July 31
- NASA intentionally crashes the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the lunar surface. [5] [20]
- August 7
- Hundreds of Chechen guerrillas invade the Russian republic of Dagestan, triggering a short war. [20]
- August 8
- The first Callatis Festival, the largest music and culture festival in Romania, is held. [20]
- August 9
- Russian President Boris Yeltsin fires his Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet. [20]
- August 10
- An intruding Pakistan Navy plane is shot down in India. The incident sparks tensions between the two nations, coming just a month after the end of the Kargil War. [20]
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- August 11
- A total solar eclipse is seen in Europe and Asia. [20]
- August 15
- The maiden voyage of the Disney Wonder cruise ship takes place. [69]
- August
- Edeka, Germany's largest retailer, declares it is completely abandoning genetically-engineered foods. [719.xi]
- August 17
- A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Izmit and levels much of northwestern Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000. [20] [53]
- August 19
- In Belgrade, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Yugoslav President Slobodan MiloÜevic. [20]
- August 22
- Mandarin Airlines Flight 642 crashes in Hong Kong. [20]
- August 29
- (to August 30) In New York City, New York, Auctions by Bowers and Merena conducts the sale of The Walter H. Childs Collection. The Sultan of Muscat Class I specimen of the US 1804 $1 coin graded PR-68 sells for US$4,140,000, a world record price for a coin. [352.24] [404.14] [520.52] [525.79] [1108.865]
- September 7
- In Greece, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurs. 143 people killed, 1,600 injured, 50,000 homeless and at least 53,000 buildings damaged or destroyed in the Athens area. [20] [53]
- September 8
- The first of a series of Russian apartment bombings occurs. 22 fails. (Subsequent bombings occur on September 13 and 16, while a bombing on September) [20]
- September 9
- Sega releases the Dreamcast video game system in the USA. Price is US$199. In the first 24 hours, Sega sells US$97 million worth of hardware and software, setting an entertainment industry record for highest-grossing day. [9]
- September 14
- Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations. [20]
- September 15
- For the first time in its 28-year history, most of Walt Disney World in Florida is closed for the day, due to the threat of Hurricane Floyd. Disney's Animal Kingdom re-opens at 12:00 PM for resort guests. [6]
- September
- The American government administration severs all military ties with the Indonesian military. [240.48]
- Brake Bros., Britain's largest frozen foods distributor, eradicates genetically-modified ingredients from all its products. [719.xi]
- September 21
- A large earthquake registering 7.6 on the Richter scale shakes Taiwan. About 2,400 people killed, 8,700 injured, 600,000 people left homeless and about 82,000 housing units damaged. Damage estimated at US$14 billion, leading to a two-week halt to manufacturing of many components of personal computers. [4] [20] (September 20 [53])
- September 30
- In Oaxaca, Mexico, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurs. At least 35 people killed, 215 injured, thousands of buildings damaged or destroyed, utilities disrupted and roads blocked by landslides. [53]
- October 1
- Pudong International Airport opens in Shanghai, China, taking over all international flights to Hongqiao. [20]
- October 5
- Thirty-one people die in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash, west of London, England. [20] [720.24]
- October 12
- Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attempts to dismiss Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf and install ISI director Khwaja Ziauddin in his place. Senior Army generals refuse to accept the dismissal. Musharraf, who was out of the country, attempts to return in a commercial airliner. Sharif orders the Karachi airport to not allow the plane to land. The generals lead a coup d'état, ousting Sharif's administration and taking over the airport. The plane lands with only a few minutes of fuel to spare, and Musharraf takes control of the government. [20]
- World population reaches six billion people, as the six billionth person (according to the United Nations) is born in Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. [5] [20] (August 10, 2000 [5])
- October 13
- The United States Senate rejects ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). [20]
- October 15
- A National Geographic Society press conference reveals the fossil of Archaeoraptor (which is later found to be a forgery). [20]
- October 16
- In Southern California, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurs. Few injuries, light damage. [53]
- October 17
- In Frankfurt am Main, Germany, historian Fritz Stern is given the Peace Prize of the German Book Association. [37]
- October 23
- Apple Computer releases the Mac OS 9 operating system for Macintosh computers. [4]
- In Germany, Arnold Stadler is presented with the Georg Büchner Prize for Literature. [37]
- October 27
- Gunmen open fire in the Armenian Parliament, killing Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian, Parliament Chairman Karen Demirchian, and six other members. [20]
- October 31
- EgyptAir Flight 990 traveling from New York City to Cairo crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on-board. [20]
- Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran Church leaders sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, ending a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation. [20]
- November 1
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Chevron Corporation, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Union Carbide Corporation, and Sears Roebuck from its index, replacing them with Microsoft Corporation, Intel Corporation, SBC Communications, and Home Depot Incorporated. [228]
- November 2
- Hong Kong International Theme Parks announces an agreement has been reached with the Walt Disney Company on building a Disneyland park in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Disneyland will be 126 hectares (299 acres) in size, built on Lantau Island. The park is scheduled to open in 2005. [6]
- November 5
- US District Judge Thomas Jackson issues his 207-page Findings of Fact, ruling that Microsoft has monopoly power over personal computer operating systems, and uses that power to harm American consumers. [4] [20]
- November 6
- Australians vote to keep the monarch as their head of state. [20]
- November 8
- The German Gerichtshof (supreme court) sentences Egon Krenz, former East German political leader, to prison for his role in the killing of East Germans seeking to flee the country. [37]
- November 9
- TAESA Flight 725 crashes a few minutes after leaving the Uruapan airport en-route to Mexico City; 18 people are killed in the accident. [20]
- November 11
- A six-story apartment building collapses in Italian city of Foggia killing more than 60 residents. [20]
- November 12
- In northwest Turkey, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurs. At least 894 people killed and 4,948 injured. [20] [53]
- November 18
- In College Station, Texas, 12 are killed and 28 injured at Texas A&M University when the annual Aggie Bonfire collapses while under construction. [20]
- November 19
- In Istanbul, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) ends a two-day summit by calling for a political settlement in Chechnya and adopting a Charter for European Security. [20]
- November 20
- The People's Republic of China launches the first Shenzhou spacecraft. [20]
- November 21
- Maiden voyage of Royal Caribbean International's Voyager of the Seas cruise ship (142,000 gross tons, maximum 3838 passengers). [79]
- November 26
- In Vanuatu Islands, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and tsunami occur. At least ten people are killed. [20] [53]
- The Norwegian passenger ferry MS Sleipner sinks, killing 16 people on board. [20]
- November 27
- The New Zealand Labour Party, led by Helen Clark, wins office in a General Election, unseating the incumbent administration of Jenny Shipley. [20]
- November 28
- A man wielding a samurai sword enters St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Thornton Heath and injures 11. [20]
- Jorge Batlle, of the Colorado Party, is elected president of Uruguay. [20]
- November 30
- In Seattle, Washington, the first major mobilization of the anti-globalization movement catches police unprepared and forces the cancellation of the opening ceremonies of the WTO Meeting of 1999 (protests end on December 3). [20]
- Exxonmobil Corporation merger is completed, and forms the largest company in the world. [20]
- British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merge to form BAE Systems, Europe's largest defence contractor and the fourth largest aerospace firm in the world. [5]
- December 1
- Exxon changes its company name to Exxon Mobil Company. [228]
- December 2
- AlliedSignal Incorporated changes its company name to Honeywell International. [228]
- The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive. [20]
- December 3
- After rowing for 81 days and 2,962 nautical miles (5486 km), Tori Murden crosses the Atlantic Ocean by rowboat alone, when she reaches Guadeloupe from the Canary Islands. [20]
- NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander, moments before the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere. [20]
- December 7
- The RIAA files a lawsuit against the Napster file-sharing client. [5]
- December 10
- German author Gunter Grass wins the Nobel Prize for Literature. [37]
- The European Union, at its meeting in Helsinki, Finland, determines to take up negotiations with Rumania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, the Slovak Republic and Malta for admission to the Union. [37]
- December 12
- President Lieutenant General Umar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir of Sudan dismisses the National Assembly, during an internal power struggle between him and speaker of the Parliament Hasan al-Turabi. [20]
- The Maltese-registered tanker Erika breaks up in stormy seas off France's Atlantic shore, dumping about 17 million litres of oil, covering hundreds of kilometres of coast. [522]
- December 13
- Angola devalues its currency about 1 new kwanza to 1 million old kwanza. [700.408]
- December 14
- Algerian Ahmed Ressam is arrested while crossing the United States-Canada border at Port Angeles, Washington, when United States Customs finds explosives in the trunk of his automobile. The arrest causes fears of a terrorist attack in the United States, and is a major factor in the cancellation of a public New Year's celebration in Seattle, Washington. Ressam is later convicted in a plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on New Year's Eve. [20]
- December 15
- Torrential rains cause catastrophic floods and mudslides in the coastal regions of Venezuela, killing an estimated 25,000 people and leaving 100,000 others homeless. [20]
- December 17
- The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) is created to replace UNSCOM. The U.N. Security Council once again orders Iraq to allow inspections teams immediate and unconditional access to any weapons sites and facilities. Iraq rejects the resolution. [20]
- December 18
- NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments: ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT. [5] [20]
- December 20
- Portugal returns Macau to the People's Republic of China. [1] [20] [386.281]
- December 21
- The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts near Calatayud (Zaragoza) a Madrid-bound van driven by ETA and loaded with 950kg of explosives. (The next day, another van loaded with 750kg is found not far from there.) [20]
- December 24
- Indian Airlines Flight 814, en route from Kathmandu, Nepal to Delhi, India is hijacked and taken to Kandahar, Afghanistan. [20]
- December 26
- Royal Caribbean International's Voyager of the Seas cruise ship sets a new record for most guests on a single cruise: 3497. [79]
- December 27
- A Maltese-registered tanker runs aground at the mouth of the Bosporus strait across Istanbul, Turkey. [522]
- December 29
- In Henley-on-Thames, England, former Beatle George Harrison is stabbed several times in the chest by Michael Anram, who had broken into his home. Harrison's wife wrestles the knife out of the assailant's hand before the police arrive. The man apparently believes that Harrison is the devil. He is later charged with attempted murder. [20]
- December 30
- Death of Sarah Knauss, among oldest living persons ever (born 1880). [20]
- December 31
- Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, replaced by Vladimir Putin. [20] [46.285] [68.26]
- Five hijackers, who had been holding 155 hostages on an Indian Airlines plane, leave the plane with two Islamic clerics that they had demanded be freed. [20]
- Millennium celebrations begin worldwide (although technically the third millennium starts in 2001 not 2000). Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom opens the Millennium Dome at Greenwich, London. [20]
- US turns over complete administration of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian Government as stipulated in the Torrijos-Carter Treaty of 1977 free of liens and debts, in good operation and with a $1 billion investment program in place designed to ensure continued first class service to the maritime world. At the transfer, more than 97 percent of the Canal's 9,000 workers are Panamanian. [20] [129] [150.62]
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