1998

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1960s  1970s  1980s  – 1990s –  2000s  2010s  2020s
Years:	1995 1996 1997 – 1998 – 1999 2000 2001

1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

• January 1998 – A massive ice storm, caused by El Niño, strikes New England, southern Ontario and Quebec, resulting in widespread power failures, severe damage to forests, and a number of deaths.
• January 1 – Smoking is banned in all California bars and restaurants.
• January 2
  • Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.
  • Gunman shoots Antario Teodoro Filho, Brazilian politician and radio presenter, in a middle of his broadcast.
• January 4 – Wilaya of Relizane massacres of 4 January 1998 in Algeria; over 170 killed in three remote villages.
• January 6 – The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon and later found evidence for frozen water on the moon's surface.
• January 8
  • Ramzi Yousef is sentenced to life in prison for planning the World Trade Center bombing.
  • Cosmologists announce that the expansion rate of the universe is increasing.
• January 11 – Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria; over 100 people killed.
• January 12 – 19 European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
• January 14 – Researchers in Dallas, Texas present findings about an enzyme that slows aging and cell death (apoptosis).
• January 15 – The stalker of Howard Stern, Lance Carvin, is sentenced to 2 1/2 years for threatening to kill Stern and his family.
• January 16 – NASA announces that John Glenn will return to space when Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off in October 1998.
• January 17 – Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.
• January 22 – Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski pleads guilty and accepts a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
• January 26
  • Lewinsky scandal: On American television, Bill Clinton denies he had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
  • Compaq buys Digital Equipment Corporation.
• January 27 – American First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton appears on the Today show calling the attacks against her husband part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."
• January 28
  • Ford Motor Company announces the buyout of Volvo Cars for $6.45 billion.
  • Gunmen hold at least 400 children and teachers hostage for several hours at an elementary school in Manila, Philippines.
• January 29 – In Birmingham, Alabama a bomb explodes at an abortion clinic killing one and severely wounding another. Serial bomber Eric Rudolph is suspected as the culprit.

• May 28 – Yaum-e-Takbeer is celebrated throughout Pakistan.

Births

• February 25 – Brendon Baerg, American actor
• April 9 – Elle Fanning, American actress
• June 15 – Rachel Covey, American actress
• September 21 – Lorenzo Brino, American actor
• September 21 – Myrinda Brino, American actress
• September 21 – Nikolas Brino, American actor
• September 21 – Zachary Brino, American actor

Deaths

• January 9 – Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist
• November 3 – Bob Kane, American cartoonist
• April 15 – Pol Pot
• February 6 – Falco, Austrian Pop-Rock Musician

Movies released

• Saving Private Ryan
• Armageddon
• There's Something About Mary
• A Bug's Life
• Doctor Dolittle
• Rush Hour
• Deep Impact
• Godzilla
• Patch Adams
• Antz
• The Big Lebowski
• Blade
• Chairman of the Board
• Dark City
• Elizabeth
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
• Human Remains
• Hurlyburly
• Lethal Weapon 4
• Lost in Space
• The Mask of Zorro
• Mulan
• The Negotiator
• Pi
• Pleasantville
• Rushmore
• Shakespeare in Love
• Six Days Seven Nights
• Small Soldiers
• The Thin Red Line
• Very Bad Things
• The Waterboy
• The Wedding Singer
• The Parent Trap

Hit songs

• "My Heart Will Go On" – Céline Dion
• "Cruel Summer" – Ace of Base
• "Tubthumping" – Chumbawamba
• "Crush" – Jennifer Paige
• "The Dope Show"-Marilyn Manson
• "Time of Your Life (Good Riddance)" – Green Day
• "My Own Worst Enemy" – Lit
• "Ray Of Light" – Madonna
• "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" – The Offspring
• "Iris" – Goo Goo Dolls
• "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" – Aerosmith
• "Thank U" – Alanis Morissette
• "The Way" – Fastball
• "You're Still The One" – Shania Twain
• "Torn" – Natalie Imbruglia
• "Uninvited" – Alanis Morissette
• " My Name Is " – Eminem
• "Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It"- Will Smith
• "One Week"-Barenaked Ladies

New books

• QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter