It's Throwback Thursday, and with the solar eclipse happening next week we decided to go back to the last solar eclipse of the Millennium.  1999 was the year and things have changed quite a bit since then.

 

It was 18 years ago, but some days it feels like yesterday.  Other days it feels like 3 lifetimes ago.  So much has changed in the world, most notably the tech boom.  I graduated from college in 1999 so it was a very special year for me and I remember it well, but these facts I learned still surprised me.

 

Going back to 1999 is not all wine and roses because it was the year we lost to Dallas in the Stanley Cup Finals.  That hurt, and was made worse by the fact that they also beat us in 2 Superbowls earlier that decade.

 

Outside of that difficult situation, 1999 had some cool events take place.  Here are some of the fun things to remember, and some things that you maybe didn't realize even happened!

Top Quotes

"I see dead people" - Haley Joel Osmet,in 'The Sixth Sense'

"Is that your final answer" - Regis Philbin, on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

News

  • Y2K was a bust.  Many thought that most computers would stop working when the year 2000 hit.
  • Au Bon Pain Co. sold Au Bon Pain in 1999 and renamed itself Panera Bread Company.
  • Bill Gates made 15 bold predictions in his book Business @ the Speed of Thought. Among them: social media, smartphones, price comparison sites, online payment systems, smart advertising, online discussion boards, online recruiting like Linkedin, and online home monitoring.
  • Susan Lucci won her first Daytime Emmy Award, after 19 nominations.
  • Paypal was voted one of the 10 worst business ideas of 1999.
  • Until 1999, the State of Montana didn't have a speed limit on the interstate, and instead encouraged drivers to be "reasonable and prudent".
  • Prior to 1999, the mythical AMEX Black Card was just that - a myth!  The myth became so pervasive that AMEX decided to capitalize on it and actually make a black, ultra exclusive credit card.

Top TV Shows

  1. Who Wants to be a Millionaire (ABC)
  2. E.R. (NBC)
  3. Friends (NBC)
  4. Fraiser (NBC)
  5. 60 Minutes (CBS)

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