wars, terrorism, and violence

• gulf war
• oj simpson's trial
• oklahoma city bombing
• jonbenet ramsey was murdered
• columbine shooting
• 9/11 hijackings
• invasion of iraq
• conflict in darfur

political

• president clinton was impeached
• obama was elected
• soviet union was dissolved
• hurricane katrina and the political aftermath

scientific

• dolly the sheep was cloned
• pluto lost its planet-ness
• human genome was completed

technology & pop culture

• "y2k bug"
• digital cameras
• wifi
• mp3s
• pagers
• cell phones
• cd burners
• dvds
• instant messaging
• dna analysis became available in criminal courts
• the internet became publicly available
• pokémon
• reality television began :/

medical

• swine flu
• hpv vaccine was developed
• sars
• bird flu

deaths

• princess diana
• kurt cobain
• mother theresa
• john f kennedy jr
• notorious b.i.g.
• michael jackson
• pope john paul ii