1999

1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1999th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 999th year of the 2nd millennium, the 99th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1990s decade.

1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.

January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launched by NASA.

January 20 – The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet cafés. February 11 – Pluto moves along its eccentric orbit further from the Sun than Neptune. It had been nearer than Neptune since 1979, and will become again in 2231. March 4 – In a military court, United States Marine Corps Captain Richard J. Ashby is acquitted of the charge of reckless flying which resulted in the deaths of 20 skiers in the Italian Alps, when his low-flying EA-6B Prowler hit a gondola cable. NATO launches air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign state. March 26 – The Melissa worm attacks the Internet.

May 26 The Indian Air Force launches an attack on intruding Pakistan Army troops and mujahideen militants in Kashmir. NASA's Lunar Prospector July 23 NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is launched. July 31 – NASA intentionally crashes the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the lunar surface. August Mars Climate Orbiter during tests October – NASA loses one of its probes, the Mars Climate Orbiter. NASA lost radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander, moments before the spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere. December 18 – NASA launched the Terra platform into orbit, carrying 5 Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.