Home > 1990's: Overview > Important Events of the 1990s

1990

Movies

Another 48 Hours, directed by Walter Hill and starring Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte; Awakenings, directed by Penny Marshall and starring Robert De N iro and Robin Williams; Bird on a Wire, directed by John Badham and starring Mel Gibson, Goldie Hawn, and David Carradine; Dances with Wolves, directed by and starring Kevin Costner; Days of Thunder, directed by Tony Scott and starring Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, Nicole Kidman, and Randy Quaid; Dick Tracy, directed by Warren Beatty and starring Beatty, Al Pacino, and Madonna; Die Hard 2, directed by Renny Harlin and starring Bruce Willis and Bonnie Bedelia; Flatliners, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, and Kevin Bacon; Ghost, directed by Jerry Zucker and starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg; The Godfather Part III, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, and Andy Garcia; GoodFellas, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, and Joe Pesci; The Grifters, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, and Annette Bening; Henry and June, directed by Philip Kaufman and starring Fred Ward, Urna Thurman, and Maria de Medeiros; Home Alone, directed by Chris Columbus and starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, and Daniel Stern; The Hunt for Red October, directed by John McTiernan and starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Sam Neill, and James Earl Jones; Presumed Innocent, directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Harrison Ford and Bonnie Bedelia; Pretty Woman, directed by Garry Marshall and starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts; Reversal of Fortune, directed by Barbet Schroeder and starring Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, and Ron Silver; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, directed by Steve Barron and starring Michelan Sisti, Leif Tilden, and Dave Forman; Total Recall, directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone.

Novels

Nicholson Baker, Room Temperature; Frederick Barthelme, Natural Selection; Vance Bourjaily, Old Soldier; T. Coraghessan Boyle, East is East; Frederick Busch, Harry and Catherine; Tom Clancy, Clear and Present Danger; Patricia Cornwell, Post Mortem; Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park; Clive Cussler, Dragon; Ivan Doig, Ride with Me, Mariah Montana; Dominick Dunne, An Inconvenient Woman; Richard Ford, Wildlife; George Garrett, Entered from the Sun; George V. Higgins, Victories; Tony Hillerman, Coyote Waits; Alice Hoffman, Seventh Heaven; Charles Johnson, Middle Passage; Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams; Elmore Leonard, Get Shorty; Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Ultimatum; Peter Matthiessen, Killing Mr. Watson; Jill McCorkle, Ferris Beach; Larry McMurtry, Buffalo Girls; Sue Miller, Family Pictures; Joyce Carol Oates, Because It Is Bitter, And Because It Is My Heart; Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried; Reynolds Price, The Tongues of Angels; Thomas Pynchon, Vineland; Anne Rice, The Witching Hour; Philip Roth, Deception; Dori Sanders, Clover; Danielle Steel, Message from Nam; Scott Turow, The Burden of Proof; John Updike, Rabbit at Rest; Kurt Vonnegut, Hocus Pocus; Joseph Wambaugh, The Golden Orange; John Edgar Wideman, Philadelphia Fire.

Popular Songs

Wilson Phillips, "Hold On"; Roxette, "It Must Have Been Love"; Sinead O'Connor, "Nothing Compares 2 U"; Bell Biv Devoe, "Poison"; Madonna, "Vogue"; Mariah Carey, "Vision of Love"; Phil Collins, "Another Day In Paradise"; En Vogue, "Hold On"; Billy Idol, "Cradle of Love"; Jon Bon Jovi, "Blaze of Glory."

Feb.

The New York Public Library launches a major retrospective ot the work of Berenice Abbott, the largest exhibit ever accorded a living photographer.

18 Mar.

The largest art theft since 1911 occurs at the Gardner Museum in Boston. Among the stolen paintings, which are valued at $200 million, are five by Edgar Degas and Storm on the Sea of Galilee, the only known landscape by Rembrandt. The museum is uninsured.

Sept.

President George Bush presents artist Jasper Johns a silver National Medal of Arts for helping to make the United States a "cultural giant."

27 Sept.

The Motion Picture Association of America drops its X rating and begins using an NC-17 rating for movies to which no one under seventeen can be admitted.

Oct.

President Bush awards artist Andrew Wyeth a Congressional Gold Medal, making him the first artist to receive the award.

5 Oct.

The Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati and its director, Dennis Barrie, are acquitted of obscenity charges stemming from exhibition of The Perfect Moment, a controversial group of homoerotic photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe.

Nov.

The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center opens in Los Angeles after Hammer, president of Occidental Petroleum, wins a stockholders' suit challenging his right to use company funds to build the museum.

14 Nov.

Pop-music group Milli Vanilli admits to lip-synching hits such as "Girl You Know It's True." Its Grammy Award for Best New Artist of 1989 is revoked.

Dec.

Congress requires that artists funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) must return grant money if their works are judged obscene.

1991

Movies

The Addams Family, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia; Backdraft, directed by Ron Howard and starring Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro, and Donald Sutherland; Beauty and the Beast, animated feature, directed by Barry Trousdale and Kirk Wise; City Slickers, directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal and Jack Palance; Dying Young, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Julia Roberts, Colleen Dewhurst, and Ellen Burstyn; Father of the Bride, directed by Charles Shyer and starring Steve Martin and Diane Keaton; Fried Green Tomatoes, directed by Jon Avnet and starring Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy; Grand Canyon, directed by Lawrence Kasdan and starring Danny Glover, Kevin Kline, and Steve Martin; JFK, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Kevin Costner, Sissy Spacek, Kevin Bacon, and Tommy Lee Jones; The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear, directed by David Zucker and starring Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, and O. J. Simpson; New Jack City, directed by Mario Van Peebles and starring Wesley Snipes and Ice T; Point Break, directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves; Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, directed by Kevin Reynolds and starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman; The Silence of the Lambs, directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins; Sleeping With the Enemy, directed by Joseph Ruben and starring Julia Roberts; Thelma & Louise, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis; Terminator 2: Judgment Day, directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; What About Bob?, directed by Frank Oz and starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss; White Fang, directed by Randal Kleiser and starring Ethan Hawke.

Novels

Julia Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents; Nicholson Baker, U&I; Russell Banks, The Sweet Hereafter; John Barth, The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor; Madison Smartt Bell, Doctor Sleep; Harold Brodkey, Runaway Soul; Frederick Buechner, Telling Secrets; Frederick Busch, Closing Arguments; Robert Coover, Pinocchio in Venice; Don DeLillo, Mao II; Pete Dexter, Brotherly Love; Stephen Dixon, Frog; Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho; Gail Godwin, Father Melancholy's Daughter; John Grisham, The Finn; Norman Mailer, Harlot's Ghost; Richard Moore, The Investigator; Walter Mosley, Devil in a Blue Dress; Marge Piercy, He, She, and It; Philip Roth, Patrimony: A True Story; Norman Rush, Mating; Sandra Scofield, Beyond Deserving; Issac Bashevis Singer, Scum; Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres; Danielle Steel, Heartbeat; Amy Tan, The Kitchen God's Wife; Anne Tyler, Saint Maybe.

Popular Songs

Bryan Adams, "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You"; Color Me Badd, "I Wanna Sex You Up"; C & C Music Factory, "Gonna Make You Sweat"; Paula Abdul, "Hush, Hush"; Timothy T, "One More Try"; EMF, "Unbelievable"; Extreme, "More Than Words"; Hi-Five, "I Like The Way" (The Kissing Game); Surface, "The First Time"; Amy Grant, "Baby, Baby."

11 Mar.

Walter Annenberg announces that on his death his collection of more than fifty Impressionist and Postimpressionist European paintings, watercolors, and drawings—valued at $1 billion—will be donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

15 Mar.

The West as America: Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier opens at the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. The controversial exhibit includes works that depict white violence and racism in American history, provoking questions over public funding for such shows. The show goes on to the Denver Museum in August and the St. Louis Art Museum in November.

24 Sept.

The Seattle grunge band Nirvana releases Nevermind. By 11 January a song from the album, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," has reached number one on the Billboard singles charts and has become an alternative rock anthem for "Generation X."

1992

Movies

Aladdin, animated feature, directed by John Musker and Ron Clements; Basic Instinct, directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone; Batman Returns, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, and Michelle Pfeifier; The Bodyguard, directed by Mick Jackson and starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston; Bram Stokers Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Garry Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, and Keanu Reeves; The Crying Game, directed by Neil Jordan and starring Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, and Forrest Whittaker; Death Becomes Her, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie H awn, and Isabella Rossellini; Far and Away, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman; A Few Good Men, directed by Rob Reiner and starring Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, and Demi Moore; Glengarry Glen Ross, directed by James Foley and starring Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, and Ed Harris; The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Annabella Sciorra and Rebecca De Mornay; Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, directed by Chris Columbus and starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, and Daniel Stern; Honeymoon in Vegas, directed by Andrew Bergman and starring James Caan, Nicolas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Pat Morita; Housesitter, directed by Frank Oz and starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn; Howards End, directed by James Ivory and starring Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, and Helena Bonham Carter; The Last of the Mohicans, directed by Michael Mann and starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeleine'stowe; A League of Their Own, directed by Penny Marshall and starring Tom Hanks, Madonna, Geena Davis, and Rosie O'Donnell; Lethal Weapon 3, directed by Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci and Rene Russo; Malcolm X, directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington and Angela Bassett; My Cousin Vinny, directed by Jonathan Lynn and starring Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei; Passenger 57, directed by Kevin Hooks and starring Wesley Snipes; Patriot Games, directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Harrison Ford and Anne Archer; The Player, directed by Robert Altman and starring Tim Robbins and Whoopi Goldberg; A River Runs Through It, directed by Robert Redford and starring Brad Pitt, Craig Sheffer, and Tom Skerritt; Scent of a Woman, directed by Martin Brest and starring Al Pacino and Chris O'Donnell; Sister Act, directed by Emile Ardolino and starring Whoopi Goldberg, Maggie Smith, and Kathy Najimy; Sneakers, directed by Phil Alden Robinson and starring Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, and River Phoenix; Under Siege, directed by Andrew Davis and starring Steven Seagal; Unforgiven, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, and Richard Harris; Wayne's World, directed by Penelope Spheeris and starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey; White Men Can't Jump, directed by Ron Shelton and starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes.

Novels

Dorothy Allison, Bastard out of Carolina; Paul Auster, Leviathan; Nicholson Baker, Vox; Richard Bausch, Violence; Robert Olen Butler, A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain; Joan Didion, After Henry; David James Duncan, The Brothers K; Ellen Gilchrist, Net of Jewels; John Grisham, The Pelican Brief; George V. Higgins, Defending Billy Ryan; Alice Hoffman, Turtle Moon; William Kennedy, Very Old Bones; Ken Kesey, Sailor Song; Stephen King, Dolores Claiborne; W. P. Kinsella, Box Socials; Dean Koontz, Hideaway; Elmore Leonard, Rum Punch; Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses; Jill McCorkle, Carolina Moon; Alice McDermott, At Weddings and Wakes; Thomas McGuane, Nothing But Blue Skies; Jay Mclnerney, Brightness Falls; Terry McMillan, Waiting to Exhale; Larry McMurtry, The Evening Star; James Michener, Mexico; Toni Morrison, Jazz; Gloria Naylor, Bailey's Cafe; Joyce Carol Oates, Black Water; Chaim Potok, I Am the Clay; Reynolds Price, Blue Calhoun; Richard Price, Clockers; E. Annie Proulx, Postcards; Anne Rice, The Tale of the Body Thief; Leslie Silko, Almanac of the Dead; Lee Smith, The Devil's Dream; Susan Sontag, The Volcano Lover; Danielle Steel, Mixed Blessings; Donna Tartt, The Secret History; John Updike, Memoirs of the Ford Administration; Gore Vidal, Live from Golgotha; Alice Walker, Possessing the Secret of Joy; Robert James Waller, The Bridges of Madison County; Joseph Wambaugh, Fugitive Nights; Larry Woiwode, Indian Affairs.

Popular Songs

Sir Mix-A-Lot, "Baby Got Back"; Kris Kross, "Jump"; Boyz II Men, "End Of The Road"; Billy Ray Cyrus, "Achy Breaky Heart"; Eric Clapton, "Tears In Heaven"; Right Said Fred, "I'm Too Sexy"; House of Pain, "Jump Around"; Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Under The Bridge"; Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"; Guns N' Roses, "November Rain."

• Compact discs surpass cassette tapes as the preferred medium for recorded music.

21 Feb.

In the continuing controversy over NEA funding for controversial artists, Republican presidential hopeful Patrick Buchanan accuses the Bush administration of supporting "filthy and blasphemous art," and President Bush responds by firing NEA chairman John E. Frohnmayer.

1993

Movies

Demolition Man, directed by Marco Brambilla and starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes; Dennis the Menace, directed by Nick Castle and starring Walter Matthau; Falling Down, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall; The Firm, directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman; The Fugitive, directed by Andrew Davis and starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones; Groundhog Day, directed by Harold Ramis and starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell; In the Line of Fire, directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, and Rene Russo; In the Name of the Father, directed by Jim Sheridan and starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma Thompson; Indecent Proposal, directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Robert Redford, Demi Moore, and Woody Harrelson; Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum; Last Action Hero, directed by John McTiernan and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and F. Murray Abraham; Lost in Yonkers, directed by Martha Coolidge and starring Richard Dreyfuss; Philadelphia, directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington; The Piano, directed by Jane Campion and starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, and Sam Neill; Rising Sun, directed by Philip Kaufman and starring Sean Connery, Wesley Snipes, and Harvey Keitel; Schindler's List, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, and Ralph Fiennes; Six Degrees of Separation, directed by Fred Schepisi and starring Stockard Channing, Will Smith, and Donald Sutherland; Sleepless in Seattle, directed by Nora Ephron and starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan; Sommersby, directed by Jon Amiel and starring Richard Gere and Jodie Foster; Tombstone, directed by George P. Cosmatos and starring Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer.

Novels

Walter Abish, Eclipse Fever; Alice Adams, Almost Perfect; William Baldwin, The Hard to Catch Mercy; Frederick Barthelme, Brothers; Richard Bausch, Rebel Powers; Madison Smartt Bell, Save Me, Joe Louis; T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Road to Wellville; Frederick Buechner, The Son of Laughter; James Lee Burke, In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead; Frederick Busch, Long Way from Home; Frank Conroy, Body & Soul; James Dickey, To the White Sea; Ivan Doig, Heart Earth; Ken Follett, A Dangerous Fortune; Ernest J. Gaines, A Lesson Before Dying; David Guterson, Snow Falling on Cedars; John Grisham, The Client and A Time to Kill; Kathryn Harrison, Exposure; Ernest Hebert, Mad Boys; George V. Higgins, Bomber's Law; Oscar Hijuelos, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien; Tony Hillerman, Sacred Clowns; William Kennedy, Riding the Yellow Trolley Car; Barbara Kingsolver, Pigs in Heaven; Dean Koontz, Mr. Murder; Alan Lightman, Einstein's Dreams; Elmore Leonard, Pronto; Bobbie Ann Mason, Feather Crowns; Larry McMurtry, Streets of Laredo; Joyce Carol Oates, Foxfire; E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News; Ishmael Reed, Japanese by Spring; Anne Rice, Lasher; Philip Roth, Operation Shylock; Dori Sanders, Her Own Place; Joseph Wambaugh, Finnegan's Week.

Popular Songs

Whitney Houston, "I Will Always Love You"; Tag Team, "Whoomp! (There It Is)"; Wreck-N-Effect, "Rump Shaker"; Silk, "Freak Me"; Dr. Dre, "Nuthin' But A G Thang"; UB40, "Can't Help Falling In Love"; Snow, "Informer"; Shai, "If I Ever Fall In Love"; Duice, "Dazzey Duks"; H-Town, "Knockin' Da Boots."

• The movie Lost in Yonkers is edited on an Avid Media Composer system, the first nonlinear editing system to allow viewing at the "real-time" rate of twenty-four frames per second. It converts film images into digital bits that can be manipulated on a computer.

1994

Movies

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Jim Carrey and Courteney Cox; Clear and Present Danger, directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Anne Archer, and James Earl Jones; Disclosure, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Michael Douglas, Demi Moore, and Donald Sutherland; Dumb & Dumber, directed by Peter Farrelly and starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels; The Flintstones, directed by Brian Levant and starring John Goodman, Elizabeth Perkins, Rick Moranis, and Rosie O'Donnell; Forrest Gump, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks; Guarding Tess, directed by Hugh Wilson and starring Shirley MacLaine and Nicolas Cage; Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, directed by Neil Jordan and starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Antonio Banderas; The Lion King, animated feature, directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff; The Mask, directed by Charles Russell and starring Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz; Maverick, directed by Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner; Mrs. Doubtfire, directed by Chris Columbus and starring Robin Williams and Sally Field; Natural Born Killers, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis; Nobody's Fool, directed by Robert Benton and starring Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, and Melanie Griffith; The Paper, directed by Ron Howard and starring Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei, and Randy Quaid; The Pelican Brief, directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington; Pulp Fiction, directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Urna Thurman; Quiz Show, directed by Robert Redford and starring John Tuturro, Rob Morrow, and Ralph Fiennes; The River Wild, directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon; The Shawshank Redemption, directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman; Speed, directed by Jan de Bont and starring Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, and Sandra Bullock; Star Trek Generations, directed by David Carson and starring Patrick Stewart and William Shatner; True Lies, directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Tom Arnold.

Novels

Paul Auster, Mr. Vertigo; John Barth, Once Upon a Tine; Louis Begley, As Max Saw It; Thomas Berger, Robert Crews; Doris Betts, Souls Raised From the Dead; Harold Brodkey, Profane Friendship; Charles Bukowski, Pulp; James Lee Burke, Dixie City Jam; Robert Olen Butler, They Whisper; Caleb Carr, The Alienist; Carolyn Chute, Merry Men; Tom Clancy, Debt of Honor; Mary Higgins Clark, Remember Me; Michael Crichton, Disclosure; E. L. Doctorow, The Waterworks; John Gregory Dunne, Playland; Bret Easton Ellis, The Informers; Louise Erdrich, The Bingo Palace; Irvin Faust, Jim Dandy; William Gaddis, A Frolic of His Own; Gail Godwin, The Good Husband; Ellen Gilchrist, Anabasis; William Goyen, Half a Look of Cain; Shirley Ann Grau, Roadwalkers; John Grisham, The Chamber; Jane Hamilton, A Map of the World; Mark Harris, The Tale Maker; Joseph Heller, Closing Time; Alice Hoffman, Second Nature; John Irving, A Son of the Circus; Stephen King, Insomnia; David Mamet, The Village; Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing; Larry McMurtry, Pretty Boy Floyd; Walter Mosley, Black Betty; Joyce Carol Oates, What I Lived For; Tim O'Brien, In the Lake of the Woods; Robert B. Parker, All Our Yesterdays; Jayne Anne Phillips, Shelter; Marge Piercy, The Longings of Women; Anne Rice, Taltos; Danielle Steel, The Gift; Peter Taylor, In the Tennessee Country; John Updike, Brazil

Popular Songs

All-4-One, "I Swear"; Boyz II Men, "I'll Make Love To You"; R. Kelly, "Bump W Grind"; Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Sting, "All For Love"; Ace of Base, "The Sign"; Celine Dion, "The Power of Love"; Warren G & Nate Dogg, "Regulate"; Coolio, "Fantastic Voyage."

12-14 Aug.

Woodstock '94 commemorates the twenty-fifth anniversary of the original weekend-long concert held near Woodstock, New York. Performers include Bob Dylan and the Allman Brothers, who performed at the 1969 concert, as well as the groups Green Day and Nine Inch Nails.

1995

Movies

The American President, directed by Rob Reiner and starring Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, and Martin Sheen; Apollo 13, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon; Babe, directed by Chris Noonan; Braveheart, directed by and starring Mel Gibson; The Bridges of Madison County, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Eastwood and Meryl Streep; Clueless, directed by Amy Heckerling and starring Alicia Silverstone; Crimson Tide, directed by Tony Scott and starring Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington; Dead Man Walking, directed by Tim Robbins and starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn; Devil in a Blue Dress, directed by Carl Franklin and starring Denzel Washington; First Knight, directed by Jerry Zucker and starring Sean Connery and Richard Gere; Get Shorty, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, and Danny DeVito; GoldenEye, directed by Martin Campbell and starring Pierce Brosnan; Grumpier Old Men, directed by Howard Deutch and starring Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Ann-Margret, and Sophia Loren; Leaving Las Vegas, directed by Mike Figgis and starring Nicolas Cage and Elizabeth Shue; Nixon, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Anthony Hopkins; Pocahontas, animated feature, directed by Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg; Sense and Sensibility, directed by Ang Lee and starring Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson, and Hugh Grant; Toy Story, animated feature, directed by John Lasseter; The Usual Suspects, directed by Bryan Singer and starring Stephen Baldwin and Kevin Spacey; Waiting to Exhale, directed by Forrest Whittaker and starring Whitney Houston and Angela Basseti; While You Were Sleeping, directed by John Turteltaub and starring Sandra Bullock.

Novels

Alice Adams, A Southern Exposure; Julia Alvarez, In the Time of the Butterflies; Frederick Barthelme, Painted Desert; Rick Bass, In the Loyal Mountains; Ann Beattie, Another You; Madison Smartt Bell, All Souls' Rising; T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Tortilla Curtain; Nicholas Delbanco, In the Name of Mercy; Pete Dexter, The Paperboy; Stanley Elkin, Mrs. Ted Bliss; Richard Ford, Independence Day; William H. Gass, The Tunnel; John Grisham, The Rainmaker; John Herman, The Weight of Love; George V. Higgins, Swan Boats at Four; Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic; Mary Hood, Familiar Heat; John Keene, Annotations; David Long, Blue Spruce; Sue Miller, The Distinguished Guest; Joyce Carol Oates, Zombie; Robert B. Parker, Thin Air; Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2; Reynolds Price, The Promise of Rest; Philip Roth, Sabbath's Theater; Mary Lee Settle, Choices; Jane Smiley, Moo; Lee Smith, Saving Grace; Amy Tan, The Hundred Secret Senses; Anne Tyler, Ladder of Years.

Popular Songs

Coolio featuring L.V., "Gangsta's Paradise"; TLC, "Creep"; Mariah Carey, "Fantasy"; TLC, "Waterfalls"; Monica, "Don't Take It Personal"; Shaggy, "Boombastic/In The Summertime"; The Notorious B.I.G,, "One More Chance/ Stay With Me"; Adina Howard, "Freak Like Me"; Montell Jordan, "This Is How We Do It"; Michael Jackson, "You Are Not Alone."

1 June In

a speech delivered in Los Angeles, Republican presidential candidate Robert Dole denounces the American entertainment industry for "debasing U.S. culture with movies, music and television programs that had produced 'nightmares of depravity' drenched in sex and violence."

1 Sept.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, designed by architect I. M. Pei, opens in Cleveland.

2 Oct.

At a performance of Otello the Metropolitan Opera in New York unveils Met Titles, providing simultaneous translations on screens mounted on audience seats.

21 Nov.

Capitol Records releases the much-anticipated Beatles Anthology I, which includes the previously unreleased recording of "Free as a Bird."

1996

Movies

The Cable Guy, directed by Ben Stiller and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick; Courage Under Fire, directed by Edward Zwick and starring Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, and Lou Diamond Phillips; The English Patient, directed by Anthony Mmghella and starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche; Evita, directed by Alan Parker and starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas; Executive Decision, directed by Stuart Baird and starring Kurt Russell, Steven Seagal, and Halle Berry; Fargo, directed by Joel Coen and starring Frances McDormand; First Wives Club, directed by Hugh Wilson and starring G oldie H awn, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton; Hunchback of Notre Dame, animated feature, directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise; Independence Day, directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Will Smith, Robert Duvall, Dennis Quaid, and Jeff Goldblum; Jack, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Robin Williams, Diane Lane, Bill Cosby, and Jennifer Lopez; Jerry Maguire, directed by Cameron Crowe and starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr.; Mission, Impossible, directed by Brian de Palma and starring Tom Cruise; The Nutty Professor, directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Eddie Murphy and Jada Pinkett; 101 Dalmations, directed by Stephen Herek and starring Glenn Close and Jeff Daniels; The People vs. Larry Flynt, directed by Milos Forman and starring Woody Harrelson and Courtney Love; Primal Fear, directed by Gregory Hoblit and starring Richard Gere and Frances McDormand; Ransom, directed by Ron Howard and starring Mel Gibson and Rene Russo; The Rock, directed by Michael Bay and starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage; Shine, directed by Scott Hicks and starring Geoffrey Rush; Sling Blade, directed by Billy Bob Thornton and starring Thornton, John Ritter, and J. T. Walsh; Tin Cup, directed by Ron Shelton and starring Kevin Costner and Rene Russo; Twister, directed by Jan de Bont and starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton.

Novels

Anonymous [Joe Klein], Primary Colors; Richard Bausch, Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America, and All the Ships at Sea; Madison Smartt Bell, Ten Indians; Thomas Berger, Suspects; Wendell Berry, A World Lost; Harold Brodkey, This Wild Darkness; Larry Brown, Father and Son; James Lee Burke, Cadillac Jukebox; Fred Chappell, Farewell, Tm Bound to Leave You; Mary Higgins Clark, Moonlight Becomes You; Robert Coover, John's Wife; Michael Crichton, Airframe; Joan Didion, The Last Thing He Wanted; Nicholas Evans, The Horse Whisperer; John Grisham, The Runaway Jury; George V. Higgins, Sandra Nichols Found Dead; Tony Hillerrnan, The Fallen Man; William Kennedy, The Flaming Corsage; Jamaica Kincaid, Autobiography of My Mother; William Kotzwinkle, The Bear Went Over the Mountain; Elmore Leonard, Out of Sight; Clarence Major, Dirty Bird Blues; Ed McBain, Gladly the Cross-Eyed Bear; Jill McCorkle, Carolina Moon; Terry McMillan, How Stella Got Her Groove Back; Steven Millhauser, Martin Dressler; Jacquelyn Mitchard, The Deep End of the Ocean; Walter Mosley, A Little Yellow Dog; Joyce Carol Oates, We Were the Mulvaneys; James Patterson, Jack & Jill; Janet Peery, The River Beyond the World; E. Annie Proulx, Accordion Crimes; Anne Rice, The Servant of the Bones; John Updike, In the Beauty of the Lilies; Joseph Wambaugh, Floaters; John Edgar Wideman, The Cattle Killing.

Popular Songs

Los Del Rio, "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)"; Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men, "One Sweet Day"; Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, "Tha Crossroads"; 2Pac (Featuring K-Ci & JoJo), "How Do U Want It/California Love"; Keith Sweat, "Twisted"; Toni Braxton, "You're Makin' Me High/Let It Flow"; Whitney Houson, "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)"; Quad City D.J's, "C'Mon N' Ride It (The Train)"; Celine Dion, "Because You Loved Me"; LL Cool J, "Hey Lover."

13 Feb.

The musical Rent opens to rave reviews on Broadway.

Mar.

Legal thriller writer John Grisham charges that director Oliver Stone is responsible for the death of Grisham's friend William Savage, because the two teenagers who committed the crime claim to have been inspired by Stone's 1994 movie, Natural Born Killers.

Nov.

Marc Chagall 1907-1917 at the Los Angeles County Museum includes early Chagall paintings never before exhibited in the United States.

1997

Movies

Absolute Power, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Eastwood, Gene Hackman, and Ed Harris; Air Force One, directed by Wolfgang Peterson and starring Harrison Ford and Glenn Close; Anastasia, animated feature, directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldmanstarring; As Good as It Gets, directed by James L. Brooks and starring Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson; Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, directed by Jay Roach and starring Mike Myers and Elizabeth Hurley; Batman and Robin, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, and Uma Thurman; Con Air, directed by Simon West and starring Nicolas Cage and John Cusack; Conspiracy Theory, directed by Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts; Contact, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey; Devil's Advocate, directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Al Pacino, Keanu Reeves, and Charlize Theron; Face/Off, directed by John Woo and starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage; The Full Monty, directed by Peter Cantanneo and starring Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, and Mark Addy; Good Will Hunting, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon and Robin Williams; The Ice Storm, directed by Ang Lee and starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver; In & Out, directed by Frank Oz and starring Kevin Kline, John Cusack, Tom Selleck, and Matt Dillon; The Jackal, directed by Michael Caton-Jones and starring Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, and Sidney Poitier; John Grisham's The Rainmaker, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Danny DeVito and Matt Damon; L.A. Confidential, directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Danny De Vito, and Kim Basinger; Lolita, directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jeremy Irons and Melanie Griffith; The Lost World: Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Jeff Goldblum and Juli anne Moore; Men in Black, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith; Soul Food, directed by George Tillman and starring Vivica A. Fox, Vanessa Williams, and Nia Long; Titanic, directed by James Cameron and starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio; Tomorrow Never Dies, directed by Roger Spotriswoode and starring Pierce Brosnan.

Novels

Alice Adams, Medicine Men; Julia Alvarez, Yo; Frederick Barthelme, Bob the Gambler; Doris Betts, The Sharp Teeth of Love; Frederick Buechner, On the Road with the Archangel; James Lee Burke, Cimarron Rose; Frederick Busch, Girls; Robert Olen Butler, The Deep Green Sea; Caleb Carr, The Angel of Darkness; Mary Higgins Clark, Pretend You Don't See Her; Nicholas Delbanco, O/d Scores; Don DeLillo, Underworld; Stephen Dobyns, The Church of the Dead Girls; Dominick Dunne, Another City, Not My Own; Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain; Ellen Gilchrist, Sarah Conley; Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha; John Grisham, The Partner; Allan Gurganus, Plays Well with Others; John Hawkes, An Irish Eye; George V. Higgins, A Change of Gravity; Alice Hoffman, Here on Earth; Madison Jones, Nashville 1864; Stephen King, Wizard and Glass; Robert Ludlum, Matarese Countdown; Peter Matthiessen, Lost Mans River; Jay Mclnerney, The Last of the Savages; Larry McMurtry, Comanche Moon; Walter Mosley, Blue Light; Joyce Carol Oates, Man Crazy; Cynthia Ozick, Puttermesser Papers; Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon; Philip Roth, American Pastoral; John Updike, Toward the End of Time; Kurt Vonnegut, Timequake; Edmund White, The Farewell Symphony; Tom Wolfe, Ambush at Fort Bragg

Popular Songs

Elton John, "Candle In The Wind/Something About The Way You Look Tonight"; Puff Daddy and Faith Evans, "I'll Be Missing You"; Puff Daddy (Featuring Mase), "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down"; LeAnn Rimes, "How Do I Live"; Usher, "You Make Me Wanna"; Spice Girls, "Wannabe"; Hanson, "MMMBop"; Mark Morrison, "Return Of The Mack"; Tim McGraw With Faith Hill, "It's Your Love"; The Notorious B.I.G. (Featuring Puff Daddy & Mase), "Mo Money Mo Problems."

19 June

Cats stages its 6,138th performance, moving ahead of A Chorus Line as the longest running Broadway show in history.

19 Dec.

Titanic opens in American movie theaters. The most expensive movie of all time, it has cost nearly $300 million to produce and market.

1998

Movies

Affliction, directed by Paul Schrader and starring Sissy Spacek, Nick Nolte, James Coburn, and Willem Dafoe; American History X, directed by Tony Kaye and starring Edward Norton and Edward Furlong; and The Apostle, directed by Robert Duvall and starring Duvall, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Bob Thornton, and June Carter Cash; Beloved, directed by Jonathan Deinme and starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover; A Bugs Life, animated feature, directed by John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton; Bulworth, directed by Warren Beatty and starring Beatty and Halle Berry; City of Angels, directed by Brad Silberling and starring Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan; A Civil Action, directed by Steven Zaillian and starring John Travolta and Robert Duvall; Dancing at Lughnasa, directed by Pat O'Connor and starring Meryl Streep and Michael Gambon; Deep Impact, directed by Mimi Leder and starring Robert Duvall, Tea Leoni, and Morgan Freeman; Dr. Dolittle, directed by Betty Thomas and starring Eddie Murphy and Ossie Davis; Elizabeth, directed by Shekhar Kapur and starring Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush; Enemy of the State, directed by Tony Scott and starring Will Smith, Gene Hackman, and Lisa Bonet; Fallen, directed by Gregory Hob lit and starring Denzel Washington John Goodman, and Donald Sutherland; Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro; Great Expectations, directed by Stuart Walker and starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow; He Got Game, directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, and Ned Beatty; Hope Floats, directed by Forrest Whit-taker and starring Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr.; The Horse Whisperer, directed by Robert Redford and starring Redford and Kristin Scott Thomas; How Stella Got Her Groove Back, directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan and starring Angela Bassett; Les Miserables, directed by Bille August and starring Liam Neeson, Urna Thurman, and Claire Danes; Meet Joe Black, directed by Martin Brest and starring Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt; Mulan, animated feature, directed by Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft; One True Thing, directed by Carl Franklin and starring Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger, and William Hurt; Out of Sight, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez; Patch Adams, directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Robin Williams; Pleasantville, directed by Gary Ross and starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, and Joan Allen; Primary Colors, directed by Mike Nichols and starring John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, and Billy Bob Thornton; The Prince of Egypt, animated feature, directed by Brenda Chapman and Steve Hickner; Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks; Shakespeare in Love, directed by John Madden and starring Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow; There's Something About Mary, directed by Bobby Farreily and Peter Farreily and starring Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, and Ben Stiller; The Thin Red Line, directed by Terrence Malick and starring Sean Penn and Nick Nolte; The Truman Show, directed by Peter Weir and starring Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, and Laura Linney; The Waterboy, directed by Frank Coraci and starring Adam Sandier, Kathy Bates, and Henry Winkler; You've Got Mail, directed by Nora Ephron and starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

Novels

Nicholson Baker, The Everlasting Story of Nory; Russell Banks, Cloudsplitter; Andrea Barrett, The Voyage of the Narwhal; Richard Bausch, In the Night Season; Louis Begley, Mistlers Exit; T. Coraghessan Boyle, Riven Rock; Frederick Buechner, The Storm; Robert Coo ver, Ghost Town; Louise Erdrich, Antelope Wife; John Grisham, The Street Lawyer; George V. Higgins, The Agent; Tony Hillerman, The First Eagle; John Irving, A Widow for One Year; Gayl Jones, The Healing; Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible; Stephen King, Bag of Bones; Wally Lamb, I Know This Much Is True; Elmore Leonard, Cuba Libre; Cormac McCarthy, Cities of the Plain; Jill McCorkle, Final Vinyl Days; Alice McDermott, Charming Billy; Toni Morrison, Paradise; Gloria Naylor, The Men of Brewster Place; Joyce Carol Oates, My Heart Laid Bare; Reynolds Price, Roxanne Slade; Richard Price, Freedomland; Anne Rice, The Vampire Armand; Philip Roth, I Married a Communist; Jane Smiley, The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton; Nicholas Sparks, Message in a Bottle; Anne Tyler, A Patchwork Planet; John Updike, Bech at Bay; Alice Walker, By the Light of My Fathers Smile; Bailey White, Quite a Year for Plums; John Edgar Wide m an, Two Cities; Tom Wolfe, A Man in Full

Popular Songs

Brandy & Monica, "The Boy Is Mine"; Next, "Too Close"; Shania Twain, "You're Still The One"; Elton John, "Something About The Way You Look Tonight/Candle In The Wind 1997"; Puff Daddy & The Family, "Been Around The World"; LeAnn Rimes, "How Do I Live"; Usher, "Nice & Slow"; Destiny's Child, "No, No, No"; Usher, "My Way"; Mariah Carey, "My All."

• Titanic becomes the highest-grossing movie of all time, earning more than $580 million in the United States and winning a record-tying eleven Academy Awards, including those for Best Picture and Best Director (James Cameron).
• Movie-theater owners agree to require teenagers to show photo IDs to get in to see R rated movies.

16 June

The American Film Institute announces its list of the top one hundred motion pictures of all time. Citizen Kane is number one, sparking a 1,600 percent increase in video rentals of the movie.

26 June

The Art of the Motorcycle opens at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City; critics charge that industrial design has no place in an art museum, but attendance breaks museum records.

Nov.

Volume 200 of the Dictionary of Literary Biography is published.

1999

Movies

American Beauty, directed by Sam Mendes and starring Kevin Spacey; American Pie, directed by Paul Weitz and starring Jason Biggs and Shannon Elizabeth; Analyze This, directed by Harold Ramis and starring Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro; Angela's Ashes, directed by Alan Parker and starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle; Anna and the King, directed by Andy Tennant and starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat; Any Given Sunday, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Al Parino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, and James Woods; Anywhere but Here, directed by Wayne Wang and starring Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman; Being John Malkovich, directed by Spike Jonze and starring John Cusack, John Malkovich, and Cameron Diaz; The Blair Witch Project, directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez and starring Heather Donahue and Michael Williams; The Bone Collector, directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie; Buena Vista Social Club, documentary, directed by Wim Wenders; The Cider House Rules, directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, and Michael Caine; Double Jeopardy, directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Ashley Judd; EdTV, directed by Ron Howard and starring Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, and Woody Harrelson; Election, directed by Alexander Payne and starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon; End of the Affair, directed by Neil Jordan and starring Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, and Stephen Rea; The General's Daughter, directed by Simon West and starring John Travolta and Madeleine Stowe; Girl, Interrupted, directed by James Mangold and starring Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, and Whoopi Goldberg; The Green Mile, directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tom Hanks; The Hurricane, directed by Norman Jewison and starring Denzel Washington; The Insider, directed by Michael Mann and starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe; The Iron Giant, animated feature, directed by Brad Bird; Magnolia, directed by Thomas Anderson and starring Tom Cruise and Julianne Moore; Man on the Moon, directed by Milos Forman and starring Jim Carrey, Danny De Vito, and Courtney Love; The Matrix, directed by the Wachowski Brothers, and starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne; Music of the Heart, directed by Wes Craven and starring Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, and Angela Bassett; Notting Hill, directed by Roger Micheli and starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant; October Sky, directed by Joe Johnston and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, and Laura Dern; South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, animated feature, directed by Trey Parker; Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, directed by George Lucas and starring Liam Neeson; Stuart Little, directed by Rob Minkoff and starring Geena Davis, Michael J. Fox, and Gwyneth Paltrow; Summer of Sam, directed by Spike Lee and starring John Leguizamo; Tarzan, animated feature, directed by Kevin Lima and Chris Buck; Three Kings, directed by David O'Russell and starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube; Toy Story 2, animated feature, directed by John Lasseter; Walk on the Moon, directed by Tony Goldwyn and starring Diane Lane, Liev Schreiber, and Anna Paquin.

Novels

Paul Auster, Timbuktu; Thomas Berger, The Return of Little Big Man; Frederick Busch, The Night Inspector; Carolyn Chute, Snow Man; Stephen Dobyns, Boy in the Water; Ivan Doig, Mountain Time; Ralph Ellison, Juneteenth; Janet Fitch, White Oleander; John Grisham, The Testament; Oscar Hijuelos, Empress of the Splendid Season; Tama Janowitz, A Certain Age; Stephen King, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon; Peter Matthiessen, Bone by Bone; Thomas McGuane, Some Horses; Larry McMurtry, Duanes Depressed; Sue Miller, While I Was Gone; Walter Mosley, Walkin the Dog; Joyce Carol Oates, Broke Heart Blues; Anne Rice, Vittorio.

Popular Songs

Cher, "Believe"; Deborah Cox, "Nobody's Supposed To be Here"; R. Kelly & Celine Dion, 'Tm Your Angel"; Britney Spears, "… Baby One More Time"; Christina Aguiliera, "Genie In A Bottle"; Whitney Houston (featuring Faith Evans and Kelly Price), "Heartbreak Hotel"; LFO, "Summer Girls"; Jennifer Lopez, "If You Had My Love"; Ricky Martin, "Livin' La Vida Loca"; Monica, "Angel of Mine."

17 Apr.

As NATO forces bomb Belgrade, the Yugoslav movie academy awards top honors to Wag the Dog, about White House aides who stage a phony crisis in the Balkans to draw attention away from a presidential sex scandal.

19 May

Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace is released and breaks a string of box-office records. The movie grosses $102.7 million in five days.

14 July

The Blair Witch Project is released, becoming a cult-movie classic and grossing more than $140 million. Because the production cost of the movie was only $30,000, it is the most profitable motion picture of all time.

23-25 July

Woodstock '99 is held in Rome, New York. Concertgoers complain that the spirit of the original Woodstock has been compromised and commercialized. The crowd sets fires and destroys property during the finale, and several sexual assaults are reported.

Sept.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York City threatens to cut off funding and cancel the lease for the Brooklyn Museum of Art if it continues with plans to show Sensation, an exhibit of works by contemporary British artists that he labels profane and blasphemous.