1999 and the last year of the old millennium.
The country was hot in the grips of a potential catastrophe brought on by mass computer malfunction owing to the change over to 2000 that some computer experts were certain would happen.
Supermarket shelves were cleared of canned goods, water and anything that would come in handy for a long period of isolation. Sales of survival equipment surged and stories of earth in general plunged back into the dark ages put most of the population on edge, convinced the worst was going to happen when midnight struck.
It was one more episode in a year jammed to capacity with drama, anxiety and loss. Much of which didn’t materialize.
But what did materialize was a drawn out and somewhat insane spectacle on Capitol Hill involving the President of the United States and his affair with a White House intern. The Clinton/Lewinsky affair made almost daily headlines and tales of cigars and stained blue dresses took most of America’s mind off the more pressing issues at the start of the year. It was the first time since the 1800’s that an impeachment trial took place and it had all the charm of a public hanging. True to form, sentiment on Capitol Hill went straight down party lines and it carried with it a warning that the future would hold many more of these for many more Presidents. At the very least, the takeaway was an almost paralyzed Congress for the rest of the year as rancor and bickering was so intense that no legislation made it to a vote.
Meanwhile, 1999 saw one of the earliest starts to a Presidential campaign. And while bickering was going on Capitol Hill, hounding for votes was going on all over the rest of the country ahead of campaign 2000.
And what began as an ordinary day at a high school in Littleton Colorado became a bloody nightmare as two teenagers from the so-called “trenchcoat mafia” gunned down fellow students at Columbine High School. In the end 12 students were killed and over 20 were wounded and the start of numerous copycat and actual mass shootings at other high schools around the country. It signaled a new era in senseless killings and repeated calls for gun legislation.
And that’s just a little of what happened in 1999 as presented by the CBS World News Roundup Weekend Edition.
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