What Happened in October 1999

Historical Events

Sports History

Oct 1 Edmonton Oilers retire Wayne Gretzky's #99 in a pre-game ceremony before a 1-1 tie v NY Rangers, the last team for which 'The Great One' suited up in an NHL game

NBA Trade

Oct 1 In a blockbuster NBA trade, the Houston Rockets move All Star forward Scottie Pippen to Portland Trail Blazers for Kelvin Cato, Stacey Augmon, Walt Williams, Carlos Rogers, Ed Gray and Brian Shaw

  • Oct 1 Sourav Ganguly smashes 11 fours and 5 sixes for a blistering 139 as India (277/6) dominates Zimbabwe (170) in the 6th cricket LG Cup ODI in Nairobi
  • Oct 2 #21 University of Alabama football team beats #3 Florida, 40-39 in overtime to snap the Gators' 30-game home win streak; future Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander crosses for 4 touchdowns for the Crimson Tide
  • Oct 2 Atlanta Thrashers play first regular-season game in franchise history, a 4-1 loss to the visiting NJ Devils, before a crowd of 18,545 at Philips Arena; Kelly Buchberger scores first goal in Thrashers history

NHL Record

Oct 2 Boston's Ray Bourque becomes highest goal-scoring defenseman in NHL history; 386th career goal in Bruins' 3-1 win v Carolina Hurricanes moves him 1 ahead of Paul Coffey

  • Oct 3 Chelsea scores massive upset when they humble English Premiership champions Manchester United, 5-0 at Stamford Bridge; Gus Poyet sets the tone scoring after just 27 seconds; Nicky Butt is sent-off for United

Baseball Record

Oct 3 St Louis 1st baseman Mark McGwire hits his 65th homer of the season in a rain shortened 9-5 win over Cubs at Busch Stadium; wins 2nd straight HR title over Sammy Sosa, who hits his 63rd HR in same game

Breathe

Oct 4 "Breathe" single released by Faith Hill (Billboard Song of the Year 2000)

  • Oct 4 Rain prevents play on the final day of the 3rd cricket Test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Colombo; despite 105 from Ricky Ponting, Sri Lanka wins first ever Test series v Australia
  • Oct 5 The Ladbroke Grove rail crash in west London kills 31 people.
  • Oct 8 New Coligny Calendar, NCC, The beginning of a new era of the Coligny calendar, the oldest material Celtic calendar.
  • Oct 9 The last flight of the US aircraft Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird"
  • Oct 11 Pedro Martínez throws six hitless innings in relief to win and clinch the ALDS in Game 5

Sports History

Oct 12 Pat LaFontaine formally retires from the NHL due to lingering concussion problems

  • Oct 12 The Day of Six Billion: the proclaimed 6 billionth living human in the world is born

Nobel Prize for Economics

Oct 13 Canadian Robert Mundell is named the winner of the 1999 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics

  • Oct 13 The United States Senate rejects ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
  • Oct 18 MLB American League Championship: New York Yankees beat Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 1

Believe

Oct 19 Cher releases the single "Believe" (Billboard Song of the Year, 1999; Grammy Award Best Dance Recording, 2000)

  • Oct 19 MLB National League Championship: Atlanta Braves beat New York Mets, 4 games to 2
  • Oct 22 Maurice Papon, an official in the Vichy France government during World War II, is jailed for crimes against humanity.

Sports History

Oct 22 NHL goaltender Grant Fuhr wins his 400th career game (vs Florida Panthers)

  • Oct 26 Britain's House of Lords votes to end the right of hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.
  • Oct 27 Baseball World Series: New York Yankees beat Atlanta, 4-1 in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium to sweep Braves and retain title; MVP: Yankees closer Mariano Rivera
  • Oct 27 Gunmen open fire in the Armenian Parliament, killing Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, Parliament Chairman Karen Demirchyan, and 6 other members.
  • Oct 29 Deadliest Indian Ocean tropical super cyclone hits Odisha, India, death toll 9,885, wind speed of 300 mph
  • Oct 31 EgyptAir Flight 990 traveling from New York City to Cairo crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on-board.
  • Oct 31 Finnish McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen wins season ending Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka to clinch his second straight F1 World Drivers Championship; wins by 2 points from Irishman Eddie Irvine
  • Oct 31 Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran Church leaders sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, ending a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation.
  • Oct 31 Yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigating the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted.
1999 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Oct 11 Patty Tavatanakit, Thai golfer (ANA Inspiration 2021; LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year 2021), born in Bangkok, Thailand

NBA YoungBoy (24 years old)

Oct 20 American rapper ("Bandit"; Tyler the Creator -"WusYaName"), born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana


Born in 1999

Famous Weddings

Rob Thomas

Oct 2 "Matchbox Twenty" lead singer Rob Thomas (27) weds model Marisol Maldonado in Santa Ynez, California

  • Oct 9 "Pretty in Pink" actor Andrew McCarthy (36) weds Carol Schneider

Famous Deaths

  • Oct 1 Lena Zavaroni, Scottish singer and child star ("Ma! (He's Making Eyes At Me)"), dies of bronchial pneumonia at 35
  • Oct 1 Noel Johnson, British actor (Frenzy, Frightmare, Royal Flash), dies at 82
  • Oct 2 Heinz G. Konsalik, German novelist (b. 1921)

Akio Morita (1921-1999)

Oct 3 Japanese businessman and co-founder of Sony, dies at 78

  • Oct 4 Art Farmer, American trumpet player (Farmer's Market, The Jazztet), dies of a heart attack at 71
  • Oct 4 Bernard Buffet, French painter (Expressionism), dies at 71
  • Oct 4 Grim [Erik Brødreskift], Norwegian black metal drummer commits suicide at 29
  • Oct 6 Amália Rodrigues, Portuguese fado singer, dies at 79
  • Oct 6 Francis Turner, American civil engineer (oversaw the Interstate Highway System), dies at 90
  • Oct 6 Gorilla Monsoon, American pro wrestler (Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame) and commentator (WWF), dies from heart failure at 62
  • Oct 6 Patrick Reilly, British diplomat (ambassador to Paris and Moscow, stopped Kim Philby becoming head of UK Secret Service), dies at 90 [1]
  • Oct 7 David A. Huffman, American computer scientist, creator of Huffman coding, dies at 74
  • Oct 7 Deryck Guyler, British actor (Please Sir!; Sykes), dies at 85
  • Oct 7 Rev. Bruce Ritter, American Catholic priest and controversial founder of charity New York City based Covenant House, dies of cancer at 72
  • Oct 8 John McLendon, American basketball coach (b. 1915)
  • Oct 9 Akhtar Hameed Khan, pioneer of Microcredit in developing countries (b. 1914)
  • Oct 9 Milt Jackson, American jazz vibraphonist (Modern Jazz Quartet), pianist, and composer ("Bags Groove"), dies of cancer at 76
  • Oct 9 Morris West, Australian novelist (Shoes of the Fisherman), dies at 83
  • Oct 10 John Hadfield, British author and publisher (Love on a Branch Line), dies at 92

James Franklin Hyde (1903-1999)

Oct 11 American inventor who created silica, dies at 96

  • Oct 11 Zbigniew Wiszniewski, Polish composer, dies at 77
  • Oct 12 Robert Marsden Hope, Australian Justice and Royal Commissioner, dies at 80

Wilt Chamberlain (1936-1999)

Oct 12 American College / Basketball HOF center (4 x NBA MVP; 13 x All Star; NBA C'ship 1967, 72 [MVP]; Philadelphia/SF Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, LA Lakers), dies of heart failure at 63

  • Oct 14 Julius Nyerere, Tanzanian politician and 1st President of Tanzania (1964-1985), dies at 77
  • Oct 14 Richard B Shull, American character actor (Diana, Holmes & Yoyo), dies at 70
  • Oct 16 Jean Shepherd, American writer and actor (A Christmas Story), dies at 78
  • Oct 17 Nicholas Metropolis, Greek-American mathematician, physicist and computer scientist, dies at 84
  • Oct 17 Ralph Grey, Baron Grey of Naunton, Governor of Northern Ireland (1968-73), dies at 89
  • Oct 18 Herbert Heckmann, German writer, dies at 69
  • Oct 18 Tony Crombie, English jazz drummer and bandleader, dies at 74
  • Oct 19 James C. Murray, American politician (b. 1917)
  • Oct 19 Nathalie Sarraute [Tcherniak], French writer (Childhood; Portrait of a Man Unknown; The Golden Fruits), dies at 99
  • Oct 20 Calvin Griffith, Canadian baseball team owner (Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins 1955-84), dies at 87

Jack Lynch (1917-1999)

Oct 20 Irish politician and Taoiseach (1966-73 and 1977-79), dies at 82

  • Oct 20 Ron Smith, English trade union leader (British Postal Workers), dies at 84
  • Oct 21 Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, Turkish politician, journalist, and educator, assassinated at 60

John Bromwich (1918-1999)

Oct 21 Australian tennis player (Australian C'ship 1939, 46 / 13 Grand Slam doubles titles), dies at 80

  • Oct 22 Martin Donnelly, New Zealand cricket batsman (7 Tests, 1 x 100, 4 x 50, HS 206; Wellington, Canterbury) and rugby union centre (1 Test England 1947), dies at 82
  • Oct 24 John Chafee, American politician (Senator-R-Rhode Island, 1976-99, Secretary of the Navy, Governor of Rhode Island), dies at 77

Payne Stewart (1957-1999)

Oct 25 American golfer (US Open 1991, 99; PGA 1989), dies in a plane crash at 42

  • Oct 26 Hoyt Axton, American songwriter, singer ("No No Song"; "Joy To The World"; "I've Never Been To Spain"), and actor (McCloud; Gremlins; The Rousters), dies of a heart attack at 61
  • Oct 27 Charlotte Perriand, French architect and furniture designer (Unité d'habitation), dies at 96
  • Oct 27 Frank De Vol, American pop arranger, composer (theme songs to My Three Sons, The Brady Bunch, Family Affair; Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte ), orchestra leader, and actor (Fernwood 2 Night - "Happy Kyne"; The Big Mouth), dies of congestive heart failure at 88
  • Oct 27 Lois Collier [Madelyn Earle Jones], American actress (A Night in Casablanca, Boston Blackie, Slave Girl), dies of Alzheimer's disease at 80
  • Oct 27 Robert Mills, American physicist (quantum field theory), dies at 72
  • Oct 28 Rafael Alberti, Spanish poet (El hombre deshabitado, one of the Generation of 27), dies at 96 [1]
  • Oct 28 Robert Linn, American classical composer and educator, dies at 74
  • Oct 29 Greg [Michel Régnier], Belgian comic-book writer and artist (Achille Talon), dies at 68
  • Oct 30 Nise da Silveira, Brazilian psychiatrist (made advances in occupational therapy), dies at 94
  • Oct 31 Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (b. 1975)
  • Oct 31 Howard Ferguson, British-Irish pianist, composer, teacher and musicologist, dies at 91