Pop - Singer Richard Istel

Events in 1999 and 5-8

Events in the world in the birth year of Richard Istel

• Russian president Boris Yeltsin survives impeachment hearings (May), reshuffles his cabinet twice (May, Aug.), and takes military action against Islamic separatists in Dagestan and Chechnya. Background: 1999 in Review.
• Nelson Mandela, first black president of South Africa, steps down (June 16), and Thabo Mbeki takes over.
• War erupts in Kosovo after Yugoslavia's president Slobodan Milosevic clamps down on the province, massacring and deporting ethnic Albanians. NATO begins Operation Allied Force on March 24, 1999, launching air strikes against Belgrade for 78 consecutive days until Milosevic relents. Background: Timeline: The Splintering of Kosovo and Timeline: NATO in Kosovo.
• Magnitude 7.4 earthquake kills more than 15,600 and leaves 600,000 homeless in Turkey (Aug. 17).
• East Timor population votes for independence from Indonesia (Aug. 30, 1999), which causes pro-Indonesian forces to massacre and uproot thousands of East Timorese.
• Pakistani government is overthrown in the midst of economic strife and intensified fighting with India over Kashmir (Oct. 12). Background: 1999 in Review.
• The world awaits the consequences of the Y2K bug, with more drastic millennial theorists warning of Armageddon.
• See also: 1999 Year in Review: News of the World

Birthday Richard Istel (5-8) in history

• Day 5-8 year 1861: For the first time, the U.S. government levied an income tax.
• Day 5-8 year 1884: The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe's Island.
• Day 5-8 year 1914: The first electric traffic lights were installed in Cleveland, Ohio.
• Day 5-8 year 1962: Marilyn Monroe died.
• Day 5-8 year 1963: The United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union signed the limited Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater.
• Day 5-8 year 1969: The U.S. space probe Mariner 7 transmitted pictures of Mars.
• Day 5-8 year 1984: Joan Benoit won the first Olympic women's marathon.
• Day 5-8 year 2002: The gun turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor was raised from the ocean floor.
• Day 5-8 year 2003: The Rev. Gene Robinson was approved as the first openly gay bishop by the U.S. Episcopal Church.
• Day 5-8 year 2012: The plutonium-powered rover Curiosity successfully lands on Mars. Larger than earlier rovers, Curiosity will spend two years examining the land, looking for evidence that conditions on Mars are fit for life.