1. SpongeBob SquarePants made its debut on Nickelodeon — and it also aired its iconic "Pizza Delivery" episode that August.
2. Britney Spears continued to stir controversy for being "too sexy" (which was fallout from her iconic Rolling Stone cover).
3. Disney released Tarzan into theaters, the film would mark the end of the Disney Renaissance.
4. Lisa Kudrow hosted the 1999 MTV Movie Awards.
5. And one of the highlights of the award show was Will Smith performing "Wild Wild West," with a surprise appearance by Stevie Wonder.
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6. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace toys were the hottest toys around and had collectors everywhere snatching them up.
7. MTV began airing its eighth season of The Real World, this time set in Hawaii.
8. The second season of Sex and the City premiered on HBO.
9. Doug and The Nanny both ended their runs.
10. The Sixth Sense was an absolute sensation, and since there was no Twitter, not too many people had the ending ruined.
11. The Blair Witch Project scared audiences and had many people thinking it was real. It also became one of the most profitable films of all-time.
12. Apple released its iBook and everybody wanted one.
13. Dial-up internet was still very much the norm. Also, not even half of the U.S. had internet access in their homes at the time.
14. Napster launched and forever changed the music industry.
15. George W. Bush, then-Governor of Texas, announced he was planning on running for president of the United States.
16. John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn, and his sister-in-law Lauren Bessette died in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.
17. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? premiered on ABC and became an instant hit.
18. Angelina Jolie (who was at the time an up-and-coming actor) graced the cover of Rolling Stone's annual "Hot List" issue.
19. American Pie was an unexpected hit and would go on to bring back teen sex comedies.
20. Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy" and Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Scar Tissue" dominated alt-radio.
21. Backstreet Boy's "I Want it that Way" was the biggest video on TRL — although it faced fierce competition from the video for NSYNC's "I Drive Myself Crazy."
22. Christina Aguilera released her debut single, "Genie In A Bottle." It would also go on to become the song of the summer.
23. Other big songs of the summer were Destiny's Child's "Bills, Bills, Bills" and Jennifer Lopez's debut single, "If You Had My Love."
24. Renee Russo started a huge trend when women started copying the hairstyle she had in The Thomas Crown Affair.
25. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was released and became one of the biggest selling games of the year.
26. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published in the UK.
27. And finally, Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace was released into theaters. It would go on to become the biggest movie of the year.
