Events from the year 1998 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government President: Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) Vice President: Al Gore (D-Tennessee) Chief Justice: William H. Rehnquist (Virginia) Speaker of the House of Representatives: Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia) Senate Majority Leader: Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) Congress: 105th
State governments
Governors and lieutenant governors Governors
Lieutenant governors
Events
January
January 1 – Smoking is banned in all California bars and restaurants. January 4–10 – A massive winter storm, partly caused by El Niño, strikes New England, southern Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, resulting in widespread power failures, severe damage to forests, and numerous deaths. January 8 – Ramzi Yousef is sentenced to life in prison for planning the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. January 14 – Researchers in Dallas, Texas present findings about an enzyme that slows aging and cell death (apoptosis). January 15–18 – The Winter X Games take place in Crested Butte. January 17 – Paula Jones accuses U.S. President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment. January 23 – Mir Qazi is sentenced to death for a 1993 assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters that killed two and wounded three. January 25 – Super Bowl XXXII: The Denver Broncos become the first AFC team in 14 years to win the Super Bowl, as they defeat the Green Bay Packers, 31–24. January 26 Clinton-Lewinsky scandal: On American television, President Bill Clinton denies he had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Compaq buys Digital Equipment Corporation. January 27 – U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton appears on The Today Show, calling the attacks against her husband part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy". January 28 – Ford Motor Company announces the buyout of Volvo Cars for $6.45 billion. January 29 – In Birmingham, Alabama, a bomb explodes at an abortion clinic, killing one and severely wounding another. Serial bomber Eric Rudolph is the prime suspect.
February February – Iraq disarmament crisis: The United States Senate passes Resolution 71, urging U.S. President Bill Clinton to "take all necessary and appropriate actions to respond to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." February 3 Cavalese cable car disaster: a United States Military pilot causes the deaths of 20 people near Trento, Italy, when his low-flying plane severs the cable of a cable-car. Karla Faye Tucker is executed in Texas, becoming the first woman executed in the United States since 1984 and the first to be executed in Texas since the American Civil War. February 6 Child rapist Mary Kay Letourneau is sent back to prison after violating a no-contact order and again raping her victim. Letourneau previously struck a plea deal to only serve six months for her crimes, but her breach of the contact order meant the full seven year five month sentence was restored. Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. February 7–22 – The United States compete at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan and win 6 gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze medals. February 7 – Roger Nicholas Angleton commits suicide in a prison cell in Houston, Texas and admits to murdering socialite Doris Angleton in his suicide note. February 10 – Voters in Maine repeal a gay rights law passed in 1997, becoming the first U.S. state to abandon such a law. February 12 – The presidential line-item veto is declared unconstitutional by a United States federal judge. February 14 – The Department of Justice announces that Eric Robert Rudolph is a suspect in an Alabama abortion clinic bombing. February 15 – Dale Earnhardt wins the Daytona 500 on his 20th attempt. February 18 – Two white separatists are arrested in Nevada, accused of plotting biological warfare on New York City subways. February 19 – Larry Wayne Harris of the Aryan Nations and William Leavitt are arrested in Henderson, New York, for possession of military grade anthrax. February 20 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein negotiates a deal with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, allowing weapons inspectors to return to Baghdad, preventing military action by the United States and Britain. February 23 – Florida El Niño Outbreak: Tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42.
March
March 4 – Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex. March 5 NASA announces that the Clementine probe orbiting the Moon has found enough water in polar craters to support a human colony and rocket fueling station. NASA announces the choice of United States Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins as commander of a future Space Shuttle Columbia mission to launch an X-ray telescope, making Collins the first woman to command a Space Shuttle mission. March 7 – The Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan is fined for burning a cross in his garden and infringing air regulations in California. March 10 – United States troops stationed in the Persian Gulf begin to receive the first anthrax vaccine. March 23 – The 70th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. James Cameron's Titanic wins a record-tying 11 awards (tied with 1959's Ben-Hur) and leads with a record-tying 14 nominations (tied with 1950's All About Eve), including Best Picture and Best Director. The telecast is the most-watched Oscars broadcast in history, garnering over 57.2 million viewers. March 24 – Students Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden open fire on classmates during a fire drill, killing five and injuring 10 at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas. March 27 – The Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States. March 29 A series of three tornadoes in southern Minnesota kill three people. The World Wrestling Federation holds WrestleMania XIV from the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts. March 30 – Serial killer Judy Buenoano is executed by electric chair in Florida, the first woman to be executed in the state since 1848.
April April – The unemployment rate drops to 4.3%, the lowest level since February 1970. April 6 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 9,000 for the first time, and ending a gain of 49.82 points, 9,033.23. Long running British children's television series Teletubbies begins its U.S. television debut on PTV. April 7 – Citicorp and Travelers Group announce plans to merge, creating the largest financial-services conglomerate in the world, Citigroup. April 8 – April 1998 Birmingham tornado: An F5 tornado strikes the western portion of the Birmingham, Alabama area, killing 32 people. April 16 – An F3 tornado passes through downtown Nashville, Tennessee, the first significant tornado in 11 years to directly hit a major city. An F5 tornado travels through rural portions south of Nashville (see 1998 Nashville tornado outbreak). April 18 – Toon Disney – devoted to carrying animated series and movies, 24 hours a day, is launched by The Walt Disney Company. April 22 – The Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World opens to the public for the first time. April 27 – The Aladdin Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is imploded to make way for the brand new Aladdin Hotel & Casino. April 30 – Daniel V. Jones, a cancer and HIV-positive patient, commits suicide on a Los Angeles freeway after a police standoff. The event was broadcast live on television and caused controversy about airing police chases.
May
May 13 – India carries out two more nuclear tests at Pokhran. The United States and Japan impose economic sanctions on India. May 14 – Seinfeld airs its series finale to 76 million viewers. May 18 – United States v. Microsoft: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft. May 21 At Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, Kipland Kinkel (who was suspended for bringing a gun to school) shoots a semi-automatic rifle into a room filled with students, killing two and wounding 25 others, after killing his parents at home. In Miami, Florida, five abortion clinics are hit by a butyric acid attacker. May 22 – Lewinsky scandal: A federal judge rules that United States Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the scandal. May 27 – Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $75,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot. May 28 Nuclear testing: In response to a series of Indian nuclear tests, Pakistan explodes five nuclear devices of its own in the Chaghai hills of Baluchistan, prompting the United States, Japan and other nations to impose economic sanctions. Saturday Night Live star Phil Hartman is murdered by his wife in their home, who then killed herself when police arrived.
June June 2 – California voters approve Proposition 227, abolishing the state's bilingual education program. June 4 – Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing. June 5 – A strike begins at the General Motors Corporation parts factory in Flint, Michigan, quickly spreading to five other assembly plants and lasting seven weeks. June 7 – Three white supremacists murder James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas. June 12 A jury in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, convicts 17-year-old Luke Woodham of killing two students and wounding seven others at Pearl High School."Teen guilty in Mississippi school-shooting rampage". CNN. Christina Marie Williams, 13, is kidnapped in Seaside, California while walking her dog. June 14 – The Chicago Bulls win their 6th NBA title in 8 years when they beat the Utah Jazz, 87–86 in Game 6. This is also Michael Jordan's last game as a Bull, clinching the game in the final seconds on a fadeaway jumper. June 16 The American Film Institute broadcasts their list of the 100 best American movies as the first entry in their AFI 100 Years... series. Citizen Kane is deemed as the best film of all time, with Casablanca, The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, and Lawrence of Arabia listed in the top five. The Detroit Red Wings sweep the Washington Capitals in four games in the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals. June 19 – Walt Disney Pictures' 36th feature film, Mulan, is released to very positive reception and commercial success. June 25 In the case of Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998), the Supreme Court of the United States holds that the Line Item Veto Act is unconstitutional. Microsoft releases Windows 98 (First Edition). June 28 – The World Wrestling Federation holds its King of the Ring pay-per-view event at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Undertaker throws Mankind off the Hell in a Cell structure, causing him to plummet sixteen feet through an announcers' table.
July July 5 – Japan launches a probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as an outer space-exploring nation. July 10 The DNA-identified remains of United States Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie arrive home to his family in St. Louis, Missouri, after being in the Tomb of the Unknowns since 1984. Catholic priests' sex abuse scandal: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by former priest Rudolph Kos. July 24 1998 United States Capitol shooting incident: Russell Eugene Weston Jr. bursts into the United States Capitol and opens fire, killing two United States Capitol Police officers. He is later ruled incompetent to stand trial. Saving Private Ryan premieres in movie theaters.