What happened in 1998
400 entries recorded for 1998, listed by date. That was 28 years ago.
1998 at a glance
- Years ago
- 28 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1990s
- Generation born
- Generation Z
- Entries here
- 400
- Breakdown
- 125 historical events · 271 births · 4 deaths
January
- January 1
Juan Maldacena
Argentinian physicist Juan Maldacena published a landmark paper initiating the study of AdS/CFT correspondence, which links string theory and quantum gravity.
- January 1
1998 Russian monetary reform
Following a currency reform, Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.
- January 1
Frank Onyeka
Frank Onyeka, Nigerian footballer
- January 1
Enock Mwepu
Enock Mwepu, Zambian footballer
- January 1
Cristina Bucșa
Cristina Bucșa, Moldovan-Spanish tennis player
- January 1
Edwuin Cetré
Edwuin Cetré, Colombian footballer
- January 2
Tfue
Tfue, American online streamer
- January 2
Timothy Fosu-Mensah
Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Dutch footballer
- January 3
Emiru
Emiru, American online streamer
- January 3
Patrick Cutrone
Patrick Cutrone, Italian footballer
- January 4
January 1998 North American ice storm
A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction.
- January 4
Coco Jones
Coco Jones, American singer-songwriter and actress
- January 5
Carles Aleñá
Carles Aleñá, Spanish footballer
- January 5
Corey Horsburgh
Corey Horsburgh, Australian rugby league player
- January 8
Tony Bradley (basketball)
Tony Bradley, American basketball player
- January 8
Jhoan Durán
Jhoan Durán, Dominican baseball player
- January 9
Brent Rivera
Brent Rivera, American social media personality and actor
- January 9
Kerris Dorsey
Kerris Dorsey, American actress
- January 11
Sidi-Hamed massacre
Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria.
- January 11
Thomas Mikaele
Thomas Mikaele, New Zealand rugby league player
- January 12
Human cloning
Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
- January 12
Juan Foyth
Juan Foyth, Argentinian footballer
- January 13
Alfredo Ormando
Alfredo Ormando sets himself on fire in St. Peter's Square, protesting against homophobia.
- January 14
Maddison Inglis
Maddison Inglis, Australian tennis player
- January 15
Chloe Kelly
Chloe Kelly, English footballer
- January 15
Alexandra Eade
Alexandra Eade, Australian artistic gymnast
- January 15
Ben Godfrey
Ben Godfrey, English footballer
- January 16
Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa
In Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, Guatemala, thirteen American students on a school trip are attacked and robbed at gunpoint; five were raped.
- January 16
Seungkwan
Boo Seung-kwan, South Korean singer
- January 17
Drudge Report
The Drudge Report became the first news source to break the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal to the public.
- January 17
Clinton–Lewinsky scandal
Clinton–Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge breaks the story of the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky affair on his Drudge Report website.
- January 17
Jeff Reine-Adélaïde
Jeff Reine-Adélaïde, French footballer
- January 17
Sophie Molineux
Sophie Molineux, Australian cricketer
- January 18
Éder Militão
Éder Militão, Brazilian footballer
- January 18
Lisandro Martínez
Lisandro Martínez, Argentinian footballer
- January 18
Aitana Bonmatí
Aitana Bonmatí, Spanish footballer
- January 19
Emre Guler
Emre Guler, Australian rugby league player
- January 21
Pervis Estupiñán
Pervis Estupiñán, Ecuadorian footballer
- January 22
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle program: space shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-89 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.
- January 22
Walid Cheddira
Walid Cheddira, Moroccan footballer
- January 23
Netscape
Netscape announces Mozilla, with the intention to release Communicator code as open source.
- January 23
XXXTentacion
XXXTentacion, American rapper (died 2018)
- January 25
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam detonated a truck bomb at the sacred Buddhist Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, killing 17 people.
- January 25
Pope John Paul II
During a historic visit to Cuba, Pope John Paul II demands political reforms and the release of political prisoners while condemning US attempts to isolate the country.
- January 26
Bill Clinton
In a nationally televised press conference, U.S. president Bill Clinton denied having "sexual relations" with intern Monica Lewinsky.
- January 26
Clinton–Lewinsky scandal
Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
- January 26
Moonbin
Moonbin, South Korean singer and actor. (died 2023)
- January 27
Devin Druid
Devin Druid, American actor
- January 28
Ariel Winter
Ariel Winter, American actress
- January 28
Payton Pritchard
Payton Pritchard, American basketball player
- January 31
Jalen McDaniels
Jalen McDaniels, American basketball player
- January 31
Beto (footballer, born 1998)
Beto, Portuguese and Bissau-Guinean footballer
February
- February 1
Lillian E. Fishburne
Rear Admiral Lillian E. Fishburne becomes the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral.
- February 1
Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., Bahamian baseball player
- February 2
Cebu Pacific Flight 387
Cebu Pacific Flight 387 crashes into Mount Sumagaya in the Philippines, killing all 104 people on board.
- February 2
Shiho Katō
Shiho Katō, Japanese singer and model
- February 3
1998 Cavalese cable car crash
Cavalese cable car disaster: A United States military pilot causes the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.
- February 3
Commutation (law)
Despite a large international movement advocating the commutation of her sentence to life imprisonment, Karla Faye Tucker became the first woman to be executed in the United States since 1984.
- February 3
Isaiah Roby
Isaiah Roby, American basketball player
- February 3
Tyler Huntley
Tyler Huntley, American football player
- February 3
Aurélien Giraud
Aurélien Giraud, French skateboarder
- February 4
February 1998 Afghanistan earthquake
An earthquake registering 5.9 MW struck northern Afghanistan, triggering landslides that killed over 2,300 people and destroyed around 15,000 homes.
- February 4
Malik Monk
Malik Monk, American basketball player
- February 4
Maximilian Wöber
Maximilian Wöber, Austrian footballer
- February 6
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
- February 6
Adley Rutschman
Adley Rutschman, American baseball player
- February 8
Rui Hachimura
Rui Hachimura, Japanese basketball player
- February 9
Cem Bölükbaşı
Cem Bölükbaşı, Turkish racing driver and former sim racer
- February 9
Isabella Gomez
Isabella Gomez, Colombian-American actress
- February 11
Trent Frederic
Trent Frederic, American ice hockey player
- February 11
Josh Jacobs
Josh Jacobs, American football player
- February 11
Khalid (singer)
Khalid, American singer and songwriter
- February 14
Rail freight transport
An oil tanker train collides with a freight train in Yaoundé, Cameroon, spilling fuel oil. One person scavenging the oil created a massive explosion which killed 120.
- February 15
George Russell (racing driver)
George Russell, English racing driver
- February 15
Zachary Gordon
Zachary Gordon, American actor
- February 16
Taoyuan International Airport
While on approach to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, China Airlines Flight 676 crashed due to an over-reliance of the autopilot, which resulted in the deaths of 202 people.
- February 16
China Airlines Flight 676
China Airlines Flight 676 crashes into a road and residential area near Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan, killing all 196 aboard and six more on the ground.
- February 16
Kim Su-ji (diver)
Kim Suji, South Korean diver
- February 16
An Hye-jin
An Hyejin, South Korean volleyball player
- February 17
Devin White
Devin White, American football player
- February 18
Vernon (rapper)
Vernon, South Korean and American rapper, singer and songwriter
- February 19
Chappell Roan
Chappell Roan, American singer and songwriter
- February 19
Katharina Gerlach
Katharina Gerlach, German tennis player
- February 19
Jungwoo
Jungwoo, South Korean singer
- February 20
Tara Lipinski
American figure skater Tara Lipinski, at the age of 15, becomes the youngest Olympic figure skating gold-medalist at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
- February 20
Figure skating
At the age of 15, American figure skater Tara Lipinski became the then-youngest winner of an Olympic gold medal in the history of the Winter Olympic Games.
- February 20
Emam Ashour
Emam Ashour, Egyptian footballer
- February 22
Cherry-throated tanager
The cherry-throated tanager, a critically endangered bird which had not been definitively sighted in over a century, was rediscovered in Conceição do Castelo, Brazil.
- February 23
1998 Central Florida tornado outbreak
In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42 people.
- February 25
W. O. Mitchell
W. O. Mitchell, Canadian author and playwright (born 1914)
- February 27
Todd Cantwell
Todd Cantwell, English footballer
- February 28
Teun Koopmeiners
Teun Koopmeiners, Dutch footballer
March
- March 1
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic becomes the first film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
- March 2
Galileo (spacecraft)
Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice.
- March 2
Tua Tagovailoa
Tua Tagovailoa, American football player
- March 3
Jayson Tatum
Jayson Tatum, American basketball player
- March 4
LGBTQ rights in the United States
Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.: 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 4
Obi Toppin
Obi Toppin, American basketball player
- March 5
Bo Bichette
Bo Bichette, American baseball player
- March 6
Kyle Trask
Kyle Trask, American football player
- March 7
Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman, American poet and activist
- March 9
Najee Harris
Najee Harris, American football running back
- March 10
Justin Herbert
Justin Herbert, American football player
- March 10
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Bridges, American actor and director (born 1913)
- March 12
Daniel Samohin
Daniel Samohin, Israeli figure skater
- March 12
Elizaveta Ukolova
Elizaveta Ukolova, Czech figure skater
- March 12
Mecole Hardman
Mecole Hardman, American football player
- March 12
Carsen Edwards
Carsen Edwards, American basketball player
- March 13
Jack Harlow
Jack Harlow, American rapper, singer-songwriter, and actor
- March 13
Jay-Roy Grot
Jay-Roy Grot, Dutch footballer
- March 14
Tyson Jost
Tyson Jost, Canadian ice hockey player
- March 17
Brandon Aiyuk
Brandon Aiyuk, American football player
- March 18
Emmanuel Clase
Emmanuel Clase, Dominican baseball player
- March 19
Ariana Afghan Airlines
An Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 727 crashes on approach to Kabul International Airport, killing all 45 on board.
- March 19
Sakura Miyawaki
Sakura Miyawaki, Japanese singer
- March 19
Caylee Cowan
Caylee Cowan, American actress
- March 19
Julian Love
Julian Love, American football player
- March 21
Miles Bridges
Miles Bridges, American basketball player
- March 22
Noah LaLonde
Noah Lalonde, American actor. Known for his role as Cole Walter in My Life with the Walter Boys.
- March 24
Rüdiger Marmulla
Dr. Rüdiger Marmulla performs the first computer-assisted Bone Segment Navigation at the University of Regensburg, Germany.
- March 24
1998 Westside Middle School shooting
Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden, aged 11 and 13 respectively, open fire upon teachers and students at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas; five people are killed and ten are wounded.
- March 24
Tornado
A tornado sweeps through Dantan in India, killing 250 people and injuring 3,000 others.
- March 24
Christopher Briney
Christopher Briney, American actor
- March 24
Ethel Cain
Ethel Cain, American singer-songwriter, record producer, and model
- March 24
Damar Hamlin
Damar Hamlin, American football player
- March 26
Algerian Civil War
During the Algerian Civil War, the Oued Bouaicha massacre sees fifty-two people, mostly infants, killed with axes and knives.
- March 26
Satoko Miyahara
Satoko Miyahara, Japanese figure skater
- March 27
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug sildenafil (chemical structure pictured), better known by the trade name Viagra, as the first treatment approved in the United States for erectile dysfunction.
- March 27
Giannis Bouzoukis
Giannis Bouzoukis, Greek footballer
- March 28
Lance Morris
Lance Morris, Australian cricketer
- March 30
Kalyn Ponga
Kalyn Ponga, Australian rugby league player
- March 31
Netscape
Netscape releases Mozilla source code under an open source license.
April
- April 1
Mitchell Robinson
Mitchell Robinson, American basketball player
- April 1
King Combs
King Combs, American rapper
- April 3
Paris Jackson
Paris Jackson, American actress, model and singer
- April 5
Japan
In Japan, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge opens to traffic, becoming the longest bridge span in the world.
- April 5
Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (pictured), then the world's longest suspension bridge, linking Awaji Island and Kobe in Japan, opened to traffic.
- April 5
Nathan Broadhead
Nathan Broadhead, Welsh football player
- April 6
Nuclear weapons testing
Nuclear weapons testing: Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of reaching India.
- April 6
Nico González (footballer, born 1998)
Nicolás González, Argentine footballer
- April 6
Peyton List (actress, born 1998)
Peyton List, American actress and model
- April 6
Nahuel Molina
Nahuel Molina, Argentine footballer
- April 6
Spencer List
Spencer List, American actor
- April 8
Lavinia Valbonesi
Lavinia Valbonesi, Ecuadorian nutritionist, businesswoman and First Lady of Ecuador
- April 9
Elle Fanning
Elle Fanning, American actress
- April 10
Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement is signed in Northern Ireland.
- April 15
Sexyy Red
Sexyy Red, American rapper
- April 17
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-90, the final Spacelab mission.
- April 17
Suppapong Udomkaewkanjana
Suppapong Udomkaewkanjana (Saint), Thai actor and singer
- April 17
Anna Odine Strøm
Anna Odine Strøm, Norwegian ski jumper and two-time Olympic champion
- April 20
Air France Flight 422
Air France Flight 422 crashes after taking off from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, killing all 53 people on board.
- April 21
Jarrett Allen
Jarrett Allen, American basketball player
- April 21
Jean-François Lyotard
Jean-François Lyotard, French sociologist and philosopher (born 1924)
- April 24
Ryan Whitney (actress)
Ryan Newman, American actress
- April 25
Satou Sabally
Satou Sabally, German-American basketball player
- April 27
Cristian Romero
Cristian Romero, Argentine footballer
- April 28
Song Yuvin
Song Yu-bin, South Korean singer and actor
- April 29
Mallory Swanson
Mallory Pugh, American soccer player
- April 29
Kimberly Birrell
Kimberly Birrell, Australian tennis player
- April 30
Georgina Amorós
Georgina Amorós, Spanish actress
May
- May 2
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy.
- May 4
Sacramento, California
A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
- May 4
Rex Orange County
Rex Orange County, English musician
- May 5
Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka, Belarusian tennis player
- May 6
Kerry Wood
Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens. He threw a one-hitter and did not walk a batter in his fifth career start.
- May 6
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs unveiled the iMac G3' personal computer.
- May 6
Luigi Mangione
Luigi Mangione, suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
- May 7
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.
- May 7
Jesse Puljujärvi
Jesse Puljujärvi, Finnish ice hockey player
- May 7
MrBeast
MrBeast, American YouTuber
- May 7
Dani Olmo
Dani Olmo, Spanish footballer
- May 11
Pokhran-II
India began the Pokhran-II nuclear-weapons test, its first since the Smiling Buddha test 24 years earlier.
- May 11
Viktória Hrunčáková
Viktória Kužmová, Slovak tennis player
- May 12
Trisakti shootings
Four students were shot and killed by Indonesian soldiers at Trisakti University in Jakarta, which led to widespread riots and the resignation of President Suharto nine days later.
- May 12
Mo Bamba
Mo Bamba, American-Ivorian basketball player
- May 13
Pokhran-II
India carries out two nuclear weapon tests at Pokhran, following the three conducted on May 11. The United States and Japan impose economic sanctions on India.
- May 13
May 1998 Indonesia riots
Race riots break out in Jakarta, Indonesia, where shops owned by Indonesians of Chinese descent are looted and women raped.
- May 13
Luca Zidane
Luca Zidane, Algerian footballer
- May 13
Adrià Pedrosa
Adrià Pedrosa, Spanish footballer
- May 15
Lucrezia Stefanini
Lucrezia Stefanini, Italian tennis player
- May 18
Polina Edmunds
Polina Edmunds, American figure skater
- May 20
Nam Nguyen
Nam Nguyen, Canadian figure skater
- May 20
Jamie Chadwick
Jamie Chadwick, English race car driver
- May 21
Suharto
Indonesian president Suharto resigned after a collapse of support for his presidency amid economic and political crises, ending 32 years in power.
- May 21
Miami
In Miami, five abortion clinics are attacked by a butyric acid attacker.
- May 22
Public Prosecutor v Taw Cheng Kong
In Public Prosecutor v Taw Cheng Kong, the Court of Appeal of Singapore overruled a High Court decision in the only time a statute in Singapore had been ruled unconstitutional.
- May 22
United States Secret Service
A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton.
- May 22
Samile Bermannelli
Samile Bermannelli, Brazilian fashion model
- May 23
Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with roughly 75% voting yes.
- May 23
Salwa Eid Naser
Salwa Eid Naser, Bahraini track and field sprinter
- May 23
Luca de la Torre
Luca de la Torre, American soccer player
- May 23
Sérgio Sette Câmara
Sérgio Sette Câmara, Brazilian racing driver
- May 26
National Sorry Day
The first "National Sorry Day" is held in Australia. Reconciliation events are held nationally, and attended by over a million people.
- May 26
MIAT Mongolian Airlines
A MIAT Mongolian Airlines Harbin Y-12 crashes near Erdenet, Orkhon Province, Mongolia, resulting in 28 deaths.
- May 26
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States rules in New Jersey v. New York that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.
- May 27
Oklahoma City bombing
Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.
- May 27
Josep Martínez
Josep Martínez, Spanish footballer
- May 28
Nuclear weapons testing
Nuclear testing: Pakistan responds to a series of nuclear tests by India with five of its own codenamed Chagai-I, prompting the United States, Japan, and other nations to impose economic sanctions. Pakistan celebrates Youm-e-Takbir annually.
- May 28
Dahyun
Kim Dahyun, South Korean rapper and singer
- May 28
De'Anthony Melton
De'Anthony Melton, American basketball player
- May 29
Markelle Fultz
Markelle Fultz, American basketball player
- May 29
Austin Reaves
Austin Reaves, American basketball player
- May 30
May 1998 Afghanistan earthquake
A magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck northern Afghanistan, killing at least 4,000 people, destroying more than 30 villages, and leaving 45,000 people homeless.
- May 30
Nuclear weapons testing
Nuclear Testing: Pakistan conducts an underground test in the Kharan Desert. It is reported to be a plutonium device with yield of 20kt TNT equivalent.
- May 31
Santino Ferrucci
Santino Ferrucci, American race car driver
June
- June 2
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-91, the final mission of the Shuttle-Mir program.
- June 3
Eschede train disaster
After suffering a mechanical failure, a high speed train derails at Eschede, Germany, killing 101 people.
- June 3
Sam Curran
Sam Curran, English cricketer
- June 4
Terry Nichols
Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
- June 4
Central Cee
Central Cee, British rapper and songwriter
- June 5
Strike action
A strike begins at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan, that quickly spreads to five other assembly plants. The strike lasts seven weeks.
- June 5
Jaqueline Cristian
Jaqueline Cristian, Romanian tennis player
- June 5
Yulia Lipnitskaya
Yulia Lipnitskaya, Russian figure skater
- June 5
Kale Clague
Kale Clague, Canadian ice hockey player
- June 5
Dave (rapper)
Dave, British rapper
- June 6
Kenny Pickett
Kenny Pickett, American football player
- June 7
White supremacy
White supremacists murdered James Byrd Jr., an African American, by chaining him behind a pickup truck and dragging him along an asphalt road in Jasper, Texas.
- June 10
Ryan Papenhuyzen
Ryan Papenhuyzen, Australian rugby league player
- June 11
Compaq
Compaq Computer pays US$9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in the largest high-tech acquisition.
- June 16
Karman Thandi
Karman Thandi, Indian tennis player
- June 18
Propair Flight 420
Propair Flight 420 crashes near Montréal–Mirabel International Airport in Quebec, Canada, killing 11.
- June 19
Joshua Da Silva
Joshua Da Silva, Trinidadian cricketer
- June 19
Atticus Shaffer
Atticus Shaffer, American actor and YouTuber
- June 21
Isabel Atkin
Isabel Atkin, British-American freestyle skier
- June 24
Federico Gatti
Federico Gatti, Italian footballer
- June 24
Pierre-Luc Dubois
Pierre-Luc Dubois, Canadian ice hockey player
- June 25
Clinton v. City of New York
In Clinton v. City of New York, the United States Supreme Court decides that the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 is unconstitutional.
- June 25
Kyle Chalmers
Kyle Chalmers, Australian swimmer
- June 29
Michael Porter Jr.
Michael Porter Jr., American basketball player
- June 29
Gjon's Tears
Gjon's Tears, Swiss singer-songwriter
- June 30
Tom Davies (footballer, born 1998)
Tom Davies, English footballer
July
- July 1
Aleksandra Golovkina-Dolinskė
Aleksandra Golovkina, Lithuanian figure skater
- July 1
Chloe Bailey
Chloe Bailey, American singer-songwriter and actress
- July 1
Susan Bandecchi
Susan Bandecchi, Swiss tennis player
- July 2
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling, the second novel of the Harry Potter series, was published.
- July 3
Kim Dong-han
Kim Dong-han, South Korean singer
- July 4
Nozomi (spacecraft)
Japan launches the Nozomi probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.
- July 4
Monster movie
The monster movie Pulgasari, the most-widely-seen North Korean film ever made, premiered in Tokyo, Japan.
- July 5
Emily Fox
Emily Fox, American soccer player
- July 6
Hong Kong International Airport
Hong Kong International Airport opens in Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong, replacing Kai Tak Airport as the city's international airport.
- July 6
Comethazine
Comethazine, American rapper
- July 8
Jaden Smith
Jaden Smith, American actor and rapper
- July 8
Maya Hawke
Maya Hawke, American actress
- July 10
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claim they were sexually abused by Rudolph Kos, a former priest.
- July 10
Angus Cloud
Angus Cloud, American actor (died 2023)
- July 12
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force attack a house in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a petrol bomb, killing the Quinn brothers.
- July 12
France national football team
France defeated the defending champions Brazil 3–0 to win their first FIFA World Cup title.
- July 12
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Canadian basketball player
- July 14
Richard and Maurice McDonald
Richard McDonald, American businessman, co-founded McDonald's (born 1909)
- July 15
Sri Lankan civil war
Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil MP S. Shanmuganathan is killed by a claymore mine.
- July 15
Noah Gragson
Noah Gragson, American racing driver
- July 17
1998 Papua New Guinea earthquake
The 7.0 Mw Papua New Guinea earthquake triggers a tsunami that destroys ten villages in Papua New Guinea, killing up to 2,700 people, and leaving several thousand injured.
- July 17
Rome Statute
A diplomatic conference adopts the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, establishing the permanent international court in The Hague, to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
- July 17
Rosana Serrano
Rosana Serrano, Cuban rower
- July 19
Karl Jacobs
Karl Jacobs, American YouTuber and streamer
- July 19
Ronaldo Vieira (footballer, born 1998)
Ronaldo Vieira, Bissau-Guinean footballer
- July 19
Erin Cuthbert
Erin Cuthbert, Scottish footballer
- July 20
Morgan Geekie
Morgan Geekie, Canadian ice hockey player
- July 21
Marie Bouzková
Marie Bouzkova, Czech tennis player
- July 21
Maggie Lindemann
Maggie Lindemann, American singer-songwriter.
- July 22
Madison Pettis
Madison Pettis, American actress
- July 22
Larray
Larray, American YouTuber
- July 22
Sahaphap Wongratch
Sahaphap Wongratch, Thai actor, model, and singer
- July 22
Marc Cucurella
Marc Cucurella, Spanish footballer
- July 22
Federico Valverde
Federico Valverde, Uruguayan footballer
- July 23
Deandre Ayton
Deandre Ayton, Bahamian basketball player
- July 24
United States Capitol
A gunman entered the United States Capitol and opened fire, killing two police officers.
- July 24
1998 United States Capitol shooting
Russell Eugene Weston Jr. bursts into the United States Capitol and opens fire, killing two police officers. He is later ruled to be incompetent to stand trial.
- July 24
Bindi Irwin
Bindi Irwin, Australian conservationist, zookeeper, and actress
- July 24
Sophie Wotschke
Sophie Wotschke, Austrian politician
- July 24
Cailee Spaeny
Cailee Spaeny, American actress
- July 26
Achraf El Yakhloufi
Achraf El Yakhloufi, Belgian politician
- July 29
Mirjam Björklund
Mirjam Björklund, Swedish tennis player
- July 29
Clayton Keller
Clayton Keller, American ice hockey player
- July 29
Tijjani Reijnders
Tijjani Reijnders, Dutch footballer
- July 31
Rico Rodriguez (actor)
Rico Rodriguez, American actor
August
- August 1
Puntland
Puntland, an autonomous state in northeastern Somalia, is officially established following a constitutional conference in Garowe. Issims and tribal chiefs agreed to create a self-declared government until Somalia recovered.
- August 4
Lil Skies
Lil Skies, American rapper
- August 5
Adam Doueihi
Adam Doueihi, Australian-Lebanese rugby league player
- August 7
1998 United States embassy bombings
Car bombs exploded simultaneously at the American embassies in the East African capital cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, killing more than 200 people and injuring more than 4,000 others.
- August 7
Vladimir Barbu
Vladimir Barbu, Italian diver
- August 7
Jalen Hurts
Jalen Hurts, American football player
- August 7
María Belén Bazo
María Belén Bazo, Peruvian windsurfer
- August 8
Mazar-i-Sharif
The Iranian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, was raided by Taliban leading to the death of 10 Iranian diplomats and an Iranian journalist.
- August 8
Shawn Mendes
Shawn Mendes, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- August 8
Ryan Garcia
Ryan Garcia, American boxer
- August 10
Al-Muhtadee Billah
HRH Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah is proclaimed the crown prince of Brunei with a Royal Proclamation.
- August 12
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greek tennis player
- August 13
Dalma Gálfi
Dalma Gálfi, Hungarian tennis player
- August 14
Doechii
Doechii, American rapper
- August 15
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured.
- August 15
The Troubles
The Troubles: A car bomb attack carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army killed 29 people and injured approximately 220 others in Omagh, Northern Ireland.
- August 15
Apple Inc.
Apple introduces the iMac computer.
- August 17
Clinton–Lewinsky scandal
Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky; later that same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about the relationship.
- August 17
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Japanese baseball player
- August 18
Nick Fuentes
Nick Fuentes, American far-right political commentator
- August 18
Clairo
Clairo, American singer-songwriter
- August 18
Brian To'o
Brian To'o, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
- August 20
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada rules that Quebec cannot legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval.
- August 20
Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory
The Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory (pictured) in Sudan was destroyed by a missile attack launched by the United States in retaliation for the August 7 U.S. embassy bombings.
- August 20
1998 United States embassy bombings
U.S. embassy bombings: The United States launches cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical weapons plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
- August 20
Lieke Klaver
Lieke Klaver, Dutch track and field athlete
- August 23
P. J. Washington
P. J. Washington, American basketball player
- August 24
Radio-frequency identification
First radio-frequency identification (RFID) human implantation tested in the United Kingdom.
- August 24
Sofia Richie
Sofia Richie, American model and social media personality
- August 25
China Anne McClain
China Anne McClain, American actress and singer
- August 26
Delta III
The first flight of the Boeing Delta III ends in disaster 75 seconds after liftoff, resulting in the loss of the Galaxy X communications satellite.
- August 26
Soyeon
Jeon Soyeon, Korean rapper and record producer
- August 26
Charlie Gillespie
Charlie Gillespie, Canadian actor and singer
- August 27
Rod Wave
Rod Wave, American rapper, singer, and songwriter
- August 27
Kevin Huerter
Kevin Huerter, American basketball player
- August 27
Brandon Hagel
Brandon Hagel, Canadian ice hockey player
- August 27
Matheus Nunes
Matheus Nunes, Portuguese footballer
- August 28
Second Congo War
Second Congo War: Loyalist troops backed by Angolan and Zimbabwean forces repulse the RCD and Rwandan offensive on Kinshasa.
- August 28
Pakistan
Pakistan's National Assembly passes a constitutional amendment to make the "Qur'an and Sunnah" the "supreme law" but the bill is defeated in the Senate.
- August 28
Weston McKennie
Weston McKennie, American soccer player
- August 29
Cubana de Aviación Flight 389
Eighty people are killed when Cubana de Aviación Flight 389 crashes during a rejected takeoff from the Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito, Ecuador.
- August 30
Second Congo War
Second Congo War: Armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and their Angolan and Zimbabwean allies recapture Matadi and the Inga dams in the western DRC from RCD and Rwandan troops.
- August 31
BossMan Dlow
BossMan Dlow, American rapper
September
- September 1
Josh Okogie
Josh Okogie, Nigerian-American basketball player
- September 1
Salah Mohsen
Salah Mohsen, Egyptian footballer
- September 1
Josh Battle
Josh Battle, Australian rules footballer
- September 2
United Nations
The UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda finds Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of a small town in Rwanda, guilty of nine counts of genocide.
- September 2
Swissair Flight 111
A fire in the cockpit on Swissair Flight 111, en route from New York City to Geneva, caused the aircraft to crash into the Atlantic Ocean near Canada, killing all 229 people on board.
- September 2
Choi Ye-bin
Choi Ye-bin, South Korean actress
- September 2
Eetu Luostarinen
Eetu Luostarinen, Finnish ice hockey player
- September 2
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Canadian basketball player
- September 3
Oskar Seuntjens
Oskar Seuntjens, Belgian politician
- September 4
Google
Google is founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two PhD students at Stanford University.
- September 4
Neru Nagahama
Neru Nagahama, Japanese television personality
- September 5
Davion Mitchell
Davion Mitchell, American basketball player
- September 5
Caroline Dolehide
Caroline Dolehide, American tennis player
- September 5
Mac Jones
Mac Jones, American football player
- September 6
Michele Perniola
Michele Perniola, Italian singer
- September 8
Matheus Leist
Matheus Leist, Brazilian racing driver
- September 8
Emma Laird
Emma Laird, English actress
- September 8
Georgie Gleeson
Georgie Gleeson, Australian representative
- September 8
Chelsea Gubecka
Chelsea Gubecka, Australian swimmer
- September 8
Sierra Capri
Sierra Capri, American actress
- September 9
Jordan Nwora
Jordan Nwora, Nigerian-American basketball player
- September 10
Sheck Wes
Sheck Wes, American rapper
- September 10
Anna Blinkova
Anna Blinkova, Russian tennis player
- September 13
Satoshi (singer)
Satoshi, Moldovan rapper and singer-songwriter
- September 14
MCI Communications
Telecommunications companies MCI Communications and WorldCom complete their $37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom.
- September 17
Kim Dong-hyun (singer, born 1998)
Kim Dong-hyun, South Korean singer
- September 18
Christian Pulisic
Christian Pulisic, American soccer player
- September 18
Conor Timmins
Conor Timmins, Canadian ice hockey player
- September 19
Trae Young
Trae Young, American basketball player
- September 19
Nolan Patrick
Nolan Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player
- September 20
Trevon Diggs
Trevon Diggs, American football player
- September 21
Yainer Díaz
Yainer Díaz, Dominican baseball player
- September 21
Multibronce
Máscara de Bronce, Mexican wrestler
- September 24
Nikolas Cruz
Nikolas Cruz, American mass murderer
- September 25
PauknAir Flight 4101
PauknAir Flight 4101, a British Aerospace 146, crashes near Melilla Airport in Melilla, Spain, killing 38 people.
- September 27
Google
The Google internet search engine retroactively claims this date as its birthday.
- September 27
Ioana Mincă
Ioana Mincă, Romanian tennis player
- September 28
Panna Udvardy
Panna Udvardy, Hungarian tennis player
- September 30
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a nonprofit organization that manages the assignment of domain names and IP addresses in the Internet, was incorporated.
- September 30
Trevi Moran
Trevi Moran, American YouTuber and singer
- September 30
Landon Dickerson
Landon Dickerson, American football player
- September 30
Yui Imaizumi
Yui Imaizumi, Japanese actress, singer, model, and television personality
October
- October 1
Europol
Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, was formed with the ratification of the Europol Convention by all member states.
- October 1
Haumole Olakau'atu
Haumole Olakau'atu, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
- October 1
Daniel Gafford
Daniel Gafford, American basketball player
- October 5
Exequiel Palacios
Exequiel Palacios, Argentine footballer
- October 6
Matthew Shepard
Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was attacked and fatally wounded near Laramie, Wyoming, U.S., dying six days later.
- October 7
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Trent Alexander-Arnold, English footballer
- October 7
Ryan Trahan
Ryan Trahan, American YouTuber
- October 8
Oslo
A new airport for Oslo, Norway, opened at Gardermoen, replacing a smaller one at the same location that had served as a backup to the city's previous main airport at Fornebu.
- October 10
Lignes Aériennes Congolaises (1997–2003)
A Lignes Aériennes Congolaises jetliner is shot down by rebels in Kindu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 41 people.
- October 14
Eric Rudolph
Eric Rudolph is charged with six bombings, including the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, Georgia.
- October 14
Ariela Barer
Ariela Barer, American actress
- October 15
2023 Banda Aceh anti-Rohingya protest
Teuku Wariza Aris Munandar, Indonesian activist and politician
- October 16
Augusto Pinochet
Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is arrested in London on a murder extradition warrant.
- October 18
Janalynn Castelino
Janalynn Castelino, Italian-Indian singer-songwriter
- October 19
Noof Al Maadeed
Noof Al Maadeed, Qatari women's rights activist
- October 20
Jordan Ridley
Jordan Ridley, Australian rules footballer
- October 22
Roddy Ricch
Roddy Ricch, American rapper
- October 23
Israel
Israel and the Palestinian Authority sign the Wye River Memorandum.
- October 23
Jordan Goodwin
Jordan Goodwin, American basketball player
- October 23
Amandla Stenberg
Amandla Stenberg, American actress
- October 24
Deep Space 1
Deep Space 1 is launched to explore the asteroid belt and test new spacecraft technologies.
- October 24
Daya (singer)
Daya, American singer
- October 25
Juan Soto
Juan Soto, Dominican baseball player
- October 25
Lee Know
Lee Know, South Korean singer
- October 28
Nolan Gould
Nolan Gould, American actor
- October 29
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off on STS-95 with 77-year-old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space at that time.
- October 29
1998 Gothenburg discotheque fire
The Gothenburg discothèque fire in Sweden kills 63 and injures over 200.
- October 29
John Glenn
At 77 years old, former astronaut John Glenn (pictured) returned to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-95 mission.
- October 29
Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch, the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane in history, makes landfall in Honduras.
- October 29
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)
In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report, which condemns both sides for committing atrocities.
- October 29
ATSC standards
ATSC HDTV broadcasting in the United States is inaugurated with live coverage of the launch of the STS-95 space shuttle mission.
- October 29
Lance Stroll
Lance Stroll, Canadian racing driver
- October 30
Cale Makar
Cale Makar, Canadian ice hockey player
- October 31
Iraq disarmament crisis
Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.
November
- November 1
Karl Bushby
Karl Bushby set off from Punta Arenas, Chile, beginning his attempt to walk around the world towards England, a journey that remains ongoing.
- November 1
Stuart Skinner
Stuart Skinner, Canadian ice hockey player
- November 2
Jordan Love
Jordan Love, American football player
- November 3
Maddison Elliott
Maddison Elliott, Australian paralympic swimmer
- November 4
Achraf Hakimi
Achraf Hakimi, Moroccan footballer
Questions about 1998
What happened in 1998?
This site records 400 entries for 1998, including Juan Maldacena on January 1. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1998?
28 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1998 turns 28 this year.
Which century is 1998 in?
1998 falls in the 20th century, in the 1990s.
Which generation was born in 1998?
Generation Z (1997–2012). First generation raised with smartphones and social media.
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