1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Background
Racial politics had long played a role in Baltimore. As the state of Maryland did not attempt to prevent African Americans from voting through Jim Crow laws, political coalitions often involved African American community leaders. Theodore McKeldin, who served as mayor from 1943 through 1947 and from 1963 through 1967, was one of the first political leaders to work with African American community leaders. By 1999, 63% of Baltimore's registered voters were African American, and 90% were registered to the Democratic Party. Baltimore had not elected a Republican mayor since 1963.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Background
As of 1999, Baltimore experienced 300 murders a year, which was the fourth most in the nation. Unemployment was 9%, twice the national average. Between 1990 and 1998, Baltimore saw its population decrease by 12.3%, the second-biggest decrease during that time period in the United States. This decrease led to its work force decreasing by one-sixth. The city saw decreases in heavy-manufacturing by 40 percent, distribution jobs by 35 percent, retail positions by 34 percent, and banking jobs by 28 percent.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Background
Also, the state of Maryland had taken over the city's failing school system in 1996, which upset African American politicians. State Senator Clarence M. Mitchell, IV called the takeover racist. Baltimore City Council members, including President Lawrence Bell and Martin O'Malley, had opposed the handling of Baltimore's high crime rate by Schmoke and Baltimore Police Department (BPD) Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Candidates, Democrats
Bell was considered in February 1999 to be the front-runner in the mayoral race. Other potential candidates included State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy, former city councilman Carl Stokes, City Comptroller Joan Pratt, and Joan Carter Conway, a member of the Maryland State Senate.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Candidates, Democrats
City leaders, including Howard P. Rawlings, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, and William Donald Schaefer, the Comptroller of Maryland and Schmoke's predecessor as mayor, feared that none of the potential candidates had the vision to continue the urban renewal that took place under Schmoke and Schaefer. They hoped that Baltimore-native Kweisi Mfume, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), would run. Mfume had previously served on the Baltimore City Council and in the United States House of Representatives. Schmoke called the race "his to lose". However, Mfume lived in nearby Catonsville, Maryland, and did not move into Baltimore until March, which would leave him short of the one-year residency requirement.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Candidates, Democrats
The state legislature passed a law shortening the residency requirement from one year to six months, which was signed into law by Democratic Governor Parris Glendening in April. Bell attempted to have the legislation overturned. The City Council, with Schmoke's support considered raising the salary of the mayor in April, to make the position more enticing to Mfume. Also, 200 Baltimore citizens, including three former mayors, attempted to draft Mfume into the race. However, Mfume had signed a five-year contract with the NAACP in 1996. Mfume considered leaving the NAACP to run, but in May, decided to remain with the organization.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Candidates, Democrats
Stokes announced his candidacy in December 1998. Bell announced his candidacy two days after Mfume passed on running, in May 1999, promising to tackle crime and improve public safety. Community leaders who attempted to draft Mfume into the race began to back Stokes. Other declared candidates included Mary Conaway, the City Register of Wills, activists A. Robert Kaufman, Robert Marsili, and Phillip Brown. Jessamy stated that without Mfume in the race, she would consider running, but she opted against getting into the race.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Candidates, Democrats
A June 1999 poll conducted by Gonzales/Arscott Communications Inc., a polling firm based in Annapolis, Maryland, showed Schaefer ahead of Bell. Schaefer stated that he had no interest in running, and threw his support behind Bishop Robinson, the former BPD Commissioner. Robinson chose not to run.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Candidates, Democrats
O'Malley initially supported Bell's candidacy. Bell urged O'Malley to endorse him, and offered him the job of city solicitor in exchange for his support. However, O'Malley began to distance himself from Bell, not appearing at Bell's campaign announcement, due to disagreements on several bills debated at the city council. Bell's supporters attempted to convince O'Malley to run for City Council President, but O'Malley announced his decision to run for mayor in June, becoming the first major candidate in the race who was Caucasian. He began the campaign largely unknown outside of Northeast Baltimore.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Candidates, Republicans
On July 1, David F. Tufaro, a real estate developer and lawyer from Roland Park, Maryland, announced his intention to run for the Republican Party nomination, joining three neighborhood activists who had already declared their intentions to run. Carl Adair, a public school teacher who had run unsuccessfully for the city council and the Maryland House of Delegates on numerous occasions, was also a candidate for the Republican nomination.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Candidates, Republicans
Republican Party officials quickly began to back Tufaro, who criticized the Democratic Party by pointing out that Democrats have led Baltimore in its decline.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Campaign
Fifteen candidates ended up running in the Democratic primary. The front-runners were considered to be O'Malley, Bell, and Stokes. Schmoke made no endorsement in the race.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Campaign
O'Malley and Bell called for "zero tolerance" to all crime, though Stokes felt this policy was biased against minorities. Stokes ran on the issue of education, as he was a former member of the Baltimore school board, in addition to the city council. Stokes vowed to reduce class sizes and reverse the trend of citizens of Baltimore leaving the city to live in nearby suburbs.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Campaign
O'Malley faced initial difficulties based on race, as a community leader stated that his entrance into the race "created some tension," and that O'Malley's potential victory "would be the worst thing that could happen in this city" and could "tear this city apart." Some saw his entrance in the race as an attempt to split the African American vote. However, O'Malley received endorsements from prominent African American politicians in August, including Rawlings, fellow state Delegate Kenneth Montague, and Conway. Rawlings credited O'Malley's "track record of empowering black Americans." He also received an endorsement from Schaefer. Some African Americans charged Rawlings with "stabbing us in the back" over the endorsement.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Campaign
Bell attempted to portray himself as the heir apparent to Schmoke. However, disclosures from a lawsuit revealed Bell's financial troubles, which included having his car repossessed. Bell lost support after he stated that voters should choose him because "I look like you." Stokes began to lose support after he was charged with lying about having a college degree, when it was discovered that he did not graduate from Loyola University Maryland, as his campaign literature stated. It was also revealed that Stokes settled an income tax lien.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Campaign
Bell's supporters rallied outside the offices of The Baltimore Sun, challenging that they were writing negative stories about African American candidates, and giving better treatment to O'Malley during the campaign. Stokes was able to recover support when he received endorsements from The Baltimore Sun, the Baltimore Afro-American, and the ministerial alliance.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Campaign
Bell led Stokes in a poll conducted early in the race, 33% to 17%, before O'Malley declared his candidacy. By late August, Bell slipped in the polls to third place, with O'Malley and Stokes tied. Bell and O'Malley began airing television commercials supporting their campaigns in early August, while Stokes did not begin to air commercials until September. O'Malley also advertised on the radio.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Campaign
Seven candidates, including Democrats Bell, Stokes, O'Malley, and Conaway, and Republicans Adair, Tufaro, and Arthur Cuffie Jr., met for a debate on September 8. The debate focused on crime, with Bell, Stokes, and O'Malley making their cases regarding "zero tolerance", while Adair and Tufaro declared their support for Frazier.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Results, Democratic primary
The Democratic primary was held on September 14. Turnout was high; though the mayoral candidates expected about 100,000 voters, about half of Baltimore's 294,000 registered voters voted in the primary elections.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Results, Democratic primary
O'Malley won the primary election with more than 50% of the vote, though he received only 30% of the African American vote. Bell and Stokes split a significant portion of the city's black majority, but their combined total was less than O'Malley. At his victory rally, O'Malley called the election "a victory for diversity and a victory for inclusiveness".


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Results, Republican primary
In the September 14 Republican primary, Tufaro received over half of the votes cast. Adair finished in second place.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Results, General election
Despite the odds he faced in the general election, Tufaro promised to campaign against O'Malley, not taking defeat as an inevitability. He pointed to Bret Schundler, the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, as evidence that a Republican could be elected in a heavily Democratic city. Schundler came to Baltimore to campaign for Tufaro.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Results, General election
Regarding public housing, Tufaro called for renovations rather than demolishing vacant buildings, which drew criticism, as Housing Commissioner Daniel P. Henson III pointed out that renovating was more expensive than demolishing. O'Malley promised to enforce provisions of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, which require banks to invest in poor neighborhoods. Tufaro further proposed a plan for school vouchers and to drug test students, which drew opposition from the Baltimore Teachers Union and from O'Malley, who favored expanding pre-kindergarten and after-school programs, while making summer school mandatory. When discussing the problem of HIV/AIDS in Baltimore, which disproportionately affects African Americans, both O'Malley and Tufaro promised to continue the city's needle exchange program.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Results, General election
Tufaro criticized O'Malley's zero tolerance policy, suggesting it would lead to increased police brutality towards minorities. He instead proposed continuing Mayor Schmoke's community policing strategy. Opponents of the zero tolerance policy tried to tie O'Malley to the Baltimore Police shooting of an African American car theft suspect.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Results, General election
WMAR-TV conducted the only poll of the general election with SurveyUSA, which showed O'Malley leading with 87% of the vote. On Election Day, O'Malley easily defeated Tufaro in the general election, receiving over 90% of the vote.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Aftermath, O'Malley's political career
Following his election, O'Malley's first personnel decision was to retain the director of the city's economic development agency. O'Malley had his transition team, and had them compile policy drafts by mid-December, so they would be ready to compete for state funds when the Maryland State Legislature reconvened on January 12, 2000. He participated in the Newly Elected Mayors Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in mid-November. By the beginning of December, he named five deputy mayors and filled most of his cabinet. He finalized his cabinet on December 7, during his last session as a city councillor. He was sworn in as mayor later that day at the War Memorial Plaza, near Baltimore City Hall.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Aftermath, O'Malley's political career
In his first year in office, O'Malley adopted a statistics-based crime tracking system called CitiStat, modeled after Compstat. The system logged every call for service into a database for analysis. The Washington Post wrote in 2006 that Baltimore's "homicide rate remains stubbornly high and its public school test scores disappointingly low. But CitiStat has saved an estimated $350 million and helped generate the city's first budget surplus in years." In 2004, CitiStat accountability tool won Harvard University's "Innovations in American Government" award. The system garnered interest from Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, as well as crime officials from the United Kingdom.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Aftermath, O'Malley's political career
O'Malley considered a run for Governor of Maryland in the 2002 election, but decided not to run. He was reelected as Mayor of Baltimore in 2003, and announced his candidacy for governor in the 2006 election. The Baltimore Sun endorsed O'Malley, saying: "When he was first elected mayor in 1999, the former two-term city councilman inherited a city of rising crime, failing schools, and shrinking economic prospects. He was able to reverse course in all of these areas."


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Aftermath, O'Malley's political career
The Washington Post criticized O'Malley for "not solv[ing] the problems of rampant crime and rough schools in Baltimore", but further said that "he put a dent in them.". O'Malley defeated incumbent governor Bob Ehrlich 53%-46% in the November 7, 2006, general election. O'Malley defeated Ehrlich in the 2010 election 56%-42%, receiving just over one million votes.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Aftermath, O'Malley's political career
O'Malley was ineligible to run in the 2014 gubernatorial election due to term limits. O'Malley publicly expressed interest in a presidential run in 2016 on multiple occasions. At a press conference at a National Governors Association meeting, O'Malley stated he was laying "the framework" for a presidential run.


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Aftermath, Depiction on The Wire
A fictionalized version of the events of this election were presented in third and fourth seasons of The Wire, a drama about crime and politics in Baltimore, which aired in 2004 and 2006, respectively. Many saw the connection between O'Malley and the character of Tommy Carcetti, a Caucasian Baltimore City Councillor who is elected mayor in an election against two African American opponents. Carlos Watson of MSNBC once introduced O'Malley as "one of the real-life inspirations for the mayor of the hit TV show The Wire", to which O'Malley responded that he was instead the show's "antidote".


1999 Baltimore mayoral election, Aftermath, Depiction on The Wire
Show creator David Simon denied that the character of Tommy Carcetti was supposed to be O'Malley, though he did acknowledge that O'Malley was "one of several inspirations" for Carcetti. He further stated that while Carcetti was "reflective" of O'Malley, Carcetti was a composite drawing aspects from other local politicians that he had covered when he worked as a reporter for The Baltimore Sun.


1999 Bandy World Championship
The 1999 Bandy World Championship was a competition between bandy playing nations for men. The championship was played in Russia between 30 January-7 February 1999. Russia became champions.


1999 Bangabandhu Cup
1999 Bangabandhu Cup was the 2nd season of the Bangabandhu Cup, after the first edition was held in 1996-7. The second edition ran from 27 August 1999 to 7 September 1999. A Japanese Third Division XI went on to win the cup after defeating the Ghana U–23 team 3-2 in the finals.


1999 Bangabandhu Cup
Bangabandhu Cup was discontinued after the 1999 edition due to the political situation in the country, and relaunched again in 2015.


1999 Bangabandhu Cup, Format
In group stage twelve teams divided into four groups of three teams, playing a single match round-robin. The teams finishing first in each group qualified for the Semi-finals.


1999 Bank of the West Classic
The 1999 Bank of the West Classic was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts in Stanford, California in the United States. It was part of Tier II of the 1999 WTA Tour. It was the 28th edition of the tournament and was held from July 26 through August 1, 1999. The singles title was won by Lindsay Davenport.


1999 Bank of the West Classic, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


1999 Bank of the West Classic, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


1999 Bank of the West Classic, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry from the singles qualifying draw:


1999 Bank of the West Classic, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry from the doubles qualifying draw:


1999 Bank of the West Classic, Finals, Doubles
Lindsay Davenport /  Corina Morariu defeated  Anna Kournikova /  Elena Likhovtseva, 6–4, 6–4


1999 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles
The 1999 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles was the doubles event of the twenty-eighth edition of the first tournament in the US Open Series.


1999 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles
Lindsay Davenport and Natasha Zvereva were the defending champions, but Zvereva did not compete this year. Davenport partnered up with Corina Morariu, and won her fifth Bank of the West Classic title in six years.


1999 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
The 1999 Bank of the West Classic – Singles was the singles event of the twenty-eighth edition of the first tournament in the US Open Series.


1999 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams were the respective defending champion and runner-up, and they met in the final again. Davenport won for a second consecutive year to claim her twenty-third singles title.


1999 Barangay Ginebra Kings season
The 1999 Barangay Ginebra Kings season was the 21st season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).


1999 Barangay Ginebra Kings season, New Era
In December of last year, Senator Robert Jaworski, Sr. announced his resignation with the Ginebra ballclub during a press conference, bidding goodbye to the team and the sport that has been part of his illustrious career and made him a certified icon for the past 15 years. As the PBA enters its 25th season, a New Era has come for the never-say-die team now known as Barangay Ginebra Kings.


1999 Barangay Ginebra Kings season, Trades / Occurrences
On July 10, a blockbuster trade took place when forward Noli Locsin was shipped by Ginebra to Pop Cola for Vergel Meneses.


1999 Barangay Ginebra Kings season, Trades / Occurrences
Allan Caidic, who was assigned as player-assistant coach of Ginebra at the start of the season, began his role as playing-coach for the team starting the Governors Cup, replacing coach Rino Salazar. The Kings has yet to score a victory in five games when they decided to replace import Mario Donaldson in favor of Monty Lamont Wilson.


1999 Barangay Ginebra Kings season, Notable dates
March 12: The Gin Kings stopped Alaska's winning run with a 97-87 victory and maintain their winning streak to three after losing their first four games in the season.


1999 Barangay Ginebra Kings season, Notable dates
May 5: Barangay Ginebra defeated Sta.Lucia Realtors, 77-74, in their playoff game for the 8th and last entry to the quarterfinal round.


1999 Barangay Ginebra Kings season, Notable dates
May 12: Point guard Bal David converted a buzzer-beating shot from an inbound with three seconds left as Barangay Ginebra Kings pulled a stunning 82-81 upset win over top-seeded Mobiline Phone Pals in the do-or-die quarterfinals match. The Kings with a twice-to-beat disadvantage, forces a playoff three nights ago and repeated over the heavily-favored Phone Pals. Barangay Ginebra will go up against Formula Shell in the best-of-five semifinal series of the All-Filipino Cup.


1999 Barangay Ginebra Kings season, Notable dates
November 7: Barangay Ginebra defeated Pop Cola, 80-76, in a battle of winless teams to end a seven-game slump and give Allan Caidic his first win as playing-coach.


1999 Barbadian general election
General elections were held in Barbados on 20 January 1999. The result was a victory for the Barbados Labour Party led by Owen Arthur, which won 26 of the 28 seats. The opposition Democratic Labour Party led by David Thompson, only won two seats. Voter turnout was 63.4%.


1999 Barbadian general election
At the time, this was the largest margin of victory since universal suffrage was introduced in 1951. This record would be broken in 2018, when the BLP won all 30 seats in the House of Assembly.


1999 Barber Dodge Pro Series
The 1999 Barber Dodge Pro Series season was the fourteenth season of the series. All cars are Dodge powered, Michelin shod, Reynard 98E chassis.


1999 Barber Dodge Pro Series, Race calendar and results, In season testing
The Barber Dodge Pro Series conducted a three-day test at the 1 mile oval of Phoenix International Raceway. It was the first time since 1996 the series visited an oval. It was the first time the in 1998 introduced Michelin shod Reynard 98E visited an oval track. Many drivers, such as Sepp Koster, had never driven on an oval before. John McCaig was the only driver who also competed in the 1996 Nazareth Speedway Barber Pro Series race. Defending series champion Jeff Simmons was the fastest driver over the three-day test driving an average lap of 129.042mph (207.67km/h). The test was a preparation for the 60-lap race at Nazareth where the series supported the First Union 200, a NASCAR Busch Grand National Series race.


1999 Barcelona City Council election
The 1999 Barcelona City Council election, also the 1999 Barcelona municipal election, was held on Sunday, 13 June 1999, to elect the 6th City Council of the municipality of Barcelona. All 41 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1999 European Parliament election.


1999 Barcelona City Council election, Electoral system
The City Council of Barcelona (Catalan: Ajuntament de Barcelona, Spanish: Ayuntamiento de Barcelona) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Barcelona, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly. Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years.


1999 Barcelona City Council election, Electoral system
Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in the municipality of Barcelona and in full enjoyment of their political rights, as well as resident non-national European citizens and those whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty. Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each local council. Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:


1999 Barcelona City Council election, Electoral system
The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the appointee would be determined by lot.


1999 Barcelona City Council election, Electoral system
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of a determined amount of the electors registered in the municipality for which they were seeking election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. For the case of Barcelona, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required.


1999 Barcelona City Council election, Opinion polls
The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 21 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Barcelona.


1999 Barcelona Dragons season
The 1999 Barcelona Dragons season was the seventh season for the franchise in the NFL Europe League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Jack Bicknell in his seventh year, and played its home games at Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. They finished the regular season in first place with a record of seven wins and three losses. In World Bowl '99, Barcelona lost to the Frankfurt Galaxy 38–24.


1999 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 1999 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 6 May 1999 to elect members of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council in South Yorkshire, England. Prior to the election, the Liberal Democrats had gained a seat in Wombwell North from Labour. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.


1999 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election, Ward results
+/- figures represent changes from the last time these wards were contested.


1999 Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council election
Elections to Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council were held on 6 May 1999. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 1998. The Labour party lost overall control of the council to no overall control.


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1999 followed the system in use since 1995. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from recent major league players and elected three: George Brett, Nolan Ryan, and Robin Yount. The Veterans Committee met in closed sessions and selected four people from multiple classified ballots: Orlando Cepeda, Nestor Chylak, Frank Selee, and Joe Williams.


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Brett, Ryan, and Yount were all newly eligible, as they each played their last game in 1993. It was the first time the writers elected more than two first-ballot candidates, other than the five players selected for the inaugural class of 1936.


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York, were held on July 25, 1999, with George Grande as master of ceremonies with Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig in attendance.


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1979 or later but not after 1993 (final game, 1979 to 1993). There were 28 candidates, 17 returning from the 1998 ballot, where they received at least 5% support, and 11 on the ballot for the first time (†), chosen by a screening committee from players who last appeared in 1993. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to participate by voting for as many as 10 candidates; any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots returned would be honored with induction to the Hall.


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Results were announced on January 5, 1999. A total of 497 ballots were cast so 373 votes were required for election. A total of 3348 individual votes were cast, an average of 6.74 per ballot. Candidates who received less than 5% support, or 25 votes, would not appear on future BBWAA ballots (*). They were also eliminated, at the time, from future consideration by the Veterans Committee.


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Three players were elected and 16 who last played during 1980–93 were forwarded to next year. Mickey Lolich and Minnie Miñoso were on the ballot for the 15th and final time, although Miñoso's term as a candidate was not consecutive.


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The field of newly eligible candidates, who played their last games during 1993, included 19 All-Stars (ten on the ballot) with a total of 63 All-Star selections. Some of them were 13-time All-Star George Brett, 11-time All-Star Carlton Fisk, 8-time All-Star Nolan Ryan and 7-time All-Star Dale Murphy. There were two Most Valuable Players in the field (Brett, Murphy, Robin Yount and George Bell, of whom Murphy and Yount won two MVPs) and two Rookies of the Year (Fisk and Alfredo Griffin).


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The  newly eligible players who did not reach the ballot were Juan Agosto, Wally Backman, Steve Balboni, Randy Bush, Iván Calderón, Henry Cotto, Glenn Davis, Ken Dayley, Frank DiPino, Bill Doran, Dan Gladden, Alfredo Griffin, Kelly Gruber, Neal Heaton, Steve Lake, Terry Leach, Bob McClure, Gene Nelson, Pete O'Brien, Geno Petralli, Ted Power, John Russell, Bryn Smith, Tim Teufel, Dickie Thon, José Uribe, Bob Walk, Chico Walker, Curtis Wilkerson, Glenn Wilson, Curt Young, and Matt Young.


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee
The Veterans Committee met in closed sessions to elect as many as two executives, managers, umpires, and older major league players—the categories considered in all its meetings since 1953.


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee
The older players eligible were those with ten major league seasons beginning 1945 or earlier; those who received at least 100 votes from the BBWAA in some election up to 1990; and those who received at least 60% support in some election beginning 1991. Players on Major League Baseball's ineligible list were also ineligible for election.


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee
By an arrangement since 1995 the committee separately considered candidates from the Negro leagues and from the 19th century with authority to select one from each of those two special ballots. It elected four people, the maximum number permitted: first baseman Orlando Cepeda from the 1960s, umpire Nestor Chylak, pitcher Smokey Joe Williams from the Negro leagues, and manager Frank Selee from the 19th century.


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
Bob Stevens received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award honoring a baseball writer. (The award was voted at the December 1998 meeting of the BBWAA, dated 1998, and conferred in the summer 1999 ceremonies.)


1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
Arch McDonald posthumously received the Ford C. Frick Award honoring a baseball broadcaster.


1999 Basildon District Council election
The 1999 Basildon District Council election took place on 6 May 1999 to elect members of Basildon District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.


1999 Basildon District Council election, Election result
The results saw Labour keep their majority after retaining all the seats they had been defending in Basildon. The Conservatives became the main opposition on the council after gaining seats from the Liberal Democrats in Billericay and Wickford. Overall turnout in the election was 24.3%.


1999 Basildon District Council election, Election result
All comparisons in vote share are to the corresponding 1995 election.


1999 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election
The 1999 Basingstoke and Deane Council election took place on 6 May 1999 to elect members of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.


1999 Basque foral elections
The 1999 Basque foral elections were held on Sunday, 13 June 1999, to elect the 6th Juntas Generales of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. All 153 seats in the three Juntas Generales were up for election. The elections were held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1999 European Parliament election.


1999 Basque foral elections, Foral deputation control
The following table lists party control in the foral deputations. Gains for a party are displayed with the cell's background shaded in that party's colour.


1999 Bath and North East Somerset Council election
Elections were held on 6 May 1999 to elect 65 local councillors for Bath and North East Somerset Council, the second election for the council. The results are show below. After the election, a minority Liberal Democrat administration was formed.


1999 Bath and North East Somerset Council election, Ward results
The ward results listed below are based on the changes from the 1995 elections where boundary changes have not taken place, not taking into account any party defections or by-elections. Sitting councillors are marked with an asterisk (*).


1999 Bauchi State gubernatorial election
The 1999 Bauchi State gubernatorial election occurred in Nigeria on January 9, 1999. The PDP nominee, Adamu Mu'azu, polled 56% of total vote to win the election, defeating the APP candidate and others.


1999 Bauchi State gubernatorial election
Adamu Mu'azu defeated Alhaji Tafawa Balewa at the PDP primary election to become the party's candidate. His running mate was Abdulmalik Mohammed.


1999 Bauchi State gubernatorial election, Electoral system
The Governor of Bauchi State is elected using the plurality voting system.


1999 Bauchi State gubernatorial election, Results
The total number of registered voters in the state for the election was 1,941,913. However, 1,997,000 were previously issued voting cards in the state.


1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships
The 1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Amelia Island Plantation on Amelia Island, Florida in the United States that was part of Tier II of the 1999 WTA Tour. It was the 20th edition of the tournament and was held from April 5 through April 11, 1999. Monica Seles won the singles title.


1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships, Finals, Doubles
Conchita Martínez /  Patricia Tarabini defeated  Lisa Raymond /  Rennae Stubbs, 7–5, 0–6, 6–4


1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry from the singles qualifying draw:


1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Doubles
The 1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Doubles was the doubles event of the twentieth edition of the Bausch & Lomb Championships; a WTA Tier II tournament held in Amelia Island, Florida, United States, played on green clay. Sandra Cacic and Mary Pierce were the defending champions but lost in the quarterfinals to Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs.


1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Doubles
Conchita Martínez and Patricia Tarabini won in the final 7–5, 0–6, 6–4 against Raymond and Stubbs.


1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Doubles, Seeds
The top four seeded teams received byes into the second round.


1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Singles
The 1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Singles was the singles event of the twentieth edition of the Bausch & Lomb Championships; a WTA Tier II tournament held in Amelia Island, Florida, United States, played on green clay. Mary Pierce was the defending champion but lost in the quarterfinals to Conchita Martínez.


1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Singles
Monica Seles won in the final 6–2, 6–3 against Ruxandra Dragomir.


1999 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds received a bye to the second round.


1999 Bavarian Cup
The 1999 Bavarian Cup was the second edition of this competition which was started in 1998. It ended with the TSV 1860 Rosenheim winning the competition. Together with the finalist, SpVgg Landshut, both clubs were qualified for the DFB Cup 1999-00.


1999 Bavarian Cup
The competition is open to all senior men's football teams playing within the Bavarian football league system and the Bavarian clubs in the Regionalliga Süd (III).


1999 Bavarian Cup, Rules & History
The seven Bezirke in Bavaria each play their own cup competition which in turn used to function as a qualifying to the German Cup (DFB-Pokal). Since 1998 these seven cup-winners plus the losing finalist of the region that won the previous event advance to the newly introduced Bavarian Cup, the Toto-Pokal. The two finalists of this competition advance to the German Cup. Bavarian clubs which play in the first or second Bundesliga are not permitted to take part in the event, their reserve teams however can. The seven regional cup winners were qualified for the first round.


1999 Bavarian Cup, Participating clubs
The following seven clubs qualified for the 1999 Bavarian Cup:


1999 Bavarian Cup, DFB Cup 1999-2000
The two clubs, TSV 1860 Rosenheim and SpVgg Landshut, who qualified through the Bavarian Cup for the DFB Cup 1999-00 both were knocked out in the second round of the national cup competition, having received a bye in the first round:


1999 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election
The 1999 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election occurred in Nigeria on January 9, 1999. The PDP nominee Diepreye Alamieyeseigha won the election, defeating the APP candidate, Francis Doukpola, and two others to become Bayelsa State's first elected governor.


1999 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election
Diepreye Alamieyeseigha won the PDP nomination at the primary election. He picked Goodluck Jonathan as his running mate.


1999 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, Electoral system
The Governor of Bayelsa State is elected using the plurality voting system.


1999 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, Results
The total number of registered voters in the state for the election was 873,000. However, 897,500 were previously issued voting cards in the state.


1999 Bayern–Rundfahrt
The 1999 Bayern–Rundfahrt was the 20th edition of the Bayern–Rundfahrt cycle race and was held on 20 May to 24 May 1999. The race started in Scheinfeld and finished in Oberstdorf. The race was won by Rolf Aldag.


1999 Baylor Bears football team
The 1999 Baylor Bears football team (variously "Baylor", "BU", or the "Bears") represented Baylor University in the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season. They were represented in the Big 12 Conference in the South Division. They played their home games at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. They were coached by head coach Kevin Steele.


1999 Beach Soccer World Championships
The 1999 Beach Soccer World Championships was the fifth edition of the Beach Soccer World Championships, the most prestigious competition in international beach soccer contested by men's national teams until 2005, when the competition was then replaced by the second iteration of a world cup in beach soccer, the better known FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. It was organised by Brazilian sports agency Koch Tavares (one of the founding partners of Beach Soccer Worldwide).


1999 Beach Soccer World Championships
The tournament continued to take place at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.


1999 Beach Soccer World Championships
Twelve teams (a record high at the time) took part for the first time, expanded for a second year running, from ten in 1998. This championship also saw an African nation participate for the first time (and only time pre-2005) making this the single pre-FIFA era world cup with the most continental representation, with all but Oceania represented by at least one nation competing in Rio.


1999 Beach Soccer World Championships
Brazil won their fifth title in a row by beating Portugal 5–2 in what was the Iberians' first final appearance.


1999 Beach Soccer World Championships, Organisation
The number of teams competing this year was increased to twelve meaning a shift in organisation from previous years.


1999 Beach Soccer World Championships, Organisation
The twelve nations were split into four groups of three who played each other in a round robin format. The top two teams then progressed to the quarter finals. With the increase in nations in this edition, this saw a quarter final stage introduced to the Championships for the first time. From the aforementioned round onward, the championship was played as a knock-out tournament until a winner was crowned, with an additional match to determine third place.


1999 Beach Soccer World Championships, Teams
Africa was represented for the first time (and only time before FIFA took control of the world cup). Asia had two nations competing for the first time.


1999 Beach Volleyball World Championships
These page shows the results of the II Beach Volleyball World Championships, held from 19 July to 24 July 1999 in Marseille, France. It was the second official edition of this event, after ten unofficial championships (1987-1996) all held in Rio de Janeiro, and the first to be organized in Europe. The event, organized every two years and with $600,000 in total prize money, was held in a special facility for 5,000 spectators. At the end of the competition the spectators totalled nearly 50,000.


1999 Belarusian First League
1999 Belarusian First League was the ninth season of 2nd level football championship in Belarus. The season started in April 1999 and ended in October 1999.


1999 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 1998 season
The two best teams of the 1998 Belarusian First League (Lida and Svisloch-Krovlya Osipovichi) were promoted to Belarusian Premier League. They were replaced by Kommunalnik Slonim, the last-placed team of 1998 Premier League (only one team has relegated due to Dinamo-93 Minsk dissolution midway through 1998 season).


1999 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 1998 season
Two lowest placed teams of the 1998 First League season (Veino and Belenergostroy Beloozyorsk) relegated to the Second League. They were replaced by two best teams of 1998 Second League (Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk and Granit Mikashevichi as the winners of their respective groups).


1999 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 1998 season
During the off-season Belcard Grodno (placed 8th last year) merged with Premier League club Neman Grodno (with the latter being renamed to Neman-Belcard Grodno). To fill the two vacant spots, Veino were spared from relegation, and Neman Mosty (placed 3rd in Second League Group B last year) were additionally promoted. Neman Mosty were invited since Veras Nesvizh (Second League Group A runners-up) refused promotion and Gomel-2 (Second League Group B runners-up) were ineligible.


1999 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 1998 season
Before the start of the season Dinamo-Energogaz Vitebsk were renamed to Vitbich-Dinamo-Energo Vitebsk and FC Veino were renamed to Veino-Dnepr after becoming a farm club of Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev. FC Bereza merged with Keramik Bereza from the Second league and adopted the latter's club name as their own.


1999 Belarusian First League, Overview
The two highest placing teams of the season (Kommunalnik Slonim and Vedrich-97 Rechitsa) were promoted to the Premier League, and the two lowest placed teams (Pinsk-900 and Vitbich-Dinamo-Energo Vitebsk) were relegated to the Second League. Vitbich-Dinamo-Energo Vitebsk subsequently disbanded before the next season.


1999 Belarusian Premier League
The 1999 Belarusian Premier League was the ninth season of top-tier football in Belarus. It started on April 11 and ended on October 30, 1999. Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev were the defending champions.


1999 Belarusian Premier League, Team changes from 1998 season
Dinamo-93 Minsk dissolved midway through 1998 season and FC Kommunalnik Slonim relegated to the First League after finishing in the last place. They were replaced by 1998 First League winners Lida, who previously played in Premier League as Obuvshchik Lida, and the newcomers Svisloch-Krovlya Osipovichi, First League runners-up. Torpedo Minsk changed their name to Torpedo-MAZ Minsk and Neman Grodno were renamed to Neman-Belcard Grodno.


1999 Belarusian Premier League, Overview
BATE Borisov won their 1st champions title and qualified for the next season's Champions League. The championship runners-up and 1999–2000 Cup winners Slavia Mozyr as well as bronze medalists Gomel qualified for UEFA Cup. Newcomers Svisloch-Krovlya Osipovichi finished their first and the only season in top league in 15th place and relegated, as did 16th team Molodechno.


1999 Belarusian municipal elections
The 23rd convocation local councils of Republic of Belarus elections were held in April 1999.


1999 Belarusian municipal elections, Context
In 1998 the "Elections of local deputies" law was adopted. The regulation limiting the heads of Councils from holding office for more than two consecutive terms was abolished. Amendments to the law limited the participation of opposition parties' activists. Those convicted of for, for example, participation in demonstrations or unauthorized protests and meetings, were banned. The law complicated the process of candidate selection, and deprived non-governmental organizations of the right to nominate candidates to municipal elections, although workers' associations maintained that right.


1999 Belarusian municipal elections, Context
After events of the mid-1990s, Belarusian society remained politically indifferent to the local governance system. Ruling elites, despite numerous objections by political opponents, took local political processes under control and increased citizen participation. Authorities organized an effective election process, functioning without competition or alternative candidates. Local authorities were almost totally purged of opposition elements and subordinated to the governing center.


1999 Belarusian municipal elections, Context
On 1 February 1999, political parties and non-governmental organizations had to re-registered under new rules.


1999 Belarusian municipal elections, Context
On 23 December 1998, according to the resolution of "Congress of republican democratic forces", opposition parties rejected participation in elections, as "there are no conditions for a free and democratic election process in Belarus", and refused to nominate candidates.


1999 Belarusian municipal elections, Elections
24,557 deputy seats were contested by 27,362 candidates. 66.3% of eligible voters participated. A significant part of the electoral districts had no alternative candidate. The Liberal Democratic Party withdrew its candidates in late March.


1999 Belarusian municipal elections, Elections
Of 24,566 vacant deputy seats, 24,058 were filled (97.9%). Even though most opposition political parties boycotted the elections, opposition communists managed active campaigns and nominated over 750 candidates, 250 of whom won their deputy seats. Party candidates were also delegated from the Party of Popular Accord and Slavic Council.


1999 Belgian Cup Final
The 1999 Belgian Cup Final, took place on 30 May 1999 between Lierse and Standard Liège. It was the 44th Belgian Cup final and was won by Lierse.


1999 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1999 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the LVII Foster's Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 29 August 1999 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Francorchamps, Belgium. It was the twelfth race of the 1999 Formula One season. The 44-lap race was won by David Coulthard for the McLaren team, from a second position start. Mika Häkkinen finished second in the other McLaren, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen third in a Jordan.


1999 Belgian Grand Prix
Häkkinen's second place promoted him into the lead of the Drivers' Championship, overtaking Eddie Irvine. Irvine was second, one point behind Häkkinen, while Coulthard was third. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren were promoted into the lead, nine points ahead of Ferrari, with Jordan a further fifty-nine behind.


1999 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
The Grand Prix was contested by 22 drivers, in eleven teams of two. The teams, also known as Constructors, were McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Arrows, Stewart, Prost, Minardi and BAR.


1999 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Before the race, Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine was leading the Drivers' Championship on 56 points; McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen was second on 54 points. Behind them in the Drivers' Championship, David Coulthard was third on 36 points in the other McLaren, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Michael Schumacher on 36 and 32 points respectively. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari were leading on 94 points and McLaren were second on 90 points, with Jordan third on 42 points.


1999 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Following the Hungarian Grand Prix on 15 August, the teams conducted testing sessions at the Silverstone circuit on 17–19 August. Häkkinen set the fastest time on the first, second and final days of testing. Ferrari traveled to their testing circuit at Mugello on 18–20 August, running Schumacher on the final day after being cleared by doctors to test. After completing 20 laps, Schumacher suffered from ankle pain preventing him completing a physical training programme. Ferrari later announced that temporary replacement Mika Salo would continue to race for the team.


1999 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Several teams announced changes to their driver line-ups for the following season. Benetton confirmed that the team was retaining their driver line-up of Giancarlo Fisichella and Alexander Wurz, with an option for 2001. Sauber announced that it would sign up Salo on a two-year contract and retain Pedro Diniz. Jordan confirmed that it was signing Prost driver Jarno Trulli on a two-year contract, replacing Damon Hill.


1999 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Four practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—two on Friday, and two on Saturday. The Friday morning and afternoon sessions each lasted an hour. The third and final practice sessions were held on Saturday morning and lasted 45 minutes. The Friday sessions were held in dry and sunny conditions. Häkkinen was quickest in the first session, with a time of 1:54.396 that was less than half a second faster than Coulthard. Williams driver Ralf Schumacher was just off Coulthard's pace; Salo, Irvine and Jean Alesi rounded out the top six; within 1.3 seconds of Häkkinen's time. In the second practice session, Coulthard was fastest with a time of 1:53.577, ahead of Häkkinen, Fisichella, Frentzen, Hill and Schumacher.


1999 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Saturday's afternoon qualifying session lasted for an hour. During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, which necessitated each driver set a time within 107% of the quickest lap to qualify for the race. Each driver was limited to twelve laps. Häkkinen clinched his tenth pole position of the season with a time of 1:50.329. He was joined on the front row by Coulthard, who was one-tenth of a second behind. Frentzen qualified third, though be believed he could have gone faster due to two separate red flag incidents.


1999 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
BAR drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Ricardo Zonta both suffered massive, high-speed accidents at the fast Eau Rouge sweep during the qualifying session. Both accidents caused the session to be suspended.


1999 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
The conditions were dry for the race with the air temperature 20 °C (68 °F) and the track temperature 25 °C (77 °F). The drivers took to the track at 09:30 (UTC +2) for a 30-minute warm-up session.


1999 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Coulthard took the lead from Häkkinen at the start by going around the outside of La Source, the McLaren team-mates making light contact. After emerging ahead, Coulthard led every lap of the race to claim his second victory of the season, ten seconds ahead of his team-mate. Häkkinen refused to shake Coulthard's hand after the race.


1999 Belgian Super Cup
The 1999 Belgian Supercup was a football match between the winners of the previous season's Belgian First Division and Belgian Cup competitions. The match was contested by Cup winners Lierse, and 1999–2000 Belgian First Division champions, Genk on 1 September 1999 at the ground of the league winners Genk, the Fenixstadium. Lierse won the cup after two late goals by Stein Huysegems.


1999 Belgian Super Cup
Prior to the match, Genk coach Jos Heyligen criticised the timing of the match during the week of international matches, as five players in his squad were unavailable due to being called-up for their respective national team, namely Branko Strupar, Marc Hendrikx, Ferenc Horváth, Þórður Guðjónsson and Bjarni Guðjónsson. With several others injured, the Genk squad for the Super Cup included only 13 first team players together with four youngsters from the U23 squad. From Lierse side, absentees due to call-ups were Jurgen Cavens and Carl Hoefkens.


1999 Belgian federal election
The June 13, 1999 Belgian federal elections was a Belgian election for the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and Belgian Senate. The federal general elections were held on the same day as the European elections and the regional elections. The Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) became the largest party.


1999 Belgian federal election
The Christian Democrats (CVP/PSC) suffered historic losses due to the dioxine affair that broke loose that year. Jean-Luc Dehaene's reign of eight years came to an end. Verhofstadt formed a six-party coalition comprising the liberal (VLD and PRL), socialist (SP and PS), and green parties (Agalev and Ecolo). It was the first liberal-led government since 1938, and the first since 1958 that didn't include a Christian Democratic party.


1999 Belgian regional elections
Regional elections were held in Belgium, to choose representatives in the regional councils of Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels and the German-speaking Community on 13 June 1999. The regional elections were held on the same day as the European elections and the federal elections.


1999 Belgian regional elections, Flemish Parliament
The incumbent Flemish Government consisted of the Christian democrats (CVP) and the Socialist Party (SP), led by Minister-President Luc Van den Brande (CVP). Following this election, a government was formed without the Christian democrats. New Minister-President Patrick Dewael (VLD) led a "purple-green-yellow" coalition of his own liberal VLD, the Socialist Party (SP), Agalev and the nationalist Volksunie-ID. This change mirrored what happened on the federal level, where the Dehaene Government was succeeded by the Verhofstadt Government.


1999 Belgian regional elections, Flemish Parliament
Also notable was the continuation of the rise of Vlaams Blok, especially in the constituency of Antwerp where Filip Dewinter was candidate and where the party received 25% of the votes, or as much as 30% in the city of Antwerp itself.


1999 Belgian regional elections, Flemish Parliament, By constituency
These were only the second direct election for the Flemish Parliament, but the last to use arrondissement-based constituencies. They were merged into provincial constituencies starting from the 2004 election.


1999 Belmont Stakes
The 1999 Belmont Stakes was the 131st running of the Belmont Stakes and the 95th time the event took place at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.


1999 Belmont Stakes
Lemon Drop Kid, ridden by José A. Santos and trained by Flint S. "Scotty" Schulhofer, won the 1-1/2 mile stakes race in front of a then-record 85,818 crowd, and thus denying Charismatic winning the Triple Crown.


1999 Belmont Stakes
Near the finish line, Charismatic fractured two bones in his left front leg. He was quickly pulled up by jockey Chris Antley, who dismounted and cradled the leg to prevent further injury.


1999 Belmont Stakes, Race Description
Charismatic, who had won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, was made the 3-2 favorite in the Belmont as he attempted to win the Triple Crown. His main rivals were expected to be Menifee (5-2), who had finished second in both the Derby and Preakness, and the filly Silverbulletday (5-1), who had won eight straight races. Lemon Drop Kid, who had finished ninth in the Derby and third in the Peter Pan Stakes, was considered a longshot at odds of nearly 30-1.


1999 Belmont Stakes, Race Description
In the absence of other speed horses, Silverbulletday was expected to set the early pace. Rather than let her get an uncontested lead and perhaps steal the race, Chris Antley on Charismatic decided to press the pace. The two raced heads apart for the first half mile, completed in a relatively fast time  of 473⁄5 seconds. Silverbulletday then opened up a half length lead before tiring, eventually finishing seventh. Charismatic responded to a challenge from Stephen Got Even around the final turn, and briefly took the lead despite drifting out as they entered the stretch.


1999 Belmont Stakes, Race Description
Meanwhile, Lemon Drop Kid rated in eighth place behind the early pace. Around the final turn, he started to make up ground after finding room on the rail. Entering the stretch, he was swung wide by jockey José A. Santos and quickly pulled clear of Charismatic. He then withstood a late run from longshot Vision and Verse to win by a head. Charismatic held on for third but was pulled up quickly after the finish line. It was later determined that Charismatic fractured both the sesamoid and cannon bones in his left front leg. Antley dismounted and held up Charismatic's leg until the track ambulance arrived to van the horse off.


1999 Belmont Stakes, Race Description
The race proved both a low point and highlight in Antley's racing career. In addition to losing a chance to win the Triple Crown, Antley was criticized by some for his racing tactics in pressing the early pace. On the other hand, he earned widespread praise for pulling up Charismatic so quickly: the horse survived his injuries.


1999 Beninese parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Benin on 30 March 1999. The Benin Rebirth Party retained its status as the largest party in the National Assembly, increasing its number of seats from 21 to 27, whilst the Democratic Renewal Party won only 11 seats, a reduction of seven.


1999 Benson & Hedges Super Cup
The 1999 Benson & Hedges Super Cup was the twenty-eighth competing of cricket’s Benson & Hedges Cup. The competition was won by Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.


1999 Benson & Hedges Super Cup, Background
The editor of Wisden, Matthew Engel, suggested in the 1995 edition that to liven up the county scene, the Benson & Hedges Cup be restricted to the top eight teams in the previous year’s County Championship . This was partly to avoid the possibility of the division of the Championship into two divisions, while offering an incentive for mid-table counties to play positive cricket at the end of the season.


1999 Benson & Hedges Super Cup, Background
This also relieved some of the pressure on the cricket schedule in the 1999 season with the World Cup encroaching on the schedule.


1999 Benson & Hedges Super Cup, Background
The tournament was not a success with low attendances, and from 2000, the County Championship was divided into two divisions, and the Benson & Hedges Cup reverted to its prior format, albeit with non-first class teams excluded.


1999 Benue State gubernatorial election
The 1999 Benue State gubernatorial election occurred in Nigeria on January 9, 1999. The PDP nominee George Akume won the election, defeating the APP candidate.


1999 Benue State gubernatorial election
George Akume defeated Mike Mku and others to win the PDP nomination at the primary election. His running mate was Ogiri Ajene.


1999 Benue State gubernatorial election, Electoral system
The Governor of Benue State is elected using the plurality voting system.


1999 Benue State gubernatorial election, Results
The total number of registered voters in the state for the election was 1,806,121. However, 1,813,000 were previously issued voting cards in the state.


1999 Berlin Marathon
The 1999 Berlin Marathon was the 26th running of the annual marathon race held in Berlin, Germany, held on 26 September 1999. Kenya's Josephat Kiprono won the men's race in 2:06:44 hours, while the women's race was won by his compatriot Tegla Loroupe in 2:20:43, which lowered her own marathon world record by four seconds.


1999 Berlin Thunder season
The 1999 Berlin Thunder season was the inaugural season for the franchise in the NFL Europe League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Wes Chandler, and played its home games at Jahn-Sportpark in Berlin, Germany. They finished the regular season in sixth place with a record of three wins and seven losses.


1999 Berlin Thunder season
Although the Thunder replaced the England Monarchs for this season, the only player from the 1998 roster to return for the new team was outside linebacker Scott Fields.


1999 Berlin state election
The 1999 Berlin state election was held on 10 October 1999 to elect the members of the 14th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. The incumbent grand coalition between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) retained government. CDU leader Eberhard Diepgen was re-elected as Mayor.


1999 Berlin state election, Parties
The table below lists parties represented in the 13th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin.


1999 Betty Barclay Cup
The 1999 Betty Barclay Cup was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Am Rothenbaum in Hamburg in Germany that was part of Tier II of the 1999 WTA Tour. The tournament was held from 26 April through 2 May 1999. Second-seeded Venus Williams won the singles title.


1999 Betty Barclay Cup, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


1999 Betty Barclay Cup, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


1999 Betty Barclay Cup, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry from the singles qualifying draw:


1999 Betty Barclay Cup, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry from the doubles qualifying draw:


1999 Betty Barclay Cup, Finals, Doubles
Larisa Neiland /  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario defeated  Amanda Coetzer /  Jana Novotná, 6–2, 6–1


1999 Betty Barclay Cup – Doubles
The 1999 Betty Barclay Cup – Doubles was the doubles event of the fifteenth edition of the Betty Barclay Cup, a WTA Tier II tournament held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the European claycourt season. Barbara Schett and Patty Schnyder were the defending champions but only Schett competed that year with Ruxandra Dragomir. The pair lost in the first round to Irina Spîrlea and Caroline Vis.


1999 Betty Barclay Cup – Doubles
Second seeds Larisa Neiland and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario won in the final 6–2, 6–1 against Amanda Coetzer and Jana Novotná.


1999 Betty Barclay Cup – Singles
The 1999 Betty Barclay Cup – Singles was the singles event of the fifteenth edition of the Betty Barclay Cup, a WTA Tier II tournament held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the European claycourt season. Martina Hingis was the defending champion but she did not compete that year.


1999 Betty Barclay Cup – Singles
Venus Williams won in the final 6–0, 6–3 against Mary Pierce.


1999 Betty Barclay Cup – Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds received a bye to the second round.


1999 Bhutan A-Division
The 1999 season of the Bhutanese A-Division was the fifth recorded season of top-flight football in Bhutan. The league was won by Druk Pol, their fourth title in a row and the first time a Bhutanese team had won four titles consecutively.


1999 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament
The 1999 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament was held at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, OK from May 23 through May 27. Nebraska won their first of three consecutive tournaments and earned the Big 12 Conference's automatic bid to the 1999 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. This was the first year the conference switched to format used by the College World Series with two 4-team double-elimination brackets and a final championship game.


1999 Big 12 Conference Softball Tournament
The 1999 Big 12 Conference Softball tournament was held at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, OK from May 12 through May 15, 1999. Texas won their first conference tournament and earned the Big 12 Conference's automatic bid to the 1999 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament.


1999 Big 12 Conference Softball Tournament
Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M received bids to the NCAA tournament.


1999 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament
The 1999 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament was held March 2–6, 1999 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, MO.


1999 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament
Number 1 seed Texas Tech defeated 2 seed Iowa State 73-59 to win their 2nd championship and receive the conference's automatic bid to the 1999 NCAA Tournament.


1999 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, Seeding
The Tournament consisted of a 12 team single-elimination tournament with the top 4 seeds receiving a bye.


1999 Big 12 Conference Women's Soccer Tournament
The 1999 Big 12 Conference Women's Soccer Tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big 12 Conference held from November 3 to 6, 1999. The 7-match tournament was held at the Blossom Athletic Center in San Antonio, TX with a combined attendance of 6,101. The 8-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated the Missouri Tigers in the championship match to win their 3rd conference tournament.


1999 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1999 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big 12 Conference. It was played from March 4–7 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. No. 3 seed Kansas defeated Oklahoma State 53–37 to win the championship and receive the Big 12's automatic bid to the 1999 NCAA Tournament.


1999 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament, Seeding
The Tournament consisted of a 12 team single-elimination tournament with the top 4 seeds receiving a bye.


1999 Big East Conference Baseball Tournament
The 1999 Big East Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Mercer County Waterfront Park in Trenton, NJ. This was the fifteenth annual Big East Conference Baseball Tournament, and first to be held outside the state of Connecticut. The Providence Friars won the tournament championship and claimed the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 1999 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


1999 Big East Conference Baseball Tournament, Format and seeding
The Big East baseball tournament was a 6 team double elimination tournament in 1999. The top six regular season finishers were seeded one through six based on conference winning percentage only.


1999 Big East Conference Baseball Tournament, Jack Kaiser Award
Marc DesRoches was the winner of the 1999 Jack Kaiser Award. DesRoches was a senior pitcher for Providence.


1999 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1999 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Its winner received the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 1999 NCAA Tournament. It is a single-elimination tournament with four rounds and the three highest seeds received byes in the first round. All 13 Big East teams were invited to participate. Connecticut finished with the best record in the regular season and was awarded the top seed.


1999 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament
Connecticut defeated St. John's in the final, 82–63 to earn its second consecutive Big East Tournament championship, and fourth overall.


1999 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament, Awards
Dave Gavitt Trophy (Most Outstanding Player): Kevin Freeman (basketball), Connecticut


1999 Big League World Series
The 1999 Big League World Series took place from August 8–14 in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Orlando, Florida defeated Fraser Valley, Canada in the championship game.


1999 Big League World Series
This was the first BLWS held in Tucson; it also featured the debut of round-robin pool play.


1999 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1999 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 4–6 at the Dee Events Center at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.


1999 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Top-seeded host Weber State defeated defending champion Northern Arizona in the championship game, 82–75, to win their sixth Big Sky tournament title.


1999 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
No new teams were added and membership remained at nine. After completing its transition to Division I, Portland State was eligible for the Big Sky tournament for the first time.


1999 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
Similar to the previous year, the top six teams in the regular season conference standings participated in the tournament. The top two earned byes into the semifinals while the remaining four played in the quarterfinals. The lowest remaining seed met the top seed in the semifinals.


1999 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, NCAA tournament
Weber State earned the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament; no other Big Sky members were invited, or to the NIT. Seeded fourteenth in the West regional, the Wildcats upset perennial power North Carolina in the first round in the nightcap in Seattle, which ended after midnight back east. In the second round, Weber State lost in overtime to Florida.


1999 Big South Conference Baseball Tournament
The 1999 Big South Conference Baseball Tournament  was the postseason baseball tournament for the Big South Conference, held from May 20–23, 1999 at Charles Watson Stadium, home field of regular season champion Coastal Carolina in Conway, South Carolina. The top six finishers from the regular season participated in the double-elimination tournament. The champion, Winthrop, won the title for the third time, and first since 1987, and earned an invitation to the 1999 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


1999 Big South Conference Baseball Tournament, Format
The top six finishers from the regular season qualified for the tournament. The teams were seeded one through six and played a double-elimination tournament. New members Elon and High Point were ineligible for conference competition, making all returning members automatically qualifying for the event.


1999 Big South Conference Baseball Tournament, All-Tournament Team, Most Valuable Player
Matt Kozaria was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. Kozaria was a pitcher for Winthrop.


1999 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1999 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place from February 25–27, 1999 at the Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, North Carolina. For the first time in their school history, the Winthrop Eagles won the tournament, led by head coach Gregg Marshall.


1999 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
All six teams participated in the tournament, hosted at the Asheville Civic Center. Teams were seeded by conference winning percentage. Elon and High Point were making their transition to the league during the season, and were not yet included as full members.


1999 Big Ten Baseball Tournament
The 1999 Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Bill Davis Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio from May 15 through 19. The top four teams from the regular season participated in the double-elimination tournament, the eighteenth annual tournament sponsored by the Big Ten Conference to determine the league champion. Michigan won their sixth tournament championship and earned the Big Ten Conference's automatic bid to the 1999 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


1999 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, Format and seeding
The 1999 tournament was a 4-team double-elimination tournament, with seeds determined by conference regular season winning percentage only.


1999 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, All-Tournament Team, Most Outstanding Player
Bobby Scales was named Most Outstanding Player. Scales was a second baseman for Michigan.


1999 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1999 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was the second annual postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big Ten Conference and was played from March 4 through March 7, 1999 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The championship was won by Michigan State who defeated Illinois in the championship game. As a result, Michigan State received the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.


1999 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament
Due to Michigan basketball scandal, Michigan has vacated the records from this tournament. Similarly, due to the Minnesota academic scandal, Minnesota's appearance in this tournament was vacated. Ohio State also vacated its appearance in the tournament due to NCAA Sanctions.


1999 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament, Seeds
All Big Ten schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records. Seeding for the tournament was determined at the close of the regular conference season. The top five teams received a first round bye.


1999 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1999 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 4–6 at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada.


1999 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
New Mexico State defeated Boise State in the championship game, 79–69, to obtain the third Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament championship in school history.


1999 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The Aggies participated in the 1999 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament after earning the conference's automatic bid.


1999 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
Eight of the 12 teams in the conference participated, with Cal Poly, Nevada, North Texas, and UC Irvine not qualifying. The top eight teams were seeded based on regular season conference records.


1999 Billboard Music Awards
The 1999 Billboard Music Awards ceremony, presented by Billboard, honored the best musics of 1999 and the chart toppers of the year from December 1998 to December 1999 and took place on December 8, 1999, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas.


1999 Billboard Music Awards, Winners and nominees, Awards
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a dagger ()


1999 Birthday Honours
The 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday were announced on 7 June 1999 in New Zealand and Niue, and on 12 June 1999 in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms.


1999 Birthday Honours
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged firstly by the country whose ministers advised the Queen on the appointments, then by honour, with classes (Knight, Knight Grand Cross, etc.) and then divisions (Military, Civil, etc.) as appropriate.


1999 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)
The 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours in New Zealand, celebrating the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, were appointments made by the Queen in her right as Queen of New Zealand, on the advice of the New Zealand government, to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders. They were announced on 7 June 1999.


1999 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour.


1999 Blain by-election
A by-election for the seat of Blain in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was held on 31 July 1999. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Country Liberal Party (CLP) member Barry Coulter, a former Deputy Chief Minister. Coulter had held Blain, and its predecessors Berrimah and Palmerston, since 1983.


1999 Blain by-election
The CLP selected Terry Mills, a private school Principal, as its candidate. The Labor candidate was Nicole Cridland.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood
The 1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood was a flood that took place on the evening of December 27, 1999. It was caused when a combination of the tide and high winds from the extratropical storm Martin led to the seawalls of the Blayais Nuclear Power Plant in France being overwhelmed. The event resulted in the loss of the plant's off-site power supply and knocked out several safety-related systems, resulting in a Level 2 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The incident illustrated the potential for flooding to damage multiple items of equipment throughout a plant, weaknesses in safety measures, systems and procedures, and resulted in fundamental changes to the evaluation of flood risk at nuclear power plants and in the precautions taken.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Background
The Blayais plant, equipped with four pressurized water reactors, is located on the Gironde estuary near Blaye, South Western France, operated by Électricité de France. Due to records of over 200 floods along the estuary dating back to 585 AD, some 40 of which had been particularly extensive, the location of the plant was known to be susceptible to flooding, and reports of the 1875 floods mentioned that they were caused by a combination of a high tides and violent winds blowing along the axis of the estuary.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Background
The area had also experienced flooding during storms in the recent past, on December 13, 1981 and March 18, 1988. An official report on the 1981 floods, published in 1982, noted that it 'would be dangerous to underestimate' the combined effects of tide and storm, and also noted that the wind had led to 'the formation of real waves on the lower flooded floodplain'.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Background
When the Blayais plant was designed in the 1970s, it was on the basis that a height of 4.0 m (13.1 ft) above NGF level would provide an 'enhanced safety level', and the base on which the plant was built was set at 4.5 m (15 ft) above NGF, although some components were located in basements at lower levels. The protective sea walls around the Blayais plant were originally built to be 5.2 m (17 ft) above NGF level at the front of the site, and 4.75 m (15.6 ft) along the sides.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Background
The 1998 annual review of plant safety for the plant identified the need for the sea walls to be raised to 5.7 m (19 ft) above NGF, and envisaged that this would be carried out in 2000, although EDF later postponed the work until 2002. On 29 November 1999, the Regional Directorate for Industry, Research and the Environment sent a letter to EDF asking them to explain this delay.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Flooding
On December 27, 1999, a combination of the incoming tide and exceptionally high winds produced by Storm Martin caused a sudden rise of water in the estuary, flooding parts of the plant. The flooding began at around 7:30 pm, two hours before high tide, and it was later found that at its height the water had reached between 5.0 m (16.4 ft) and 5.3 m (17 ft) above NGF. The flooding also damaged the sea wall facing the Gironde, with the upper portion of the rock armour being washed away.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Flooding
Prior to the flooding, units 1, 2 and 4 were at full power, while unit 3 was shut down for refuelling. Starting from 7:30 pm all four units lost their 225 kV power supplies, while units 2 and 4 also lost their 400 kV power supplies. The isolator circuits that should have allowed units 2 and 4 to supply themselves with electricity also failed, causing these two reactors to automatically shut down, and diesel backup generators started up, maintaining power to plants 2 and 4 until the 400 kV supply was restored at around 10:20 pm.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Flooding
In the pumping room for unit 1, one set of the two pairs of pumps in the Essential Service Water System failed due to flooding; had both sets failed then the safety of plant would have been endangered. In both units 1 and 2, flooding in the fuel rooms put the low-head safety injection pumps and the containment spray pumps, part of the Emergency Core Cooling System (a back-up system in case of coolant loss) out of use. Over the following days, an estimated 90,000 m3 (3,200,000 cu ft) of water would be pumped out of the flooded buildings.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Response
Around two and a half hours after the flooding began, a high-tide alarm for the estuary was triggered in the observation room of plant 4, although those in the other plants failed to activate.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Response
This should have caused the control room operators to launch a 'Level 2 Internal Emergency Plan', however this was not done as the requirement had been omitted from the operation room manual; instead they continued to follow the procedure for the loss of the off-site power supply, so failing to shut down the operating reactors at the earliest opportunity to allow the decay heat to start to dissipate.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Response
At 3:00 am on December 28, the power plant's emergency teams were called to reinforce the staff already on site; at 6:30 the management of the Institute for Nuclear Protection and Safety (now part of the Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Institute) were informed, and a meeting of experts was convened at the IPSN at 7:45 am. At 9:00 am the Level 2 Internal Emergency Plan was finally activated by the Directorate of Nuclear Installation Safety (now the Nuclear Safety Authority) and a full emergency management team of 25 people was formed, working in shifts around the clock. At noon on December 28, the incident was provisionally rated at 'level 1' on the International Nuclear Event Scale before being reclassified at 'level 2' the following day. The team was scaled back during December 30, and stood down around 6 pm the same day.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Response
During the morning of December 28, the Institute for Nuclear Protection and Safety estimated that, if the emergency cooling water supply failed, there would have been over 10 hours in which to act before core meltdown started.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Response
On 5 January, the regional newspaper Sud-Ouest ran the following headline without being contradicted: "Very close to a major accident", explaining that a catastrophe had been narrowly avoided.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Response
A report on a number of samples taken after the flooding on January 8 and 9 found that the event had had no quantifiable effect on radiation levels.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Aftermath
The Institute for Nuclear Protection and Safety issued a report on January 17, 2000, calling for a review of the data used to calculate the height of the surface on which nuclear power stations are built. It suggested that two criteria should be met: that buildings containing equipment important for safety should be built on a surface at least as high as the highest water level plus a safety margin (the cote majorée de sécurité or 'enhanced safety height'), and that any such buildings below this level should be sealed to prevent water ingress.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Aftermath
It also contained an initial analysis which found that, in addition to Blayais, the plants as Belleville, Chinon, Dampierre, Gravelines and Saint-Laurent were all below the 'enhanced safety height' and that their safety measures should be re-examined. It also found that although the plants at Bugey, Cruas, Flamanville, Golfech, Nogent, Paluel, Penly and Saint-Alban met the first criterion, the second should be verified; and called for the plants at Fessenheim and Tricastin to be re-examined since they were below the level of major adjacent canals. The consequent upgrading work, implemented over the following years, is estimated to have cost approximately 110,000,000 euro.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Aftermath
In Germany, the flooding prompted the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety to order an evaluation of the German nuclear power plants.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Aftermath
Following the events at Blayais, a new method of evaluating flood risk was developed. Instead of evaluating only the five factors required by Rule RFS I.2.e (river flood, dam failure, tide, storm surge and tsunami), a further eight factors are now also evaluated: waves caused by wind on the sea; waves caused by wind on river or channel; swelling due to the operation of valves or pumps; deterioration of water retaining structures (other than dams); circuit or equipment failure; brief and intense rainfall on site; regular and continuous rainfall on site; and rises in groundwater. In addition, realistic combinations of such factors are taken into account.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Aftermath
Among the remedial actions taken at Blayais itself, the sea walls were raised to 8.0 m (26.2 ft) above NFG, – up to 3.25 m (10.7 ft) higher than before – and openings have been sealed to prevent water ingress.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Aftermath, Protests
Twelve days prior to the floods, a local anti-nuclear group was formed by Stéphane Lhomme under the TchernoBlaye banner (a portmanteau of the French spelling of Chernobyl and Blaye, the nearest town). The group gained support following the flood and their first protest march of between 1,000 and 1,500 people took place on April 23, but was blocked from reaching the plant by police using tear gas. The group continue their opposition to the plant, still under the presidency of Stéphane Lhomme.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Ongoing concerns
Due to the remedial works the plant is now believed to be adequately protected from flooding, however the access roadway remains low-lying and vulnerable. Due to this, particularly since the 2011 Fukushima I nuclear accidents in Japan, concerns have been raised over the potential difficulty of getting help to the plant in an emergency.


1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, Ongoing concerns
The seawalls at Blayais are now higher than the tsunami that hit Japan, knocking out the cooling systems at Fukushima Dai-ichi. The adequacy of the sea walls has, however, been disputed by Professor Jean-Noël Salomon, head of the Laboratory of Applied Physical Geography at Michel de Montaigne University Bordeaux 3, who believes that, due to the potential harm and economic cost that would result from a future flood-related disaster, the sea walls should be designed to withstand simultaneous extreme events, rather than simultaneous major events.


1999 Bob Jane T-Marts Super Touring 500
The 1999 Bob Jane T-Marts Super Touring 500 was a motor race staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia on 3 October 1999. It was the 37th and last in a sequence of annual touring car endurance races to be organised by the Australian Racing Driver's Club at the Mount Panorama Circuit, previous events having included Bathurst 500 races and, from 1973, the Bathurst 1000.


1999 Bob Jane T-Marts Super Touring 500
The race was open to Super Touring cars, with FIA Production cars, GT Production cars and Schedule S cars  also invited to compete. Qualifying established the grid for a 100 kilometre preliminary race, the Bob Jane T-Marts Super Touring 100, which in turn determined grid positions for the 500 kilometre main event.


1999 Bob Jane T-Marts Super Touring 500
The Super Touring 500 was won by Paul Morris driving a BMW 320i.


1999 Bob Jane T-Marts Super Touring 500, Race
The race was very heavily weather affected with rain wreathing the circuit for much of the day, earlier blighting the Bob Jane T-Marts V8 300 race held for a combined field of AUSCARs and Future Touring Cars. The race spent many laps behind a safety car because of heavy rain and poor visibility caused by fog across the top of the Mountain, including the final 17 laps and was eventually declared after 50 laps, 31 short of the intended full race distance.


1999 Bob Jane T-Marts Super Touring 500, Race
Paul Morris avenged his disqualification from victory in the 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 taking victory over the two-car factory supported Volvo team, Jim Richards driving solo as Cameron McLean was unable to take his scheduled middle stint because of the weather and because of tyre issues, and Craig Baird and Matthew Coleman. Fourth place and leading independent driver was young New Zealander Mark Porter who had impressed team owner Mike Downard that he kept Porter in the car rather than take his own turn at the wheel. Leading independent team Knight Racing saw the Dean Canto / Leanne Ferrier buried in a sand trap at The Chase while the lead car of Peter Hills / Ron Searle struggled with water leaks and electrical issues.


1999 Bob Jane T-Marts V8 300
The 1999 Bob Jane T-Marts V8 300 was a one-off touring car endurance race run by the Australian Racing Driver's Club at the Mount Panorama Circuit. It was held on 3 October 1999.


1999 Bob Jane T-Marts V8 300
The race was held for a combination of the then new Future Touring Car class and by the former Superspeedway category called AUSCAR. Originally these two classes of cars were to take part in the race that became the 1999 Bob Jane T-Marts 500.


1999 Bob Jane T-Marts V8 300, Class structure
The race was held for a grid of Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons complying to one of two categories.


1999 Bob Jane T-Marts V8 300, Class structure
Class A was for AUSCAR stock cars, the Australised lower cost and lower specification interpretation of NASCAR.


1999 Bob Jane T-Marts V8 300, Class structure
Class B was for Bathurst Tourers, known previously as New Millennium AUSCARs and later known as Future Touring Cars. The category was invented to provide a road racing category for the AUSCAR stock cars, which were in decline in their home environment at the Calder Park Thunderdome, to be converted relatively inexpensively into circuit racing touring cars.


1999 Boise State Broncos football team
The 1999 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Broncos competed in the Big West Conference and played their home games at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos were led by second-year head coach Dirk Koetter.


1999 Boise State Broncos football team
The Broncos finished the season 10–3 and 5–1 in conference to win their first Big West title. In their fourth season in Division I-A, the Broncos were invited to their first ever bowl game, the Humanitarian Bowl on their home field, where they defeated Louisville, 34–31. Boise State won all eight games played on the blue turf of Bronco Stadium in 1999.


1999 Bolivian municipal elections
Municipal elections were held in Bolivia, on December 5, 1999, in all 311 municipalities across the country. The elections marked a milestone in the continuous deterioration of the political influence of the traditional parties. In 23 municipalities the mayors were elected through direct popular vote, in other municipalities the mayors were elected by the respective municipal council.


1999 Bolivian municipal elections, Contesting parties, MIR
The Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) was able to make a minor comeback in these elections, increasing its share of votes to 16% compared to around 9% in the 1993 and 1995 municipal polls. The party emerged as the largest party in 56 municipalities. It achieved its best results in the La Paz and Tarija Departments, winning 24.09% and 24.45% of the votes in respective Department. The weakest region of MIR was the Cochabamba Department, where the party scored 6.92% of the votes.


1999 Bolivian municipal elections, Contesting parties, ADN
The Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN), the party of then president and former military dictator Hugo Banzer, came third in the polls. It was however able to get 70 mayors elected from its ranks. Notably in municipalities were the mayors were elected by the municipal councils, ADN was able to obtain a high percentage of mayors elected. The foremost stronghold of the party was Pando Department, where the party got 49% of the votes and was able to gain 14 out of 15 mayoral posts.


1999 Bolivian municipal elections, Contesting parties, The Left
This was the first election contested by Evo Morales' Movement for Socialism (MAS). MAS emerged from the split in the Assembly for the Sovereignty of the Peoples, which had been divided in a factional conflict between Morales and Alejo Veliz. Morales' group obtained the legal registry to compete in the elections by borrowing the registration (and party name) of a falangist splinter faction (MAS-U). Veliz's group decided to contest on the lists of the Communist Party of Bolivia (PCB). Felipe Quispe aligned himself with Veliz's group. In the Cochabamba region the verbal confrontations between the two sides were often tense, the Veliz group launched the slogan "MAS is Unzaguist, falangist, heil heil Hitler".


1999 Bolivian municipal elections, Contesting parties, UCS
The national vote of the Civic Solidarity Union (UCS) went down from 17.45% nationwide in 1995 to 11.8% in 1999. However, the party was able to consolidate its position in the mayoral election in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, where its candidate Johnny Férnandez was re-elected.


1999 Bolivian municipal elections, Contesting parties, CONDEPA
At the time of the 1999 elections the Conscience of the Fatherland (CONDEPA) was a party in crisis. The party had suffered the death of its leader Carlos Palenque, and divisions had erupted amongst his successors. Moreover, the influence of the mass media connected to the party had decreased significantly. As the party lost the municipal contest in El Alto in these elections, they lost their last remaining political stronghold in the country.


1999 Bolivian municipal elections, Candidates
According to a study of Xavier Albó and Víctor Quispe (which included a survey of 1628 local politicians, roughly corresponding to the final election tally), 76% of the surveyed politicians were members of the political party which had nominated them as candidates. The highest number was found in the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR), 85%, whilst the lowest figure was recorded amongst the candidates of the Without Fear Movement (MSM), 36%.


1999 Bolivian municipal elections, Candidates
The Albó/Quispe study also surveyed the ethnic identification of the councilors. The survey included four degrees of (indigenous) as well as a 'non-indigenous' category. 22.4% of surveyed councilors were identified as 'highly' indigenous, 20.6% as 'medium', 19.0% 'discoursive' indigenous, 11.0% as 'discretely' indigenous and 27.0% as 'non-indigenous'. Two parties, the Communist Party of Bolivia (PCB) and the Movement for Socialism (MAS) had the markedly highest number of indigenous (in the two first degree categories), 75.60% for the Communist Party and 75.0% for MAS.


1999 Bolivian municipal elections, Candidates
Amongst the Communist Party councilors, 62.50% were identified as 'highly' ethnic (the highest number amongst all contesting parties). The percentage of non-indigenous PCB/MAS candidates was only 1.3%. The high number of indigenous councilors of the Communist Party can be explained through the alliance the party had done with Alejo Veliz's group.


1999 Bolivian municipal elections, Candidates
The highest percentage of non-indigenous councilors was found in the three mayor parties (MNR, ADN, MIR), which all had a percentage of non-indigenous candidates slightly exceeding 30%.


1999 Bolivian municipal elections, Results
The elections produced a fragmented verdict in most municipalities. In line with the pattern in the national political scene at the time, building coalitions was often necessary in order to form a municipal government. In terms of percentage of votes, the 'big three' (MNR, ADN, MIR) stood at 51%, a reduction from 59% in the 1987 municipal elections. The share of votes mustered by smaller parties increased compared to the 1995 election, parties with less than 3% of the national votes shared 11.27% of the votes (compared to 6.0% in 1995).


1999 Bolivian municipal elections, Results
A government study of 269 municipalities showed that in 73% of the studied municipalities no single party held absolute majority in the municipal council (slightly down from 75% in the preceding 1995 municipal elections). The fragmentation was highest in the La Paz Department (with 20% of municipal councils with a single party holding absolute majority), whilst in the Pando Department 93% of the municipalities had single-party absolute majorities.


1999 Bolivian municipal elections, Results
The two parties sharing the national government at the time of the election (ADN and MIR) obtained a combined vote of 38.1%. If one adds their political allies UCS and NFR the vote of the governing bloc exceeded 54% (although NFR was not fully submerged into the ruling alliance). However, national alliances did not play a role in the municipal elections, as the different parties of the governing bloc competed against each other on the local level.