1998 World Events

January 6: NASA from the Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida launches The Lunar Prospector spacecraft. The launch vehicle was an Athena rocket. The destination of this spacecraft was a lunar low polar orbit.

January 16: It is announced by NASA that Senator John Glenn will return to space on board space shuttle Discovery. The STS-95 mission is scheduled for October 1998.

January 17: Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.

January 22: NASA launches space shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-89.

January 25: The Denver Broncos defeat the Green Bay Packers, 31-24, in Super Bowl XXXII.

January 26: In front of television cameras, President Bill Clinton denies that he had "sexual relations" with intern Monica Lewinsky.

January 27: First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton claims on the "Today Show" that the attacks on her husband are part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy".

January 29: Russia launches Soyuz TM27 with crewmembers Talgat Musabayev, Nikolay Budarin, and Leopold Eyharts.

January 31: Space shuttle Endeavour returns to Earth after the completion of mission STS-89.

February 7: The 1998 Winter Olympic Games open in Nagano, Japan.

February 19: Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM-26 returns to Earth with a crew of Anatoli Solovyov, Pavel Vinogradov, and Leopold Eyharts.

February 23: A US Marine Corps pilot is responsible for the death of 20 skiers when he snaps the cable suspending a gondola in Italy during a low altitude flight.

March 2: The Galileo space probe orbiting Jupiter reveals that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean beneath a thick crust of ice.

March 23: The Best Picture Oscar is awarded to "Titanic" directed by James Cameron at the Academy Awards. "Titanic" with 14 nominations wins a total of 11 Oscars.

April 17: NASA launches space shuttle Columbia on mission STS-90.

May 3: Space shuttle Columbia returns to Earth after the completion of mission STS-90.

May 7: In what becomes the largest merger in history, Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for 40 billion dollars.

May 24: Eddie Cheever Jr. wins the Indianapolis 500.

June 2: NASA launches space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-91.

June 12: Space shuttle Discover returns to Earth after the completion of STS-91.

July 5: Japan launches its first space probe to the planet Mars.

August 7: Terrorists bomb the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. 224 people are killed and over 4500 are injured.

August 13: Russia launches spacecraft Soyuz TM28 with a crew of Gennadi Padalka, Sergey Avdeyev, and Yuri Baturin.

August 17: President Bill Clinton admits to the American people that he mislead them about the relationship that he had with Monica Lewinsky.

August 20: In retaliation for the August 7 terrorist attacks, the United States launches cruise missile strikes against alleged al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and a chemical plant in the Sudan. The world wonders if this action was taken to divert attention away from the Clinton sex scandal.

August 25: Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM27 returns to Earth with a crew of Talgat Musabayev, Nikolay Budarin, and, Yuri Baturin.

October 24: NASA launches the Deep Space 1 asteroid and comet space probe from the Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida.

October 29: Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off with Senator John Glenn on mission STS-95. Glenn becomes the oldest person to fly into space at 77 years of age. I covered this launch from the Press Site at the Kennedy Space Center. For my impressions of this historic event follow the STS-95 link.

November 3: Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is elected as Governor of the state of Minnesota.

November 7: Space shuttle Discovery returns to Earth after the completion of mission STS-95.

November 19: The US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton.

December 4: NASA launches space shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-88.

December 15: The space shuttle Endeavour returns to Earth after the completion of mission STS-88.