It was the week of July 5, 1998 – were you getting ready to party like it was 1999? Let’s see what was happening in the world of pop culture.
In national news, Dow-Corning finally reached a settlement with women who had received silicone breast implants. The company was ordered to pay more than 170,000 women $3.2 billion dollars. In international news, Hong Kong’s Kai Tak airport closed after 73 years in service to make way for a new $20 billion dollar facility. In computer news, the introduction of USB ports had computer users very excited. The USS Harry S. Truman is commissioned by the United States Navy this week.
Comedian Bill Cosby suffered a great loss when his only son Ennis, a 27 year old doctoral student. Ennis was driving down Interstate 405 when he pulled over to change a flat tire on his Mercedes. He was confronted by gang member Mikail Markhasev who demanded money, then shot Ennis in the head. Markhasev is now serving time in Corcoran State Prison for murder.
Another sad pop culture note this week was the passing of the “King of the Cowboys” – Roy Rogers. Rogers died at his home in Apple Valley, CA at the age of 86 due to congestive heart failure.
If you were reading in 1998, you may have picked up “Memoirs of Geisha” by Arthur Golden, “Bridget Jones’ Diary” by Helen Fielding, or “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom. If you were more into renting movies, maybe you remember renting The Rainmaker, L.A. Confidential, Alien Resurrection, or Scream 2.
What was on television? Well, if you tuned into CBS on a Tuesday night, you could see “JAG” then watch “Late Night with David Letterman” later that night. NBC offered up “The Naked Truth” and “The Tony Danze Show.” ABC was showing “Home Improvement” and “NYPD Blue.”
When you turned on the radio, you might hear some of the hits of the day, such as “Sex and Candy” by Marcy Playground, “My Way” by Usher, and “My Way” by Mariah Carey. Country stations were playing “The Shoes You’re Wearing” by Clint Black, “I Do Cherish You” by Mark Wills, and “There’s Your Trouble” by the Dixie Chicks.
I personally remember going to the theater to see Armageddon with Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, and Steve Buscemi. You could also find Out of Site with George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, The Horse Whisperer with Robert Redford, and Lethal Weapon 4 with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.