Page 167 - 1999

St. Louis Cardinals’ first baseman
Mark McGwire slammed 70 home runs
on the season to eclipse Roger Maris’
37-year-old record of 61. McGwire’s
heroics were mirrored by Sammy Sosa of
the Chicago Cubs, who finished the
season with 66 homers. The late-season
duel between McGwire and Sosa
captivated the nation and was credited
for revitalizing baseball, which was still
suffering from the fallout of the 1995
players’ strike.

Michael J. Fox, star of ABC’s “Spin
City,” broke seven years of silence when
he revealed he has Parkinson’s disease.
The 37-year-old actor, best known for his
work on the “Back to the Future”
movies, had surgery last May to alleviate
symptoms of the disease.
Supplied by AP/People

Mounting tensions in Iraq came to a head
when Saddam Hussein refused to comply
with U.N. resolutions regarding inspections
of suspected manufacturing sites for
chemical and biological weapons. In
response, President Clinton ordered a series
of air strikes against Iraq. Dubbed
“Operation Desert Fox” by the Pentagon,
the air raids by U.S. and British forces
lasted four nights and included the
destruction of the Iraqi military intelligence
headquarters and several weapons facilities.

NBC’s highly rated sitcom “Fraiser” set
an industry record by winning its fifth
S A C ? # * A , AAAV.SV consecutive Emmy for Outstanding
Comedy Series. “Frasier” began its sixth
. ■■ m | L-GV£ season on a new night, filling the coveted
Thursday time slot previously occupied
by “Seinfeld.”
Louisa Buller/AP

Jim Mone/AP

Reed Saxon/AP

Voters in Minnesota made a statement against mainstream politics
when they elected Reform Party candidate and former professional
wrestler Jesse “The Body” Ventura to the statehouse. The Harley-
riding, cigar-smoking new governor promised Minnesotans he would
return $ 1 billion of the state’s $3 billion budget surplus to taxpayers.
Ventura, who served one term as mayor of suburban Brooklyn Park,
Minn., was one of only two independent governors in the nation.