As the Class of 2000 moves out from beneath the Big Green Bubble that has protected and nurtured them during their time at Dartmouth, it is a good time to review the things that have been shaping the outside world over the last four years.
Themes
Several news subjects formed a backdrop for world and national events while the Class of 2000 immersed themselves in Chaucer and atomic spectra.
Among these has been the U.S. economy's incredible and continuing growth. Unemployment dropped and, despite the fears of the Federal Reserve, inflation remained low as Americans enjoyed the longest stretch of peacetime economic prosperity in the nation's history.
Boosted by booming e-commerce, the stock market, despite catching a few cases of the hiccups, soared to new heights, breaking many records, among them the 10,000 point mark for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The Internet continued to revolutionize the way that people around the world work, play and communicate, something the soon-to-be Dartmouth graduates can surely attest to.
In the Middle East, the Israeli peace process moved slowly forward as sporadic attacks and disturbances by both Palestinians and Israelis disrupted talks and the implementation of already existing agreements.
In Iraq, Saddam Hussein remained firmly in power, a thorn in the side of the U.S., which pushed for Iraqi compliance with the cease-fire disarmament agreement that ended the 1991 Gulf War.
Despite economic hardship, continued conflict in Chechnya, and a certain amount of political instability, Russia continued moving slowly toward capitalism and democracy under the new leadership of Vladimir Putin.
1996
After a summer that saw terrorist violence against American servicemen in Saudi Arabia and against the spirit of the Olympics during the Centennial Summer Games in Atlanta, the Class of 2000 joined the Dartmouth community in 1996.
As the seniors began their college career, the 1996 presidential campaign was reaching it's climax, as Bill Clinton vied for reelection against Republican opponent Bob Dole.
Clinton won by a relatively broad margin in November, carried into office on the back of the bull economy.
1997
Cloning and genetic engineering emerged as major scientific and public issues as researchers at the Roslin Institute in Scotland announced in February that they had cloned an ewe named Dolly.
Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned using genetic information obtained from non-germ cells " in fact, her DNA was derived from the udder of her "mother."
Hong Kong was returned with fanfare, but in an orderly manner, to Chinese rule on July 1 after more than 150 years under British control.
Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity, died at the age of 92 in September in Calcutta, the city where she had dedicated her life to helping the poor.
Princess Diana of Wales died just a week before Mother Teresa in a car crash with companion Dodi Fayed and his driver in Paris, as, authorities believe, they tried to escape paparazzi who were following them.
Millions mourned the death of the popular princess -- who had dedicated the last years of her life to charity work -- by sending flowers, cards and momentos and spending hours waiting in line to write their thoughts in remembrance books.
The weather was in the back of everyone's mind in 1997, mainly because weather commentators attributed each day's conditions " rain or shine, cold or hot " to the effects of El Nio, a periodic cooling of waters in the Pacific.
Perhaps the most memorable event in sports during 1997, occurred when convicted rapist and boxer Mike Tyson ended his much-hyped fight against Evander Holyfield by biting his opponent's left ear off.
1998
1998 was a busy year for news, but the top story was clearly the scandal surrounding Bill Clinton's presidency after investigators of Clinton's Whitewater dealings alleged he lied to investigators in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case about a sexual relationship he had with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr, originally hired to investigate the Clintons' financial dealings, finally brought charges before the House of Representatives on the unrelated spin-off issue, recommending the President's impeachment.
Clinton became the second president in the nation's history to be impeached in December, when a deeply divided House approved two of four articles of impeachment, accusing him of obstruction of justice and perjury.
Critics of American policy in Iraq wondered if Clinton was attempting to distract the public from his domestic political troubles " a "wag the dog" maneuver " when he ordered air strikes in an effort to complete the destruction of the nation's nuclear and chemical weapons arsenal.
An Asian economic crisis that had erupted at the end of 1997 continued in 1998, causing major financial and political turmoil in such countries as South Korea, Indonesia and Japan, but leaving the U.S. largely unaffected.
U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed simultaneously on August 7, killing 250 people, among them 12 Americans.
Authorities suspected terrorists supported by Saudi national Osama Bin Laden in the explosions. The U.S. retaliated two weeks later, when the Navy fired cruise missiles at terrorist training camps operated by Bin Laden in Afghanistan, as well as a chemical plant allegedly producing nerve gas.
The "troubles" in Northern Ireland neared conclusion on April 10 when former Senate majority leader George Mitchell brokered a deal between the parties involved.
The "Good Friday Agreement," set up a democratic body to decide the future of Northern Ireland and provided for the disarmament of various milita groups.
After India tested three nuclear bombs on May 11, neighbor and long-time enemy Pakistan followed suit the next day, revealing officially what had long been believed, that it too possessed the technology to build and use nuclear weapons.
Viagra, a drug to treat male impotence, was introduced in 1998 to some previously unexcited consumers, and is now being prescribed for more than 4 million American men.
Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa riveted sports fans " and everyone else " as their powerful bats swung their way towards the home run record set by Roger Marris in 1961.
Both broke the record, although McGuire, with 70 long shots on the season, went into the book as the new record holder.
1999
President Clinton enjoyed high approval ratings even as the Senate went into closed session to debate the impeachment charges brought against him.
Clinton was eventually found not guilty by the Senate by a strictly partisan vote that fell far short of the 66 votes necessary to remove the president from office, and the American public, eager to forget the sordid affairs of Clinton, Lewinsky, Starr and Linda Tripp, turned quickly to other news.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, led by the U.S., launched airstrikes against Yugoslavia in March when it refused to end officially sanctioned persecution of ethnic Albanians in the republic of Kosovo.
President of Yugoslavia and indicted war criminal Slobodan Milosevic signed a peace plan after more than 10 weeks of bombardment providing for an international force of peacekeepers.
The nation reeled on April 20 as two students carrying pipe bombs and automatic weapons turned their anger and unhappiness into violence against their classmates and teachers at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO.
Fifteen died and 23 were wounded in the attack, one of a series of school shootings that have prompted renewed legislative efforts to control the availability of guns in the U.S.
As the year drew to a close and the year 2000 approached, people around the world looking forward to the dawning of a new millennium also prepared themselves to deal with the "Y2K Bug," a computer glitch caused by the use of short form dates by programs and hardware.
Computer software giant Microsoft, maker of the Windows interface and the dominant Internet browser, was ruled to be a monopoly by a district judge. The company now faces a possible breakup.
Americans mourned the death of one of their favorite sons, John F. Kennedy Jr., who died at the age of 38 when the small plane he was piloting crashed into the waters off of Martha's Vinyard in July.
"Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" -- the ABC revival of the big money television game show -- was a runaway success, dominating its time slot and terrifying the other national networks.
2000
As tense emergency managers, event planners, businesspeople and systems administrators " as well as disappointed television anchors " watched, clocks around the world changed over to mark the new year with few problems, prompting mass sighs of relief and a few chuckles at the Y2K hype.
The 2000 presidential race, began to heat up in January, as favorites Al Gore and George W. Bush saw stiff competition heading into the primary season from Bill Bradley and John McCain, respectively.
McCain in particular enjoyed success in the early primaries, including New Hampshire. By the time Super Tuesday was over, both he and Bradley had dropped out of the race.
Elian Gonzalez became the focus of an international custody battle after the boat in which he was travelling to the U.S. from Cuba capsized, killing his mother.
As the Cuban government demanded he be returned to his father in Cuba, Cuban-Americans in Miami and elsewhere appealed loudly that he not be returned to the Communist nation.
Although the outcome of the case has not yet been determined, in April, Gonzalez was returned to his father's custody in the U.S. after he was taken by the FBI from the home of his Miami relatives, who refused to give up custody of the boy.
Just a few weeks ago, Israel pulled out of the so-called buffer zone in southern Lebanon it took more than 20 years ago to guard its northern cities and towns from cross-border missile attacks, leaving the area to Hezbollah guerrillas.
Earlier this year, Israel was also the vacation of choice for the aging and ailing Pope John Paul II, who made a historical pilgrimage to the country at the end of March.
