Year 1998: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 1998. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, historic firsts, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. In 1998, Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, and John Glenn were all on center stage. Michael and Emily were popular baby names, and bucket hats and blue eyeshadow were American fashion trends. Because of advancements in medicine, people born in 1998 have a better chance of living in three different centuries than any other group of humans in history.
2. Bill Clinton was the 42nd president of the United States, and Al Gore was the nation’s vice president.
3. Unemployment averaged 4.5%, the nation’s inflation rate was 1.56%, and the prime rate was 7.75%.
4. The median cost of a newly built, single-family home in the United States was $148,000, while the average price was $178,600.
5. At the grocery store, a gallon of milk cost $3.16, a loaf of bread was $1.26, and a dozen eggs cost 88 cents. One pound of bacon was $2.53, and bananas were about 50 cents a pound.
6. A General Electric air conditioner cost $319.00, a GE dishwasher was $469.00, and a GE refrigerator cost $319.00. A Whirlpool washing machine cost $249.00, a Hoover upright vacuum was $69.99, and a KitchenAid gas range cost $399.00.
7. On January 1, California became the first state in the U.S. to ban indoor smoking in bars, restaurants, and casinos.
8. On January 7, former White House intern Monica Lewinsky signed an affidavit “denying that she had an affair with President Clinton.”
9. On February 6, the Washington National Airport was renamed Reagan National Airport to honor former U.S. President Ronald Reagan on his 87th birthday.
10. On February 10, AOL raised the monthly service charge for Internet access from $19.95 to $21.95.
11. On February 24, Queen Elizabeth II knighted singer, pianist, and composer Elton John.
12. On February 27, at the 14th Soap Opera Digest Awards, ABC’s General Hospital was named the “Favorite Show.”
13. On March 23, at the 70th Academy Awards, Titanic won an Oscar for Best Picture, and James Cameron (Titanic) won an Oscar for Best Director.
14. On March 24, a mass shooting during a fire drill at the Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas, left five dead and 10 others injured.
15. On April 10, the British and Irish governments signed the Belfast Agreement, also known as the Good Friday Agreement, for Northern Ireland. The agreement markedly decreased the “brutal history” of “sectarian conflict” in Northern Ireland—also known as “The Troubles.”
16. On April 22, Disney's Animal Kingdom, a “zoological theme park,” opened at Walt Disney World in Florida. Covering 580 acres, it is the largest theme park in the world.
17. On May 14, the final two-part episode of the sitcom Seinfeld aired to 76.3 million viewers. It was the second-highest-rated show of the season, behind the Super Bowl.
18. On May 18, the United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states filed an antitrust case against Microsoft, alleging that they had a monopoly on the software market.
19. On August 17, President Clinton admitted in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with Monica Lewinsky. He also admitted he had misled the American people about the relationship.
20. On August 20, the first “Google Doodle” appeared on their homepage. ComputerHope tells us that Google often creates a Google Doodle to commemorate a birthday, an anniversary, a holiday, or another significant event.
21. On September 4, Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in Menlo Park, California. Page and Brin initially set up operations in a garage belonging to Susan Wojcicki. Wired.com tells us that one year later, “Google moved into a real office in Palo Alto, saw its staff explode to eight employees, and by late 1999 was answering 500,000 queries per day. That arc has pretty much continued to this day.”
22. On September 13, at the 50th Primetime Emmy Awards, The Practice (ABC) was named Outstanding Drama Series, Frasier (NBC) was named Outstanding Comedy Series, and the Late Show with David Letterman (CBS) was named Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series.
23. On October 15, American Airlines became the first airline to offer electronic ticketing in all 44 countries it served.
24. On October 28, President Clinton signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) into law. According to Margaret Rouse, “The intent behind [the] DMCA was to create an updated version of copyright laws to deal with the special challenges of regulating digital material.”
25. On October 29, John Glenn, at age 77, became “the oldest man to fly in space by serving as a payload specialist on STS-95 aboard the space shuttle Discovery.”
26. On November 9, in the largest civil settlement in U.S. history, a federal judge approved a $1.03 billion settlement requiring dozens of brokerage firms—including Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Salomon Smith Barney—"to compensate investors who claim they were cheated in a widespread price-fixing scheme on the NASDAQ." CBSNews.com reports that “The settlement follows government action to discipline the big trading firms for keeping stock prices artificially high, a practice that investigators said increased company profits and raised costs for investors.” The brokerage houses denied any wrongdoing.
27. In 1998, the most popular websites were AOL, Yahoo, GeoCities, MSN, Netscape, Excite, Lycos, Microsoft, and InfoSeek.
28. Popular tech terms were “AOL dial-up,” “defragging,” “information superhighway,” “netizen,” “palmtop,” “publify,” “reboot,” and “screensaver.”
29. The average life expectancy at birth in the U.S. was 76.58 years.
30. In 1998, ER was the most popular television show, John Grisham’s The Street Lawyer was a best-selling fiction book, and The Big Lebowski was a must-see film.
31. Kentucky Derby winner: Real Quiet
32. NBA champions: Chicago Bulls
33. NCAA basketball champions: Kentucky
34. NCAA football champs: Tennessee
35. Stanley Cup champs: Detroit Red Wings
36. Super Bowl champs: Denver Broncos
37. U.S. Open Golf: Lee Janzen
38. World Cup (soccer) winner: France
39. World Series champions: New York Yankees
40. In addition, the cost of a 30-second Super Bowl ad was $1,292,000.

References:

1. https://www.onthisday.com/date/1998
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_in_the_United_States
3. https://www.computerhope.com/history/1998.htm
4. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-history-1996.html
5. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1998
6. https://www.infoplease.com/awards/nobel/1998-nobel-prize-winners

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor