This Is What Summer Looked Like 20 Years Ago

1.

SpongeBob SquarePants made its debut on Nickelodeon — and it also aired its iconic “Pizza Delivery” episode that August:

2.

Britney Spears continued to stir controversy for being “too sexy” (which was fallout from her iconic Rolling Stone cover):


Rolling Stone

3.

Disney released Tarzan into theaters, the film would mark the end of the Disney Renaissance:

4.

Lisa Kudrow hosted the 1999 MTV Movie Awards:


Frank Micelotta Archive / Getty Images

6.

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace toys were the hottest toys around and had collectors everywhere snatching them up:


Matt Campbell / AFP / Getty Images, Hector Mata / AFP / Getty Images

7.

MTV began airing its eighth season of The Real World, this time set in Hawaii:

8.

The second season of Sex and the City premiered on HBO:

9.

Doug and The Nanny both ended their runs:


Viacom, CBS

10.

The Sixth Sense was an absolute sensation and since there was no Twitter, not too many people had the ending ruined:

11.

The Blair Witch Project scared audiences and had many people thinking it was real. It also became one of the most profitable films of all-time.


Artisan Entertainment

12.

Apple released its iBook and everybody wanted one:


Ted Thai / The LIFE Picture Collection via

13.

Dial-up internet was still very much the norm. Also, not even half of the U.S. had internet access in their homes at the time:

14.

Napster launched and forever changed the music industry:

15.

George W. Bush, then-Governor of Texas, announced he was planning on running for president of the United States:


New York Daily News Archive / Getty Images

16.

John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn, and his sister-in-law Lauren Bessette died in a plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard:

17.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? premiered on ABC and became an instant hit:


Getty Images

18.

Angelina Jolie (who was at the time an up-and-coming actor) graced the cover of Rolling Stone’s annual “The Hot List” issue:


Rolling Stone

19.

American Pie was an unexpected hit and would go on to bring back teen sex comedies:

20.

Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy” and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Scar Tissue” dominated alt-radio:

21.

Backstreet Boy’s “I Want it that Way” was the biggest video on TRL — although it faced fierce competition from the video for NSYNC’s “I Drive Myself Crazy.”


Sony Music

22.

Christina Aguilera released her debut single, “Genie In A Bottle.” It would also go on to become the song of the summer:


Sony Music

23.

Other big songs of the summer were Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills” and Jennifer Lopez’s debut single, “If You Had My Love”:


Sony Music

24.

Renee Russo started a huge trend when women started copying the hairstyle she had in The Thomas Crown Affair:


United Artists

26.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published in the UK:


Bloomsbury

27.

And finally, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was released into theaters. It would go on to become the biggest movie of the year: