Do you remember 1999? Ricky Martin’s “Livin La Vida Loca” topped the charts, we were scared of the Blair Witch, and Google officially launched.
To celebrate, Google Trends opened its time capsule to see which fads were titanic in 1999. According to the report, adults were watching “The Matrix” and “The Sopranos” while kids were into “Toy Story 2” and “Teletubbies.” People also used the search engine to learn about David Beckham or evaluate their Pokémon cards, and searches for hot sauce set the web ablaze.
Livin La Vida Local
Want to know what life was like in the Twin City? We dug up some data to help us remember the final year of the 20th century — thanks to some help from a 25-year-old search engine.
The stats:
- Median family income: $49,300
- City’s population: 168,086
- Estimated cost to buy a home: $142,260 (prices have increased 135.8%)
- Average cost of a gallon of gasoline in North Carolina: $0.594
- The 1999-2000 Winston-Salem city budget totaled $273.2 million.
In the news
- The Winston-Salem IceHawks finished their second (and final) minor league hockey season at the Fairgrounds Arena.
- The city approved a Downtown Restaurant Recruitment plan to support the creation of businesses.
- Linda Davis was sworn in as the city’s first female police chief on March 23. The Winston-Salem native graduated from RJ Reynolds High School and retired in 2004.
- Commercial flights at Smith Reynolds Airport declined to 7,000. The following year, the last remaining commercial carrier, USAir, ended service.
Sounds of the 90s
- 98° brought their “Heat It Up Tour” + Widespread Panic brought their “Fall Tour 1999" to LJVM Coliseum.
- Performance venue Ziggy’s hosted rapper Vanilla Ice on March 25 and rock band 311 on Nov. 4.
