This Is What The World Was Like In 1998
It was the epic year that gave us Auto-Tune, Titanic-mania, Britney, and the comeback of Apple.
1. Saving Private Ryan, Armageddon, and There's Something About Mary were among the five biggest films of the year.
Dreamworks/Touchstone/ Fox
Saving Private Ryan was actually the highest-grossing movie released that year.
2. Titanic not only became the first movie to gross over a billion dollars at the box office, it also spent the first 13 weeks of 1998 at No. 1.
Paramount Pictures
The movie actually spent 15 consecutive weeks at No. 1, but two of them were in 1997.
3. The Titanic soundtrack (of course, fueled by Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On") was the biggest-selling album of the year.
Sony Music
It sold an impressive 9.2 million copies.
4. Titanic also took home the Academy Award for Best Picture at that year's Oscars.
Timothy A. Clary / AFP / Getty Images
It won 11 awards out of its 14 Oscar nominations.
5. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for their film Good Will Hunting.
Hal Garb / AFP / Getty Images
6. Harrison Ford was named People's Sexiest Man Alive.
People Inc.
7. Brandy and Monica's iconic duet, "The Boy Is Mine," was the song of the summer and spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
WMG
8. Next's "Too Close," Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy wit It," and Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" all topped the charts in 1998.
Arista/ Sony Music/ Hollywood Records
9. The Goo Goo Dolls had a big alternative rock crossover hit with "Iris."
WMG
10. Lauryn Hill released her seminal debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
Sony Music
11. Madonna released Ray of Light and the Beastie Boys released Hello Nasty.
Warner Music, Capital
12. Britney Spears released her iconic debut single, "...Baby One More Time."
Sony Music
13. Teen People published its very first issue with teen queen Jennifer Love Hewitt on the cover.
People Inc.
14. Seinfeld aired its final episode.
Getty Images
Around 76 million people tuned in for the finale.
15. Sex and the City premiered on HBO...
Getty Images / HBO
16. ...Dawson's Creek premiered on the then-WB network...
Sony Television
17. ...and MTV premiered TRL.
Scott Gries / Getty Images
18. Disney released its 36th animated feature, Mulan.
Disney
19. Pixar released its second full-length feature, A Bug's Life.
Pixar
20. The very first trailer for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was released in theaters.
View this video on YouTube
And many Star Wars fans bought tickets to movies they didn't care about just to catch the trailer.
21. Cher released her comeback single "Believe," which was the first big song to use Auto-Tune.
WMG
23. NSYNC released their American debut single, "I Want You Back."
Sony Music
The song had been released in Europe two years earlier.
24. Apple released its revolutionary and now iconic iMac.
Getty Images
At the time Apple wasn't doing well and the iMac would save the company.
25. Abercrombie & Fitch started to become more controversial — even then-first lady Hillary Clinton weighed in.
Abercrombie & Fitch/ ebay.ca
26. The Wu-Tang Clan's Ol' Dirty Bastard interrupted Shawn Colvin while she was receiving her Grammy for Song of the Year, to give his infamous "Wu-Tang is for the children" speech:
View this video on YouTube
Dirty was mad that Wu-Tang had lost out to Puffy for Best Rap Album earlier in the show.
27. Furby was the hottest toy on the market.
Getty Images
Probably what every kid wanted for Christmas or their birthday that year.
28. Gillette released its three-blade razor, the Mach3 — which was a big game-changer at the time.
29. The oh-so-delicious cereal Oreo O's hit supermarket shelves.
30. Viagra was approved by the FDA.
Chris Hondros / Getty Images
32. Brink! and Halloweentown both premiered on the Disney Channel.
Disney Channel
33. TGIF's most popular shows were Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Boy Meets World.
ABC
34. Monica and Chandler hooked up in the season finale of Friends.
NBC/ Warner Bros. Television
It was "The One with Ross's Wedding" in case you forgot the name of the episode.
35. The Barenaked Ladies released "One Week," which probably had the most confusing lyrics of any song that year.
WMG
36. Jesse Camp won MTV's "Wanna Be a VJ" contest.
Viacom
37. Bill Clinton was embroiled in the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
38. And finally, Time magazine named Kenneth Starr and Bill Clinton its Men of the Year.
Time Inc.