To be fifteen in Britain in 1999 was to have “...Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears everywhere, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace on every screen, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on after school. That year, gas cost 70p/L and the National Minimum Wage was the new thing. Born in 1984? You turned 15 in 1999 — a teenager from 1997 to 2003, right in the window a soundtrack bonds to you for life.
Compiled by the Original Lore archive from period charts, box-office and price records. How we build these · sources noted throughout.
That three-note piano stab and a schoolgirl in a corridor rewired teenage pop overnight. Hit-me-baby was scrawled on every pencil case in Britain, the year's biggest debut and pure playground obsession. If you were fifteen in '99, this was the corridor you actually walked down.
the year-end #1 was the UK's best-selling single of 1999.
the movies you are watching in 1999
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
The Matrix
Notting Hill
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
The Sixth Sense
the tv shows you are binging in 1999
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
The Royle Family
Friends
Spaced
Football Focus
the games you are playing in 1999
Pokémon Red/Blue
Gran Turismo 2
Crash Team Racing
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Super Smash Bros.
The Sims
what things cost in 1999
What things cost in 1999
a pint of lager
£2.10
a cinema ticket
£4.20
a first-class stamp
26p
a gallon of gas
70p/L
minimum wage
£3.60/hr
the average income
£17,800
trending this year
AI-generated illustrationNational Minimum WagePhoto by Evan-Amos (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dreamcast-Console-Set.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0Sega DreamcastMarcus-richardson, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0NapsterWikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:All_Euro_banknotes.png · CC0The EuroPhoto by Ben Sutherland (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Who_Wants_To_Be_A_Millionaire_machine_(3126770904).jpg · CC BY 2.0Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
the gadgets you just got
Photo by Evan-Amos (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sega-Dreamcast-Console-FL.jpg · Public domainSega DreamcastJ.Dncsn, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0Nokia 3210Photo by Evan-Amos (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nintendo-Game-Boy-Color-FL.jpg · Public domainGame Boy ColorPhoto by Morn (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rio_500.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0MP3 playerBastian730, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Furby
AI-generated illustrationWKDSunny DelightVincentLR, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lattina_di_Red_Bull.jpg) · CC BY-SA 4.0Red BullAI-generated illustrationPanda PopsPhoto by GreaterPonce665 (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vimto_Can.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0Vimto
what made the news in 1999
Britain joins NATO's bombing campaign over Kosovo
The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly open for the first time in centuries
A neo-Nazi's nail bombs target London's Brixton, Brick Lane and a Soho gay pub
The UK braces for the millennium bug as 1999 ticks towards the year 2000
Photo by Senior Airman Jeffrey Allen, USAF (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USAF_F-16_Fighting_Falcon_takes_off_from_Aviano_Air_Base,_Italy_during_NATO_bombing_of_Yugoslavia,_24_March_1999.jpg · Public domainNATO bombs Kosovo as Britain joins the campaignPhoto by douglas sheehan (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donald_Dewar,_There_shall_be_a_Scottish_parliament._-_panoramio.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0Scottish Parliament reopens after nearly 300 yearsPhoto by Secretlondon (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AdmiralDuncan.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0London rocked by a wave of neo-Nazi nail bombsPhoto by Ludeaux (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bug_de_l%27an_2000.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0Britain braces for the millennium bugPhoto by Seán Murray (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manchester_United_Treble_celebration.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0Manchester United complete the historic Treble
what everyone is saying
"Da ba dee da ba di"Eiffel 65's 'Blue' hook chanted everywhere
"Is that your final answer?"Chris Tarrant's Millionaire catchphrase
"Booyakasha"Ali G's catchphrase sweeping the playground
"Hit me baby one more time"Britney's hook scrawled on every pencil case
