Timeline January 1999

Events in January 1999 13

• 1999 Australian Open 1999 Men: Yevgeny Kafelnikov · Women: Martina Hingis Hingis' third consecutive Australian Open.
• 1999 Nvidia IPO — goes public at $12 per share Nvidia goes public in January 1999 at $12 per share. The same year, Nvidia releases the GeForce 256 on 31 August 1999 — coining the term 'GPU' (Graphics Processing Unit). The GeForce 256 is the first chip to perform transform and lighting calculations in hardware rather than software. It delivers 60% better gaming performance than its predecessors. The GPU concept — a massively parallel processor for visual computation — will prove one of the most consequential hardware innovations of the 21st century.
• 1999 Ravi Shankar awarded the Bharat Ratna India's highest honour India's highest civilian award.
• 1999 1999: Mika Häkkinen McLaren Häkkinen won his second consecutive title, helped by Schumacher's leg-breaking crash at Silverstone that sidelined him for six races.
• 1999 Became Chairman Stepped up to chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, continuing to shape the company's strategic direction while a new president handled day-to-day operations.
• 1999 – 2001 Children's Literature Published Face (1999) and Refugee Boy (2001), novels for young adults that became widely read in British schools and established him as an important voice in children's literature.
• 1999 Country Music Hall of Fame Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the highest honour in country music.
• 1999 Euro launched Single European currency The euro was introduced on January 1, 1999, with coins and notes following in 2002, unifying economies across the continent.
• 1999 – 2010 Ice Shows and Coaching Competed in professional world championships and performed in ice shows. Later returned to Russia and became a coach, training pairs in Moscow and St. Petersburg. His son Artur Jr. also became a figure skater.
• 1999 Ordained as a Priest Was ordained as a priest in the breakaway Irish Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church, taking the name Mother Bernadette Mary.
• 1999 – 2003 The Vision of Emma Blau and Sacred Time Published The Vision of Emma Blau (1999) and Sacred Time (2003), continuing to explore themes of immigration, family and the weight of history.
• 1999 The Sopranos Premieres HBO series redefines television drama The Sopranos, created by David Chase, premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999. The show followed New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano and is widely credited with ushering in the modern era of prestige television. It ran for six seasons and won numerous Emmy and Golden Globe awards.
• 1999 Second retirement With the Bulls' core breaking up under management changes, Jordan retires for a second time, saying he is "99.9 percent" certain he will not return.