1998 (25 years ago)

Jan. 17 – The Drudge Report breaks the story about U.S. President Bill Clinton's alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky, which will lead to the House of Representatives' impeachment of him.

March 5 – NASA announces that the Clementine probe orbiting the Moon has found enough water in polar craters to support a human colony and rocket fueling station.

March 23 – The 70th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted for the 6th time by Billy Crystal, is held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. “Titanic” wins 11 Oscars including best picture.

July 5 – Japan launches a probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as an outer space-exploring nation.

Aug. 7: 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings: the bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, kill 224 people and injure over 4,500; they are linked to terrorist Osama bin Laden, an exile of Saudi Arabia.

Sept. 4 – Google Inc. is founded in Menlo Park, California, by Stanford University Ph. D candidates Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Oct. 6 – Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student, is beaten and left for dead outside of Laramie, Wyoming. The subsequent media coverage, followed by his death on Oct. 12, opens a larger conversation on homophobia in the United States. Nov. 24 – A declassified report by Swiss International Olympic Committee official Marc Hodler reveals that bribes had been used to bring the 2002 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City during the bidding process in 1995.

Dec. 4 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour launches the first American component to the International Space Station.

Dec. 19 – The U.S. House of Representatives forwards articles of impeachment against President Clinton to the Senate, making him the second president to be impeached in the nation's history.