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 City of Fountains? We dug up some data to help us remember the final year of the 1900s — thanks to some assistance from a 25-year-old search engine.
- Median family income: $54,200
- City’s population: 139,971 (KCK) + 437,764 (KCMO)
- Estimated cost to buy a home: $163,686 (prices have increased 167.6%)
- Average cost of a gallon of gasoline: Missouri $0.703; Kansas $0.655
Occidental Management, Inc acquired Sprint’s Overland Park campus in 2019.
Photo via Americasroof on Wikimedia Commons
In local news
- Union Station completed a $250 million restoration project thanks to a bi-state effort.
- Future President Donald Trump sought to buy the Hilton Flamingo Casino (now Bally’s) in Kansas City, though it never came to fruition.
- Marty Schottenheimer resigned as coach for the Kansas City Chiefs.
- Sprint started to open its $920 million World Headquarters in Overland Park.
Who was performing
Kansas City was definitely in tune with 1999’s musical trends. In Missouri, Kemper Arena (now Hy-Vee Arena) hosted shows like the Backstreet Boys’ “Into the Millennium Tour,” Celine Dion’s “Let’s Talk About Love Tour,” and Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ la Vida Loca Tour.” In Kansas, “Smooth” guitar legend Santana performed at Memorial Hall.
