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 Soda City? We dug up some data to help us remember the final year of the 20th century — thanks to some help from a 25-year-old search engine.
- Median family income: $49,400
- Population: 111,821
- Estimated average home price: $100,00 (prices have grown ~156%)
- Average cost of a gallon of gasoline in South Carolina: $0.69
Local headlines
- The Gamecocks hired legendary Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz to help revive the program. In his first year, Holtz went 0-11, a season many Columbians are still trying to forget.
- The South Carolina Penitentiary along the Congaree River, originally constructed in 1867, was razed to construct the CanalSide Development.
- Columbia’s City Center Master Plan laid out the future of Columbia including plans for the Three River Greenway and the Columbia Convention Center.
Who was performing
- The Beach Boys played at the SC State Fair.
- Death Cab for Cutie played at New Brookland Tavern.
- When Rod Stewart performed at the Carolina Coliseum ticket prices ranged from $25-$50.
- WARQ’s Fall Out concert at Capital City Stadium included performances from Bush, Train, Cowboy Mouth, and Sponge.
