If you are going to party like it’s 1999, then it is important that you understand what was going on in the world during that awesome year. 

Once upon a time in 1999, your grandma was trying to get you to burn your Pokemon cards while veterans of the Mickey Mouse Club were blooming. 

If nothing else, 1999 was a banner year for music, if you were into TLC or Eminem. American Recycled Clothing, your online vintage clothing store, offers a brief history lesson about the year 1999.

Music

1999 was a year filled with boy bands and girl groups who made the charts highlighting a year of cheesiness. Ricky Martin was "Livin’ La Vida Loca "while Smashmouth spewed out classics like "All-Star."

A very young Britney Spears mesmerized teenage girls with “Baby One More Time” while Eminem's Slim Shady won Best Rap Album of the year. And who can forget, even though we really want to, that video by Blink 182 where they are running down the street naked. 

But for every Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, there were real rockers like Lenny Kravitz and Red Hot Chili Peppers, both of whom released great albums in 1999.

One unfortunate event of the year was the release of Limp Bizkit's Significant Other, which spawned the unforgettable song “Nookie.”  You had to explain to your mother what a Limp Bizkit was.

Technology

In 1999 most of the population still made most of their phone calls on a landline. Cell phones were available, but they were nothing like they are today. At best, you could talk for about two minutes without dropping a call. Of course, the best thing about cell phones in 1999 was playing Snake on a green-screened Nokia cell phone.

After watching a movie at home, you had to rewind the VHS tape. Blockbusters were literally on every street corner and were packed every Friday and Saturday night.

At school, you took notes off the overhead projector by writing them in your notebook. 

You saved all of your files on a floppy disk and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

In 1999, it took 10 minutes and some horrible screeching noises to connect to the internet. It also took over an hour to download the smallest of files. 

In 1999, you got your fashion advice from a magazine, watched actual music videos on MTV and paid your bills by mail. You played your music over a boom box, took pictures with a device called a camera and booked flights through a travel agency.

And we were all freaked out about a thing called Y2K.

If you don’t know what that is, Google it.

Movies

The big-screen boomed with some pretty great pictures in 1999. The top five grossing movies were The Sixth Sense, Toy Story 2, Austin Powers, The Matrix and Tarzan.

Cult favorites that came out in 1999 include Fight Club, She’s All That and American Pie. The rebooted Star Wars franchise brought us The Phantom Menace in 1999 and introduced us to Jar Jar Binks. 

Books

There is a long list of books that were released in 1999. There were fiction books, horror books, humor books, just about every type of book that you can imagine.

But the only book released in 1999 that means anything is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 

Toys

In 1999, children all over the states insisted their parents buy them a Furby. Everyone just had to have one of those furry, weird creatures. 

Other trends included Pokemon cards and Fingerboards, because who doesn’t want a skateboard for your fingers. 

1999 was a great year for gamers as this was the year Sega launched their Dreamcast and Nintendo added the Game Boy Color to their repertoire. 

Most notable was the rapid decline of the popularity of Pogs in 1999.

Sports

In 1999 Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France. It was quite a feat as he had to come back after a three year battle with cancer. Since then all six of his titles have been disqualified. Just say no to performance-enhancing drugs.

Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, retired in 1999 after winning his 6th championship. He would later come back and play two years with the Washington Wizards.

Soccer great David Beckham would get married to Spice Girl singer Posh Spice. 

On a sad note, baseball legend Joe Dimaggio passed in 1999 following complications from lung cancer, he was 84 years old. Other noted losses in the sports world included Walter Payton, Wilt Chamberlain and Payne Stewart. 

Television

In 1999, you had to wait for your favorite television shows to air as this was a time before Netflix and binge-watching. The highest-rated shows of the year included The Sopranos, Family Guy, ER and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. 

Freaks and Geeks debuted in 1999 and held nerds all over the United States captive for a whopping 18 episodes. 

Fashion

In 1999, business casual was the preferred style over a traditional suit. Body piercings, tattoos and other body modifications were practically required if you wanted to look cool. 

Low-cut jeans were a thing as were capri pants and crop tops. Everyone had to keep it short. Old Navy was the place to shop.

You can skip Old Navy and get your retro 1999 style clothing at American Recycled Clothing. Shop now.