The Northwest Division plows in 397 miles of 1.5-inch conduit for fiber optic cable as part of an 800-mile long network from a point 70 miles north of Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay (left)… H&M's Eastern Teledata Division re-cables 6,0000 Allstate Insurance local agent offices across the country…Echoing the responsiveness to disaster of sixty years previous, Henkels & McCoy delivers 250 linemen to assist in restoring power in the mid-Atlantic and New England regions following a devastating ice storm... Training Services Group, in its 18th year, completes training for almost 1,600 youths… The New Jersey Division completes installation of new gas regulators at Fort Dix… A 50-person crew completes a ten-month project replacing two innerducts and pulling in new fiber optic cable for Qwest Network Construction Services from Washington, DC to New York City… The Western-Pacific Division works with the Engineering Division to install an air pressurization system for GTE , involving the upgrading of cable plant monitoring facilities throughout California in areas acquired by GTE several years previously… H&M's Southwest Division installs 70 miles of long-haul fiber in just 90 days along a Transco right-of-way in Virginia. It's part of a network that will eventually run from Washington, DC to Houston, Texas…Bernard (Bernie) Hagan, Chief Operating Officer, retires after 44 years with the company. On his retirement, T. Roderick (Rod) Henkels is named Chief Operating Officer of Henkels & McCoy… Kenneth W. Beamer, Senior Vice President and a 52-year H&M employee passes away. Mr. Beamer joined the firm in 1946 and within eight years had risen to the position of Operations Manager with H&M's York Division. In 1971 he was named as York's Division Manager.
January 9
Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, captured in Pakistan, is sentenced to life imprisonment for 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
January 18
Salacious details of a presidential tryst with a naïve White House intern interrupt afternoon soaps for the first time, titillating America and filling talk shows and tabloid front pages for the next year. It is the beginning of a sordid tale of windowless corridors, late night phone calls, clandestine meetings in the Oval Office, a blue dress, and a story that will be known as "Monica-gate." Clinton’s denial of an affair with the intern, Monica Lewinsky, is made in a live television broadcast 
to the nation and under oath during a deposition in a sexual harassment suit brought against him by Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state employee. This denial will lead to a year-long public scandal and to a call for his resignation and impeachment by his political enemies. Above: Lewinsky (right) and one-time associate and telephone confidant Linda Tripp, who secretly tape recorded Lewinsky's phone conversations, coaxing the woman to reveal details, which Tripp then leaked to Ken Starr's investigators. Right: "I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky."
February 4
Thousands die in Afghanistan earthquake.
March 19
Hindu nationalist Vajpayee becomes India's prime minister.
March 27
FDA approves Viagra, male impotence drug.
April 1
A federal judge in Arkansas throws out the Paula Jones case. Ironically, it was this case that launched the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton when he lied about his sexual relationships in a deposition.
April 10
Landmark peace settlement, the Good Friday Accord, reached in Northern Ireland. President Bill Clinton and retired Maine Senator George Mitchell were instrumental in helping the two sides come to the table.
April 17
US trade deficit biggest in decade.
May 3
Europeans agree on single currency, the Euro, which will be initially the equivalent value of a US dollar.
May 4
The Unabomber, one time university professor and hermit Theodore Kaczynski, is sentenced to four life terms.
May 11-13
India conducts three atomic tests despite worldwide disapproval.
May 29-30
Pakistan stages five nuclear tests in response to India.
June 1
Serbs renew attack on Kosovo rebels.
June 4
Life sentence meted out to Terry Nichols (right),who is convicted for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing conspiracy.
August 5
Iraq ends cooperation with all UN arms inspectors.
August 7
US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania are bombed simultaneously. It will be discovered that the Afghanistan-based Al Qaeda terrorist organization is behind the plot.
August 17
President Bill Clinton finally admits to affair with White House intern in televised address to nation.
August 20
US cruise missiles hit suspected terrorist training bases in Sudan and Afghanistan in an attempt to kill Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
August 31
North Korea test fires missile across Japanese territory, causing increased regional tensions.
September 2
Swissair jet crashes, killing all 229 aboard.
September 11
The Starr Report, by independent counsel Ken Starr (left), outlines a case for impeachment proceedings against President Clinton. Apart from revealing secrets about Clinton's libido, the report does not prove any financial wrongdoing, which was the stated reason for the $70 million investigation in the first place. In a strategy designed to sell papers, the national press reports all the intimate details for the first time.
September 18
US Senate sustains veto of bill to outlaw late-term abortions.
September 24
Iran finally lifts death threat against author Salman Rushdie. The fundamentalist Islamic state had ordered his death following the publication of Rushdie’s novel, The Satanic Verses, which Iran’s mullahs called ‘blasphemous.’ Rushie, based in London, had been living in hiding in fear for his life.
September 27
German chancellor Helmut Kohl is defeated by Gerhard Schröder.
October 5
The US budget surplus is the largest in thirty years.
October 16
Former Chilean dictator Pinochet is arrested in London, where he was traveling to receive medical care.
October 23
Wye Mills Agreement between Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat moves Middle East peace talks forward.
October 29-November 7
At age 77, US Senator, former Marine pilot and NASA astronaut John Glenn (above) becomes the oldest person in space.
November 1
Over 10,000 people die in Hurricane Mitch, in Central America.
December 11-12
US House of Representatives panel drafts impeachment charges and votes along party lines to approve four articles against Bill Clinton.
December 19
Bill Clinton becomes the second president in US history to be impeached. He is charged with grand jury perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with a cover-up of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
ALSO IN 1998:
Petronas Towers (right) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are completed. The 1,483 feet high twins are now the tallest buildings in the world... More than 20 percent of all US households are connected to the Internet.
What's on TV
ER, Friends, Frasier, Veronica's Closet and Jesse top the ratings. Newcomer Everybody Loves Raymond is number nine.
That's Show Biz
I'm king of the world! Titanic becomes the highest-grossing film of all time, raking in more than $580 million domestically. Also on screens this year are American History X, an unflinching look at race hate, plus Shakespeare in Love, and Something About Mary.
Deaths
Francis Albert Sinatra, (left) Hoboken, New Jersey-born crooner, actor, friend of presidents, confederate of mobsters, hell raiser, Rat Pack leader and self-described chairman of the broads.
Also:
Sonny Bono, singer, US Congressman
Florence Griffith Joyner, athlete