Events from the year 1999 in Scotland.

Incumbents

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

and Keeper of the Great Seal –

Donald Dewar Donald Campbell Dewar (21 August 1937 – 11 October 2000) was a Scottish statesman and politician who served as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland, first minister of Scotland from 1999 until his death in 2000 and leader of the Labour Par ...

(from 17 May 1999) *

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

and Keeper of the Great Seal –

until 17 May; then John Reid

Law officers

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

– Lord Hardie *

Solicitor General for Scotland His Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland () is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Scottish Government on Scots Law. They are also responsible for the Crown Office and P ...

– Colin Boyd *

Advocate General for Scotland His Majesty's Advocate General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, whose duty it is to advise the The Crown, Crown and His Majesty's Government on Scots law. The Office of the Advocate General for Scotland is a Departments o ...

– Lynda Clark

Events

* 7 February – ''

Sunday Herald The ''Sunday Herald'' was a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a broadsheet, it was published in compact format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a centre- ...

'' newspaper is launched. *

12 February Events Pre-1600 *1096 – Pope Urban II confirms the foundation of the abbey of La Roë under Robert of Arbrissel as a community of canons regular. * 1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sofia performed the first post-mo ...

– scientists at the

Rowett Research Institute The Rowett Institute is a research centre for studies into food and nutrition, located in Aberdeen, Scotland. History The institute was founded in 1913 when the University of Aberdeen and the North of Scotland College of Agriculture agreed ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

reinforce warnings that

genetically modified food Genetically modified foods (GM foods), also known as genetically engineered foods (GE foods), or bioengineered foods are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using various methods of genetic engineering. G ...

may be damaging to the

human body The human body is the entire structure of a Human, human being. It is composed of many different types of Cell (biology), cells that together create Tissue (biology), tissues and subsequently Organ (biology), organs and then Organ system, org ...

. *

31 March Events Pre-1600 * 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian. * 1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging ...

– Buchanan Galleries

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

opened to the public in Glasgow city centre. * 6 May –

1999 Scottish Parliament election The first election to the devolved Scottish Parliament, to fill 129 seats, took place on 6 May 1999. Following the election, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats formed the Scottish Executive, with Labour Member of the Scottish Parlia ...

: the first elections to the new

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

. *

7 May Events Pre-1600 * 351 – The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch. * 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I imm ...

– no party wins overall majority in the first general election to the

. The Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats agree to form a coalition government, with

as the

First Minister of Scotland The first minister of Scotland () is the head of government of Scotland. The first minister leads the Scottish Government, the Executive (government), executive branch of the devolved government and is th ...

. * 12 May – the Scottish Parliament meets in Edinburgh for its first session in the

General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland The Assembly Hall is located between Castlehill and Mound Place in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the meeting place of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. History Following the Disruption in the Church of Scotland in 1843, the emer ...

on the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is the nickname of a series of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The term originated in the early 20th century and has since entered popular usage. The Royal ...

. *

17 May Events Pre-1600 *1395 – Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army. *1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason. *1527 – Pánfilo de Narváez departs Spain to explore Fl ...

–

is officially sworn in as the

. * 31 May – the

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

island of

Papa Stronsay Papa Stronsay (; ) is a small island in Orkney, Scotland, lying north east of Stronsay. It is in size, and above sea level at its highest point. After being largely abandoned, the island was bought at the end of the 20th century by traditional ...

is purchased by The Transalpine Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a

traditionalist Catholic Traditionalist Catholicism is a movement that emphasizes beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions and presentations of teaching associated with the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). ...

religious institute In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, a ...

which will establish Golgotha Monastery there. * June – Scotland's first

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

-medium primary school, Glasgow Gaelic School (''Bunsgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu''), opens. * 11 June – fire at Garnock Court (flats), Irvine with one fatality. * 1 July – formal transfer of powers from Westminster to the new Scottish Parliament. * 4 August – George Robertson, MP for Hamilton South, appointed as

Secretary General of NATO The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance with 32 member states. The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinat ...

. * 9 August –

Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 19591 June 2015) was a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 to 2015. Kennedy wa ...

, MP for Ross, Cromarty and Skye, elected leader of the

Liberal Democrats (UK) The Liberal Democrats, colloquially known as the Lib Dems, are a Liberalism, liberal political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1988. They are based at Liberal Democrat Headquarters (UK), Liberal Democrat Headquarters, in Westminster, ...

. * August – composer James MacMillan in a speech "Scotland's Shame" at the Edinburgh Festival attacks religious bigotry in Scotland. * 13 September – Mental Health (Public Safety and Appeals) (Scotland) Act 1999 becomes the first Act of the Scottish Parliament to be passed, adding public safety to the grounds for not discharging certain patients detained under the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984, thus closing a legal loophole. * 23 September – Hamilton South by-election results in Labour's Bill Tynan holding the UK parliament seat by 556 votes in the face of a 22.6% swing to the SNP. * November – Scottish Women's Football League (SWFL) established * 3 November – the Lanarkshire-born actor

Ian Bannen Ian Edmund Bannen (29 June 1928 – 3 November 1999) was a Scottish actor with a long film, stage and TV career. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award for his performance in ''The Flight of the Phoenix ( ...

is killed in a car accident near

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoology, cryptozoological Loch Ness Mons ...

. * 17 November – the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. They compete in three major professional tournaments: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA ...

fail to qualify for

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

after a 2–1 aggregate defeat by England in the qualifying playoff round. *

30 November Events Pre-1600 * 978 – Franco-German war of 978–980: Holy Roman Emperor Otto II lifts the siege of Paris and withdraws. 1601–1900 *1707 – Queen Anne's War: The second Siege of Pensacola comes to end with the failure of t ...

–

Museum of Scotland A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

in Edinburgh officially opened. * 2 December – the '

Heart of Neolithic Orkney Heart of Neolithic Orkney is a group of Neolithic monuments on the Mainland of the Orkney Islands, Scotland. The name was adopted by UNESCO when it proclaimed these sites as a World Heritage Site in December 1999. The site of patrimony currently ...

' is designated as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. * 4 December – Barry Wallace, an 18 year old man from

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

, attends a Christmas night out with colleagues from

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

and fails to return home. * 5 December – Barry Wallace is formally reported as missing by his family. * 7 December – During a routine diving exercise at

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; ) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault (HBF), often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands.Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 33-43. Published by ...

, officers from

Strathclyde Police Strathclyde Police was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, Glasgow City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, ...

discover human limbs in the loch. * 8 December – More body parts are discovered in Loch Lomond by Strathclyde Police. They are widely speculated to belong to Barry Wallace who had gone missing three days prior. * 15 December – A head is washed up on Brassie Beach in

Troon Troon (Scottish Gaelic: ''An Truthail'') is a town and sea port in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with ferry and freight serv ...

and discovered by a member of the public walking her dog. The head was later identified as belonging to Barry Wallace who had been missing since 5 December.

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

analysis confirmed that the head and other parts found in Loch Lomond belonged to Wallace. * 17 December – Strathclyde Police raid the flat belonging to William Beggs in

. * 21 December – Strathclyde Police issue a warrant for the arrest of William Frederick Ian Beggs, aged 36 and originally from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, in connection to the death of Barry Wallace. *

23 December Events Pre-1600 * 484 – The Arian Vandal Kingdom ceases its persecution of Nicene Christianity. * 558 – Chlothar I is crowned King of the Franks. * 583 – Maya queen Yohl Ik'nal is crowned ruler of Palenque. * 962 &nda ...

– The

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service () is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by His Majesty's Lord Advocate, who under t ...

permits Strathclyde Police to issue an image of William Beggs. *

28 December Events Pre-1600 * 418 – A papal election begins, resulting in the election of Pope Boniface I. * 457 – Majorian is acclaimed as Western Roman emperor. * 484 – Alaric II succeeds his father Euric and becomes king of the Vi ...

– William Beggs is arrested in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. A Dutch lawyer who represented Beggs claims Beggs will "fight extradition proceedings from the Netherlands to Scotland". * The last Elder of the

Glasite The Glasites or Glassites were a small Christian church founded in about 1730 in Scotland by John Glas.John Glas preached supremacy of God's word (Bible) over allegiance to Church and state to his congregation in Tealing near Dundee in July 172 ...

Church dies in Edinburgh.

Arts and literature

24 May Events Pre-1600 * 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom. * 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt. *1276 – Magnus Ladu ...

–

Soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

band Travis release their album '' The Man Who'' which goes platinum.

Births

1 March Events Pre-1600 *509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia. * 293 – Emperor Diocletian ...

– Brogan Hay, Scottish footballer * 11 June – Eartha Cumings, footballer

Deaths

11 January Events Pre-1600 * 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence. * 630 – Conquest of Mecca: Muhammad and his fol ...

–

Naomi Mitchison Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote more than 90 books of historical an ...

, novelist (born

1897 Events January * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a punitive expedit ...

) *

30 January Events Pre-1600 * 1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen. * 1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom. 1601–1900 * 1607 – An est ...

– Mick McGahey, Communist miners' leader (born

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

) * 9 August – Cliff Hanley, writer (born

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

) * 11 September – Janet Adam Smith, writer and mountaineer (born

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

) * 1 October – Lena Zavaroni, entertainer (born

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

) * 3 November –

, actor (born

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

)

References

{{Years in Scotland , state=collapsed Years of the 20th century in Scotland