#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 31, 1999 -- Buy a House; "Angel" Heads Back to School

August 31, 1999: For the last day of August, we went with Real Estate listings; the My News headlines reference an aftershock in Turkey and Hurricane Dennis skirting the Carolina coast:

For the PM update, we went with a preview of the Buffy spinoff Angel, which would kick off later in the fall:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 30, 1999 -- Save Money; Watch Hurricanes

August 30, 1999: We started the week with a Personal Finance money saving quiz and calculator:

For the PM update, we went again with a hurricane watch for Hurricane Dennis, which as the My News headline notes, was dumping rain on North Carolina:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 29, 1999 -- Another AIM 3.0 Promo

August 29, 1999: Oh joy, yet another AIM 3.0 promo. Free Chat! Click Here! Exclamation points!

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 28, 1999 -- Find Love

August 28, 1999: Another weekend Love@AOL personals ad, with generic white smoochy couple:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 27, 1999 -- Hurricane Watch; Jennifer Love Hewitt, Just Because

August 27, 1999: As we headed into the weekend, we led with a hurricane watch for what would eventually turn into Hurricane Dennis (1999):

For the PM update, we went with Jennifer Love Hewitt for... 1999 Teen Trends? (We didn't even bother to try tying in Party of Five or her spin-off, Time of Your Life.) Also fall fashion and "Join Teen Chats," which I am pretty sure no actual teen would have been caught dead in:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 26, 1999 -- New AIM 3.0; WWF [sic] Wrestling

August 26, 1999: Here we supported the new AIM 3.0, with the same old animated gif:

For the PM update, we went with WWF wrestling (it was still WWF, not WWE, back then):

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 25, 1999 -- End of Summer Airfares; More Hot "Teens"

August 25, 1999: As we moved to close out the summer, we led with airfare sales:

For the PM update, once again we went with the hot "teens" from the WB show Popular, featuring Leslie Bibb and Carly Pope:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 24, 1999 -- Get a New Job; Christina vs. Britney

August 24, 1999: We went (for no apparent reason) with money raining down from the heavens to illustrate job listings and salary comparisons:

For the PM update, we went with a hard-hitting teen stars featuring, namechecking Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears in the headline, though using a Christina photo:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 23, 1999 -- College Costs; Find a Friend (Dog or Cat Edition)

August 23, 1999: We started the week with a feature on college costs (2019 looks back at this headline and laughs hollowly), with a cost calculator and back to school chat:

For the PM update, we went with a pet finder and pet chats:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 22, 1999 -- Which Spicy Teen TV Drama Set at a Fancy Private School Is Pictured Here?

August 22, 1999: The lead promo was another excuse to use a photo of the latest hot teen drama (probably from the WB or Fox)--I don't know which show it was, but it was evidently set at a tony private school. Guess that doesn't really narrow it down.

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 21, 1999 -- Find Love

August 21, 1999: Nothing special, just another generic Love@AOL personals promo:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 20, 1999 -- Go Out and Play; Katie Holmes' New Movie

August 20, 1999: To kick off the weekend, we went with a generic outdoor fun promo--links for weather, local events, and maps & directions, using a beach pyramid stock photo:

For the PM update, we went with the Katie Holmes movie (that we also didn't even bother to name), Teaching Mrs. Tingle, which was mostly notable for being originally named Killing Mrs. Tingle and renamed in the wake of Columbine:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 19, 1999 -- Find an Outfit, TV Top 10 featuring "Buffy"

August 19, 1999: We started the day with online fashion (and what looks like a Banana Republic ensemble):

For the PM update, we went back to a fall top TV preview, featuring Buffy's Sarah Michelle Gellar. The text headlines reference the aftermath of the Turkey earthquake, and President Clinton going on vacation for his 53rd birthday:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 18, 1999 -- Lawyer Finder; "Roswell" Leads Fall TV

August 18, 1999: I think this is a first (or at least, a very uncommon) promo for legal services; in the Web Centers column, we see a new Legal item, which gives things a sort of sense; in the My News headlines, we see a set of not-quite-leadworthy headlines following up on the Turkey earthquake:

For the PM update, we went again with Back to School TV, in this case, Roswell:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 17, 1999 -- AIM Web Chats; London Calling

August 17, 1999: We started with AIM Web Chat; the headline captured the 1999 Turkey earthquake:

For the PM update, we went with travel bargains, featuring a Clash reference that I probably had help with:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 16, 1999 -- Monday Money, Sonic, Love

August 16, 1999: Personal finance for Monday money; meanwhile, the top headlines were students returning to Columbine, and Lama Alexander quitting his presidential run:

For the first PM update, we went with Sega Dreamcast and Sonic the Hedgehog, and then...

For the later PM update, we went back to Love@AOL personals:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 15, 1999 -- Fall TV Preview with "Angel"

August 15, 1999: Ready for fall TV? We were, with a TV preview gallery featuring Angel:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 14, 1999 -- Untitled Heather Graham Movie?

August 14, 1999: For Saturday, we went with the latest Heather Graham movie, which we didn't even bother to mention: Bowfinger, the forgettable and forgotten movie featuring Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 13, 1999 -- Scary Movies: "The Blair Witch Project", "The Sixth Sense", "Detroit Rock City"

August 13, 1999: It only took about a month, but we finally realized we could leverage the impact of The Blair Witch Project; we also included The Sixth Sense in a scary movie package:

For the PM update, we went (briefly) once again with AIM Web Chat:

...and then a little bit later, we switched over to KISS and Detroit Rock City:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 12, 1999 -- Airfare Sale; Free Web Chat

August 12, 1999: For the Thursday after the LA shooting suspect surrendered and Salt Lake City recovered from its tornado, we were back to a normal Travel promo:

 

For the PM update, we went back again to the AIM Web Chat promo:

 

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 11, 1999 -- Buy A House; Solar Eclipse; LA Shooter Surrenders; SLC Tornado

August 11, 1999: Real state listings. Few words needed. For the LA Jewish Community Center shooting (which didn't even make the lead promo), police were still searching for the shooter:

For the PM update, we went with a solar eclipse, even though it wasn't visible in the US. Also note that with eclipse gallery and news feature, we included Astrology Chat. Not astronomy; astrology. I would like to say that this was a mistake, but it wasn't.

In My News, we see the LA shooter surrendered to police, as well as news of a very rare tornado in Salt Lake City that ended up killing one and injuring 100:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 10, 1999 -- The Worst Promo to Date; Free Web Chat; LA Jewish Community Center Shooting

August 10, 1999: We started with a promo for AOL's web page builder that was... green. It just had "Favorite TV Shows" in white text on a pea-soup green box. And that was it. I can almost completely guarantee that there was no animation, no nothing. Terrible, simply terrible:

For the PM update, we went to the AIM promo that was repurposed and indistinguishable from one of the AIM ads you'd see in the ad block to the immediate right.

In the My News headline, you see "Gunman Shoots 3 Kids, 2 Adults." This is a reference to the Los Angeles Jewish Community Center Shooting, where a mentally ill white supremacist (but then, I repeat myself) shot up said community center; he wounded five and later killed a mail carrier who he shot nine times because he thought he was Asian or Latino:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 9, 1999 -- Bulls, Bears, Browns

August 9, 1999: No surprises, with another Monday morning focused on market news and the standard trading floor photo; as noted, besides the promo block featuring two stock-related items and stock chat, we also have a stock portfolio link and a quote lookup box in the Daily Essentials:

For the PM update, we went with preseason NFL action and the Cleveland Browns in the 1999 Hall of Fame Game (Spoiler: they lost):

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 8, 1999 -- Who Are "The Cool Kids"?

August 8, 1999: For a boring, generic Sunday, we went with another TV style gallery, featuring some lovely young stars of some TV show, which one I have no idea. Probably a Fox or WB show, though.

Hrm, that sparked a thought; I guess it's Leslie Bibb and Carly Pope from Popular:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 7, 1999 -- Summer Sports Roundup

August 7, 1999: We went with a summer sports roundup, which meant stock car racing and the Brickyard 400, preseason NFL, and baseball news.

Also, I'm not sure if mentioned this before, but for AIM Betas, we made sure we supported all your Mac, Windows 95+, and Windows CE device needs:

 

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 6, 1999 -- "Mystery Men"

August 6, 1999: I guess the summer movie lineup was light, because we went the whole day leading with Mystery Men, a superhero comedy that was maybe a bit before it's time -- superhero movies weren't the phenomena they are today. In the morning, it anchored a generic summer fun promo:

For the PM update, we actually mentioned the name of the film, using a photo of Janeane Garofalo's character:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: August 5, 1999 -- Drought of '99; Back to School

August 5, 1999: So the summer heatwave hit actual drought status for parts of the US:

For the PM update, we went with a Back to School feature, with a TV Style Gallery (an excuse to post celebrity photos, in this case, Jennifer Love Hewitt in Party of Five), as well as two web chats (which I think meant we were light on actual content):

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: Aug. 4, 1999 -- Easy Car Buying; Dodging "Dick"

August 4, 1999: For the morning, we went with car buying and the silver Mazda (is it? I thought it was, but the front end doesn't look like a 1999 Miata...)

For the PM update, we went with the political comedy movie Dick starring Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams, which we referenced with the headline "Tricky Flicks" so we didn't have to deal with the double entendre (though if you do "Flicks" in all caps and bad kerning, you get visually close to another F-word, as seen in an earlier 1999 election movie, Election.)

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]