20 Years Ago on AOL.com: July 7, 1999 -- Hump Day Home Buying, Britney Spears, Hillary for Senate

July 7, 1999: Wednesday started out with home buying resources (a how-to and home listings):

For the PM update, we dipped back into brunette Britney Spears, with photos, song clips, and an AIM Web Chat; we also see Hillary Clinton jumping into the New York Senate race:

[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: July 6, 1999 -- AIM Chat, White Supremacist Spree Killer, East Coast Heat Wave

July 6, 1999: We started the day with another AIM chat promo (the one with the animated GIF). The My News headlines refer to a white supremacist spree killer who targeted blacks, Jews, and Asians (good thing all that's in the past, amirite?) and the Northern Ireland peace process:

We did a mid-day update, because apparently a heat wave in July is front-page-worthy news:

We stuck with the heat wave for the PM update:

[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: July 5, 1999 -- AOL Hometown for the Holiday

July 5, 1999: For the Independence Day holiday observation, we went with AOL Hometown, exhorting members to build web pages, and showing off top sites (not sure if or how we were highlighting member content at the time):

[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: July 4, 1999 -- Fun on the 4th

July 4, 1999: For Independence Day, we inexplicably led with the South Park movie, heading a "Fun On The 4th" (and look at that headline case) mini-package of movie listings and tickets, and AOL Local's fireworks finder. (As I recall, most of the Digital City/AOL Local listings were pretty lame; it was human-created editorial content that was really, really thin--like, restaurant listings or events features for major cities with two or three items):

[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: July 3, 1999 -- Summer Lovin'

July 3, 1999: For the Saturday before Independence Day, we went with a very generic Summer Love package, with three Love@AOL links (powered by Match.com):

[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: July 2, 1999 -- Holiday Travel Tips; Summer Fun featuring Salma Hayek

July 2, 1999: We went into July 4th weekend with travel tips (traffic, weather, and driving directions), with a traffic jam stock photo:

For the PM update, we went with generic weekend fun: movie reviews (featuring Salma Hayek in Wild, Wild West, though we didn't even bother to label the picture), AOL Local fireworks listings, and a picnic planner:

[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: July 1, 1999 -- Holiday Weekend Planning; Summer Fun, featuring "South Park" and "The Real World: Hawaii"

July 1, 1999: We started July with holiday weekend plans (weather, Local activities, driving maps and directions) and a generic beach couple. In the Community column, there's also a listing for AIM betas for Mac, Windows 95+, and Windows CE (for devices):

For the PM update, once again we went with "South Park" leading a not very fun sounding Summer Fun package, along with Real World info (which would have been the Hawaii season) and AIM web 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.]

20 Years Ago on AOL.com: June 30, 1999 -- "South Park," Alan Greenspan, "Aliens versus Predator" Game

June 30, 1999: We closed out June with what looks like a publishing glitch, since we had the same South Park PM lineup from yesterday (also note the Alanis Video Exclusive item and an Austin Powers Movie Auction in Shortcuts):

We did a mid-morning update with... more South Park:

Then, we switched to the lovely Fed Chair Alan Greenspan for a Fed interest rate hike:

Then, we finally closed out with summer video games and a demo for the Aliens versus Predator game (which was apparently miles better than the similarly named movie franchise that would start a few years later):

[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: June 29, 1999 -- Credit Cards, "South Park"

June 29, 1999: The morning feature was for credit cards, with tools for finding lower rates, credit info, and by the way, a promo for the AOL Visa. In the My News headlines, we see President Clinton's proposed Medicare modernization plan, and more updates from Kosovo after the formal end of hostilities:

For the PM update, we went with South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, which would open the next day:

[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: June 28, 1999 -- AOL Hometown and Alanis Morissette's New Video Exclusive

June 28, 1999: We started Monday with a cut and paste AOL Hometown promo:

We did a midday update for the new Alanis Morissette video, "So Pure" (which, according to Wikipedia, had world-premiered on the AOL service on the previous Friday [June 25], the first from a major artist to debut on the Internet. We apparently got it a few days later, as was standard practice at the time--the needs of the AOL service came first:

For the PM update, we kept up with the Alanis video:

[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: June 27, 1999 -- Generic Car-Themed Promo

June 27, 1999: For the last Sunday of June, we went with a generic car lineup, featuring the stock photo of a red Corvette and links for new car pricing, racing news, and the NASCAR AIM Chat room:

[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: June 26, 1999 -- Summer Fun (feat. Cartman)

June 26, 1999: For a Summer Fun lineup, we led with movie previews, using a promo pic centered on Cartman from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. The other two links were for Love@AOL and Chat Central (presumably AIM chats).

There isn't much else notable about the page, except that it's the first full-screen screenshot we've seen for some time. If you look at the bottom of the page (though this was off the dev server, so it might not have been exactly the same as the production version), you'll see the full lineup of corporate links, including AOL's spam policy, Y2K efforts, Parental Controls, and other links (including the mandated "Get Microsoft Internet Explorer" link):

[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: June 25, 1999 -- Don't Get Caught

June 25, 1999: For a summer Friday, we focused on local getaways, with a much more exciting headline than traffic hotspots, weather forecasts, and maps and directions would warrant:

For the PM update... there must have been one (a movie no doubt), but it's lost to history.

[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: June 24, 1999 -- "Babylon 5" Video Game Sneak Peek; Sandler's "Big Daddy"

June 24, 1999: Leading off a games package, we went with a sneak peek of Babylon 5: Into the Fire. If you don't remember it, it's because the game would end up getting cancelled a few months later.

For the PM update, we went with the Adam Sandler movie Big Daddy:

[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: June 23, 1999 -- Keep on Touchin'; Knicks vs. Spurs

June 23, 1999: Have I mentioned how generic the lead promos were, with room for just a single-line headline and three bullet links? We started out with a loose "Keep in Touch" theme featuring AIM chat, E-Mail Finder, and Genealogy. I guess that's a theme:

For the PM update, we switched to Knicks vs. Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals:

[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.]