:: wikimiki.org ::

A Series Of Unfortunate Events

A Series of Unfortunate Events

A Series of Unfortunate Events is a children's book series, written by Daniel Handler under the pseudonym of Lemony Snicket, and illustrated by Brett Helquist. There are twelve books in the series as of 2005, but it is known that the final series will consist of thirteen books (each with thirteen chapters), excluding spin-offs such as The Unauthorized Autobiography. The first book in the series, The Bad Beginning, was published in 1999 by HarperCollins Children's Books. A film version, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, based on the first three books, was released on December 17, 2004.

The Story

General plot

The series follows the lives of the three Baudelaire orphans: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny after the sudden deaths of their parents in a fire at their family home. In The Bad Beginning, they are sent to live with their third cousin, four times removed (or their fourth cousin three times removed), Count Olaf, a most unpleasant, evil man. In the following books, Olaf often disguises himself to get nearer to the orphans in hope of stealing their fortune. The orphans routinely try to get help from their parent's financial advisor Mr. Poe, but Poe is often oblivious to Olaf and the danger he represents. He originally assumes that Olaf is a very generous man for watching the Baudelaires, but eventually realizes that Olaf is a villain, and the horrors that are around him. The Baudelaires find out about a secret organization, V.F.D., which Count Olaf is involved with. Gradually, they find out more and more about V.F.D. and what a large part it has played (or is playing) in their lives.

Themes

Much is made of the unhappy nature of the story. The book's back-cover blurbs warn the reader of the dreadful things described within each volume and respectfully suggest reading something else instead. Each volume begins with a dedication to the memory of Lemony Snicket's beloved Beatrice (e.g.. from The Bad Beginning: "To Beatrice - darling, dearest, dead."). An example of Lemony Snicket's writing follows: : Like this book, the dictionary shows you that the word "nervous" means "worried about something" - you might feel nervous, for instance, if you were served prune ice cream for dessert, because you would be worried that it would taste awful - whereas the word "anxious" means "troubled by disturbing suspense," which you might feel if you were served a live alligator for dessert, because you would be troubled by the disturbing suspense about whether you would eat your dessert or it would eat you. But unlike this book, the dictionary also discusses words that are far more pleasant to contemplate. The word "bubble" is in the dictionary, for instance, as is the word "peacock," the word "vacation," and the words "the" "author's" "execution" "has" "been" "cancelled," which make up a sentence that is always pleasant to hear. So if you were to read the dictionary, rather than this book, you could skip the parts about "nervous" and "anxious" and read about things that wouldn't keep you up all night long, weeping and tearing out your hair. :: - The Ersatz Elevator While the books are marketed primarily to children, they are also written with adult readers in mind; the series features many references likely to make sense only to adults. Many of the characters' names allude to other fictional works or real people with macabre connections. For instance, the Baudelaire orphans are named for Charles Baudelaire, and Sunny and Klaus take their first names from Claus and Sunny von Bülow; Uncle Monty warns the children never to let the Virginian Wolfsnake near a typewriter, referencing both Monty Python and Virginia Woolf; the two triplets that the Baudelaire children befriend are named Isadora and Duncan after Isadora Duncan; and Snicket's dead former lover Beatrice may be a reference to Beatrice Portinari. Also, Poe's children, Edgar and Albert, refer to Edgar Allan Poe (the name Albert while possibly chosen so as to not make it too obvious, may also refer to Edgar Albert Guest who is also mentioned in book 11). The books are set in a fantasy world with stylistic similarities to the 1930s, though with contemporary, seemingly anachronistic technology and scientific knowledge. Although the books can be classed as 'steampunk', in that they involve young people struggling against great odds in an anachronistic setting, the addition, in later books, of the mysterious organization known as V.F.D. have begun to push the story into the new genre of post-steampunk (in the same way that later editions to the cyberpunk genre are now classed as postcyberpunk). The books can also be classified as absurdist fiction, due to their eccentric characters, quirky writing style and generally improbable storylines. Due to the mix of humorous and macabre elements, some might argue that they could also be classified as black comedy.

General storyline

Most of the earlier books in the series have the same general structure, which was followed most closely in The Reptile Room and The Wide Window:
- The Baudelaires are left in the care of an eccentric guardian or guardians, usually extremely inadequate. Aside from Uncle Monty, all guardians have been either unconcerned with the orphans' care or too afraid to do anything about it.
- The story is based in and around a single setting (usually identified in the book's title).
- Count Olaf usually appears in a disguise so effective that seemingly only the Baudelaires can recognize him. When they try to warn the adults about him, they will be disregarded.
- Count Olaf will often have one disguised assistant: the Hook-Handed Man, the person of indeterminate gender, the bald man with the big nose, or the two powder-faced women. In the latter half of the series, new accomplices join Olaf and his troupe. These newcomers usually shared a bond with the Baudelaires before crossing over to Olaf's wickedness.
- A symbol of a giant eye is found in connection with almost every villain (principal villains are usually Olaf in disguise).
- Violet's inventions, Klaus's knowledge, and/or Sunny's sharp teeth (and, later, her cooking skills) save them from tragic events and Count Olaf's latest scheme.
- Count Olaf's identity will be revealed to the shocked adults, who don't seem to remember the Baudelaires warned them he was Count Olaf in the first place.
- Count Olaf will escape at the last minute and the Baudelaires will be sent to live with another guardian. Later books in the series have moved away from this formula; while V.F.D. and associated elements have become more and more important, the children have become more self-reliant, searching out information on their own rather than waiting for Olaf to find them.
- The Baudelaires are now on the run after the Daily Punctilio publishes false information about the Baudelaires killing Count Olaf. Mr. Poe is no longer taking them to another guardian. All guardians from this point on are only technically guardians.
- Since Count Olaf is not really dead, but everyone believes that he is, Count Olaf no longer needs to wear a disguise.
- Count Olaf no longer focuses on just the Baudelaire's fortune and is also keen on getting his hands on the Quagmire sapphires, the Snicket file, and the sugar bowl.
- Esmé Squalor, the city's sixth most important financial advisor, begins to chase the Baudelaires after book six. She is Count Olaf's girlfriend.
- The Baudelaires are seeking to find more information about the secret of Olaf's eye-tattooed ankle and the organization V.F.D., which is discovered in each book. They are certainly connected with a mysterious string of arson attacks. They are also wondering about the importance of the sugar bowl and whether their parents are still alive.

Lemony Snicket's writing style

- Lemony Snicket narrates with respectful, subtle humor, usually when explaining words, details, and analogies. He often uses a deliberate spoiler for suspense.
- Despite the general absurdity of the books' storylines, Lemony Snicket will continuously maintain the story is true and that it is his "solemn duty" to record it.
- Lemony Snicket will hold an attitude toward the Baudelaires which could almost be described as hero-worship. His portrayal of the other characters will also be one-sided.
- Snicket will often go off on humorous asides, talking about his personal life, opinions of various matters, etc. The details of his alleged personal life are largely absurd. For example, Snicket claims to have been chased by an angry mob for sixteen miles.
- Snicket will display a greater aversion for macabre elements than the average reader. Whenever the story is reaching a depressing point, he will beg the reader to stop reading and imagine a happy ending.
- Snicket will display a cynical outlook on life. It's implied he became embittered due to events that occurred in his past.
- Snicket often talks about Beatrice, the woman he loved (this may be a reference to Beatrice Portinari, who was unrequitedly loved by the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri and appears as a character in two of his works)
- Snicket often uses strange and specific similes, in which an event in the story is described as being like a situation that would rarely occur, though Snicket goes into great detail about it, perhaps describing past experiences of his such as described above.

Unanswered Questions

- What is the important object inside the sugar bowl?
- What is the name of the Baudelaire's mother?
- Who is Beatrice?
- How did the Hook Handed Man get his hooks?
- Was Madame Lulu's death and the destinations in all of the books, part of Olaf's plan?
- Who leads V.F.D., if anyone?
- Who are Fiona and Fernald's parents?
- Are Gregor and Ike Anwhistle somehow related to Hector? (The Vile Village)
- What was the question mark object that chased Olaf's submarine away in The Grim Grotto?
- Why wasn't the sugar bowl more important before the second half of the series?
- What is Count Olaf's other name?
- Does every location the Baudelaires go to have something to do with V.F.D.?
- Where is Captain Widdershins?
- Who died and who escaped in the fire at Hotel Denouement?
- Will the Quagmires appear in Book the Thirteenth?
- Why didn't the Baudelaires go with Justice Strauss at the end of The Penultimate Peril?
- What will Count Olaf do now that the Baudelaires are finally in his clutches?
- How much time elapses between the series' beginning and end?
- Who killed Count Olaf's parents with poison darts? (Though the text of the Penultimte Peril implies that the Baudelaire parents did the deed.)
- What does V.F.D. truly stand for?
- What does Esme Squalor mean by "It was mine" when they were talking about the Sugar Bowl?

Other notes

- Though they are very subversive, there are no morals in the books. In fact, the author has emphasized that he wrote the books with the intention of not including any morals.
- Despite the death of their parents and the "series of unfortunate events" they have endured, the Baudelaires seem to suffer few psychological effects. This was changed in the film.
- In every book, the Baudelaires use and/or encounter a library of some sort.
- Around the cover illustration of each books is a border. The border describes an aspect of the book.
- On the first page of every book, the ex libris, there are two circular pictures. The first one, on the top of the page, usually has the Baudelaires in it. The second picture, on the bottom, is of Count Olaf and the disguise he wears in the book.
- At the end of each book, the last illustration features a picture describing something from the next one.
- Each book has thirteen chapters, thirteen being regarded by some as an "unlucky" number.

Distribution

Books

Audio books

Most of the series of unabridged audio books are read by actor Tim Curry, though Books III-V are read by Handler as Lemony Snicket. All of the recordings include a loosely related song by The Gothic Archies, a novelty band featuring lyrics by Handler's Magnetic Fields band mate Stephin Merritt.

Film

A film version, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, based on the first three books, was released on December 17, 2004. It stars Jim Carrey as Count Olaf, Meryl Streep as Aunt Josephine, Billy Connolly as Uncle Monty, Emily Browning as Violet, Liam Aiken as Klaus, Kara & Shelby Hoffman as Sunny, and Jude Law as the voice of Lemony Snicket. The film tie-in editions of the novels feature a variation on the usual reverse-psychology blurb: the blurb takes the form of a message from Count Olaf, listing the good points of the story (such as "a dashing count") but suggesting that it would be much easier and less boring to watch the movie instead. Considering the success of the movie, the director and some of the lead actors hinted that they are keen on making a sequel, but no one has written a script as of yet. According to director Brad Silberling, the second movie would take its plot from the next few books. Also, Silberling is quite unhappy that the filming process took seven months instead of the seven weeks in which he claimed he could shoot the movie. Browning has said that any further films would have to be produced quickly, as the children do not age much throughout the book series. Other plot discrepancies, such as Klaus's glasses breaking in the Miserable Mill (he has no glasses in the film) may also hinder the production of any sequel. The film takes place in and around Boston, Massachusetts. (The envelope at the end of the film is addressed to Boston, Mass.)

External links

- [http://www.lemonysnicket.com/ Lemony Snicket official website]
- [http://www.unfortunateevents.com/ Official British Website]
- [http://www.unfortunatenews.com/ Unfortunate News Website]
-
- [http://www.unfortunateeventsmovie.com Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Movie - Official Website]
- [http://snicket.wikicities.com/wiki/Main_Page A Wiki of Unfortunate Events] - A Wiki for all things Lemony Snicket.
- [http://www.thenamelessnovel.com/ Official Book the Twelfth Website]- Removed and replaced with a note stating that it is too late and the end is near. The title, of course, is The Penultimate Peril
- [http://www.thequietworld.com/ The Quiet World] - An "A Series of Unfortunate Events" Fansite
- [http://asoue.proboards11.com/ 667 Dark Avenue Forums] - An "A Series of Unfortunate Events" Forum Series of Unfortunate Events, A Series of Unfortunate Events, A Series of Unfortunate Events, A Series of Unfortunate Events, A Series of Unfortunate Events, A ja:世にも不幸なできごと simple:A Series of Unfortunate Events

Children's literature

Basic characteristics

There is some debate as to what constitutes children's literature. In general, the term comprises both those books which are selected and read by children themselves, as well as those vetted as 'appropriate for children' by authorities (including teachers, reviewers, scholars, parents, publishers, librarians, bookstores, and award committees). Some would have it that children's literature is literature written specially for children, though many books that were originally intended for adults are now commonly thought of as works for children, such as Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, or Huckleberry Finn. The opposite has also been known to occur, where works of fiction originally written or marketed for children are given recognition as adult books. Witness that in recent years, the prestigious Whitbread Awards were twice given to books marketed as children's books: Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass, and Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. The Nobel prize for literature has also been given to authors who made great contributions to children's literature, such as Selma Lagerlöf and Isaac Bashevis Singer. Often no consensus is reached whether a given work is best catagorized as adult or children's literature, and many books are multiply marketed in adult, children's, and young adult editions. Additionally, there is some debate whether non-fiction is literature (and a separate debate over whether non-fiction should be called non-fiction or informational). While the ALSC has an award specifically for non-fiction, the Sibert Medal, non-fiction books have also occasionally won prestigious awards which are usually reserved for fiction (for example, Russell Freedman's 1988 Lincoln: A Photobiography won the Newbery Medal). Many authors specialize in books for children. Other authors are more known for their writing for adults, but have also written books for children, such as Alexey Tolstoy's The Adventures of Burratino, and Carl Sandburg's "Rootabaga Stories". In some cases, books intended for adults, such as Swift's Gulliver's Travels have been edited (or bowdlerized) somewhat, to make them more appropriate for children. An attempt to identify the characteristics shared by works called 'children's literature' leads to some good general guidelines that are generally accepted by experts in the field. No one rule is perfect, however, and for every identifying feature there are many exceptions, as well as many adult books that share the characteristic. (For further discussion, see Hunt 1991: 42-64, Lesnik-Oberstein 1996, Huck 2001: 4-5.) Publishers have attempted to further break down children's literature into subdivisions appropriate for different ages. In the United States, current practice within the field of children's books publishing is to break children's literature into pre-readers, early readers, chapter books, and young adults. This is roughly equivalent to the age groups 0-5, 5-7, 7-11 (sometimes broken down further into 7-9 and pre-teens), and books for teenagers. However, the criteria for these divisions are just as vague and problematic as the criteria for defining children's books as a whole. One obvious distinction is that books for younger children tend to contain illustrations, but picture books which feature art as an integral part of the overall work also cross all genres and age levels (as can be seen with the Caldecott Honor Book Tibet: Through the Red Box, by Peter Sis, which has an adult implied reader). As a general rule the implied reader of a children's or young adult book is 1-3 years younger than the protagonist. (counter example: Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, not necessarily written for children, but co-opted by a child and young adult audience)

History

Because of the difficulty in defining children's literature, it is also difficult to trace the history of children's literature to a precise starting point. In 1658 Jan Ámos Komenský published the illustrated informational book Orbis Pictus; it's considered to be the first picture book published specifically for children. John Newbery's 1744 publication of A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, sold with a ball for boys or a pincushion for girls, is considered a landmark for the beginning of pleasure reading marketed specifically to children. Previous to Newbery, literature marketed for children was intended to instruct the young, though there was a rich oral tradition of storytelling for children and adults; and many tales later considered to be inappropriate for children, such as the fairy tales of Charles Perrault, may have been considered family fare. Additionally, some literature not written with children in mind was given to children by adults. Among the earliest examples found in English of this co-opted adult fiction are Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur and the Robin Hood tales. See also Children's Literature Timeline and Children's Literature Canon.

Series

The success of a book for children often prompts the author to continue the story in a sequel, or even to launch into an entire series of books. Some works are originally conceived as series: J. K. Rowling has always stated in interviews that her original plan was to write no fewer than seven books about Harry Potter, and some authors, such as the prolific Enid Blyton and R. L. Stine, seem incapable of writing a stand-alone book. In several cases, series have outlived their authors, whether publishers openly hired new authors to continue after the death of the original creator of the series (such was the case when Reilly and Lee hired Ruth Plumly Thompson to continue The Oz series after L. Frank Baum's death), or whether the pen name of the original author was retained as a brand-nom-de-plume for the series (as with Franklin W. Dixon and the Hardy Boys series, Carolyn Keene and the Nancy Drew series, and V. C. Andrews and the Flowers in the Attic series).

Scholarship

In recent years, scholarship in children's literature has gained in respectability. There are an increasing number of literary criticism analyses in the field of children's literature criticism. Additionally, there are a number of scholarly associations in the field, including the [http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/chla/index.html Children's Literature Association], the [http://www.irscl.ac.uk/ International Research Society for Children's Literature], and [http://www.reading.ac.uk/circl Centre for International Research in Childhood: Literature, Culture, Media] (CIRCL), and [http://www.ncrcl.ac.uk/ National Centre for Research in Children's Literature Joshua Williams].

Awards

Some noted awards for children's literature are:
- United States: the major awards are given by the American Library Association Association for Library Service to Children. They include the Newbery Medal for writing, Caldecott Medal for illustration, Sibert Medal for informational, Wilder Medal for impact over time, Batchelder Award for works in translation, Coretta Scott King Award for work by an African-American writer, and the Belpre Medal for work by a Latino writer.
- United Kingdoms and Commonwealth: the Carnegie Medal for writing and the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration; the Nestle Smarties Book Prize; and the Guardian Award.
- Internationally: the Hans Christian Andersen Award

References

-
-
-
-

External links

- [http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/results?subject=Children Children's eTexts] at Project Gutenberg
- [http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/results?locc=PZ More Children's eTexts] at Project Gutenberg
- [http://book.awardannals.com/genre/children/ Most Honored Children's Literature]
- [http://vintagechildrensbooks.com/ Vintage Children's Books]
- [http://antislavery.eserver.org/childrens Historic antislavery literature for children, at the Antislavery Literature Project]
- [http://www.gutenberg-museum.de/index.php?id=29 Books for Children at the Gutenberg-Museum Mainz (Germany)]
- Literature Category:Literature ja:児童文学

Book series

A book series is a group of novels that may share a common setting, story arc, set of characters or timeline. They may be of any genre, but are most common in the fields of mystery, science fiction and romance novels. Scholarly and scientific books are also commonly published in series. The connection among books belonging to such a series can be by discipline, focus, approach, type of work, or geographic location. Examples of such series include Antwerp working papers in linguistics; Early English manuscripts in facsimile; Garland reference library; Canterbury Tales Project; Early English Text Society.

Notable book series

Novels

- Belgariad series by David Eddings
- The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis
- Darkover series created by Marion Zimmer Bradley
- Hardy Boys series by Franklin W. Dixon
- Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
- Foundation series by Isaac Asimov
- Legendarium by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene

Scholarly and scientific

- Very Short Introductions published by Oxford University Press
- Carus Mathematical Monographs published by the Mathematical Association of America

Daniel Handler

Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970 in San Francisco, California), also professionally known as Lemony Snicket, is an American author, screenwriter, and accordionist. A native San Franciscan, alumnus of the San Francisco Boys Chorus, and graduate of Lowell High School, he graduated from Wesleyan University in 1992. His novels are The Basic Eight and Watch Your Mouth; they are comedies with a Gothic mood and rather adult subject matter. His screenplays were produced as the 2003 films Rick (based on the Verdi opera Rigoletto) and Kill the Poor (based on the novel by Joel Rose). His accordion playing can be heard most notably on The Magnetic Fields' album, 69 Love Songs. He lives in a 1907 Victorian house on a steep hill in San Francisco, California. He is married to Lisa Brown, a graphic artist he met at university. Handler originally came up with "Lemony Snicket" as a pseudonym to use rather than placing his real name on the mailing lists of several right-wing organizations he was researching for one of his novels. It became something of an in-joke with his friends, who were known to order pizzas under the name. As "Lemony Snicket", Handler has written a series of children's novels, A Series of Unfortunate Events, but the man who starts out as a narrator becomes a character in the series, even writing a book entitled Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography. He has also written two additional works as Snicket, a comic about a Yeti in It Was a Dark and Silly Night, a volume of Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly's Little Lit series, and a holiday short story entitled "The Lump of Coal". Currently there are 12 published books in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series, along with the "autobiography." The first three books are the basis of the 2004 film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. A commentary track entitled "Brad Silberling and the real Lemony Snicket Commentary" was recorded for the DVD released on 26 April 2005, employing Handler as the voice of Snicket. Brad Silberling is the movie's director, and the "real Lemony Snicket" joke is a jibe aimed at Jude Law, considered the "Impostor Lemony Snicket". It is more or less a one joke feature: Silberling taunts "Snicket" that the movie is about to end, and then another scene begins and the latter feigns shock and disappointment. During one of the later scenes of the film, Snicket is so upset by the events on screen that he plays an accordian and sings about leeches rather than watch what happens.

External links

- [http://www.lemonysnicket.com The Official Lemony Snicket website]
-
- [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/05/18/CM116426.DTL Fortunate Events: Winds, vertiginous views and snakes converge in Lemony Snicket's neck of the woods] San Francisco Chronicle (May 18, 2003)
- [http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgDate=10-Dec-2001&prgId=13 Fresh Air interview] - Audio interview from Fresh Air broadcast December 10, 2001.
- [http://bitchingandmoaning.org/archives/2005/09/daniel_handler.php Interview with Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snicket] Handler, Daniel Handler, Daniel Handler, Daniel Handler, Daniel Handler, Daniel Handler,Daniel simple:Daniel Handler ja:ダニエル・ハンドラー simple:Daniel Handler

Pseudonym

A pseudonym (Greek: false name) is a fictitious name used by an individual as an alternative to his or her legal name. A pseudonym is distinct from an allonym, which is the name of another actual person assumed by one person, usually historical, in authorship of a work of art; e.g., when ghostwriting a book or play, or in parody, or when using a front such as by screenwriters blacklisted in Hollywood in the '50s, '60s, and '70s. To be pseudonymous means that the person is using a pseudonym. In some cases, the pseudonym has become the legal name of the person using it.

Pseudonyms in print

When used by an author, a pseudonym is also called a pen name (or in French nom de plume.) Some authors use pseudonyms for a variety of reasons; for example, to experiment with a new genre without the risk of upsetting regular readers. One author may have several pseudonyms depending on the genre. This use of pseudonyms is especially common if the new genre is of a somewhat risqué nature; such was the case of Pauline Réage, the pseudonym under which an editorial secretary with a reputation of near-prudery published Histoire d'O (Story of O), an erotic novel of sadomasochism and sexual slavery. Occasionally, a pseudonym is employed to avoid overexposure. Prolific authors for pulp magazines often had two and sometimes three short stories appearing in one issue of a magazine; the editor would create several fictitious author names so that readers would not realize this. Popular authors also sometimes use pseudonyms to distinguish different types of writing. For instance, mathematician Charles Dodgson used Lewis Carroll for his fantastic fiction. Science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein set his early stories in a single future history; when he wrote stories not in this setting he used pseudonyms to avoid confusing readers. He also wrote stories under pseudonyms so that John W. Campbell could publish more of his work in his magazine at the same time. These stories were later reprinted under his real name. Pseudepigraphy, a particular form of pseudonym or pen name, is the technique of adopting the name of well-known figures as the publicly ascribed author on whom the actual writers attempt to pass off their work — typically to attain greater interest or credibility or pious tradition. It was traditionally employed in the Western world from Hellenistic times all the way up to the Middle Ages, particularly in theology and scripture. Examples include Pseudo-Dionysius and the author of the Book of Enoch, or, according to liberal scholars, the ascribed Solomonic authorship of the Song of Songs. A pseudonym may also be used to protect the writer, as in the case of Andy McNab the former SAS soldier famous for his book about a failed SAS mission titled Bravo Two Zero. (However, some critics have suggested that the primary motivation here may have been to boost the mystique of the SAS to help market McNab's books.) Ibn Warraq has been used by dissident Muslim authors.

Regnal name

In many monarchies, the prince starting his reign chooses his official name (regnal name) to be used hence, which may differ from his (birth) name till then; sometimes he selects one of his existing names, sometimes a completely different one. The same is true of the newly elected Pope, where it fits just as well in the monastic tradition of choosing a new religious name when entering orders. The choice of an existing name may simply be a matter of tradition or intend to honour a specific predecessor, and/or emphasize the hereditary legitimity of succession, or may actually convey a programme or intention.

Nom de guerre

Pseudonyms are adopted by resistance fighters, terrorists and guerrillas often to make enquiries more difficult, to seek and create an aura of mystery, and to protect their families from reprisal, although other reasons may often be included. The expression nom de guerre (IPA: /nɒm də gɛɹ/, "name of war") is often used for such pseudonyms (though this expression is rarely, if ever, actually used in French). It is occasionally used as a stylish substitute for nom de plume. Noms de guerre were frequently adopted by recruits in the French Foreign Legion as part of the break with their past lives. Pseudonyms used by some members of the French resistance were integrated into their last names after World War II; for instance, Jacques Delmas, alias Chaban, became Jacques Chaban-Delmas. Within Communist parties and Trotskyist organisations noms de guerre are usually known as party names. This took hold because revolutionaries were often persecuted by states (and also, in the case of Trotskyists, by pro-Soviet communist parties). Not only this, Athos, Porthos and Aramis in The Three Musketeers used those names instead of their real names: Le Comte de la Fère, M. du Vallon, and Chevalier d'Herblay, respectively. Some of the more famous noms de guerre include:
- Che Guevara
- Carlos the Jackal
- Abu Mazen is the nom de guerre of Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority
- Abu Ammar was PLO leader Yasser Arafat's nom de guerre
- Abu Ala is the nom de guerre of Ahmed Qurei
- Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Jordanian terrorist with the possible real name "Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh" Some famous party names include:
- Fahd
- Lenin
- Freddy Forrest (Raya Dunayevskaya) and Johnston CLR James.

The origin of "nom de guerre"

The assigning and adopting of noms de guerre was a long standing tradition in the French army, it certainly existed before 1651. In 1716 the practice became more formalised and the French army required all regular soldiers to have a nom de guerre. The names could be arrived at through the choice of the soldier, or perhaps the soldier’s company captain. Some of the naming practices adopted by particular companies enabled the men to be identifiable as members of their companies, much like a serial number: Practices such as assigning men the names of vegetables (the Company of Casaux of the Régiment de Boulonnois-infantrie, between 1764 to 1768). These names would be retained by the soldiers when they left service and would often be passed on to their wives and children. It is important to understand the old French practice of assigning Noms de guerre when tracing French family histories. Source: The Military Roots of the 'dit' Names by Luc Lépine (From December 2002 Connections © 2002 QFHS) Translated by Lorraine Gosselin. Sourced from: Quebec Family History Society website (http://www.cam.org/~qfhs/ main page) (http://www.cam.org/~qfhs/lib_connart4.html sourced page)

Pseudonyms in entertainment

When used by an actor, performer, or model, a pseudonym is a stage name or screen name. Actors — and others in show business — rarely use a pseudonym to disguise themselves. Actors who are members of a less-privileged ethnic or religious group have often adopted stage names, typically changing their surname or entire name to mask their original background — as has been done in other fields as well. This phenomenon was common in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, as ethnic minorities began to attain a greater role in acting and films, yet social trends had not yet reached the point where such minorities would be accepted with their original non-mainstream identity. Popular Jewish comedian and "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart was born Jonathan Stewart Leibowitz. When asked why he dropped Leibowitz in a "60 Minutes" interview, Stewart explained that it "sounded too Hollywood". John Wayne, building a reputation as a tough guy, felt that his given name, Marion Morrison, did not connote the image he sought to assume. Stan Laurel, born Arthur Stanley Jefferson, was apparently happy to be known as Stan Jefferson until he realised that it had thirteen letters. In many cases, a screen name was constructed simply because a studio executive did not like the actor's real name. Today, the most common reason for a performer to adopt a pseudonym is that someone else has already achieved fame with that name. Performing arts guilds (SAG, WGA, AFTRA, etc.) enforce rules on the use of names formerly registered for credits, generally refusing to allow an identical name to be used again. In some cases, a stage name is intended to separate the public persona from the private life. But while keeping a real name for private use may help one go unrecognized in public, it can rarely be kept entirely secret and may become an item of gossip in itself. In the music world, pseudonyms have been used to allow artists to collaborate with artists on other labels while avoiding the need to gain permission from their own labels. George Harrison, for example, played guitar on Cream's song "Badge" (which he also co-wrote with Eric Clapton). He was credited on the recording as "L'Angelo Mysterioso" ("The Mysterious Angel"). Most hip hop artists prefer to use a pseudonym that represents some variation of their name, personality, or interests. Prime examples include Ol' Dirty Bastard (who was known under at least six aliases), Diddy (formerly known as Sean Combs, P. Diddy, and Puff Daddy), Ludacris, LL Cool J, and Chingy. See List of hip hop musicians.

Other pseudonyms

Others in public life have adopted pseudonyms for many reasons. In the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries, it was established practice for political articles to be signed with pseudonyms, the most famous American example being the pen name Publius, used by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, in writing The Federalist Papers. Malcolm X, the civil rights campaigner, (born Malcolm Little), adopted the 'X' to represent his unknown African ancestral name. Many Jewish politicians re-adopted Hebrew family names on return to Israel, dropping westernized versions that may have been in the family for generations; Golda Meir, for example, was born Golda Mabovitz in Russia, and lived in USA before emigrating to Palestine; she adopted her Hebrew name on becoming a government minister in 1956. Famous pseudonyms of people who were neither authors nor actors include:
- Le Corbusier, the architect, was Charles Édouard Jeanneret.
- Aphex Twin, prolific techno artist Richard D. James, who uses up to 11 other different names on various releases.
- Alan Smithee is a name commonly used by directors who want to disown their own movie.
- George Spelvin and Georgina Spelvin are names used in American theater when the actor playing the part is unknown at printing time, wishes to remain anonymous, or the part is double cast or played by an actor who plays more than one character in the cast.
- Luther Blissett is a shared pseudonym often used for activist and artistic purposes, especially in the Italian art scene.
- David Agnew is used on BBC programmes where a writer's name cannot be used for contractual reasons.
- Nicolas Bourbaki was a famous pseudonym for a group of mathematicians.
- Student was William Sealey Gosset, discoverer of Student's t-distribution in statistics.
- Hambali is Riduan Isamuddin, the leader of Jemaah Islamiah, a terrorist group; he was born Encep Nurjaman On the internet, pseudonymous remailers utilising cryptography can be used to achieve persistent pseudonymity, so that two-way communication can be achieved, and reputations can be established without linking a physical identity to a pseudonym. Users on Namespaces such as Wikipedia also often use a pseudonym instead of their birth names.

External links

- [http://www.famousfolk.com/ An extensive list of pseudonyms]
- [http://go.to/realnames List of pseudonyms]
- [http://www.trussel.com/books/pseudo.htm Another list of pseudonyms]
- [http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl101.html The U.S. copyright status of pseudonyms]
- Category:Semantics

Lemony Snicket

Lemony Snicket is the fictional author and narrator of the A Series of Unfortunate Events books, actually written by Daniel Handler. Handler has also written two other stories under this pen-name, a children's comic and a holiday short story. Snicket often writes comments of his own life in the books, mostly relating the fact he is in peril or on the run. He is in love with a mysterious woman Beatrice, of whom there is very little further evidence. Both Beatrice and Snicket served at one time as members of V.F.D. Since her untimely death in unknown (to the reader) circumstances, he dedicates all the books to her with statements such as "When we were together, I felt breathless. Now you are." This sort of humour is his normal writing style throughout the books. On The Family Tree in pages 196 and 197 of Lemony Snicket: An Unauthorized Autobiography, it says his grandfather's name is Chas Snicket. He has two siblings, a brother, Jacques Snicket, who dies in The Vile Village, and a sister, Kit Snicket, who is last seen taking Violet, Klaus and Sunny away in a black cab at the end of the eleventh book, The Grim Grotto). Handler originally came up with "Lemony Snicket" as a pseudonym to use rather than placing his real name on the mailing lists of several right-wing organizations he was researching for one of his novels. It became something of an in-joke with his friends, who were known to order pizzas under the name. When he found himself writing a series of children's books, he decided to use the Snicket name to add an air of mystery to proceedings; Lemony Snicket is an elusive figure. Handler has a considerable amount of fun with the Snicket character in the author biography sections of the books, in a page at the end of every book where Snicket makes complicated arrangements for the delivery of the manuscript of the next book to his publisher, on the Lemony Snicket website and in Snicket's Unauthorized Autobiography. To further amuse readers, the U.S. hardcover edition of this book has a reversible dust jacket that can be "disguised" as The Luckiest Kids in the World Book 1!: The Pony Party by "Loney M. Setnick," which is an anagram of "Lemony Snicket". He is described, among other things, as having been born beside the sea and now living underneath it, as a distinguished scholar, and as having been stripped of the Honorable Mention and the Grey Ribbon. Photographs of Snicket are shown, but are always taken from behind, except that in The Unauthorized Autobiography there is a photograph of the crew of a ship (whose names all seem to be those of famous authors), with a caption indicating that Snicket is in the photo, but the face of the sailor said to be Snicket has been mysteriously torn from the photograph. He sometimes claims to be writing the book in various perilous situations, such as an Italian restaurant which is slowly filling with water or behind the altar of a packed cathedrial. Additionally, about once per book, Snicket provides the reader with a glimpse of his life. We know that he:
- plays the accordion
- has been chased by an angry mob for 16 miles
- had an unhappy love affair with a woman called Beatrice, who even wrote a book (200 pages) explaining why it was impossible for her to marry him
- attended a costume ball dressed as a bullfighter, to gain access to his beloved Beatrice, who was dressed as a dragonfly
- once had a sword-fight with a television repairman
- once had a curse put on him by a fortune-teller (possibly Madame Lulu) after he accidentally broke her crystal ball after being tripped by a policeman
- is Jewish, as represented in [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/23754/edition_id/471/format/html/displaystory.html This News Article]
- learned how to make a salad from his sister
- wrote the books because of Beatrice's death
- was once a member of the Queequeg
- It is possible, based on the letters to his editor, which can be found at the end of each book, that he was always with the Baudlaires while they were going through what he then wrote about. To fill time at the end of the first audio book, read by Tim Curry, there is an interview which is supposed to be with "Mr. Snicket" but apparently he is not home, and the interview proceeds with "Mr. Handler," who confuses himself with his "employer" throughout the interview. To avoid answering any tough questions, Handler invokes a psychological device by which the response to a query can be so horrible that it seems to the listener as if it was not given at all. A commentary track entitled "Brad Silberling and the real Lemony Snicket Commentary" was recorded for the DVD released on 26 April 2005. Brad Silberling is the movie's director, and the "real Lemony Snicket" joke is a jibe aimed at Jude Law, considered the "Imposter Lemony Snicket." Lemony Snicket, as distinct from Handler, has also written two non-Unfortunate-Events-related works. The first was the opening story of It Was a Dark and Silly Night, a volume of Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly's Little Lit series. The story begins "In this case, SILLY stands for Slightly Intelligent, Largely Laconic Yeti..." The second was a short story published in the USA Weekend magazine (a US newspaper supplement), dated December 10-12, 2004. This was a holiday story entitled "The Lump of Coal," and included two full-color illustrations by Brett Helquist (who has also illustrated all of the books in the Series of Unfortunate Events to date). Lemony Snicket has been called "[http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/23754/edition_id/471/format/html/displaystory.html proudly Jewish]".

External links

- [http://www.lemonysnicket.com/ Official site]
- [http://thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/publisher/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001347705 Lemony Snicket Launches Book Tour of the Future]- The Book Standard, October 2005 Snicket, Lemony Snicket, Lemony Snicket, Lemony

Brett Helquist

Brett Helquist is an American illustrator best known for his work in the children's books A Series of Unfortunate Events. As such, his illustrations for that series have appeared in multiple media, including the books, the audiobook covers, the calendars, and so on. According to the biographical information published with that series, Helquist was born in Ganado, Arizona, lived in Orem, Utah, earned a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from Brigham Young University, and lives in New York City (as of 2004). He has been published in the children's magazine Cricket, and the New York Times. He is represented by Shannon Associates in New York City. His illustrations are full of detail and precision. He has illustrated other children's books, including:
- Chasing Vermeer ISBN 0439372941
- Milly and the Macy's Parade ISBN 0439297540
- The Revenge of Randal Reese-Rat ISBN 0060508671
- Books in the Tales from the House of Bunnicula series by James Howe: :
- It Came from Beneath the Bed! ISBN 0689839480 :
- Howie Monroe and the Doghouse of Doom ISBN 0689839529 :
- Screaming Mummies of the Pharoah's Tomb II ISBN 0689839537 :
- Bud Barkin, Private Eye ISBN 0689869894 :
- The Odorous Adventures of Stinky Dog ISBN 068987412X Brett also wrote and illustrated Roger, the Jolly Pirate, ISBN 0066238056, published in 2004. Helquist, Brett Helquist, Brett Helquist, Brett

List of Thirteens (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

Thirteen, the number of misfortune, is a commonly reoccuring number in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. This is a list of the occurrences of the number 13.

Occurrences

- Number of chapters in each book
- Number of books in series
- Number of owners of Lemony Snicket's map (The Ersatz Elevator, chapter 11)
- Number of pages in the Snicket File, and the number of the only one that the Baudelaires were able to obtain
- Number of letters in the following names: Lemony Snicket (pen name), Daniel Handler (author), Brett Helquist (artist), HarperCollins (publisher), Alison Donalty (cover design), Meredith Heuer (photographer), Jerome Squalor (character)
- Number of letters in the names of several hospital patients in The Hostile Hospital, chapter 9: Lisa N. Lootnday, Linda Rhaldeen, Ed Valiantbrue, Monty Kensicle, Eriq Bluthetts, Ruth Dercroump. Several of these are anagrams of the above names.
- Age of Klaus Baudelaire from The Vile Village onwards
- Possible age of Quigley, Duncan and Isadora Quagmire (in The Austere Academy, Duncan and Isadora are descibed as older than Klaus, who was 12, and younger than Violet, who was 14)
- Number of letters in the following book titles (not including "The"): The Miserable Mill, The Slippery Slope
- Number of letters in the following book titles (including "The"): The Wide Window and The Grim Grotto
- Number of letters in The Nameless Novel (not including "The")
- Number of chapters in Dr. Orwell's "Advanced Ocular Science"
- The chapter "Visitable Fungal Ditches" (note the initials V.F.D.) in Fiona's mycological book is chapter number 39, a multiple of 13.
- The map including Curdled Cave (The Wide Window) in the Atlas of Lake Lacrhymose is on page 104, a multiple of 13.
- The number of characters in 667 Dark Avenue

Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography

Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography was first released on May 1, 2002. The book's content all relates to the author Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) and his series of books, A Series of Unfortunate Events. Although it is labeled "Unauthorized" for humor, the book is in fact official and considered the spin-off book of the series and sometimes considered the fourteenth book. The book helps clear up some loose ends from the series, but it also introduces many more mysteries. It also elucidates details which readers might have missed - eg, in The Reptile Room, Uncle Monty takes Violet, Klaus and Sunny to see a movie, Zombies in the Snow written by Gustav Sebald. It turns out that the film is in fact coded with the Sebald Code, which works like this:

When a ringing sound is heard, the code is activated. Every tenth word plus the first word after the first ringing sound is a word of the code. When the ringing is heard again, the code ends.

It also raises many questions about the organisation V.F.D, which has been a mystery in the books since The Austere Academy. It gives some ideas about the members of V.F.D, including Uncle Monty (though he never learned Sebald Code), Aunt Josephine and her husband Ike, Lemony Snicket, his brother Jacques Snicket and sister Kit Snicket. It also raises many questions as to what V.F.D means, as it has many different things with the initials VFD. It also gives the reader the first look at the V.F.D. eye symbol, which is identical to the one found on the ankles of Count Olaf and Jacques Snicket, among other people.

Photography

The book uses a mixture of new photography by Meredith Heuer & Julie Blattberg and old 1930's photography gathered from an archive of photographs originally used for other purposes. All the photography is in Black and White.

Other Notes

There is a song with lyrics and music in the book. The song is about Lemony Snicket's childhood, and the tune is that of "Row, Row, Row, your Boat." This, we are told, is Violet's least favourite song. The U.S. edition of the book has printing on both sides of the Dust Jacket. While one side is the proper cover for the book, the other is one for a fictional book called "The Pony Party" By Loney M. Setnick, an anagram of Lemony Snicket.

1999

1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations.

Events

- Kosovo War
- Y2K preparation was a major event in 1999 both in actual events and in media over-reporting.
- The human population of the world surpassed six billion. The United Nations Population Fund designated October 12 as the approximate date for this event.

January

- January 1 - Euro currency introduced.
- January 1 - An avalanche destroys a school gymnasium during New Year celebrations in Kangiqsualujjuaq in far northern Quebec, killing nine.
- January 2 - A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern USA, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow at Milwaukee, Wisconsin and 19 inches (487 mm) at Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, temperatures plunge to -13°F (-25°C), and 68 deaths are reported.
- January 4 - Gunmen open fire on Shiite Muslims worshipping in an Islamabad mosque killing 16 people and injuring 25.
- January 12 - The remains of Christina Marie Williams were found three miles (5 km) from her home on the old Fort Ord military base.
- January 20 - The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet cafes.
- January 21 - War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 9,500 pounds (4.3 t) of cocaine aboard. The ship was headed for Houston, Texas.
- January 25 - A 6.0 Richter scale earthquake hits western Colombia killing at least 1,000

February

- February 4 - Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot dead by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race-relations in the city.
- February 5 - Mike Tyson is sentenced to a year's imprisonment, fined $5,000, and ordered to serve 2 years probation and perform 200 hours of community service for the August 31, 1998 assault on two people after a car accident.
- February 7 - King of Jordan, Hussein of Jordan, dies from cancer. His son Abdullah II then inherits the throne, and becomes King of Jordan.
- February 10 - Avalanches in the French Alps near Geneva kill at least ten.
- February 11 - Pluto, a planet with an irregular orbit, changes from the eighth to ninth planet furthest from the Sun. It had been the eighth furthest since 1979, and will become again in 2231.
- February 12 - President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial
- February 12 - John Myatt and John Drewe are sentenced for art forgery for one and six years, respectively.
- February 16 - In Uzbekistan a bomb explodes and gunfire is heard at the government headquarters in an apparent assassination attempt against President Islam Karimov.
- February 16 - Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrested one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Öcalan.
- February 16 - In Jasper, Texas, testimony begins in the trial of John William King who is accused of dragging African American James Byrd Jr. to death in an apparent hate crime. King was later convicted and sentenced to the death penalty.
- February 22 - Moderate Iraqi Shiite cleric Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr is assassinated.
- February 23 - Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.
- February 23 - White supremacist John William King is found guilty of kidnapping and killing African American James Byrd Jr by dragging him behind a truck for two miles (3 km).
- February 23 - An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31.
- February 24 - LaGrand Case: The State of Arizona executes Karl LaGrand, a German national involved in an armed robbery that led to a death. Karl's brother Walter is executed a week later, in spite of Germany's legal action in the International Court of Justice to attempt to save him.
- February 27 - While trying to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon, Colin Prescot and Andy Elson set a new endurance record after being in a hot air balloon for 233 hours and 55 minutes.
- February 27 - Olusegun Obasanjo becomes Nigeria's first elected president since mid-1983.

March

- March 1 - One of four bombs detonated in Lusaka, Zambia, destroys the Angolan Embassy.
- March 1 - Rwandan Hutu rebels kill and hack to pieces eight foreign tourists at the Buhoma homestead, Uganda
- March 1 - The Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines comes into force.
- March 3 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones begin their attempt to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon without stopping. Their journey ended in success on March 21.
- March 4 - Monica Lewinsky's book detailing her affair with Bill Clinton goes on sale in the United States
- March 4 - In a military court, Captain Richard Ashby of the United States Marines is acquitted of the charge of reckless flying which resulted in the deaths of 20 skiers in the Italian Alps when his low-flying jet hit a gondola cable.
- March 12 - Hungary, Poland and Czech Republic join NATO.
- March 15 - The European Commission under the presidency of Jacques Santer resigns over allegations of corruption.
- March 17 - The [http://www.roth-401k-forum.com/ Roth 401k] is introduced by Sen Roth Jr., William V.
- March 20 - Serbs launch an offensive in Bosnia
- March 21 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
- March 22 - US pro-euthanasia doctor Jack Kevorkian goes on trial for murder in Pontiac, Michigan. He is later convicted of second-degree murder
- March 23 - Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña
- March 24 - NATO launches air strikes in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which was refusing to sign a peace treaty. This marks the first time NATO attacked a sovereign country
- March 24 - Fire in the Mont Blanc Tunnel kills 39 people, closing the tunnel for nearly 3 years.
- March 26 - The Melissa worm attacks the Internet.
- March 26 - A jury in Michigan finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man (the incident was videotaped and aired on September 17, 1998 edition of 60 Minutes)
- March 29 - For the first time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10000 mark at 10006.78.

April

- April 1 - Nunavut, an Inuit homeland, part of the Northwest Territories becomes Canada's third territory.
- April 5 - Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 are handed over to Scottish authorities for eventual trial in the Netherlands. The United Nations suspends sanctions against Libya
- April 5 - In Laramie, Wyoming, Russell Henderson pleads guilty to kidnapping and felony murder in order to avoid a possible death penalty conviction for the apparent hate crime killing of Matthew Shepard
- April 7 - Kosovo War: Kosovo's main border crossings are closed by Serbian forces to prevent ethnic Albanians from leaving
- April 7 - Bomb explodes in the Valley of the Fallen church in Spain - GRAPO claims responsibility
- April 9 - Ibrahim Baré Maînassara, president of Nigeria, is assassinated
- April 17 - A nail bomb explodes in the middle of a busy market in Brixton, South London
- April 18 - "The Great One" Wayne Gretzky plays his final game in the NHL.
- April 20 - Two Littleton, Colorado teenagers named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold open fire on their teachers and fellow students. The teenagers killed 12 students and 1 teacher, and then killed themselves. See Columbine High School massacre.
- April 25 - End of term for Tuanku Jaafar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman as the 10th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
- April 26 - Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Al-Haj, Sultan of Selangor becomes the 11th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
- April 28 - The first comic of Sexy Losers (then called "The Thin H Line") goes online. This webcomic would go on to be one of the most popular webcomics ever made, with a sustained level of unique IP address hits of approximately 1 million a week. It would also popularize the word "fap" as an onomatopoeia for masturbation, a sound effect widely used in anime-themed comics since.
- April 30 - Cambodia joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bringing the total members to 10.
- April 30 - A third nail bomb (see April 17) explodes in the Admiral Duncan pub in Old Compton Street, Soho, London, killing a pregnant woman and two friends and injuring 70 others, including her husband. This was part of a hate campaign against ethnic minorities and gay people by David Copeland

May

David Copeland
- May 2 - Oliver Reed, British actor famous for starring in The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers, and The Assassination Bureau, dies of a heart attack in Malta while filming Gladiator.
- May 2 - Norman J. Sirnic and Karen Sirnic are murdered by Angel Maturino Resendiz in a parsonage in Weimar, Texas. They were his fourth and fifth victims in his fourth incident.
- May 3 - Photo driver licences and banknotes made out of polymer substrate are introduced to New Zealand.
- May 3 - A F5 tornado slams in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma killing 38 people. This was the strongest tornado ever. (See Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak)
- May 3 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time. It closes at 11,014.70.
- May 6 - Elections are held in Scotland and Wales for the new Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales
- May 7 - A jury finds The Jenny Jones Show and Warner Bros liable in the shooting death of Scott Amedure after the show purposely deceived Jonathan Schmitz to appear on a secret same-sex crush episode.
- May 7 - Kosovo War: In Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, three Chinese embassy workers are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft mistakenly bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade
- May 7 - In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup
- May 8 - Nancy Mace becomes the first female cadet to graduate from The Military College of South Carolina.
- May 12 - David Steel becomes the first Presiding Officer (speaker) of the modern Scottish Parliament
- May 13 - in Italy Carlo Azeglio Ciampi is elected President of the republic
- May 17 - Ehud Barak is elected prime minister of Israel.
- May 19 - Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is released in theaters.
- May 20 - Bluetooth announced.
- May 23 - In Kansas City, Missouri, Owen Hart (Blue Blazer) falls 90 feet (30 m) to his death while being lowered into a World Wrestling Federation ring
- May 26 - Indian Air Force launches attack on intruding Pakistan backed militants in Kashmir sparking the Kargil War.
- May 26 - Manchester United win the UEFA Champions League at the Nou Camp stadium, Barcelona, beating Bayern Munich to lift their third major trophy in their unprecedented Treble, after winning the English Premier League and FA Cup.
- May 26 - Madejczyk Massacre Averted, Bridgman, Michigan school shooting plot
- May 26 - first Welsh Assembly for over 600 years opens in Cardiff
- May 27 - The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands indicts Slobodan Milošević and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo
- May 28 - In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo de Vinci's newly-restored masterpiece "The Last Supper" is put back on display.

June

- 'solid - the socialist youth is formed in Hannover, Germany
- June 2 - After decades of fighting off outside technological influences like television, the King of Bhutan allows television transmissions to commence in the Kingdom for the first time, coinciding with the King's silver jubilee (see Bhutan Broadcasting Service).
- June 5 - The AIS, the armed wing of FIS, agrees in principle to disband in Algeria.
- June 6 - In Brazil, 345 prisoners escape from Putim prison through the front gate
- June 7 - Garfield daily strips in colour.
- June 8 - The government of Colombia announces it will include the estimated value of the country's illegal drug crops, exceeding half a billion US dollars, in its gross national product.
- June 9 - Kosovo War: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO sign a peace treaty.
- June 10 - Kosovo War: NATO suspends its air strikes after Slobodan Milošević agrees to withdraw Serbian forces from Kosovo.
- June 12 - Kosovo War: Operation Joint Guardian begins - NATO-led United Nations peacekeeping force KFor enter the province of Kosovo in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Texas Governor George W. Bush announces his intention to seek the Republican Party's nomination for President of the United States.
- June 15 - George Morber Senior and Carolyn Frederick are murdered by Angel Maturino Resendiz in Gorham, Illinois. They are his eighth and ninth victims, in his seventh and final incident.
- June 19 - Torino is picked as the host city of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

July

- July 4 - David Beckham and Victoria Adams are married.
- July 11 - India recaptures Kargil as Pakistan pulls out its troops and militants after international condemnation. India claim victory in the two-month conflict.
- July 16 - Off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, a plane piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr. crashes with his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and her sister Lauren Bessette on board. All three are killed in the crash
- July 20 - Mercury program: Liberty Bell 7 is raised from the Atlantic Ocean.
- July 23 - Mohammed VI becomes King of Morocco.
- July 23 to July 25 - Woodstock 99 festival held in New York.
- July 23 - Hijack of ANA Flight 61 in Tokyo.
- July 25 - Lance Armstrong wins first Tour de France.
- July 27 - 21 die in a canyoning disaster near Interlaken, Switzerland.
- July 31 - Mark O. Barton kills 9 in Atlanta, Georgia
- July 31 - NASA intentionally crashes the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface.

August

- August 8 - The first edition of the Callatis Festival, the largest music &culture festival in Romania.
- August 9 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin fires his Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet
- August 10 - Buford O. Furrow, Jr. attempts a mass murder in Los Angeles
- August 10 - Atlantique Incident occurs as an intruding Pakistan navy plane is shot down in India. The incident sparks tensions between the two nations, coming just a month after the end of the Kargil War.
- August 11 - Total eclipse in Europe and Asia
- August 11 - An F-2 tornado rips through downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, killing one person and injuring over 100.
- August 17 - A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Istanbul and northwestern Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000. This earthquake was the first of a long series of unrelated but frequent earthquakes throughout the world during the years 1999 and 2000. Some connected the earthquake to the fact that the Umbra of the solar eclipse of August 11, was right above Istanbul.
- August 19 - In Belgrade, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević

September

- September 7 - Earthquake strikes Athens resulting to more than 100 dead and 672 homes destroyed. It was not clear if it was related to the earlier earthquake of Turkey. That earthquake was the worst in Athens after 20 years. Both disasters were noted for resulting to a mutual assistance and better climate between the two 'rivalling' countries.
- September 8 - first of the series of Russian apartment bombings. The subsequent occurred on September 13, 16, and 22 (failed).
- September 9 - Sega released the Dreamcast worldwide. Breaking video game and other entertainment sales record in its first 24 hours of availability.
- September 21 - Chi-Chi earthquake occurred in central Taiwan, caused about 2,400 people dead.

October

- October - NASA loses one of its Mars probes, the Climate Orbiter
- October 5 - Thirty-one people die in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash, west of London, England.
- October 12 - Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attempts to dismiss Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf and install ISI director Khwaja Ziauddin in his place. Senior Army generals refuse to accept the dismissal. Musharraf, who was out of the country, attempts to return in a commercial airliner. Sharif orders the Karachi airport to not allow the plane to land. The generals lead a coup, ousting Sharif's administration and taking over the airport. The plane lands with only a few minutes of fuel to spare, and Musharraf takes control of the government.
- October 12 - The 6 billionth person in the world, according to the UN is born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- October 13 - The United States Senate rejects ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)
- October 15 ? National Geographic Society reveals the fossil of Archaeoraptor in a press conference (the fossil is later found to be a forgery)
- October 18 ? Michael Pawluk Michigan attorney sails solo-single-handed over 2,500 nautical miles (4600 km) on a 30 foot (10 m) boat when his wife demands "some space".
- October 25 - Golfer Payne Stewart, 42, dies in an aircraft accident.
- October 27 - Gunmen open fire in the Armenian parliament killing Prime Minister Vazgan Sarkisian, Parliament Chairman Karen Demirchian and 6 other members.
- October 27 - The New York Yankees complete a 4 game sweep of the Atlanta Braves to win their second consecutive World Series.
- October 31 - EgyptAir Flight 990 traveling from New York City to Cairo crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on-board
- October 31 - Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran Church leaders sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, ending a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation.

November

- November 5 - United States v. Microsoft: US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issues a preliminary ruling that the software company Microsoft had "monopoly power" (on April 3, 2000 Jackson