JUL 15
RISING FUN Damaged genitalia and an unorthodox hair-care product translate into a box office bonanza when the Farrelly brothers' There's Something About Mary hits theaters. Eight weekends and $130 million later, the comedy gags its way to No. 1--possibly the longest climb to the top ever.
JUL 17
COITUS INTERRUPTUS Internet Entertainment Group denounces www.ourfirsttime.com as a hoax, pulling the plug on the planned Aug. 4 deflowering of teenage virgins "Mike" and "Diane." The announcement comes just hours after the site's creator cut a deal with IEG to host what they hoped would be the shag seen round the world.
JUL 20
LITTLE MAN FOSTER At 5:23 a.m., the world welcomes the arrival of 71/2-pound Charles Foster, son of actress Jodie Foster and...? The actress refuses to reveal the father's identity.
AUG 2
GIRL ON FILM Director Adrian Lyne's controversial $58 million movie adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita finally gets a wide release in the U.S.--on the Showtime cable channel. Unable to find a domestic distributor for two years, it gets nominal theatrical play when the Samuel Goldwyn Co. picks it up.
AUG 3
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER Woody Harrelson appears in a Denver courtroom to support his father, Charles, 60, who is pressing for a new trial to reverse his 1979 murder conviction. Three days later, the judge recuses himself from the case after he's criticized for playing one-on-one basketball with the White Men Can't Jump star. The hearing is expected to resume in March 1999.
AUG 14
BAD RAP? Fugee Wyclef Jean denies pulling a gun on Blaze editor in chief Jesse Washington after learning that an album Jean produced was going to be negatively reviewed in the hip-hop mag's debut issue. No charges are filed and the review is killed, but Washington (who prints his accusation in an editorial) does press assault charges Nov. 19--this time after Bad Boy Records' Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie allegedly attacks him with a chair over a photo that ran in Blaze. Angelettie's lawyer denies the allegations.
AUG 16
FORTY DEUCE Material Mama Madonna turns 40. On Aug. 29, Michael Jackson--father, somehow, of two--hits the big 4-0. No childlike party for Jackson, however, since the Jehovah's Witness can't celebrate birthdays.
AUG 17
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER Nearly 68 million viewers watch President Clinton finally address the nation about Monica Lewinsky, apologizing (sort of) for engaging in inappropriate behavior ("In fact, it was wrong"). On Sept. 11, independent counsel Ken Starr releases a 445-page report on his four-year, $40 million investigation, featuring alternative uses for cigars and ways to keep world leaders cooling their heels in the Rose Garden. Within hours, millions download The Starr Report and customers flock to bookstores to buy bound versions. Ten days later, 22.5 million Americans watch broadcasts of Clinton's testimony, in which he grapples with the definition of is, alone, and sex. Lewinsky later inks a reported $600,000 book deal with St. Martin's.
