Tony Blair, Furby Babies and Westlife were all in the news the last time Huddersfield Town topped the Championship, or Division I as it was then.

David Wagner’s side are top of the pile after beating Barnsley 2-1 in the big John Smith’s Stadium derby.

VIDEO: Huddersfield Town celebrate after going top of the Championship:

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The last time Town looked down on the rest of the second tier was in December 1999.

A 1-0 home win over QPR elevated Steve Bruce’s side to the summit at a time when Bradford City and Wimbledon were in the Premier League and Hull City and Swansea City in what is now League II (then Division III).

Town's team was Nico Vaesen, Steve Jenkins, Jamie Vincent, Craig Armstrong, Kevin Gray, Dean Gorre (Simon Baldry), Kenny Irons, Marcus Stewart, Scott Sellars, Clyde Wijnhard, Ben Thornley (Barry Horne).

Blair was two and a half years into the first of his three terms as Prime Minister after Labour’s landslide general election victory of May 1997.

By December 1999, he was being hailed for his contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process.

The United Kingdom had devolved political power to the Northern Ireland Executive at the start of the month.

Around the globe, flash floods in Venezuela resulted in the deaths of thousands and caused a total collapse in the state’s infrastructure.

NASA launched into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments while Portugal returned Macau to China.

The Furby Baby was a top Christmas present choice for many children.

It was described as being like “a cross between a hamster and an owl”.

Also in demand was Pokemon for the Nintendo Game Boy device and the Who Wants to be a Millionaire? board game.

When it came to popular music, Irish band Westlife, fresh from releasing their self-titled debut album, were winning the race to be top of the festive pops with the double A side I Have a Dream/Seasons in the Sun.

Back with sport, captain Nasser Hussain and the rest of England’s cricketers were on tour in South Africa, who won the five-Test series 2-1.

Australia were rugby union’s world champions after beating France 35-12 in the final to win the tournament in Wales a month earlier.

And in the 13-a-side code, St Helens were kings after their 8-6 Grand Final win over Bradford Bulls at Old Trafford.

Huddersfield Giants had just completed their second Super League season, finishing bottom of a 14-team table which also included Halifax Blue Sox, Gateshead Thunder, London Broncos and Sheffield Eagles, with whom the John Smith’s Stadium club were soon to controversially merge.