2000s
Appearance
This article is about the decade starting at the beginning of 2000 and ending at the end of 2009. For the century or millennium starting in 2000 (or, technically, 2001), see the links below.
Millennia: 2nd millennium - 3rd millennium - 4th millennium
Centuries: 20th century - 21st century - 22nd century | |
Decades: | |
Years: |
The decade as a whole
- In keeping with naming decades (cf. 1990s "the Nineties", 1980s "the Eighties", etc.), the decade of the 2000s lacks an accepted name. A widely accepted term may not come about until the decade has ended. However no such term exists for the decades of the 1900s and 1910s. A few suggestions for the 2000s decade are:
- "the Twenty-O's" (pronounced; twenty-ohs) or "the Oh's". For example, the year 2005 would be pronounced as "twenty-oh-five," instead of "two-thousand five."
- "the 0-0s", usually pronounced as "the oh-ohs". This pronunciation sounds like "uh oh", an expression of dismay; this similarity is no doubt intentional.
- "the 2Ks", a term that is rooted in the slang of the times. K is shorthand for the Greek prefix kilo meaning 1000; hence, 2K means 2000. In popular culture, the years of the decade are already being named according to this slang. For example, the year 2003 is referred to as 2K3. The "2K" term probably has its popular origins in the heavily-hyped Y2K bug that began in 1999, and lasted into this decade.
- "the Aughts" (or "Oughts"), keeping with the practice of the twentieth century.
- "the Nillies", derived from the term "nil", meaning nothing or zero.
- "the Noughties", referring to the nought, or zero, as the decade indicator; the word-play on "naughty" is intentional.
- "the Twenty Hundreds", though this could be confused with a name for the century.
- "the zeroes",
- "the double-O's"
- "the 0-Hundreds"
- The United Nations General Assembly declared the (mostly overlapping) decade of 2001-2010 as the "International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World".
- "the two thousands", simply 2000s instead of stressing the last two numbers of the first year of the decade e.g. 2000s instead of just 00's.
Events and trends
Technology
- Boom in music downloading and MP3 audio data compression; rise of portable digital audio players, typified by Apple Computer's iPod
- Future energy development
War, peace and politics
- Major controversy over U.S. presidential election, 2000
- September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack on New York's World Trade Center and Virginia's Pentagon killing over 3000 people. A resultant change in stance towards international terrorism (See War on Terror) has ripple effects on the USA's foreign policy and military strategy.
- 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan to depose the Taliban regime in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
- December 2001 – July 18, 2003: The Convention on the Future of Europe proposing first European constitution (i.e., of the EU)
- East Timor gains official independence from Indonesia on May 20, 2002
- International Criminal Court exists as of 1 July 2002, used for judging war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide
- 2003 invasion of Iraq as a step in the American war on terrorism
- Darfur conflict in Sudan
- "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine leads to election of Viktor Yushchenko as Prime Minister after initial election victory of incumbent Viktor Yanukovych is annulled due to vote-rigging
- Revolution in Kyrgyzstan overthrows government of President Askar Akayev
- Beslan school hostage crisis,where multinational terrorists took a school in Beslan, Russia hostage and subsequently killed 344 people including children
- United States expands international influence, in particular in the Middle East, as well as continuing to expand its military might. The US also hold a number of war games (see wargaming) pertaining to the Strait of Taiwan in preparation for a possible war with the People's Republic of China over a Taiwanese succession.
- While the US continues to enjoy international political, military and economic dominance, the nation of China in the Orient emerges as a viable power in the region, as well as an industrial powerhouse for numerous light goods including apparel and appliances.
Economics
- Globalization
- Major downturn in the value of dot-com shares
- China continues to grow rapidly
Culture and religion
- Same-sex marriage becomes a controversial issue in 2003 and 2004. In the United States, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts declares that same-sex couples must be allowed to marry in that state, and President George W. Bush pushes for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage
- Reality television becomes a well-established sector of the television programming industry
- Europe continues to become more secular; in contrast, religious groups increase their political influence in the United States and the Middle East
Other
- November 2002: SARS virus outbreak, most notably in Hong Kong and Toronto
- Major earthquake rocks the ancient city of Bam, in Iran. Cost over 50,000 lives.
- A major earthquake and ensuing tsunami causes devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, The Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean. As of January 2005 the death toll is estimated to be nearly 290,000
- Bird flu spreads through South East Asia
- April 2, 2005: Pope John Paul II dies at age 84.
People
World leaders
- Prime Minister John Howard (Australia)
- Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (Belgium)
- President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil)
- Prime Minister Jean Chrétien (Canada)
- Prime Minister Paul Martin (Canada)
- President Ricardo Lagos (Chile)
- President Jiang Zemin (China)
- President Hu Jintao (China)
- Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (Convention on the Future of Europe)
- President Hosni Mubarak (Egypt)
- President Jacques Chirac (France)
- Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (Germany)
- Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee (India)
- Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh (India)
- President Megawati Sukarnoputri (Indonesia)
- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (Indonesia)
- President Mohammad Khatami (Iran)
- President Saddam Hussein (Iraq)
- President Ghazi al-Yawer (Iraq)
- President Jalal Talabani (Iraq)
- President Vaira Vike-Freiberga (Latvia)
- Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (Ireland)
- President Mary McAleese (Ireland)
- Prime Minister Ehud Barak (Israel)
- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (Israel)
- Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (Italy)
- Emperor Akihito (Japan)
- Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro (Japan)
- President Vicente Fox Quesada (Mexico)
- Queen Beatrix (The Netherlands)
- Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (The Netherlands)
- Prime Minister Helen Clark (New Zealand)
- President Pervez Musharraf (Pakistan)
- President Yasser Arafat (Palestinian Authority)
- Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Palestinian Authority)
- President Vladimir Putin (Russia)
- King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz (Saudi Arabia)
- Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic (Serbia)
- Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong (Singapore)
- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore)
- President Thabo Mbeki (South Africa)
- President Joseph Deiss (Switzerland)
- President Chen Shui-bian (Republic of China on Taiwan)
- Queen Elizabeth II (United Kingdom, et. al.)
- Prime Minister Tony Blair (United Kingdom)
- President Bill Clinton (United States)
- President George W. Bush (United States)
- Pope John Paul II (Vatican City) (d. 2005)
- President Hugo Chávez (Venezuela)
State leaders by year: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006...
Entertainers
- Ben Affleck
- Jack Black (High Fidelity, Shark Tale, The School of Rock, Ice Age)
- Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (movie), The Two Towers (movie), The Return of the King (movie), Pirates of the Carribean, Kingdom of Heaven, Troy
- Emily Browning
- George Clooney Oh Brother Where Out Thou, Ocean's 11, Ocean's 12, The Perfect Storm
- Elisha Cuthbert (The Girl Next Door, 24)
- Matt Damon
- Ellen DeGeneres (Finding Nemo, The Ellen DeGeneres Show)
- Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (movie))
- Hilary Duff
- Eminem
- Ricky Gervais
- Tom Hanks (The Terminal, (Castaway, (Catch Me If You Can, Lady Killers
- Paris Hilton (The Simple Life, sex tape with Rick Salomon)
- Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
- Samuel L. Jackson
- Catherine Zeta Jones
- Nicole Kidman
- Keira Knightley (Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates of the Carribean, King Arthur)
- Brock Lesnar
- Lindsay Lohan (Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen)
- Madonna
- Kylie Minogue
- Moby
- Mike Myers (Austin Powers)
- Keanu Reeves (The Matrix series)
- Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich, Ocean's Eleven, The Perfect Storm
- The Rock (WWE wrestler, The Scorpion King, Walking Tall, Be Cool)
- Conan O' Brien
- Gwyneth Paltrow
- Brad Pitt
- Natalie Portman
- Radiohead
- Adam Sandler
- M. Night Shyamalan
- Will Smith (I, Robot film adaptation)
- Britney Spears
- Jon Stewart
- Ben Stiller
- Raven-Symoné
- U2
- Bruce Willis
- Luke Wilson
Sports figures
- Lance Armstrong (U.S. cyclist)
- David Beckham (English soccer player)
- Barry Bonds (U.S. baseball player)
- Tom Brady (U.S. football player)
- Brett Favre (U.S. football player)
- Kobe Bryant (U.S. basketball player)
- Vince Carter U.S. basketball player)
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. (U.S. racing driver)
- Roger Federer (Swiss tennis player)
- Luis Figo (Portuguese soccer player)
- Jeff Gordon (U.S. racing driver)
- Kelly Holmes (English athlete)
- Allen Iverson (U.S. basketball player)
- LeBron James (U.S. basketball player)
- Derek Jeter (U.S. baseball player)
- Oliver Kahn (German soccer player)
- Nikolai Khabibulin (Russian ice hockey player)
- Anna Kournikova (Russian tennis player)
- Brian Lara (Trinidad & Tobago cricketer)
- Ray Lewis (U.S. American football player)
- Glenn McGrath (Australian cricketer)
- Donovan McNabb (U.S. American football player)
- Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombian Formula One driver)
- Randy Moss (U.S. American football player)
- Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lankan cricketer)
- Shaquille O'Neal (U.S. basketball player)
- Emeka Okafor (U.S. basketball player)
- David Ortiz (U.S. baseball player)
- Michael Phelps (U.S. swimmer)
- Paula Radcliffe (English athlete)
- Andy Roddick (U.S. tennis player)
- Alex Rodriguez (U.S. baseball player)
- Ronaldo (Brazilian soccer player)
- Wayne Rooney (English soccer player)
- Curt Schilling (U.S. baseball player)
- Michael Schumacher (German Formula One driver)
- Sammy Sosa (Dominican baseball player)
- Martin St. Louis (Canadian ice hockey player)
- Sachin Tendulkar (Indian cricket player)
- Tanni Grey-Thompson (Welsh paralympian)
- Pieter van den Hoogenband (Dutch swimmer)
- Ian Thorpe (Australian swimmer)
- Venus and Serena Williams (U.S. tennis players)
- Jonny Wilkinson (English rugby union player)
- Tiger Woods (U.S. golfer)
- Zinedine Zidane (French soccer player)