Historical Events in 2000

Events 1 - 200 of 240

• Jan 1 Gisbourne, New Zealand population 32,754 is first city in the world to welcome in the new millennium

• Jan 2 19,600 fans watch the Miami Heat beat the Orlando Magic, 111-103 in the first NBA game at the Heat's new American Airlines Arena in Miami
• Jan 4 19 are killed after two trains collide in Asta, Norway

• Jan 4 After 2 months, Catherine Hartley and Fiona Thornewill, reach the South Poll, the same day as Edmund Hillary 48 years before
• Jan 4 American businessman and investor Mark Cuban purchases a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks NBA franchise for $285m from H. Ross Perot, Jr.
• Jan 6 The flu outbreak in Britain puts pressure on NHS
• Jan 6 The last Pyrenean ibex is found dead after being crushed by a tree
• Jan 7 Former UK Cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken released from prison after 9 months of a 18-month sentence
• Jan 8 "Music City Miracle", in AFC Wild Card Playoff, Tennessee Titans defeat Buffalo Bills 22-16 in last 16 seconds with Kevin Dyson, running length of the field for a game-winning touchdown

• Jan 14 A United Nations tribunal sentences five Bosnian Croats to up to 25 years for the 1993 killing of over 100 Muslims in a Bosnian village.

• Jan 18 The Tagish Lake meteorite impacts the Earth.

• Jan 23 Dallas' Don Nelson becomes the 6th coach in NBA history to win 900 career games when the Mavericks defeat the Detroit Pistons, 99-91 at The Palace of Auburn Hills

• Jan 30 Off the coast of Ivory Coast, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 169.
• Jan 30 Super Bowl XXXIV, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA: St. Louis Rams beat Tennessee Titans, 23-16; MVP: Kurt Warner, St. Louis, QB
• Jan 31 Alaska Airlines flight 261 MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 persons aboard.
• Jan 31 Family GP Dr Harold Shipman is jailed for life for murdering 15 of his patients, making him Britain's most prolific convicted serial killer

• Feb 4 German extortionist Klaus-Peter Sabotta is jailed for life for attempted murder and extortion in connection with the sabotage of German railway lines.
• Feb 4 Simulation video game "The Sims" developed by Maxis released in North America
• Feb 7 Bahria University is established through Presidential Ordinance No. V of 2000 by the Government of Pakistan

• Feb 14 The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.
• Feb 15 Indian Point II nuclear power plant in New York State vents a small amount of radioactive steam when a steam generator fails

• Feb 18 Stjepan Mesić becomes the second President of Croatia

• Mar 1 Hans Blix assumes the position of Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC.
• Mar 1 The Constitution of Finland is rewritten

• Mar 2 St. Louis Blues become just the 2nd team in NHL history to win 10 straight games on the road, with a 5-2 victory in Atlanta; tie mark set by Buffalo 1983-84

• Mar 10 NASDAQ Composite stock market index peaks at 5132.52, signaling the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom
• Mar 17 The 800+ deaths of members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God is considered to be a mass murder and suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult
• Mar 20 Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after a gun battle that leaves a Georgia sheriff's deputy dead
• Mar 20 Pope John Paul II visits Holy Land - Jordan, Israel, Palestine
• Mar 21 NSYNC release their 4th studio album “No Strings Attached” (2000 Billboard Album of the Year)

• Mar 27 Phillips explosion kills 1 and injures 71 in Pasadena, Texas.
• Mar 28 A Murray County, Georgia, school bus is hit by a CSX freight train (3 children die in this accident).

• Apr 1 Michelle Kwan pushes through all 7 triple jumps at the Palais des Exposition in Nice, France to become the first American since Peggy Flemming to win 3 world figure skating titles
• Apr 2 Adam Gilchrist takes his 10th catch in the 3rd cricket Test against New Zealand in Hamilton to create an Australian record for dismissals by a wicketkeeper; Australia wins by 6 wickets for 3-0 series sweep
• Apr 2 Atlanta center Ray Ferraro scores a goal and added 2 assists as the Thrashers end an NHL record 17-game home winless streak (0-15-2) with a 5-4 win against the visiting New York Islanders

• Apr 7 1st regular season MLB game at Enron Field (now Minute Maid Park) in Houston, Texas; visiting Philadelphia Phillies beat Astros 4-1, Phillies third baseman Scott Rolen hits first homer at new park

• Apr 8 Nineteen US Marines are killed when a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashes near Marana, Arizona
• Apr 11 MLB: Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco, California and Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan open
• Apr 11 South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje is sacked after admitting dishonesty following match-fixing allegations in India

• Apr 15 NFL Draft: Penn State defensive end Courtney Brown first pick by Cleveland Browns
• Apr 22 In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida.
• Apr 22 The Big Number Change takes place in the United Kingdom
• Apr 30 Pope John Paul II canonizes Polish nun Sister Faustina [Helena Kowalska] as a Catholic saint

• May 2 Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands unveils the Man With Two Hats monument in Apeldoorn and the other in Ottawa on May 11, 2000. Symbolically linking both Netherlands and Canada for their assistance throughout World War II.
• May 2 President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military
• May 3 The sport of geocaching begins, with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet.
• May 4 Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London
• May 5 Conjunction of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Moon
• May 10 India's population reaches 1 billion, baby girl Aastha born at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital chosen as symbolic billionth
• May 11 India's population officially reaches 1 billion - Astha Arora named India's billionth baby

• May 12 Tate Modern art gallery opens in the re-designed Bankside Power station by Herzog & de Meuron in London, England
• May 13 In Enschede, the Netherlands, a fireworks factory explodes, killing 22 people, wounding 950, and resulting in approximately €450 million in damage
• May 14 "Yi Yi" Taiwanese film by Edward Yang debuts at Cannes
• May 17 In the Philippines an explosion rocks Glorietta 2 injuring 13 persons, mostly teenagers. According to local authorities, the homemade bomb was placed in front of a toilet beside a video arcade.

• May 24 Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.

• May 25 Liberation Day of Lebanon. Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion in 1978.

• May 27 Super Rugby Final, Canberra: Crusaders claim their 3rd consecutive title with a 20-19 win over the ACT Brumbies; flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens kicks 5 penalties for the winners
• May 28 Walk for Reconciliation takes place across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, part of Corroboree 2000, organized by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation [1]
• Jun 1 The Patent Law Treaty (PLT) is signed.
• Jun 2 SInger-songwriter Joni Mitchell completes her retirement "Both Sides Now Tour Of America" at the Blockbuster/Sony Entertainment Centre in Camden, New Jersey
• Jun 4 54th Tony Awards: "Copenhagen" (play) and "Contact" (musical) win
• Jun 5 Armed conflict between Rwanda and Uganda erupts in Kinsangani, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Jun 10 Stanley Cup Final, Reunion Arena, Dallas, TX: New Jersey Devils defeat Dallas Stars, 2-1 in double OT for a 4-2 series victory

• Jun 12 Sandro Rosa do Nascimento takes hostages while robbing Bus #174 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the highly-publicized standoff becomes a media circus and ends with the death of do Nascimento and a hostage.

• Jun 16 Israel complies with UN Security Council Resolution 425 after 22 years, which calls on Israel to completely withdraw from Lebanon. Israel withdraws from all of Lebanon, except the disputed Sheba Farms.
• Jun 21 Section 28 (outlawing the 'promotion' of homosexuality in the United Kingdom) is repealed in Scotland with a 99 to 17 vote
• Jun 21 US Senator Daniel K. Inouye and 19 other Japanese-American WWII veterans of the 442nd Regiment belatedly awarded the Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton [1]
• Jun 23 The bulk ore carrier MV Treasure sinks off the western coast of South Africa, soiling more than 19 000 penguins; this resulted in the world's largest ever rescue of birds from an oiling event
• Jun 23 The Cotonou Agreement, a trade and aid framework, is signed in Cotonou, Benin
• Jun 28 Cuban exile Elián González returns to Cuba following a Supreme Court order.
• Jun 28 NBA Draft: Cincinnati power forward Kenyon Martin first pick by New Jersey Nets
• Jun 29 Eminem's mother goes to court claiming defamation of character in a $10 million civil suit, after taking exception to the line "My mother smokes more dope than I do" from her son's single 'My Name Is'
• Jul 1 The Oresund Bridge, connecting Sweden and Denmark, opens for traffic
• Jul 1 Vermont's civil unions law goes into effect.
• Jul 2 Vicente Fox is elected the first President of México from an opposition party, the Partido Acción Nacional after more than 70 years of continuous rule by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional
• Jul 4 Canadian jockey Russell Baze scores his 7,000th career victory aboard This Is the Moment at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, California
• Jul 6 Real estate developer Stan Kroenke announces the acquisition of the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and the Pepsi Centre for $450m from the Ascent Entertainment Group
• Jul 6 West Ham United FC pays a record £1.8 million for the late Bobby Moore's collection of memorabilia; 79 items including his 1966 World Cup winner's medal

• Jul 9 Police fired tear gas at fans during a World Cup qualifying soccer game between Zimbabwe and South Africa, setting off a stampede that killed twelve people in Harare, Zimbabwe
• Jul 10 A leaking southern Nigerian petroleum pipeline explodes, killing about 250 villagers scavenging gasoline

• Jul 10 EADS, the world's second largest aerospace group is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DASA, and CASA
• Jul 15 World record Rugby attendance of 108,874 see New Zealand beat Australia, 39-35 in Tri Nations match at Stadium Australia, Sydney; 5 tries each with Andrew Mehrtens' goal kicking (6) the difference
• Jul 20 In Zimbabwe, Parliament opens its new session and seats opposition members for the first time in a decade
• Jul 20 Terrorist Carlos the Jackal sues France in the European Court of Human Rights for allegedly torturing him
• Jul 20 The leaders of Salt Lake City's bid to win the 2002 Winter Olympics are indicted by a federal grand jury for bribery, fraud, and racketeering
• Jul 23 British Open Men's Golf, Royal Lytham & St. Annes: Tiger Woods beats Thomas Bjørn and Ernie Els by 8 shots to win his first Open title; becomes youngest player at 24 to win all 4 major titles
• Jul 25 Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde supersonic passenger jet, F-BTSC, crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 4 on the ground.
• Aug 1 First patient to receive the Jarvik 2000, the first total artificial heart that can maintain blood flow in addition to generating a pulse
• Aug 3 England cricket wicket-keeper Alec Stewart becomes only the 4th batsman to score a century (105) in his 100th Test, during the 3rd Test against the West Indies at Old Trafford
• Aug 3 South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Amnesty Committee grants amnesty to Curnick Ndlovu, the KwaZulu-Natal leader of the African National Congress and United Democratic Front, for committing sabotage during December 1961 and June 1963 near Durban
• Aug 5 Moni Maker wins the $500,00 Nat Ray at the Meadowlands in world record 1:52.1 to become harness racing's first $5m stakes earner

• Aug 8 Confederate submarine CSS H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor, off the coast of South Carolina [1]

• Aug 12 The Oscar class submarine K-141 Kursk of the Russian Navy explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise.
• Aug 16 "Hanging by a Moment" single released by Lifehouse (Billboard Song of the Year 2001)
• Aug 18 A Federal jury finds the US Environmental Protection Agency guilty of discrimination against Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, later inspiring passage of the No FEAR Act.
• Aug 20 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Valhalla GC: Tiger Woods becomes first since Ben Hogan (1953) to win 3 majors in a calendar year; wins back-to-back PGA titles in 3-hole playoff with Bob May
• Aug 23 A Gulf Air Airbus A320 crashes into the Persian Gulf near Manama, Bahrain, killing 143.
• Aug 23 Nicaragua becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty. This essentially deprecated the Buenos Aires Convention treaty, because as of this date, all members of the BA Convention were also signatories to Berne.
• Aug 24 Argon fluorohydride, the first Argon compound ever known, is discovered at the University of Helsinki by Finnish scientists.
• Aug 26 Australia clinches first Tri Nations Rugby Series with a 19-18 win over South Africa in Durban; Wallabies centre Stirling Mortlock lands 4 penalties and a conversion

• Sep 5 The Haverstraw-Ossining Ferry makes its maiden voyage.

• Sep 10 Indiana University fires basketball coach Bob Knight after an altercation with a student; Knight had spent 29 years at the school, compiling a 662-239 record
• Sep 11 Activists protest against the World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne, Australia.
• Sep 12 Holland (the Netherlands) passes law allowing same-gender marriage, adoption and divorce.
• Sep 15 27th Olympic Games opens at Sydney, Australia

• Sep 17 Dan Marino's #13 jersey is retired by the Miami Dolphins

• Sep 20 Patent on RSA cryptograph algorithm ends
• Sep 20 The Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) attacks British MI6 Secret Intelligence Service building, using a Russian-built Mark 22 anti-tank missile
• Sep 25 American basketball player Vince Carter jumps over 7 foot 2 Frédéric Weis in 2000 Summer Olympics, known in France as "le dunk de la mort" (the dunk of death)
• Sep 26 Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 20,000 protesters) turned violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.
• Sep 26 M/S Express Samina sinks off Paros in the Agean sea killing 80 passengers.

• Sep 29 "In the Mood for Love", Hong Kong film directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung released
• Oct 1 An all-African podium for the men's marathon at the Sydney Olympics as Gezahegne Abera of Ethiopia runs 2:10:11 for the gold medal, 0.20s ahead of Kenyan Erick Wainaina with bronze to Ethiopian Tesfaye Tola
• Oct 1 Cuban boxer Félix Savon wins his 3rd consecutive Olympic heavyweight gold medal at the Sydney Games; easily beats Russian Sultan Ibragimov on points 21-13; retires after victory ceremony
• Oct 1 German canoeist Birgit Fischer teams with Katrin Wagner to win the K2 500m gold medal at the Sydney Olympics; becomes first woman to win 2 or more medals at 4 Summer Olympics; only 4th woman to win 7 career gold
• Oct 1 Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the IOC declares the XXVII Olympics in Sydney, Australia the "best Olympic Games ever" at the closing ceremony
• Oct 1 NBA stars Ray Allen and Vince Carter each score 13 points as the US beats France 85-75 to win the men's basketball gold medal at the Sydney Olympics
• Oct 1 Norwegian canoeist Knut Holmann beats Petar Merkov of Bulgaria for the second consecutive day to win the K-1 500m gold medal at the Sydney Olympics; beat Markov in K-1 1000m the previous day
• Oct 1 Stephanie Cook of Great Britain scores 5,318 points to beat American Emily de Riel by just 8 points to win the inaugural Olympic women's modern pentathlon at the Sydney Games
• Oct 1 United States wins the most medals (97), and the most gold medals (40) in Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia

• Oct 6 President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milošević resigns
• Oct 6 Swedish comedy drama "Songs from the Second Floor" written and directed by Roy Andersson is released in Sweden
• Oct 7 Last ever competitive soccer match at Wembley Stadium, England defeated 1-0 by Germany, last goal scored by Liverpool's Dietmar Hammann. Match is Tony Adams' 60th at Wembley, the record for most appearances at the stadium.

• Oct 8 Musical "Peter Pan" starring Cathy Rigby, and filmed before a live audience, premieres on A&E TV
• Oct 11 South African Cricket Board issues former captain Hansie Cronje with a life ban as a result of match-fixing allegations
• Oct 11 The 100th Space Shuttle mission (STS-92) is flown
• Oct 12 American destroyer USS Cole is badly damaged in Aden, Yemen, by two suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39

• Oct 17 Train crash at Hatfield, north of London, leading to collapse of Railtrack

• Oct 22 German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher wins Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, his 4th straight race victory to finish season; 3rd, and 1st of 5 straight F1 World Drivers Championships; wins by 19 points from Mika Häkkinen
• Oct 23 "Monday Night Miracle", down 30-7 at the end of the third quarter, New York Jets pull together an improbable comeback with 4 touchdowns and a field goal in the fourth quarter, eventually defeating the Miami Dolphins 40-37 in overtime
• Oct 25 A team led by Brigitte Senut and Martin Pickford discover Orrorin tugenensis, one of the earliest species on the human family tree that lived about 6 million years ago, in the Tugen Hills, Kenya
• Oct 26 Laurent Gbagbo takes over as president of Côte d'Ivoire following a popular uprising against President Robert Guéï. Bret Hart retires.
• Oct 31 A chartered Antonov An-26 explodes after takeoff in Northern Angola killing 50
• Oct 31 A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 operating as Flight 006 collides with construction equipment upon takeoff in Taipei, Taiwan killing 79 passengers and four crew members
• Oct 31 Pope John Paul II declares Saint Thomas More as "the heavenly Patron of Statesmen and Politicians"

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