2000 in history
Here are some light-hearted facts about 2000, designed to serve as a prep sheet for a radio feature on 2000.
I created this page because when I needed some notes to create a few talking points about 2000 in Ireland I couldn't find any suitable sources, so I thought I'd share what I did find. It applies to 2000 in Britain too.
You can also look at years other than 2000:
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2000
Google started working on Google Images after they were inundated with people searching for Jennifer Lopez's green dress that she wore to the Grammy's this year.
The Summer Olympics were held in Australia. The Spanish Paralympic basketball team were ordered to return their gold medals after nearly all of their players were found to have no disability.
Elon Musk was sacked as CEO of PayPal, but he kept his equity stake, which formed a huge part of his success story.
It was the wettest year on record for the UK, and there was widespread flooding in Autumn.
Madonna married Guy Ritchie.
Tiger Woods became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam in golf. He also signed a $100m deal to extend his agreement with Nike - which was the biggest endorsement contract in the history of sport.
The first major UK fuel protests take place, with refineries blockaded, and most petrol stations running dry.
Hovercraft services stopped operating across the English Channel.
Ken Livingstone was elected as the first Mayor of London. As he had been the leader of the old Greater London Council, he started his victory speech by saying, "as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted".
New licensing laws in Ireland meant that pubs no longer had to close between 2 and 4 on a Sunday, ending the so-called 'Holy Hour'.
2000 Launches
The Nokia 3310 was released: famously the strongest phone ever made, and with the simple and popular Snake game.
London's new Millennium Bridge opened. Two days later it closed for two years for repairs following complaints that it was "too wobbly".
The Millennium Dome was a bit of a flop as well. It was a popular attraction, but not popular enough, and soon went into liquidation.
The London Eye opened.
The website 'Friends Reunited' was created. One of the first examples of social media, it was an immediate hit, though it also became associated with extra marital affairs as old flames got back in touch.
Moonpig was launched.
Dating website eHarmony was launched.
The first game in The Sims franchise was released.
A 15-second online video of a man sneaking a cat into his apartment building is widely believed to be the first "vlog".
Lidl stores opened across Ireland.
2000 in Film
How the Grinch Stole Christmas was the biggest film of the year.
Other big films include Mission: Impossible II, Gladiator, Meet the Parents, X-Men, Scary Movie, What Lies Beneath and Big Momma's House.
Billy Elliot was released.
2000 in TV
Big TV shows of the year (not premiers): Heartbeat, Inspector Morse, One Foot In The Grave and ER.
The Weakest Link began on BBC Two
The first series of Big Brother opened in the UK. It was billed as a social experiment and Craig Phillips was the winner (he's now a TV presenter). It also created Nasty Nick.
My Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Malcolm In The Middle, MTV Cribs and Da Ali G Show first shown on TV.
An advert for Budweiser has everybody saying 'Wassup'.
New Catchphrase host Nick Weir fell down the stairs while running through the audience at the start of the show. The incident was shown in a later episode to explain why he was now on crutches.
Judith Keppel became the first person to win £1,000,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
On Changing Rooms, Linda Barker had to break the news that a homeowner's £6,000 antique teapot collection had been smashed when they were placed on a new shelf that collapsed.
While these facts about 2000 have been checked against third-party sources (and have been used on air before!), they are provided in good faith to inspire your research and no guarantee is made about their accuracy or their uniqueness. You can use the facts however you wish: most people just take a couple of points they remember and talk around then.
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