What happened in the 2000s?
The 2000s brought the smartphone, social media and streaming, and a world reshaped by 9/11 and a global financial crisis.
105 events, oldest first.
Timeline of The 2000s
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2000
Cathy Freeman wins Olympic 400 m gold
She had lit the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony.
History of sport
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2000
Heinz launches green ketchup
Blastin' Green was aimed at children and was followed by purple, pink, orange and blue versions.
Food & brand history
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2000
Steve Redgrave wins a fifth Olympic gold
He won golds at five Games in a row.
History of sport
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2000
Tate Modern opens in London
It fills the former Bankside Power Station, whose vast Turbine Hall hosts giant art installations.
Art & literature history
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2000
The first crew arrives at the Space Station
People have lived aboard the station continuously ever since.
History of exploration
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2000
The last Pyrenean ibex dies
In 2003 scientists cloned one, but the kid lived for only a few minutes.
Natural history & deep time
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2000
The Millennium Bug passes
Billions were spent fixing Y2K, and very few systems failed.
Science & technology history
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2000
The PlayStation 2 is released
It went on to sell more than 155 million units, making it one of the best-selling games consoles of all time.
Science & technology history
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2000
Vladimir Putin is elected president of Russia
The former KGB officer had already been acting president for about three months.
Politics & society history
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2001
Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist
The American businessman paid about $20 million for nearly eight days in space.
History of exploration
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2001
Goran Ivanišević wins Wimbledon as a wildcard
Ranked 125th in the world, he is still the only wildcard to win a Wimbledon singles title.
History of sport
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2001
Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away is released
It became the first anime to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
Pop culture history
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2001
Pizza Hut delivers a pizza to the Space Station
Pepperoni went mouldy in tests, so cosmonaut Yuri Usachov got salami; the stunt cost about $1 million.
Food & brand history
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2001
Shrek is released
It won the first-ever Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
Pop culture history
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2001
The iPod is released
Its slogan promised '1,000 songs in your pocket'.
Science & technology history
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2001
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy begins
Filmed entirely in New Zealand, it boosted the country's tourism for years.
Pop culture history
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2001
The Netherlands legalises same-sex marriage
It was the first country in the world to do so.
Politics & society history
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2001
The September 11 attacks take place
Nearly 3,000 people died, and the attacks reshaped airport security around the world.
Modern history
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2001
Wikipedia launches
Its predecessor, Nupedia, managed only a couple of dozen finished articles.
Science & technology history
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2001
Windows XP is released
Its default wallpaper, "Bliss", is a real photo of a hillside in California's Sonoma County, taken by Charles O'Rear.
Science & technology history
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2002
American Idol first airs
It was based on Britain's Pop Idol, and its first winner was Kelly Clarkson.
Pop culture history
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2002
Brazil win a record fifth World Cup
Ronaldo scored both goals in the final against Germany in Yokohama.
History of sport
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2002
East Timor becomes independent
It was the first new sovereign state of the 21st century.
Politics & society history
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2002
Euro notes and coins enter circulation
It was the biggest cash changeover in history, across 12 countries at once.
Politics & society history
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2002
Steve Fossett flies a balloon solo around the world
It was his sixth attempt.
History of exploration
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2002
The Roomba robot vacuum goes on sale
Its maker, iRobot, also built PackBot robots that searched the ruins of the World Trade Center.
Science & technology history
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2002
Vanilla Coke is launched
Soda-fountain customers had been adding vanilla syrup to their Coca-Cola for decades before it was bottled.
Food & brand history
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2003
Apple opens the iTunes Music Store
Songs cost 99 cents each, and it sold a million in its first week.
Science & technology history
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2003
Concorde makes its final commercial flight
It had flown passengers for 27 years.
Modern history
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2003
England win the Rugby World Cup
Jonny Wilkinson's drop goal won it in the final minute of extra time.
History of sport
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2003
Finding Nemo is released
After the film, demand for pet clownfish soared.
Pop culture history
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2003
Roger Federer wins his first Wimbledon
He went on to win a record eight Wimbledon men's titles.
History of sport
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2003
Skype launches
Its name grew out of 'sky peer-to-peer'.
Science & technology history
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2003
Starbucks introduces the Pumpkin Spice Latte
The original recipe contained no actual pumpkin; real pumpkin was added more than a decade later.
Food & brand history
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2003
The Da Vinci Code is published
Its success sent so many fans to Scotland's Rosslyn Chapel that visitor numbers soared.
Art & literature history
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2003
The Human Genome Project is completed
It took 13 years and cost about $3 billion.
Science & technology history
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2003
The US-led invasion of Iraq begins
Baghdad fell within three weeks, and Saddam Hussein was found hiding in a hole that December.
Modern history
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2003
Yang Liwei becomes China's first astronaut in space
China became only the third country to send a person into orbit on its own rocket.
History of exploration
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2004
A giant squid is photographed alive
Japanese researchers caught it on camera about 900 metres deep in the Pacific.
Natural history & deep time
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2004
Facebook launches
It started as a website for Harvard students only.
Pop culture history
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2004
Google launches Gmail
Announced on April Fools' Day, its 1 GB of free storage was so generous many thought it was a joke.
Science & technology history
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2004
Greece win the European Championship
Long-shot outsiders, they beat hosts Portugal in both the opening game and the final.
History of sport
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2004
Shanghai's maglev train enters service
It reaches 431 km/h on its run to the airport.
Science & technology history
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2004
Super Size Me is released
Morgan Spurlock ate only McDonald's for a month and put on about 11 kg.
Food & brand history
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2004
Ten countries join the European Union at once
It was the EU's largest single enlargement, adding Poland, Malta, Cyprus and the Baltic states among others.
Politics & society history
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2004
The final episode of Friends airs
About 52.5 million Americans watched the farewell.
Pop culture history
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2004
The Indian Ocean tsunami
Waves struck coasts in more than a dozen countries.
Natural history & deep time
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2005
Angela Merkel becomes German chancellor
She was Germany's first female chancellor and served for 16 years.
Politics & society history
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2005
Benedict XVI is elected pope
He later became the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years.
Politics & society history
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2005
Ellen MacArthur sets a solo round-the-world record
She sailed around the world alone in about 71 days.
History of exploration
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2005
Fernando Alonso becomes F1's youngest champion
His title ended Michael Schumacher's run of five world championships in a row.
History of sport
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2005
Google Maps launches
It began as a desktop program built by two Danish brothers in Sydney before Google bought their start-up.
Science & technology history
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2005
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is published
It sold roughly nine million copies in its first 24 hours in the US and UK alone.
Art & literature history
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2005
Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans
About 80% of the city flooded.
Natural history & deep time
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2005
Jamie's School Dinners airs on British TV
The series made Turkey Twizzlers infamous and pushed the government to pledge £280 million for school meals.
Food & brand history
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2005
Live 8 concerts are held around the world
Ten concerts ran on the same day, and Pink Floyd reunited with Roger Waters for the first time in 24 years.
Pop culture history
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2005
Reddit launches
Its founders filled the empty site with dozens of fake accounts so it would look busy in the early days.
Science & technology history
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2005
The first YouTube video is uploaded
'Me at the zoo' is 19 seconds long and features elephants at San Diego Zoo.
Pop culture history
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2005
The Huygens probe lands on Saturn's moon Titan
It is still the most distant landing ever made by a spacecraft, far beyond the asteroid belt.
History of exploration
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2006
Cormac McCarthy's The Road is published
The bleak tale of a father and son won the Pulitzer Prize and became an Oprah's Book Club pick.
Art & literature history
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2006
Daniel Craig debuts as Bond in Casino Royale
Tabloids mocked him as 'James Blonde' before release, but it became the highest-grossing Bond film yet.
Pop culture history
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2006
Disney buys Pixar
The deal made Steve Jobs the largest individual shareholder in Disney.
Food & brand history
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2006
Google buys YouTube
Google paid $1.65 billion in stock for a site that was less than two years old.
Food & brand history
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2006
New Horizons launches towards Pluto
When it left Earth, Pluto was still officially a planet; it was demoted seven months later.
History of exploration
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2006
Pluto is reclassified as a dwarf planet
Pluto was officially a planet for just 76 years.
Science & technology history
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2006
The first tweet is sent
Jack Dorsey's first tweet read 'just setting up my twttr'.
Pop culture history
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2006
The Nintendo Wii is released
Its motion controls drew in many people who had never played video games.
Pop culture history
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2006
The PlayStation 3 is released
The US Air Force later linked 1,760 of them together to build a supercomputer.
Science & technology history
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2006
Zidane is sent off in the World Cup final
It was the last match of his career, and Italy went on to win on penalties.
History of sport
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2007
Amazon's Kindle e-reader goes on sale
The first batch sold out in five and a half hours.
Science & technology history
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2007
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is published
J.K. Rowling finished it in an Edinburgh hotel room and signed a marble bust there to mark the moment.
Art & literature history
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2007
India win the first T20 World Cup
During the tournament Yuvraj Singh hit six sixes in a single over against England.
History of sport
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2007
Netflix starts streaming films online
It launched with about 1,000 titles to watch, against 70,000 DVDs available by post.
Food & brand history
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2007
Smoking is banned in England's pubs and bars
Ireland had led the way three years earlier, and Scotland followed a year before England.
Politics & society history
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2007
The Big Bang Theory first airs
Its rejected first pilot had no Penny; she was added when the show was reworked.
Pop culture history
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2007
The 'Charlie Bit My Finger' video is uploaded
The family later sold it as an NFT for about $760,000.
Pop culture history
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2007
The first iPhone is released
Steve Jobs unveiled it in January 2007 and it went on sale that June.
Science & technology history
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2007
The new Wembley Stadium opens
Its 315-metre arch is the world's longest single-span roof structure, rising 133 metres above the pitch.
History of sport
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2008
Airbnb is founded
Its broke founders kept going by selling novelty cereal boxes called Obama O's and Cap'n McCain's.
Food & brand history
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2008
Apple's App Store opens
It launched with about 500 apps.
Science & technology history
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2008
Barack Obama is elected US president
He was the first African American elected to the office.
Politics & society history
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2008
Breaking Bad first airs
Bryan Cranston was best known as the hapless dad in Malcolm in the Middle before playing Walter White.
Pop culture history
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2008
Google Chrome launches
Google announced its new browser with a 38-page comic book drawn by Scott McCloud.
Science & technology history
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2008
Iron Man launches the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Much of the dialogue was improvised because the script wasn't finished when filming began.
Pop culture history
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2008
Lehman Brothers collapses
It was the largest bankruptcy in US history.
Modern history
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2008
Lewis Hamilton wins his first F1 title
He clinched it on the final corner of the final race.
History of sport
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2008
Michael Phelps wins eight golds at one Games
He broke Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at a single Olympics.
History of sport
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2008
Nadal beats Federer in an epic Wimbledon final
The match lasted nearly five hours and finished in near darkness after rain delays.
History of sport
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2008
Spotify launches
It was founded in Sweden, where music piracy was rife.
Science & technology history
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2008
The first Android phone goes on sale
The T-Mobile G1 had a slide-out keyboard, and later Android versions were named after desserts.
Science & technology history
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2008
The Hunger Games novel is published
Suzanne Collins got the idea while flicking between reality TV and footage of the Iraq War.
Art & literature history
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2008
The Large Hadron Collider is switched on
It broke down nine days later, and repairs took more than a year.
Science & technology history
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2008
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opens
It is built into an Arctic mountain to safeguard the world's crop seeds.
Natural history & deep time
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2009
Angry Birds is released
It was Rovio's 52nd game, made when the Finnish studio was close to running out of money.
Pop culture history
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2009
Avatar is released
It became the highest-grossing film of all time.
Pop culture history
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2009
Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize
Nominations closed just 12 days after he took office.
Politics & society history
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2009
Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall wins the Booker Prize
Its sequel won too, making her the first woman to win the Booker twice.
Art & literature history
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2009
Kickstarter launches
The Pebble Time smartwatch later raised over $20 million on it, a record at the time.
Food & brand history
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2009
Minecraft is first released
It went on to become the best-selling video game of all time.
Pop culture history
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2009
Roger Federer finally wins the French Open
The win completed his career Grand Slam and equalled Pete Sampras's record of 14 major titles.
History of sport
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2009
Susan Boyle stuns Britain's Got Talent
Her debut album became the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history at the time.
Pop culture history
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2009
The first Bitcoin block is mined
Its creator, known only as Satoshi Nakamoto, has never been identified.
Science & technology history
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2009
The Kepler space telescope launches
It went on to confirm more than 2,600 planets orbiting other stars.
Science & technology history
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2009
The Staffordshire Hoard is found
A metal detectorist found the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered.
History of exploration
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2009
Usain Bolt runs 100 metres in 9.58 seconds
His top speed during the race was about 44.7 km/h.
History of sport
Think you know your history?
Put 5, 7 or 10 events in chronological order in three tries. A new Chrono-Shift puzzle arrives every day.
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