2000s

Millennium:	3rd millennium
Centuries:	20th century – 21st century – 22nd century
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s – 2000s – 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years:	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Categories:	Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments

The 2000s was the decade that started on January 1, 2000, and ended on December 31, 2009.

Events

The September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center

• November 7, 2000 – George W. Bush is elected as President of the United States.

• January 13, 2001 – A 6.6 magnitude earthquake strikes El Salvador killing at least 400 people.

• February 20, 2001 – An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease occurs in the United Kingdom and over 10 million sheep and cattle were killed.

• July 2, 2001 – The first artificial heart is implanted in a human being.

• September 11, 2001 – Terrorist attacks are carried out on the World Trade Center in New York City and The Pentagon in Washington D.C. by members of the Islamic extremist group Al Qaeda. The attacks involved the hijacking of four American passenger planes and resulted in almost 3,000 human deaths. Two of these planes were flown directly into the two towers of the World Trade Center, causing both towers to collapse. Another was flown into a section of the Pentagon and another crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after the terrorists were overpowered by passengers.

• September 18, 2001 – Letters containing anthrax spores are mailed to several American media offices and two American senators. Twenty-two people are exposed and 5 people die.

• September 21, 2001 – A chemical factory explodes in Toulouse, France, killing 29 people and seriously wounding over 2,500.

• 2001 – War in Afghanistan (2001–present) begins as the United States, with help from other countries, invades Afghanistan.

• 2002 – May 20: East Timor gains independence from Indonesia
• 2002–2003 – SARS outbreak
• 2003 – Invasion of Iraq
• 2003 – December 26 – earthquake in Bam, Iran
• 2004 – March 11: Bomb attacks on Madrid's train network
• 2004 – September 1: Beslan School hostage crisis in Russia
• 2004 – Orange Revolution in Ukraine
• 2004 – December 26: tsunami in the Indian Ocean
• 2005 – April 2: Death of Pope John Paul II
• 2005 – July 7: Bomb attacks on London's tube network
• 2005 – October 8: earthquake in Kashmir
• 2005 – November 22: Angela Merkel becomes Germany's Chancellor.
• 2005 – Atlantic Basin Hurricane season is the worst on record.
• 2006 – January 16: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in Liberia becomes the first female President on the African continent.
• 2006 – July – August: war between Israel and Lebanon
• 2006 – December 30: Saddam Hussein is executed in Iraq.
• 2007 – May 16: Nicolas Sarkozy becomes President of France.
• 2007 – June 27: Gordon Brown becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 2008 – February 24: Cuban President Fidel Castro retires. He is succeeded by his brother Raul Castro.
• 2008 – May 3: Burma is hit by Cyclone Nargis.
• 2008 – May 12: China's Sichuan province is hit by a major earthquake.
• 2008 – November: Mumbai terrorist attacks
• 2008/2009 – war in the Gaza Strip
• 2009 – January 20: Barack Obama becomes President of the United States.
• 2009 – June 25: Death of Michael Jackson

People

• Pope John Paul II, Pope until 2005
• Pope Benedict XVI, Pope succeeding John Paul II on April 19, 2005
• Elizabeth II, British queen since 1952
• Vladimir Putin, President of Russia from 2000 to 2008
• Dmitry Medvedev, President of Russia from 2008
• George W. Bush, President of the United States from 2001 to 2009
• Barack Obama, President of the United States from 2009
• Fidel Castro, Cuban President
• Raul Castro, Cuban President
• Johannes Rau, German President (1999–2004)
• Horst Koehler, German President (2004–2010)
• Gerhard Schröder, German chancellor until 2005
• Angela Merkel, German chancellor from 2005
• Tony Blair, British Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007
• Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister from 2007
• Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq until 2003
• Jacques Chirac, President of France until 2007
• Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France from 2007
• Hu Jintao, Chinese President
• Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesian President
• John Howard, Australian Prime Minister (1996–2007)
• Kevin Rudd, Australian Prime Minister from 2007
• Akihito, emperor of Japan
• Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela starting in 1999
• Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe since 1987
• Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian President
• Ben Affleck, actor
• Tom Hanks, American actor
• Julia Roberts, American actress
• Kylie Minogue, Australian singer
• David Beckham, British footballer
• Ronaldo, Brazilian footballer
• Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer
• Didier Drogba, Ivorian footballer
• Zinedine Zidane, French footballer
• Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
• Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis player
• Andy Roddick, American tennis player
• Serena Williams, American tennis player
• Venus Williams, American tennis player
• Kobe Bryant, basketball player
• Britney Spears, American singer
• Madonna, singer
• Beyoncé Knowles, singer
• Justin Timberlake, singer
• Lady Gaga, singer
• Christina Aguilera, American singer
• Eminem, American rapper
• Michael Jackson, American singer and entertainer (1958–2009)
• Will Smith, American actor
• Bruce Willis, actor
• Angelina Jolie, American actress
• Brad Pitt, American actor
• blink-182, American pop-punk band
• Harold Bishop, Australian stroke sufferer
• Dwayne Johnson, American pro-wrestler and actor
• Heath Ledger, Australian actor (1979–2008)
• Helen Mirren, British actress
• Donald Trump, American businessman