What Happened in 2000 — Events, Births & Deaths

A Norwegian passenger train departing from Trondheim, collides with a local train coming from Hamar in Åsta in Åmot Municipality; 19 people are killed and 68 injured in the accident.

Crossair Flight 498, a Saab 340 aircraft, crashes in Niederhasli, Switzerland, after taking off from Zurich Airport, killing 13 people.

A Short 360 aircraft chartered by the Sirte Oil Company crashes off the coast of Brega, Libya, killing 21.

Ecuador: After the Ecuadorian Congress is seized by indigenous organizations, Col. Lucio Gutiérrez, Carlos Solorzano and Antonio Vargas depose President Jamil Mahuad. Gutierrez is later replaced by Gen. Carlos Mendoza, who resigns and allows Vice-President Gustavo Noboa to succeed Mahuad.

Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ivory Coast, killing 169.

Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash: An MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 aboard.

First digital cinema projection in Europe (Paris) realized by Philippe Binant with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments.

The World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium, Charter of Paris is signed by the President of France, Jacques Chirac and the Director General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, initiating World Cancer Day which is held on February 4 every year.

Russian forces massacre at least 60 civilians in the Novye Aldi suburb of Grozny, Chechnya.

Second Chechen War: Russia captures Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile.

Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-99 to conduct the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.

The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.

Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 crashes near Sacramento Mather Airport in Rancho Cordova, California, killing all three aboard.

Pope John Paul II arrives in Egypt for a three-day stay as part of the Great Jubilee, marking the first papal visit in modern Egyptian history

Chechens attack a guard post near Ulus Kert, eventually killing 84 Russian paratroopers during the Second Chechen War.

Nupedia, a multi-language online encyclopedia, is launched.

The Dot-com bubble peaks with the NASDAQ Composite stock market index reaching 5,048.62.

Five hundred and thirty members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in a fire, considered to be a mass murder or suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult. Elsewhere another 248 members are later found dead.

Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff's deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.

Pope John Paul II makes his first ever pontifical visit to Israel.

A Phillips Petroleum plant explosion in Pasadena, Texas kills one person and injures 71 others.

United States v. Microsoft Corp.: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust law by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors.

Air Philippines Flight 541 crashes in Samal, Davao del Norte, killing all 131 people on board.

Canonization of Faustina Kowalska in the presence of 200,000 people and the first Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated worldwide.

President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.

The sport of geocaching begins, with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet.

Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London).

Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia.

Second Chechen War: Chechen separatists ambush Russian paramilitary forces in the Republic of Ingushetia.

A fireworks storage depot explodes in a residential neighborhood in Enschede, Netherlands, killing 23 people and injuring 950 others.

Arsenal and Galatasaray fans clash in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final riots in Copenhagen.

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-101 to resupply the International Space Station.

Nineteen people are killed in a plane crash in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna.

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

Liberation Day of Lebanon: Israel withdraws its army from Lebanese territory (with the exception of the disputed Shebaa farms zone) 18 years after the invasion of 1982.

The Six-Day War in Kisangani begins in Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, between Ugandan and Rwandan forces. A large part of the city is destroyed.

The United Nations defines the Blue Line as the border between Israel and Lebanon.

President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea meets Kim Jong-il, leader of North Korea, for the beginning of the first ever inter-Korea summit, in the northern capital of Pyongyang.

Italy pardons Mehmet Ali Ağca, the Turkish gunman who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981.

The Secretary-General of the UN reports that Israel has complied with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, 22 years after its issuance, and completely withdrawn from Lebanon. The Resolution does not encompass the Shebaa farms, which is claimed by Israel, Syria and Lebanon.

Section 28 (of the Local Government Act 1988), outlawing the 'promotion' of homosexuality in the United Kingdom, is repealed in Scotland with a 99 to 17 vote.

Wuhan Airlines Flight 343 is struck by lightning and crashes into Wuhan's Hanyang District, killing 49 people.

The Human Genome Project announces the completion of a "rough draft" sequence.

Vicente Fox Quesada 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, in the 2000 Mexican general election.

EADS, the world's second-largest aerospace group is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DASA, and CASA.

Bashar al-Assad succeeds his father Hafez al-Assad as President of Syria.

During approach to Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport, Alliance Air Flight 7412 suddenly crashes into a residential neighborhood in Patna, India, killing 60 people.

Concorde Air France Flight 4590 crashes outside of Paris shortly after taking off at Charles de Gaulle Airport, killing 113 people.

Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor and 30 years after its discovery by undersea explorer E. Lee Spence.

An air rage incident occurs on board Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 when 19-year-old Jonathan Burton attempts to storm the cockpit, but he is subdued by other passengers and dies from his injuries.

The Russian Navy submarine Kursk explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise, killing her entire 118-man crew.

American golfer Tiger Woods wins the 82nd PGA Championship and becomes the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in a calendar year.

Gulf Air Flight 072 crashes into the Persian Gulf near Manama, Bahrain, killing 143.

NASA launches Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-106 to resupply the International Space Station.

Operation Barras successfully frees six British soldiers held captive for over two weeks and contributes to the end of the Sierra Leone Civil War.

Microsoft releases Windows Me.

The United Kingdom's MI6 Secret Intelligence Service building is attacked by individuals using a Russian-built RPG-22 anti-tank missile.

Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 20,000 protesters) turn violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.

The MS Express Samina sinks off Paros in the Aegean Sea killing 80 passengers.

Al-Aqsa Intifada: Ariel Sharon visits Al-Aqsa Mosque known to Jews as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Twelve-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah is shot and killed on the second day of the Second Intifada.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Palestinians protest the killing of 12-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah by Israeli police in northern Israel, beginning the "October 2000 events".

Mass demonstrations in Serbia force the resignation of Slobodan Milošević.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Hezbollah militants capture three Israeli Defense Force soldiers in a cross-border raid.

NASA launches STS-92, the 100th Space Shuttle mission.

The USS Cole, a US Navy destroyer, is badly damaged by two al-Qaeda suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.

Two Israeli reservists are lynched by a Palestinian mob at the police station of Ramallah.

The Hatfield rail crash leads to the collapse of Railtrack.

A wave of protests forces Robert Guéï to step down as president after the Ivorian presidential election.

Soyuz TM-31 launches, carrying the first resident crew to the International Space Station. The ISS has been crewed continuously since then.

Singapore Airlines Flight 006 crashes on takeoff from Taipei, killing 83.

Chhattisgarh officially becomes the 26th state of India, formed from sixteen districts of eastern Madhya Pradesh.

Serbia and Montenegro joins the United Nations.

Expedition 1 arrived at the International Space Station for the first long-duration stay onboard. From this day to present, a continuous human presence in space on the station remains uninterrupted.

The controversial US presidential election is later resolved in the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case, electing George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration discovers one of the country's largest LSD labs inside a converted military missile silo in Wamego, Kansas.

Uttarakhand officially becomes the 27th state of India, formed from thirteen districts of northwestern Uttar Pradesh.

Kaprun disaster: One hundred fifty-five skiers and snowboarders die when a cable car catches fire in an alpine tunnel in Kaprun, Austria.

Philippine House Speaker Manny Villar passes the articles of impeachment against Philippine President Joseph Estrada.

A chartered Antonov An-24 crashes after takeoff from Luanda, Angola, killing more than 40 people.

Jharkhand officially becomes the 28th state of India, formed from eighteen districts of southern Bihar.

A catastrophic landslide in Log pod Mangartom, Slovenia, kills seven, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophes in Slovenia in the past 100 years.

Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru.

The 2000 Baku earthquake, with a Richter magnitude of 7.0 kills 26 people dead in Baku, Azerbaijan, being the strongest earthquake in the region in 158 years.

George W. Bush is certified the winner of Florida's electoral votes by Katherine Harris, going on to win the United States presidential election, despite losing in the national popular vote.

NASA launches STS-97, the 101st Space Shuttle mission.

Vicente Fox Quesada is inaugurated as the president of Mexico, marking the first peaceful transfer of executive federal power to an opposing political party following a free and democratic election in Mexico's history.

The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore.

The third reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is shut down.

Rizal Day bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines within a period of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.

Nicolas Kühn, German footballer

Ice Spice, American rapper

Spencer Arrighetti, American baseball player

Leandro Barreiro, Luxembourgish footballer

João Mário, Portuguese footballer

Max Aarons, English footballer

Facundo Colidio, Argentine footballer

Gastón Martirena, Uruguayan footballer

Fiete Arp, German footballer

Mohamed Camara, Malian footballer

Kwon Eun-bin, South Korean singer and actress

Jack McBain, Canadian ice hockey player

Shuhua, Taiwanese singer

Tyler Oliveira, American YouTuber

Marcus Scribner, American actor

Noah Cyrus, American singer, songwriter, and actress

Luka Šamanić, Croatian basketball player

Erik Botheim, Norwegian footballer

Reneé Rapp, American singer-songwriter and actress

Lee Chae-yeon, South Korean singer-songwriter

Sven Botman, Dutch footballer

Harley Smith-Shields, Australian rugby league player

Jonathan David, Canadian soccer player

Triston Casas, American baseball player

Andrew Nembhard, Canadian basketball player

Kang Chan-hee, South Korean singer and actor

Devlin DeFrancesco, Canadian race car driver

Ayo Dosunmu, American basketball player

Tyler Herro, American basketball player

Laia Codina, Spanish footballer

Fanni Pigniczki, Hungarian rhythmic gymnast

Ester Expósito, Spanish actress

Darius Garland, American basketball player

Morgan Gibbs-White, English footballer

Aurélien Tchouaméni, French footballer

Abel Ruiz, Spanish footballer

Dušan Vlahović, Serbian footballer

Markella Kavenagh, Australian actress

Bryan Woo, American baseball player

Julián Alvarez, Argentine footballer

Talanoa Hufanga, American football player

Munetaka Murakami, Japanese baseball player

Conor Gallagher, English footballer

Jayden Campbell, Australian rugby league player

María Carlé, Argentine tennis player

Yara Shahidi, American actress and model

Nassir Little, American basketball player

Kim Ji-min, South Korean actress

Vitinha, Portuguese footballer

Gabriel Moreno, Venezuelan baseball player

Jakub Kiwior, Polish footballer

Koffee, Jamaican singer, songwriter and rapper

Coby White, American basketball player

Carlos Yulo, Filipino artistic gymnast

Zakaria Aboukhlal, Moroccan footballer

Giacomo Raspadori, Italian footballer

Josh Sargent, American soccer player

Femke Broeders-Bol, Dutch hurdler and sprinter

Antony Matheus dos Santos, Brazilian footballer

Nichika Yamada, Japanese volleyball player

Bo Nix, American football player

Yeat, American rapper

Moise Kean, Italian footballer

Josip Šutalo, Croatian footballer

Tyrese Haliburton, American basketball player

Ferran Torres, Spanish footballer

Jesper Lindstrøm, Danish footballer

Ja'Marr Chase, American football player

Bárbara Domingos, Brazilian rhythmic gymnast

Illan Meslier, French footballer

Jevon Holland, Canadian-American football player

Doug Edert, American basketball player

Armando Bacot, American basketball player

Jacob Bertrand, American actor

Rasmus Sandin, Swedish ice hockey player

Sebastian Schwaighofer, Austrian politician

Khaby Lame, Senegalese-Italian social media personality

Nick Bolton, American football player

Chrisean Rock, American rapper and reality television personality

Jihoon, South Korean singer

Kristian Kostov, Russian-Bulgarian singer-songwriter

Jalen Smith, American basketball player

Hyunjin, South Korean rapper

Jace Norman, American actor

Yoon San-ha, South Korean singer and actor

Dimitrios Meliopoulos, Greek footballer

Ozan Kabak, Turkish footballer

Gefen Primo, Israeli judoka

Andrei Svechnikov, Russian ice hockey player

Halle Bailey, American singer-songwriter and actress

Sophie Nélisse, Canadian actress

Colton Herta, American race car driver

Rhian Brewster, English footballer

Rodrigo Riquelme, Spanish footballer

Josip Stanišić, Croatian footballer

Shaheen Afridi, Pakistani cricketer

Maxence Lacroix, French footballer

Tiago Djaló, Portuguese footballer

Jackie Evancho, American singer

Fidias Panayiotou, Cypriot internet celebrity and politician

Calen Addison, Canadian ice hockey player

Milly Alcock, Australian actress

Loïc Badé, French footballer

Ken Carson, American rapper and record producer

Karina, South Korean singer

Rasmus Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player

Facundo Torres, Uruguayan footballer

Patrick Surtain II, American football player

Chloe Kim, American snowboarder

Lee Jeno, South Korean rapper, vocalist and dancer

Dejan Kulusevski, Swedish footballer

Victoria De Angelis, Italian musician

Alek Thomas, American baseball player

Yui Hiwatashi, Japanese singer

Dean James, Indonesian footballer

Rema, Nigerian singer-songwriter and rapper

Trey Lance, American football player

Bae Jin-young, South Korean singer

Yūki Tsunoda, Japanese racing driver

Wang Chuqin, Chinese table tennis player

Dayana Yastremska, Ukrainian tennis player

Luis García Jr., Dominican-American baseball player

Ryan Sessegnon, English footballer

Steven Sessegnon, English footballer

Julián Carranza, Argentine footballer

Felipe Drugovich, Brazilian-Italian racing driver

Israel Reyes, Mexican footballer

Claire Liu, American tennis player

Yeji, South Korean singer

Abner Vinícius, Brazilian footballer

Phil Foden, English footballer

Risi Pouri-Lane, New Zealand rugby sevens player

Gennaro Nigro, American soccer player

Adam Zdrójkowski, Polish actor and television presenter

Jared S. Gilmore, American actor

Gable Steveson, American wrestler

Jay Idzes, Indonesian footballer

Beabadoobee, Filipino singer-songwriter

Haechan, South Korean singer

Ōnosato Daiki, Japanese professional sumo wrestler and the 75th yokozuna

Jan Paul van Hecke, Dutch footballer

Diego Lainez, Mexican footballer

Laurie Hernandez, American gymnast

Penny Oleksiak, Canadian swimmer

RJ Barrett, Canadian basketball player

Naomi Girma, American soccer player

Bobby Witt Jr., American baseball player

Bianca Andreescu, Canadian tennis player

Odessa A'zion, American actress

Dylan Brown, New Zealand rugby league player

Starford To'a, New Zealand rugby league player

Nehuén Pérez, Argentine footballer

Ann Li, American tennis player

Chris Olave, American football player

Lalu Muhammad Zohri, Indonesian sprinter

Faouzia, Moroccan-Canadian singer and songwriter

Zion Williamson, American basketball player

Vinícius Júnior, Brazilian footballer

Veronica Burton, American basketball player

Sarah Kinsley, American singer-songwriter

Erling Haaland, Norwegian footballer

Lia, South Korean singer

Garrett Wilson, American football player

Meg Donnelly, American actress

Zhang Hao, Chinese singer

Shakira Austin, American basketball player

Thomasin McKenzie, New Zealand actress

Emile Smith Rowe, English footballer

Yacine Adli, French footballer

Kim Sae-ron, South Korean actress (died 2025)

Kim Chaewon, South Korean singer

Varvara Gracheva, Russian tennis player

Mohammed Kudus, Ghanaian footballer

Tom Gilbert, Australian rugby league player

Lauren Hemp, English footballer

Félix Auger-Aliassime, Canadian tennis player

Aidan Hutchinson, American football player

Arlo Parks, British singer-songwriter

Sophia Smith, American soccer player

Jüri Vips, Estonian racing driver

Tristan Charpentier, French racing driver

Na Jaemin, South Korean rapper, singer, dancer and actor

Johan Rojas, Dominican baseball player

Lil Pump, American rapper and songwriter

Keegan Murray, American basketball player

Corbin Carroll, American baseball player

Boryana Kaleyn, Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast and Olympic silver medalist

Griffin Gluck, American actor

Nicki Nicole, Argentine rapper and singer-songwriter

Kyren Williams, American football player

Marissa Bode, American actress

Sauce Gardner, American football player

Mikhail Iakovlev, Israeli Olympic cyclist

Pratika Rawal, Indian cricketer

Brandon Williams, English footballer

Sergio Gómez, Spanish footballer

David Kushner, American singer-songwriter

Ariarne Titmus, Australian swimmer

Zak Butters, Australian footballer

Miles McBride, American basketball player

Ricky Pearsall, American football player

Leandro Bolmaro, Argentine-Italian basketball player

Zay Flowers, American football player

Han, South Korean rapper

Felix, Australian singer based in South Korea, member of Stray Kids

Sam Howell, American football player

Oliver Skipp, English footballer

Louise Christie, British rhythm gymnast

Stephen Crichton, Samoan rugby league footballer

Seungmin, South Korean singer

Lilas Ikuta, Japanese singer and songwriter

Frankie Amaya, American soccer player

Princess Salma bint Abdullah, Jordanian princess

Frankie Jonas, American actor, singer, and songwriter

Jaden McDaniels, American basketball player

Kalle Rovanperä, Finnish professional rally driver

Quadeca, American singer-songwriter and YouTuber

CJ Abrams, American baseball player

Jazz Jennings, American internet personality

Kyle Pitts, American football player

Addison Rae, American social media personality, dancer, and singer

Penei Sewell, American football player

Adin Ross, American internet personality and streamer

Jongho, South Korean singer and actor

Mia Threapleton, British actress

Melki Sedek Huang, Indonesian activist and sex offender

Sophie Thatcher, American actress

Kenneth Walker III, American football player

Baby Keem, American rapper and record producer

Dominik Szoboszlai, Hungarian footballer

Vincent Zhou, American figure skater

Giselle, Japanese singer

Willow Smith, American singer, actress, and dancer

Gonzalo Plata, Ecuadorian footballer

Tyrese Maxey, American basketball player

Sun Yingsha, Chinese table tennis player

Callum Hudson-Odoi, English footballer

Jade Pettyjohn, American actress

Jasmine Thompson, English singer

Mackenzie Foy, American actress and model

Scotty Pippen Jr., American basketball player

Oliver Sonne, Danish-Peruvian footballer

Sydney Agudong, American actress and singer

Xiyeon, South Korean singer and actress

Josh Green, Australian basketball player

Joanne Züger, Swiss tennis player

Connie Talbot, English singer-songwriter

Isabel May, American actress

Matt O'Riley, English-Danish footballer

Auliʻi Cravalho, American actress and singer

Talen Horton-Tucker, American basketball player

Kaja Juvan, Slovenian tennis player

Lamecha Girma, Ethiopian athlete

Jackson Yee, Chinese singer, dancer and actor

Jane Paknia, American musician

Soobin, South Korean singer-songwriter

Dane Belton, American football player

DeMario Douglas, American football player

Bayron Matos, Dominican American football player

Andy Pages, Cuban baseball player

Diāna Ņikitina, Latvian figure skater

Jeremie Frimpong, Dutch footballer

Onyeka Okongwu, American basketball player

Simona Waltert, Swiss tennis player

Kayvon Thibodeaux, American football player

Wesley Fofana, French footballer

Jayden Daniels, American football player

Korapat Kirdpan, Thai actor and singer

Travon Walker, American football player

Gaboro, Assyrian Swedish rapper and songwriter (died 2024)

Joshua Bassett, American actor and singer

Victor Boniface, Nigerian footballer

Wilfried Singo, Ivorian footballer

Orkun Kökçü, Dutch-Turkish footballer

Julio Rodríguez, Dominican baseball player

Eliot Vassamillet, Belgian singer

Alycia Parks, American tennis player

Doug Henning, Canadian magician and politician (born 1947)

Dennis Danell, American guitarist (born 1961)

Lolo Ferrari, French dancer, actress and singer (born 1963)

Pee Wee King, American singer-songwriter (born 1914)

Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and educator (born 1908)

Giorgio Bassani, Italian author and poet (born 1916)

Frenchy Bordagaray, American baseball player and manager (born 1910)

Louis Applebaum, Canadian composer and conductor (born 1918)

Steve Reeves, American bodybuilder and actor (born 1926)

Jules Deschênes, Canadian lawyer and judge (born 1923)

Dick Sprang, American illustrator (born 1915)

Davie Fulton, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (born 1916)

Frédéric Dard, French author and screenwriter (born 1921)

Jules Roy, French author, poet, and playwright (born 1907)

Pepo, Chilean cartoonist; creator of Condorito (born 1911)

Bineshwar Brahma, Indian poet, author, and educator (born 1948)

Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet and educator (born 1917)

Hoyt Curtin, American composer and producer (born 1922)