Top News Stories from 2000 (2024)

World Events

• Austria at center of European dispute after conservative People's Party forms coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, headed by xenophobe Jörg Haider (Feb. 3).
• Reformists win control of Iranian parliament for first time since 1979 Islamic revolution (Feb. 26).
• Governing of Northern Ireland passes back and forth between Britain and nascent Northern Irish parliament; major dispute over IRA's refusal to disarm (Feb-May).
• Former Indonesian president Suharto under house arrest, charged with corruption and abuse of power (May 29).
• Presidents of North and South Korea sign peace accord, and at least symbolically, end a half-century of antagonism (June 13).
• Vicente Fox Quesada elected president of Mexico, ending 71 years of one-party rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) (July 2).
• Concorde crash kills 113 near Paris (July 25).
• Palestinians and Israelis clash, spurred by visit of right-wing Israeli leader Ariel Sharon to a joint Jewish/Muslim holy site; "Al Aksa intifada" continues unabated (Sept. 30 et seq.).
• Nationwide uprising overthrows Yugoslavian president Milosevic (Oct. 5); Vojislav Kostunica sworn in as president (Oct. 7).
• U.S. sailors on Navy destroyer Cole die in Yemen terrorist explosion (Oct. 12).
• Mad cow disease alarms Europe (Nov. 30 et seq.).

U.S. Events

• Wary investors bring stock plunge; beginning of the end of the Internet stock boom (Feb. 25).
• Cuban boy Elián González, 6, at center of international dispute, reunited with his father after federal raid of Miami relatives' home (April 22).
• U.S. presidential election closest in decades; Bush's slim lead in Florida leads to automatic recount in that state (Nov. 7-8). Republicans file federal suit to block manual recount of Florida presidential election ballots sought by Democrats (Nov. 11). Florida Supreme Court rules election hand count may continue (Nov. 21). U.S. Supreme Court orders halt to manual recount of Florida votes (Dec. 9). Supreme Court seals Bush victory by 5-4; rules there can be no further recounting (Dec. 12). See 2000 election chronology.
• See also: 2000 Year in Review and 2000 Month-by-Month

Economics

Federal spending: $1,788.83 billion

Federal debt $5,674.2 billion

Consumer Price Index: $172.2

Unemployment: 4.0%

Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.34

Sports

Super Bowl

World Series

NBA Championship

Stanley Cup

Wimbledon

Kentucky Derby Champion

NCAA Basketball Championship

NCAA Football Champions

Entertainment

Events

• In the biggest merger in the country's history, America Online agrees to buy Time Warner, the nation's largest traditional media company, for $165 billion. The mega-deal reflects the growing dominance of the Internet in areas including publishing, music, film, and broadcasting. It also serves to validate the Internet, proving that the Web is likely here to stay and somewhat justifying the value of Internet companies that have yet to turn a profit but are worth billions on paper (Jan. 10).
• Kathie Lee Gifford announces she's calling it quits after the current season of Live! With Regis & Kathie Lee. She had been sharing hosting duties with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire's Regis Philbin for 11 years. She said she "has songs to sing, songs to write" (Feb 24).
• Stephen King's 66-page novella Riding the Bullet is available exclusively in electronic only as an "e-book." For $2.50 readers can download the book onto computers or personal organizers. The software prevents users from printing or copying the manuscript. More than 500,000 copies were downloaded in the first three days the book was available (March 14).
• The six cast members of Friends sign a two-year contract, with each actor earning $750,000 per episode, up from the $125,000 they now make (May 14).
• Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche announce their breakup. Unfortunately, we have decided to end our relationship. It is an amicable parting, and we greatly value the 3 1/2 years we have spent together,they said in a joint statement. The same day, Heche was hospitalized after wandering disoriented to a southern Fresno County, California, house. No word on what prompted the behavior (Aug. 19).
• Madonna and director Guy Ritchie marry in an elegant ceremony at Scotland's Skibo Castle. Stella McCartney, who designed the brides's gown, serves as her maid of honor. Ritchie wears a Hunting Mackintosh kilt, sans undies (Dec. 22).
• Richard Hatch, the overweight "Island Machiavelli," outwits and outlasts the other Survivor cast members and walks off the island in the South China Sea with $1 million. Rounding out the final four were river guide Kelly Wigelsworth, former U.S. Navy SEAL Rudy Boesch, and truck driver Susan Hawk. An estimated 51 million viewers tune into the final episode of the summer phenomenon (Aug. 23).
• Charles Schulz, the cartoonist who created the "Peanuts" comic strip, dies in his sleep after a battle with colon cancer. In a career that spanned nearly 50 years, Schulz drew more than 18,250 "Peanuts" comic strips, which expressed a droll philosophy through the precocious children. The "Peanuts" debuted in 1950 and went on to be the most widely read comic strip in the world, with an audience of 355 million in 75 countries. It ran in 2,600 newspapers and was published in 21 languages, including Serbo-Croatian, Chinese, and Tlingit (Feb. 12).
• Oprah Winfrey debuts O magazine. The Queen of All Media graces the cover and plans to be front and center on all issues "for the foreseeable future." Winfrey labels her latest endeavor "a personal growth guide" that's targeted to the 25-to-49 demographic (April 19).

Movies

• Chocolat
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
• Erin Brockovich
• Gladiator
• Traffic

Books

• Jim the Boy, Tony Earley
• White Teeth, Zadie Smith
• Vertigo, W. G. Sebald
• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers
• See also: Summer Reading 2000

Science

• NEAR spacecraft becomes first to orbit an asteroid (Feb. 14).
• "I love you" virus disrupts computers worldwide (May 14).
• Human genome deciphered; expected to revolutionize the practice of medicine (June 26).
• Abortion pill, RU-486, wins U.S. approval (Sept. 28).

Death

• Tito Puente
• Leah Rabin
• Jason Robards
• Steve Allen
• Hafez al-Assad
• Victor Borge
• Mel Carnahan
• Bonnie Cashin
• Sir John Gielgud
• Alec Guinness
• Hedy Lamarr
• Jacob Lawrence
• John Lindsay
• Nancy Marchand
• Walter Matthau
• Keizo Obuchi
• Charles Schulz
• Pierre Trudeau