2000s Timeline: Key Dates, Events And Milestones

The 2000s in order, one year at a time, from 2000 to 2009.

Each year gives the headline of the year, the news that mattered, and the music, screen and sport people remember.

Useful for quizzes, school projects, reminiscence sessions and milestone birthday cards.

2000

• The Millennium Dome, the fuel protests and Big Brother arriving from nowhere.
• The Millennium Dome opened on 1 January and struggled with visitor numbers all year.
• Fuel protests in September brought petrol stations close to empty within days.
• The Millennium Bridge opened in June and shut again within days because of its sway.
• 'Can We Fix It?' by Bob the Builder was the Christmas number one.
• Big Brother launched on Channel 4 in July, and Craig Phillips won the first series.
• Britain had its best Olympics in decades at Sydney, with Steve Redgrave winning a fifth consecutive gold.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2000

2001

• Foot-and-mouth, 11 September and the first iPod.
• The foot-and-mouth outbreak closed footpaths and delayed the general election to June.
• The 11 September attacks in the United States were watched live on rolling news.
• Labour won a second landslide general election.
• 'It Wasn't Me' by Shaggy and 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' by Kylie Minogue were the year's biggest singles.
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring both opened.
• England beat Germany 5-1 in Munich on 1 September.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2001

2002

• The Golden Jubilee, the death of the Queen Mother and Pop Idol fever.
• The Golden Jubilee was celebrated in June, with a concert at Buckingham Palace.
• The Queen Mother died on 30 March, aged 101.
• The euro entered circulation across much of Europe in January; the UK kept the pound.
• Will Young's 'Anything Is Possible'/'Evergreen' was the year's best-selling single after he won Pop Idol.
• Freeview launched in October and replaced ITV Digital.
• England reached the World Cup quarter-final in Japan and South Korea, losing to Brazil.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2002

2003

• Iraq, a record-breaking heatwave and England winning the Rugby World Cup.
• The invasion of Iraq began on 20 March, after a protest march in London in February that was the largest in British history.
• The August heatwave produced the highest UK temperature recorded up to that point, at Faversham in Kent.
• Concorde made its final commercial flight on 24 October.
• 'Where Is the Love?' by the Black Eyed Peas was one of the year's biggest singles.
• The Return of the King and Finding Nemo filled cinemas.
• England won the Rugby World Cup in Sydney on 22 November, with Jonny Wilkinson's drop goal in the last minute of extra time.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2003

2004

• Strictly and The X Factor both started, and the year ended with the tsunami.
• The Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December killed well over two hundred thousand people.
• Ten more countries joined the European Union in May.
• Facebook launched in the United States in February, for universities only.
• 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' by Band Aid 20 was the Christmas number one.
• Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor both began.
• Greece won Euro 2004; England went out on penalties to Portugal.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2004

2005

• The Olympic bid, the 7 July bombings and the Ashes coming home.
• London was awarded the 2012 Olympics on 6 July.
• Four bombs on London's transport network on 7 July killed 52 people.
• Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August; the Live 8 concerts were held in July.
• Downloads began counting towards the official singles chart in April.
• Doctor Who returned in March with Christopher Eccleston.
• England won the Ashes in September for the first time since 1987, and the team paraded through London.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2005

2006

• Arctic Monkeys, the Wii and another World Cup penalty shoot-out.
• Scotland's smoking ban came into force in March.
• Twitter launched in the United States in July.
• Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in August.
• Arctic Monkeys' debut album became the fastest-selling debut in British chart history at the time.
• Life on Mars, The Inbetweeners' precursors and Torchwood arrived; Big Brother was still huge.
• England went out of the World Cup in Germany on penalties to Portugal again.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2006

2007

• The iPhone, the smoking ban, the floods and the run on Northern Rock.
• The smoking ban came into force in England on 1 July.
• Severe summer floods hit Gloucestershire, Yorkshire and Worcestershire.
• Savers queued outside Northern Rock in September - the first run on a British bank in over a century.
• Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in June.
• Rihanna's 'Umbrella' spent ten weeks at number one over a very wet summer.
• Gavin & Stacey began on BBC Three.
• The new Wembley Stadium opened in March.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2007

2008

• The banking crash, a brilliant Olympics and Lewis Hamilton on the last corner.
• Lehman Brothers collapsed in September and the financial crisis deepened.
• Northern Rock was nationalised in February; UK banks were part-nationalised in October.
• Barack Obama was elected President in November.
• Alexandra Burke's 'Hallelujah' was the Christmas number one and the year's best-selling single.
• The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia! were the films of the year.
• Britain finished fourth in the medal table at the Beijing Olympics with nineteen golds.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2008

2009

• Recession, MPs' expenses and a Christmas number one campaign that worked.
• The MPs' expenses scandal ran from May and ended several political careers.
• The UK was in recession for most of the year.
• Michael Jackson died on 25 June.
• Rage Against the Machine's 'Killing in the Name' beat The X Factor to the Christmas number one after an online campaign.
• Avatar opened in December and became the highest-grossing film ever at the time.
• England regained the Ashes at the Oval in August.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2009

How to use this timeline

• Quiz round: read an event and ask for the year, or read a year and ask for what happened.
• Reminiscence: start at the year someone left school and read forwards.
• Milestone birthday: read the timeline from their birth year to the year they turned 18.
• Anyone born in 2000 turns 50 in 2050, 60 in 2060 and 70 in 2070.

Shop prints and posters

How to write it so it lands

• Read the timeline alongside the decade history guide: one gives the order, the other gives the story.
• For a birthday card, pick the one event from their birth year that still gets a reaction.
• Years rarely change neatly at the decade line. Check the year either side before setting a quiz question.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 2000
• Look back to 2001
• Look back to 2002
• Look back to 2003
• Look back to 2004
• Look back to 2005
• Look back to 2006
• Look back to 2007
• Look back to 2008
• Look back to 2009
• 2000s history: events, politics and culture
• 2000s calendar: year by year
• 2000s music: songs, genres and trends
• 2000s films and directors
• 2000s books, films and TV
• 2000s books: novels and authors
• 2000s art: artists and styles
• 2000s fashion: styles, designers and trends
• 2000s food: dishes, restaurants and trends
• 2000s travel: destinations and holidays
• 2000s technology: gadgets and computers
• 2000s shopping guide: what to buy
• 2000s games: board, card and video
• 2000s trivia: fun facts
• 2000s quiz: questions and answers
• 2000s party playlist
• The 2000s: the whole decade
• Retro gift guide: the 2000s
• The decade before: the 1990s
• The decade after: the 2010s
• All decade guides in one place
• Card messages by occasion: every guide in one place
• Card hub: cards, badges and messages by occasion
• Decade history by era
• Decade calendars: every year from 1920
• Decade timelines: key dates and events by era
• Decade music: songs, genres and trends
• Decade films: best movies and directors
• Decade books: novels, authors and reading trends
• Decade art: artists, styles and trends
• Decade fashion: styles, designers and trends
• Decade food: dishes, restaurants and eating trends
• Decade travel: destinations and holidays
• Decade technology: gadgets and computers
• Decade shopping guides
• Decade games: board, card and video games by era
• Decade trivia: fun facts by era
• Decade quizzes: questions and answers by era
• Decade trivia game: play for points
• Decade quiz: test your memory
• Shop art prints and posters
• Shop greetings cards
• Shop birthday cards
• Shop funny cards
• Milestone birthday cards
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Retro party supplies
• 00s quiz questions
• Dial-up, MSN and MySpace
• Adverts we can still recite
• Decade music round questions
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What are the key dates of the 2000s?

The timeline above runs from 2000 to 2009, with the headline events of each year in order. The Millennium Dome, the fuel protests and Big Brother arriving from nowhere.

What happened in 2000?

The Millennium Dome, the fuel protests and Big Brother arriving from nowhere. There is a full page for 2000 at /blogs/news/look-back-to-2000.

Are the dates accurate?

Yes. Every date, name and event on this page is real and comes straight from our year-by-year pages, so the timeline and the year pages always agree.

Can I use this for a quiz or a school project?

Yes, freely. Print it, read it out, copy it - no permission needed. We make greeting cards, prints and pin badges; these pages are free.