This has been a decade of ups and downs and twists and turns. Here are some of the headline making events from 2000 to 2009. Happy 2010 and here’s hoping it’s a wonderful new decade.
2000
Divers discover the ancient port of Alexandria the home of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony.
Concorde crash kills 113 near Paris.
Ken Livingstone is elected as London’s first elected mayor.
On June 13th, the presidents of North and South Korea sign peace accord, which, at least symbolically, ends a half-century of antagonism.
On October 5th, a nationwide uprising overthrows Yugoslavian president Milosevic. Vojislav Kostunica is sworn in as the new president on October 7th.
US sailors on Navy destroyer Cole die in Yemen terrorist explosion.
US presidential election. The Republican challenger George W. Bush defeats Democrat Vice President Al Gore; however, the final outcome is not determined for over a month because of disputed votes in Florida.
2001
A US spy plane and Chinese jet collide. The 24 crew members of the US plane were detained for 11 days and released after the US issued a statement of regret.
Timothy James McVeigh is executed on June 11th for the Oklahoma City Bombing.
On 11 September 2001 nineteen hijackers took control of four US domestic airplanes. The hijackers crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in Manhattan. Within two hours of impact, both towers collapsed. The hijackers crashed the third aircraft into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. A fourth plane crashed into a rural field in Pennsylvania.
Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic is delivered to UN tribunal in The Hague to await war-crime trial.
US and Britain invade Afghanistan in mid-October.
Enron files for bankruptcy protection.
Irish Republican Army announces that it has begun to dismantle its weapons arsenal.
The Taliban regime in Afghanistan collapses after two months of bombing by American warplanes.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years repairs to stop it falling over.
2002
WorldCom files for bankruptcy protection. It is the largest such filing in United States history.
India’s worst Hindu-Muslim violence in a decade erupts in Gujarat after a Muslim mob fire-bombed a train, killing Hindu activists. Hindus retaliated. More than 1,000 people died in the bloodshed.
Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan government agree to and sign a cease-fire agreement, ending 19 years of civil war.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez ousted in coup on April 12th, but is quickly reinstated two days later.
US and Russia reach arms agreement. Both countries agree to reduced nuclear arsenals by up to two-thirds over the next 10 years.
East Timor becomes a new nation.
Chechen rebels take 763 hostages in Moscow theatre on October 23rd. On October 26th, Russian authorities release a gas into theatre, killing 116 hostages.
UN Security Council passes a unanimous resolution calling on Iraq to disarm or else face serious consequences.
2003
Ariel Sharon elected Israeli prime minister.
US space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas after re-entry into the atmosphere.
US Secretary of State Powell presents Iraq war rationale to the UN, claiming WMDs are a threat to national security.
US and Britain launch war against Iraq.
The city of Baghdad falls to US troops.
On May 1st, the US officially calls an end to combat operations in Iraq.
Terrorists strike Saudi Arabia, killing 34.
Saddam Hussein is captured by American troops.
2004
Spain is attacked by terrorist, killing more than 200. Al Qaeda takes responsibility.
Spain’s Popular Party loses election to opposition Socialists.
Sudan rebels and government reach agreedment to end 21-year civil war.
The abuses at Abu Ghraib prison come to light.
Summer Olympics take place in Athens, Greece.
Chechen terrorists take 1,200 schoolchildren and others hostage in Beslan, Russia. On September 3rd, 340 people die when militant detonate explosives.
Yasir Arafat dies in Paris.
President Bush re-elected to second term.
Massive tsunami devastates 11 Asian countries.
2005
Mahmoud Abbas wins presidency of the Palestinian Authority in the first presidential election for Palestinians since 1996.
Pope John Paul II dies on April 2nd and Benedict XVI becomes the next pope on April 24th.
Tony Blair becomes the first Labour Party prime minister to win three successive terms.
The former Teheran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a conservative, wins Iran’s presidential election with 62% of the vote.
London hit by terrorist bombings, killing 52 and wounding about 700.
The G8 pledge to double aid to Africa to $50 billion a year by 2010.
Hurricane Katrina devastates the southern coast of the United States.
Israel begins evacuation of 8,000 Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip.
Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, becomes the country’s first female chancellor.
Saddam Hussein goes on trial for the killing of 143 people in the town of Dujail, Iraq.
2006
Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon suffers a massive stroke and is replaced by acting prime minister Ehud Olmert.
A Danish newspaper challenges taboos against illustrations of Muhammad by printing cartoons depicting him. Angry demonstrators throughout the Muslim world smash windows, set fires, and burn flags of Denmark and other nations whose newspapers reprint the cartoons.
In Iraq, secretarian violence wracks the country, killing tens of thousands.
North Korea fires test missiles over the Sea of Japan.
Hezbollah fires rockets into Israel. In response, Israel launches a major military attack, sending thousands of troops into Lebanon.
North Korea agrees to resume disarmament talks with China, Russia, the U.S., and South Korea.
Saddam Hussein is convicted of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court and hanged in Baghdad.
2007
Romania and Bulgaria join the European Union.
The US begins its “surge” of 30,000 troops to Iraq to stem increasingly deadly attacks by insurgents and militias.
Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, and Rev. Ian Paisley, the head of the Democratic Unionist Party, meet for the first time in an effort to reach an agreement for a power-sharing government.
In French presidential elections, Conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy defeats Socialist candidate.
Gordon Brown replaces Tony Blair as the prime minister.
Seventeen Iraqi civilians are killed when employees of private security company Blackwater reportedly fire on a car that failed to stop at the request of a police officer.
Nuon Chea, the second-in-command to Pol Pot during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule, is arrested and charged with war crimes.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is elected Argentina’s first woman president.
Violence breaks out between rival tribes after preliminary results in Kenya’s presidential elections show opposition candidate Raila Odinga, of the Orange Democratic Movement, defeating incumbent Mwai Kibaki.
2008
Oil reaches 100 dollars a barrel.
Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.
Fidel Castro resigns as President of Cuba, his brother Raul Castro is unanimously elected.
160 square mile part of the Antarctic ice shelf disintegrates.
8.0 earthquake in southwest China kills more than 69,000.
Summer Olympics begin in Beijing, China.
Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy.
Iceland takes control of three banks because of the global financial crisis.
Barack Obama is elected the 44th President of the United States
Mumbai terrorist attacks kill over 195 people over four days.
2009
Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, endorses Russia’s decision to turn off gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine.
Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States.
Morgan Tsvangirai becomes Prime Minister of Zimbabwe after agreeing to share power with President Robert Mugabe.
An arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is issued for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Nearly 300 people are killed and 1,500 injured near L’Aquila, Italy, after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake.
Under investigation for bribery during his Presidency, former President of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, commits suicide.
Bernie Madoff is sentenced to the maximum sentence of 150 years in a federal prison.
Iran’s tenth presidential election was held on 12 June 2009, with incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad running against three challengers. Protests, initially peacefully, broke out between police and groups disagreeing over the election results. As time passed, protests became increasingly violent.
Swine flu epidemic spreads.
En route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, Air France Flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic ocean.
Michael Jackson dies.
One person out of 183 passengers and crew survives the crash of Yemenia Flight 626.
A solar eclipse, the longest in history, lasts 6 minutes and 38.8 seconds.
Tiger Woods scandal erupts after a car accident outside his home.
Happy 2010
