Despite doomsday predictions of Y2K computer problems, Jan. 1, 2000 passed uneventfully.
George W. Bush defeats Al Gore in 2000 general election, which wasn’t decided until December, after Supreme Court made a key ruling.
17 U.S. sailors died in October 2000 when terrorists attacked the USS Cole in Yemen.
On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four planes, crashing two into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed south of Pittsburgh. More than 3,000 people were killed.
U.S. military and allies forces topple Afghanistan’s Taliban regime. (2001) <
Economy: Preceded by the dot.com bust, a recession begins in March 2001, ending a record-breaking economic expansion at 10 years. Economy gradually improves, only to be hit by slumping housing market in 2007. By late 2008, most of the world was in the grip of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Recession reaches its lowest point in earlty 2009, then begins a slow recovery that doesn’t reduce widespread unemployment.
Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh is first person executed by the federal government in 38 years (2001)
Sniper shootings in the D.C. area for three weeks in October 2002 left 10 dead.
Iraq: U.S.-led coalition invades Iraq in March 2003, citing threat from Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mas destruction. None were ever found, In 2004, scandal erupts over abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S. military guards at Abu Ghraib prison. Hussein convicted of mass killings in 2006, sentenced to hang. U.S. troop surge in 2007 helps reduce violence.
Space shuttle Columbia breaks apart on Feb. 1, 2003, killing 7 astronauts
Tsunami caused by massive earthquake kills more than 230,000 in Indonesia and Southeast Asia in December 2004.
George W. Bush defeats John Kerry to win second term; Republicans gain in Congress.
Four hurricanes hit Florida in 2004: 117 killed, damage cost tops $22 billion
Chechen militants seize school in Russia; more than 330 students, adults killed (2004).
Hurricane Katrina kills at least 1,300, inundates New Orleans (2005)
Pope John Paul II dies; Joseph Ratzinger succeeds him as Pope Benedict XVI (2005).
Supreme Court vacancies open with O’Connor retirement and Rehnquist death (2005).
Efforts to remove feeding tube from brain-damaged Terri Schiavo ignites bitter battle over the right to die (2005).
Lewis Libby, an aide to Vice-President Dick Cheney, indicted in connection with the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame (2005).
Democrats win control of House and Senate in 2006 elections.
More than 900 killed in month of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon (2006).
32 people killed at Virginia Tech in deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history (2007)
Array of Chinese exports recalled in 2007, ranging from toys with lead paint to defective tires to tainted toothpaste and food.
John Sullivan starts the world famous blog called POTPOLITICS (2008)<<Hey now 
news to me
Barack Obama elected first African American president, Democrats gain in Congress (2008).
Republicans and Democrats fight bitterly over proposed overhaul of the nation’s health care system (2009).
China hosts Olympic Games for first time, drawing mix of protests and praise (2008).
Toll from swine flu mounts worldwide in 2009, vaccine runs short.
Sonia Sotomayor confirmed as first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice (2009).
Disgruntled Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 in shooting rampage at Fort Hood in November.
Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop,” dies of heart failure; his doctor is investigated.
2010 will hopefully bring Peace to the world. Did you have anything that happen in the news this decade that really affected YOU ?
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Hey John!
I worked as an IT contractor in the financial services sector in Toronto (Canada’s version of New York) during the lead up to Y2K.
I saw so many financial institutions, banks and even the Toronto Stock Exchange going frantic trying to get their systems Y2K compliant in time for midnight +1s January 1, 2000 – I was CONVINCED they weren’t going to make it.
And yes, I did have a Y2K bunker…
I was never so glad to be wrong about something in all my life – before or since. In fact, I just finshed off the last of the Y2K water yesterday…
Aw, good times…
Cheers!
People come and go. True friends stay forever. What matters are the lessons life give us after all these years and being thankful for every new day it brings.
My girlfriend still occasionally gives me grief about preparing for the possibility of disaster (y2k). I just tell that I did not spend nearly as much as Citicorp did (200 to 300 million were the estimates). When we were listening to the invasion of Afghanistan on the radio, however, my son (13 at the time) remarked that he was glad that we have food storage. I was somewhat relieved that y2k did not materialize as was feared.
It was a very eventful decade, though, as you point out. Here’s hoping the next decade will be more free and less tyrannical than the last. There is always hope, no? Even unfounded hope. Real change is always possible, even with the “change” president completely dedicated to maintaining the status quo or tipping it further toward corporatism.
Keep up the good work, John.
Very good year-end wrapup column, summed up the decade quite nicely.
I’d say that Barack Obama was the story of the decade.
I can hear all the KKK & other bigots all exclaiming: “We must be dead, because we all said it would be a cold day in hell before a [insert racial slur] is elected President of the USA”