Here are events that happened 25 years ago in 2000. This is like a stroll down memory lane for many of us who were there. That was the year I turned 50 years old and I thought it was the worst year ever. I am glad to still be very much up and going 25 years later. I do remember as 1999 ended and Jan. 1, 2000, arrived, some people were very concerned about the computer systems being able to operate causing massive power outages and banks to close. I really did not worry about it because I decided the people who were smart enough to put all the technology in place, would be smart enough to fix the problem if it happened. Thankfully, nothing major happened.
Events of 2000:
–Protests in Tiananmen Square ended violently in China.
–George Bush Sr. became President of the United States.
–The Berlin Wall opened to the West.
–A Fatwa was issued against Salman Rushdie — Iran put a $3M bounty on his head.
–In Santa Cruz, the Loma Prieta earthquake, a 6.9 shake that changed the landscape of the city in one day. The earthquake killed 62 people, mostly in San Francisco due to the 880 Freeway collapse and multiple fires. Three lives were lost in Santa Cruz, and thousands of homes and businesses were damaged in the disaster.
–The 14th Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize.
–A postage stamp was 25 cents. The average gallon of gas was only 97 cents.
–Batman, starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, was the highest grossing film of the year.
–Nintendo started selling GameBoy.
–Johnny Depp was dating Winona Ryder.
–It was a great year for music. Some popular songs of the year included: Public Enemy: Fight the Power; Cowboy Junkies: Misguided Angel; Neneh Cherry: Buffalo Stance; Madonna: Like a Prayer; Tom Petty: Running Down a Dream; Depeche Mode: Personal Jesus; Pixies, Monkey Gone to Heaven; De La Soul, Me, Myself and I.
–Rain Man won The Academy Award for Best Picture.
–Amy Poehler was in high school and so was Jimmy Fallon.
–Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe died of AIDS, which was ravaging the country.
–Crowd-surfing finally became an official word in the English language, well at least in the Oxford English Dictionary. crowd-surfing, n. The action of lying flat while being passed over the heads of members of the audience at a rock concert, typically after jumping into the audience from the stage. Cf. stage-diving n. at stage n. Additions.
–The Seinfeld pilot made its debut, and despite only being in its first season, The Simpsons quickly became the number one show on TV.
–The World Series was the Battle of the Bay, with the Oakland A’s up against the San Francisco Giants. Despite the Loma Prieta Earthquake in the middle of game 3, the A’s went on to beat the Giants in a four game sweep.
–The San Francisco 49ers won the Superbowl in an epic game, beating the Bengals 20 to 16 on a clutch touchdown pass from Joe Montana to John Taylor with 34 seconds left on the clock.
–Tim Berners-Lee made a presentation about an information network that would eventually become The Web.
–Microsoft released the first version of the Office Suite.
–Steve Jobs was named “Entrepreneur of the Decade.”
–The International Space Station opened on Nov. 2, 2000.
–Nokia 3310: This phone was the best-selling phone of its time.
It seems we did not get off to a great start for the year 2025 with what appears to be terrorist attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas on New Year’s Day. There was a tragic plane crash in South Korea killing almost 200 just before the New Year.
I am sure that 25 years from now, those fatal events ending 2024 and starting 2025 will be on the list of top incidents of the year. More than likely I will not be around to remember but younger people will be and hopefully they will take a moment of silence to honor all of those who lost their lives 25 years ago.
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