Portal:2000s

The 2000s Portal

**Clockwise from top-left:**
The Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty on the left during the **terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001**;
The **euro** enters into European currency in 2002;
A statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled during the **Iraq War** in 2003, and in 2006, Saddam would be executed for crimes against humanity;
U.S. troops heading toward an army helicopter in **Afghanistan** as part of the war on terror;
**Social media platforms** and the internet become widely popular;
A Chinese soldier gazes at the **2008 Summer Olympics** commencing in Beijing;
The **2008 financial crisis**, the largest financial crisis since the Great Depression;
**A tsunami from the Indian Ocean earthquake** kills over 230,000 in 2004, and becomes the strongest earthquake since the 1964 Alaska earthquake.

The 2000s (pronounced "two-thousands") was a decade that began on January 1, 2000, and ended on December 31, 2009.

The early part of the decade saw the long predicted breakthrough of economic giants in Asia, like India and China, which had double-digit growth during nearly the whole decade. It is also benefited from an economic boom, which saw the two most populous countries becoming an increasingly dominant economic force. The rapid catching-up of emerging economies with developed countries sparked some protectionist tensions during the period and was partly responsible for an increase in energy and food prices at the end of the decade. The economic developments in the latter third of the decade were dominated by a worldwide economic downturn, which started with the crisis in housing and credit in the United States in late 2007 and led to the bankruptcy of major banks and other financial institutions. The outbreak of this global financial crisis sparked a global recession, beginning in the United States and affecting most of the industrialized world.

The decade saw the rise of the Internet, which grew from covering 6.7% to 25.7% of the world population. This contributed to globalization during the decade, which allowed faster communication among people around the world;^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

The war on terror and War in Afghanistan began after the September 11 attacks in 2001. The International Criminal Court was formed in 2002. In 2003, a United States-led coalition invaded Iraq, and the Iraq War led to the end of Saddam Hussein's rule as Iraqi President and the Ba'ath Party in Iraq. Al-Qaeda and affiliated Islamist militant groups performed terrorist acts throughout the decade. The Second Congo War, the deadliest conflict since World War II, ended in July 2003. Further wars that ended included the Algerian Civil War, the Angolan Civil War, the Sierra Leone Civil War, the Second Liberian Civil War, the Nepalese Civil War, and the Sri Lankan Civil War. Wars that began included the conflict in the Niger Delta, the Houthi insurgency in Yemen, and the Mexican drug war.

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The September 11 attacks, colloquially known as 9/11, were a coordinated series of suicide attacks perpetrated by the Islamic terrorist organization al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. 19 terrorists hijacked four airliners, then flew one into each of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in New York City. The third plane crashed into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed in a rural Pennsylvania field during a passenger revolt. In response to the attacks, the United States launched the global war on terror, seeking to eliminate hostile groups deemed terrorist organizations and the governments purported to support them. This foreign policy agenda was conducted over the next two decades.

The ringleader, Mohamed Atta, flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex at 8:46 a.m. At 9:03 a.m. Marwan al-Shehhi flew United Airlines Flight 175 into the South Tower. Both collapsed within an hour and forty-two minutes, destroying the remaining five structures in the complex. Hani Hanjour flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m., causing a partial collapse. United Airlines Flight 93, hijacked by Ziad Jarrah, was believed to target either the United States Capitol or the White House. Alerted to the previous attacks, the passengers revolted and the hijackers crashed the aircraft into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 a.m. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a ground stop for all traffic in U.S. airspace, requiring all airborne aircraft to return to their point of origin or divert to Canada. The actions undertaken in Canada to support incoming aircraft and their occupants were collectively titled Operation Yellow Ribbon.

That evening, the Central Intelligence Agency informed President George W. Bush that its Counterterrorism Center had identified the attacks as having been the work of al-Qaeda under Osama bin Laden. The United States responded by launching the war on terror and invading Afghanistan. NATO's invocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty—its only usage to date—called upon allies to fight al-Qaeda as well. As U.S. and allied invasion forces swept through Afghanistan, bin Laden eluded them. He denied any involvement until 2004, when excerpts of a taped statement in which he accepted responsibility for the attacks were released. Al-Qaeda's cited motivations included U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. military bases in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq. The nearly decade-long manhunt for bin Laden concluded in May 2011, when he was killed during a U.S. military raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The war in Afghanistan continued for another decade. (Full article...)

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... that despite being invented in the 2000s, Frutiger Aero was not named until 2017?
... that the exterior of the De Lamar Mansion was cleaned using toothbrushes during the 2000s?
... that Meg White, a key figure in the 2000s garage-rock revival, has not made any public appearances since 2009?

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Official portrait, c. 2008

James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007 under Tony Blair. Brown was Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline East from 1983 to 2005 and for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath from 2005 to 2015. He has served as United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education since 2012, and he was appointed as World Health Organization Ambassador for Global Health Financing in 2021. In 2026, Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed Brown as a special envoy on global finance and cooperation.

A doctoral graduate, Brown studied history at the University of Edinburgh. He spent his early career as a lecturer at a further education college and as a television journalist. Brown was elected to the House of Commons at the 1983 general election as the MP for Dunfermline East. He was appointed to Neil Kinnock's shadow cabinet in 1989 and was named Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer by John Smith in 1992. Following Labour's victory in the 1997 general election, Brown was appointed as chancellor, becoming the longest-serving in modern history. Brown's time as chancellor was marked by major reform of Britain's monetary and fiscal policy architecture, transferring interest rate setting to the Bank of England, extending the powers of the Treasury to cover much domestic policy, and transferring banking supervision to the Financial Services Authority. Brown presided over the longest period of economic growth in British history. He outlined five economic tests, which resisted the UK adopting the euro. Controversial moves included the abolition of advance corporation tax (ACT) relief in his first budget, the sale of UK gold reserves from 1999 to 2002, and the removal in his final budget of the 10% starting rate of income tax that he had introduced in the 1999 budget. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various 2000s-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Young woman in 2003 wearing a horizontal striped shirt and boot-cut jeans. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 2Taylor Swift rose to fame in the late 2000s, with her unique country-pop style, spawning global hits like "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me". (from 2000s in music)
Image 3Nintendo DS (2004) (from 2000s in video games)
Image 4Dennis Rodman wearing an Ed Hardy shirt, and Donald Trump wearing a navy blue two button suit in 2009 (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 5Nuon (2000) (from 2000s in video games)
Image 6Young American woman in 2007 during the mid-2000s wearing a white miniskirt, a blue bikini top, and sunglasses a brief example how mid-2000s fashion still remained fashionable until 2008 (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 7Lady Gaga's debut album, The Fame (2008), reached No. 1 in Canada, Austria, Germany, United Kingdom and Ireland and topped the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart. (from 2000s in music)
Image 8Miranda Kerr in 2004 modeling for Obar Jeans. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 9Girl with curly brown hair sporting an off-the-shoulder top, a carry over from the early 2000s. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 10Nintendo DS Lite (2006) (from 2000s in video games)
Image 11My Chemical Romance is considered one of the most influential rock groups of the 2000s and a major act in the pop-punk and emo genres, despite the band rejecting the latter label. (from 2000s in music)
Image 12Game Boy Advance SP (2003) (from 2000s in video games)
Image 13An orchestra performing a Video Games Live event (from 2000s in video games)
Image 14American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is the most successful winner of American Idol and a key artist in the power pop and pop rock movement of the 2000s.
Image 15Ramallah Underground have been considered the founders of Palestinian hip-hop. (from 2000s in music)
Image 16Three of System of a Down's albums debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. (from 2000s in music)
Image 17Aerosmith toured for every year of the 2000s except 2008. (from 2000s in music)
Image 18Woman wearing backless top and microskirt at Cologne Pride, 2006. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 19Indian couple wearing a mixture of traditional dress and Western clothing (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 20Navel piercings were popular from 1995 all the way to 2007/2008. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 21Scene kids, 2008 (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 22Female tourists in 2005 sporting colorful mid-2000s athletic fashions. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 23Paisley handbag associated with the boho-chic look. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 24Jamaican woman with cornrows, 2002. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 25Jared Leto wearing slim-fit formal wear; Popular 2008–onwards. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 26PlayStation Portable (2004) (from 2000s in video games)
Image 27Swedish actors in 2002 sporting various early 2000s fashions and hairstyles. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 28Mariah Carey's 2008 album E=MC² spawned her 18th chart-topper, "Touch My Body", with which she surpassed Elvis Presley to become the solo artist with the most Hot 100 No. 1 songs in history. (from 2000s in music)
Image 29Sean Paul's third album The Trinity debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, breaking records with its first-week sales for a reggae/dancehall artist, and eventually going Platinum in the United States. (from 2000s in music)
Image 30Alicia Keys was the best selling female R&B performer of the 2000s. (from 2000s in music)
Image 31Delta Goodrem released her debut album Innocent Eyes in 2003 which became a monster smash hit – it went to No. 1 and stayed for 29 non-consecutive weeks, being certified 14× Platinum for selling over 1 million copies, the second most of all time in Australia. (from 2000s in music)
Image 32Xbox 360 (2005) (from 2000s in video games)
Image 33British "Chav" wearing tracksuit and baseball cap. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 34In 2008, Amy Winehouse tied the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night and became the first British woman to win five Grammys. (from 2000s in music)
Image 35German Mosher, the more punk-like incarnation of scene, early to mid-2000s. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 36The flared jeans of the late 1990s remained fashionable throughout the early and mid-2000s. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 37Shakira was the best selling Latin female artist, also one of the best selling women of the decade. (from 2000s in music)
Image 38In 2005, The New York Times wrote, "Reggaetón has conquered parties, clubs and lately radio; Daddy Yankee's hit "Gasolina" reached MTV and the playlists of many hip-hop stations." (from 2000s in music)
Image 39Swedish Raggare, 2005. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 40Singer Mary J. Blige topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2001 with her smash single, "Family Affair", taken from hit album No More Drama. (from 2000s in music)
Image 41Wings haircut worn by singer Justin Bieber in 2009. (from 2000s in fashion)
Image 42Nas is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. (from 2000s in music)
Image 43Singer-songwriter-guitarist Tanya Chua was successful during the 2000s as a leading Mandopop artist. (from 2000s in music)
Image 44Luis Fonsi's "Nada Es Para Siempre" received a nomination for Latin Pop Airplay Song of the Year at the 2006 Latin Billboard Music Awards. (from 2000s in music)
Image 45Snake II on a Nokia 3310 (2000) (from 2000s in video games)
Image 46In 2004, Daddy Yankee released his international hit single "Gasolina", which is credited with introducing reggaeton to audiences worldwide, and making the music genre a global phenomenon. (from 2000s in music)
Image 47Buzz! controller (2005) (from 2000s in video games)
Image 48Britney Spears was the best-selling female artist of the decade.
Image 49Soulja Boy's 2007 debut single "Crank That" was considered the biggest dance fad since the Macarena. (from 2000s in music)
Image 50Modest Mouse (from 2000s in music)

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Sources

↑ Ludden D (1998). The newness of globalization: A schematic view of the historical zones of territoriality University of Pennsylvania. Unfinished draft. Retrieved December 30, 2009. Archived March 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
↑ Gordon PH; Meunier S (2001). The French challenge: Adapting to globalization. Washington, D.C.: Brookings.
↑ Heizo T; Ryokichi C (1998). "Japan". Domestic Adjustments to Globalization (CE Morrison & H Soesastro, Eds.). Tokyo: Japan Center for International Exchange, pp. 76–102. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
↑ Fry EH (2003). Local governments adapting to globalization. National League of Cities. Retrieved December 30, 2009. Archived January 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
↑ Haarstad, Håvard; Fløysand, Arnt (March 2007). "Globalization and the power of rescaled narratives: A case of opposition to mining in Tambogrande, Peru". Political Geography. 26 (3): 289–308. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.10.014.

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[1] Ludden D (1998). The newness of globalization: A schematic view of the historical zones of territoriality University of Pennsylvania. Unfinished draft. Retrieved December 30, 2009. Archived March 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

[2] Gordon PH; Meunier S (2001). The French challenge: Adapting to globalization. Washington, D.C.: Brookings.

[3] Heizo T; Ryokichi C (1998). "Japan". Domestic Adjustments to Globalization (CE Morrison & H Soesastro, Eds.). Tokyo: Japan Center for International Exchange, pp. 76–102. Retrieved December 30, 2009.

[4] Fry EH (2003). Local governments adapting to globalization. National League of Cities. Retrieved December 30, 2009. Archived January 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

[5] Haarstad, Håvard; Fløysand, Arnt (March 2007). "Globalization and the power of rescaled narratives: A case of opposition to mining in Tambogrande, Peru". Political Geography. 26 (3): 289–308. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.10.014.

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