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The 2000s

2,170 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 21st century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

2000 CE205 entries

  • August 12 – The Russian submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea during one of the largest Russian naval exercises since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, resulting in the deaths of all 118 men on board.
  • September 15–October 1 – The 2000 Summer Olympics, held in Sydney, Australia, is the first Olympic Games of the 2000s.
  • November 11 – Kaprun disaster, Austria: A funicular fire in an Alpine tunnel kills 155 skiers and snowboarders.

2001 CE245 entries

  • September 11 – Suicide attacks on the U.S. kill more than 3,000 people and destroy the two towers of the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon, using three hijacked passenger airliners as cruise missiles, with a fourth, also hijacked, crashing in a field in Pennsylvania. Early speculation about the source of the attack centered on Saudi-born terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, who was living in and working from Afghanistan. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan leaders condemned the attacks and rejected suggestions that Osama bin Laden could be behind them.
  • 12:30 p.m. EDT (9 p.m. local time): the United States, supported by Britain, begins its attack on Afghanistan, launching bombs and cruise missiles against Taliban military and communications facilities and suspected terrorist training camps. A Northern Alliance spokesman later tells CNN that attack hit anti-aircraft batteries near Kabul and "at least three terrorist camps" near Jalalabad. Initial reports are that Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat are among the targets. Electricity in Kabul is almost immediately cut off. A number of different technologies were employed in the strike. U.S. Air Force general Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that approximately 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles, launched by British and U.S. submarines and ships, 25 F/A-18 Hornet strike aircraft from U.S. aircraft carriers, USS Carl Vinson and USS Enterprise and 15 U.S. Air Force bombers, such as B-1 Lancer, B-2 Spirit, B-52 Stratofortress were involved in the first wave, launched from Diego Garcia. Two C-17 Globemaster transport jets delivered 37,500 daily rations by airdrop to internally displaced persons inside Afghanistan on the first day of the attack.
  • Mexico launches the e-México initiative, aiming to provide nationwide Internet access and offer online educational, health, and government services. The project receives no funding in 2001.

2002 CE235 entries

  • 1 January – The Euro Currency officially became the legal tender for Greece, along with the other European Union (EU) Eurozone member area countries, replacing the Greek drachma by being introduced physically with the official launch of the currency coins and banknotes. Greece entered a period on the same day where specifically both the Euro Currency and the Greek drachma were in dual circulation until exactly 28 February.
  • January 1 - The Euro Currency officially became the legal tender for The Netherlands, along with the other European Union (EU) Eurozone member area countries, replacing the Dutch guilder by being introduced physically with the official launch of the currency coins and banknotes. The Netherlands entered an economic period where specifically both the Euro Currency and the Dutch guilder were in dual circulation until specifically February 28.
  • 14 January – Bulgaria competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States, winning one silver and two bronze medals.

2003 CE259 entries

  • 11 March – Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, announces that UN-sponsored talks on the reunification of Cyprus have failed. Cyprus remains a candidate for EU membership and the Greek Cypriot government intends to sign on behalf of the whole island. Analysts suggested that Turkish opposition to unification may hurt Turkey's chances of joining the EU.
  • In Washington, D.C., Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Dana Rohrabacherintroduced the Access for Afghan Women Act into the United States Congress. The intention of the bill was to lay out a roadmap for incorporating women into Afghanistan's development process. Such incorporation would be achieved through funding organizations such as the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) and the National Human Rights Commission.
  • October 5 – Israeli warplanes strike alleged Islamic jihad bases inside Syrian territory, the first Israeli attack on the country since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

2004 CE218 entries

  • January 4 – NASA's Spirit rover lands on the surface of Mars.
  • February 4 – Mark Zuckerberg launches "TheFacebook", later renamed to Facebook, a social networking website for Harvard University students.
  • 26 December – The largest earthquake in 40 years originates from the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra island in Indonesia, measuring 9.3 on the moment magnitude scale and creating tsunami waves that sweep across much of the coastlines of South Asia. More than 18,000 reported killed in India and 280,000 across the globe.

2005 CE204 entries

  • January 5 – Eris, the most massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System, is discovered by a team led by Michael E. Brown using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.
  • April 23 – The first ever YouTube video is uploaded, titled Me at the zoo.
  • August 29– At least 1,836 are killed, and severe damage is caused along the U.S. Gulf Coast, as Hurricane Katrina strikes coastal areas from Louisiana to Alabama, and travels up the entire state of Mississippi (flooding coast 31 ft), affecting most of eastern North America. Katrina becomes the costliest hurricane in U.S. history with $108 billion in damages. The New Orleans Saints football team will play their entire 2005 season on the road due to the effects of the hurricane.

2006 CE193 entries

  • February 10–26 – The 2006 Winter Olympics are held in Turin, Italy.
  • March 21 – Microblogging and social networking service website Twitter(now known as X) was launched.
  • May 18–20 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 takes place in Athens, Greece, and is won by Finnish band entrant Lordi with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah".

2007 CE196 entries

  • 26 March: A massive storm system brings heavy rain to the center and south of Santa Fe. The rain falls almost continuously for more than one week. Large sections of Santa Fe City and peripheral neighbourhoods of Rosario, as well as many smaller towns and large sections of Argentina's most productive agricultural land, are flooded. The storm moves east, affecting the south of Entre Ríos and eventually reaching Uruguay. See March 2007 floods in the Argentine littoral.
  • December 27 – Riots erupt in Mombasa, Kenya, after Mwai Kibaki is declared the winner of the general election, triggering a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that killed over 1,000 people.
  • December 27 – Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated, along with 20 other people, at an election rally in Rawalpindi.

2008 CE200 entries

  • September 15 – 2008 financial crisis: Stocks fall sharply Monday on a triptych of Wall Street woe: Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy filing, Merrill Lynch's acquisition by Bank of America, and AIG's unprecedented request for short-term financing from the Federal Reserve.
  • September 18 – An open beta of the high-definition channel of the Chinese video sharing website Tudou, also known as Heidou, is released for public use.
  • 26–29 November – 2008 Mumbai attacks: 175 people were killed and over 308 wounded in more than ten coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India's largest city, carried out by Islamic terrorists from Pakistan.

2009 CE215 entries

  • January 2 - Ethiopia withdraws its military forces from Somalia after two years of helping the Transitional Federal Government combat insurgents.
  • March 14: Algerian border guards seized 3.5 tons of cannabis in a desert region close to the frontier with Morocco. The cannabis was confiscated near Erg Ferradj, approximately 100 kilometers from Béchar. More than 38 tons was seized in 2008 compared to only 4 tons in 2007.
  • May 22 – Israel's El-Al Airlines Boeing 777 flying from Hong Kong to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Baku. The engine problem was fixed, and the plane continued its flight.