Dashed left edge = started before December 2000 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond December 2000
Events in December 2000 16
1908 – 2000Willard Van Orman Quine (1908-2000)Died 25 December 2000, aged 92W. V. O. Quine was among the most influential analytic philosophers of the twentieth century, teaching at Harvard for most of his career. His essay "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" attacked the analytic-synthetic distinction, and his work on the indeterminacy of translation and on ontological commitment reshaped philosophy of language and logic.
1909 – 2000Victor Borge (1909-2000)Died 23 December 2000, aged 91Victor Borge was a Danish-American pianist and humorist billed as the "Clown Prince of Denmark", who fled the Nazis and rebuilt his career in the United States. His act blended classical piano with verbal and physical comedy, including the "phonetic punctuation" routine. His Broadway show Comedy in Music ran for a record 849 performances.
1917 – 2000Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000)Died 3 December 2000, aged 83Gwendolyn Brooks was an American poet who chronicled everyday Black life on Chicago's South Side. In 1950 she became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize, for the collection Annie Allen. She later served as poet laureate of Illinois and as consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress.
1920 – 2000Werner Klemperer (1920-2000)Died 6 December 2000, aged 80Werner Klemperer, son of the conductor Otto Klemperer, fled Nazi Germany as a boy and became an American actor. He won two Emmy Awards as the bumbling Colonel Klink in the sitcom Hogan's Heroes, taking the role on condition that Klink always be outwitted. He was also an accomplished concert narrator and singer.
1922 – 2000Jason Robards (1922-2000)Died 26 December 2000, aged 78Jason Robards was an American actor closely identified with the plays of Eugene O'Neill, especially Long Day's Journey into Night and The Iceman Cometh. He won consecutive Academy Awards for All the President's Men and Julia, playing editor Ben Bradlee and the writer Dashiell Hammett. He survived a near-fatal car crash in 1972.
1959 – 2000Kirsty MacColl (1959-2000)Died 18 December 2000, aged 41Kirsty MacColl was an English singer-songwriter known for "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis", a cover of Billy Bragg's "A New England", and her duet with Shane MacGowan on the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York". She was killed by a powerboat while diving with her sons in Mexico. Her family long campaigned over the death.
1982 – 2000Peak SyndicationAt his peak, his daily cartoons appeared in over 500 publications worldwide, a reach unmatched by any other editorial cartoonist. His horizontal format, inspired by cinema, allowed dynamic action scenes that transformed the art form.
1990 – 2000Acting and Friendship with DupieuxMet future filmmaker and musician Quentin Dupieux as a teenager. Began his career as an actor, appearing in Dupieux's experimental medium-length film Nonfilm (2002) and later in his feature Steak (2007).
1998 – 2000State Enterprise ReformClosed down tens of thousands of inefficient state-owned enterprises, costing millions of workers their jobs. The painful reforms helped transform China's economy from a bloated state-run system into a more competitive, market-oriented powerhouse.
1999 – 2000Principal photography -- 15 months in New ZealandPrincipal photography runs from 11 October 1999 to 22 December 2000 -- 15 months shooting all three films simultaneously at locations across New Zealand. Over 150 locations are used: Matamata (the Shire/Hobbiton), Queenstown and surroundings (various Middle-earth landscapes), Tongariro National Park (Mordor), Fiordland (various), and studio sets in Wellington. The cast and crew live in New Zealand for the duration; many form lasting bonds. The shoot is gruelling: a night shoot on Caradhras in genuine midwinter conditions; enormous battle sequences with thousands of extras; Sean Bean (afraid of helicopters) hiked to Caradhras each day in full Boromir armour.
20002000: Michael SchumacherFerrariSchumacher delivered Ferrari's first Drivers' Championship in 21 years, ending the team's longest-ever title drought and becoming an Italian national hero.
2000Dot-com bubble burstsNASDAQ loses 78% of its valueThe dot-com bubble burst in 2000-2001 as the NASDAQ Composite fell from its peak of 5,048 in March 2000 to 1,114 by October 2002, wiping out $5 trillion in market value.
2000Opening of the Millennium DomeBritain marks the new millennium on the Greenwich peninsulaThe Millennium Dome opened to the public in Greenwich, London, on 1 January 2000 after a New Year's Eve gala attended by the Queen and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Its year-long exhibition drew far fewer visitors than projected and it became a byword for costly public spending. The structure reopened as the O2 Arena in 2007.
2000Screen Debut in Psycho DramaMade his screen acting debut in the short film Psycho Drama.
2000Tony Award for Dame Edna: The Royal TourWon the Tony Award for his Broadway show Dame Edna: The Royal Tour, marking a high point in his conquest of American audiences.
2000Named FIFA co-Player of the 20th CenturyAt the FIFA World gala in Rome, Maradona is named joint FIFA Player of the 20th Century alongside Pelé. The jury votes largely for Pelé; the public internet vote goes overwhelmingly for Maradona. It is the perfect expression of their complex rivalry.