Millennium celebrations

The Millennium celebrations were a worldwide, coordinated series of events celebrating New Year's Eve in 1999–2000, marking the end of the second millennium and beginning of the new, third millennium. This also marks the ending of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. Many countries held official festivities in the weeks and months leading up to the millennium, such as those organised in the USA by the White House Millennium Council, and most major cities produced firework displays at midnight. Equally, many private venues, cultural and religious centres held events and a diverse range of memorabilia was created – such as souvenir postage stamps.

As with every New Year's Eve, many events were timed with the "stroke of midnight" at the timezone of the location. There were also many events associated with the dawn on 1 January. While there was debate over whether the millennium truly begins in 2000 or 2001 the popularity of the round number made New Year's 1999–2000 a global celebration. An international television broadcast called 2000 Today was produced by a consortium of 60 broadcasters, while an alternative program Millennium Live was cancelled two days before the event.

Some countries in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and hence close to the International Date Line engaged in "Millennium politics" to argue they were the first to enter the new millennium. Variously, the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji and Kiribati all laid debatable claims to the status – by moving the dateline itself, institution of daylight savings and claiming "first territory", "first land", "first inhabited land" or "first city".

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