The millennium celebrations were a worldwide, coordinated series of events to celebrate and commemorate the end of 1999 and the start of the year 2000 in the
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...
. The celebrations were held as marking the end of the
2nd millennium and the 20th century, and the start of the
3rd millennium
In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 (21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is li ...
and the 21st century (although the start and end points of such periods was then, and continues to be,
disputed). Countries around the globe held official festivities in the weeks and months leading up to the date, such as those organised in the United States by the
White House Millennium Council
The White House Millennium Council was an American organization established by Executive Order 13072 in 1998 by President Bill Clinton as part of the then-upcoming celebrations of the start of the year 2000. The council's theme was "Honor the Pa ...
, 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
A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...
was created, including souvenir postage stamps.
As with every New Year's Eve, many events were timed with the stroke of midnight in the
time zone
A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it ...
of the location. There were also many events associated with the dawn on 1 January. 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.
Several countries in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and hence close to the
International Date Line made arguments they were the first to enter the new millennium. Variously, the
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...
, New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji and Kiribati all laid claims to the status – by moving the dateline itself, the temporary institution of
daylight saving time
Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...
, and claiming the "first territory", "first land", "first inhabited land" or "first city" to see the new year.
Events
UTC+14
The US Navy submarine ''
Topeka
Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Uni ...
'' positioned itself underwater, straddling both the
International Date Line and the
Equator.
At
Caroline Island
Caroline Island (also known as Caroline Atoll or Millennium Island) is the easternmost of several uninhabited coral atolls comprising the southern Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean nation of Kiribati.
The atoll was first sighted by Eu ...
in the mid-Pacific, renamed as "Millennium Island", the
claimed the first land to see the new millennium.
Simultaneously, a ceremony was held in
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
, consisting of a choir recitation of
Hallelujah
''Hallelujah'' ( ; he, ''haləlū-Yāh'', meaning "praise Yah") is an interjection used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four tim ...
, and an address by King
Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV
Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV (born Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Tupoulahi; 4 July 1918 – 10 September 2006) was the King of Tonga, from the death of his mother, Queen Sālote Tupou III, in 1965 until his own death in 2006.
Immediately prior to his death, ...
.
On the
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...
(
UTC+13:45) there was a
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
blessing
In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will.
Etymology and Germanic paganism
The modern English language term ''bless'' likely ...
. "As they faced the Pacific Ocean, a beacon was lit and school children sang."
UTC+13
In
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
, a fireworks display on the
Harbour made New Zealand the first industrial nation to celebrate the year 2000, being just west of the International Date Line.
UTC+12
UTC+11
Sydney, the host city of the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...
, held a large fireworks display centering on the
Harbour Bridge, with the locally famous graffito ''
Eternity
Eternity, in common parlance, means infinite time that never ends or the quality, condition, or fact of being everlasting or eternal. Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside time, whereas sempit ...
'' being recreated.
For the first time in its history, the
Sydney Opera House precinct was almost completely cordoned off from the public. Instead, tickets costing as much as each were being sold for Opera House parties.
However, public transport and access was available to view the fireworks on the Bridge, which included a "waterfall" effect.
UTC+10
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
's celebrations were at their Central Business District with a special presentation before the countdown and many fireworks. Adelaide was on
UTC+10:30 during daylight saving time.
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
's celebrations were broadcast live on
ABC (Australia)
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...
and worldwide via ''
2000 Today''.
UTC+9
In Tokyo, there were a series of concerts (
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
's ''
Kohaku Uta Gassen
is the Japanese word for amber.
Kohaku (琥珀) may refer to:
Music
* Kohaku, a song by Mikuni Shimokawa
Characters
* Kohaku (''Dr. Stone''), a character in the manga series ''Dr. Stone''
* Kohaku (''InuYasha''), a character in ''InuYash ...
'' at
NHK Hall
The NHK Hall is a concert hall located at the NHK Broadcasting Center, the main headquarters of Japan's public broadcaster NHK. The hall is the main venue for the NHK Symphony Orchestra, but it has also played host to other events, such as the 19 ...
,
Johnny's Countdown Live at the
Tokyo Dome
is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...
) and a fireworks display. At midnight, temple bells across Japan were rung 108 times to "dispel the evils of mankind".
The Japanese
heavy metal band
Seikima-II played its last concert "The Doomsday" before its first breakup on 31 December. A major part of the band's fictional storyline was a prophecy stating that they would conquer the world before breaking up in 1999, with the name of the band itself being a pun meaning "the end of the century" in Japanese. Following the conclusion of the concert at 23:59:59 on 31 December (a second before midnight), the band disbanded and could be seen disappearing into a portal of light leaving the stage.
UTC+8
The traditional
Chinese New Year did not start until 5 February of that year, however celebrations were still held in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
alongside fireworks and
dragon dance
Dragon dance () is a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture. Like the lion dance, it is most often seen during festive celebrations. The dance is performed by a team of experienced dancers who manipulate a long flexible ...
s. At midnight, Chinese paramount leader
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pr ...
lit a flame dedicated to the
history of Chinese civilization.
In Hong Kong, at eight minutes to midnight, film star
Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
led a group of singers, and at the stroke of midnight, a fireworks display began.
In the Philippines, millennium parties simultaneously began in different parts of the country. President
Joseph Estrada
Joseph Ejercito Estrada, (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor. He served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, the 9th vice presi ...
and top government officials joined celebrations at the Rizal Park (which was broadcast on
ABS-CBN
ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Philippine commercial broadcast network that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company unde ...
), while at the Ayala Millennium Center,
Regine Velasquez
Regina Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez ( ; born April 22, 1970) is a Filipina singer, actress, and record producer. She is considered one of the most influential figures in Philippine popular culture and is known for her vocal range and beltin ...
sang the Philippine Millennium Theme Song, "Written in the Sand" at the top of the
Peninsula Manila at about ten minutes to the Philippine midnight as part of the Philippine presentation on ''2000 Today'' (Global Millennium Day broadcast on
GMA).
In Singapore, a pop trio consisting of
Fann Wong
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, death_place =
, death_cause =
, body_discovered =
, resting_place =
, resting_place_coordinat ...
,
Tanya Chua
Tanya Chua (; born 28 January 1975) is a Singaporean singer-songwriter. She launched her singing career by releasing her debut studio album ''Bored'' in 1997. Her albums, ''Amphibian'' (2005), '' Goodbye & Hello'' (2007), ''Sing It Out of Love'' (2 ...
and Elsa Lin performed a millennium song for Singapore, entitled
Moments of Magic.
UTC+7
Fireworks for the
Vietnamese New Year
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Ove ...
in February were cancelled; in turn,
Ho Chi Minh City organized a countdown party on 31 December at 10 pm, culminating in fireworks which began at midnight.
UTC+6
In India (
UTC+5:30), many Indians use the
Hindu calendar
The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a ...
, but the start of the year 2000 was still celebrated. On New Year's Eve, fireworks were observed in the capital New Delhi. This was overshadowed by the return of
Indian Airlines Flight 814
Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India, on Friday, 24 December 1999, whe ...
's passengers and crew, who arrived home from Afghanistan after being held hostage for a week.
One way the new millennium was celebrated in India was with the grand opening of the
Thiruvalluvar Statue
The ''Thiruvalluvar Statue'', or the ''Valluvar Statue'', is a stone sculpture of the Tamil poet and philosopher Valluvar, author of the Tirukkural, an ancient Tamil work on Dharma and morality. It is located atop a small island near the tow ...
a 41 m (133 ft) stone statue in
Kanyakumari
Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland Ind ...
,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
, depicting
Valluvar
Thiruvalluvar (Tamil: திருவள்ளுவர்), commonly known as Valluvar, was a celebrated Tamil poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'', a collection of couplets on ethics, political and ...
, a
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
speaking poet, philosopher and author of the
Tirukkural
The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The tex ...
, a book on morality. Both Valluvar and the Tirukkural are treated with reverence by Tamil speakers regardless of political or religious background with the Tirukkural considered the most important work written in Tamil.
UTC+5
The
Central time.
UTC+4
UTC+3
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
's government and the Russian national government had sponsored parties across the city. Celebrations were held at the
Spasskaya Tower
The Spasskaya Tower ( rus, Спасская башня, Spasskaya Bashnya), translated as 'Saviour Tower', is the main tower on the eastern wall of the Moscow Kremlin which overlooks Red Square.
History
The Spasskaya Tower was built in 1491 by th ...
to ring in the new millennium.
The
President of Russia
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
unexpectedly announced his resignation during his annual
Presidential New Year Address. For the rest of the day and into 2000,
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
served as Acting President, and he gave an address of his own on New Year's Eve. In March 2000, Putin was
elected Elected may refer to:
* "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973
* ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008
*The Elected, an American indie rock band
See also
*Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...
as president in his own right, and continues to
dominate Russian politics into the 2020s.
UTC+2
South Africa's
Nelson Mandela lit a candle in his former cell at
Robben Island
Robben Island ( af, Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrik ...
at the stroke of midnight.
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
held a fireworks display over the
Acropolis and a televised choir sang the
Olympic anthem
The Olympic Hymn ( el, Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος, ), also known as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras (1861–1917), with lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. Both poet and composer were the choice of ...
, a Byzantine anthem and the
Greek national anthem.
In
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, and particularly at the
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...
, fears that
doomsday
Doomsday may refer to:
* Eschatology, a time period described in the eschatological writings in Abrahamic religions and in doomsday scenarios of non-Abrahamic religions.
* Global catastrophic risk, a hypothetical event explored in science and fict ...
fanatics "...could try to trigger an apocalypse prompted one of Israel's biggest peacetime police operations."
In
Giza, a concert called ''
The Twelve Dreams of the Sun
Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompani ...
'' with music by
Jean-Michel Jarre
Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompani ...
was held on the
Pyramids
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
. At the time, most Egyptians were observing the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan.
In
Stockholm, the band
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
performed a concert to celebrate the new millennium.
This was the first concert played by the band since 1992 when they went in hiatus.
they were brought back together due to a request to perform such a concert.
For the first and (so far only) time, both of their lead guitarists,
John Norum
John Norum (born 23 February 1964) is a Norwegian-Swedish guitarist and one of the founders of the rock band Europe. Concurrent to his role with Europe, he also maintains a career as a solo artist.
Biography
As an infant, Norum moved with his p ...
and
Kee Marcello
Kee Marcello (born Kjell Hilding Lövbom, 20 February 1960 in Ludvika, Sweden) is a Swedish guitarist/vocalist, best known as the former guitarist in the hard rock bands Europe and Easy Action. He is currently pursuing his solo career.
Caree ...
played together. This was because both of them had accepted the offer of playing with the band that night.
The two songs played "
Rock the Night" and "
The Final Countdown", the band's two biggest hits, both of them had extra meaning due to the night they were sung on.
UTC+1
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
was the focal point of celebrations in France where searchlights and 20,000 strobe lights for the event were installed on the
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Locally nicknamed "' ...
. They remained in operation until June 2003, when they were replaced by another installation.
In
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
, star-shaped balloons were set up at midnight on top of the Casa de Correos building in
Puerta del Sol
The Puerta del Sol (English: "Gate of the Sun") is a public square in Madrid, one of the best known and busiest places in the city. This is the centre ('' Km 0'') of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clo ...
Square.
In
Vatican City
Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—'
* german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ')
* pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—'
* pt, Cidade do Vati ...
,
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
led a blessing in St Peter's Square.
UTC±0
In
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, attention focused around
Big Ben, as well as the opening of the
Millennium Dome. A huge fireworks display, called the "
River of Fire", went along 4 miles (6 km) of the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
.
The Irish national radio and television organisation
RTÉ produced a marathon 19-hour broadcast called ''
Millennium Eve: Celebrate 2000'', while the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''.
at minutes to midnight.
became the first place in the Americas to celebrate the millennium but with no people on it, all of the British inhabitants chose to spend the midnight celebrations back at
time.
)'s ''El Día del Milenio'' and worldwide through the BBC-led ''2000 Today''.
), a concert was held that was broadcast to thousands of Canadians as the small island celebrated being the first place in North America to welcome the 21st century. Meanwhile, in Bermuda, celebrations were marked as the first Caribbean nation to crossover to the new millennium reached its highest at midnight.
, which included artistic performances and a midnight fireworks display launched from the
.
.
was commissioned and organizers expected a total attendance exceeding two million spectators. It was broadcast live during ''ABC 2000 Today'' with
in the United States, and worldwide via ''2000 Today''.
was performing a special concert to celebrate the new millennium. Leading up to the first few moments of 2000, Joel sang a special song titled "2000 Years". After that, there was a brief countdown to the year 2000 and at the stroke of midnight, Joel sang "
", a song traditionally sung in the western world at the stroke of midnight in the first few seconds of the new year. The concert was released on an album titled "
theme park.
U.S. President
watched with thousands of spectators in Washington, D.C. as the
lit up at midnight. Washington was also the world's largest
played three sets for a concert at the theatre to celebrate the millennium. At the first set, during the last few minutes before 2000, the band played their song "Towering Fool" which was then followed by a brief "Countdown Jam" for the remainder of the old year. Immediately after the
" (the first time the band sang the song at a concert) to welcome the 21st century. The concert was released as an album though not until 2010.
, as was viewed during the ''ABC 2000 Today'' broadcast.
, Colorado and incorporated the Mountain Time millennium countdown and celebrations into the performance.
became illuminated in various colors, one of the very few times the sign became lit.
It was also the last stop in the ''ABC 2000 Today'' broadcast in the United States.
. The party was headed by then-governor
and his family.
, the last independent nation to celebrate the new millennium, remains unchallenged in its claim as the last place on Earth to celebrate the closing of the century. This time zone remained in use in Samoa until 29 December 2011, when it would be shifted to
.