Was Y2K really 25 years ago? Yes, as of January 1, 2025, it officially will be. Which is why I thought it would be interesting to view the good, bad, and ugly people, happenings, and events from the first quarter of the 21st century.

National economists, media outlets, and more have published and recapped their thoughts on the last 25 years, so I thought I would add mine to the mix to remind you of the timeline.

Despite Y2K fears that the world’s computer systems wouldn’t convert from 1999 to 2000 and cause devastating chaos, we survived by getting ahead of the curve with upgraded Y2K-certified software. 2000 also marks the first election of Vladimir Putin as President of Russia, the recovery of the Confederate submarine, H.L. Hunley, after 136 years on the ocean floor (that still resides in its museum in Charleston), and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

2001: The attacks of September 11 from planes hijacked by terrorists on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon, and rural Pennsylvania would forever change Americans and the world; 2,996 people died. Later in 2001, lighter, but impactful events include the introduction of the first iPod by Steve Jobs, Enron filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a string of messy scandals, and Dean Kamen revealing Segway.

2002: SpaceX is founded by Elon Musk.

2003: The United States invades Iraq and ousts Saddam Hussein, launching the eight-year war.

2004: Facebook is launched by Mark Zuckerberg and partners. Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalize same-sex marriage.

2005: Killing 1,836 people, Hurricane Katrina wreaks havoc across the Gulf of Mexico coast. YouTube is founded by Jawed Karim, Chad Hurley, and Steve Chen.

2006: Twitter and Spotify are launched, Google buys out YouTube, and Nintendo unveils the Wii. North Korea conducts a nuclear test and the Mexican Drug War begins.

2007: Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and the iPhone is introduced.

2008: Barack Obama is elected the first African-American president of the United States, the Gaza War begins, and stock markets implode worldwide, triggering the start of the Great Recession.

2009: The cryptocurrency Bitcoin is released, the Swine Flu Pandemic begins in North America, and US Airways Flight 1549 lands in the Hudson River, which becomes known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” because all 155 people on board survived.

2010: A 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti takes the lives of 230,000 people, the Gulf of Mexico suffers from the largest oil spill in U.S. history, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai becomes the tallest structure in the world, and the iPad and Instagram are introduced.

2011: Osama Bin Laden is shot dead by United States Navy SEALs in Pakistan, the Iraq war ends, and the world population reaches 7 billion. Prince William marries Kate Middleton in the biggest royal wedding of the century.

2012: Mass shootings in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” and Sandy Hook Elementary School occur. The U.S. rover, Curiosity, takes a selfie on Mars; Skydiver Felix Baumgartner becomes the first person to break the sound barrier without a vehicle; Hurricane Sandy causes $70 billion in damage and kills 233 people; and Barack Obama wins his second term as president of the United States.

2013: Pope Benedict XVI resigns, the first Pope to do so since 1415, and Pope Francis is elected as the first Pope from Latin America. State funerals are held for Hugo Chavez, Nelson Mandela, and Margaret Thatcher.

2014: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, with 239 people on board, disappears from radar while on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing; the shooting of African-American teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, leads to violent protests and the slogan, “Hands up, don’t shoot”; and the worst Ebola epidemic in recorded history sweeps across West Africa, resulting in more than 11,000 deaths.

2015: Nine African-Americans meeting in a Bible study inside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, the oldest Black church in the Southeast, are gunned down by Dylann Roof, sparking the removal of Confederate symbols and flags across the city. The #BlackLivesMatter movement heightens. And the NFL, New England Patriots, and Tom Brady face “Deflategate.”

2016: Donald Trump wins the 2016 presidential election against Hillary Clinton, the first woman to be nominated by a major party, Pokemon Go is released, TikTok is launched, and the death and state funeral of Fidel Castro is commemorated.

2017: Millions participate in the Women’s March after the inauguration of Donald Trump, sexual abuse allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein lead to a wave of serious accusations throughout Hollywood, and an active, deadly Atlantic hurricane season features Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria.

2018: A soccer team of 12 boys and their coach are successfully rescued from the flooded Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Thailand. The China-United States trade war begins.

2019: President Trump is impeached, the 850-year-old Notre Dame in Paris (roof and spire) is destroyed by fire, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have their first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

2020: The outbreak of Covid-19 shuts down the world and changes it forever, George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis sparks global protests, Harry and Meghan exit the royal life, and a helicopter crash kills NBA legend Kobe Bryant and eight passengers.

2021: President Joe Biden is elected the 46th president of the United States, with Kamala Harris becoming the country’s first female, Black, and South Asian vice president; Juneteenth becomes a federal holiday, and the Summer Olympics are held in Tokyo, but spectators are prohibited.

2022: The Winter Olympics are held in Beijing, China; the 1973 case Roe vs. Wade is overruled; Elizabeth II, the longest reigning British female monarch, dies.

2023: The coronation of Charles III and Camilla as king and queen of the United Kingdom is held and Hamas militants launch a large-scale attack from the Gaza Strip.