2000 in the United States

Incumbents

Federal government

• President: Bill Clinton
• Vice President: Al Gore
• Chief Justice: William Rehnquist
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert
• Senate Majority Leader: Trent Lott
• Congress: 106th

  State governments

Governors

Lieutenant governors

Demographics

Events

January

• January 4 – Alan Greenspan is nominated for a fourth term as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman.
• January 5–8 – The 2000 al-Qaeda Summit of several high-level al-Qaeda members is held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• January 10 – America Online announces an agreement to purchase Time Warner for $162 billion.
• January 12 – Elián González affair: Attorney General Janet Reno rules that a child rescued by the Coast Guard must be returned to his father in Cuba.
• January 14 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 11,722.98.
• January 19 – A dorm fire at Seton Hall University kills three people and injures several others. Seven years later, Sean Ryan and Joseph LePore are convicted of arson and sentenced to five years in prison.
• January 26 – The rap-metal band Rage Against the Machine plays in front of Wall Street, prompting an early closing of trading due to the crowds.
• January 30 – Super Bowl XXXIV: The St. Louis Rams win the NFL Championship for the first time since 1951, defeating the Tennessee Titans 23–16 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
• January 31 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashes in the Pacific Ocean, killing all 88 people on board.

  February

• February 11 – A blast from an improvised explosive device in front of a Barclay's Bank, across from the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, wounds dozens but kills none.
• February 13 – The final original Peanuts comic strip is published, following the death of its creator, Charles M. Schulz.
• February 17 – Microsoft releases Windows 2000.

  March

• March 7 – Texas Governor George W. Bush and U.S. Vice President Al Gore emerge victorious in the Republican and Democratic caucuses and primaries of the United States presidential election.
• March 9 – The FBI arrests art forgery suspect Ely Sakhai in New York City.
• March 10 – The Nasdaq Composite Index reaches an all-time high of 5,048.
• March 20 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther, is captured after a gun battle in Atlanta, Georgia that leaves a sheriff's deputy dead.
• March 21 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the government lacks authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug, throwing out the Clinton administration's main anti-smoking initiative.
• March 26 – The 72nd Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Sam Mendes' American Beauty wins five awards out of eight nominations, including Best Picture and Director. The telecast garners over 46.5 million viewers.
• March 27 – The 2000 Phillips explosion kills one and injures 71 in Pasadena, Texas.

  April

• April – The unemployment rate drops to a low of 3.8%, the lowest since December 1969.
• April – The labor force participation rate hits a historical peak of 67.4%.
• April – The employment-population ratio reaches an all-time high of 64.8%.
• April 1
• * The 2000 United States census determines the resident population of the United States to be 281,421,906.
• * Boomerang, a secondary digital Cartoon Network channel, debuts.
• April 2 – The World Wrestling Federation holds WrestleMania 2000 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, California.
• April 3 – United States v. Microsoft: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors.
• April 22 – In a predawn raid, federal agents seize 6-year old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida and fly him to his Cuban father in Washington, DC, ending one of the most publicized custody battles in U.S. history.
• April 25 – The State of Vermont passes HB847, legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples.
• April 28 – Richard Baumhammers begins a two-hour racially motivated shooting spree in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, leaving five dead and one paralyzed.

  May

• May 1 – Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.
• May 3 – In San Antonio, Texas, computer pioneer Datapoint files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• May 16 – The Federal Reserve raises its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to 6.5 percent, the first increase of more than a quarter point since February 1995.
• May 19 – Walt Disney Pictures' 39th feature film, Dinosaur, is released.
• May 24 – Five people are shot and killed during a robbery at a Wendy's in Queens, New York.
• May 28 – The comic strip Bringing Up Father ends its 87-year run in newspapers.
• May – Northern Lights Local Exchange Point is founded.

  June

• June 1 – Expo 2000, the world's fair in Hanover, Germany, begins without the attendance of the United States.
• June 5 – 405 The Movie, the first short film widely distributed on the Internet, is released.
• June 7 – United States Microsoft antitrust case: A Court orders the breakup of the Microsoft corporation because of its monopoly in the computer software market.
• June 19 – The Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Indiana Pacers in the 2000 NBA Finals in six games.
• June 28 – Elián González affair: Elián González returns to Cuba with his father.

  July

• July 12 – A 30-year-old American mechanic named Thomas Jones is pursued by law enforcement officers from the Philadelphia Police Department in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• July 14 - X-Men, directed by Bryan Singer, is released as the first film in the X-Men film series.
• July 31–August 3 – The Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania nominates Texas Governor George W. Bush for U.S. president and Dick Cheney for vice president.

  August

• August 8 – The Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.
• August 14 - Dora the Explorer premieres on Nick Jr. with the episode "The Legend of the Big Red Chicken."
• August 14–17 – The Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles nominates U.S. Vice President Al Gore for president and Senator Joe Lieberman for vice president.
• August 27 – The World Wrestling Federation holds its SummerSlam event from the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.

  September

• September 3 – The 5.0 Yountville earthquake shook the North Bay area of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII, causing 41 injuries and $10–50 million in losses.
• September 4 - Caillou and Clifford the Big Red Dog premiere on PBS Kids.
• September 6 – In Paragould, Arkansas, Breanna Lynn Bartlett-Stewart is stillborn to Jason Stewart and Lisa Bartlett. Breanna Lynn's stillbirth is notable for being the first stillbirth to be identified by means of the Kleihauer–Betke test.
• September 8 – The United Nations Millennium Declaration is made in New York City.
• September 15–October 1 – The United States compete at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and win 37 gold, 24 silver, and 32 bronze medals.

  October

• October 1 – In the final baseball game played at Three Rivers Stadium, the Pittsburgh Pirates lose to the Chicago Cubs 10–9.
• October 3
• *The first debate of the presidential election is held at the University of Massachusetts Boston with Jim Lehrer moderating.
• *Mark David Chapman, who shot and killed the former Beatle John Lennon in December 1980, is denied parole.
• October 5 – Bernard Shaw hosts the vice presidential debate between Joe Lieberman and Dick Cheney.
• October 11
• * of coal sludge spill in Martin County, Kentucky.
• * Jim Lehrer hosts the second presidential debate at Wake Forest University.
• October 12 – In Aden, Yemen, the USS Cole is badly damaged by two Al-Qaeda suicide bombers, who place a small boat laden with explosives alongside the United States Navy destroyer, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.
• October 16 – Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan dies in a plane crash while campaigning for the U.S. Senate.
• October 17 – The final debate of the presidential election takes place at Washington University in St. Louis.
• October 23 – Madeleine Albright holds talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.
• October 26 – The New York Yankees defeat the New York Mets in Game 5 of the 2000 World Series, 4–1, to win their 26th World Series title. This is the first Subway Series matchup between the two crosstown rivals. It is the Yankees' fourth World Series win under manager Joe Torre.

  November

• November 6 – Toxicologist Kristin Rossum murders her husband Gregory de Villers in San Diego by poisoning him with fentanyl. She successfully passes off the crime as a suicide for several months before being charged.
• November 7
• *2000 United States presidential election: Republican candidate Texas Governor George W. Bush defeats Democratic Vice President Al Gore in the closest election in history, but the outcome is not known for over a month because of disputed votes in Florida.
• *Hillary Clinton is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first First Lady of the United States to win public office.
• *Just three weeks after his death, Mel Carnahan is posthumously elected to the United States Senate defeating Republican incumbent John Ashcroft. Then-Governor Roger B. Wilson appoints his widow, Jean Carnahan, to fill the seat for him.
• November 8 – U.S. presidential election, 2000: Per Florida law, an automatic recount begins in the state due to the narrow margin of the outcome.
• November 12 – The United States recognizes the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• November 16 – Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit Vietnam.
• November 17
• *U.S. presidential election, 2000: The Supreme Court of Florida prevents Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris from certifying the election results, allowing recounting to continue.
• *Nickelodeon's Rugrats in Paris: The Movie is released in theaters.
• *Dr. Seuss's live action film How the Grinch Stole Christmas, with Jim Carrey is released to theaters.