page_title: Millennium celebrations
hierarchical_section_title: Millennium celebrations
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Countdown 1999 noch 11 Stunden bis zum Jahr 2000 am Eiffelturm in Paris Foto 1999 Wolfgang Pehlemann Wiesbaden English: Countdown 1999 still 11 hours until the year 2000 at the Eiffel Tower in Paris Photo 1999 Wolfgang Pehlemann Wiesbaden Español: Countdown 1999 todavía 11 horas hasta el año 2000 en la Torre Eiffel en París Foto 1999 Wolfgang Pehlemann Wiesbaden
context_page_description: The millennium celebrations were a worldwide, coordinated series of events celebrating the end of 1999 and the start of the year 2000 in the Gregorian calendar. The celebrations were held as marking the end of the 1000s millennium and the beginning of the 2000s millennium.
  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, 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 in the time zone 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.
context_section_description: The millennium celebrations were a worldwide, coordinated series of events celebrating the end of 1999 and the start of the year 2000 in the Gregorian calendar. The celebrations were held as marking the end of the 1000s millennium (January 1, 1000 – December 31, 1999) and the beginning of the 2000s millennium (January 1, 2000 – December 31, 2999).
  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, 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 in the time zone 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, New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji and Kiribati all laid claims to the status – by moving the dateline itself, the temporary institution of daylight saving time, and claiming "first territory", "first land", "first inhabited land" or "first city" to see the new year.
caption: Millennium countdown on the Eiffel Tower, Paris
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