The year is 2000: Britney Spears just dropped her iconic track, “Oops!… I Did It Again.” Coldplay released their debut album, “Parachutes.” Final Destination premiered in cinemas. Jennifer Lopez was making headlines for her green Versace dress. The first cellphone with a built-in camera was manufactured.
Can you still remember these moments? It has been a quarter-century since these things happened, yet 2000 feels like yesterday. While the world has changed much, there’s no denying that 2000 left a lasting impact that can still be felt today.
Let’s look back at some of the landmark moments in music, film, science, and popular culture that happened 25 years ago!
Linkin Park released their debut album, “Hybrid Theory”
Iconic rock band Linkin Park has been hugely influential in revolutionizing the music industry, and this began with the release of their debut album, “Hybrid Theory,” 25 years ago.
Their debut album spawned fan-favorite tracks that catapulted Linkin Park into popularity, including their singles “One Step Closer,” “In The End,” “Crawling,” and “Papercut.” Following its release, “Hybrid Theory” peaked at numerous streaming charts. It also received acclaim from critics and even won Best Hard Rock Performance for their song “Crawling” at the 44th Grammy Awards.
Fast forward to August 2020, the band released “Hybrid Theory 20th Anniversary Edition” as part of the 20th-year anniversary celebration of the album.
Britney Spears’ “Oops!… I Did It Again” was dropped
Following the success of her debut studio album, “Baby One More Time,” a year prior, pop princess Britney Spears took the music industry by storm yet again with the release of her second studio album, “Oops!… I Did It Again.”
Spears’ 2000 album produced some of her hit tracks, namely “Stronger,” “Lucky,” and the titular track.
Much like her debut album, “Oops!… I Did It Again” also saw commercial success, topping different streaming charts, receiving positive reviews from critics, and earning nominations and awards.
The Guinness World Record also recognized “Oops!… I Did It Again” as the fastest-selling album by a teenage solo artist back in 2001.
Coldplay captured their fans’ hearts with their debut album, “Parachutes”
British rock band Coldplay released their debut album, “Parachutes,” in 2000, which spawned the singles, “Shiver,” “Yellow,” and “Trouble.”
The album was a commercial success, peaking at number one in the UK albums chart. It also earned nominations and even won the British Album of the Year at the 2001 Brit Awards and Best Alternative Music Album at the 2002 Grammy Awards.
“Parachutes” was also recognized as the 22nd best-selling album of the 21st century and ranked 45th of all time in the United Kingdom.
Despite the album’s success, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin revealed in a 2006 interview that the band doesn’t like “Parachutes,” saying: “We know that’s terrible music and we always try to think about what we can do next.”
NSYNC released “Bye Bye Bye” as the lead single from their third studio album, “No Strings Attached”
In January 2000, American boy band NSYNC released their hit track “Bye Bye Bye” as the lead single from their third studio, “No Strings Attached.”
The track saw a huge success, with “Bye Bye Bye” considered as the group’s signature song. It also received positive reviews from critics and earned numerous nominations, including Best Pop Video, Best Choreography, and Viewers Choice at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.
In 2024, “Bye Bye Bye” once again entered the streaming charts after being featured in the Marvel film Deadpool & Wolverine.
Final Destination premiered in cinemas
The American supernatural horror film Final Destination premiered in cinemas in 2000. It was also the first installment in the film franchise, which later spawned five sequels, with the principal photography of the sixth film, Final Destination: Bloodlines, beginning in March 2024.
This James Wong-directed 2000 film follows the story of a high school student named Alex Browning (played by Devon Sawa) who has a premonition that their plane going to Paris will explode in mid-air, killing everyone. Upon realizing that his vision is becoming a reality, he tries to cheat on Death to prevent the accidents from happening. However, after believing they have survived Alex’s visions, they realize that Death’s plan is still in action.
Russell Crowe stars as Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator
In 2000, Russell Crowe portrayed the Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius in the historical epic film, Gladiator. The Ridley Scott-directed movie tells the story of Maximus’ revenge after being betrayed by Commodus (played by Joaquin Phoenix) who murders Maximus’ father and sends the Roman general into slavery.
After the film’s release, critics hailed Gladiator as a “magnificent, compelling, and richly enjoyable” film, praising Scott’s directing and visual style and Crowe’s performance as the film protagonist. Gladiator won five awards at the 73rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Crowe, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, and Best Costume Design.
Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu star in Charlie’s Angels
Created as a continuation of the original series of the same name, Charlie’s Angels premiered in 2000, and stars Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu. It follows the story of three different women who unite together as they embark on a mission to track down a kidnapped software engineer and bring down the bad guys. However, they become the target of assassination when a terrible secret is revealed.
The film became a box office hit but critics had mixed reactions to the film.
The world was introduced to powerful mutants as X-Men premiered in cinemas
Directed by Bryan Singer, X-Men is a 2000 American superhero film based on the Marvel comics of the same name created by Jack Kirby and the late Stan Lee. The film featured an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Halle Berry as Storm, Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen as Magneto, and James Marsden as Cyclops, among others.
Set in a world where mutants and humans coexist, the film focuses on the two groups who have different approaches to bringing about the acceptance of mutant-kind.
X-Men became a box office hit, grossing $21.4 million on its opening day. It also garnered acclaim from critics and earned numerous nominations at the 27th Saturn Awards where it won the categories for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Actor for Hugh Jackman, and Best Director for Singer, among others.
The famous green Versace dress of Jennifer Lopez
American entertainer Jennifer Lopez shocked everyone in 2000 when she walked down the red carpet of the 42nd Grammy Awards clad in a green revealing Versace dress. JLo’s dress became a hot topic in the fashion and entertainment industries, citing it as one of the most iconic dresses in history. Her images wearing the sheer dress were downloaded more than 640,000 times in just 24 hours after the event.
Lopez shared in an interview that she didn’t expect the dress to become that viral, while Donatella Versace revealed that the dress was “the turning point” of her career.
Dora the Explorer premiered on Nickelodeon
25 years ago, Nickelodeon introduced to the world Dora Marquez, a young Latina girl who embarked on a series of adventures in an animated world set inside a computer with her companions: Boots, Backpack, her cousin Diego, and Tico, among others.
Dora the Explorer premiered in 2000 and its last episode aired in 2008. The animated television series spawned Go, Diego, Go!, a spin-off of the original series which featured Dora’s cousin, Diego. A live-action film adaptation, titled Dora and the Lost City of Gold, was also released in 2019, and a live-action series was reportedly in the works.
The Sims is officially 25 years old now
The popular social simulation video game The Sims was developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts back in 2000. The game allows video game players, called Simmers, to create virtual people, the “Sims,” and control their daily lives. Since its first release, the game expanded with a series of new features, including new careers and scenarios.
It was also followed by sequels, including The Sims 2, The Sims 3, and The Sims 4.
The first camera phone was released
In 2000, Japanese electronics company Sharp Corporation introduced the first-ever cell phone with a built-in camera, which featured a 0.1-megapixel camera. These camera phones were basic, had no autofocus, and had low resolution. Fast forward to 25 years, smartphone cameras have become more progressive with new features being added in every model.
Can’t believe these were 25 years ago already, but the nostalgia doesn’t stop here! Click here to see some of the viral moments that happened 10 years ago.
Have a fun trip down memory lane!
Other POP! stories you might like:
Pop culture moments celebrating their 10th anniversary in 2025
Ariana Grande reveals reason why she’s keeping Glinda’s voice after ‘Wicked’
‘First entry of 2025’: The internet reacts to Barbie Forteza and Jak Roberto’s breakup
Baby hippo Moo Deng receives 10 million Thai baht from Ethereum co-founder for Christmas
Here’s why everyone’s talking about the Kaplan heiress