5 Defining Moments of the 2000s

It's been a decade since the turn of the millennium. Milestones have been made, battles won and great people rose to lead. So much has happened in the ten years. Here's a list of five things which have made their mark in the history book during the past ten years.

1. September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on the United States

On this fateful day, four airplanes were hijacked and made to crash into various locations. Two were crashed into the Twin Towers of the World

Trade Center in New York City, one was flown into the Pentagon Building in Washington DC, and in the fourth plane, crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly three thousand people lost their lives in these horrific terrorist attacks.

The New York Stock Exchange had its largest one day drop in history when it re-opened following the attacks. The attacks also started President George W. Bush's War on Terror which led to major conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Nine years on, the effects of the attacks are still being reflected today, and will continue to do so in years to come.

2. December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake

December 26, 2005 saw the second largest recorded earthquake in history wreck havoc throughout South East Asia. The epicenter was located in the middle of the Indian Ocean causing a tsunami to erupt.

The resulting tsunami killed nearly 230,000 people and displaced over one million over the fourteen different countries which were affected. In the aftermath, entire cities were destroyed and rural areas completely wiped out.

It's been five years on, but many countries are still rebuilding and some cities' coast line will never be the same.

3. October 23, 2001 Apple introduced the iPod.

Steve Jobs saw that mp3 players were unpopular because they were fragile, had short battery life, or were simply not sexy and fashionable. He set out to revolutionize it. Alas, the iPod was born!

 Nine years on, majority of teenagers or young adults all have an iPod. Since then, over 220,000,000 iPods have been sold throughout the world, making them the highest selling digital audio player.

4. February 4, 2004 Facebook.com was launched

Out of all the other social networking sites, facebook still holds the largest share of users. Social media has become so popular that it overtook pornography as the #1 activity on the internet.

It is also said to have become "one of the biggest shifts in human interaction" since the telephone. facebook took less than 9 months to reach 100 million users when radio took 38 years to reach 50 million users.

It is no doubt that social networking has fundamentally changed the way the world communicates.

5. November 4, 2008 United States Presidential Election

Barack Obama was the first black president of the United States of America. What seemed nearly impossible for ‘people of colour', Obama proved otherwise.

President Obama won the Electoral College by a staggering 192 votes over his opponent Senator John McCain. An international poll showed an average of 49% worldwide in favor of Obama, while McCain only garnered 12%.

Both the United States and the world had given their thumbs up for Obama. The people of United States were also commended on making a huge move towards true racial equality.