2000
News
- 1st January – Millennium celebrations take place throughout the UK. The Millennium Dome in London is officially opened by HM The Queen.
- Dr Harold Shipman is sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of murdering fifteen patients in Greater Manchester between 1995 and 1998. He is also sentenced to four years in prison, to run concurrently, for forging the will of one of his victims. The subsequent enquiry considers him to have killed at least 215.
- Myra Hindley, who has spent 34 years in prison for her role in the Moors murders, loses a third High Court appeal against a Home Office ruling that her life sentence should mean life.
- Charlie Kray, one of the infamous Kray brothers, dies in a hospital on the Isle of Wight after suffering a heart attack in Parkhurst Prison at age 73.
- London mayoral election: Ken Livingstone, standing as an independent, becomes the first directly elected Mayor of London defeating Steve Norris, the Conservative Party candidate in second place; and Frank Dobson, the Labour Party candidate in third place.
- Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother celebrates her hundredth birthday.
- 31 December – The Millennium Dome closes as planned after one year.
Entertainment
- The Tate Modern art museum is opened to the public in London.
- Reality television game show Big Brother first airs in the UK.
- The BBC’s main evening news programme moves to 10:00pm; the following year ITV1 will move its news programme back to the same time slot and broadcast in direct competition.
- Actor Michael Caine receives a knighthood from the Queen.
- Madonna, 42, marries 32-year-old British film producer Guy Ritchie at Skibo Castle in the Scottish Highlands.
Music
- Sharon Osbourne quits as manager of Smashing Pumpkins after only three months. In a brash press release she announces she had to resign “for medical reasons: Billy Corgan was making me sick”.
- The 45th Eurovision Song Contest final is held in Stockholm’s Globe Arena. The UK entry, “Don’t Play That Song Again”, performed by Nicki French, finished in sixteenth place – the worst-ever showing for a UK entry up to that time.
- Oasis plays at Wembley Stadium. The first of this night is featured on the double CD and the DVD Familiar to Millions.
- Madonna marries film director Guy Ritchie, at Skibo Castle in Dornoch, Sutherland, Scotland with Gwyneth Paltrow, Stella McCartney, Sting, George Clooney, Jon Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, Bryan Adams, Rupert Everett and others in attendance.
Number #1 Hits of 2000
| Artist | Title |
| Manic Street Preachers | The Masses Against The Classes |
| Britney Spears | Born To Make You Happy |
| Gabrielle | Rise |
| Oasis | Go Let It Out |
| All Saints | Pure Shores |
| Madonna | American Pie |
| Chicane Feat. Bryan Adams | Don’t Give Up |
| Geri Halliwell | Bag It Up |
| Melanie C | Never Be The Same Again |
| Westlife | Fool Again |
| Craig David | Fill Me In |
| Fragma | Toca’s Miracle |
| Oxide & Neutrino | Bound 4 Da Reload (Casualty) |
| Britney Spears | Oops!… I Did It Again |
| Madison Avenue | Don’t Call Me Baby |
| Billie Piper | Day & Night |
| Sonique | It Feels So Good |
| Black Legend | You See The Trouble With Me |
| Kylie Minogue | Spinning Around |
| Eminem | The Real Slim Shady |
| Corrs | Breathless |
| Ronan Keating | Life Is A Rollercoaster |
| Five & Queen | We Will Rock You |
| Craig David | 7 Days |
| Robbie Williams | Rock DJ |
| Melanie C | I Turn To You |
| Spiller | Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) |
| Madonna | Music |
| A1 | Take On Me |
| Modjo | Lady (Hear Me Tonight) |
| Mariah Carey & Westlife | Against All Odds |
| All Saints | Black Coffee |
| U2 | Beautiful Day |
| Steps | Stomp |
| Spice Girls | Holler/Let Love Lead The Way |
| Westlife | My Love |
| A1 | Same Old Brand New You |
| LeAnn Rimes | Can’t Fight The Moonlight |
| Destiny’s Child | Independent Woman Part 1 |
| S Club 7 | Never Had A Dream Come True |
| Eminem | Stan |
| Bob The Builder | Can We Fix It? |
Sport
- At Murrayfield Stadium, the 2000 Challenge Cup rugby league tournament culminates in the Bradford Bulls’ 24 – 18 win in the final against the Leeds Rhinos.
- Chelsea beat Aston Villa 1–0 to win the last FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium before the old stadium (which is due to close in October) is rebuilt.
- Great Britain competes at the Olympics in Sydney and wins 11 Gold, 10 Silver and 7 Bronze medals.
- Wembley Stadium closes after seventy-seven years. It is set to re-open in 2003, following a complete reconstruction that will see its seating capacity raised to 90,000 all-seated. In the final game at the old stadium, the England football team loses 1–0 to Germany in their opening qualifying game for the 2002 World Cup and manager Kevin Keegan resigns after eighteen months in charge.
- Sven-Göran Eriksson, the 52-year-old Swedish coach of Italian side Lazio, accepts an offer from the Football Association to take charge of the England football team for five years commencing next July. Eriksson will be the first foreign manager to take charge of the England national team, but until his arrival, the England team will be jointly managed by interim coaches Peter Taylor and Howard Wilkinson.
