Americans had been waiting 18 years to fulfill Prince’s mandate to “party like it’s 1999,” and that they did.

Twenty-four hours of coordinated festivities marked the new millennium in time zones around the globe.

In Washington, D.C., President Bill Clinton unveiled the National Millennium Time Capsule, to be opened in 100 years. Later, Muhammad Ali, U.S. Sen. and Apollo astronaut John Glenn, singer Bobby McFerrin and dozens of other dignitaries and performers joined the president for a star-studded gala at the Lincoln Memorial, hosted by actor Will Smith.

But Americans weren’t entirely sure what to expect at the stroke of midnight.

Fears of a global technology shutdown, prompted by uncertainty about how computer processors would interpret dates ending in “00” — a panic known as “Y2K” for “Year 2000” — led some to stockpile food and other necessities lest banking, communication and energy systems failed.

When the worst did not happen, thanks to the foresight of government and corporate programmers, Americans embraced a new decade and a new century of promise.

The ubiquitous “i” was coined in 1998 to represent “internet, individual, instruct, inform and inspire,” according to Steve Jobs, who noted the iMac introduced that year would connect personal computer users to the internet.

But nothing could predict the monumental “i” nnovations that would arrive in the 2000s.

The iPod, launched in 2001, eclipsed previous MP3 players with its smaller size, nifty scroll wheel (replaced in 2004 with a “click wheel”) and larger, 5GB storage that could hold up to 1,000 songs. With customized wired earphones and a dizzying $399 price tag (about $708 in 2024 dollars), the iPod “redefined how music is discovered, listened to and shared,” according to Apple’s Greg Joswiak.

Apple announced in April 2007 that it had sold more than 100 million iPods, on its way to roughly 450 million units sold by the end of its production in 2022.

What could possibly derail a technology with such widespread appeal?

Perhaps another Apple “i” nspiration.

The first-generation iPhone inaugurated a “smartphone revolution” when it was introduced in 2007 with what seemed at the time to be an other colossal price tag: $499 (about $756 in 2024 dollars) for a 4GB model.

The iPhone eschewed the QWERTY keyboard buttons that adorned prevailing bestsellers like the compact Nokia 1110 and the Motorola RAZR V3 flip phone. It did so with a magical touch-sensitive screen that also eliminated the need for a stylus.

By the summer of 2008, Americans were already upgrading to the new iPhone 3G, available for a bargain starting price of $199 (about $290 in 2024 dollars).

Although it contributed to the demise of the iPod, the iPhone’s success propelled Apple to become the world’s most profitable company by 2010, according to Forbes.

Already a superstar, Tiger Woods dominated golf of the 2000s and gave the age-old game a dynamic, youthful appeal. The world’s top-ranked golfer for almost the entire decade, Woods won 13 major championships in the 2000s, including a “grand slam” at age 24, the youngest player ever to do so.

Woods’ most dominant performance came at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in California, where he trounced the competition with a score of 12 under par and a record-breaking 15 strokes — the largest margin of victory ever in a major championship.

Larger than life, Woods’ influence transcended the sport. A popular endorser, he signed a record-breaking $105 million contract with Nike in 2000, contributing to a surge of 231% in corporate revenue between 1999 and 2009, according to Nike earnings reports.

By 2009, Forbes Magazine proclaimed Woods to be “sports’ first billion-dollar man” by exceeding $1 billion in earnings.

Off the links, the 2000s can be remembered as a decade of other superstar debuts:

— Tom Brady: A modest sixth-round draft choice of the New England Patriots and the seventh quarterback selected in the 2000 NFL draft.

— Sidney Crosby: The #1 pick in the 2005 NHL draft, by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

— Danica Patrick: Named IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year for both the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 IndyCar Series season.

— Michael Phelps: A first-time Olympian in the 2000 Sydney, Australia, games, finishing fifth in the 200-meter men’s butterfly event.

— Boston Red Sox: Technically not a debut, but a long-awaited return as Major League Baseball champs in the 2004 World Series, breaking the long-standing “Curse of the Bambino.” Two years after winning the 1918 World Series, the Red Sox had sent the Bambino — Babe Ruth — to the then-lackluster New York Yankees, inaugurating an 86-year championship drought for the boys from Beantown.

The decade of the 2000s saw another debut, this one in the living rooms of America.

Microsoft’s Xbox, introduced in November 2001, was a response to the success of Sega Genesis, Nintendo and especially the Sony PlayStation game consoles in the 1990s. For about $299 ($530 in 2024), Xbox offered enhanced hardware, graphics and gameplay.

The entrée of the Xbox into the crowded home gaming arena triggered an explosion of home gaming. Sales skyrocketed from $5.5 billion in 2000 to $17.1 billion in 2010, according to data from Statistica Research.

Some of the top-selling home video games of the decade, according to NPD research group, include diverse titles such as Madden NFL, Pokémon Gold and Silver, Grand Theft Auto, Halo and Call of Duty, Wii Sports and Guitar Hero. Minecraft, which would become the bestselling game of all time, also made its debut during the decade, under the name “Cave Game” in 2009.

If Fallout 3 and Angry Birds aren’t your cup of tea, perhaps you’d like to grab a Gryffindor scarf and a Hogwarts Quidditch sweater to celebrate the decade when Harry Potter first hit the big screen.

Released between 2001 and 2011, the Harry Potter films were based on J.K. Rowling’s fantasy novels — the bulky but colorful hardbacks that made it popular for a generation of preteens (and teens) (and even adults) to read again.

With its extensive merchandising and devoted “fandom,” Harry Potter was a pop culture “phenomenon that defined childhood for an entire generation,” according to Vox’s Constance Grady and Aja Romano.

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, the eight-film series also featured legendary actors such as Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Dame Maggie Smith and Richard Harris.

Six of the films were nominated for Academy Awards in categories such as visual effects, cinematography and original score. The movie franchise still ranks as the fourth largest in history, according to IMDb, grossing more than $9 billion worldwide.

The idealism of the new millennium would be shattered after 19 al-Qaida terrorists boarded planes in Boston, Newark, N.J., and Washington, D.C., on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001.

American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel, crashed into the World Trade Center’s north tower in New York City at 8:46 a.m. Just 17 minutes later, horrified television audiences watched live as a second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, slammed into the south tower.

By 10:30 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 smashed into the Pentagon, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pa., and the twin towers collapsed, leaving a cloud of toxic gasses, a monumental mountain of debris and a violent end to Americans’ sense of security.

A total of 2, 977 people, including those in the airplanes, many in the buildings and on the ground, and hundreds of emergency responders, were killed in the deadliest terrorist attack ever.

Patriotism surged. In a rare display of bipartisan harmony, members of Congress sang “God Bless America” on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. American flags adorned front porches. First responders were hailed as heroes.

In October 2001, the U.S. launched the “War on Terror,” a global military and counterterrorism operation. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would be captured in December 2003 and executed in 2006. Osama bin Laden, the 9/11 mastermind and Al-Qaeda leader, would be killed by U.S. Special Forces in May 2011.

The war continued for more than two decades, costing about 7,000 U.S. military lives and as much as $8 trillion, according to Brown University. The last U.S. troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan by President Joe Biden in August 2021.

Many forget — and some never knew — the airports of the pre-9/11 era. Much like bus or train travel, individuals could buy a ticket on site and stroll with family members to the departure gate.

When limited air travel resumed two days after the 9/11 attacks, armed military personnel patrolled the nation’s airports, and tighter restrictions were in effect. Security was centralized under a new federal agency, the Transportation Security Administration, in November 2001. For the first time, all bags and passengers would be subject to inspection.

But that was just the beginning, for a cascading series of events in the decade would lead to additional security measures.

Thanks to the failed “shoe bomber” of December 2001, all passengers would be required to remove shoes beginning in 2006.

Liquids, gels and aerosols were banned from carry-ons beginning in 2006 after a would-be terrorist disguised explosives as soft drinks.

Also thwarted, the floundering 2009 “underwear bomber” caught his own pants on fire instead of blowing up his airplane. His security legacy, however, persists with full-body scans of passengers, beginning in 2010.

NASA’s Space Shuttle program, featuring “the world’s first reusable spacecraft,” boasted nearly two decades of human space flight by the year 2000.

Columbia had been the first orbiter to reach space, on April 12, 1981. The ship flew 28 missions for more than 300 days in space, traveling more than 121 million miles and completing 4,808 orbits around the Earth, according to NASA’s website.

The orbiter launched numerous communication and weather satellites and serviced the Hubble Space Telescope. It was also Space Shuttle Columbia that first carried the highly anticipated Spacelab module into orbit in 1983.

Columbia’s track record would end in tragedy. The shuttle suffered critical damage during its launch on Jan. 16, 2003, compromising the heat-resistant tiles on its left wing. After taking on excessive heat and falling into an unrecoverable spin during reentry, the orbiter disintegrated over Texas on Feb. 1, resulting in the death of all seven crew members.

President George W. Bush announced the tragedy in a live address from the White House. In the following days, portions of the orbiter and human remains were recovered in the area of Hemphill, Texas.

Although the Space Shuttle program continued until 2011, the U.S. took a step back from crewed missions, which would not resume until the 2020s.

It may be hard to imagine that in the year 2000, the federal government boasted a budget surplus of $237 billion, the third budget surplus in a row and the largest in the nation’s history, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The U.S. was also riding high after reducing its national debt by $363 billion between 1998 and 2000. In fact, President Clinton announced in December 2000 that the nation was “on track to pay off the debt by the end of the decade.”

But prospects would change as spending on homeland security, the war in Iraq following 9/11 and expanded programs such as Medicaid led to budget deficits and raised the national debt.

A collapse of the U.S. housing market, triggered by high-risk lending, spawned a 2007-08 financial crisis known as the “Great Recession,” in which financial institutions failed and millions of Americans lost their jobs, homes and savings. Even General Motors and Chrysler declared bankruptcy in what has been considered the largest global economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Following aggressive government stimulus measures, the economy was looking up by summer 2009 — but so were the federal deficit, at $1.4 trillion, and the national debt, at $12.3 trillion, according to the CBO.

Economic instability and a continuing War on Terror provided the backdrop for a groundbreaking 2008 presidential election between Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a veteran campaigner and war hero, and a relative newcomer, first-term Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

Obama had defeated Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and a host of others in the Democratic primary.

McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, were dubbed “a couple of mavericks” for their unconventional styles and for challenging party norms. But some voters were concerned that McCain, at 72, might be too old to run for president.

In contrast, 47-year-old Obama, with his young family in tow, ran an energetic campaign on a platform of “hope” and “change.”

Following an intense campaign and outspending his opponent by nearly 3-to-1, according to NPR, Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, won handily, 365 to 173 in the Electoral College and the largest percentage of the popular vote won by a Democrat since President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

Obama’s first term is remembered for the Affordable Care Act — dubbed “Obamacare” — and for pushing economic recovery. His diplomatic, nuclear disarmament and human rights efforts were recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.

The election of America’s first African American president was welcomed by many as a watershed moment in the history of the nation, but an escalation of racial violence during his second term highlighted persistent issues facing the nation.

After saying hello to a promising new era on Jan. 1, 2000, Americans said goodbye to a long list of legendary figures during the decade of the 2000s, including “The Gipper” President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004); “King of Pop” Michael Jackson (1958-2009); legendary newsman Walter Cronkite (1916-2009); Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks (1913-2005); and Pittsburgh’s favorite neighbor, Fred Rogers (1928-2003).

Katrina Jesick Quinn is a professor at Slippery Rock University. She is an editor of “From the Arctic to the Orient: Adventure Journalism in the Gilded Age” (McFarland) and “The Civil War Soldier and the Press” (Routledge).