But what was making the news in Sunderland in the first month of the 2000s?
If you need a reminder, here are 13 of them and they cover everything from a national Internet project which centred on Wearside to Blind Date making the local news.
Take a look and see how many of these scenes you remember.
And maybe you are in the picture.
1. Celebrating the new year
Sisters, Nichol Gilstin, 24, and Jill Spence, 23 both from Seaburn, celebrated the new year by dressing up as Abba girls. Photo: Sunderland Echo
2. On the lookout for new contestants
Researchers from Blind Date were on Wearside to look for new contestants for the TV show. Were you among them? Photo: Sunderland Echo
3. Cleaning up the sculpture
Divers were pictured giving Ambit, the sculpture in the Wear, its monthly clean and check. Remember this? Photo: Sunderland Echo
4. Millennium gifts
Mill Hill Primary School handed out over 600 commemorative mugs to mark the millennium. Were you among them? Photo: Sunderland Echo