2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009

Timeline of the 21st century on   Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

2000

2000 - the book African Americans in Fort Wayne: The First 200 Years written by Dodie Marie Miller is published. A book review New Fort Wayne African-American history book an interesting look at people who had impact on city was written by Betty E. Stein published March 9, 2013 in The News-Sentinel newspaper.

2000, October 5 - police officer Bradley Matteson was killed in an automobile accident by a tractor trailer running a red light after 19 years service, the fifth police office killed while serving with the Fort Wayne police department. From Fallen officer added to national memorial by Rod Hissong published May 14, 2013 formerly on CBS WANE-TV NewsChannel 15. On the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.

2001

2001, January 6 - Congress certifies George W. Bush winner of close and bitterly contested 2000 presidential election, see Florida 2000 on The National Museum of American History.

2001, January 28 - Rod Woodson football player at Snider High School and Purdue University plays for the winning Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV.

2001, July 11 - Hello to 260: Northeast Indiana loses bid to keep 219 in area code split by Niki Kelley was the newspaper headline on the front page of The Journal Gazette newspaper revisited as July 11, 2001: Lottery decides area will switch to 260 area code by Corey McMaken published February 6, 2020 in the History Journal features and stories of historical interest from the archives of The Journal Gazette.

2001, September 11 - the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in New York city were destroyed when four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by the militant Islamic extremist network al-Qaeda against the United States. The September 11, 2001, Documentary Project at The Library of Congress captures the reactions, eyewitness accounts, and diverse opinions of Americans and others in the months that followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93. See over 50 photos posted September 11, 2022 by Peter Turnley professional photographer born in Fort Wayne posted on Facebook. 911 Memorial. https://www.911memorial.org/.

In Memoriam posted September 11, 2022 by the History.com on Facebook.

2002

2002 - In northern Indiana the original 219 telephone area code from 1948 was split into three area codes - 219 stayed for the western side of northern Indiana, 574 in the center, and 260 for the east. See map on Indiana - Area Code History on telecom.com.

2002 - emerald ash borer beetles were found in Michigan and within a few years killed most of the 1,000s of local ash trees in Fort Wayne.

2002, August 2 - Aug. 2, 2002: Raising the roof of Memorial Coliseum Three inches per minute. the 43,680-square-foot roof of Memorial Coliseum was raised 41 feet and 10 inches. It took almost five hours. by Corey McMaken published March 28, 2019 in the JGHistory Journal of The Journal Gazette newspaper.

2003

2003 - Historic St. Paul Parish Catholic Church, 416 W. Washington Blvd., founded in 1865, closed and was later razed.

2003, February 8 - The Champ, The Greatest of All Time boxer Mohammad Ali appeared at a Komets hockey game at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum where he helped raise over $15,000 for two local children's charities fighting life-threatening diseases through The Three Rivers Literacy Alliance and Camp Watcha-Wanna-Do of Northern Indiana.

2003, April 25 - started in October 1990, the Human Genome Project (HGP) completed an international 13-year project coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health whose goal was the complete mapping and understanding of all the genes of human beings. All our genes together are known as our "genome." As a result, we can now test our yDNA (male), mtDNA (female), autosomal DNA and more to come that add to our knowledge of our ancestral DNA origins. There is even a DNA Day web site on genome.gov and on Facebook.

2003, May 8 - Nancy Christy a 1971 Snider High School graduate becomes the first female million dollar winner in the United States on the television show Who Wants to be a Millionaire hosted by Meredith Vieira.

2003, July - a 100 year flood affected Bluffton, Decatur, Willshire, and Fort Wayne. WANE TV has photos 10 year anniversary of "100 year flood"

2003, August 14 - Ten Years Ago, 50 Million People Lost Power by Rose Eveleth published August 14, 2013 on Smithsonian.com.

Blackout: The Power Outage That Left 50 Million W/o Electricity | Retro Report | The New York Times posted Nov 11, 2013 by The New York Times on YouTube
Retro Report: In 2003, a blackout crippled areas of the U.S. and Canada, leaving some 50 million people in the dark. Ten years later, we are still grappling with concerns over the vulnerability of the power grid.

2004

2004 - Facebook launched on college campuses

2004, May 29 - the National World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.

2005

Indiana passed legislation requiring voters to provide a government issued photo ID. In 2008 the US Supreme Court upheld the law. (Econ, 5/3/08, p.40)

There was a measles outbreak among school children in Indiana. In 2006 the CDC attributed it to home-schooled children whose parents avoided vaccinations out of safety concern. The outbreak was later traced to a 17-year-old girl who had traveled to Romania without getting vaccinated.
(WSJ, 8/3/06, p.A1)(SFC, 12/22/06, p.A18)

2006

2006, February 5 - Trai Essex wins his first Super Bowl XL ring with the Pittsburgh Steelers football team.

2006, April 2 - Indiana goes on DST - Daylight Savings Time, leaving only Arizonia as the last state to not change time twice a year. Read Time In Indiana on Wikipedia for details.

2007

2007 - the Fort Wayne Developmental Center also known since 1890 as Fort Wayne State School, Indiana School for Feeble Minded Youth, and Asylum for Feeble Minded Children closed.

2007 - Aardvark Paper Drinking Straws, based in Fort Wayne, continues to produce the majority of the paper drinking straws used in the United States. . From a January 3, 2023 post by The History Center on Facebook.

2007, September 8 - the Basketball Hall of Fame debuts a presentation highlighting Fort Wayne as the birthplace of the NBA, National Basketball Association.  See our Fred Zollner and Zollner Pistons section.

2007, December - the worst recession since the Great Depression starts towards the end of President George Bush's second term, ending in June 2009. Psychologically the recession lasted a lot longer well into 2013. From The recession has ended, psychologically speaking a Scripps Howard editorial May 2, 2013 in The Journal Gazette newspaper.

2008

2008, March 28 - Hillary Clinton Former United States Secretary of State hosted a roundtable discussion at Sara's Family Restaurant in Fort Wayne with several workers, including four workers from the local General Motors plant. From Hillary Clinton Former United States Secretary of State Press Release - Clinton Campaigns In Indiana On Day Two Of The Solutions For The American Economy Tour at The American Presidency Project.

2008, April 4 - Remarks in Fort Wayne, Indiana: "Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." by Barack Obama 44th President of the United States: 2009 ‐ 2017 at The American Presidency Project.

2008, September - first Key to the Fort awarded to Charles Redd, inspiration for the award came from the governor’s Sagamore of the Wabash honor. ... a hand-forged replica of the iron key that was used at the actual Fort Wayne in the days of Anthony Wayne. It is set on a base of wood from the original St. Vincent’s Church at Wallen and Old Auburn roads.

2008, September 1 - the last Fort Wayne Wizards baseball game was played at Memorial Stadium where they lost 0-3 against the Great Lakes Loons.

2008, September 11 - Parkview Field name is revealed as new baseball stadium for the new baseball team Fort Wayne TinCaps.

2008, October 2 - the first Fort Wayne Tincaps baseball game was played downtown at the new Parkview Field stadium.

2008, December 19 - ice Storm knocked out electrical power in Fort Wayne in many locations for 4 days and longer as trees and branches fell around northeast Indiana. See National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office photos.

2009

2009, February 1 - Trai Essex wins his second Super Bowl XLIII ring with the Pittsburgh Steelers football team.

2009, April 16 - Parkview Field home of the Fort Wayne TinCaps baseball team opened for first game.

2009, April 28 - Club Olympia Pool was filled in. It opened March 21, 1963 as one of only 4 Olympic size pools in Indiana. 1968 Olympic Gold medalist swimmer Sharon Wichman practiced at Club O.

2009, June 26 - To honor the achievements and contributions of Native Americans to the United States, and for other purposes. H.J.Res.40 - Native American Heritage Day Act of 2009 Public Law No: 111-33. at Congress.gov. Designated: the Friday following Thanksgiving of each year as Native American Heritage Day will underscore the government-to-government relationship between the United States and Native American governments;
(9) designation of Native American Heritage Day will encourage public elementary and secondary schools in the United States to enhance understanding of Native Americans by providing curricula and classroom instruction focusing on the achievements and contributions of Native Americans to the Nation; and
(10) the Friday immediately succeeding Thanksgiving Day of each year would be an appropriate day to designate as Native American Heritage Day.
SEC. 3. HONORING NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE IN THE UNITED STATES. Congress encourages the people of the United States, as well as Federal, State, and local governments, and interested groups and organizations to honor Native Americans, with activities relating to--
(1) appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities to observe Native American Heritage Day;
(2) the historical status of Native American tribal governments as well as the present day status of Native Americans;
(3) the cultures, traditions, and languages of Native Americans; and
(4) the rich Native American cultural legacy that all Americans enjoy today. Approved June 26, 2009.

Back to top