Contemporary
Srebrenica Massacre (1995): Genocide in Bosnia
More than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed; international courts later ruled that the massacre was genocide.
Region
Europe
Contemporary
Dolly the Sheep (1996): First Mammal Cloned From an Adult Cell
Dolly proved that a specialised adult cell could be reprogrammed to produce a whole new animal, transforming developmental biology and prompting worldwide laws on human cloning.
Contemporary
Hong Kong Handover 1997: British Rule Ends after 156 Years
Sovereignty over Hong Kong passed from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, which made it a Special Administrative Region under 'one country, two systems'.
Contemporary
Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn (1997-2017): Rings and Titan
Cassini studied Saturn, its rings and moons for 13 years, Huygens made the first landing in the outer Solar System on Titan, and the spacecraft ended its mission by diving into Saturn.
Contemporary
Kosovo War (1998–1999): Conflict and NATO Intervention
Yugoslav forces withdrew from Kosovo in June 1999, and the territory was placed under UN administration with a NATO-led peacekeeping force.
Contemporary
Good Friday Agreement (1998): Peace in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's main parties and the British and Irish governments agreed a power-sharing settlement, approved by referendums on both sides of the Irish border.
Contemporary
Introduction of the Euro (1999): Europe's Single Currency
Eleven EU countries replaced their national currencies with the euro and handed monetary policy to the European Central Bank.
Contemporary
Same-Sex Marriage in the Netherlands (2001): A World First
The Netherlands became the first country in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry on the same terms as opposite-sex couples.
Contemporary
2003 European Heatwave: The Summer That Killed Tens of Thousands
An estimated 70,000 excess deaths across Europe; France and other countries introduced national heatwave warning and care plans.
Contemporary
Orange Revolution (2004): Ukraine's Protests Over a Disputed Vote
Ukraine's Supreme Court annulled the fraudulent runoff, and Viktor Yushchenko won the repeat vote and became president in January 2005.
Contemporary
EU Enlargement of 2004: Ten New Members Join the European Union
The European Union grew from 15 to 25 member states, reuniting much of the continent divided by the Cold War.
Contemporary
Treaty of Lisbon (2007): Reforming the European Union
The EU's founding treaties were amended, creating a permanent President of the European Council, a stronger foreign policy chief and a binding Charter of Fundamental Rights; the treaty entered into force on 1 December 2009.