End of a millennium

Prince's song '1999' (1982) is the end-of-the-world anthem: 'Two thousand zero zero, party over, oops out of time.' Written 17 years before the year 2000, it experienced a renaissance every New Year since its release.

The Wachowskis' 'The Matrix' (1999) is one of the most influential films in history. The red or blue pill, bullets in slow motion, the simulation of reality — these images entered humanity's cultural code.

On August 9, 1999, Boris Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister of Russia. On December 31 of the same year, Yeltsin resigned early and Putin became acting president — the beginning of a new era in Russian and world history.