The Eiffel Tower was illuminated with “2000” for New Year's Eve at the start of the new millennium.
Paris marked the transition into 2000 with a major light display on the Eiffel Tower. The tower's iron lattice provided a huge vertical surface for a glowing numerical message, making the event easy to recognize in photographs and television coverage.
The display was part of a broader sequence of millennium celebrations in cities around the world. The Eiffel Tower has long served as a national and urban symbol, so using it for a year-number message connected a global calendar moment with a specifically Parisian landmark.
The phrase “new millennium” can cause a calendar mix-up. Under the Gregorian calendar, the third millennium began on January 1, 2001, because there was no year zero. Nevertheless, many public celebrations took place on December 31, 1999, and January 1, 2000, treating 2000 as the symbolic start of a new millennium.