Millennium Dome facts for kids
The Millennium Dome is a huge, dome-shaped building in Greenwich, a part of South East London, UK. Today, it's mostly known as The O2. It was built around the year 2000 to celebrate the start of the new millennium (a period of 1,000 years). Its name officially changed to The O2 after a company called Telefónica O2 Europe bought the rights to name it.
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The Millennium Exhibition
From late 1999 to late 2000, the Dome hosted the Millennium Exhibition. This event aimed to show off the best of Britain to people from all over the world. The most popular part was a fantastic stage show. It happened several times a day inside the Dome. The show featured many dancers and acrobats, music by Peter Gabriel, and a tall tower that appeared from the floor.
However, the rest of the Exhibition wasn't as popular as planned. About 6.5 million people visited the Exhibition. This was only half the number its owners had hoped for.
The O2 Entertainment Hub
The dome was later sold to a company called US Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). It reopened in July 2007 as The O2. It became a large entertainment complex.
The O2 now includes a huge concert and sports venue with 22,000 seats. It also has a cinema, a music club, and spaces for exhibitions. Many famous artists have performed there. Some of the first were Bon Jovi and Prince. The Rolling Stones played there in August 2007. Led Zeppelin had a reunion show in December 2007. The Spice Girls also performed many shows there from December 2007 to January 2008.
Olympic Games Venue
In 2012, London hosted the Summer Olympics. The building was renamed the "North Greenwich Arena" for the games. It was used to host exciting events like gymnastics and basketball competitions.
Walking on the Roof
A special walkway has been opened across the top of the dome's structure. This allows visitors to walk across the roof at a height of 60 meters (about 200 feet). This tourist attraction, called the O2 Roofwalk, now even uses solar energy to power some of its operations.
Images for kids
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The Millennium Dome looking over the River Thames
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The Millennium Dome in daylight
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The dome, seen from above
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The dome, seen from the London Cable Car, with Canary Wharf in the background.
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The Millennium Dome Show
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The Millennium Dome at night, September 2000
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Entrance of the O2 Arena
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Interior of The O2
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See also
In Spanish: Millennium Dome para niños
