On New Year’s Eve 1999, people were told to shut down their PCs because nobody knew how bad the Y2K bug might hit at midnight. Most computers and software from the ’80s and ’90s stored years with just two digits—like “99” for 1999—so when the clock flipped to “00,” systems could freak out, thinking it was 1900. IT departments had been patching Windows 95, 98, and even early Windows 2000 builds all year, but nobody wanted to risk corrupted files, crashed hard drives, or busted BIOS clocks. Turning off your computer was the safest play, just in case the lights went out or a rogue bug triggered at 12:00 AM. In the end, nothing apocalyptic happened—but if you were there, you remember the tension of watching that clock hit midnight.