On Jan. 1 twelve nations switched to one currency. Some 200 Dutch post offices kept their doors closed on the morning of Jan. 2 because the postal bank was not ready for the transition.

In Europe, old fears about Y2K returned as 2K2 loomed. Jan. 1 was the date for the 12-nation switch to one currency, and in the hours leading up to it, there were nightmare scenarios about riots and self-destructing cash machines as lire, francs, guilders, pesetas and deutsche marks were converted…