kramer - in answer to your question concerning "a reference for the 2000 prediction", see below:
"The apostle Paul was spearheading the Christian missionary activity. He was also laying a foundation for a work that would be completed in our twentieth century" - (w1989 1/1 12) [Bold print added by me. You will not find this wording in the 1989 bound volume or on the Watchtower Library CD; "in our twentiteth century" was changed to "in our day". I still have the original mag, though, that has the "twentieth century" quote.
"Shortly, within our twentieth century , the "battle in the day of Jehovah" will begin against the modern antitype of Jerusalem, Christendom. (The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah—How? 1971, p. 216)
See the Awake! magazine 3-22-61 pages 5 to 8. You will find an article titled " The 20th Century in Bible Prophecy". You will find such as the following: " But then it also speaks of a group of people preaching about the righteous kingdom of God, a war of God against all wickedness, followed by a paradise without death — a ll to be realized in the twentieth century." " That now-operating kingdom in heaven will, within the twentieth century, cleanse the entire earth of wickedness." "Revelation 16:16 calls it the "war of the great day of God the Almighty," Armageddon. This war will come in the twentieth century. It will come right on schedule."
There are other references, too. This is just a quick answer to your question.