The 2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire (Persian: جشن‌های ۲۵۰۰ سالهٔ شاهنشاهی ایران‎), officially known as The 2,500th year of Foundation of Imperial State of Iran (Persian: دوهزار و پانصدمین سال بنیانگذاری شاهنشاهی ایران‎), consisted of an elaborate set of festivities that took place on 12–16 October 1971 on the occasion of the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the Imperial State of Iran and the Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great.[1][2] The intent of the celebration was to demonstrate Iran’s old civilization and history and to showcase its contemporary advancements under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. However, the striking extravagance of the celebrations led later historians to believe that the celebrations were the start of the chain of events that ended with the Iranian Revolution and eventual replacement of 2,500 years of continuous Persian monarchy with an Islamic Republic