When was the first confirmed free-floating planet discovered?

One of the earliest reported free-floating planet candidates was announced in 2000 in the Orion star-forming region. These objects, sometimes called rogue planets, do not orbit a star. They are difficult to detect because they emit little light and drift through space on their own. Later observations have found many more candidates, but the Orion discovery helped establish the possibility of planet-sized bodies existing unattached to a star.