Directory

2001 CE

The September 11 attacks kill nearly 3,000 and trigger the war on terror; the War in Afghanistan begins as U.S. led forces strike al-Qaeda and the Taliban; Wikipedia launches, reshaping access to knowledge; the Enron scandal exposes corporate fraud; the 2001 Gujarat earthquake kills tens of thousands in India; Apple unveils the first iPod, revolutionizing digital music; the December 2001 riots in Argentina erupt amid economic collapse; the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak devastates agriculture; Albanian insurgents initiate a conflict in Macedonia, the last of the Yugoslav Wars.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 7 – Ghana undergoes its first peaceful transfer of power since 1979 when John Kufuor is sworn in as President of Ghana.source
  • January 20 – Impeachment proceedings against Philippine President Joseph Estrada end prematurely as he is peacefully overthrown in the Second EDSA Revolution. Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo succeeds him as president.source
  • January 21 – Taba Summit: Talks between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority begin in Egypt.source
  • February 6 – 2001 Israeli prime ministerial election: Ariel Sharon of the Likud party is elected Prime Minister of Israel.source
  • February 11 – 2001 Liechtenstein general election: The Progressive Citizens' Party led by Otmar Hasler wins a majority of 13 seats in the Landtag.source
  • April 17 – Nông Đức Mạnh is chosen as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.source
  • April 26 – Junichiro Koizumi becomes the 86th Prime Minister of Japan.source
  • April 26 – The Parliament of Ukraine votes to dismiss Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko.source
  • May 13 – The House of Freedoms coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi wins the Italian general election.source
  • June 15 – Declaration to establish the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is signed.source
  • June 19 – Germany enacts a program to compensate Holocaust survivors that were subject to slave labor.source
  • July 14 – Agra Summit: India and Pakistan begin talks to improve relations. The summit ends inconclusively on July 16.source
  • July 23 – Megawati Sukarnoputri is inaugurated as the first female president of Indonesia.source
  • July 24 – Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, deposed as the last Tsar of Bulgaria when a child, is sworn in as the democratically elected 48th Prime Minister of Bulgaria.source
  • July 28 – Alejandro Toledo becomes the President of Peru.source
  • October 25 – To avoid connotations with the Rwandan genocide, the government of Rwanda adopts a new national flag for the country.source
  • November 1 – An interim government in Burundi begins the peace process for the Burundian Civil War.source
  • November 10 – 2001 Australian federal election: The Coalition government, led by John Howard, is re-elected with a slightly increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by Kim Beazley.source
  • November 19 - President George W. Bush signs the Aviation and Transportation Security Act into law, shifting airport security from private contractors to a federal workforce.source
  • November 23 – The Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, the first international treaty to address cybercrime, is signed in Budapest, Hungary.source
  • December 13 – U.S. President George W. Bush announces the American withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.source
  • December 13 – Sirajuddin of Perlis becomes the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia.source
  • December 22 – Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.source
  • December 27 – China is granted permanent normal trade status with the United States.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 22 – The 2001 insurgency in Macedonia begins when a police station is shelled by the National Liberation Army in Tearce, near the border with Kosovo.source
  • January 23 – A self-immolation incident takes place in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, China. Five members of the Falun Gong are alleged to have set themselves on fire, but details surrounding the incident are disputed by Falun Gong sources.source
  • January 29 – Corruption scandals surrounding Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid prompt thousands of protesters to storm the Indonesian parliament building.source
  • February 22 – The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) sentences three Bosnian Serb soldiers to prison for wartime sexual violence, recognizing it as a war crime for the first time.source
  • May 7 – In Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, an attempt is made to reconstruct the historic 16th-century Ferhadija Mosque. Serbian nationalists respond with riots and mass violence against Bosnian Muslims.source
  • July 7 – 2001 Bradford riots: Ethnic violence is provoked in Bradford, England, by the far-right National Front and far-left Anti-Nazi League.source
  • July 24 – Bandaranaike Airport attack: The Tamil Tigers bomb the Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lanka during the Sri Lankan Civil War.source
  • August 2 – The ICTY convicts Bosnian Serb general Radislav Krstić on the charge of genocide for his role in the Srebrenica massacre.source
  • August 9 – A Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem is bombed by a Palestinian Hamas terrorist, killing 15 civilians and injuring 130 others.source
  • August 21 – Operation Essential Harvest: NATO sends a military forces to the Republic of Macedonia in response to the ongoing insurgency.source
  • August 28 – A targeted Israeli strike kills PFLP leader Abu Ali Mustafa. Palestinian militants respond by firing on Israeli civilians. Israeli forces occupy Beit Jala, Palestine to combat the militants.source
  • August 31 – The World Conference against Racism 2001 begins in Durban, South Africa. Israel and the United States withdraw three days later, alleging antisemitism in the conference.source
  • September 9 – A suicide bomber kills Ahmad Shah Massoud, military commander of the Afghan Northern Alliance.source
  • September 17 – George W. Bush, president of the United States, delivers remarks at the Islamic Center of Washington praising Muslim Americans and condemning Islamophobia in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.source
  • September 20 – In an address to a joint session of Congress, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a war on terror, officially the global war on terrorism.source
  • September 27 – Zug massacre: In Zug, Switzerland, a gunman shoots 32 people, killing 14 members of parliament and then himself.source
  • October 1 – Jaish-e-Mohammed militants attack the state legislature building in Srinagar, Kashmir, killing 38 people.source
  • October 7 – United States invasion of Afghanistan: In response to the September 11 attacks, Afghanistan is invaded by a US-led coalition, beginning the War in Afghanistan.source
  • October 16 – American planes misidentify and bomb a Red Cross facility in Afghanistan. A similar error occurs again on October 27.source
  • October 17 – Assassination of Rehavam Ze'evi: Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi is assassinated by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.source
  • November 10 – Fall of Mazar-i-Sharif: American and Northern Alliance forces take Mazar-i-Sharif in the first major offensive of the War in Afghanistan.source
  • November 12 – 2001 uprising in Herat: Northern Alliance forces take the city of Herat from the Taliban.source
  • December 1 – The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty produces a report on responsibility to protect.source
  • December 13 – 2001 Indian Parliament attack: Nine people and five terrorists are killed in a terrorist attack in New Delhi, leading to the 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • May 24 – Sherpa Temba Tsheri, 15, becomes the youngest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.source
  • November – The World Trade Organization begins the Doha Development Round to negotiate lower trade barriers between countries and integrate developing nations into the global economy.source

Religion & Belief

  • January 21 – Pope John Paul II names 37 cardinals in one day for a total of 128.source
  • January 25 – Armenia and Azerbaijan join the Council of Europe.source

Economy & Finance

  • April 15 – Extreme Championship Wrestling files for bankruptcy and ceases operations, is eventually bought by its competitor, the World Wrestling Federation.source
  • May 31 – Lithuania joins the World Trade Organization.source
  • October 2 – Swissair, the national airline of Switzerland, seeks bankruptcy protection and grounds its entire fleet, stranding thousands of people worldwide.source
  • November 7 – Sabena, the national airline of Belgium, goes bankrupt.source
  • December 2 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection five days after Dynegy cancels a US$8.4 billion buyout bid (to this point, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history).source
  • December 21 – President Fernando de la Rúa of Argentina resigns in response to the riots against Argentina's economic crisis.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • January 9 – Apple Inc. launches iTunes, a software program that acts as a media player and media library.source
  • March 24 – Apple Inc. released the Mac OS X operating system for Mac computers.source
  • June 21 – The world's longest train is run by BHP Iron Ore between Newman and Port Hedland in Western Australia (a distance of 275 km mi); the train consists of 682 loaded iron ore wagons and 8 GE AC6000CW locomotives, giving a gross weight of almost 100,000 tonnes and moves 82,262 tonnes of ore; the train is 7.353 km mi long.source
  • October 1 – 3G wireless technology first becomes available when it is adopted by Japanese telecommunications company NTT Docomo.source
  • October 13 – American scientists create the first successful clone of a human embryo.source
  • October 23 – Apple Inc. introduces the iPod, a portable media player and multi-purpose mobile device. The company will sell an estimated 450 million iPod products by May 2022.source
  • October 25 – Microsoft releases the Windows XP operating system to retail.source
  • December 15 – The Leaning Tower of Pisa is reopened to the public after 12 years of reconstruction.source

Science & Discovery

  • February 12 – The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, a near-Earth object, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.source
  • February 12 – The Human Genome Project publishes the first draft of its human genome sequence.source
  • March 22 – Kenyanthropus is described as an early hominid after the discovery of remains in Kenya.source
  • March 22 – Incheon International Airport opens in Incheon, South Korea.source
  • March 23 – The deorbit of Russian space station Mir is processed, with debris falling into the South Pacific Ocean after the station enters the atmosphere and is destroyed.source
  • April 7 – The NASA orbiter 2001 Mars Odyssey launches on a Delta II rocket.source
  • April 11 – Australia's football team wins against American Samoa in a record 31–0 victory, just two days after setting the record with a 0–22 victory against Tonga.source
  • April 28 – The Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM-32 lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying the first space tourist, American entrepreneur Dennis Tito, and two Russian cosmonauts.source
  • May 22 – 28978 Ixion, a large trans-Neptunian object and a possible dwarf planet, is discovered during the Deep Ecliptic Survey.source
  • May 22 – The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is adopted by 127 countries to limit pollution internationally.source
  • July 12 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases its Third Assessment Report.source
  • August 8 – The Genesis probe is launched from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17.source
  • September 22 – American spacecraft Deep Space 1 flies within 2200 km of Comet Borrelly.source
  • October 15 – NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 181 km of Jupiter's moon Io.source
  • October 24 – The 2001 Mars Odyssey arrives at Mars.source
  • October 30 – The Aarhus Convention takes effect, establishing the right to environmental information and environmental justice for European and Central Asian countries.source
  • November 27 – A hydrogen atmosphere is discovered on the extrasolar planet HD 209458 b, nicknamed Osiris, by the Hubble Space Telescope. It is the first atmosphere detected on an extrasolar planet.source
  • December 3 – The Segway, a self-balancing personal transporter invented by Dean Kamen, is unveiled after months of public speculation and media hype on the ABC News morning program Good Morning America.source

Health & Medicine

  • January 16 – The final documented case of the 2000–2001 Uganda ebola outbreak is diagnosed.source
  • February 19 – The 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak begins.source
  • May 31 – Research into Crohn's disease confirms that it is identified with mutation of the NOD2 gene.source
  • July 2 – The world's first self-contained artificial heart is implanted in Robert Tools in the United States.source
  • July – The largest ever recorded outbreak of Legionnaires' disease occurs in Murcia, Spain. 449 cases are confirmed, with more than 800 suspected ones.source
  • September 18 – The 2001 anthrax attacks begin in the United States, which cause five fatalities and 17 other infections.source
  • September 24 – A tornado outbreak tears through the eastern United States, causing two deaths and 57 injuries, and causing damages of $105 million.source
  • November 15 – Microsoft enters the gaming console market with the release of the Xbox, a sixth-generation gaming console, in the United States.source
  • December 8 – An ebola outbreak is confirmed in Gabon.source

Crime & Justice

  • June 7 – Former Argentinian president Carlos Menem is arrested on suspicion of illegal arms sales.source
  • July 20–22 – The 27th G8 summit takes place in Genoa, Italy. Massive demonstrations, drawing an estimated 200,000 people, are held against the meeting by members of the anti-globalization movement. One demonstrator, Carlo Giuliani, is killed by a policeman, and several others are injured.source
  • August 10 – 2001 Angola train attack: 252 people are killed by UNITA in an attack on a train during the Angolan Civil War.source
  • December 2 – Haifa bus 16 suicide bombing: A Hamas militant carries out a suicide bombing in Haifa, Israel, killing 15 people.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • January 31 – 2001 Japan Airlines mid-air incident: Japan Airlines Flight 907 and Flight 958 almost collided with each other in Yaizu, Shizuoka, Japan. Flight 907 safely landed at Narita Airport and Flight 958 continued to Naha Airport. 100 people were injured.source
  • February 18 – NASCAR Champion Dale Earnhardt is killed in a crash during the Daytona 500.source
  • March 2 – Despite pleas from the international community to spare them, the Taliban government of Afghanistan begins destroying the Buddhas of Bamiyan, having declared that they are idols.source
  • March 4 – The Hintze Ribeiro Bridge collapses in northern Portugal, killing 59 people.source
  • March 16 – Shijiazhuang bombings: 108 people are killed in a series of bombings in Shijiazhuang, China.source
  • April 1 – Hainan Island incident: A Chinese fighter jet collides with a U.S. EP-3E surveillance aircraft, which is forced to make an emergency landing in Hainan, China. The U.S. crew is detained for 10 days and the F-8 Chinese pilot, Wang Wei, goes missing and is presumed dead.source
  • June 1 – Dolphinarium discotheque bombing: A Hamas suicide bomber kills 21 people, mostly teenagers, in the Dolphinarium disco in Tel Aviv, Israel.source
  • July 4 – Vladivostok Air Flight 352 crashes on approach while landing at Irkutsk Airport, Russia, killing all 145 people aboard.source
  • August 25 – 2001 Marsh Harbour Cessna 402 crash: Eight people including singer and actress Aaliyah, and several members of her entourage are killed after their overloaded aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff at Marsh Harbour Airport.source
  • October 4 – Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 is accidentally shot down by the Ukrainian Air Force over the Black Sea en route from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Novosibirsk, Russia; all 78 people on board are killed.source
  • October 8 – 2001 Linate Airport runway collision: A twin-engine Cessna and Scandinavian Airlines jetliner collide in heavy fog during takeoff from Milan, Italy, killing 118 people.source
  • November 12 – American Airlines Flight 587 crashes in Belle Harbor, Queens, on the Rockaway Peninsula shortly after takeoff, killing all 260 people aboard the plane as well as five people on the ground.source

Climate & Environment

  • January 13 – A 7.6-magnitude earthquake hits El Salvador, killing at least 944 people and causing massive landslides, which leaves thousands of those affected homeless.source
  • January 26 – A 7.7 Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving thousands of people dead and more than 166,000 others injured.source
  • February 13 – A 6.6-magnitude earthquake hits El Salvador, killing at least 315 people.source
  • June 5 – Tropical Storm Allison hits the U.S. state of Texas, severely flooding Houston and killing 23 people.source
  • June 7 – 2001 United Kingdom general election: Tony Blair and the Labour Party win a second landslide victory.source
  • June 23 – An 8.4 southern Peru earthquake shakes coastal Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami follows, leaving at least 77 people dead, and 2,687 others injured.source
  • October 8 – Hurricane Iris hits Belize, causing $250 million (2001 USD) in damage.source
  • November 4 – Hurricane Michelle hits Cuba, where the storm is the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall on the island in more than 49 years. It is the costliest hurricane in Cuban history to this point with an estimated $2 billion in damage.source
  • November 14 – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes China with an epicenter near Kokoxili, but it occurs in a sparsely populated mountainous region and there are no casualties.source
  • December 19 – A record-high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Zavkhan, Mongolia.source
  • December 27 – Tropical Storm Vamei forms within 1.5 degrees of the equator. No other tropical cyclone in recorded history has come as close to the equator.source

Culture & Society

  • January 15 – Creative Commons is founded.source
  • January 15 – Wikipedia, which became the world's largest encyclopedia, is launched.source
  • March 26 – World Championship Wrestling goes out of business and is purchased by its chief competitor, the World Wrestling Federation, bringing an end to the Monday Night Wars.source
  • April 1 – The Act on the Opening up of Marriage goes into effect in the Netherlands, which becomes the first modern country to legalize same-sex marriage.source
  • July 13 – The International Olympic Committee chooses Beijing to host the 2008 Summer Olympics.source

Deaths

  • June 4 – Gyanendra ascends the throne of Nepal on the death of his nephew, Dipendra.source