2001 - What happened in 2001 ?

January 2001

Thursday 11:

The Federal Trade Commission approved the merger of AOL and Time Warner to form AOL Time Warner.

Saturday 13:

An earthquake hits El Salvador. More than 5,000 deaths.

Monday 15:

Wikipedia, a Wiki free content encyclopedia, goes online.

Friday 26:

An earthquake hits Gujarat, India, causing more than 20,000 deaths.

Wednesday 31:

In the Netherlands a Scottish court convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

February 2001

Thursday 08:

Disney's California Adventure, the Disneyland Resort's second park in its 46-year history, opens.

Friday 09:

The American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Ehime-Maru, a Japanese training vessel operated by the Uwajima Fishery High School.

Monday 12:

Google obtains Usenet, creating Google Groups ([http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/pressrelease48.html press release)

Tuesday 20:

FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.

Wednesday 28:

An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter Scale hits the Nisqually Valley area of Washington. There were no reports of any deaths.

March 2001

Saturday 03:

A bomb explodes outside BBC Television Centre in London. The attack was attributed to dissident Irish Republican terrorists.

Monday 05:

In Mecca, 35 Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death during the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Friday 23:

The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) (now World Wrestling Entertainment) purchases rival organization World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for an estimated $5 million.

Saturday 24:

Apple Computer releases Mac OS X.

Thursday 29:

A chartered Gulfstream III jet crashes into a hillside during approach into Aspen, Colorado, killing 18 people.

April 2001

Friday 06:

Miller Park opens in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Monday 16:

First 3G voice call on Vodafone UK's 3G network.

Tuesday 17:

Barry Bonds becomes the 17th member of the 500 home run club at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, California.

Friday 20:

Anti-globalization marches and a "People's Summit" are held to protest the Quebec City Summit of the Americas, a FTAA summit in Quebec City, Quebec.

Saturday 28:

Millionnaire Dennis Tito becomes the world's first space tourist.

May 2001

Thursday 10:

In Ghana, a stampede at a football game kills over 120 spectators.

Saturday 12:

In Copenhagen, Denmark, Tanel Padar & Dave Benton win the forty-sixth Eurovision Song Contest for Estonia singing "Everybody".

Thursday 24:

Wedding hall collapse in Jerusalem, Israel, kills 23 and injures over 200 in Israel's worst-ever civil disaster.

Friday 25:

64-year-old Sherman Bull, of New Canaan, Connecticut, becomes the oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

June 2001

Tuesday 05:

Senator Jim Jeffords leaves the Republican party, an act which changes control of the United States Senate from the Republican party to the Democratic party.

Monday 11:

Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

Saturday 16:

George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin meet in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia

Monday 18:

Protests occur in Manipur over the extension of the ceasefire between Naga insurgents and the government of India.

Wednesday 20:

In Texas, USA, Andrea Yates drowns her children in a bathtub and admits to the crime. She would be sentenced to life in prison.

July 2001

Saturday 14:

The International Olympic Committee votes for Beijing to be the host of the 2008 Olympics. This is the first time that China had been bestowed this honor.

Wednesday 18:

In Baltimore, Maryland, a 60-car train derails in a tunnel, sparking a fire that lasts days and virtually shuts down downtown Baltimore.

Thursday 19:

UK politician and novelist Jeffrey Archer, Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare, is sentenced to four years in prison for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

Friday 20:

The 27th G8 summit summit opens in Genoa. An Italian protester in Genoa, Carlo Giuliani, is shot by police.

Tuesday 24:

2001 - The Taiwan Solidarity Union is established.

August 2001

Wednesday 01:

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has a 2-1/2 ton Ten Commandments monument installed in the rotunda of the judiciary building, leading to a lawsuit to have it removed and his own removal from office.

Thursday 09:

In Jerusalem, 15 people die and 130 wounded in the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing.

Tuesday 21:

The Red Cross announces that a famine is striking Tajikistan, and calls for international financial aid for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Wednesday 22:

the Trojan room coffee pot is switched off for the last time.

Friday 24:

Air Transat Flight 236 runs out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean (en route to Lisbon from New York) and makes an emergency landing in the Azores.

September 2001

Monday 10:

Norwegian parliamentary election, 2001

Thursday 13:

Civilian airplane traffic in the U.S., which had been grounded following the September 11, 2001 attacks, is allowed to resume.

Monday 17:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opens for the first time after the September 11 attacks. The stocks plummet throughout the trading session and posts its biggest point drop in its history closing down 684.81 points to 8920.70.

Friday 21:

Deep Space 1 flies within 2,200 km of Comet Borrelly.

Thursday 27:

Boyband 5ive announced their disbandment.

October 2001

Thursday 04:

A Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile. 78 people are killed.

Sunday 07:

Start of U.S. invasion of Afghanistan with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.

Sunday 14:

2001 - Delta Flight 458 from Atlanta to Newark, New Jersey, is diverted to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, and passengers are taken off the flight while officials investigate a report of two "Middle Eastern men" making threats in a foreign tongue. It turned out to be two Orthodox Jews who were praying peacefully.

Friday 19:

SIEV-X sinks en route to Christmas Island

Tuesday 30:

Michael Jordan returns to the National Basketball Association with the Washington Wizards after 3 1/2 years (the Wizards lose 93-91 to the New York Knicks).

November 2001

Friday 02:

Monsters, Inc. debuts with the best ticket sales ever for an animated film.

Sunday 04:

2001 - The Police Service of Northern Ireland is established.

Tuesday 06:

David Trimble is re-elected prime minister of Northern Ireland

Wednesday 07:

2001 - The supersonic commercial aircraft Concorde resumes flying after a 15-month break.

Friday 16:

The first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, is released, becoming the second highest grossing film around the world of all time.

December 2001

Sunday 02:

Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Tuesday 11:

The People's Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization

Wednesday 19:

The Argentine economic crisis burst into street riots after the announcement by the economy minister of the measures of holding back the bank deposits.

Friday 21:

Japanese television performer Masashi Tashiro got No. 1 temporarily in the Internet vote of Time's Person of the Year.

Thursday 27:

The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.