2001
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2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2001st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 1st year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 2nd year of the 2000s decade.
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan after the Taliban government did not extradite Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Internal conflicts, political or otherwise, caused shifts in leadership in multiple countries, which included the assassination of Laurent-Désiré Kabila in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Second EDSA Revolution in the Philippines, the massacre of the royal family by the crown prince in Nepal, and civil unrest in Argentina. Other notable political events were an escalation in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the storming of the Indonesian parliament, the Hainan Island incident between China and the United States, an insurgency in Macedonia, and a terrorist attack on the Parliament of India that began the 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff.
Space milestones in 2001 were numerous, the most notable being the first spacecraft landing on an asteroid, the deorbit of the Russian station Mir, American entrepreneur Dennis Tito becoming the first space tourist, the discovery of 28978 Ixion in the Kuiper belt, a flyby of Io by the U.S. Galileo probe, and the first discovery of an atmosphere on an exoplanet. In addition, the year witnessed the first sequence of the human genome, the first self-contained artificial heart, and the first clone of a human embryo.
Demographics
The world population on January 1, 2001, was estimated to be 6.190 billion people, and it increased to 6.272 billion people by January 1, 2002. An estimated 133.9 million births and 52.1 million deaths took place in 2001. The average global life expectancy was 66.8 years, an increase of 0.3 years from 2000. The rate of child mortality was 7.32%, a decrease of 0.26pp from 2000. 28.25% of people were living in extreme poverty, a decrease of 0.88pp from 2000. 2001 was designated as International Year of Volunteers by the United Nations.
The number of global refugees in 2001 was approximately 12 million. 500,000 were settled over the course of the year, but the same number of people were displaced in other locations, causing the number of refugees to remain largely unchanged. The largest sources of refugees were from Afghanistan and Macedonia. The number of internally displaced persons decreased from 21.8 million to 19.8 million in 2001, with the most affected areas being Afghanistan, Colombia, and Liberia.
Conflicts
There were 34 active armed conflicts in 28 countries in 2001, the total numbers remaining unchanged from 2000. The majority of these conflicts took place in Africa and Asia: 14 occurred in Africa and 13 occurred in Asia. 15 were classified as "major armed conflicts" by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.: 21 Four new armed conflicts emerged in 2001: the insurgency in Macedonia, the attempted coup in the Central African Republic, the United States invasion of Afghanistan, and the entry of Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front into the RFDG Insurgency in Guinea. The Sierra Leone Civil War was the only conflict that ended in 2001.: 21
Internal conflicts
The Second Congo War continued with the assassination of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila on January 16.: 29 The 1999 ceasefire was mostly respected by the government and the various rebel groups, and United Nations ceasefire monitors established a presence throughout the year.: 30 The Algerian Civil War, the Angolan Civil War, and the Burundian Civil War all saw continued fighting between governments and rebels in Africa.: 24–29 The latter began the peace process through a provisional government on November 1.: 27 The Second Sudanese Civil War between the ruling National Islamic Front and various other groups escalated in 2001.: 37 This included a sub-conflict, the War of the Peters, which continued into 2001 until a ceasefire was negotiated in August.
Several conflicts continued in Indonesia, though the insurgency in Aceh between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement was the only one to see widespread violence in 2001, as the war significantly escalated after the end of a ceasefire and breakdown of peace talks.: 46–47 The New People's Army rebellion saw two ceasefires between the Philippine government and the New People's Army, separated by a brief surge of heavy fighting after the assassination of a member of parliament. A ceasefire was also established with the nation's other insurgent group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.: 49 In Myanmar, the Karen conflict continued, and the insurgency of the Shan State resumed hostilities after a temporary peace in 1999. The Tamil Tigers declared a ceasefire and requested peace talks during the Eelam War III in Sri Lanka,: 50 but hostilities resumed on April 25, and the Tamil Tigers launched several suicide attacks in July, including the Bandaranaike Airport attack.: 51 The Nepalese Civil War also saw increased hostilities in 2001.
The only major conflict in Europe was the Second Chechen War between the Russian government and the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Russian forces controlled the republic's population centers, but Chechen forces continued to use guerrilla warfare.: 53 Macedonia saw a smaller scale conflict between the Macedonian government and the National Liberation Army (NLA), which sought reform for the status of Albanian people in Macedonia. The deployment of NATO peacekeeping forces to Macedonia was authorized on August 21. Yugoslavia similarly saw an insurgency by Albanian rebels, but the conflict did not escalate.: 53 The only major conflict in South America was the Colombian conflict between the Colombian government and various far-left and far-right groups.: 58 The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia expanded into Ecuador in 2001 and carried out attacks on Ecuadorian citizens.: 60
Two failed coup attempts took place in 2001: a group of junior officers sought to overthrow President Pierre Buyoya in Burundi while he was out of the country on April 18,: 218 and André Kolingba, a former president of the Central African Republic, led a military coup against his successor Ange-Félix Patassé on May 28, causing several days of violence.: 249
International conflicts
The 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff was the only notable conflict between two national governments in 2001. The territorial dispute over the region of Kashmir consisted primarily of small scale attacks by militant groups until two attacks on Indian legislature buildings: one in October and one in December. The latter provoked a major escalation of troop deployments with preparations for a major war.: 46
The Second Intifada continued from the previous year between Israel and Palestine.: 55 It escalated as terrorists affiliated with Hamas carried out attacks on Israeli citizens and the Israeli military responded with strikes against Palestine. Every ceasefire ended within a day of its establishment.: 56
September 11 attacks and invasion of Afghanistan
The September 11 attacks were carried out by Al-Qaeda when 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and one near Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania. 2,977 people were killed; the attacks and the subsequent global war on terror are widely recognized as events that defined 2001.
The Afghan Civil War between the de jure Northern Alliance government and the de facto Taliban government continued from previous years.: 39 When the Taliban refused to extradite Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan on 7 October.: 41 The American-led coalition and the Northern Alliance captured Afghan cities until the Taliban surrendered to the Northern Alliance in Kandahar on December 6.: 42 The American-led coalition attacked the Al-Qaeda headquarters in Tora Bora in December, but Al-Qaeda's leadership had gone into hiding. An interim government of Afghanistan led by Hamid Karzai was formed on December 22.: 42–43
Culture
Architecture and art
New buildings constructed or opened in 2001 include the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria,: 163 the Sendai Mediatheque in Sendai, the DG Bank building in Berlin, the SEG Apartment Tower in Vienna, and Aurora Place in Sydney.: 164 Prominent renovations made in 2001 include the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court in the British Museum: 163 and the entrance wing of the Milwaukee Art Museum.: 164 Preservation efforts were also completed on the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and it reopened to the public on December 15 after 12 years of reconstruction.
Museums that opened in 2001 include the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo, Japan the Jewish Museum Berlin, Germany, and the Leopold Museum in Vienna, Austria. In the United States, the Neue Galerie New York, opened, as did the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, constructed to host the Academy Awards.
Several iconic works of photojournalism were produced during the September 11 attacks, including The Falling Man and Raising the Flag at Ground Zero. The Sphere was the only artwork to be recovered from the site, and the sculpture continued to be displayed in its damaged form as a memorial.
Media
The highest-grossing films in 2001 were Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Monsters, Inc. The highest-grossing non-English film was Studio Ghibli's anime Spirited Away (Japanese), the 15th highest-grossing film of the year. The inaugural entries in the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings film franchises brought fantasy into mainstream culture, popularizing young adult novels and catering to fandom communities.
In music, 3.2 billion units were sold with a value of US$33.7 billion. DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD rose to prominence, with approximately 600 titles available in these formats. Portable music grew in popularity after Apple Inc. released the iTunes media library on January 9 and the first iPod music player device on October 23. Worldwide, the best-selling albums were Hybrid Theory (2000) by Linkin Park, No Angel (1999) by Dido, and Survivor (2001) by Destiny's Child. The best-selling non-English album was Cieli di Toscana (transl. Tuscan Skies; 2001) by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, which topped the charts in the Netherlands and Sweden and was the 23rd best-selling album globally.
Three major video game systems were released in 2001: the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance by Nintendo, and the Xbox by Microsoft. Meanwhile, Sega ended its involvement in the market after the failure of the Dreamcast. The year 2001 is considered important in the video game industry, partly because of the release of many games recognized as classics. Many video games released in 2001 defined or redefined their respective genres, including hack and slash game Devil May Cry, first-person shooter game Halo: Combat Evolved, and open world action-adventure game Grand Theft Auto III, which is regarded as an industry-defining work.
Bratz, an American media franchise, released its new line of fashion dolls on May 21.
Sports
NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, described as the greatest driver in the sport's history, died in a crash during the 2001 Daytona 500 on February 18. The World Wrestling Federation agreed to purchase its largest rival, World Championship Wrestling, on March 23. In April, golf player Tiger Woods became the only player to achieve a "Tiger Slam" after winning the 2001 Masters Tournament, in which he consecutively won all four championship golf titles outside of a single calendar year. The "Thunder in Africa" boxing match ended in a major upset after Hasim Rahman defeated champion Lennox Lewis on April 22. Lewis would go on to win a rematch on November 11.
The world record for largest victory in an international football match was set by Australia in a 0–22 victory against Tonga on April 9. Australia set this record again with a 31–0 victory against American Samoa on April 11. The unbalanced nature of these matches prompted changes to the FIFA qualification process. In Europe, the UEFA Women's Cup began its first season, establishing a continent-wide women's league for association football under the UEFA.
Two major crowd crushes took place at sporting events in 2001. 43 people were killed during the Ellis Park Stadium disaster on April 11 in Johannesburg, South Africa, caused by overcrowding, and 126 people were killed in the Accra Sports Stadium disaster on May 9 in Ghana, during an ongoing sports riot.
Economy
A minor economic decline took place among many developed economies in 2001. The United States saw a recession from March to November after a correction of the dot-com bubble, an over-valued tech industry. Further economic disruption occurred in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. European economies also saw stalled growth in 2001, with Germany entering a brief recession toward the end of the year. Argentina's years-long economic crisis reached its peak in December when a bank run prompted the freezing of deposits, in turn causing widespread social unrest and the resignation of the President of Argentina. Overall, 2001 marked a decline in international trade by about 1.5%, which was a significant contrast from the 11% increase in 2000. This was the first negative growth in international trade since 1982. IT industries and the dot-com crash are attributed for the decline in trade.
Greece became the 12th country to join the Eurozone on January 1. America Online (AOL), a U.S. online service provider, was at the apex of its popularity and purchased the media conglomerate Time Warner. The deal took effect on January 11, in the largest merger in history at that time. AOL would rapidly shrink thereafter, partly due to the decline of dial-up and rise of broadband, and the deal would fall apart before the end of the decade, which would be regarded as one of the world's greatest business failures. The Enron scandal took place in October 2001 when Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas, was found to be committing fraud, bringing about the criminal conviction of several executives and causing the company to undergo the largest bankruptcy at that point in U.S. history. The national airlines of Belgium and Switzerland (Sabena and Swissair, respectively) ended operations in 2001.
Environment and weather
2001 was the second hottest year on record at the time, exceeded only by 1998. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its Third Assessment Report in 2001, warning that climate change in the 21st century could cause decreases in crop yields and an increase in temperature-related ailments and deaths. La Niña persisted from the previous year in the early months of 2001. Droughts occurred in Australia, Central America, Kenya, and the Middle East, the latter continuing from years prior. Hungary, Russia and Southeast Asia experienced significant rains, causing flooding. North Asia underwent a severe winter.
There were four earthquakes in 2001 that caused significant casualties. El Salvador was struck by two of them: a 7.6-magnitude earthquake on January 13 and a 6.6-magnitude earthquake on February 13, which resulted in the deaths of at least 944 and 315 people respectively. A 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Gujarat, India, on January 26 killed between 13,805 and 20,023 people, and destroyed nearly 340,000 buildings. An 8.4-magnitude earthquake, then the strongest that had occurred globally since 1965, killed at least 77 people in Peru on June 23. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck China with an epicenter near Kokoxili, close to the border between Qinghai and Xinjiang, on November 14, but it occurred in a sparsely populated mountainous region and there were no casualties.
The 2001 Atlantic hurricane season was slightly more active than normal, including 15 tropical storms and hurricanes. The deadliest storms were Tropical Storm Allison in June, Hurricane Iris in October, and Hurricane Michelle in November. All three of these storms had their names retired by the World Meteorological Organization. Tropical Storm Allison was the deadliest tropical storm to hit the United States without reaching hurricane strength. The 2001 Pacific typhoon season was slightly larger than average, including 28 tropical storms, 20 typhoons, and 11 intense typhoons. The most powerful storms were Typhoon Podul in October and Typhoon Faxai in December.
Health
The World Health Organization (WHO) began a five-year program to reduce road injury fatalities following a warning of the problem's severity by the Red Cross the previous year. The WHO's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health released a report in 2001 detailing how spending by developed nations could protect health in developing nations but that efforts to do so were impeded by the anti-globalization movement.
An ebola outbreak continued from 2000 in Uganda until the final case was diagnosed on January 16. Another outbreak occurred in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo in October, which would continue until July 2002. An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease occurred in the United Kingdom in 2001, resulting in millions of slaughtered livestock to prevent spread. It affected thousands of farm animals and prompted the killing of millions of animals to contain the outbreak.: 153–155 The largest ever recorded outbreak of Legionnaires' disease occurred in July in Murcia, Spain. 449 cases were confirmed, with more than 800 suspected ones.
Approximately 400,000 people in New York City were exposed to air pollution by carcinogens and other harmful particles such as asbestos and metals as a result of the September 11 attacks, and many would go on to suffer chronic illness as a result of exposure.
Politics
Freedom House recognized 63% of national governments as electoral democracies by the end of 2001, with the Gambia and Mauritania being recognized as democracies following peaceful transfers of power. Peru also saw a significant expansion of civil rights, emerging from the authoritarian rule of Alberto Fujimori. Argentina, Liberia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe underwent significant democratic backsliding in 2001, with Liberia and Zimbabwe recognized as authoritarian governments by the end of the year. 64.65% of the world's population lived in countries that generally respected human rights, while 35.35% lived in countries that denied political rights and civil liberties.
Islamic terrorism became the predominant global political concern amidst the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror. Islamic extremism was identified as a major threat to democracy and human rights, both in the Muslim world through the implementation of Islamism and in the rest of the world through terrorism.
Domestic
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The Islamic State of Afghanistan was the de jure government of Afghanistan in 2001, but for several years it had operated as a government in exile while the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan held de facto control over most of the country. The Islamic State of Afghanistan was restored to power following the invasion of Afghanistan with the appointment of president Hamid Karzai on December 22.
Joseph Kabila became president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the assassination of his father, President. Laurent-Désiré Kabila.: 77 President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia was removed from office after thousands of protesters stormed the parliament building, and he was replaced by Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of former president Sukarno.: 77 In Iran, Mohammad Khatami won reelection as president.: 77 Former general Ariel Sharon of Likud was elected prime minister of Israel. The Second EDSA Revolution took place in the Philippines in January when President Joseph Estrada resigned amid an impeachment, and he was succeeded by Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. In the United Kingdom, the Labour Party led by Tony Blair retained power in the 2001 election.: 77 The Argentine great depression escalated with rioting on December 19, prompting President Fernando de la Rúa to resign two days later.
Two former heads of government were arrested in 2001: President Slobodan Milošević of Serbia (1997–2000) was arrested for his role in the Srebrenica massacre and other crimes against humanity committed during the Bosnian War,: 77 and President Carlos Menem of Argentina (1989–1999) was arrested on June 7 for arms trafficking.
Civil unrest broke out in Belfast, Ireland, when children were repeatedly targeted and attacked by Protestants and Catholics, resulting in the death of one teenager.: 76
Ghana underwent its first peaceful transfer of power since 1979 when John Kufuor was sworn in as President of Ghana on January 7. The Netherlands became the first modern country to legalize same-sex marriage on April 1. The royal family of Nepal was killed on June 1 by Crown Prince Dipendra, who effectively became king upon his father's death. King Dipendra fell into a coma after shooting himself, and he died days later. He was succeeded by his uncle Gyanendra.: 72–73 The Constitution of the Comoros was amended on December 24, creating a federal government with a rotating presidency and granting increased autonomy to the three island administrations.
International
Two major regional organizations were announced in 2001: the African Union was established on May 26 as a pan-African forum to promote unity between African countries, including cooperation in economic and security issues, and would replace the Organisation of African Unity in 2002. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was announced on June 15 to facilitate political and economic cooperation between Asian countries. Three countries joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001: Lithuania on May 31, Moldova on July 26, and China on December 11. The WTO began the Doha Development Round in November to negotiate lower trade barriers between countries and integrate developing nations into the global economy.
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants was signed on May 22 to limit the production of persistent organic pollutants. The World Conference against Racism 2001 began on August 31, in Durban, South Africa, under the auspices of the United Nations. Israel and the United States withdrew from the conference on September 3 over objections to a draft resolution document equating Zionism with racism and singling out the Jewish state for war crimes. The Aarhus Convention took effect on October 30, establishing the right to environmental information and environmental justice for European and Central Asian countries. The Convention on Cybercrime, the first international treaty to address cybercrime, was signed on November 23.
The 27th G8 summit was marred by anti-globalist protests 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.
A diplomatic incident occurred when an American spy plane and a Chinese fighter plane collided over the South China Sea, with disagreement over who was at fault.: 70–71 A dispute took place between Japan and North Korea when the North Korean leader's son, Kim Jong-nam, attempted to sneak into Tokyo Disneyland.: 76
Religion
Following the September 11 attacks, inspired by religious extremism, both religious tolerance and religious intolerance came to the fore, with an increase in Islamophobia, particularly in the United States and Europe.
On January 22, Pope John Paul II created 37 cardinals, the largest ever created at a single time. The Catholic Church began investigations of sexual abuse cases among its priests in 2001, with 3,000 cases being considered over the following decade. The Taliban government of Afghanistan destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan to the protest of the international community.: 76 The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Oman was completed in May. At the time, its chandelier was the largest in the world.
A self-immolation incident took place in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, China, on January 23. Five members of the Falun Gong, a religious movement banned in mainland China, are alleged to have set themselves on fire, but details surrounding the incident are disputed by Falun Gong sources.
Jediism became a social phenomenon in 2001 after a movement to self-report as Jedi caused it to become the fourth largest religion in the United Kingdom and the second largest religion in New Zealand.
Science and technology
The Human Genome Project released the first draft of its human genome sequence on February 12. The first self-contained artificial heart was implanted on July 2. Several accomplishments were made in the field of cloning in 2001, including the clone of a gaur the clone of a mouflon, and the first clone of a human embryo. The pygmy three-toed sloth was among the animals first described in 2001. In October, the discovery of a prehistoric Sarcosuchus skeleton is announced after digging began the previous year.: 125 A CT scan performed on Ötzi, a 5,300-year-old mummy, uncovers an arrowhead lodged in his shoulder.: 128
Several anthropological and archaeological developments were made in 2001, including the extraction of mtDNA from prehistoric skeletons,: 158 Newly described hominids included Sahelanthropus and Ardipithecus, while two additional hominids, Kenyanthropus and Orrorin, were proposed.: 158–159 Archaeological discoveries include rock art in Andros, 40,000-year-old tools in Mamontovaya Kurya, terracotta citizens in a pit adjacent to the Terracotta Army, a walled city at Dholavira, and a 2,900-year-old sweat lodge in Cuello.: 160–162
There were only 57 successful orbital spaceflights in 2001, the fewest since 1963. Eight of these launches were crewed missions. Two failed spaceflights also took place. The NEAR Shoemaker made the first successful landing of a spacecraft on an asteroid on February 12. The Russian Mir space station was deorbited and destroyed on March 23, landing in the Pacific Ocean.: 126 The 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter was launched on April 7 and arrived at Mars on October 24. American entrepreneur Dennis Tito became the first space tourist on April 28 aboard the Russian Soyuz TM-32. 28978 Ixion was discovered on May 22. The Genesis probe was launched on August 8 to collect solar wind samples. Deep Space 1 carried out a flyby of Comet Borrelly on September 22, and Galileo carried out a flyby of Io on October 15. An atmosphere was discovered on an exoplanet for the first time on November 27.
Apple Computer Inc. released the Mac OS X operating system for Mac computers on March 24. 3G wireless technology first became available on October 1 when it was adopted by Japanese telecommunications company NTT Docomo. Microsoft released the Windows XP operating system to retail on October 25.
Transportation
Air travel in the United States and worldwide was heavily affected by the September 11 attacks. Commercial flights in the United States were grounded for three days, and air travel then became subject to significantly increased security measures. The deadliest aircraft accidents in 2001 include a Vladivostok Air crash at International Airport Irkutsk, Russia, which killed 145 people on July 4, a collision at Linate Airport in Milan, Italy, which killed 118 people on October 8, and an American Airlines crash in Queens, New York City, which killed 265 people on November 12.
The Incheon International Airport opened in Incheon on March 22. The TGV Mediterranee railway opened in France.: 166
The deadliest rail accidents in 2001 include a collision that killed at least 30 people at Nvoungouti in the Republic of the Congo on January 12, a train derailment over a bridge that killed 59 people in Kadalundi, India, on June 22, and two accidents in Indonesia: a collision that killed 31 people in Jakarta on September 2, and a collision that killed 42 people at the Ketanggungan Barat railway station on December 25.
The Segway, a self-balancing personal transporter invented by Dean Kamen, was unveiled on December 3 after months of public speculation and media hype, on the ABC News morning program Good Morning America.
The K-141 Kursk nuclear submarine is lifted from the Barents Sea after the Kursk submarine disaster of the previous year.: 74–75
Events
January
- January 1 – Greece becomes the 12th country to join the Eurozone.
- January 7 – Ghana undergoes its first peaceful transfer of power since 1979 when John Kufuor is sworn in as President of Ghana.
- January 9 – Apple Inc. launches iTunes, a software program that acts as a media player, media library, and the client app for the iTunes Store.
- January 11 – The merger of AOL and Time Warner, the largest business merger in history at that time, takes effect.
- January 12 – 2001 Nvoungouti train collision: A train collision in the Republic of the Congo kills at least 30 people.
- 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.
- January 15 – Wikipedia is launched.
- January 16
- Assassination of Laurent-Désiré Kabila: The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is shot in his office during the Second Congo War and rushed to Harare in Zimbabwe for medical treatment; his death will be announced two days later. His son Joseph Kabila will be sworn in as his replacement the following week.
- The final documented case of the 2000–2001 Uganda ebola outbreak is diagnosed.
- January 20
- George W. Bush, a former governor of Texas, is sworn in as the 43rd president of the United States.
- 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.
- January 21 – Taba Summit: Talks between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority begin in Egypt.
- 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.
- 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.
- January 26 – A 7.7 Mw 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.
- January 29 – Corruption scandals surrounding Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid prompt thousands of protesters to storm the Indonesian parliament building.
February
- February 6 – 2001 Israeli prime ministerial election: Ariel Sharon of the Likud party is elected Prime Minister of Israel.
- February 9
- Ehime Maru and USS Greeneville collision: The submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Japanese training vessel Ehime Maru near Hawaii, resulting in nine deaths, including several students and teachers.
- 2001 Kot Charwal massacre: Militants kill 15 people in their homes in Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir.
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- 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.
- The Human Genome Project publishes the first draft of its human genome sequence.
- February 13 – A 6.6-magnitude earthquake hits El Salvador, killing at least 315 people.
- February 16 – Iraq disarmament crisis: British and U.S. forces carry out bombing raids to disable Iraq's air defense network.
- February 19 – The 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak begins.
- 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.
- February 25 – Sampit conflict: Mass ethnic violence begins in Sampit, Indonesia, killing hundreds of people.
March
- 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.
- March 4 – The Hintze Ribeiro Bridge collapses in northern Portugal, killing 59 people.
- March 14 – Battle of Tetovo: Violence erupts between Albanian rebels and Macedonian soldiers in Tetovo. Conflict in Tetovo will continue for months during the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia.
- March 16 – Shijiazhuang bombings: 108 people are killed in a series of bombings in Shijiazhuang, China.
- March 22 – Kenyanthropus is described as an early hominid after the discovery of remains in Kenya.
- 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.
- March 24 – Apple Inc. released the Mac OS X operating system for Mac computers.
- March 28 – The United States declares its intention to end involvement in the Kyoto Protocol.
April
- 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.
- 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.
- April 2 – Former President of Serbia and Montenegro Slobodan Milošević surrenders to police special forces to be tried on charges of crimes against humanity.
- April 7 – The NASA orbiter 2001 Mars Odyssey launches on a Delta II rocket.
- April 11 – Ellis Park Stadium disaster: 43 people are killed when Ellis Park Stadium is overcrowded.
- April 17
- Nông Đức Mạnh is chosen as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
- Israel occupies an area in the Gaza Strip, killing two people. Israeli forces withdraw the same day after the United States denounces the attack.
- 2001 Burundian coup d'état attempt: A group of junior officers make a failed attempt to overthrow President Pierre Buyoya of Burundi.
- April 26
- Junichiro Koizumi becomes the 86th Prime Minister of Japan.
- The Parliament of Ukraine votes to dismiss Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko.
- 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.
- Vejce ambush: Eight Macedonian soldiers are killed in an ambush by the NLA near Vejce, a village in the Šar Mountains, Macedonia. It represents the heaviest death toll for the government forces in a single incident during the insurgency.
May
- 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.
- May 9 – Accra Sports Stadium disaster: 126 people are killed in a crowd crush in Accra during a sports riot.
- May 13 – The House of Freedoms coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi wins the Italian general election.
- May 18 – 2001 HaSharon Mall suicide bombing: A Hamas suicide bomber kills six people in Netanya, Israel. The Israeli government responds with the first use of airstrikes against Palestine since 1967.
- May 21 – The Končulj Agreement results in the disarmament of the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac, ending the Insurgency in the Preševo Valley.
- May 22
- 28978 Ixion, a large trans-Neptunian object and a possible dwarf planet, is discovered during the Deep Ecliptic Survey.
- The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is adopted by 127 countries to limit pollution internationally.
- May 24
- Sherpa Temba Tsheri, 15, becomes the youngest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- The Versailles Wedding Hall collapses in Jerusalem, Israel, killing 23 people and injuring 380 others.
- May 26 – The African Union is formed to replace the Organisation of African Unity. It will begin operation the following year.
- May 28 – 2001 Central African Republic coup d'état attempt: Central African forces led by André Kolingba carry out a failed attempt to overthrow the government of the Central African Republic. Dozens are killed in the ensuing violence.
- May 31
- Lithuania joins the World Trade Organization.
- Research into Crohn's disease confirms that it is identified with mutation of the NOD2 gene.
June
- June 1
- Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal kills his father, the king, his mother and other members of the royal family with an assault rifle and then shoots himself in the Nepalese royal massacre. Dipendra is recognized as King of Nepal while in a coma.
- Dolphinarium discotheque massacre: A Hamas suicide bomber kills 21 people, mostly teenagers, in the Dolphinarium disco in Tel Aviv, Israel.
- June 4 – Gyanendra ascends the throne of Nepal on the death of his nephew, Dipendra.
- June 5 – Tropical Storm Allison hits the U.S. state of Texas, severely flooding Houston and killing 23 people.
- June 7
- 2001 United Kingdom general election: Tony Blair and the Labour Party win a second landslide victory.
- Former Argentinian president Carlos Menem is arrested on suspicion of illegal arms sales.
- June 12 – Aračinovo crisis: Albanian rebels violate a 24-hour cease fire with Macedonian soldiers.
- June 15 – Declaration to establish the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is signed.
- June 19
- Syria withdraws thousands of forces from a decades-long military presence in Beirut, Lebanon.
- Germany enacts a program to compensate Holocaust survivors that were subject to slave labor.
- A missile hits a soccer field in northern Iraq, killing 23 people and wounding 11 more. According to U.S. officials, it is an Iraqi missile that malfunctioned.
- 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 or 171 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 (4.569 mi) long.
- June 22 – Kadalundi train derailment: A train derailment in Kadalundi, India kills at least 59 people.
- June 23 – An 8.4 Mw 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.
- June 25 – Alkhan-Kala operation: Russian forces carry out a zachistka operation in Alkhan-Kala, Grozny, Chechnya, during the Second Chechen War. Chechen warlord Arbi Barayev is killed.
July
- July – The largest ever recorded outbreak of Legionnaires' disease occurs in Murcia, Spain. 449 cases are confirmed, with more than 800 suspected ones.
- July 2 – The world's first self-contained artificial heart is implanted in Robert Tools in the United States.
- July 4 – Vladivostok Air Flight 352 crashes on approach while landing at Irkutsk Airport, Russia, killing all 145 people aboard.
- July 7 – 2001 Bradford riots: Ethnic violence is provoked in Bradford, England, by the far-right National Front and far-left Anti-Nazi League.
- July 12 - Google Images is launched.
- July 13 – The International Olympic Committee chooses Beijing to host the 2008 Summer Olympics.
- July 14 – Agra Summit: India and Pakistan begin talks to improve relations. The summit ends inconclusively on July 16.
- July 16 – China and Russia sign the 2001 Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship.
- 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.
- July 23 – Megawati Sukarnoputri is inaugurated as the first female president of Indonesia.
- July 24
- Bandaranaike Airport attack: The Tamil Tigers bomb the Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lanka during the Sri Lankan Civil War.
- 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.
- July 26 – Moldova joins the World Trade Organization.
- July 28 – Alejandro Toledo becomes the President of Peru.
August
- August – A ceasefire is negotiated to end the War of the Peters.
- August 2 – The ICTY convicts Bosnian Serb General Radislav Krstić on the charge of genocide for his role in the Srebrenica massacre.
- August 3 – 2001 Kishtwar massacre: 17 Hindus in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, are killed by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants.
- August 6 – Erwadi fire incident: 28 mentally ill persons bound by chains are burnt to death at a faith-based institution at Erwadi, Tamil Nadu, India.
- August 8
- The Genesis probe is launched from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17.
- Albanian rebels ambush a convoy of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia near Tetovo, North Macedonia, killing 10 soldiers.
- August 9 – A Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem is bombed by a Palestinian Hamas terrorist, killing 15 civilians and injuring 130 others.
- August 10
- 2001 Angola train attack: 252 people are killed by UNITA in an attack on a train during the Angolan Civil War.
- The United States and the United Kingdom bomb air force installations in Iraq in response to attacks on American and British planes.
- August 13 – Macedonian and Albanian representatives sign the Ohrid Agreement to reduce conflicts during the insurgency.
- August 21 – Operation Essential Harvest: NATO sends a military forces to the Republic of Macedonia in response to the ongoing insurgency.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
September
- September 1 – Myojo 56 building fire: 44 people are killed in a building fire in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
- September 2 – 2001 Jakarta train collision: A trail collision in Jakarta, Indonesia kills 31 people.
- September 7 – 2001 Jos riots: Clashes between Christian and Muslim rioters begin in Jos, Nigeria. The conflict will continue until September 17, during which time hundreds of people will be killed.
- September 9
- A suicide bomber kills Ahmad Shah Massoud, military commander of the Afghan Northern Alliance.
- 68 people die of methanol poisoning in Pärnu County, Estonia.
- September 11 – Approximately 2,977 victims are killed or fatally injured in the September 11 attacks after American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 are hijacked and crash into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, American Airlines Flight 77 is hijacked and crashes into the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93 is hijacked and crashes into grassland in Shanksville, Pennsylvania as a result of passengers fighting to regain control of the airplane. The Twin Towers collapse as a result of the crashes.
- September 18 – The 2001 anthrax attacks begin in the United States, which cause five fatalities and 17 other infections.
- September 19 – Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat forbids Palestinian soldiers from firing on Israeli forces, even in self-defence. Israel agrees to a ceasefire.
- 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 (GWOT).
- September 21 – Toulouse chemical factory explosion: A fertilizer factory explodes in Toulouse, France, killing 31 people.
- September 22 – American spacecraft Deep Space 1 flies within 2,200 kilometres (1,400 mi) of Comet Borrelly.
- September 27 – Zug massacre: In Zug, Switzerland, Friedrich Leibacher shoots 18 people, killing 14 of them and then himself.
October
- October 1
- Jaish-e-Mohammed militants attack the state legislature building in Srinagar, Kashmir, killing 38 people.
- 3G wireless technology first becomes available when it is adopted by Japanese telecommunications company NTT Docomo.
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- October 2 – Swissair, the national airline of Switzerland, seeks bankruptcy protection and grounds its entire fleet, stranding thousands of people worldwide.
- 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.
- 2001 Kodori crisis: Fighting escalates between Georgia and the breakaway state Abkhazia.
- 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.
- October 8
- Linate Airport disaster: A twin-engine Cessna and Scandinavian Airlines jetliner collide in heavy fog during takeoff from Milan, Italy, killing 118 people.
- Hurricane Iris hits Belize, causing $250 million (2001 USD) in damage.
- October 13 – American scientists create the first successful clone of a human embryo.
- October 15 – NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 181 kilometres (112 mi) of Jupiter's moon Io.
- October 16 – American planes misidentify and bomb a Red Cross facility in Afghanistan. A similar error occurs again on October 27.
- October 17 – Assassination of Rehavam Ze'evi: Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi is assassinated by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
- October 19 – An Indonesian fishing boat, the SIEV X, sinks on route to Christmas Island. 353 people are killed, most of whom are asylum seekers.
- 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.
- The Provisional Irish Republican Army begins disarmament, ending a decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland.
- October 24 – The 2001 Mars Odyssey arrives at Mars.
- October 25
- Citing connotations with the Rwandan genocide, the government of Rwanda adopts a new national flag for the country.
- Microsoft releases the Windows XP operating system to retail.
- October 30 – The Aarhus Convention takes effect, establishing the right to environmental information and environmental justice for European and Central Asian countries.
November
- 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.
- 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.
- November 7 – Sabena, the national airline of Belgium, goes bankrupt.
- 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.
- Fall of Mazar-i-Sharif: American and Northern Alliance forces take Mazar-i-Sharif in the first major offensive of the War in Afghanistan.
- November 11 – Two French journalists, Pierre Billaud and Johanne Sutton, and a German colleague, Volker Handloik, are killed in Afghanistan during an attack on their convoy.
- November 12
- American Airlines Flight 587 crashes in Queens, New York City, minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board.
- 2001 uprising in Herat: Northern Alliance forces take the city of Herat from the Taliban.
- November 14
- Fall of Kabul: Northern Alliance forces take the Afghan capital Kabul.
- 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.
- November 15 – Microsoft enters the gaming console market with the release of the Xbox, a sixth-generation gaming console, in the United States.
- November 18 – The Leonids meteor shower occurs in its heaviest concentration in decades as Earth passes through a debris cloud.
- November 23 – The Convention on Cybercrime, the first international treaty to address cybercrime, is signed in Budapest, Hungary.
- 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.
December
- December – Dasht-i-Leili massacre: Hundreds of Taliban prisoners are killed by the forces of Abdul Rashid Dostum.
- December 1
- The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty produces a report on responsibility to protect.
- A series of bombings in Zion Square are carried out by Hamas. Ten people are killed and hundreds more are injured.
- 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).
- Haifa bus 16 suicide bombing: A Hamas militant carries out a suicide bombing in Haifa, Israel, killing 15 people.
- 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.
- December 5 – 2001 Sayyd Alma Kalay airstrike: An American airstrike mistakenly targets a friendly position, killing 11 people in a friendly fire incident.
- December 6 – Fall of Kandahar: The Taliban surrenders in Kandahar, its final stronghold.
- December 8 – An ebola outbreak is confirmed in Gabon.
- December 11 – China joins the World Trade Organization.
- 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.
- U.S. President George W. Bush announces the American withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
- Sirajuddin of Perlis becomes the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia.
- December 15 – The Leaning Tower of Pisa is reopened to the public after 12 years of reconstruction.
- December 17 – Battle of Tora Bora: American forces take Tora Bora, a cave complex and the headquarters of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden escapes during the battle and goes into hiding.
- December 19 – A record-high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Zavkhan, Mongolia.
- December 21 – President Fernando de la Rúa of Argentina resigns in response to the riots against Argentina's economic crisis.
- December 22
- Battle of Amami-Ōshima: A Japan Coast Guard ship and an armed North Korean vessel engage in conflict near the Japanese island of Amami Ōshima, in the East China Sea. The encounter ends in the sinking of the North Korean vessel that is later determined to have been a spy craft by the Japanese authorities.
- Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
- December 24 – The Constitution of the Comoros is amended, creating a federal government with a rotating presidency and granting increased autonomy to the three island administrations.
- December 25 – Ketanggungan Barat railway collision: A trail collision at Ketanggungan Barat railway station kills 42 people in Indonesia.
- December 27
- China is granted permanent normal trade status with the United States.
- 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.
- December 29 – Mesa Redonda fire: A fire occurs in a shopping center in Lima, Peru, following a fireworks accident, killing at least 291 people.
Deaths
Nobel Prizes
- Physics – Eric Allin Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle, and Carl Wieman
- Chemistry – William Standish Knowles, Ryōji Noyori, and Karl Barry Sharpless
- Medicine – Leland H. Hartwell, Tim Hunt, and Paul Nurse
- Literature – V. S. Naipaul
- Peace – United Nations, Kofi Annan
- Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel – George Akerlof, Michael Spence, and Joseph Stiglitz
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