- July 16
- The People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation sign the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. [22]
- July 17
- Inauguration of the Altamira caves' replica created by Manuel Franquelo and Sven Nebel. [22]
- July 18
- In Baltimore, Maryland, a 60-car train derailment occurs in a tunnel, sparking a fire that lasts days and virtually shuts down downtown Baltimore. [22]
- July 19
- United Kingdom politician and novelist Jeffrey Archer is sentenced to four years in prison for perjury and perverting the course of justice. [22]
- July 20
- (to July 22) The 27th G8 summit takes place in Genoa, Italy. Massive demonstrations are held against the meeting by anti-globalisation groups. One demonstrator, Carlo Giuliani, is shot dead by a carabiniere and several others are badly injured, during a police attack on a school used by the protesters as their headquarters. [22]
- July 24
- Tamil Tigers attack Bandaranaika International Airport in Sri Lanka, causing an estimated $500 million of damages. [22]
- Larry A. Silverstein signs a $3.2 billion, 99-year lease on the entire World Trade Center complex in New York. [5]
- July 25
- (to September 23) Over Kerala, India, rain sporadically falls with colors red, yellow, green, and black, the result of the atmospheric disintegration of a comet. [521]
- July 28
- Alejandro Toledo is sworn in as the new president of Peru, 8 months after a vote of no-confidence in former President Alberto Fujimori. [22]
- August 4
- The Seattle-based Windy Bay fishing vessel strikes a rock and sinks in Prince William Sound, 65km southwest of Valdez, Alaska. 133,000 litres of diesel fuel creates a sheen covering 10 square km, with about 36,800 litres recovered. [522]
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- August 9
- U.S. President George W. Bush announces his support for federal funding of limited research on embryonic stem cells. [22]
- In the Comoros, the "Military Committee" of Major Mohamad Bacar seizes power in the island of Anjouan, that had declared independence. They plan to rejoin the Comoros. [22]
- August 10
- The USS Mississinewa oil tanker, sunk in the Ulithi Atoll lagoon in 1944, begins leaking 1100-1900 litres per hour in Micronesia. [522]
- August 25
- A Cessna 402 aircraft carrying nine people crashes in the Bahamas, killing all aboard. The cause appeared to be engine failure due to the plane being overloaded. [22] [457]
- August 27
- Intel releases the 2-GHz Pentium 4 processor. [4]
- September 1
- The libertarian Free State Project is founded at Yale University. [22]
- September 4
- Google is awarded a patent, number 6,285,999, for the PageRank search algorithm used in the Google search engine. [22]
- The Tokyo DisneySea theme park opens in Japan. It features seven "ports of call": American Waterfront, Port Discovery, Lost River Delta, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, Mysterious Island, and Mediterranean Harbor. There are initially 23 attractions. The park is owned by the Oriental Land Company, Ltd., operated under licence from the Walt Disney Company. [6]
- Hewlett-Packard announces it will acquire Compaq Computer in a stock swap worth about US$25 billion. [4]
- September 5
- Peru's attorney general files homicide charges against ex-President Alberto Fujimori. [22]
- September 6
- The United States Justice Department announces that it no longer seeks to break-up software maker Microsoft, and will instead seek a lesser antitrust penalty. [22]
- September 7
- A Liberian-registered oil tanker hits Vietnamese Petrolimex 01 tanker, leaking millions of litres of oil off beach resort of Vung Tau, Vietnam. [522]
- September 9
- 68 people die in Estonia after drinking bootleg alcohol that contained methanol. [22]
- A suicide bomber kills Ahmed Shah Massoud, military commander of the Afghan Northern Alliance. [22] [160.39]
- September 10
- Norwegian parliamentary election: Kjell Magne Bondevik returns to power as head of a conservative coalition. [22]
- US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld calls a meeting of hundreds of Pentagon senior staff, giving a speech calling the Pentagon bureaucracy an adversary to the security of the USA. He says "... today we declare war on bureaucracy". [46.342]
- September 11
- 2740 Americans and 236 foreigners die in airplane attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania. [22] [546.36]
- Following four plane crashes in the USA, Disney Chairman Michael Eisner and Disney President Robert Iger decide to stage an orderly closing of Walt Disney World, and not open Disneyland or Disney's California Adventure for the day. [6]
- September 14
- In Japan, Nintendo launches the GameCube video game system. It features 405 MHz "Gekko" processor based on a 256-bit IBM Power PC, and 43 MB RAM. Size is 6 x 6 x 4.3 inches; price is 25,000 yen. Code name during development was Dolphin. 133,719 units sell in the first week. [9]
- US President George W Bush stands with firefighters and rescue workers at Ground Zero in New York. [46.356]
- US President George W. Bush declares a state of national emergency exists by reason of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. [861.338]
- September 15
- President George W. Bush says that the United States of America is at war against terror. [22]
- The Queen Isabella Causeway in Texas collapses after being hit by a tugboat, killing eight. [22]
- September 17
- The New York Stock Exchange reopens following the terrorist attacks in New York. [22]
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes for the day down 684.81 points (7.1 percent), the second largest one-day point drop. [227]
- September 18
- The 2001 anthrax attacks commence as anthrax letters are mailed from Princeton, New Jersey to ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, the New York Post, and the National Enquirer. [22]
- September 19
- In the light of the New York attack by terrorists the German Bundestag votes full support and solidarity with the USA, including military support. [37]
- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announces decision to support US-led intervention against Taliban in Afghanistan, mainly to keep US from allying with India. [836.37]
- September 21
- Deep Space 1 flies within 2,200 km of Comet Borrelly. [5]
- September 22
- A ship and a barge collide at Barbour's Cut in La Porte, Texas, USA, leaking about 137,000 litres of fuel oil into the channel. [522]
- September 24
- Thieves with Kalashnikov assault rifles and a wrecking ball break into a cash depository in Bari, Italy, stealing US$4.16 million worth of euro coins. [491.110]
- October 2
- Swissair goes bankrupt. [22]
- October 4
- The first case of anthrax attack in the U.S. is announced by federal officials. [22]
- A hunter shoots a hole in the trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline, causing a leak of 1.1 million litres of oil into the wilderness. [522]
- Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 crashes over the Black Sea en route from Tel Aviv, Israel to Novosibirsk, Russia; 78 are killed. [22]
- October 7
- The United States armed forces invade Afghanistan, with participation from the United Kingdom. [22]
- Pope John-Paul II beatifies two Germans, Nikolaus Groß and Maria Euthymia Üffing. [37]
- October 8
- Flight SK686 of SAS collides first with a private plane and then a building in Milano Airport; 100 are killed. [22]
- October 9
- The 2001 anthrax attacks continue as anthrax letters are mailed from Princeton, New Jersey, to U.S. Senators Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Patrick Leahy of Vermont. [22]
- October 10
- U.S. President George W. Bush presents a list of 22 most wanted terrorists. [22]
- October 15
- NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io. [22]
- October 18
- A Petrobras tanker strikes underwater rocks off Paranagua, Brazil, leaking about 392,000 litres of naphtha. [522]
- October 19
- SIEV-X sinks en route to Christmas Island. [22]
- October 20
- The Concert for New York City, "a celebration of the strength, resilience, and pride of New York and America" is held, featuring performances by The Who, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Backstreet Boys, Billy Joel, Destiny's Child, Eric Clapton, Adam Sandler, Bon Jovi, Elton John and many more. [22]
- October 21
- What More Can I Give benefit concert held in Washington D.C., featuring performances by Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Mariah Carey, James Brown, Al Green, Carole King, the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, P!nk, and others. [22]
- October 23
- Apple Computer introduces the iPod portable music player. It features 5 GB hard drive, and FireWire port. Price is US$399. [4] [5] [248.20]
- October 25
- Microsoft launches the Windows XP operating system in the USA. The software is based on Windows NT and Windows 2000, but includes a Compatibility Mode allowing most software written for older Windows versions to operate correctly. Prices are US$199 (Home Edition) and US$299 (Professional Edition). [4]
- October 26
- US President George W. Bush signs into law the USA PATRIOT Act. [22] [861.336]
- October 27
- Former German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, is awarded the Westphalien Peace Prize in recognition of his effort for German reunification. [37]
- October 31
- Searchers recover $230 million in gold and silver from vaults of the Bank of Nova Scotia among rubble of the destroyed World Trade Center in New York City. [540.68]
- November 2
- The Glocal Forum, leading international organization in the field of city-to-city cooperation, is established by Ambassador Uri Savir. [22]
- Microsoft and the US Department of Justice and nine US states reach a settlement in their antitrust case. Microsoft is to license Windows uniformly, and cannot make exclusive contracts that compel companies to use to not use certain competing software products. [4]
- November 4
- Hurricane Michelle hits Cuba, destroying crops and thousands of homes. [22]
- The Police Service of Northern Ireland is established, replacing the controversial Royal Ulster Constabulary. [22]
- November 6
- John Bennett of the United Kingdom dives 307.8m deep at Escarcia point, Puerto Galero in the Philippines, deepest scuba dive to date. [192.49]
- November 7
- Belgium's SABENA Airlines goes bankrupt. [22]
- The super-sonic commercial aircraft Concorde resumes flying after a 15-month break. [22]
- November 10
- The People's Republic of China is admitted to the World Trade Organization after 15 years of negotiations. [22]
- Australian Prime Minister John Howard is elected to a third term. [22]
- Heavy rains and mudslides in Algeria kill more than 900 people. [22]
- November 12
- In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587 en route to the Dominican Republic crashes in Queens, New York minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on board. [22] [565.333]
- (to November 13) Stack's of New York sells at auction the finest known 1893-S Morgan dollar for US$414,000, second highest price paid for a Morgan dollar at auction. [464.5]
- Taliban forces abandon Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, ahead of advancing Afghan Northern Alliance troops, which take the city on November 14. [22]
- November 13
- The World Trade Organization ends a four-day ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar. [22]
- In the first such act since World War II, U.S. President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against any foreigners suspected of having connections to terrorist acts or planned acts against the United States. [22]
- November 15
- Microsoft launches the Xbox video game system in North America. Price is US$299. The system features four controller ports, one controller, 8 GB hard drive, 733 MHz Intel main processor, 250 MHz NVidia XGP graphics processor, 64 MB RAM, 3D audio support, Ethernet port, broadband Internet connection. Games come on dual-layer DVD-ROM discs that can store 9 GB of data. The system can also play DVD movies. 500,000 units are sold in the first seven days; 1.5 million in the first month. [9]
- November 16
- Warner Bros. releases the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to theaters. (Total world gross ticket sales: $975 million (1st for 2001).) [934]
- November 18
- Nintendo releases the GameCube video game system in the USA. It features four controller ports, one controller, 485 MHz IBM Gekko main processor, 162 MHz ATI Technologies "Flipper" graphics processor, 40 MB RAM, DVD-based proprietary disc drive. Games come on 3-inch optical discs holding up to 1.5 GB. Price is US$199.95. Over 500,000 are sold in the first week. [9]
- November 21
- Motor tank barge Stolt Rotterdam sinks during a discharging operation at Erdoelchemie Uerdingen, Germany; fumes are seen coming from the bottom of the barge, a fire breaks out in a store room, and the barge sinks, dumping about 2.4 million litres of nitric acid into the Rhine River. [522]
- November 22
- Pope John Paul II sends the first papal e-mail from a laptop computer in his office. [22]
- November 27
- The Hubble Space Telescope detects the first atmosphere (in this case, hydrogen) on an extrasolar planet (on Osiris). [5]
- December 2
- Enron Corporation, based in Houston, Texas, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a New York court, five days after Dynegy cancels a US$8.4 billion buyout bid. At the time this is the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. [22] [129] [564.59]
- December 3
- Officials announce that one of the Taliban prisoners captured after the prison uprising at Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan is John Walker Lindh, an American citizen. [22]
- December 11
- The United States government indicts Zacarias Moussaoui for involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks. [22]
- December 13
- The Parliament of India is attacked by terrorists, killing 14 people. This brings India and Pakistan to the brink of war. [22]
- U.S. President George W. Bush announces the United States' withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. [22]
- December 15
- Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and US$27 million to fortify the tower without eliminating its famous lean. [129]
- December 19
- A new world-record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded in Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia. [22]
- In Argentina, President Fernando de la Rúa and finance minister Domingo Cavallo impose stricter austerity measures. The resulting population revolt is put down by federal police. 21 are killed, 1350 injured. [46.293]
- December 22
- Hamid Karzai is sworn in as head of the interim government in Afghanistan. [22]
- A flight from Paris, France to Miami, Florida is diverted to Boston, Massachusetts after passenger Richard Reid attempts to set his shoe, filled with explosives, on fire. [22]
- December 27
- The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade status with the United States. [22]
- Typhoon Vamei forms within 1.5 degrees of the equator. No other tropical cyclone in recorded history has come as close to the equator. [22]
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