WORLD HISTORY · 2001 日本語
Events of 2001Heisei 13 (Japan) · Year of the Snake
What happened in 2001?
In 2001, Japan's central government ministries were reorganized into one office and 12 ministries and agencies in January, and Koizumi Junichiro became prime minister in April. In September, the 9/11 terrorist attacks struck the United States, and Japan found its first cow suspected of having mad cow disease (BSE).
- Ministries reorganized into one office and 12 agenciesAsia
- Wikipedia is foundedNorth America
- Bush inaugurated as presidentNorth America
- Koizumi Junichiro becomes prime ministerAsia
- Attack at Ikeda elementary school in OsakaAsia
- Japan finds first suspected BSE-infected cowAsia
- September 11 terrorist attacks on the United StatesNorth America
- Bush declares war on terrorNorth America
Tap an event to jump to it in the timeline below.
2001 at a glance
| Japanese era | Heisei 13 |
|---|---|
| Chinese zodiac | Year of the Snake |
| Age of people born in 2001 | Turn 25 in 2026 |
| Previous / next year | 2000 (Heisei 12) ／ 2002 (Heisei 14) |
| Events | 126 |
| AP World History | Unit 9 (Globalization) |
| AP U.S. History | Period 9 |
Famous people born in 2001
Our birthday pages list 231 people born in 2001. Here are some of them.
- Takefusa KuboBorn June 4 · turns 25 this year
- Kaia GerberBorn September 3 · turns 25 this year
- Angourie RiceBorn January 1 · turns 25 this year
- WinterBorn January 1 · turns 25 this year
- Cole CaufieldBorn January 2 · turns 25 this year
- Luiz HenriqueBorn January 2 · turns 25 this year
- Deni AvdijaBorn January 3 · turns 25 this year
- Lola YoungBorn January 4 · turns 25 this year
- Odilon KossounouBorn January 4 · turns 25 this year
- Ellis SimmsBorn January 5 · turns 25 this year
- Mykhailo MudrykBorn January 5 · turns 25 this year
- Zach CharbonnetBorn January 8 · turns 25 this year
Show 28 more
- Eric GarcíaBorn January 9 · turns 25 this year
- Peter MamouzelosBorn January 9 · turns 25 this year
- Zeke NnajiBorn January 9 · turns 25 this year
- Santi AldamaBorn January 10 · turns 25 this year
- Sam LaPortaBorn January 12 · turns 25 this year
- Cora JadeBorn January 14 · turns 25 this year
- Enzo FernándezBorn January 17 · turns 25 this year
- Baek Jong-bumBorn January 21 · turns 25 this year
- Olga DanilovićBorn January 23 · turns 25 this year
- Elisabetta CocciarettoBorn January 25 · turns 25 this year
- Isaac OkoroBorn January 26 · turns 25 this year
- Latalia BevanBorn January 26 · turns 25 this year
- Lee Dae-hwiBorn January 29 · turns 25 this year
- Curtis JonesBorn January 30 · turns 25 this year
- Egor ChinakhovBorn February 1 · turns 25 this year
- WestcolBorn February 2 · turns 25 this year
- Rhys WilliamsBorn February 3 · turns 25 this year
- Tre MannBorn February 3 · turns 25 this year
- Kim Min-juBorn February 5 · turns 25 this year
- R. J. HamptonBorn February 7 · turns 25 this year
- I.NBorn February 8 · turns 25 this year
- Dylan CozensBorn February 9 · turns 25 this year
- Sergio CamelloBorn February 10 · turns 25 this year
- Bryan GilBorn February 11 · turns 25 this year
- Khvicha KvaratskheliaBorn February 12 · turns 25 this year
- Kaapo KakkoBorn February 13 · turns 25 this year
- Yuki NaitoBorn February 16 · turns 25 this year
- Jaime Jaquez Jr.Born February 18 · turns 25 this year
Events of 2001 (timeline · 126)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
Downtown Disney opens to the public as part of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.
Second Congo War: Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards in Kinshasa.
US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War.
President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent four-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Five people attempt to set themselves on fire in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, an act that many people later claim is staged by the Chinese Communist Party to frame Falun Gong and thus escalate their persecution.
The 7.7 Mw Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India, leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured.
Diane Whipple, a lacrosse coach, is killed in a dog attack in San Francisco. The resulting court case clarified the meaning of implied malice murder.
Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm parliament and demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals.
In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-98, carrying the Destiny laboratory module to the International Space Station.
The Ehime Maru and USS Greeneville collision takes place, killing nine of the thirty-five people on board the Japanese fishery high-school training ship Ehime Maru, leaving the USS Greeneville (SSN-772) with US $2 million in repairs, at Pearl Harbor.
A Dutch programmer launches the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.
NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Sampit conflict: Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, ultimately resulting in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes.
Loganair Flight 670A crashes while attempting to make a water landing in the Firth of Forth in Scotland.
The 2001 Nisqually earthquake, having a moment magnitude of 6.8, with epicenter in southern Puget Sound, damages the Seattle metropolitan area.
BBC bombing: A massive car bomb explodes in front of the BBC Television Centre in London, seriously injuring one person; the attack was attributed to the Real IRA.
In Mina, Saudi Arabia, 35 pilgrims are killed in a stampede on the Jamaraat Bridge during the Hajj.
Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-102, carrying the Expedition 2 crew to the International Space Station.
A series of bomb blasts in the city of Shijiazhuang, China kill 108 people and injure 38 others, the biggest mass murder in China in decades.
The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
A Gulfstream III crashes on approach to Aspen/Pitkin County Airport in Aspen, Colorado. All 18 people on board are killed.
Former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on war crimes charges.
An EP-3E United States Navy surveillance aircraft collides with a Chinese People's Liberation Army Shenyang J-8 fighter jet. The Chinese pilot ejected but is subsequently lost. The Navy crew makes an emergency landing in Hainan, China and is detained.
Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, the first contemporary country to allow it.
The detained crew of a United States EP-3E aircraft that landed in Hainan, China, after a collision with a J-8 fighter, is released.
The Australia national men's soccer team sets a world record for the largest victory in an international association football match, winning the game 31–0 against American Samoa at the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers for OFC. Australia's Archie Thompson also breaks the record for most goals scored by a player in an international match by scoring 13 goals.
Series of bombings at Ramna Park in Dhaka during the Bengali New Year celebrations leave 10 people dead and dozens other injured.
India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border.
Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-100 carrying the Canadarm2 to the International Space Station.
The United States loses its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947.
During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque.
In Ghana, 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of tear gas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee.
A CSX EMD SD40-2 8888 rolls out of a train yard in Walbridge, Ohio, with 47 freight cars, including some tank cars with flammable chemical, after its engineer fails to reboard it after setting a yard switch. It travels south driverless for 66 miles (106 km) until it is brought to a halt near Kenton. The incident became the inspiration for the 2010 film Unstoppable.
French Taubira law is enacted, officially recognizing the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity.
Erik Weihenmayer becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, with Dr. Sherman Bull.
Members of Abu Sayyaf, an Islamist separatist group, seize twenty hostages from an affluent island resort on Palawan in the Philippines; the hostage crisis would not be resolved until June 2002.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the disabled golfer Casey Martin can use a cart to ride in tournaments.
Nepalese royal massacre: Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal shoots and kills several members of his family including his father and mother.
Dolphinarium discotheque massacre: A Hamas suicide bomber kills 21 at a disco in Tel Aviv.
Tropical Storm Allison makes landfall on the upper-Texas coastline as a strong tropical storm and dumps large amounts of rain over Houston. The storm causes $5.5 billion in damages, making Allison the second costliest tropical storm in U.S. history.
Mamoru Takuma kills eight and injures 15 in a mass stabbing at an elementary school in the Osaka Prefecture of Japan.
A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicts 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen.
The 8.4 Mw southern Peru earthquake shakes coastal Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami followed, leaving at least 74 people dead, and 2,687 injured.
Vladivostok Air Flight 352 crashes on approach to Irkutsk Airport killing all 145 people on board.
Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-104, carrying the Quest Joint Airlock to the International Space Station.
Australian criminal Bradley John Murdoch murders British tourist Peter Falconio and abducts his girlfriend in the Northern Territory.
Rus Flight 9633 crashes during takeoff from Chkalovsky Airport, killing all 10 people on board.
At the conclusion of a fireworks display on Okura Beach in Akashi, Hyōgo, Japan, 11 people are killed and more than 120 are injured when a pedestrian footbridge connecting the beach to JR Asagiri Station becomes overcrowded and people leaving the event fall down in a domino effect.
Megawati Sukarnoputri was sworn in as the first female president of Indonesia following her predecessor's impeachment.
The Bandaranaike Airport attack is carried out by 14 Tamil Tiger commandos, resulting in military and civilian casualties and destroyed aircraft.
Phoolan Devi, a serving Member of Parliament, is assassinated by shooting in New Delhi, India.
Australian Ian Thorpe becomes the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single World Championship meeting.
Erwadi fire incident: Twenty-eight mentally ill persons tied to a chain are burnt to death at a faith based institution at Erwadi, Tamil Nadu.
Albanian rebels ambush a convoy of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia near Tetovo, killing 10 soldiers.
Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-105 to the International Space Station, carrying the astronauts of Expedition 3 to replace the crew of Expedition 2.
Air Transat Flight 236 loses all engine power over the Atlantic Ocean, forcing the pilots to conduct an emergency landing in the Azores.
American singer Aaliyah and several members of her entourage are killed as their overloaded aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Marsh Harbour Airport, Bahamas.
Four people are killed when Binter Mediterráneo Flight 8261 crashes into the N-340 highway near Málaga Airport.
In Belfast, Protestant loyalists begin a picket of Holy Cross, a Catholic primary school for girls.
Tokyo DisneySea opens to the public as part of the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan.
Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance, is assassinated in Afghanistan by two al-Qaeda assassins who claimed to be Arab journalists wanting an interview.
During his appearance on the British TV game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, contestant Charles Ingram reaches the £1 million top prize, but it was later revealed that he had cheated to the top prize by listening to coughs from his wife and another contestant.
Nineteen members of al-Qaeda execute the September 11 attacks, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks that killed 2,977 people using four hijacked aircraft. Two aircraft crash into the World Trade Center in New York City, a third crashes into The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and a fourth into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Ansett Australia, Australia's first commercial interstate airline, collapses due to increased strain on the international airline industry, leaving 10,000 people unemployed.
Civilian aircraft traffic resumes in the United States after the September 11 attacks.
Historic National Prayer Service held at Washington National Cathedral for victims of the September 11 attacks. A similar service is held in Canada on Parliament Hill, the largest vigil ever held in the nation's capital.
During a CART race at the Lausitzring in Germany, former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi suffers a heavy accident resulting in him losing both his legs.
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.
The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.
First mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attacks.
In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "war on terror".
Ross Parker is murdered in Peterborough, England, by a gang of ten British Pakistani youths.
America: A Tribute to Heroes is broadcast by over 35 network and cable channels, raising over $200 million for the victims of the September 11 attacks.
3G wireless technology first becomes available when it is adopted by Japanese telecommunications company NTT Docomo.
Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 crashes after being struck by an errant Ukrainian missile. Seventy-eight people are killed.
The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan begins with an air assault and covert operations on the ground, starting the longest war in American history.
U.S. president George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security.
A twin engine Cessna and a Scandinavian Airlines System jetliner collide in heavy fog during takeoff from Milan, Italy, killing 118 people.
NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles (180 km) of Jupiter's moon Io.
Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi is assassinated by Hamdi Quran, a member of the PFLP, thus becoming the highest-ranking Israeli to be killed by a Palestinian.
SIEV X, an Indonesian fishing boat en route to Christmas Island, carrying over 400 migrants, sinks in international waters with the loss of 353 people.
Microsoft releases Windows XP, which becomes one of Microsoft's most successful operating systems.
Turkey, Australia, and Canada agree to commit troops to the invasion of Afghanistan.
Journalists Pierre Billaud, Johanne Sutton and Volker Handloik are killed in Afghanistan during an attack on the convoy they are traveling in.
In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 en route to the Dominican Republic, crashes minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on board and five on the ground.
War in Afghanistan: Taliban forces abandon Kabul, ahead of advancing Afghan Northern Alliance troops.
War on terror: In the first such act since World War II, US President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against foreigners suspected of connections to terrorist acts or planned acts on the United States.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes a remote part of the Tibetan Plateau. It has the longest known surface rupture recorded on land (~400 km) and is the best documented example of a supershear earthquake.
War in Afghanistan: Afghan Northern Alliance fighters take over the capital Kabul.
The Aviation and Transportation Security Act is enacted by the 107th United States Congress in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Act created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Crossair Flight 3597 crashes in Bassersdorf near Zurich Airport, killing 24 people, including singer Melanie Thornton and two members of the German band Passion Fruit.
A hydrogen atmosphere is discovered on the extrasolar planet Osiris by the Hubble Space Telescope, the first atmosphere detected on an extrasolar planet.
Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-108, carrying the Expedition 4 crew to the International Space Station.
A raid conducted by the Internal Security Department (ISD) of Singapore foils a Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) plot to bomb foreign embassies in Singapore.
Prime Minister of Vietnam Phan Văn Khải announces the decision on upgrading the Phong Nha–Kẻ Bàng nature reserve to a national park, providing information on projects for the conservation and development of the park and revised maps.
Indian Parliament attack: Sansad Bhavan, the building housing the Indian Parliament, is attacked by five Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists. Twelve people are killed, including the terrorists.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 spent to stabilize it, without fixing its famous lean.
Argentine economic crisis: December riots: Riots erupt in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Northern Alliance, hands over power in Islamic State of Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
FAQ
What year was 2001 in the Japanese calendar?
2001 was Heisei 13 in the Japanese era system.
What Chinese zodiac animal is 2001?
2001 is the Year of the Snake.
How old is someone born in 2001?
They turn 25 on their birthday in 2026.
What happened in 2001?
In 2001, Japan's central government ministries were reorganized into one office and 12 ministries and agencies in January, and Koizumi Junichiro became prime minister in April. In September, the 9/11 terrorist attacks struck the United States, and Japan found its first cow suspected of having mad cow disease (BSE).
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.