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:This article is about the year 2001. For information on the movie, see 2001: A Space Odyssey. For the Dr. Dre album, see 2001 (album).

2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. By traditional interpretation of the Gregorian Calendar, 2001 is also the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium. Popular culture, however, often views the year 2000 as holding this distinction.

See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.

Events

January

* January 1 - Many people celebrate the beginning of the new millennium - the 21st Century (but not as much as the celebrations in 2000) and have a millennium feast. A black monolith measuring approximately nine feet tall appears in Seattle's Magnuson Park, placed by an anonymous artist in reference to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Guns N' Roses stages a concert at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. This is their first concert since 1993.
* January 4 - RuneScape Classic is launched on the Internet. By the end of the year it has recorded over 1,000,000 active users.
* January 6 - The U.S. Congress, presided over by Vice President Al Gore as President of the Senate, certifies George W. Bush's Electoral College victory and thus as the winner of 2000 presidential election.
* January 11 - The Federal Trade Commission approves the merger of AOL and Time Warner to form AOL Time Warner.
* January 13 - Major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 hits all El Salvador.
* January 15 - Wikipedia, a Wiki free content encyclopedia, goes online (Wikipedia Day).
* January 17 - Impeachment proceedings against Philippine President Joseph E. Estrada ends prematurely after the second envelope, which allegedly holds proof that the accused has committed plunder, has been voted by the majority of the senator-judges not to be opened. The senators who have voted for the opening of the envelope walked out of the courtroom along with the people watching inside. This event, covered on several Philippine television channels, and the resulting SMS/text messages encouraging everyone to go to EDSA and shout for the removal or resignation of Estrada from office, triggers the second EDSA People Power Revolution or People Power II.
* January 20 - Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in by Chief Justice Hilario Davide as the 14th President of the Republic of the Philippines after the Armed Forces of the Philippines and several cabinet members withdraw their support for Joseph Estrada.
* January 20 - George W. Bush succeeds Bill Clinton as President of the United States, after the U.S. Supreme Court stops the third recounting of ballots in Florida in the disputed and controversial U.S. presidential election, 2000.
* January 22 - Four of the "Texas 7" are caught at a convenience store in Woodland Park, Colorado, and a fifth kills himself inside a motor home.
* January 23-25 - UN war crimes prosecutor Del Ponte demands that Serbia hand over Slobodan Milošević.
* January 24 - The last two of the "Texas 7" are taken into custody in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
* January 24 - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Mandelson resigns from the British cabinet for the second time.
* January 26 - A 50-year-old DC-3 crashes near Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, killing 24.
* January 26 - An earthquake hits Gujarat, India, causing more than 20,000 deaths and destroying most of the historical city.
* January 27 - A plane crashes 40 miles east of Denver, Colorado, killing two players of the Oklahoma State University basketball team, six team staffers, and the crew of two people.
* January 28 - The Baltimore Ravens defeat the New York Giants, 34-7, in Super Bowl XXXV.
* January 29 - Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm Parliament and demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign, due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals.
* January 31 - The Scottish Court in the Netherlands convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

February

thumb walks over a disinfectant mat at Sandown racecourse, as foot and mouth hits the UK.]]
* February - Iraq disarmament crisis: British and U.S. forces carry out bombing raids, attempting to disable Iraq's air defense network.
* February 6 - Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon wins election as Prime Minister of Israel.
* February 9 - American submarine USS Greeneville strikes and sinks Japanese fishing vessel Ehime-Maru.
* February 11- The East beat the West 111-110 in the 50th NBA All Stars in Washington, DC.
* February 12 - The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
* February 13 - An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 hits El Salvador, killing at least 400.
* February 16 - Baghdad suburb bombed by US and UK war planes - 3 people killed.
* February 18 - NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt is killed instantly in a crash on the last lap of the Daytona 500 while blocking for his DEI cars driven by his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Michael Waltrip, who won the race.
* February 19 - A Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
* February 20 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.
* February 20 - 2001 UK foot and mouth crisis begins.
* February 24-27 - Patient Tony Collins spends 77 hours and 30 minutes on a hospital trolley outside the toilets in the Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon, United Kingdom.
* February 28 - An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 hits the Nisqually Valley area of Washington. There was one reported death, an elderly woman who suffered a heart attack.
* February 28 - The Selby rail crash near Selby, North Yorkshire, England, kills ten people.

March

* March 3 - The 23rd Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is held in Australia.
* March 4 - Hintze Ribeiro disaster, a bridge collapses in northern Portugal, killing up to 70 people.
* March 23 - The Russian space station Mir re-enters the atmosphere near Nadi, Fiji, and falls into the Pacific Ocean.
* March 24 - Apple Computer's Mac OS X v10.0 is released.
* March 26 - World Championship Wrestling is bought out by the World Wrestling Federation.
thumb on March 23, 2001.]]

April

* April 1 - An EP-3E U.S.-China Spy Plane Incident: An American spyplane collides with a Chinese fighter jet and is forced to make an emergency landing in Hainan, China. The U.S. crew was detained for 10 days and the F-8 Chinese pilot, Wang Wei, went missing and was presumed dead.
* April 1 - Former president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on charges of war crimes.
* April 1 - In the Netherlands, the Act on the Opening up of Marriage goes into effect. The Act allows same-sex couples to legally marry for the first time in the world since the reign of Nero.
* April 26 - Junichiro Koizumi becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
* April 27 - Impostor Christopher Rocancourt arrested in Oak Bay, British Columbia
* April 29 - Census of population in the United Kingdom.
* April 30 - Blanche Barton, High Priestess of the Church of Satan, steps down and gives her position to Peter H. Gilmore and Peggy Nadramia.

May

* May 1 - The Japanese cities of Urawa, Omiya, and Yono merge to form the city of Saitama.
* May 1 - Police declare the disappearance of Chandra Levy. Her remains were discovered a year later.
* May 7 - In Banja Luka, the second largest city in Bosnia, an attempt is made to reconstruct the Ferhadija mosque. However, the ceremony results in mass riots by Serb nationalists that beat and stone three hundred elderly Bosnian Muslims.
* May 10 - In Ghana, a stampede at a soccer game kills over 120.
* May 11 - Comedy sci-fi author Douglas Adams of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame, dies from a heart attack, aged 49.
left
* May 16 - John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister of United Kingdom, assaults Craig Evans at an election rally in Rhyll, North Wales.
* May 22 - Large trans-Neptunian object 28978 Ixion found during the Deep Ecliptic Survey.
* May 22 and May 23 - Official Opening of the Bahá'í Terraces on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel; site of the Shrine of the Báb and the Bahá'í World Centre.
* May 23 - Bayern München wins the UEFA Champions League.
* May 24 - Sherpa Temba Tsheri, 15, becomes the youngest person to conquer Mount Everest.

June

thumb
* 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. He dies June 4. King Gyanendra acceeds to the throne.
* June 1 - An Hamas suicide bomber kills 21, mostly teenagers, in the Dolphinarium disco in Tel Aviv, Israel.
* June 5-June 9 - Houston, Texas is devastated by flooding when Tropical Storm Allison produces 36 inches (900 mm) of rain. Particularly hard hit are the downtown area and the Texas Medical Center, which lost years of research and data and thousands of lab animals. Twenty-two people die; damage exceeds five billion American dollars.
* June 5 - 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.
* June 7 - Tony Blair's Labour Party elected for second term in UK General Election.
* June 8 - Popular editorial site suck.com, one of the first original content sites on the Internet, publishes its final article, "Gone Fishin'."
* June 9 - The Colorado Avalanche win their second Stanley Cup Championship 3-1 in Game 7 over the New Jersey Devils at the Pepsi Center in Denver. This series was highly anticipated as longtime Boston Bruins star traded to become a Colorado defenseman Ray Bourque wins the Stanley Cup for the first time in his illustrious 22 year NHL career, a few days after the team's victory, Bourque announces his retirement.
* June 11 - The United States executes Timothy James McVeigh for the Oklahoma City Bombing.
* June 15- The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 4-1 to win their second straight NBA Title. They also finish with the best overall record in playoff history 15-1.
* June 19 - Twenty-three people are killed and 11 wounded by an American missile hitting a soccer field in northern Iraq, Tel Afr County.
* June 20 - Pervez Musharraf becomes President of Pakistan after the resignation of Rafiq Tarar.
* June 20 - Andrea Yates drowns her children in a bathtub and confesses to her crime. She would get life in prison for it.
* June 21 - Total solar eclipse

July

thumb, Italy.]]
* July 1 - Alliant International University is formed by the merging of United States International University and California School of Professional Psychology.
* July 2 - World's first self-contained artificial heart implanted in Robert Tools.
* July 3 - A Vladivostokavia Tupolev Tu-154 jetliner crashes on approach to landing at Irkutsk, Russia killing 145.
* July 16 - The People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation sign the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation.
* July 16 - The FBI arrests Dmitry Sklyarov at a convention in Las Vegas for violating a provision of the DMCA.
* July 18 - In Baltimore, Maryland, a 60-car train derailment occurs in a tunnel, sparking a fire that will last days and virtually shut down downtown Baltimore.
* July 19 - UK politician and novelist Jeffrey Archer, sentenced to four years in prison for perjury and perverting the course of justice.
* July 20 - Vanessa Legget is found in contempt by a Federal Court for refusing to release notes made for her book on the Doris Angleton murder.
* July 20-22 - The 27th G8 summit takes place in Genoa, Italy. Massive demonstrations against the meeting by anti-globalisation groups. One demonstrator, Carlo Giuliani, is shot dead by a carabiniere and several others are badly injured during an attack by the police on a school which the protesters were using as their headquarters.
* July 24 - Tamil Tigers attack Bandaranaika International Airport in Sri Lanka, causing estimated $500 million of damages.
* July 28 - Alejandro Toledo is sworn as the new president of Peru, eight months after the vote of no-confidence of former President Alberto Fujimori.

August

* August 1 - Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has a 2 1/2 ton monument of the Ten Commandments surreptitiously installed in the Rotunda of the Judiciary Building. He would later be sued to have it removed. Later, he would be removed from office.
* August 2 - Robert Mueller is confirmed as the new FBI director.
* August 5 - The Cleveland Indians defeat the Seattle Mariners 15-14 in a record-setting game known as the Impossible Return.
* August 6 - George W. Bush is informed in his President's Daily Brief that Osama bin Laden is determined to strike targets within the United States, and that the FBI believed activity consistent with preparations for hijacking US airplanes was underway.
* August 9 - US President George W. Bush announces his support for federal funding of limited research on embryonic stem cells.
* August 9 - 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.
* August 10 - The Hudson River Way is opened to traffic.
*August 25 - A Cessna 402 aircraft carrying 9 people, including R&B singer Aaliyah, crashes in the Bahamas, killing all 9 people aboard.

September

right
* September 1 - Foundation of the Free State Project.
* September 4 - Google is awarded a patent, number 6,285,999, for the PageRank search algorithm used in the Google search engine.
* September 5 - Peru's attorney general files homicide charges against ex-President Alberto Fujimori.
* September 5 - Young Left formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
* September 6 - United States v. Microsoft: The United States Justice Department announces that it was no longer seeking to break-up software maker Microsoft, and will instead seek a lesser antitrust penalty.
* September 9 - Suicide bomber wounds Ahmed Shah Massoud, military commander of Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. He dies September 14.
* September 10 - Norwegian parliamentary election, 2001
* September 10 - U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld holds a press conference to disclose that over $2,000,000,000,000 in Pentagon funds cannot be accounted for. Rumsfeld states: "According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions."
left is hit by American Airlines Flight 77 on September 11.]]
* September 11 - Almost 3,000 are killed in the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
* September 17 - The New York Stock Exchange reopens following the terrorist attacks in New York.
* 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.

October

* October 2 - Bankruptcy of Swissair.
* October 4 - First case of anthrax in the US (attack) is announced by federal officials.
* October 4 - Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 crashes over the Black Sea en route from Tel Aviv Israel to Novosibirsk Russia - 78 dead.
*October 5 - Tom Ridge resigns as Governor of Pennsylvania to become the first director of the newly created United States Office of Homeland Security.
* October 7 - The United States invades Afghanistan, with some participation from the United Kingdom.
* October 8 - MD-87 of SAS collides first with a private plane and then a building in Milano Airport - 100 dead.
* October 8 - The first comic of Tsunami Channel goes online. It would later go on to be the #1 comic of Keenspace (in terms of page views) until moving to its own server.
* October 9 - The 2001 anthrax attacks continue as anthrax letters are mailed from Princeton, New Jersey, to Senators Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
* October 10 - War on Terrorism: US President George W. Bush presents a list of 22 most wanted terrorists.
* October 12 - War on Terrorism: Prompted by a request by US President George W. Bush, an episode of America's Most Wanted aired featuring the 22 most wanted terrorists.

* October 15 - NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io.
*October 19 - SIEV-X sinks en route to Christmas Island.
* 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.
* October 23 - Apple Computer releases the iPod.
* October 23 - Principal Financial Group files its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.
* October 25 - Microsoft releases Windows XP.

November

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* November - The Doha Declaration relaxes the grip of international intellectual property law by a bit.
* November 4 - Hurricane Michelle hits Cuba, destroying crops and thousands of homes.
* November 4 - The Police Service of Northern Ireland is established, replacing the discredited Royal Ulster Constabulary.
* November 4- The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the 3 time defending World Series Champions New York Yankees in 7 games to win their first ever World Series Championship.
* November 7 - Bankruptcy of Belgium's SABENA Airlines.
* November 7 - The super-sonic commercial aircraft Concorde resumes flying after a 15-month break.
* November 10 - The People's Republic of China is admitted to the World Trade Organization after 15 years of negotiations.
* November 10 - John Howard, prime minister of Australia, is elected to a third term.
* November 11 - Mark McGwire announces his retirement from professional baseball.
* November 12 - In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587 crashes minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on-board
* November 12 - 2001 Attack on Afghanistan: Taliban forces abandon Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, ahead of advancing Northern Alliance troops (Northern Alliance fighters took Kabul on November 14)
* November 13 - Doha Round: The World Trade Organization ends a four-day ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar.
* November 13 - Symbionese Liberation Army member Kathleen Soliah (Sara Jane Olsen) withdraws her previous guilty plea.
* November 13 - War on Terrorism: In the first such act since World War II, US 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.
* November 15 Halo: Combat Evolved, a popular video game by Bungie Studios which is owned by Microsoft, was released on this date
* November 22 - Pope John Paul II sends the first papal email from a laptop in his office.
* November 22 - JPop artist Kumi Koda makes her debut with the single "Take Back" in America.

December

* December 2 - Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection five days after Dynegy canceled a US$8.4 billion buyout bid. At the time this was the largest bankruptcy in the history of the United States.
* December 3 - Officials announce that one of the Taliban prisoners captured after the prison uprising at Mazar-e Sharif is John Walker Lindh, an American citizen.
* December 4 - Lisa Beamer, wife of Todd Beamer, through the Todd M. Beamer Foundation, registers http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=76317480 the trademark "Let's Roll" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office less than three months after his death in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
* December 11 - The United States government indicts Zacarias Moussaoui for involvement in the attacks on September 11th.
* December 13 - The Indian Parliament is attacked by terrorists, killing 14 people. This brings India and Pakistan to the brink of war.
* December 13 - U.S. President George W. Bush announces the United States' withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
* December 14 - Annular solar eclipse.
* December 19 - A new world-record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) was recorded in Tosontsengel, Hövsgöl Province, Mongolia.

* December 19 - Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released into theaters.
* December 21 - Japanese television performer Masashi Tashiro got No. 1 temporarily in the Internet vote of Time's Person of the Year.
* December 22 - Hamid Karzai is sworn in as head of the interim government in Afghanistan.
* December 22 - A Paris-Miami flight is diverted to Boston after passenger Richard Reid attempts to set his shoe, filled with explosives, on fire.
* December 27 - The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade status with the United States.
* December 27 - Typhoon 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 - Amol Waishampayan celebrates his birthday.
* December 31 - Microsoft ends support for Windows 1.0, Windows 2.x, Windows 3.x and Windows 95

Births

* December 1 - Aiko, Princess Toshi of Japan

Deaths

For more deaths see: Deaths in 2001

January-February

*January 1 - Ray Walston, American actor (b. 1914)
*January 2 - Teri Diver, American actress (b. 1971)
*January 3 - José Greco, Italian-born flamenco dancer (b. 1918)
*January 5 - Nancy Parsons, American actress (b. 1942)
*January 9 - Maurice Prather, American motion picture and still photographer (b. 1926)
*January 12 - William Hewlett, American businessman (b. 1913)
*January 27 - Marie-José of Belgium, Last Queen of Italy (b. 1906)
*January 28 - Curt Blefary, baseball player (b. 1943)
*January 30, Jean-Pierre Aumont, French actor (b. 1911)
*January 30 - Johnnie Johnson, English pilot (b. 1915)
*January 31, Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian writer (b. 1923)
*February 4 - Iannis Xenakis, Greek composer (b. 1922)
*February 6 - Filemon Lagman, Filipino Communist revolutionary (b. 1953)
*February 7 - Dale Evans, American actress and singer (b. 1912)
*February 7 - Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and aviator (b. 1906)
*February 9 - Herbert Simon, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
*February 12 - Kristina Söderbaum, German actress and photographer (b. 1912)
*February 16 - Bob Buhl, baseball player (b. 1928)
*February 18 - Balthus, French painter (b. 1908)
*February 18 - Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (b. 1951)
*February 18 - Eddie Mathews, Baseball player (b. 1931)
*February 19 - Priscilla Davis, American socialite (b. 1942)
*February 19 - Stanley Kramer, American film director (b. 1913)
*February 19 - Charles Trenet, French singer (b. 1913)
*February 24 - Claude Elwood Shannon, American mathematician (b. 1916)
*February 25 - Sir Donald Bradman, Australian cricketer (b. 1908)
*February 26 - Stan Cullis, English footballer and manager (b. 1915)

March-April

*March 3 - A. Maitland Emmet, British entomologist (b. 1908)
*March 4 - Harold Stassen, American politician (b. 1907)
*March 4 - Fred Lasswell, American cartoonist (b. 1916)
*March 4 - Glenn Hughes, American singer (b. 1950)
*March 12 - Morton Downey Jr., American television personality (b. 1933)
*March 12 - Robert Ludlum, American author (b. 1927)
*March 12 - Ann Sothern, American actress (b. 1909)
*March 18 - John Phillips, American singer (b. 1935)
*March 21 - Norma Macmillan, Canadian voice actress (b. 1921)
*March 22 - William Hanna, American animation studio executive (b. 1910)
*March 23 - Sully Boyar, American actor (b. 1923)
*March 28 - Vulo Radev, Bulgarian film director (b. 1923)
*March 31 - Clifford Shull, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
*March 31 - David Rocastle, English fotballer (b. 1967)
*April 7 - David Graf, American actor (b. 1950)
*April 7 - Beatrice Straight, American actress (b. 1914)
*April 10 - Willie Stargell, baseball player (b. 1940)
*April 11 - Harry Secombe, Welsh entertainer (b. 1921)
*April 12 - Harvey Ball, American designer (b. 1921)
*April 14 - Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director (b. 1927)
*April 15 - Joey Ramone, American musician and singer (The Ramones) (b. 1951)
*April 20 - Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1946)
*April 20 - Bert Sutcliffe, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1923)

May-June

*May 2 - Ted Rogers, British comedian (b. 1935)
*May 2 - Gina Mastrogiacomo, American actress (b. 1961)
*May 5 - Clifton Hillegass, American author and creator of Cliff Notes (b. 1918)
*May 9 - James E. Myers, American songwriter (b. 1919)
*May 11 - Douglas Adams, English author (heart attack) (b. 1952)
*May 12 - Perry Como, American singer (b. 1912)
*May 13 - R.K. Narayan, Indian novelist (b. 1906)
*May 20 - Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer (b. 1920)
*May 27 - Ramon Bieri, American actor (b. 1929)
*May 28 - Francisco Varela, Chilean biologist and philosopher (b. 1946)
*June 1 - Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
*June 1 - Queen Aiswarya of Nepal (assassinated (b. 1949)
*June 1 - King Birendra of Nepal (assassinated) (b. 1945)
*June 2 - Imogene Coca, American actress (b. 1908)
*June 2 - Joey Maxim, American boxer (b. 1922)
*June 3 - Anthony Quinn, Mexican actor (b. 1915)
*June 4 - Prince Dipendra of Nepal (b. 1971)
*June 4 - John Hartford, American musician and composer (b. 1937)
*June 10 - Princess Leila of Iran (b. 1970)
*June 11 - Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (executed) (b. 1968)
*June 17 - Donald J. Cram, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
*June 21 - John Lee Hooker, American musician (b. 1917)
*June 21 - Carroll O'Connor, American actor (b. 1924)
*June 26 - Peter von Zahn, German journalist (b. 1913)
*June 27 - Tove Jansson, Finnish author (b. 1914)
*June 27 - Jack Lemmon, American actor and director (b. 1925)
*June 28 - Mortimer Adler, American philosopher (b. 1902)
*June 28 - Joan Sims, British actress (b. 1930)
*June 30 - Chet Atkins, American musician (b. 1924)

July-August

*July 1 - Nikolay Basov, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1922)
*July 5 - Hannelore Kohl, wife of chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl (suicide) (b. 1933)
*July 7 - Fred Neil, American singer-songwriter (b. 1936)
*July 11 - Herman Brood, Dutch musician and painter (suicide) (b. 1946)
*July 18 - Fabio Taglioni, Italian automotive engineer (b. 1920)
*July 20 - Milt Gabler, American record producer (b. 1911)
*July 27 - Leon Wilkeson, American musician (b. 1952)
*July 29 - Edward Gierek, Polish politician (b. 1913)
*July 29 - Wau Holland, German hacker (b. 1951)
*August 1 - Poul Anderson, American author (b. 1926)
*August 1 - Korey Stringer, American football player (b. 1974)
*August 3 - Christopher Hewett, British actor (b. 1922)
*August 6 - Jorge Amado, Brazilian writer (b. 1912)
*August 15 - Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete (b. 1972)
*August 19 - Les Sealey, English footballer (b. 1957)
*August 20 - Fred Hoyle, British astronomer and science fiction writer (b. 1915)
*August 25 - Aaliyah, American singer and actress (plane crash) (b. 1979)

September-October

*September 2 - Christiaan Barnard, South African heart surgeon (b. 1922)
*September 3 - Pauline Kael, American film critic (b. 1919)
*September 3 - Thuy Trang, Vietnamese-born actress (b. 1973)
*September 7 - Spede Pasanen, Finnish television personality (b. 1930)
*September 9 - Ahmed Shah Massoud, Afghani military commander (b. 1953)
*September 11 - Casualties of the September 11, 2001 attacks - almost 3,000 people, including:
**David Angell, American television producer (b. 1946)
**Berry Berenson, American actress and photographer (b. 1948)
**Barbara Olson, American television commentator (b. 1955)
*September 12 - Victor Wong, American actor (b. 1927)
*September 22 - Isaac Stern, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1920)
*October 7 - Chris Adams, American judoka and professional wrestler (murdered) (b. 1955)
*October 12 - Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone, British lawyer and politician (b. 1907)
*October 15 - Zhang Xueliang, Chinese military figure (b. 1901)
*October 26 - Josh Kirby, British artist (b. 1928)
*October 26 - Charlie van Gelderen, South African politician (b. 1913)

November-December

* November 5 - Roy Boulting, English film director and producer (b. 1913)
* November 7 - Nida Blanca, prolific Philippine actress (b. 1936)
* November 10 - Ken Kesey, American author (b. 1935)
* November 12 - Tony Miles, English chess player (b. 1955)
* November 17 - Michael Karoli, German guitarist (Can) (b. 1948)
* November 21 - Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Al-Haj, King of Malaysia (b. 1926)
* November 24 - Melanie Thornton, American-born singer (b. 1967)
* November 28 - William Kienzle, American author (b. 1928)
* November 29 - George Harrison, English musician (The Beatles) (b. 1943)
* November 29 - John Knowles, American author (b. 1926)
* December 5 - Sir Peter Blake, New Zealand sailor and environmentalist (shot) (b. 1948)
* December 5 - Franco Rasetti, Italian physicist (b. 1901)
* December 8 - Don Tennant, American advertising executive (b. 1922)
* December 13 - Chuck Schuldiner, American guitarist (b. 1967)
* December 15 - Rufus Thomas, American singer (b. 1917)
* December 15 - Russ Haas, American Professional Wrestler (b. 1974)
* December 20 - Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (b. 1912)
* December 26 - Nigel Hawthorne, British actor (b. 1929)
* December 30 - Eileen Heckart, American actress (b. 1919)

Date unknown

* Norma Phillips Thornworth, president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving
* Steve Broadie, voice actor in Sonic Adventure, Sonic Shuffle and Sonic Adventure 2

Nobel prizes

* Physics - Eric Allin Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle, Carl Edwin Wieman
* Chemistry - William S. Knowles, Ryoji Noyori, K. Barry Sharpless
* Medicine - Leland H. Hartwell, R. Timothy Hunt, Paul M. Nurse
* Literature - V.S. Naipaul
* Peace - United Nations, Kofi Annan
* Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel - George A. Akerlof, Michael Spence, Joseph E. Stiglitz

Templeton Prize

* Rev. Canon Dr. Arthur Peacocke

Fictional references to the year

*Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick set the 1968 book and film 2001: A Space Odyssey in this year, the first year of the 21st century.

*In the Japanese anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, the main characters Shinji Ikari, Asuka Langley Soryu,Toji Suzuhara and most of their classmates are born.

* Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear takes place in 2001. Much of the eastern world is at war and terrorism is on the rise.

* In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the murder that led to the DL-6 case happened on December 28.