2001

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 was unable to extradite Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden within 24 hours. Other international conflicts in 2001 were the standoff between India and Pakistan as well as the Second Intifada between Israel and Palestine. Internal conflicts began in Macedonia, in the Central African Republic, and in Guinea. Political challenges or violent conflicts caused changes in leadership in Argentina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Nepal, and the Philippines.

2001 was the second hottest year on record at the time, which was amplified by the end of a years-long La Niña. The Atlantic and Pacific tropical storm seasons were both more active than usual. The deadly Bhuj Earthquake took place in Gujarat on January 26, while the strongest earthquake in 36 years took place in Peru on June 23. A potential health crisis occurred when a major outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease spread among British livestock, bringing about the deaths of millions of animals. Four hominid species were described or proposed, and several major archaeological finds took place, including a set of terracotta citizens near the Terracotta Army. The pygmy three-toed sloth was also first described in 2001. The year had the fewest successful orbital spaceflights since 1963, with eight crewed missions. Successes in space exploration included the landing of NEAR Shoemaker on an asteroid and the arrival of 2001 Mars Odyssey on Mars.

Politics and religion in the final months of 2001 focused intently on the Muslim world and Islamic terrorism after the September 11 attacks. The Catholic Church was active in 2001, as Pope John Paul II went on several goodwill trips to meet with non-Catholic religious groups and investigations of sexual abuse cases among the church's priests began. Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević was arrested and became the first head of state to be charged with crimes against humanity by an international body. The 27th G8 summit took place in Genoa and was met by 200,000 protestors, where one was killed. 2001 took place during a minor recession among developed and developing nations, with only middle income nations avoiding an economic downturn. The recession saw economic crises take place in Argentina and in Turkey. American energy company Enron and the European airlines Sabena and Swissair all ended operations in 2001. Popular culture in 2001 saw the beginnings of the Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings film franchises, the development of the iPod and iTunes for music, and the release of three major video game systems. The year also saw the release of Mac OS X and Windows XP, as well as the launch of Wikipedia.