Back in the Day: 2001

Back in the Day: 2001

Back in the Day: 2001

What was happening when T95 turned 22?

POP CULTURE/SCIENCE:

  • Apple announced iTunes at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, for organizing and playing digital music and videos
  • Wikipedia a free Wiki or content encyclopedia is launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger
  • The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji
  • Mars Odyssey is launched
  • 32-year-old Erik Weihenmayer, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest
  • NASA’s Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter’s moon Io.
  • Apple releases the iPod
  • Windows XP first becomes available
  • Bjork and the Swan dress
  • Microsoft released the XBox

SPORTS:

  • College Football, 3rd BCS National Championship, Pro Player Stadium, Miami Gardens: #1 Oklahoma beats #2 Florida State, 13-2, at 67th Orange Bowl
  • Michael Jordan, then of the Washington Wizards, becomes the 4th player in NBA history to score 30,000 career points; hits a free throw in 2nd quarter of an 89-83 win against his old team, the Chicago Bulls
  • New York Knicks hold an opponent under 100 points for NBA-record 29th straight game in a 76-75 loss to the Houston Rockets; streak snaps 46-year-old NBA record of 28 straight set by the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1954-55
  • Pittsburgh Penguins beat Chicago Blackhawks, 4-0 in first-ever NHL game featuring 2 European trained coaches; Czech Ivan Hlinka behind the bench for Pittsburgh, and Fin Alpo Suhonen, Chicago
  • Super Bowl XXXV, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL: Baltimore Ravens beat New York Giants, 34-7; MVP: Ray Lewis, Baltimore, LB
  • 43rd Daytona 500: Michael Waltrip wins tragic race; last lap crash claims life of Dale Earnhardt, prompting sport to implement new safety procedures
  • 63rd NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Duke beats Arizona, 82-72; Blue Devils’ 3rd title; forward Shane Battier MOP
  • NFL Draft: Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick first pick by Atlanta Falcons
  • Stanley Cup Final, Pepsi Center, Denver, CO: Colorado Avalanche beat defending champion New Jersey Devils, 3-1 for 4-3 series win; Avalanche 2nd title
  • 55th NBA Championship: Los Angeles Lakers beat Philadelphia 76ers, 4 games to 1
  • In his first appearance at Daytona since the death of father Dale Earnhardt Sr., Dale Jr. wins Pepsi 400 coming from 7th with 9 laps remaining to beat teammate Michael Waltrip
  • Facing 4-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux, Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa hits the longest home run in Turner Field history as his 53rd of the season travels 471 feet to straight away center
  • Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa becomes first player in MLB history to total 60 home runs in three seasons; Chicago slugger connects off Reds starter Lance Davis to reach milestone in 5-4 loss
  • Arkansas beats Mississippi, 58-56 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford in 7 overtime periods; the longest game in NCAA football history
  • Arizona beats New York Yankees, 3-2 in Game 7 at Bank One Ballpark, Phoenix for Diamondbacks’ first Baseball World Series; Arizona pitchers Randy Johnson & Curt Schilling co-MVP’s
  • The XFL

MUSIC NEWS/ENTERTAINMENT:

  • Fatboy Slim releases single “Weapon of Choice”, music video directed by Spike Jonze starring Christopher Walken dancing
  • “How You Remind Me” single released by Nickelback
  • Jay-Z releases his album “Blueprint” featuring contributions by Eminem and Kanye West
  • Oct 21 “United We Stand” benefit concert for September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks victims, held at RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. organized and headlined by Michael Jackson and featuring Aerosmith, Mariah Carey and The Backstreet Boys
  • Winona Ryder is arrested for shoplifting
  • Britney Spears performed with the snake at the VMAs
  • Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash at the age of 22

BOX OFFICE:

  • Donnie Darko
  • Shrek
  • The Fast and the Furious
  • A.I. Artificial Intelligence
  • Jurassic Park III
  • The Princess Diaries
  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
  • Oceans Eleven
  • Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
  • A Beautiful Mind
  • Monsters Inc.
  • Glitter (Mariah Carey flop)

TELEVISION: 

HISTORICAL EVENTS:

  • Earthquake measuring magnitude 7.6 strikes El Salvador, killing more than 840 people
  • Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán escapes from Puente Grande maximum-security prison near Guadalajara by bribing prison guards and hiding in a laundry cart
  • An Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial
  • IRA detonates a bomb in front of the BBC Television Centre in London, injuring 11 people
  • During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque
  • 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 caused $5.5 billion in damages, making Allison the costliest tropical storm in U.S. history.
  • Two passenger planes hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists crash into New York’s World Trade Towers causing the collapse of both and deaths of 2,606 people. Terrorists hijack a passenger plane and crash it into the Pentagon causing the deaths of 125 people. Attempt by passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 to retake control of their hijacked plane from terrorists causes plane to crash in Pennsylvania field killing all 64 people on board. Commercial and private flights would be grounded for two days in the U.S.
  • 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”.
  • Oct 7 The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan starts with an air assault and covert operations on the ground
  • U.S. President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security.
  • Bill Clinton served his final days as President of the United States of America, and handed the White House over to George W. Bush
  • The Chandra Levy disappearance

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