- January 26
- At the Desert Inn casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Cynthia Jay-Brennan wins $34,959,458.56 on a Megabucks slot machine, the world's largest payout. She had entered a total of $27. [565.320]
- January 27
- The US Mint releases a new circulating dollar coin, depicting Sacagawea. [353.7] [464.50] [473.58]
- January 31
- Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashes off the California coast into the Pacific Ocean, killing 88. [21]
- February 11
- A blast from an explosive device in front of a Barclay's Bank across from the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street wounds dozens but kills none. [21]
- February 13
- The final original Peanuts comic strip is published, following the death of its creator, Charles Schulz. [21]
- February 17
- In San Francisco, California, Microsoft unveils the Windows 2000 operating system. 1.5 million copies are sold in the first two months. [4]
- March 6
- Advanced Micro Devices ships the first commercially-available 1 GHz processor. (Intel follows two days later with its own 1 GHz Pentium III processor.) [4]
- March 7
- George W. Bush and Al Gore emerge victorious in the Republican and Democratic caucuses and primaries of the United States presidential election. [21]
- March 9
- The FBI arrests art forgery suspect Ely Sakhai in New York City. [21]
- March 10
- The NASDAQ Composite Index reaches an all-time high of 5048. [21]
- March 16
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rises by 499.19 points (4.93 percent), its second-largest one-day point gain. [227]
- March 19
- U.S. President Bill Clinton arrives in New Delhi, India, for a state visit. [21]
- March 20
- Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown), a former Black Panther, is captured after a gun battle in Atlanta, Georgia, that leaves a sheriff's deputy dead. [21]
- March 21
- The U.S. Supreme Court rules the government lacks authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug, throwing out the Clinton administration's main anti-smoking initiative. [21]
- March 26
- Philip N. Diehl ends term as US Mint Director. [466.92]
- In Seattle, Washington, the Kingdome sports arena is demolished into a mound of rubble over 65 feet high, to make way for a new stadium. [21] [56]
- April 3
- In the US Justice Department versus Microsoft anti-trust case, Judge Thomas Jackson issues his Conclusions of Law, ruling that Microsoft acted illegally to protect its operating system monopoly, and used its monopoly position to attempt to monopolize the market for Web browser software. [4] [5]
- April 7
- Pepco's Chalk Point Generating Station on the Patuxent River in southern Maryland, USA, spills about 420,000 litres of oil. Some 6 1/2 miles of oil containment booms are positioned in the river capturing an estimated 300,000 litres. [522]
- May 2
- Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the U.S. military. [5]
- May 3
- In San Antonio, Texas, computer pioneer Datapoint files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [21]
- June 2
- U. S. President William Jefferson Clinton is awarded the Charlemagne prize of the city of Aachen, Germany. Clinton is the first American president to win the prize which is given for contributions toward the unity of Europe. [37]
- June 7
- In the US Justice Department versus Microsoft anti-trust case, Judge Thomas Jackson orders the breakup of Microsoft into two companies, one producing operating systems, the other producing application programs. (Judge Jackson is later found to be prejudiced, and the break-up order is rescinded.) [4]
- (month unknown)
- Stack's auctions the Dexter-Dunham US 1804 dollar for $1.84 million. [525.78]
- July 6
- A barge and a tug towing it collide off Middletown, Rhode Island, USA, spilling 53,000 litres of oil in Narragansett Bay. [522]
- July 19
- Apple Computer begins shipping the first personal computers with standard dual processors, the Power Mac G4 with dual 450 or 500 MHz processors. [4]
- July 31
- (to August 3) The Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania nominates George W. Bush for U.S. President and Dick Cheney for Vice President. [21]
- August 8
- Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor. [21]
- An unknown ship dumps oil off the South Florida coast, creating an oil slick covering 24km of beaches. [522]
- August 14
- (to August 17) The Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles nominates U.S. Vice President Al Gore for President and Senator Joe Lieberman for Vice President. [21]
- September 6
- The last wholly Swedish-owned arms manufacturer, Bofors, is sold to American arms manufacturer United Defense. [21]
- September 14
- A tugboat puts a 4-foot gash in US Navy ship USS Detroit, spilling 113,000 litres of oil across Sandy Hook Bay, New Jersey, USA. [522]
- Microsoft launches the Windows Millenium Edition (Me) operating system. 400,000 copies of the retail upgrade copy are sold in the first month. [4] [5]
- October 11
- 250 million gallons of coal sludge spill in Martin County, Kentucky, USA. [21]
- October 12
- In Aden, Yemen, the USS Cole is badly damaged by two suicide bombers, who placed a small boat laden with explosives along-side the United States Navy destroyer, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39. [21]
- October 15
- Nintendo releases the Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver video games for the Game Boy Color in the USA. 1.4 million copies sell in the first week. [9]
- October 17
- In Hollywood, Don Rickles receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. [6]
- October 23
- American Secretary of State Madeleine Albright holds talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. [21]
- October 26
- Sony Computer Entertainment introduces the Sony PlayStation 2 in the USA. The system can also play PlayStation games, and supports DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, CD-ROM, and Dolby Digital media. Price is about US$300. Sales during the first week: 681,855. [9]
- November 7
- United States presidential election: Republican candidate Texas Governor George W. Bush defeats Democratic Vice President Al Gore in the closest election in US history, but the final outcome is not known for over a month because of disputed votes in Florida. [21]
- Hillary Rodham Clinton is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first First Lady of the United States to win public office. [21]
- November 16
- Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting U.S. President to visit Vietnam. [21]
- December 6
- Infogrames of France acquires Hasbro Interactive of the USA for US$5 million cash and US$95 million in stock. [4]
- December 13
- The U.S. Supreme Court stops the Florida presidential recount, effectively giving the state, and the Presidency, to George W. Bush. [21]
- US Vice President Al Gore concedes defeat to Texas Governor George W. Bush in the presidential election. [129]
- The Texas 7 escape from their prison unit in Kenedy, Texas, and start a crime spree. [21]
- December 24
- The Texas 7 rob a sports store in Irving, Texas; police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot dead. [21]
- December 28
- U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business, after 128 years. [21]
2001
- January 2
- J.P. Morgan changes its company name to J.P. Morgan Chase. [228]
- January 3
- The 107th United States Congress is sworn in, including incoming freshmen Senators Bill Nelson (Democrat-Florida), Tom Carper (Democrat-Delaware), Debbie Stabenow (Democrat-Michigan), John Ensign (Republican-Nevada), George Allen (Republican-Virginia), Maria Cantwell (Democrat-Washington), Ben Nelson (Democrat-Nebraska), Hillary Clinton (Democrat-New York), Jon Corzine (Democrat-New Jersey), Jean Carnahan (Democrat-Missouri), and Mark Dayton (Democrat-Minnesota). [22]
- January 11
- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approves the merger of America Online and Time Warner to form AOL Time Warner. [5] [22]
- January 12
- Downtown Disney opens, in the Disneyland Resort, between Disneyland and the site of Disney's California Adventure. The 300,000 square foot site features restaurants, nightclubs, shops, and movie theaters. [6]
- January 13
- The TV series Disney's House of Mouse premieres, part of Disney's One Saturday Morning. [6]
- January 16
- US President Bill Clinton awards former US President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service during the Spanish-American War. Eleven of Roosevelt's descendants accept the honor on his behalf. [22]
- January 20
- George W. Bush is sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States. [22] [129]
- 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 two-person crew. [22]
- February 8
- In Anaheim, California, Disney's California Adventure theme park opens, next to Disneyland. The 55-acre site includes three areas: Paradise Pier, Hollywood Pictures Backlot, and the Golden State. The theme park cost US$1.4 billion to build. Admission prices are US$43 for adults, and US$33 for children. [6]
- February 9
- The submarine USS Greeneville strikes and sinks the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime-Maru near Hawaii. [22]
- February 11
- Three Rivers Stadium, 30-year-old home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, is imploded. [22] [56]
- February 16
- British and U.S. forces carry out bombing raids, attempting to disable Iraq's air defense network. Three people are killed in a suburban area of Baghdad. [22]
- February 18
- NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt is killed instantly in a crash on the last lap of the Daytona 500 while his DEI cars driven by his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Michael Waltrip, finish second and first, respectively. [22]
- FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years. [22]
- February 19
- An Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial. [22]
- February 28
- In Washington state, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake occurs. About 400 people injured and major damage in the Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia area. Damage estimate between US$1 and 4 billion. [22] [53]
- March 9
- At an auction in Salt Lake City, Utah, Superior Galleries sells a US 1913 Liberty Head 5-cent coin to Dwight Manley for US$1.84 million. [548.18]
- March 12
- The US Mint releases the North Carolina quarter dollar to circulation. [482.38]
- April 7
- Timothy Thomas, a 19-year-old African-American, is shot by a police officer in Cincinnati, Ohio, sparking riots in downtown Cincinnati from April 10 to April 12. [22]
- April 28
- Soyuz TM-32 lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the first space tourist, American Dennis Tito. [22]
- May 21
- The US Mint releases the 2001 Rhode Island quarter dollar to circulation. [495.36]
- June 5
- (to 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 loses years of research and data and thousands of lab animals. Twenty-two people die; damage exceeds US$5 billion. [22]
- U.S. 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. [22]
- June 11
- Nintendo launches the Game Boy Advance portable game system in the USA. [9]
- (month unknown)
- Superior sells at auction a US 1913 Liberty Head 5-cent coin graded Proof 66 for $1.84 million. [525.78]
- July 10
- Sony CEA releases the Gran Turismo 3: A-spec game for the PlayStation 2 in the USA. Over one million copies are shipped in the first week. [9]
- 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 26
- US Senate confirms Henrietta Holsman Fore as US Mint director. [514.38]
- August 1
- Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has a 2.5-ton monument of the Ten Commandments (dubbed by both detractors and the media as 'Roy's Rock') surreptitiously installed in the Rotunda of the Judiciary Building. (Moore is later sued to have it removed, and eventually removed from office.) [22]
- August 2
- Robert Mueller is confirmed as the new FBI director. [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]
- August 9
- U.S. President George W. Bush announces his support for federal funding of limited research on embryonic stem cells. [22]
- August 16
- Rosario Marin begins term as 41st Treasurer of the US. [548.98]
- August 27
- Intel releases the 2-GHz Pentium 4 processor. [4]
- September 4
- Hewlett-Packard announces it will acquire Compaq Computer in a stock swap worth about US$25 billion. [4]
- 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 10
- 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 13
- Due the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Major League Baseball postpones all games through September 17. [56]
- September 14
- US President George W Bush stands with firefighters and rescue workers at Ground Zero in New York. [46.356]
- 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]
- 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]
- 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]
- October 5
- Tom Ridge resigns as Governor of Pennsylvania to become the first director of the newly created United States Office of Homeland Security. [22]
- October 7
- The United States armed forces invade Afghanistan, with participation from the United Kingdom. [22]
- October 8
- Tom Ridge is sworn in as first Office of Homeland Security advisor. [5] [450.72]
- 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 12
- Prompted by a request from U.S. President George W. Bush, an episode of America's Most Wanted features the 22 most wanted terrorists. [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
- The USA PATRIOT Act becomes law. [22]
- 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
- 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]
- Disney generally releases the Walt Disney Pictures / Pixar Animation Studios animated feature film Monsters, Inc. to theatres in the USA. North American theater receipts: US$255.5 million. [6]
- 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]
- November 13
- 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]
- 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
- U.S. President George W. Bush announces the United States' withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. [22]
- December 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]
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