- 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
- In El Salvador, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurs, felt from Mexico City to Colombia. At least 844 people killed, 4,723 injured, 108,226 houses destroyed and more than 150,000 buildings damaged in El Salvador. [22] [53]
- January 14
- A Greece-registered ship carrying 60,000 tonnes of iron ore runs aground off the Kenting National Park, Taiwan, leaking 1.3 million litres of fuel oil. [522]
- January 15
- In Brevik, Norway, Norcem's oil storage facility leaks 870,000 litres of crude oil; much of the spill is recovered from the containment area and from the sea. [522]
- Wikipedia, a Wiki free content encyclopedia, goes online. [5] [22]
- The first case of BSE (Mad Cow Disease) in Italy is discovered. [313.274]
- 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 17
- Impeachment proceedings against Philippine President Joseph Estrada end prematurely after the second envelope, which allegedly holds proof that the accused has committed plunder, remains unopened by majority vote of the senator-judges. Those senators who voted for the opening of the envelope walk 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. [22]
- January 18
- The British digital television channel e4 is launched. [5]
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- January 20
- Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is 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. [22]
- George W. Bush is sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States. [22] [129]
- January 24
- Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Mandelson resigns from the British cabinet for the second time. [22]
- January 25
- A 50-year-old Douglas DC-3 crashes near Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, killing 24. [22]
- January 26
- In India, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake occurs. At least 20,085 people killed, 166,836 injured, approximately 339,000 buildings destroyed and 783,000 damaged in the Bhuj-Ahmadabad-Rajkot area and other parts of Gujarat. Felt throughout northern India, much of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and western Nepal. [22] [53]
- January 31
- The Scottish Court in the Netherlands convicts one Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. [22]
- February 6
- Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon wins election as Prime Minister of Israel. [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 12
- The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid. [5] [22]
- February 13
- In El Salvador, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake occurs, felt also in Guatemala and Honduras. At least 315 people killed, 3,399 injured and extensive damage. Landslides occurred in many areas of El Salvador. [22] [53]
- 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]
- The Honduras-registered Steadfast oil tanker runs aground in rough seas off Indonesia's Java island, then partially sinks in shallow waters, leaking about 373,000 litres of sump oil. [522]
- February 18
- 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
- The Selby rail crash near Selby, North Yorkshire, England, kills ten people. [22]
- 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 4
- Hintze Ribeiro disaster: A bridge collapses in northern Portugal, killing up to 70 people. [22]
- 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 20
- The world's largest offshore platform, owned by Brazil's Petrobras, sinks 1 mile down to the ocean floor, spilling up to 1.2 million litres of diesel fuel. [522]
- March 21
- In Japan, Nintendo releases the Game Boy Advance handheld video game system. It features 32-bit ARM processor, and 240 x 160 pixel 32,000-color display. A Link Cable allows four players to play together on certain games. Size is 3.25 x 5.6 inches; weight is 140 grams. Two AA batteries power the system for about 15 hours. Price is 9800 yen. 611,504 units sell in the first week. [9]
- March 23
- The Russian space station Mir re-enters the atmosphere near Nadi, Fiji, and falls into the Pacific Ocean. [22]
- March 24
- Apple Computer begins selling the Mac OS X 10.0 operating system, for US$129. [4]
- March 25
- An oil tanker collides with a freighter between eastern Denmark and northwest Germany, spilling 2.9 million litres of oil, creating a slick about 15km long, largest ever in Denmark. [522]
- April 1
- A Chinese fighter jet bumps into a U.S. EP-3E surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea. The Chinese plane breaks apart and the pilot dies. The damaged American plane with 24 crew is forced to make an emergency landing on a military runway on Hainan island, China. (The U.S. crew is detained and released eleven days later.) [22] [1412.36]
- Former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President Slobodan MiloÜevic surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on charges of war crimes. [22] [129]
- 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. [22]
- April 6
- Former czar of Bulgaria Simeon II returns to Bulgaria to take office as prime minister. [626.218]
- 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 16
- Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge opens at Walt Disney World. [6]
- April 26
- Junichiro Koizumi becomes Prime Minister of Japan. [22]
- April 28
- Soyuz TM-32 lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the first space tourist, American Dennis Tito. [22]
- Sony CEI releases the Gran Turismo 3 A-spec video game for the PlayStation 2 in Japan. One million copies sell in two days. [9]
- April 29
- The United Kingdom Census is conducted. [22]
- April 30
- Blanche Barton, High Priestess of the Church of Satan, steps down and gives her position to Peter H. Gilmore and Peggy Nadramia. [22]
- May 1
- The Japanese cities of Urawa, Omiya, and Yono merge to form the city of Saitama. [22]
- May 6
- Space tourist Dennis Tito returns to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-31. Soyuz TM-32 is left docked at the International Space Station as a new lifeboat. [22]
- May 7
- In Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina, an attempt is made to reconstruct the Ferhadija mosque. However, the ceremony results in mass riots by Serb nationalists that beat and stone 300 elderly Bosnian Muslims. [22]
- May 10
- A soccer game stampede in Ghana kills over 120. [22]
- May 13
- Silvio Berlusconi and the Italian House of the Liberties coalition win general elections. [22]
- May 16
- In Germany, Cardinal Karl Lehmann is honored on his 65th birthday for his contributions to cooperation between the Church, society and the state. [37]
- May 22
- A large trans-Neptunian object (28978 Ixion) is found during the Deep Ecliptic Survey. [22]
- (to May 23) The Bahá'í Terraces officially open on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel (site of the Shrine of the Báb and the Bahá'í World Centre). [22]
- May 24
- Brazil's Petrobras shuts down 12 oil rigs after detecting two oil slicks on the ocean surface, the larger one approximately 110,000 litres. [522]
- May 25
- Sherman Bull and Erik Weihenmayer reach summit of Mount Everest, respectively becoming the oldest and first blind person to do so. [5] [22]
- An oil tanker runs aground in a southern Chilean fjord, spilling about 350,000 litres of crude oil, creating an oil slick 112km long. [522]
- May 28
- A super tanker collides with the MT Singapura Timur oil tanker off Pulau Undan, near Malacca, Malaysia, causing it to sink and remain half-submerged in the sea, leaking diesel oil and bitumen. [522]
- May 30
- A break in Petrobras' Paulinia oil pipeline dumps 220,000 litres of fuel oil in a residential neighborhood 30km from Sao Paulo, in Brazil. [522]
- South Korean freighter Dayong collides with the a Hong Kong vessel in dense fog at the mouth of the Yangtze River, near Jigujiao, China, spilling about 815,000 litres of toxic styrene. [522]
- June 1
- Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal kills his father (King Birendra), his mother (Queen Aiswarya), and other members of the royal family with an assault rifle and then shoots himself, dying June 4. [22] [1113.49]
- A Hamas suicide bomber kills 21, mostly teenagers, in the Dolphinarium disco in Tel Aviv, Israel. [22]
- June 4
- Death of King Dipendra of Nepal from a coma from a self-inflicted gunshot wound June 1. [22] [1113.49]
- 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]
- June 7
- Tony Blair's Labour Party wins the United Kingdom general election. [22]
- In Germany, Jürgen Habermas recieves the Peace Prize of the German Book Dealers Association. [37]
- June 8
- Mamoru Takuma murders eight first and second grade students and wounds 15 others in Osaka, Japan. [22]
- In Germany, Roman Herzog is awarded the "Staatsbürgerpreis". [37]
- June 11
- In Terre Haute, Indiana, Timothy McVeigh is executed for the Oklahoma City Bombing. [5] [22]
- June 13
- The Indonesian tanker MV Endah Lestari capsizes off Malaysia's southern Johor state, just across from Singapore, releasing a 699,000-litre cargo of toxic, water-soluable phenol, and 21,000 litres of diesel oil. [522]
- June 16
- The Lord Mayor of Berlin, Ebehard Diepgen (CDU), is removed from office by a vote of no confidence. The new Lord Mayor is Klaus Wowereit (SPD). [37]
- June 19
- An American missile hits a soccer field in northern Iraq (Tel Afr County), killing 23 and wounding 11. [22]
- June 20
- Pervez Musharraf becomes President of Pakistan after the resignation of Muhammad Rafiq Tarar. [22]
- In Germany Heinz Josef Algermissen is named the bishop of Fulda. [37]
- June 23
- A mild earthquake (4.0 on the Richter scale) is felt in Aachen, Germany. Six people are injured and there is moderate damage to nearly 100 homes. [37]
- Near the coast of Peru, a magnitude 8.4 earthquake occurs. At least 75 people killed, 2,687 injured, 17,510 homes destroyed and 35,549 homes damaged in the Arequipa-Camana-Tacna area. A resulting tsunami measured as high as 7 metres, reaching inland 1 kilometre. [22] [53]
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