20 questions · Current events
Few years have changed the world like 2001. On September 11, hijacked passenger jets were flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon: nearly 3,000 people died, the towers collapsed, and with them a whole sense of security. Weeks later, the war against the Taliban began in Afghanistan, and in December China joined the World Trade Organization, opening a new chapter for the world economy. But 2001 was more than September 11: in January, a website quietly went online that wanted to collect the world's knowledge: Wikipedia. In October, Steve Jobs held up a small white box with a thousand songs in your pocket: the iPod. The space station Mir burned up in a controlled plunge over the Pacific, millionaire Dennis Tito bought himself a trip to space as the first tourist, and in The Hague, Milošević became the first former head of state to face a UN tribunal. In sport, Oliver Kahn saved the Champions League for Bayern Munich before Germany suffered a 5 to 1 humbling by England and in cinemas, two fantasy epics began with Harry Potter and "The Lord of the Rings". Twenty questions about a year of upheaval.
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World Trade Center
Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks overall.
💡 Did you know? A fourth hijacked plane crashed near Shanksville after passengers fought back.
al-Qaeda
Bin Laden was only tracked down and killed in Pakistan in 2011.
💡 Did you know? The name means "the base" in Arabic.
Afghanistan
The mission would last almost 20 years.
💡 Did you know? For the first time ever, NATO invoked its Article 5 mutual defence clause.
Wikipedia
The German edition followed as early as March 2001.
💡 Did you know? "Wiki" is Hawaiian for "quick".
iPod
The iPod turned Apple from a niche PC maker into an entertainment giant.
💡 Did you know? Six years later came the iPhone: the iPod's descendant with a phone.
Windows XP
Microsoft supported XP until 2014, for 13 years.
💡 Did you know? The "Bliss" wallpaper is a real photo taken in California.
Foto: NASA · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Mir
Its debris sank near Point Nemo, the "spacecraft cemetery".
💡 Did you know? "Mir" means both "peace" and "world" in Russian.
Dennis Tito
He flew aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule.
💡 Did you know? NASA was initially firmly opposed to having a tourist on board.
Slobodan Milošević
The trial never concluded: Milošević died in custody in 2006.
💡 Did you know? Serbia extradited him on 28 June: the symbolic St. Vitus Day.
Nepal
Crown Prince Dipendra then turned the gun on himself.
💡 Did you know? Seven years later, Nepal abolished its monarchy altogether.
Enron
Thousands of employees lost their jobs and pensions at once.
💡 Did you know? US accounting rules were drastically tightened as a result.
Anthrax
Letters were sent to media outlets and US senators.
💡 Did you know? Years later, the FBI blamed a US bioweapons researcher.
China
Membership forced Beijing to cut tariffs and open up banking, telecoms and retail to foreign firms.
💡 Did you know? Within less than a decade China had become the world's largest exporter of goods.
Valencia
Four days earlier, Bayern had won the league title in the final second.
💡 Did you know? It was Bayern's first triumph in the competition since 1976.
5-1
Michael Owen scored a hat-trick.
💡 Did you know? Germany still reached the 2002 World Cup and finished runners-up.
Michael Schumacher
That drew him level with Alain Prost: only Fangio’s five titles lay ahead.
💡 Did you know? By 2004, Schumacher had reeled off five titles in a row.
The Fellowship of the Ring
The trilogy was filmed back-to-back in New Zealand.
💡 Did you know? Part three later won eleven Oscars: equalling the record.
Harry Potter
Daniel Radcliffe was just eleven during filming.
💡 Did you know? J.K. Rowling's book series was already a global phenomenon.
Silvio Berlusconi
This time he governed a full term: a record in Italy.
💡 Did you know? Berlusconi also owned AC Milan at the time.
Foto: MHoser · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Engineers removed soil from beneath the tower's north side.
💡 Did you know? Nobody wanted it fully straight: the lean is its trademark.
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