Dashed left edge = started before September 2001 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond September 2001
Events in September 2001 29
1916 – 2001Dorothy McGuire (1916-2001)American actress, star of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Disney family films.
1919 – 2001Pauline Kael (1919-2001)Died 3 September 2001, aged 82Kael was the film critic of The New Yorker for more than two decades, whose vivid, combative reviews made her among the most influential American critics of the century. She championed directors such as Altman and Scorsese and dismissed many acknowledged classics. Her collections included the pointedly titled I Lost It at the Movies.
1920 – 2001Isaac Stern (1920-2001)Died 22 September 2001, aged 81Stern was one of the leading violinists of the twentieth century and a tireless cultural advocate. He led the campaign that saved Carnegie Hall from demolition in 1960 and chaired it thereafter. His 1979 visit to China was filmed as the documentary From Mao to Mozart.
1922 – 2001Christiaan Barnard (1922-2001)Died 2 September 2001, aged 78Barnard was the surgeon who performed the first human-to-human heart transplant, in Cape Town in December 1967. The patient lived 18 days, and the operation made Barnard an international celebrity. He continued transplant work until arthritis ended his surgical career.
1923 – 2001Nguyen Van Thieu (1923-2001)Died 29 September 2001, aged 78Thieu was president of South Vietnam from 1967 until days before the fall of Saigon in 1975, when he resigned and left the country. His government relied heavily on American support and was widely accused of corruption. He spent his last decades in exile in Britain and the United States.
1953 – 2001Ahmad Shah Massoud (1953-2001)Died 9 September 2001, aged 48Massoud was a guerrilla commander who fought the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and then led the Northern Alliance against the Taliban through the 1990s. Known as the Lion of Panjshir, he controlled the last significant resistance to Taliban rule. He was killed by suicide bombers posing as journalists two days before the 9/11 attacks.
2001Foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in BritainMillions of livestock culled to halt the virusAn outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease confirmed in February 2001 spread across British farms, leading to the slaughter of more than six million sheep, cattle and pigs. Pyres of burning carcasses became a defining image of the year. Rural tourism suffered heavily and the general election was postponed by a month.
2001Album "Fever" and global hit "Can't Get You Out of My Head"Career-defining global smash singleFever, released in September 2001, produced the single "Can't Get You Out of My Head," which topped charts in over 40 countries and became the best-selling single of Minogue's career. The album cemented her as a global pop force and remains one of her most commercially successful releases.
2001Resigns front-office role to play againJordan steps down from the Wizards' front office and his ownership stake to return to playing.
20017 World Trade Center collapsesA third tower falls that afternoonThe 47-storey 7 World Trade Center, damaged by debris and burning uncontrolled for hours, collapsed late in the afternoon. It had been evacuated and no one was killed in its fall.
20019/11 attacks2,977 killed in worst terrorist attack in historyAl-Qaeda hijacked four passenger aircraft on September 11, 2001. Two were flown into the World Trade Center in New York, one into the Pentagon, and one crashed in Pennsylvania. 2,977 people were killed.
20019/11 — the Fed provides liquidityFollowing the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, Greenspan and the Fed act immediately to provide liquidity to a financial system in shock. The Fed cuts interest rates and coordinates with the Treasury and foreign central banks to prevent a financial panic. The New York Stock Exchange is closed for four trading days; when it reopens, Greenspan's actions have stabilised the banking system. He subsequently cuts rates aggressively through 2002-03 in response to the recession following the dot-com crash and 9/11 — cutting the federal funds rate to 1% by June 2003.
2001American Airlines Flight 11 departs BostonBound for Los Angeles with 92 aboardFlight 11 took off from Logan International Airport in Boston, fifteen minutes behind schedule. Five hijackers were aboard the Boeing 767, which carried enough fuel for a transcontinental flight.
2001American Airlines Flight 77 departs Washington DullesThe Washington flight takes offFlight 77 left Dulles International Airport for Los Angeles carrying 64 people, five of them hijackers.
2001Flight 11 is hijackedControllers lose contact over MassachusettsBetween roughly 8:14 and 8:19 the hijackers took control of Flight 11. Flight attendant Betty Ong reached American Airlines ground staff by phone and relayed what was happening aboard the aircraft.
2001Flight 11 strikes the North TowerImpact between floors 93 and 99Flight 11 was flown into the north face of 1 World Trade Center at roughly 466 miles per hour. The impact severed all three stairwells above the crash zone, trapping everyone on the floors above.
2001Flight 175 strikes the South TowerThe second impact, seen live on televisionFlight 175 struck 2 World Trade Center between floors 77 and 85 as news cameras were trained on the burning North Tower. The second impact made clear the first had not been an accident.
2001Flight 77 strikes the PentagonImpact on the building's west sideFlight 77 was flown into the western face of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, killing all 64 aboard and 125 people inside the building. The section struck had recently been reinforced during renovation.
2001Flight 93 crashes in PennsylvaniaThe aircraft goes down near ShanksvilleFlight 93 crashed into a field in Somerset County at roughly 563 miles per hour, killing all 44 aboard. It was the only one of the four aircraft not to reach its intended target.
2001The FAA grounds all departuresA national ground stop is orderedThe Federal Aviation Administration halted all takeoffs from US airports, then ordered every aircraft in American airspace to land at the nearest suitable airport. Roughly 4,500 aircraft were brought down within hours.
2001The North Tower collapsesThe last of the towers fallsThe North Tower fell 102 minutes after being struck, the longest any of the towers stood. Its collapse sent a second vast dust cloud through lower Manhattan.
2001The South Tower collapsesFifty-six minutes after impactThe South Tower fell in roughly ten seconds, having burned for less than an hour. It collapsed first despite being struck second, because the impact was lower and had damaged more of the structure.
2001The passenger revolt on Flight 93Passengers vote to storm the cockpitHaving learned of the other attacks through phone calls, passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 decided to retake the aircraft. The cockpit voice recorder captured their assault on the cockpit door.
2001United Airlines Flight 175 departs BostonThe second Boston flight takes offFlight 175 left Logan for Los Angeles with 65 people aboard, including five hijackers. It was airborne roughly fifteen minutes after Flight 11.
2001United Airlines Flight 93 departs NewarkDelayed on the runway for 42 minutesFlight 93 left Newark for San Francisco with 44 people aboard after a long taxi delay. The delay meant its passengers later learned of the earlier attacks by phone.
2001Dorothy McGuire dies in Santa MonicaDorothy McGuire dies aged 85.
2001Nintendo releases the GameCubeNintendo's first disc-based home consoleNintendo released the GameCube in Japan in September 2001 and in North America on 18 November, its first home console to use optical discs rather than cartridges. Sales lagged behind the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It nonetheless produced enduring titles in the Zelda, Metroid and Smash Bros. series.
2001Anthrax letters mailed in the United StatesPowder-filled envelopes kill five peopleBeginning in September 2001, letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to news organisations and two US senators, killing five people and infecting seventeen others. The attacks disrupted mail service and Congress and deepened fears after 9/11. The FBI later concluded that a government biodefence researcher was responsible.
2001Star Trek: Enterprise — Season 1A prequel series set a century before the original series, following Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) aboard the first Warp 5 starship. Created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, it launches on UPN and struggles in its early seasons with low ratings despite genuine ambitions.