Timeline of Major Events (The New Millennium)

This page is a comprehensive timeline of major events for The New Millennium.

November

 * November 7: The results of the 2000 United States Presidential Election are unclear as the tipping-point state, Florida, is too close to call. Meanwhile, Democrats take control of the Senate in a 50-50 tie after winning 4 seats from Republicans in the 2000 United States Senate Elections. Democrats also gain 4 seats from Republicans in the 2000 United States House of Representatives Elections, but Republicans still manage to hold control over the House with a narrow majority.
 * November 26: After several weeks of recounts and controversy, the Florida State Canvassing Board certifies incumbent Vice-President Al Gore and Senator Joe Lieberman as the winners of the 2000 United States presidential election over George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

January

 * January 3: The 107th Congress is seated. The Senate is controlled by Democrats over Republicans with a tie of 50-50 seats. Tom Daschle becomes the Majority Leader of the Senate. The House of Representatives is controlled narrowly by Republicans with 218 seats over Democrats with 215 seats with 2 Independents also seated. Dennis Hastert is re-elected as Speaker of the House.
 * January 7: Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) airs its final televised event and pay-per-view, Guilty as Charged. The event sees Rhino win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship from The Sandman in the main event.
 * January 20: Al Gore and Joe Lieberman are inaugurated as the 43rd president and 46th vice-president of the United States at the United States Capitol Building in Washington D.C. The oath of office is administered by Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Gore declares an "age of prosperity and progress for all" in his inaugural address and pledged to lead America "With sensibility and a focus on freedom in the New Millennium."
 * January 21: The Republican Governor of Connecticut John G. Rowland announces Lieberman's replacement in the Senate as Republican Phillip Giordano who is sworn in that same day, resulting in the Republicans retaking the Senate with a majority of 51-49 seats, making Trent Lott the Majority Leader, after only 18 days of Democratic control.
 * January 22: The 2001 Insurgency in Macedonia begins when the National Liberation Army attack a police station in Tearce.
 * January 24: President Gore signs a series of executive orders that adds several new pollution regulations while bolstering current regulations and increase government investment in clean energy sources.
 * January 26: An 7.7 magnitude earthquake impacts Western India leaving thousands dead and hundreds of thousands injured.
 * January 28: The Baltimore Ravens defeat the New York Giants 34-7 at Super Bowl XXXV.

February

 * February 8: President Gore presents his 10-year economic plans to Congress, including a proposal for $500 billion in tax cuts, the creation of 3 new government trust funds, a Medicare "lockbox", and a balanced budget plan that uses the budget surplus to pay for increases to Defense and Social Security while paying down the national debt.
 * February 9: Hannibal, a sequel to the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, is released in theaters.
 * February 13: An 6.6 magnitude earthquake impacts El Salvador, killing hundreds of people.
 * February 16: A coalition of American and British military aircraft launch an attack in southern Iraq, targeting command and communication centers to enforce the Iraqi No-Fly Zones.
 * February 18: Fox airs its first NASCAR event, the Daytona 500, won by Dale Earnhardt.
 * February 20: The FBI announce the arrest of Agent Robert Hanssen for passing classified information to the Russians.
 * February 27: President Gore outlines the goals and plans for his administration to a joint session of the members of Congress.

March

 * March 18: World Championship Wrestling (WCW) produces its final pay-per-view, Greed. The main event sees Scott Steiner retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Diamond Dallas Page.
 * March 23: The Russian space station Mir is deorbited, with its debris falling into the Pacific Ocean.
 * March 26: The Monday Night Wars in professional wrestling ends as WCW Monday Nitro airs its final show. WWF emerges as the most dominant pro-wrestling company in the world.

April

 * April 1: WWF's WrestleMania X-Seven airs in pay-per-view from Houston, Texas. The event is universally acclaimed as the main event sees Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock for the WWF Championship.
 * April 7: NASA's Mars orbiter, 2001 Mars Odyssey, launches on a Delta II rocket.
 * April 9: President Gore's budget plan for the fiscal year of 2002 is submitted to Congress.
 * April 28: The Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM-32 launches with the first space tourist, American entrepreneur Dennis Tito, and two Russian cosmonauts.

May

 * May 1: The House of Representatives vote for the main cornerstones of Gore's tax-relief and tax cut plans, sending it to the Senate.
 * May 4: The Mummy Returns, a sequel to the 1999 film The Mummy, is released in theaters.
 * May 14: The Senate passes Gore's tax plans as the Tax Relief and Economic Growth Act of 2001.
 * May 15: President Gore signs the Tax Relief and Economic Growth Act of 2001 into law.
 * May 18: Shrek is released in theaters.
 * May 21: The Konculj Agreement is signed, ending the Insurgency in the Presevo Valley between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medveda, and Bujanovac. The agreement dissolves the Liberation Army.
 * May 23: The series finale of Star Trek: Voyager, "Endgame", airs as a two-part episode.
 * May 24: Republican Senator from Vermont, Jim Jeffords leaves the Republican Party and becomes an Intendent caucusing with Democrats, restoring their majority in the Senate with 50-50 seats, making Tom Daschle the Majority Leader once again.
 * May 25: Pearl Harbor is released in theaters.

June

 * June 5: Tropical Storm Allison hits Houston in Texas, killing 23 people.
 * June 18: With the support of President Gore, Democratic Senator John Edwards and Republican Senator John McCain propose the Patients' Bill of Rights to the Senate.
 * June 22: The Fast and the Furious is released in theater to mixed reviews but a major commercial success.
 * June 23: An 8.4 magnitude earthquake impacts Southern Peru, killing almost a hundred people.
 * June 28: The Patients' Bill of Rights is passed in the Senate and sent to the House of Representatives for review.

July

 * July 16: Russia and China sign the 2001 Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship.
 * July 18: Jurassic Park III, the third film in the Jurassic Park franchise, is released in theaters and met with mixed to negative reviews.
 * July 20-22: The 27th G8 Summit is held in Genoa, Italy. The event is met with demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of people as part of the anti-globalization movement.
 * July 27: Planet of the Apes, a remake of the 1968 film with the same name, is released in theaters to mixed reviews.
 * July 29: A proposal by Democrats to amend the "Freedom to Farm" Act dies in the House of Representatives as Republicans are hesitant to budge on amending the legislation.

August

 * August 8:
 * The Patients' Bill of Rights gets stalled in the House of Representatives as Republicans reject several provisions from the proposed act.
 * NASA's Genesis sample-return probe is launched on a Delta II rocket.
 * August 17: A watered-down version of the Patients' Bill of Rights passes the House and Senate after weeks of delay.
 * August 20: President Gore signs the Patients' Bill of Rights Act into law, pledging to keep fighting for the provisions left out of the new bill.
 * August 21: Operation Essential Harvest begins. NATO sends military forces to the Republic of Macedonia in response to the ongoing internal conflicts.
 * August 31:
 * The 2001 World Conference against Racism is held in Durban, South Africa. The United States and Israel withdrasw from the convention due to alleged antisemitism.
 * The final episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood airs on PBS Kids.

September

 * September 2: Adult Swim debuts on Cartoon Network.
 * September 11: The September 11 Attacks occur, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Americans and the destruction of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center.
 * September 18:
 * President Gore signs the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists bill from Congress giving him the authority to target the terrorists responsible for the attacks on 9/11.
 * The 2001 anthrax attacks begin, resulting in the deaths of 5 people in the United States.
 * September 20: President Gore delivers an address to a joint session of Congress with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and New York Governor George Pataki in attendance addressing the attacks and announcing a "War on Terror". President Gore also announces the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, a new agency to help better prepare for and prevent potential terrorist attacks from happening.
 * September 22: NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft flies within 1,400 miles of the Comet Borrelly.
 * September 26: Star Trek: Enterprise, the replacement for Star Trek: Voyager, airs a two-hour series premiere on UPN.

October

 * October 1: 3G first becomes available.
 * October 7: President Gore announces the beginning of American military action in Afghanistan, code-named Operation Enduring Freedom.
 * October 6: President Gore signs the USA Patriot Act into law, increasing the surveillance ability for law enforcement agencies to tap international phones, establishing better interagency communication between intelligence agencies for counterterrorism, and severely increasing criminal penalties for acts of terrorism.
 * October 8: Hurricane Iris impacts Belize.
 * October 13: The first successful clone of a human embryo is created by American scientists.
 * October 15: NASA's Galileo space probe passes by Io, one of Jupiter's moons.
 * October 23: The iPod is introduced by Apple, Inc.
 * October 24: NASA's space probe, 2001 Mars Odyssey, arrives in orbit around Mars.

November
November 15: Microsoft release their first gaming console, the Xbox.
 * November 1: President Gore signs additional proposals strengthening the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.
 * November 2: Monsters, Inc. is released in theaters to critical acclaim.
 * November 4:
 * Hurricane Mitchell impacts Cuba.
 * The New York Yankees defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks in the final game of the World Series, marking their fourth consecutive victory in the World Series.
 * November 6: The 2001 United States gubernatorial elections occur, resulting in Democrats winning 2 governorships in New Jersey and Virginia from Republicans.
 * November 9: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is released in theaters to critical acclaim, the first film in an adaptation of the Harry Potter book series.
 * November 14:
 * Northern Alliance forces capture Kabul in a major blow to the Taliban in Afghanistan.
 * A 7.8 magnitude earthquake impacts China with no casualties reported.
 * November 16: President Gore signs the Farm Securities and Investment Act of 2001 into law, heavily increasing investment and subsidies for farmers.
 * November 12: President Gore signs the American Energy and Water Development Act into law, which significantly expands federal funding for renewable energy development and provides funding for new water resource developments.
 * November 19: President Gore signs the Aviation and Transportation Security Act into law, establishing the Transportation Security Admninistration under the Department of Homeland Security.

December

 * December 6: American forces capture the last Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan, Kandahar.
 * December 7: Ocean's Eleven is released in theaters to positive reviews.
 * December 17: President Gore announces that Osama bin Laden was killed during American forces' assault onto Taliban holdouts in the Tora Bora region, successfully concluding the American invasion of Afghanistan.
 * December 19: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is released in theaters to critical acclaim, the first film in an adaption of the widely acclaimed fantasy book, The Lord of the Rings.
 * December 22: The Northern Alliance transfer authority over Afghanistan to President Hamid Karzai and his interim government.

January

 * January 1: The Euro is introduced as the new standard currency for all Eurozone countries.
 * January 8: President Gore signs the bipartisan Every Child Succeeds Act into law that seeks to bridge the gap between poor and high performing students and seeks to improve test scores nationwide.
 * January 17: Hundreds of thousands of people are forced to leave their homes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo.
 * January 25: President Gore signs the Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Clean-Up Act into law.
 * January 29: President Gore delivers his annual State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress.

February

 * February 3:
 * A 6.0 magnitude earthquake impacts the Afyonkarahisar Province in Turkey.
 * The St. Louis Rams defeat the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl XXXVI.
 * February 6: Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years since she ascended to the Throne.
 * February 8-24: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
 * February 19: NASA's probe, 2001 Mars Odyssey, begins mapping the surface of Mars.

March

 * March 1: The ESA's Envisat environmental satellite is launched on an Ariane 5 rocket.
 * March 2: Switzerland votes to join the United Nations.
 * March 8: President Gore signs the American Jobs and Workers Relief Act of 2002 into law to provide relief to businesses and workers being affected by the economic downturn.
 * March 15: Ice Age is released in theaters to positive reviews and surprising commercial success.
 * March 25:
 * A 6.1 magnitude earthquake impacts Nahrin, Afghanistan killing hundreds of people.
 * WWF holds its first draft lottery, splitting its two brands, Raw and SmackDown.

April

 * April 4: President Gore signs the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 into law.

June

 * June 27: President Gore announces sweeping sanctions against Iraq after an investigation by the FBI found it was likely that the anthrax used in the 2001 anthrax attacks were manufactured by Iraq and given to Al-Queda to deliver the packages.

July

 * July 3: President Gore issues an executive order to speed up the process of citizenship for non-citizens who have been in the military since the September 11 Attacks.