December 2001 in History

Events in History

Dec 1 Captain Bill Compton brings Trans World Airlines Flight 220, an MD-83, into St. Louis International Airport bringing to an end 76 years of TWA operations following TWA's purchase by American Airlines.
Dec 2 Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York

Event of Interest

Dec 2 Tony Fernandes' company Tune Air Sdn Bhd buys the heavily indebted AirAsia for 1 MYR (about USD 0.26 at the time)

Murder of Interest

Dec 4 Marike de Klerk, ex-wife of former President F.W. de Klerk is murdered at her home in Cape Town

Dec 6 The Canadian province of Newfoundland is renamed Newfoundland and Labrador

Nobel Prize

Dec 10 Nobel Prize for Economics awarded jointly to Joseph Stiglitz, George A. Akerlof and A. Michael Spence "for their analyses of markets with asymmetric information"

Dec 11 The People's Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization.
Dec 13 Indian Parliament Sansad attacked by terrorists. 15 people killed, including all terrorists
Dec 15 The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 to fortify it, without fixing its famous lean
Dec 19 A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia.
Dec 19 Argentine economic crisis: December 2001 riots - Riots erupt in Buenos Aires after Domingo Cavallo's corralito measures restrict the withdrawal of cash from bank deposits.
Dec 20 Argentine economic crisis: President of Argentina Fernando de la Rúa is forced out of office.

Event of Interest

Dec 22 Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai

Dec 22 Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.

9/11 Attack on NY's World Trade Towers

Dec 24 "Time Magazine" names New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani 'Person of the Year', for leadership after 9/11 attacks

UA Flight 175 flies toward the South Tower of the World Trade Center while the North Tower burns

Dec 26 Crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) record one of their largest 1-day jumps of the year as traders become convinced that OPEC will follow through on production cuts
Dec 27 The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.
Dec 28 OPEC oil ministers meeting in Cairo agree to reduce their crude oil output quotas by a combined 1.5 million barrels per day
Dec 29 Mesa Redonda shopping center fire, Lima, Peru, at least 291 killed.

Birthdays in History

Dec 1 Aiko, Princess Toshi of Japan

Weddings in History

J. K. Rowling

Dec 26 "Harry Potter" author J. K. Rowling (36) weds anesthesiologist Neil Murray (30) in Aberfeldy, Scotland

Deaths in History

Dec 5 Franco Rasetti, Italian physicist (b. 1901)
Dec 7 Charles McClendon, LSU Tigers head football coach (b. 1923)
Dec 8 Don Tennant, American advertising executive (b. 1922)
Dec 9 Michael Carver, British soldier (b. 1915)
Dec 12 Ardito Desio, Italian explorer and topographer, dies at 104
Dec 14 W. G. Sebald, German writer, dies at 57
Dec 16 Stefan Heym, German-American author (Crusaders, Family Benda), dies at 88

Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906-2001)

Dec 20 Senegalese poet and 1st President of Senegal (1960-80), dies at 95

Dec 23 Bola Ige, Nigerian politician, Minister of Justice, murdered at 71
Dec 28 Samuel A. Goldblith, American food scientist (b. 1919)
Dec 28 William X. Kienzle, American novelist (b. 1928)
Dec 31 John Grigg, 2nd Baron Altrincham, British writer and historian, dies at 77