WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO MAY 2001
Find out what all happened February to May 2001

Members of the Islamist separatist group Abu Sayyaf seize twenty hostages from an affluent island resort on Palawan in the Philippines; the hostage crisis would not be resolved until June 2002. (27. May 2001)

FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. (18. February 2001)

The American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Ehime-Maru, a Japanese training vessel operated by the Uwajima Fishery High School. (9. February 2001)

Millionaire Dennis Tito becomes the world's first space tourist. (28. April 2001)

Erik Weihenmayer, 32 years old, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest. (25. May 2001)

NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid. (12. February 2001)

During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque. (6. May 2001)

The Versailles wedding hall disaster in Jerusalem, Israel kills 23 and injures over 200. (24. May 2001)

The Nisqually Earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale hits the Nisqually Valley and the Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia area of the U.S. state of Washington. (28. February 2001)

India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border. (16. April 2001)

The detained crew of a United States EP-3E aircraft that landed in Hainan, China after a collision with a J-8 fighter, is released. (11. April 2001)

Seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt dies in an accident during the Daytona 500. (18. February 2001)

The Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial. (19. February 2001)

In Ghana 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of teargas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee. (9. May 2001)

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares the existence of "a state of rebellion", hours after thousands of supporters of her arrested predecessor, Joseph Estrada, storm towards the presidential palace at the height of the EDSA III rebellion. (1. May 2001)

Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, the first country to allow it. (1. April 2001)

French Taubira law is enacted, officially recognizing the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity. (21. May 2001)

First draft of the complete human genome is published in Nature. (15. February 2001)

Mountain climbing: Temba Tsheri, a 15-year-old Sherpa, becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest. (24. May 2001)

Michele Alboreto was killed testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany. (25. April 2001)