Britain and the World 2001

BRITAIN AND THE WORLD SINCE 1953

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2001

Jan20	The Republican George W Bush is inaugurated as 43rd President of the USA. He succeeded Bill Clinton (Democrat) who was President for the period 1992 - 2000
Jan23-25	UN war crimes prosecutor Del Ponte demands that Serbia hands Milosevic over to be sentenced in the Hague. The Serbian government is not sympathetic but the former President is eventually arrested after the third attempt on April 1st
Jan24	The UK's Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson resigns from government for the second time after revelations that he lied to the Cabinet Office over a passport application by a foreign national
Jan26	7.9 Richter scale earthquake in Gujarat India destroys much of the historical city
Jan30	Jessop's Hospital For Women (my place of birth) on Leavygreave Road Sheffield closes for the final time and relocates to modern premises a mile away.
Feb7	After serving 27 years in goal, Stephen Downing, 44, is granted bail pending an appeal hearing against his conviction for the murder of typist Wendy Sewell in Bakewell, Derbyshire in 1973.
Feb11	Ellen MacArthur, completes the Vendee Globe yacht race, becoming the fastest woman ever to sail single-handedly around the world.
Feb13	Stephen Kelly was the first person convicted for sexual HIV transmission in the UK. In the landmark case, the 33-year-old from Glasgow was convicted of having "recklessly injured" his former partner by infecting her with the virus
Feb21	The first outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the UK for over twenty years is confirmed. The outbreak began at an abbatoir in Essex and spread throughout the UK. Horse Racing was cancelled for seven days on the 27th, the first time that this had occurred since 1967. The outbreak was still prevailent six months later after 2000 cases had been reported and four million animals killed
Feb25	Sir Donald Bradman arguably the greatest batsman the world has seen dies at the age of 92.
Feb28	Ten people die in a collision between an Newcastle to London InterCity passenger train and a freight train at Great Heck between Goole and Selby, on the East Coast Main Line.There were also many casualties from the crash which appears to have been caused by a number of motor vehicles sliding onto the track down an embankment. Police charge Gary Hart the driver of the vehicle with dangerous driving that caused the deaths of 10 people
Mar22	The body of James Hanratty is exhumed from his grave at Carpenters Park cemetery near Bushey, Herts. Found guilty and hanged in 1962 for the "A6 Murder", the body was taken to a local mortuary for DNA sampling in an attempt by the Home Office to ensure that the original verdict is upheld. It is widely believed that police suppressed essential evidence in the initial enquiry.
Mar23	After fifteen years in space, the Russians space lab Mir returns. It disintegrates as it re-enters the earths atmosphere somewhere above the Pacific
Apr29	Dubai Millennium, Darley Stud’s English champion racehorse and promising young stallion was put down due to an acute case of grass sickness.
May8	In a remarkable display of vindictiveness by the UK Labour government, 71 year old ex-train robber Ronnie Biggs is returned to prison for the first time since he escaped 35 years ago. After flying back to Britain from Brazil , the seriously ill Biggs was taken to the top security Belmarsh Prison in South London .
May15	After the execution of Mahmood Hussein Mattan, at Cardiff Prison, on 3 September 1952, and his subsequent posthumous pardon that was granted 46 years later, the Home Office pay his bereaved wife and three sons a total of £1.4 million in compensation.
May16	John Prescott the Deputy Prime Minister assaults Craig Evans at an election rally in Rhyll North Wales
May26	After months of racial tension widespread rioting between police and Asian youths occurs in Oldham. The problems are compounded by police unwillingness to deal with a series of racially motivated attacks. Other riots take place in Bradford and Leeds in the weeks following as racial tensions in the inner cities rises
Jun1	Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal runs amok with an assault rifle killing his father, the king, his mother and many other close family members. He shoots himself after the massacre and dies three days later
Jun8	UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is returned to office with a landslide majority, prompting William Hague to resign as leader of the Conservative Party. The turnout for the Election was the lowest since 1918
Jun11	Timothy McVeigh is executed in Terre Haute Federal Penitentiary by lethal injection. He admitted responsibility for the deaths of 168 people in the Olklahoma City bombing of 1995. He was the first Federal prisoner to be executed in 38 years. He was followed nine days later by Juan Raul Garza who was convicted of three drug related murders
Jun18	Archaeologists uncover the bodies of 24 unidentified British soldiers during an inspection of the 740-acre building site of a BMW car factory between the towns of Saint-Laurent-Blangy and Athies The bodies were passed to the British Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who reburied the soldiers with military honours at a British cemetery near Arras. The men were killed during the Battle of Arras during April 1917 - at least a few of the bodies were from the Lincolnshires
Jun25	Lancashire Police say more than 200 youths were involved in a second night of rioting in Burnley
Sept1	Sheffield United play their 2,000 league game at Bramall Lane (the first was in 1892). The result was a 2-2 draw with Bradford City
Sep11	In one of the most horrific attacks ever four highjacked airliners are targeted at the US. The attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre kill thousands of innocent people and cause the total destruction of the twin towers of the Centre. Evidence suggests that the premeditated attck was the work of Islamic Fundementalists . The US and its allies commence the war against terrorism in general and Afghanistan in particular with attacks on the al-Qaida network of Osamar Bin Laden and the Taliban government
Oct8	MD-87 of SAS colllides first with a private plane and then a building in Milano airport killing 100 dead
Oct14	An Israeli plane bound for Russia is destroyed over Black Sea by an Ukrainian military missile that was set off during atraining exercise - 76 passengers on the plane die
Nov15	Brian Field, from Solihull, West Midlands, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to the 33-year-old murder of a schoolboy Roy Tutill. It is thought to be the longest period between a crime being committed and solved.
Nov30	George Harrison former lead guitarist with the Beatles dies of lung cancer in Los Angeles. He was 58. His body was cremated a few hours after his death and his ashes were scattered over one of India's holy rivers.
Dec12	Repeat child abducter Roy Whiting 42 is found guilty at Lewes Crown Court of abducting and murdering Sarah Payne. The schoolgirl was snatched on July 1 2000 from a country lane near her grandparents' home in Kingston Gorse, West Sussex. Her body was found 16 days later in a shallow grave off the A29 road in Pulborough. Whiting received the mandatory life sentence
Dec14	After a retrial in Hull, two Leeds United footballers Lee Bowyer and Jonathon Woodgate are found not guilty of GBH charges but the latter is found guilty of making an affray and is sentenced to 100 hours community service. The family of the victim Sarfraz Najieb whose deal with the Sunday Mirror newspaper caused the retrial were unhappy with the verdict.
Dec15	Les Ferdinand of Tottenham Hotspur scores the 10,000th goal of the FA Premiership League. The first was scored by Brian Deane in Sheffield United's 2-1 win over Manchester United in August 1992
Dec18	A fire in New York's Cathedral of St John the Divine (the largest cathedral in the world) causes extensive damage to the eastern side of the church but the damage is not as bad as was first feared.

Last Updated 13/02/07 11:37

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