| January 1 | Rose Bowl, Washington Huskies beat Purdue Boilermakers 34 - 24 |
| January 13 | Earthquake and landslides kill 850 in El Salvador |
| January 20 | George W. Bush is inaugurated as the 43rd president of the United States |
| January 26 | Earthquake kills 20,000 in Bhuj, India |
| January 28 | Super Bowl XXXV, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Baltimore Ravens beat New York Giants 34-7 |
| February 14 | Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft becomes first vehicle to land on an asteroid (433 Eros) |
| February 21 | 43rd Grammy Awards, U2, Steely Dan, Macy Gray and Sting win major awards |
| March 23 | Russian Mir space station is crashed into the Pacific during a controlled re-entry |
| March 25 | 73rd Academy Awards Oscar Ceremony, Steve Martin hosts, Gladiator wins Best Picture, Russell Crowe and Julia Roberts win lead acting awards |
| April 1 | 20th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: at St. Louis |
| April 2 | 63rd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: at Metrodome Minneapolis |
| April 8 | 65th Golf Masters Championship: |
| April 28 | Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist by paying $20 million to fly on a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station. |
| May 9 | Police tear gas unruly soccer fans, ensuing panic kills over 100 in Ghana |
| June 1 | The heir to the Nepalese throne killed his parents and eight other family members before shooting himself, after an argument over his choice of a bride |
| June 3 | Tony Awards, The Producers, Proof, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest revival and 42nd Street revival won major awards |
| June 9 | Stanley Cup Finals, Colorado Avalanche beat New Jersey Devils 4 games to 3 |
| June 11 | Timothy McVeigh executed for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed at least 168 |
| June 16 | NBA Finals, Los Angeles Lakers beat Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 1 |
| June 21 | Total solar eclipse in Madagascar-Atl Ocean (4m56s) |
| July 4 | Vladivostokavia flight 352 crashes near Burdakovka, killing 145 |
| July 7 | Wimbledon Women's Finals, Venus Williams beat Justine Henin |
| July 8 | Wimbledon Men's Doubles Finals, Donald Johnson and Jared Palmer beat Jiri Novak and David Rikl |
| July 8 | Wimbledon Men's Finals, Goran Ivanisevic beat Pat Rafter |
| July 8 | Wimbledon Women's Doubles Finals, Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs beat Kim Clijsters and Ai Sugiyama |
| July 9 | Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Finals, Leos Friedl and Daniela Hantuchova beat Mike Bryan and Liezel Huber |
| September 1 | WNBA Championships, Los Angeles Sparks beat Charlotte Sting 2 games to 0 |
| September 9 | 115th U.S. Womens Tennis |
| September 9 | 121st U.S. Mens Tennis |
| September 11 | 19 Islamist terrorists hijack four commercial jets, killing nearly 3,000 in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania |
| October 7 | U.S. launches strikes against the Taleban in Afghanistan, in retaliation for the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US. |
| October 8 | SAS flight 686 crashes near Milano-Linate, killing 114, crash caused by flight crew and tower confusion |
| October 24 | Eleven die after two trucks collide, head on, in a mountain tunnel in Switzerland |
| November 4 | World Series, Arizona Diamondbacks beat New York Yankees 4 games to 3 |
| November 12 | American Airlines flight 587 crashes in Belle Harbor, New York, killing 265, vertical stabilizer failure |
| December 13 | Terrorists break into parliament building in New Delhi, murder at least 12 |
BrainyHistory
