The World in 2001 the year of 9/11 and the first iPod
513MInternet users
961MMobile phones
4thSchumacher F1 title (Germany)
$1.46Gallon of gas (US)
$5.66Movie ticket (US)
6MFoot-and-mouth culls (UK)
2008Games go to Beijing
56%US homes with a computer
$299Xbox at launch (US)
The first iPod held 5 GB, which was room for about 1,000 songs. Even a cheap phone today holds more than ten times that.
Life back then

Most homes still used dial-up internet that beeped and tied up the phone line. Windows XP gave computers a friendly new look, and the GameCube arrived to challenge the PlayStation 2. Texting was the cheap way for friends in Europe and Asia to keep in touch, and phone makers sold ringtones by the million. Kids lined up for the first Harry Potter movie, and DVD players finally cost less than VCRs.
The year in 8 events
- ๐Jan 15 Wikipedia goes online. Anyone can edit it, and many people think that can never work.
- ๐ฏ๏ธJan 26 An earthquake hits Gujarat in western India and kills about 20,000 people.
- ๐ฐ๏ธMar 23 Russia brings the Mir space station down into the Pacific after 15 years in orbit.
- ๐Apr 1 The Netherlands becomes the first country to allow same-sex marriage.
- ๐ฏ๏ธSep 11 Hijackers fly passenger planes into the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon. A fourth plane crashes in Pennsylvania, and nearly 3,000 people die.
- ๐ชOct 7 The war in Afghanistan begins with air strikes. The Taliban lose control of Kabul in November.
- ๐งOct 23 Apple introduces the iPod, a music player the size of a deck of cards.
- ๐๏ธDec 20 Argentina's president quits after riots over a collapsing economy. The country soon stops paying its debts.