World Events in 2001 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wikipedia

Founded by Jimmy Wales, "Wikipedia" is one of the world's most comprehensive multilingual encyclopedias. There are millions of articles contributed by volunteers from around the world. The website is a good reference to search for information, and the articles are constantly updated.

Answer: Buddhism

The Buddhas of Bamiyan, aka Bamyan, were two 6th-century Buddhist statues carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in central Afghanistan. The site is about 130 km (81 mi) northwest of Kabul at an elevation of 2500 m (8200 ft).

The smaller "Eastern Buddha" was 38 m (125 ft) and built around 570. The larger "Western Buddha" was 55 m (180 ft) and built around 618.

The statues were destroyed on orders from Taliban founder Mullah Omar after they declared the statues as idols. The destruction was strongly condemned by international and local communities.

Answer: Hainan Island

The EP-3 was operating about 110 km (70 mi) away from the island province of Hainan, about 160 km (100 mi) from the Chinese military in the Paracel Islands. It was intercepted by two Chinese J-6 fighters. One of the J-8 fighters collided with the EP-3. The Chinese fighter piloted by Wang Wei went missing and he was presumed dead.

The EP-3 was forced to make an emergency landing on Hainan Island. The U.S. crew was detained for 10 days

Answer: Nepal

Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal opened fire with an assault rifle in the palace where a party was held. He killed his father, King Birendra, his mother, Queen Aishwarya, and seven other members of the royal family, including his younger brother and sister before shooting himself in the head.

As all in the line of succession were wiped in the attack, Dipendra was declared as king while still in a coma. He survived for 3 days and died on June 4. Gyanendra (born 1947) ascended the throne of Nepal on the death of his nephew, Dipendra. He held the throne briefly as a child from 1950 to 1951. He ruled from 2001 until 2008, when the monarchy was abolished.

Answer: Srebrenica

Radislav Krstić (born 1948) was a former Bosnian Serb Deputy Commander of the the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). Srpska was a self-proclaimed Serb secessionist republic, a territory within the newly independent Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 1998, he was convicted for war crimes by the ICTY in The Hague, Netherlands, for committing genocide of about 8000 Bosnian POWS and civilians on July 11, 1995, during the Srebrenica massacre. On August 2, 2001, he was found guilty for the genocide by the ICTY, and was sentenced to 46 years in prison. After an appeal, the sentence was shortened to 35 years

Answer: United Airline (UA) Flight 93

A total of 2763 people, including 10 hijackers, were killed at the crash into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre. The crash into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, killed 189 people, including 5 hijackers.

Despite the heroic revolt by the passenger on UA 93 against the hijackers to regain control, the plane crashed into the grassland in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. All the 44 people on the flight, including 4 hijackers and 7 crews, did not survive the crash.

Answer: Afghanistan

The USA led a coalition force of 5500, supported by about 20000 troops from the Northern Alliance. The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, was a military alliance of groups that operated between late 1996 to 2001.The invasion lasted until December 17. The invasion was to topple the Taliban government in retaliation for the terrorist attack on September 11.

The Northern Alliance began the attack on Kabul on November 13. They made quick progress against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, which were weakened by American and British airstrikes. They encountered no resistance in the city, as the Taliban forces had retreated to Kandahar in the south. Herat was taken by the Northern Alliance a day earlier and Kandahar fall on December 6.

Answer: iPod

A small portable digital audio player, Apple's iPod could hold 10,000 songs and had a battery that lasted ten hours. During the winter quarter of 2001, Apple sold 125,000 units, with each device having a selling price of $399. The line was discontinued in 2022, after an estimated sale of 450 million iPod products.

Answer: Enron

Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection five days after Dynergy cancelled a US $8.4 billion buyout bid. Enron was an energy-trading and utility company based in Houston. It was one of the biggest accounting frauds in history. The company used accounting practices that falsely inflated the company's revenue. At that time, the false accounting made Enron the 7th largest company in the U.S

Answer: Selected to host Olympics, joined World Trade Organization (WTO)

On July 13, 2001, the International Olympic Committee selected Beijing to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. Beijing won the second of votes with 56, against Toronto (22), Paris (19) and Istanbul (9).

On December 11, 2001, China was officially admitted into the WTO after the agreement of the Ministerial Conference. The admission was approved after a long process of negotiations and required significant changes to the Chinese economy.