- 9/11 hijacked planes hit New York and Washington
- US and UK launch war against Taliban in Afghanistan
- Slobodan Milosevic faces genocide charge
- Major anti-globalisation protests against G8 in Italy
- Foot and mouth crisis in the UK
- First iPod is launched
- Free entry to national galleries and museums is reinstated in England
- Jerwood drawing and sculpture prizes are launched
- V.S. Naipaul wins Nobel Prize for Literature