What Happened in July 2001

Historical Events

  • Jul 1 US Senior Open Men's Golf, Salem CC: Bruce Fleischer wins his lone major title by 1 stroke from Gil Morgan and Isao Aoki of Japan
  • Jul 2 AbioCor self contained artificial heart created.
  • Jul 2 Bush Administration announce that it will seek to let oil companies drill on about 1,500,000 acres of the Gulf of Mexico
  • Jul 2 UN Security Council, facing an almost certain Russian veto, agrees to postpone indefinitely a vote on the US-led "smart sanctions" package for Iraq
  • Jul 3 A Vladivostok Avia Tupolev TU-154 jetliner crashes on approach to landing at Irkutsk, Russia killing 145 people
  • Jul 3 At a meeting of its oil ministers, OPEC agrees to maintain current production quotas; ministers indicate that, if Iraqi oil returns to the market, they may cut production in response to maintain their desired level of prices
  • Jul 4 In a world record fee for a soccer goalkeeper, Juventus signed Parma's Gianluigi Buffon in a £32.5m deal including midfielder Jonathan Bachini
  • Jul 5 Australia and East Timor sign an agreement to share royalties from oil and natural gas production in the Timor Sea, which separates the two countries
  • Jul 7 Australian cricketer Karen Rolton smashes an unbeaten 209 to set a new world record for highest score in a women's Test in Australia's 9 wicket win v England at Headingley

Sports History

Jul 7 In his first appearance at Daytona since the death of father Dale Earnhardt Sr., Dale Jr. wins Pepsi 400 coming from 7th with 9 laps remaining to beat teammate Michael Waltrip

Wimbledon Women's Tennis

Jul 8 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Venus Williams wins 3rd career Grand Slam singles title; beats Justine Henin 6-1 3-6 6-0; Henin first Belgian player (male or female) to reach Wimbledon singles final

The Office

Jul 9 "The Office" mockumentary created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, starring Ricky Gervais and Martin Freeman premieres on BBC Two in the UK

Wimbledon Men's Tennis

Jul 9 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: 3-time runner-up Goran Ivanišević wins his lone major title beating Patrick Rafter of Australia 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7

  • Jul 10 72nd All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 4-1 at Safeco Field, Seattle
  • Jul 10 Amerada Hess agrees to acquire Triton Energy for $2.7 billion in cash
  • Jul 11 Iraq resumes oil exports, ending a 5-week halt in protest of a US and British-sponsored UN Security Council resolution
  • Jul 13 International Olympic Committee votes to award Beijing the 2008 Summer Olympic Games
  • Jul 15 Senior Players Championship Men's Golf, TPC of Michigan: Allen Doyle wins his 2nd Champions Tour major with par on first extra hole of a playoff with Doug Tewell

Jurassic Park III

Jul 16 "Jurassic Park III", starring Sam Neill and William H. Macy, premieres in the US

Born to Do It

Jul 17 Craig David releases “Born to Do It” in the United States

  • Jul 18 Chris Sharma completes the first ascent of the route Realization/Biographie in Ceüse, France, the world's first consensus 9a+ (5.15a) route
  • Jul 19 34th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at San Diego Convention Center
  • Jul 19 Michael Brunet discovers the skull of Sahelanthropus tchadensis in the Djurab Desert, Chad. One of the oldest known species in the human family tree, 6-7 million years ago years old

Film & TV History

Jul 20 "Spirited Away " written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki is released in Japan (Academy Award Best Animated Feature 2003)

  • Jul 20 Italy: The 27th Annual G8 summit opens in Genoa. An Italian protester in Genoa, Carlo Giuliani, is shot by police.
  • Jul 20 The London Stock Exchange goes public.

British Golf Open

Jul 22 British Open Men's Golf, Royal Lytham & St Annes: David Duval wins his only major title by 3 shots from Niclas Fasth of Sweden

  • Jul 24 An Iranian warship in the Caspian Sea threatens a BP oil exploration ship off the coast of Azerbaijan
  • Jul 24 Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the last Tsar of Bulgaria when he was a child, is sworn in as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, becoming the first monarch in history to regain political power through democratic election to a different office.
  • Jul 25 Faced with declining oil prices, OPEC ministers agree to cut crude oil production quotas by about 4%, or 1 million barrels per day

The Princess Diaries

Jul 29 "The Princess Diaries", starring Anne Hathaway (in her film debut), featuring Julie Andrews, and directed by Garry Marshall, premieres at El Capitan theater in Hollywood

Tour de France

Jul 29 88th Tour de France: no winner (Lance Armstrong disqualified)

Senior Open Championship

Jul 29 British Senior Open Men's Golf, Royal County Down: Australian Ian Stanley wins in a playoff with Bob Charles of New Zealand

  • Jul 29 Copa América Final, Estadio El Campín, Bogotá: Defender Iván Córdoba scores winner as home team Columbia edge Mexico, 1-0

Famous Birthdays

  • Jul 8 Riele Downs, Canadian actress (Henry Danger), born in Toronto, Ontario
  • Jul 25 Bryce Young, American football quarterback (Heisman Trophy 2021, University of Alabama; NFL Draft 2023 #1 pick Carolina Panthers), born in Pasadena, California

Famous Weddings

Jason Bateman

Jul 3 American "Arreseted Development" actor Jason Bateman (32) weds Amercian actress Amanda Anka

Drew Barrymore

Jul 7 "Charlie's Angels" star Drew Barrymore (26) weds actor-comedian Tom Green (29) in Malibu

Nick Faldo

Jul 28 Six-time British golf champion Nick Faldo (44) weds third wife, Swiss public relations agent Valerie Bercher in a lavish ceremony at his Windsor, England home; divorce in 2006


Famous Divorces

Meg Ryan & Dennis Quaid

Jul 16 American "Kate & Leopold" actress Meg Ryan (38) divorces American "Great Balls of Fire!" actor Dennis Quaid (46) after 10 years of marriage

Famous Deaths

  • Jul 1 Nicolay G. Basov, Soviet physicist who specialized in quantum electronics (laser, maser) and 1964 Nobel laureate, dies at 78
  • Jul 3 Delia Derbyshire, English musician and composer (Doctor Who theme, White Noise), dies of renal failure at 64
  • Jul 3 Johnny Russell, American country songwriter (Act Naturally; Let's Fall To Pieces Together), singer and comedian dies of complications from diabetes at 61
  • Jul 3 Mordecai Richler, Canadian author (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz), dies at 70
  • Jul 4 Keenan Milton, Professional Skater (b. 1974)
  • Jul 5 Ernie K-Doe [Ernest Kador Jr.], American R&B singer ("Mother-in-Law"), dies of kidney failure and cirrhosis of the liver at 68
  • Jul 7 Edward Fiennes-Clinton, Australian-born 18th Earl of Lincoln, dies at 88
  • Jul 7 Fred Neil [Morlock], American songwriter, folk singer, guitarist (Everybody's Talkin'; Candy Man), and conservationist (Dolphin Project), dies from skin cancer at 65
  • Jul 7 Maria Gorokhovskaya, Russian gymnast (equal record 7 x Olympic medals, Soviet Union 1952; 2 x gold [team, all-round], 5 x silver), dies at 79
  • Jul 8 Christl Haas, Austrian downhill skier (Olympic gold 1964), dies at 57
  • Jul 8 Ernst Baier, German figure skater (Olympic gold 1936), dies at 95
  • Jul 8 John O'Shea, New Zealand film director (b. 1920)
  • Jul 11 Herman Brood, Dutch painter and pianist (Sleepin' Bird), dies at 54
  • Jul 11 Marco Zanuso, Italian Modernist architect and product designer, dies at 85
  • Jul 16 Maurice De Bevere, Belgian cartoonist (b. 1923)
  • Jul 16 Terry Gordy, American professional wrestler, dies at 40

Katharine Graham (1917-2001)

Jul 17 American newspaper publisher (The Washington Post) who led the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, dies after a fall at 84

  • Jul 18 Fabio Taglioni, Italian motorcycle engineer (Ducati), dies at 80
  • Jul 18 James Hatfield, American author (b. 1958)
  • Jul 18 Mimi Fariña, American folk-rock singer-songwriter ("Reflections In A Crystal Wind"), dies at 56
  • Jul 18 Roy Gilchrist, West Indian cricket fast bowler (13 Tests, 57 wickets; Jamaica, Hyderabad), dies of Parkinson's disease at 67
  • Jul 19 Judy Clay [Guions], American soul and gospel singer, dies from complications from a car accident at 62
  • Jul 20 Carlo Giuliani, Italian anarchist (b. 1978)
  • Jul 20 Werner Haentjes, German conductor and composer of operas and film scores, dies at 77
  • Jul 21 Sivaji Ganesan, South Indian Tamil actor (b. 1927)
  • Jul 21 Steve Barton, American actor (b. 1954)
  • Jul 22 Bernice Neugarten, American physiologist (work on psychology of aging), dies at 85
  • Jul 22 Frances Horwich, American educator and television personality (Ding Dong School), dies at 94
  • Jul 22 Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (History of the Greeks), dies at 92
  • Jul 23 Eudora Welty, American novelist (Optimist's Daughter-Pulitzer 1973), dies at 92
  • Jul 24 Georges Dor [Dore], French Canadian author, playwright, radio broadcaster, singer and songwriter, dies at 70
  • Jul 26 Josef Klaus, Austrian conservative politician (Minister of Finance, 1961-63; Chancellor, 1966-70), dies at 90
  • Jul 26 Peter von Zahn, German journalist, writer, and film maker, dies at 88
  • Jul 26 Rex Barber, American WWII aviator (b. 1917)
  • Jul 27 Harold Beeley, British diplomat to the Arab world, dies at 92
  • Jul 27 Leon Wilkeson, American guitarist (Lynyrd Skynyrd), dies at 49
  • Jul 27 Rhonda Singh, professional wrestler (b. 1961)
  • Jul 29 Alex Nicol, American actor (The Screaming Skull, Man From Laramie, Air Cadet), dies of natural causes at 85
  • Jul 29 Edward Gierek, Polish politician (b. 1913)
  • Jul 29 Wau Holland, German computer hacker (b. 1951)
  • Jul 31 Fanny Leys, Flemish author (Ontwijding), dies at 95
  • Jul 31 Francisco da Costa Gomes, Portuguese army officer and politician (President of Portugal, 1974-76 - unelected appointee of ruling military junta), dies at 87
  • Jul 31 Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1910)
  • Jul 31 Poul Anderson, American science-fiction and fantasy author, winner of 7 Hugo and 3 Nebula Awards (The Sharing of Flesh; Mirkheim; After Doomsday), dies of prostate cancer at 74