2000s in The United States

21st Century

Year	Date	Event
2001		First inauguration of George W. Bush: George W. Bush was inaugurated the forty-third President of the United States.
		Democrats gained narrow control of Senate with the defection of James Jeffords from the Republican Party.
		The No Child Left Behind Act education reform bill was passed.
		The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 was passed.
	September 11	September 11 terrorist attacks: Nineteen terrorists hijacked four planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center, The Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania killing nearly three thousand people and injuring over six thousand.
		Congress passed an emergency bailout package for the airline industry.
		2001 Anthrax attacks: Anthrax attacks killed five and infected seventeen more through the mail system.
		War in Afghanistan (2001–present): The United States launched an invasion of Afghanistan.
		The USA PATRIOT Act, increasing law enforcement agencies' ability to conduct searches in cases of suspected terrorism, was passed.
	November 12	American Airlines Flight 587: A flight crashed in Queens, New York, killing 265.
		Exodus from Michigan: People from the state of Michigan began to emigrate in droves due to economic issues that would lead up to the global economic slowdown.
2002		The Department of Homeland Security was created.
		The United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
		Beltway sniper attacks: Ten people were killed and three were injured in attacks around the Washington, D.C. area.
2003		Republicans retook narrow control of the Senate.
		Space Shuttle Columbia disaster: The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
		2003 E2 nightclub stampede: A nightclub stampede killed twenty-one.
		invades Iraq: The United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq.
		United States forces fought an insurgency in Iraq.
		Capture of Saddam Hussein: In Iraq, deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured by United States special forces.
2004		The social networking website Facebook was launched.
		2004 Atlantic hurricane season: Four deadly and damaging hurricanes impacted Florida, killing a combined one hundred people in the United States and producing over $50 billion in damage.
		Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in compliance with a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health.
		Death of Ronald Reagan: Former President Reagan died from complications resulting from Alzheimer's disease.
		U.S. presidential election, 2004; George W. Bush was reelected.
2005		Second inauguration of George W. Bush: George W. Bush was inaugurated to his second term.
2005		Hurricane Katrina: A hurricane devastated the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama coastlines killing at least 1,836 people and causing $81 billion in damage.
2006		The Democratic Party retook control of both houses of Congress and gained control of a majority of state governorships.
2006	28 December	John Edwards presidential campaign, 2008: Democratic former Senator John Edwards announced his candidacy for the office of President.
2007		Democrat Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
		Iraq War troop surge of 2007: George W. Bush ordered the substantial increase of the number of United States troops in Iraq.
		Virginia Tech massacre: A South Korean student shot and killed thirty-two other students and professors before killing himself.
		The I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed, killing thirteen people.
	December	Late-2000s recession: A recession began.
2008		2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak: An outbreak of tornadoes killed over sixty people and produced $1 billion in damage across Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama.
		Northern Illinois University shooting: A student killed five and injured twenty-one before killing himself.
		Hurricane Ike: A hurricane killed 100 people along the Texas coast, producing $31 billion in damage and contributing to rising oil prices.
		Oil prices in the United States hit a record $147 per barrel.
		Global financial crisis in September 2008: The stock market crashed.
		U.S. presidential election, 2008: Barack Obama was elected the forty-fourth President of the United States.
2009		Inauguration of Barack Obama: Obama was inaugurated the forty-fourth President of the United States.
		Tea Party protests: The first of a series of protests, focusing on smaller government, fiscal responsibility, individual freedoms and conservative views of the Constitution, were conducted across the country.
		Obama obtained Congressional approval for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $787 billion stimulus package.
		Death of Michael Jackson: Pop icon Michael Jackson died.
		Fort Hood shooting: Nidal Malik Hasan killed twelve servicemen and injured thirty-one.
2010	25 January	2010 United States Census: The first data for the census was ceremonially collected.
	27 January	2010 State of the Union Address: Obama addressed fiscal policy and financial regulation in a speech before Congress.
	12 February	The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act was signed into law, reinstating pay-as-you-go budgeting rules (PAYGO) to the federal budget process.
	18 February	Obama established the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a Presidential Commission charged with producing a plan to reduce the federal budget deficit, by executive order.
	23 February	The Navy lifted its ban on women in submarines.
	28 February	Democrat Neil Abercrombie, Representative of Hawaii's 1st congressional district, resigned, leaving his seat vacant.
	4 March	The Travel Promotion Act of 2009, which would charge foreign tourists ten dollars per stay and spend the proceeds on tourism promotion, was signed into law.
	18 March	The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, which provided tax breaks to businesses hiring unemployed workers, was signed into law.
	23 March	The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was signed into law.
	30 March	The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 was signed into law, amending the PPACA to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the act.
	21 July	The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law, reforming and expanding federal regulations of the financial sector.
	7 August	Elena Kagan was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
	2 November	United States Senate elections, 2010: The Republican Party gained five seats, to forty-seven, reducing the Democratic presence in the Senate to fifty-one. Two seats remained in the hands of independents.
	2 November	United States House of Representatives elections, 2010: The Republican Party gained sixty-two seats, giving them an absolute majority of 242 in the House and reducing the Democratic presence to 193.
	28 November	United States diplomatic cables leak: WikiLeaks began to release classified diplomatic documents to the international press.
	22 December	The Senate ratified the New START treaty.
	22 December	The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 was signed into law, ending the Don't ask, don't tell policy regarding homosexuals in the United States Armed Forces.
2011	8 January	2011 Tucson shooting: A gunman targeting Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords critically injured Giffords and killed six others, including federal judge John Roll, in Tucson, Arizona.
	12 January	Barack Obama Tucson memorial speech: Obama addressed gun control and the civility of political discourse in a speech in Tucson, Arizona.
	14 January	Republican National Committee chairmanship election, 2011: Reince Priebus was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
	25 January	2011 State of the Union Address: Obama addressed the need to find government efficiencies and improve the national infrastructure in a speech before Congress.
	27 January	ATF gunwalking scandal: Senator Chuck Grassley opened an investigation into a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives operation that sold guns to Mexican gun traffickers.
	5 February	The New START treaty came into force.
	15 February	Libyan civil war: A civil war began with violent protests in the Libyan city of Benghazi.
	27 February	Libyan civil war: The Libyan opposition announced the formation of a rival government, the National Transitional Council (NTC).
	17 March	The United Nations Security Council passed United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, authorizing member states to take any action short of occupation to prevent human rights abuses in Libya.
	19 March	Operation Odyssey Dawn: The United States began air and cruise missile attacks against Libya.
	20 March	Dove World Quran-burning controversy: The pastor of the fifty-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida burned a Quran.
	31 March	Operation Unified Protector: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began military operations in Libya, superseding the ongoing operations of several member states.
	1 April	2011 Mazar-i-Sharif attack: Protesters attacked the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, resulting in fourteen deaths.
	2 May	Death of Osama bin Laden: Al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden was killed by United States forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
	11 May	Newt Gingrich presidential campaign, 2012: Republican former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich announced his candidacy for the office of President.
	31 May	United States debt-ceiling crisis: The House voted down a bill to raise the legal limit on federal government debt.
	2 August	United States debt-ceiling crisis: The Budget Control Act of 2011 was passed, increasing the legal limit on federal government debt in order to prevent default and establishing the United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.
	5 August	United States federal government credit-rating downgrade, 2011: The credit-rating arm of Standard & Poor's reduced the rating of United States federal government debt from AAA to AA+.
	6 August	2011 Chinook shootdown in Afghanistan: A rocket-propelled grenade attack in Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan killed thirty United States military personnel and eight Afghans.
	8 August	August 2011 stock markets fall: Major United States stock market indices dropped in value by some two and a half trillion dollars.
	21 August	Battle of Tripoli (2011): NTC forces captured most of the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
	17 September	The populist Occupy Wall Street protest movement made camp in Zuccotti Park in New York City.
	20 September	The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 came into force.
	30 September	Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in Ma'rib Governorate, Yemen by a United States drone strike.
	20 October	Death of Muammar Gaddafi: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was captured and shot to death by NTC forces.
	31 October	Operation Unified Protector: The operation was declared a success.
	26 November	2011 NATO attack in Pakistan: NATO forces killed twenty-four Pakistani soldiers in Salala, Pakistan.
	18 December	Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq: The last United States troops withdrew from Iraq under the terms of the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement.