12 January 2001

Iranian physicist Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was assassinated while leaving his home for the University of Tehran, where he was a professor.

An earthquake registering 7.0 Mw struck Haiti, killing more than 100,000 people.

Comet McNaught (pictured) reached perihelion, becoming the brightest comet in over 40 years, with an apparent magnitude of −5.5.

Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah was overthrown by rebels led by John Okello, ending 200 years of Arab dominance in Zanzibar.

An underground explosion at a coal mine in Staffordshire, England, killed 155 men and boys.

Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann became the first German aviators to be awarded the Pour le Mérite, Germany's highest military honour.

The National Trust, a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, was founded.

Anglo-Zulu War: Natal Native Contingent and British troops defeated Zulu forces in the Action at Sihayo's Kraal.

The foundation stone of Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral in Cork was laid.

John Rennie's scheme to defend St Mary's Church (pictured) in Reculver from coastal erosion was abandoned in favour of demolition, despite the church being an exemplar of Anglo-Saxon architecture.

Mission Santa Clara de Asís (pictured), a Spanish mission in California that formed the basis of both the city of Santa Clara and Santa Clara University, was established by the Franciscans.

The fort at Allahabad was surrendered to the forces of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

Bayinnaung, who later assembled what was probably the largest empire in the history of mainland Southeast Asia, was crowned as the king of the Burmese Toungoo dynasty.

Basiliscus became Byzantine emperor after Zeno was forced to flee Constantinople.

Taal Volcano in the Philippines erupts and kills 39 people.

Ten people are killed and 15 wounded in a bombing near the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.

Violent protests occur in Bucharest, Romania, as two-day-old demonstrations continue against President Traian Băsescu's economic austerity measures. Clashes are reported in numerous Romanian cities between protesters and law enforcement officers.

An earthquake in Haiti occurs, killing between 220,000 and 300,000 people and destroying much of the capital Port-au-Prince.

Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught), one of the brightest comets ever observed is at its zenith visible during the day.

A stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims.

Deep Impact launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta II rocket.

Downtown Disney opens to the public as part of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.

Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.

Space Shuttle program: Atlantis launches from the Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-81 to the Russian space station Mir, carrying astronaut Jerry M. Linenger for a four-month stay on board the station, replacing astronaut John E. Blaha.