MILLENNIUM M A D N E S S

After September 11, the world would never be the same, with a climate of fear driven by terrorism and the threat of war.

Unprecedented worldwide celebration marked the beginning of a new millennium, amid hopes for a fresh beginning, for peace and a better world for all people. But on Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy struck-19 Islamic fundamentalists hijacked four domestic flights in the US and flew the planes into symbols of American strength: both towers of the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Passengers aboard the fourth plane attempted to fight back, and the plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field. Over 3,000 people were killed in the attacks, and the US suffered a great loss of innocence-it could no longer feel invulnerable. The victims included citizens of many nations as well as hundreds of firefighters and rescue personnel who were killed as the World Trade towers collapsed. The compelling televised images horrified people everywhere, and, in response, there was a massive outpouring of support and generosity for New York City and to the US. Within the US, hundreds of millions of dollars were raised by charities and a celebrity telethon, and a special bureau had to be created to distribute the flood of donations for the firefighters. There was also, amid the shock and grief, a sense of community, solidarity and love. Other countries tempered their support with some criticism of the US' historical role in the world, especially as the US launched a war on al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. What seemed to be in the realm of science fiction- the cloning of human beings-became a possible reality. Apart from the famous "Dolly," the cloned sheep, various other animal clones had been been very short lived. Scientists managed to isolate and grow human embryonic stem cells in the laboratory. Eager to be able to produce human cells for valuable research for therapeutic uses, they were opposed by pro-life groups and church leaders. In March 2001, Italian gynacologist Severino Antinori, who operated a fertility clinic in Rome, announced he would attempt human cloning to help infertile couples who could not have children by any other method. In August of that year, the United States House of Representatives voted to ban all human cloning and rejected an amendment to the bill that would have permitted human cloning for stem cell research. But in 2002, scientists in the UK were given the go-ahead to create human embryo clones under controlled conditions for the purposes of therapeutic research. On television, "reality TV" flourished, after a groundbreaking British show called Big Brother went stellar- resulting in the format being sold around the world and spawning dozens of spin-offs. Beginning with the first season of Survivor, American television networks released a flood of shows in which "real" people competed in often horrifying contests for large amounts of cash or humiliating competitions for love. In the winter of 2002, Joe Millionaire, a show in which a bevy of beauties vied to win the love of a construction worker posing as a multimillionaire, drew record-breaking numbers of viewers.

THE SILVER SCREEN

Big movies of the young century included Roman Polanski's The Pianist, the historical epic Gladiator with Russell Crowe in the tile role, the French film Amelie, and the Coen brothers' offbeat O Brother, Where Art Thou? Ang Lee's sweeping epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon gave Chinese cinema and martial arts a new lease on life and picked up many awards.

BETWEEN THE PAGES

The decade has already produced some excellent literature, including Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections, Kazuo Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans and Ian McEwen's Atonement.

PEOPLE

New York mayor Rudi Giuliani became a popular and reassuring presence in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But celebrity still ruled, with "bachelorette" Trista Rehn, fallen virgin nymphet Britney Spears, and Irish renegade heartthrob Colin Farrell. And while one celebrity marriage began- Madonna married director Guy Ritchie in a Scottish castle-another ended, with the bitter and public divorce of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Cruise was promptly linked with Penelope Cruz, Spanish actress and co-star in his film Vanilla Sky. People were still eager for every detail of Michael Jackson's bizarre life and Jennifer Lopez's love life. Musical tastes were varied and eclectic with everything from rap's bad