Late show talkmeisters Jay Leno and David Letterman were making jokes about chads — hanging, indented, pregnant and dimpled. Cincinnati-born Bill Hemmer was the handsome “Chad Lad” star of CNN's election coverage. We still weren't sure who the president was. And it looked like the election would consume all of our attention in 2001. It didn't.
We changed. We became angry and afraid. Then resolute and vengeful. Then tired and cranky.
For a while, we lost our sense of humor. On Mr. Letterman's show, veteran news reporter and anchor Dan Rather cried.
New names, phrases, places and routines became part of life.
We are now at war against terror, and it is impossible to look back at 2001 without recoiling. But — as our then and now chart shows — other things happened this year. Some of it was good, some of it funny and some of it sad — just the way life gives it to us.
| DECEMBER 2000 | | DECEMBER 2001 |
| Rare zoo rhino Emi is pregnant | | Rhino baby Andalas weighs 319 pounds |
| Bring Olympics here | | Bring harmony here |
| Maisonette Chef Jean Robert de Cavel | | Maisonette Chef Bertrand Bouquin |
| Shopping at Rookwood Commons | | Shopping at Newport on the Levee |
| Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse downtown | | Jeff Ruby's Carlo and Johnny in Montgomery |
| Main Street | | Mainstrasse |
| Arnold's Bar & Grill (formerly owned by Councilman Jim Tarbell) | | Crowley's Pub (owned by family of Councilman David Crowley) |
| Two carry-on bags per airline passenger | | Two-hour advance arrival |
| Flying to Grandma's house | | Driving to Grandma's house |
| Comair Weekend Traveler tickets | | 0% financing on new cars |
| PT Cruiser under $20,000 | | Mercedes under $30,000 |
| Drinking a Cosmopolitan | | Drinking an Appletini |
| Sports stars were our heroes | | Firefighters are our heroes |
| E-mailed jokes | | E-mailed prayers |
| George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou | | George Clooney in Ocean's Eleven |
| How the Grinch Stole Christmas | | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone |
| Michael & Catherine were the Hollywood couple | | Brad & Jennifer are the Hollywood couple |
| Russell Crowe, man of war, in Gladiator | | Russell Crowe, mathematician, in A Beautiful Mind |
| Record-high heating bills | | Record-high temperatures |
| Some people thought George W. Bush lost the election | | As president, George Bush's approval ratings soar |
| Weak mayor | | Strong mayor (Same guy) |
| Courtis Fuller gave you the news | | Courtis Fuller makes the news |
| Vice Mayor Minette Cooper | | Vice Mayor Alicia Reese |
| Bill Clinton | | Hillary Clinton |
| Palm Beach | | Kandahar |
| Comair pilots prepared to go on strike | | Airline pilots want to be armed |
| Day traders | | Record high bankruptcies |
| Dot-coms | | Dot-gones |
| Riverfront parking lots | | Riverfront parking lots |
| Reds fire Jack McKeon | | New manager Bob Boone finishes 19 games worse that McKeon |
| Skip Prosser leaves the Xavier Musketeers to take charge of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons | | Thad Matta becomes Xavier University's basketball coach |
| 20th anniversary of John Lennon's death | | George Harrison dies |
| PlayStation 2 | | X-Box |
| Survivor: Australia | | Survivor: Africa |
| The Sopranos | | Six Feet Under |
| Reality TV | | Watching reality on TV |
| Timothy McVeigh awaited execution | | Osama bin Laden wanted dead or alive |
Year in Tempo: Then and now
