2006
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| Years: | 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 |
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
| 2006 by topic |
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2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. It is also the current year.
It has been designated:
- The International Year of Deserts and Desertification
- The Rembrandt Year, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Netherlands' greatest 17th-century painter
- The Tricentennial (300th anniversary) of the birth of Benjamin Franklin, scientist and statesman
- The Bicentennial (200th anniversary) of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, engineer
- The Bicentennial (200th anniversary) of the birth of Benito Juárez, former President of Mexico
- The Henrik Ibsen Year, commemorating the 100th year since the death of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen
- The Mozart Year, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Also the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dmitri Shostakovich
- The Tesla Year, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of the electrotechnician Nikola Tesla
- The International Asperger's Year, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr Hans Asperger, discoverer of Asperger's Syndrome
- The year of city of Patras as European Capital of Culture
- The year of the Dog in Chinese Astrology (beginning on January 29)
- The year of Study abroad, by resolution of the United States Senate
- The year of Aquarius, the Water Bearer in Western astrology. The next year for Aquarius will be in the year 2018.
Events
January
- January 1 - Russia cuts natural gas to Ukraine over a price dispute.
- January 2 - Fifteen are killed when the Bad Reichenhall ice rink roof in Germany collapses after heavy snowfall in the Bavarian Alps.
- January 3 - Twelve deceased coal miners and one survivor are discovered in the Sago Mine Disaster near Buckhannon, West Virginia in the United States.
- January 4 - Intel has replaced the old sign Intel Inside with the new sign Intel. Powers are transferred from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to his deputy, Vice Premier Ehud Olmert, after Sharon suffers a massive hemorrhagic stroke.
- January 5 - A hotel in Makkah, Saudi Arabia collapses killing 76 pilgrims visiting to perform hajj.
- January 6 - The record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season officially draws to a close as Tropical Storm Zeta dissipates.
- January 7 - Embroiled in multiple scandals, former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay announced he would not seek to reassume his former post. U.K. Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy resigns after revelations that he has a drinking problem.
- January 8 - A powerful, magnitude 6.9 earthquake shakes much of Greece and is felt throughout the eastern Mediterranean basin. No significant damage or injuries are reported.
- January 9 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 11,000 for the first time since June 7, 2001 closing at 11,011.90.
- January 10 - At the Macworld Conference & Expo, Apple Computer introduces the first Macs with Intel processors: the iMac (Core Duo) and the MacBook Pro.
- January 11 - Augustine Volcano in Alaska erupts twice, marking its first major eruption since 1986.
- January 12 - A stampede during the Stoning of the devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills 362 Muslim pilgrims.
- January 14 - A natural gas explosion in a coal mine kills eight in Romania.
- January 15 - NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends with the return of the first comet samples. Socialist Michelle Bachelet is elected the first female President of Chile.
- January 16 - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is inaugurated as the first female President of Liberia.
- January 17 - Joseph T. Walsh succumbs after a fight with cancer, Catholic saint.
- January 19 - the New Horizons spacecraft is launched, beginning the first ever mission to Pluto. Suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, killing only the bomber himself, but injuring 20 people, one of them seriously.
- January 22 - Portuguese elections are won by Anibal Cavaco Silva. He is the first right-wing winner since the Carnation Revolution in 1974
- January 23 - A train crashed near Bioče, a village nine miles northeast of Podgorica in Serbia and Montenegro killing 44 and injuring 184 people after the train's brakes failed. See also Bioče train disaster. In the Canadian federal election, the Conservatives win a plurality of seats in the House of Commons to form a minority government.
- January 24 - The Parliament of Kuwait vote Kuwaiti Emir Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah out of power moments before his official abdication. The Walt Disney Company aquires Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion. Butch Hartman, creator of Danny Phantom and Fairly Oddparents, announced on his website that both shows were scheduled to be cancelled.
- January 25 - Hamas wins the Palestinian legislative election, gaining 76 of 132 legislative seats. Pope Benedict XVI issues his first papal encyclical, Deus Caritas Est.
- January 26 - Michael J. Neils, bishop of the Grand Canyon Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, resigns following admissions of sexual misconduct.
- January 27 - Worldwide celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Mozart. Western Union discontinues its telegraph service after 155 years of continuous service.
- January 28 - Arrests in Tehran of many bus workers' union activists, hours before a strike calling for the release of their leader Mansour Osanlou.
- January 28 - The roof of a trade hall collapses near the southern Polish city of Katowice, killing 65 people.
- January 29 : Tarja Halonen wins a second term in office in the Finnish presidential election.
- January 31 : Samuel Alito is confirmed to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the US Supreme Court. Ben Bernanke is confirmed to replace Alan Greenspan who had been the Chairman of the Federal Reserve in the United States since 1987.
February
- February 1 - Several European newspapers reprint controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, sparking outrage and rioting in the following weeks.
- February 3 - The Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 sinks in the Red Sea with heavy casualties.
- February 4 - A stampede occurs outside ULTRA Stadium in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines, killing 79 and injuring hundreds before the taping of the show Wowowee (see Pasig City stampede).
- February 5 : The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 in Super Bowl XL, played at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
- February 6 - Stephen Harper is sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada.
- February 9 - Trial of Haggai Katriel begins in Jerusalem.
- February 10–February 26 - The 2006 Winter Olympics take place in Turin, Italy.
- February 11 : President of Italy Carlo Azeglio Ciampi dissolves the national parliament. United States Vice President Dick Cheney shoots and injures Harry Whittington while hunting in rural Texas.
- February 16 - Kobe Airport, a controversial offshore airport in Kobe, Japan, opens for airline service.
- February 17 - As many as eighteen hundred people die when a mudslide occurs on the island of Leyte in the Philippines.
- February 19 - Sixty-five miners become trapped underground after an explosion in Nueva Rosita, Mexico during the Pasta de Conchos mine disaster. There were no survivors.
- February 22 - A blast heavily damages the Al Askari Mosque, a Shiite holy site in Samarra, Iraq, causing a wave of protests and counterattacks across Iraq.
- February 22 - Over £53.1 million is stolen during the Securitas depot robbery, the largest ever cash robbery in the United Kingdom.
- February 22 - The one billionth song is purchased from Apple iTunes.
- February 23 - A roof collapses on a Moscow Market, killing 56 people.
- February 24 - A state of emergency is declared in the Philippines after an alleged coup d'etat against President Gloria Arroyo is foiled.
- February 25 - Six police officers, seven protesters, and a journalist receive head wounds when a protest prior to the Love Ulster parade turns into a major riot.
- February 25 - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni wins 2nd re-election, sparking riots in Kampala by opposition supporters.
- February 26 - The world population reaches 6.5 billion at 0016 UTC according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
March
- March 2 - The U.S. Federal Reserve releases the redesigned $10 bill into circulation.
- March 3 - The first World Baseball Classic opens in Tokyo, Japan.
- March 4 - A new species of shark was discovered in Mexico's Sea of Cortez, bringing the types of Mustelus shark found in the eastern North Pacific to five.
- March 4 - The 28th Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is held in Australia.
- March 5 - Crash wins Best Picture, Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) wins Best Director, Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) wins Best Actress, and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) wins Best Actor during the 78th Academy Awards.
- March 7 - Fifteen people die and many others are injured in three blasts throughout Varanasi, India.
- March 9 - Microsoft unveils the Ultra-Mobile PC, formerly code-named "Origami Project".
- March 9 - NASA's Cassini-Huygens spacecraft discovered geysers of water shooting from Saturn's moon Enceladus, signaling a possible presence of water.
- March 10 - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters Mars orbit.
- March 11 - Slobodan Milošević, former Yugoslav president, dies of a heart attack in his prison cell in The Hague, Netherlands.
- March 11 - Michelle Bachelet is sworn in as the first female President of Chile.
- March 12 - Springfield, Illinois is hit with its biggest storm in over fifty years as a tornado outbreak sequence causes dozens of tornadoes to occur in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois over a five-day period.
- March 15–March 26 - The 2006 Commonwealth Games take place in Melbourne, Australia.
- March 16 - Operation Swarmer begins in and around Samarra, Iraq. About 600 U.S. and 850 Iraqi troops with 200 ground vehicles and 50 aircraft, in an effort to flush out the city's insurgents, launch the largest air assault since the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.
- March 16 - The New Kitakyushu Airport opens in Japan.
- March 18 - South Australia re-elects Mike Rann and the Labor Party. Tasmania also re-elects Labor with Paul Lennon as Leader.
- March 20 - Tropical Cyclone Larry makes landfall in Queensland, Australia as what is considered to be the worst cyclone to hit the region since 1931.
- March 22 - Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) declares a permanent ceasefire in their campaign for Basque independence from Spain.
- March 23 - The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ceases publication of the M3 monetary aggregate.
- March 25 - An estimated 500,000 people took to the streets in downtown Los Angeles in protest of a proposed federal crackdown on illegal immigration.
- March 25 - A revolutionary scramjet jet engine Hyshot III designed to fly at seven times the speed of sound is successfully tested at Woomera, South Australia.
- March 26 - The ban on smoking in public places such as bars and restaurants comes into effect in Scotland.
- March 26 - The opening gag on the Fox television show The Simpsons featured live actors in place of the animated family.
- March 28 - Andrew Card, chief of staff to President George W. Bush resigns; President Bush nominates Josh Bolten as his replacement.
- March 29 - Total solar eclipse (Brazil, Greece, Mid Atlantic ocean, Sahara, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia).
- March 30 - The first Brazilian astronaut, Marcos Pontes, goes to space in a Russian spaceship, Soyuz TMA-8, at 2:29:00 CET.
- March 30 - The al-Dana capsizes off the coast of Bahrain killing at least forty-eight people.
- March 30 - After being held hostage in Iraq for nearly 3 months, American freelance journalist Jill Carroll is released unharmed.
April
- April 5 - For the first time ever, Andrew Lloyd Weber's, Starlight Express is performed on an amatuer venue at Fairfield Senior High School in Fairfield, Ohio.
- April 5 - A swan with Avian Flu is discovered in Cellardyke in Fife, the first case in the United Kingdom.
- April 8 - The bodies of eight murdered men were found in Shedden, Ontario (see Shedden massacre)
- April 9 - Education and Sharing day in the United States, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is taken out of office after 4 months in a coma.
Predicted and scheduled events
- April 9 - Peruvians will elect the successor of Alejandro Toledo in the Peruvian national election, 2006
- April 9 - Italians will vote for new Parliament as Silvio Berlusconi defends his premiership in the Italian general elections, 2006
- April 9 - Election in Hungary; first turn
- April 11 - ESA's Venus Express spaceprobe begins to enter Venus orbit.
- April 15 - New series of Doctor Who starts at 19:15 on BBC One.
- April 23 - Big Brother (Australian TV series) will start its sixth season.
- April 23 - Election in Hungary; second turn
- April 23 - Census in Ireland.
- April 30 - Song, a subsdiary of Delta Air Lines will shift services to its mainline.
May
- May 4 - UK local elections, 2006 - Local elections to be held across England.
- May 6 - The 132nd of The Kentucky Derby will take place at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.
- May 19 - Greece Pontian Genocide Remebrance Day.
- May 20 - The 131st Running of the Preakness Stakes will take place at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.
- May 20 - The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 grand final is to take place in Athens, Greece.
- May 20 - Minneapolis opens its new central library.
- May 21 - Referendum in Montenegro on whether to remain with Serbia in the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or become independent.
- May 22 - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest, opens its fifth runway.
- May 25-May 28 - Pope Benedict XVI's pilgrimage to Poland
- Parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic
- Census in Canada - for the first time, the Canadian census will provide an online internet (web-based) service as an alternative to the usual mail-in forms.
June
- June 9 - Football World Cup 2006 in Germany starts with the first game (Germany v Costa Rica) held at Munich World Cup Stadium (aka Allianz Arena).
- June 10 - The 138th Running of the Belmont Stakes will be held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
- June 17 - Local government elections in Slovakia.
- June 29 - 50th anniversary of United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower signing the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which created funding for the Interstate Highway System.
July
- July 1 - Qinghai-Tibet Railway launches trial operation, connecting China proper and Tibet for the first time.
- July 1 - Electronic equipment imported to or sold in the European Union will have to be lead free soldered, to comply with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive.
- July 2 - Presidential election in Mexico.
- July 3 to July 9 - Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic journey to Spain.
- July 8 - The second series of Doctor Who starring David Tennant finishes today with the episode Doomsday.
- July 9 - FIFA World Cup 2006 Final Game at the Olympic Stadium, Berlin.
- July 11- Microsoft will terminate support for Windows 98 SE and Windows ME.
- July 20 - World Jump Day will take place.
- July 23 - Microsoft is scheduled to release the Windows Vista Operating System to PC vendors, such as HP and Dell.
- July 28 - Alejandro Toledo concludes his term as President of Peru.
- July 29 to August 5 - World Congress of Esperanto in Florence, Italy.
August
- August 1 - Team TriggerHappy will become active in e-sports.
- August 8 - Census in Australia.
- August 13 to August 18 - The XVI International AIDS Conference will be held in Toronto, Canada.
- August 14 to August 25 - The 26th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Prague, Czech Republic.
- August 19 to September 3 - FIBA Basketball World Championship 2006 scheduled to be held in Japan. Qualifying matches scheduled to be held in Sapporo, Sendai, Hamamatsu, and Hiroshima, followed by the final tournament at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama City.
September
- September 11 - 5th Anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks
- September 16 - Oktoberfest begins.
- September 17 - Sweden general election, 2006: Sweden holds elections for the Riksdag.
- September 19-20 - 2006 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, Singapore
- September 26 - Scheduled reopening date of the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, LA after repairs to the Superdome from damages sustained during Hurricane Katrina.
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Nintendo Gamecube is said to be released this month
October
- October 2 - Brazilian General Elections, 2006: Presidential election, Legislative: full renewal of the Chamber of Deputies and renewal of one third of the Federal Senate (one of each state's three seats); State sphere: Gubernatorial elections, renewal of the State Legislative body (State Assembly) in all states.
- October 3 - Oktoberfest ends.
- October 15 - Chief Justice of Japan Akira Machida will be forced to retire upon reaching the age of 70.
- October 24 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft to Mercury makes the first of two Venus flybys.
November
- November 3 - The Borat movie starring Sacha Baron Cohen is scheduled for release.
- November 7 - Midterm elections will be held in the United States.
- November 8 - Transit of Mercury.
- November 11 - Gerald Ford, if still living, becomes the longest lived President of the United States.
- November 22 - A General Election will take place for the House of Keys in the Isle of Man.
- November 24 - Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair's deadline on Northern Ireland power sharing.
- November 28-29 - The NATO Summit 2006 will take place in Latvia.
- November 30 - The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season and the 2006 Pacific hurricane season will officially end.
December
- December 1 - The 15th Asian Games will be held in Doha, Qatar until December 15.
- December 6 - Last surviving adult-aged silent screen star, the Canadian-born Barbara Kent, becomes a centenarian.
- December 19 - The USA will reach a population of 300,000,000 on this date, according to calculations.
Major religious holidays
- January 6 - Feast of Epiphany or Dia de los Reyes Magos (Day of the Magi Kings).
- January 7 - Christmas in the Russian Orthodox church calendar.
- January 10 - Islamic festival of Eid ul-Adha begins (ends on January 12)
- January 11 - Vaikunta Ekadasi is observed by Hindus. This is the day when the Gates of Heaven open and remain open for the next ten days.
- January 14 - Mahayana Buddhist New Year.
- January 14 - Pongal Harvest Festival in Tamil Nadu.
- January 15 - Maatu Pongal, Festival of Cows in Tamil Nadu.
- January 16 - Uzhavar Tirunaal, Farmer's Day in Tamil Nadu.
- January 29 - Year of the Dog, 4704, begins. Chinese/Asian New Year.
- January 31 - Muslim New Year.
- February 9 - Day of Ashurah.
- February 13 - Tu Bishvat
- February 28 - Mardi Gras
- March 13 - Jewish holiday of Purim begins at sunset.
- March 14 - Sikh New Year.
- March 21 - Bahai New Year.
- March 30 - Hindu New Year.
- April 5 - Qingming Festival
- April 12 - Pesach or Passover begins at sunset, continues for a week.
- April 13 - Theravada Buddhist New Year.
- April 13 - Punjabi New Year
- April 14 - Good Friday in the Western Church Calendar.
- April 14 - Puththaandu Tamil New Year in the Tamil Calendar, observed by people in Tamil Nadu.
- April 16 - Easter in the Western Church Calendar.
- April 21 - Good Friday in the Eastern Church Calendar.
- April 23 - Easter in the Eastern Church Calendar.
- September 22 - Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown. Continues until nightfall of the 24th.
- September 23 - First day of Ramadan.
- October 1 - Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur begins at sundown. Ends at nightfall of the 2nd.
- October 24 - Islamic festival of Eid ul-Fitr.
- October 26 - Hindu festival of Diwali.
- December 25 - Christmas in the Western Church Calendar.
- December 31 - Islamic festival of Eid ul-Adha begins (ends on January 2, 2007)
Unknown/undecided dates
- Brazil will officially adopt the Digital TV System (Probably Japanese, or a new system, the Brazilian Digital TV System)
- Al Jazeera will launch its new satellite service, Al Jazeera International, in Europe, Asia, and North America sometime during the spring.
- White House proposed Plebiscite to decide whether Puerto Rico will mantain its territorial status or change to another status (to be decided then in other referenda)
- The European Space Agency plans to launch the KEO space time capsule
- Irish referendum on the European Constitution: The Republic of Ireland is expected to hold a referendum on the European Constitution.
- A bridge linking Savannakhet, Laos, over the Mekong, to Mukdahan, Thailand is expected to be completed late in the year.
- The Stardust Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada will officially close in late 2006 after 55 years of continuous operation to make way for the $4 billion dollar Echelon Place a new mega resort scheduled to officially open in 2010.
- NASA plans to launch STS-115 using Space Shuttle Atlantis. It will be the nineteenth station flight. The launch is currently scheduled for August unless STS-121 is not launched on schedule.
- The new Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand opens, replacing Don Muang as Bangkok's primary airport.
- Sony's PlayStation 3, originally expected to come out in the spring, will come out close to the Christmas season.
- Boston's Big Dig, or Central Artery/Tunnel Project will be substantially completed after 15 years of construction, totaling $14.6 billion.
Deaths
Main article: Deaths in 2006
January
- January 1 - Henry Magdoff, American political commentator (b. 1913)
- January 1 - Bryan Harvey (musician), American singer and guitarist (b. 1956)
- January 2 - Steve Rogers, Australian rugby player (b. 1954)
- January 3 - Bill Skate, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)
- January 4 - Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (b. 1946)
- January 4 - Irving Layton, Canadian poet (b. 1912)
- January 6 - Lou Rawls, American singer (b. 1933)
- January 6 - Hugh Thompson, counselor and war hero (b. 1943)
- January 7 - Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer and explorer (b. 1912)
- January 8 - Tony Banks, British politician (b. 1943)
- January 9 - Mikk Mikiver, Estonian actor, director (b. 1937)
- January 14 - Shelley Winters, American actress (b. 1920)
- January 15 - Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1926)
- January 16 - Stanley Biber, American physician (b. 1923)
- January 19 - Wilson Pickett, American singer (b. 1941)
- January 21 - Ibrahim Rugova, first President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
- January 24 - Chris Penn, American actor (b. 1965)
- January 27 - Johannes Rau, President of Germany (b. 1931)
- January 28 - Yitzchak Kaduri, Iraqi-born rabbi (b. 1894?)
- January 30 - Coretta Scott King, American civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1927)
February
- February 4 - Betty Friedan, American feminist (b. 1921)
- February 4 - Al Lewis, American actor (b. 1910?)
- February 8 - Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer (b. 1914)
- February 9 - Ron Greenwood, English footballer and manager (b. 1921)
- February 10 - Jay Dee, American hip hop record producer and MC (b. 1974)
- February 11 - Peter Benchley, American author (b. 1940)
- February 11 - Jockey Shabalala, South African singer with Ladysmith Black Mambazo (b. 1943)
- February 15 - Sun Yun-suan, Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1913)
- February 16 - Betty Heathfield, British mining community activist (b. 1927)
- February 16 - Ernie Stautner, German-born American football player (b. 1925)
- February 16 - Mike Durham, Pro wrestler known as Johnny Grunge (b. 1966)
- February 17 - Ray Barretto, American Latin-Jazz and Salsa musician (b. 1929)
- February 20 - Curt Gowdy, American sports broadcaster (b. 1919)
- February 24 - Octavia Butler, American author (b. 1947)
- February 24 - Don Knotts, American actor (b. 1924)
- February 24 - Dennis Weaver, American actor (b. 1924)
- February 25 - Darren McGavin, American actor (b. 1922)
- February 27 - Ferenc Bene, Hungarian football player (b. 1944)
March
- March 1 - Harry Browne, American writer, politician, and investment analyst (b. 1933)
- March 1 - Jack Wild, British actor (b. 1952)
- March 6 - Kirby Puckett, baseball player (b. 1960)
- March 6 - Dana Reeve, American actress, wife of Christopher Reeve (b. 1961)
- March 7 - Gordon Parks, American artist (b. 1912)
- March 9 - John Profumo, British cabinet minister (b. 1915)
- March 9 - Geir Ivarsøy, Norwegian computer programmer (b. 1957)
- March 10 - Anna Moffo, American soprano (b. 1930, not 1932)
- March 11 - Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian hockey player (b. 1931)
- March 11 - Slobodan Milošević, President of Serbia (b. 1941)
- March 12 - István Gyulai, Hungarian sports official (b. 1943)
- March 12 - Victor Sokolov, Russian dissident journalist and priest (b. 1947)
- March 13 - Maureen Stapleton, American actress (b. 1925)
- March 13 - Jimmy Johnstone, footballer (b. 1944)
- March 14 - Lennart Meri, President of Estonia (b. 1929)
- March 15 - Red Storey, Canadian footballer and hockey referee (b. 1918)
- March 17 - Oleg Cassini, American fashion designer (b. 1913)
- March 17 - Ray Meyer, American basketball coach (b. 1913)
- March 19 - Mohammad Ali, Pakistani actor (b. 1936)
- March 22 - Pierre Clostermann, French World War II pilot (b. 1921)
- March 23 - Cindy Walker, American songwriter (b. 1918)
- March 24 - Jaroslava Moserova, Czech physician, writer, and head of UNESCO (b. 1930)
- March 25 - Buck Owens, American singer and songwriter (b. 1929)
- March 25 - Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944)
- March 25 - Richard Fleischer, American Film Director (b. 1916)
- March 26 - Paul Dana, American race car driver (b. 1975)
- March 27 - Stanisław Lem, Polish writer (b. 1921)
- March 27 - Lyn Nofziger, American press secretary and political adviser to Ronald Reagan (b. 1924)
- March 28 - Caspar Weinberger, United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1917)
- March 31 - Rudolf Vrba, Slovakian Holocaust survivor (b. 1924)
April
- April 2 - Nina Schenk von Stauffenberg, German wife of freedom fighter Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg (b. 1913)
- April 4 - Denis Donaldson, Irish Republican informer (b. 1950)
- April 5 - Gene Pitney, American singer (b. 1941)
- April 6 - Maggie Dixon, American basketball coach (b. 1977)
- April 8 - Gerard Reve, Dutch author (b. 1923)
- April 9 - Billy Hitchcock, baseball player, coach, and official (b. 1916)
Fictional references
- March - The events of the Doctor Who episodes Aliens of London and World War Three take place.
- September - The events of Doctor Who episode Boom Town take place.
- December 24 to December 25 - The events of Doctor Who episode The Christmas Invasion take place.
- The events of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow take place.
- The events of the third season of the Transformers cartoon take place.
- In 2001, an actor portraying a future version of Stan Marsh tells his younger counterpart that he'll be sent to juvenile hall sometime during the course of the year on South Park.
- The central character in the BBC series Life on Mars came from 2006 before he travelled through time to 1973.
- The N64 video game, BattleTanx: Global Assault took place during this year.
- According to Penny Galactica's robot UNI in Disney Adventures' Kid Gravity comic, this will be the first year we build cities on Mars.
- In Seven Ancient Wonders, a book by Matthew Reilly, March 20th will be the day of the coming of Tartarus.