To kick off the decade, the US welcomed a new president and continued speeding down the path of technology and innovation. It seemed that every week there was a new achievement, and it was no different for the Toyota Prius. The awards continued to pile up as The Society of Automotive Engineers named Prius “Best Engineered Car of 2001.” Meanwhile, millions of miles from Earth, the United States was the first to land a spacecraft on a moving asteroid. The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft gently touched-down in the saddle region of 433 Eros.

Back on our planet, a cargo train traveling from Port Hedland to Western Australia set the record as the world’s longest train. It was four and a half miles long, and pulled 682 wagons worth of iron ore.
2001 was also a big year for gamers. Microsoft released the much-anticipated Xbox in November and sold out soon-thereafter. At the time, it was the first console to feature a hard disk drive for saving game play and downloading content.