One date will define the year 2001 for history - September 11.

911: The date will live in infamy long after its horrific images have ceased to play over and over again in our minds:

Two passenger jets slamming - one by one as if in a bad dream - into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Two, 110-storey steel giants, which housed 50,000 workers, plunging to the ground in a matter of seconds.

Manhattanites - considered America's toughest and most unflappable citizens - dazed, shocked, wandering, covered in the debris of terror.

The impenetrable Pentagon, penetrated.

A fire in a field in Pennsylvania, which comes to symbolise courage and American spirit.

Floods of emergency service workers filing in and out of Hell; attacking a crater of destruction in one of the world's great cities. Hundreds of them will never be seen alive again.

September 11 taught people in Bermuda words we would have preferred to remain ignorant of - Anthrax, al-Qaeda, Taliban, Kandahar, Ground Zero, C4, Smallpox. Fear. War. Hatred.

Bermuda would lose two of its "children of the soil". The lives of Rhondelle Tankard (31) and Boyd Gatton (38) plucked from their families, their friends and their country alongside the thousands of other victims from around the world that day.

As planes were grounded following the attacks, many Bermudians found themselves stranded overseas. Those in Bermuda pulled together to assist foreigners stranded on the Island by tragedy. 1,200 are accommodated in local hotels. Regiment soldiers patrolled our streets. Cruise ships are searched for explosives.

And stories of survivors - stories of luck and courage and hope - begin to fill the local media.

2001 is a year forever split - BEFORE and AFTER. What could be said about this year before the attacks was simply not true on September 12.

For the Western World and North Americans particularly, everything changed.

After the fear, the horror and the tears, Bermuda - within a new world - faces recession. Tourism numbers have plummeted to unthinkable lows.

Some workers face layoffs and reduced hours. Retail sales spike downward.

The only consolation is that much of the world faces a situation far worse to that of this much-blessed isle. Even AFTER, Bermuda will weather the storm.

But 2001 was also an ordinary year, during which people got up, went to work, made mistakes, scored successes, cried for loved ones, raged against one another, found tenderness and voiced outrage.

The Royal Gazette offers a snapshot of the year that was...

The Year in Politics:

Following a major Cabinet Shuffle, the resignation of Pamela Gordon as Opposition Leader, the retirements of C.V. Jim Woolridge and Gary Pitman, and the appointment of a new Senator over the course of one year, the political landscape will look more different in 2002 than it has in any year since 1998.

And with the Boundaries Commission underway and a by-election planned for early in the year, 2002 promises to be an even more exciting year in local politics.

2001 was a year of change with a number of important political battles waged. The largest and loudest was undoubtedly the drive for Constitutional change.

The PLP Government has remained doggedly committed to the Throne Speech 2000 promise to move to single seat constituencies before the next election and its position that a Constitutional conference is not needed.

But calls for a conference have yet to cease and a yearlong battle has taken place in rhetoric in Bermuda and within the courts of Britain.

In January, Opposition Leader Pamela Gordon and UBP Senator Kim Swan presented an 8,500-name petition calling for a Constitutional Conference to Baroness Scotland while in London.

Officials from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office visited Bermuda in April to gauge for themselves local feeling on Constitutional change, however.

A massive public meeting was held at Government House and the FCO group promised a report on the matter by the summer.

And despite a July poll which suggested that 70 percent of Bermudians would support the idea of a constitutional conference, the UK elected to go ahead with the Order in Council establishing the Boundaries Commission. It went into force on August 21.

In July, the Association for Due Process and the Constitution - In July, the Association for Due Process and the Constitution, fronted by prominent Bermudians Sir John Plowman, Stanley Ratteray, Gloria McPhee and Gilbert Darrell - sought a judicial review of the Foreign Secretary's decision to move ahead with constitutional change.

The challenge failed in a British High Court July 13 and a London High Court ordered ASDP&C pay back legal costs to the UK government for the review.

The Boundaries Commission began its work in December consisting of Eugene Cox (PLP), Lois Browne-Evans (PLP), Pamela Gordon (UBP), John Barritt (UBP), Sir Brian Smedley (judicial member) and chairman Sir Frank Blackman.

In other political news this year:

Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown took up a considerable battle of his own - establishing a Central Dispatch System for Island taxis. In February, a group supporting the idea rallied around the Minister at the Cabinet building but one week later owners voted against the system at a meeting and branded the Minister a 'dictator'. Dr. Brown continues to push for the dispatch system however, and a company has been formed to begin implementing a new system.

Government announced in February that beginning in April a six-year term limit will be placed on permit workers. Certain positions will be exempt from the term limit provided the requesting company has a favourable CURE record.

Randy Horton was appointed a Cabinet Minister without Portfolio early in the year. But the November Cabinet Shuffle would see the Hamilton Parish MP became Minister of Culture and Community.

Bermuda begins laying the groundwork to join Caricom in July.

Speaker of the House Stanley Lowe was accused of being a Government puppet after he tossed UBP MP C.V. (Jim) Woolridge out of the House for making inappropriate comments to Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb. Mr. Woolridge called Ms Webb "a piece of trash" after she made allegations about a past business deal of his during Parliamentary sparring. Having only heard Mr. Woolridge's comment, Mr. Lowe ejected him February 23 when he would not retract the insult. Mr. Woolridge did not return to Parliament until March 16, at which time Mr. Lowe said he had been out long enough.

John Barritt brought forth proposals to end marathon sessions in Parliament. He suggests speeches be limited to 30 minutes and allow a question period afterward.

Thirty-year Parliamentary veteran C.V. Jim Woolridge retired on May 18. Mr. Woolridge served as MP for Smith's South since 1968. He walked out of the House of Assembly on the same day that he launched his autobiography, "The House that Jack Built".

Three parties contested the Smith's South by-election in June with Lt. Col. David Burch (PLP) running against Maxwell Burgess (UBP) and Graeme Outerbridge (NLP). Mr. Burgess carried the day in the July 17 by-election, returning to Parliament and leaving behind an empty Senate seat, later filled by the Rev. Leonard Santucci.

The results of the first CURE employment survey were announced on May 18. The survey showed less than one percent of blacks earn more than $100,000 against six percent of whites. Alternatively, 68 percent of those who earn less than $25,000 a year are black. Eight Island firms failed to cooperate with the survey and soon found themselves in court.

Former MP and Transport Minister Wayne Furbert was elected chairman of the United Bermuda Party in June.

Corey Butterfield, PLP public relations spokesman since before the 1998 General Election, was sacked from his post. Rumours swirled that Mr. Butterfield was removed due to his employment at a company embroiled in a messy Human Rights Commission complaint against Minister Terry Lister.

A policy banning out-of-school suspensions in Bermuda's public schools was announced in May. Teachers and many principals opposed the move. On June 15, teachers marched on Parliament to protest concerns over violence in the schools, codes of conduct and the suspension policy. In December, teachers at CedarBridge Academy hold an impromptu sit-in leaving the 900-odd students to wander the streets. Teachers complain that roughly 100 of the students are out of control.

UBP leader and former Premier Pamela Gordon resigned as leader in October. Dr. Grant Gibbons defeated John Barritt in a vote of UBP MPs and took over as leader.

The Premier shuffled her Cabinet at the end of October. Minister Paula Cox was moved from Labour and Home Affairs to Education taking over from Milton Scott. Dennis Lister moved from Youth and Sport to Environment while Terry Lister, formerly at Environment replaced Paula Cox at Labour and Home Affairs. Minister Randy Horton - formerly without portfolio - is given the Culture and Community Affairs post. Lt. Col David Burch was appointed Minister without Portfolio.

In November, the UBP Shadow Cabinet was shuffled.

The November 2 Throne Speech highlighted immigration and environmental issues. The Government promised to crackdown on immigration cheats. The Opposition called the yearly blueprint "uninspiring".

UBP MP Gary Pitman resigned in a surprise move on December 17. A by-election to fill his Pembroke West seat must be held by February and may be the final ballot box contest under the current constituency configuration.