In the year 2002
Anthropology
Michel Brunet and Martin Pickford discover in Chad the oldest hominid fossil found so far, the skull of a species named Sahelanthropus tchadensis who lived 6,000,000 to 7,000,000 years bp in a setting of woods broken with patches of savanna. See also 1991 Anthropology.
A skull found in the former Soviet nation of Georgia, dated at about 1,750,000 years bp, appears more like Homo habilis than it does like the other skulls found at the same site. These date from about the same time, but resemble H. erectus or H. ergaster, which is what might have been expected from fossils of about that time. One surprise for all of these skulls is their location, since it had been believed that hominids had not emigrated to Europe from Africa this early. See also 1995 Anthropology.
Archaeology
In a first for archaeology, Julio Mercader and coworkers recover stone tools that had been used by chimpanzees for cracking nuts some years in the past. See also 1960 Anthropology.
The famous Altamira painted caves are closed to the public because of the impact of carbon dioxide and water vapor exhaled by human visitors on organisms that can grow on cave walls; these are destroying paintings thousands of years old. See also 1879 Anthropology.
Astronomy
Further analysis of data from the orbiting Mars Odyssey space probe reveals in March clear signs of large amounts of water ice in the polar regions of Mars. The radiation detectors on Mars Odyssey detect hydrogen by examining neutrons kicked up by cosmic rays, neutrons whose most probable origin was in hydrogen nuclei. The ice is thought to be prevented from evaporating by having its upper layer covered with dust. See also 2000 Astronomy.
An international team by comparing the number of gravitational lenses observed during a ten-year period to the total number of galaxies finds new and independent evidence for the existence of dark energy, a mysterious force that is speeding up the expansion of the universe. See also 1998 Astronomy.
Kenneth R. Sembach and coworkers report studies based on FUSE (Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer) satellite observations show that the Milky Way is enveloped in a huge cloud of hot gas that extends almost to the nearest galaxies.
Studies of meteorites blasted off the surface of the Moon that have landed on Earth indicate that asteroids, not comets, bombarded the Moon (and Earth as well) about 3,900,000,000 years ago, causing thousands of giant craters. See also 1982 Astronomy.
NASA scientists propose that an unusual astronomical object named RXJ1856.6-3754 is a "quark star," a body so dense that the atomic nuclei have broken into constituent up and down quarks as well as some strange quarks.
A dozen unusual radio sources that appear as X patterns formed by giant jets of hot matter and radiation are recognized as the results of pairs of black holes colliding and merging. Also, astronomers discover a double black hole in the galaxy NGC 6240. See also 1980 Astronomy.
On February 5 the United States launches RHESSI (the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager). It explores the basic physics of particle acceleration and energy release during solar flares.
On October 4 and again on December 11, signals from the High-Energy Transient Explorer II (HETE II) satellite alert optical telescopes on Earth of gamma-ray bursts that are then successfully observed, the second and third such bursts to be seen optically. The earliest observation, on December 11, came less than two minutes after the blast. See also 1999 Astronomy.
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope in Llano de Chajnanto, Chile, which combines 64 antennas, each 12 m (39 ft) wide, begins operation. It is part of the worldwide network of radio telescopes that can be used together for very long baseline interferometry.
In September the laser-based LIGO telescope intended to detect gravity waves begins operation with its first run of 17 days. No gravity waves are found, but none had been expected at the accuracy of the first run. As the equipment is further calibrated and sensitivity improved, astronomers expect to detect gravity waves caused by infalling matter on binary neutron stars, certain kinds of pulsars, or even background radiation from the big bang.
The ANTARES (Astronomy with a Neutrino Telescope and Abyss Environmental Research) project begins in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of France. Ten vertical strings of about 1000 photomultiplier tubes each, with each string about 400 m (1300 ft) long, are suspended vertically from the bottom of the sea at a depth of about 2500 m (8000 ft) at intervals of about 60 m (200 feet). These observe Cerenkov radiation (flashes of light) produced by high-energy neutrinos generated by accelerated protons in space.
Raymond Davis, Masatoshi Koshiba, and Riccardo Giacconi are awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for the development of new windows on the universe and discoveries made with them. Davis pioneered the concept and creation of a neutrino telescope and used the first such device to study solar fusion, while Koshiba developed an improved neutrino telescope that not only confirmed the result of Davis's experiment, but also was the first neutrino telescope to detect a supernova. Giacconi recognized the potential of capturing X rays from space and became the first to observe X rays from beyond the solar system with the first X-ray telescopes, which he built and launched into space. Among his discoveries are X-ray sources now believed to be the first black holes ever observed. See also 1988 Astronomy; 1987 Astronomy; 1962 Astronomy.
Biology
Two groups of geneticists publish draft sequences of the rice genome of two rice varieties.
An international consortium publishes the genome of Anopheles gambiae, the mosquito vector of malaria, while other groups publish the genomes of two of the plasmodia that actually cause the disease.
For the first time in 87 years, a group of insects is assigned its own order (on a par with Lepidoptera for butterflies and moths). The new order, Mantophasmatodea, includes two genera and three species, popularly named gladiators, that are somewhat like a cross between a mantis and a grasshopper. See also 1995 Biology.
Scientist locate a fifth taste receptor on the tongue, which responds to amino acids (including the glutamate of monosodium glutamate). Previously it was thought that there were only taste receptors for sweet, salt, bitter, and sour. Also, a nerve receptor that detects cold is found for the first time; it is also activated by menthol. Other cold receptors not yet located are thought to be part of the sensory system as well.
Experiments conducted by two different groups of scientists show that amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, could form naturally in outer space from the action of ultraviolet radiation on simple, common molecules such as water, ammonia, and methanol. See also 1953 Biology.
John B. Fenn [b. New York City, 1917], Koichi Tanaka [b. Toyama City, Japan, August 3, 1959], and Kurt Wüthrich [b. Switzerland, October 4, 1938] are awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing ways to analyze very large biological molecules. Before their work, biochemists needed to spend years of effort to determine the mass of and to locate the atoms and their placement in a large molecule, such as a protein. Proteins are large molecules that are folded in specific ways; the folded shape is essential to the protein's function.
Sydney Brenner [b. South Africa, January 13, 1927], H. Robert Horvitz [b. America, May 8, 1947], and John E. Sulston [b. England, March 27, 1942] are awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their discoveries concerning organ development and apoptosis, or programmed cell death -- the normal process by which healthy cells self-destruct, thereby maintaining the appropriate number of cells in an organism's tissues.
Chemistry
Scientists in Rome create molecules consisting of four nitrogen atoms -- molecules of nitrogen in air contain two atoms only.
Computers
A new Japanese supercomputer called Earth Simulator achieves a processing speed of 35,600 gigaflops (a gigaflop is a billion calculations per second). This is five times faster than its nearest competitor. See also 1997 Computers.
Earth science
Laboratory studies reveal that Earth's mantle (the layer between the crust and core) could hold five times as much water as is in all the oceans.
Grant Yip of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and coworkers discover evidence of massive landslides in Baja California that occurred at precisely the same time as a giant object struck the Yucatán peninsula on the other side of the continent. The landslides were triggered by a magnitude 13 earthquake, thought to have been caused by the impact. See also 1991 Earth science.
On March 17 the United States in consort with Germany launches GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment), two Earth-orbiting satellites flying in tandem to make extremely precise measurements of Earth's gravitational field.
Ecology & the environment
A U.S. Geological Survey study reveals that U.S. waterways are contaminated with steroids, ingredients used in plastics, detergents, insect repellent, and antibiotics; the greatest concerns are over high levels of estrogen and 22 different antibiotics, which may directly affect the health of organisms.
Electronics
Researchers at Princeton University discover a new method for making computer chips based on molding them with etched quartz instead of "burning" them through masks.
Materials
Researchers at the University of California, Davis, discover that distributing molecules of gadolinium nitrate through porous silicon creates a form of silicon that explodes like gunpowder when scratched or when exposed to a spark from a low-power battery. See also 1990 Materials.
Mary P. Ryan of Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine in London discovers that stainless steel develops pit corrosion because chromium atoms in the alloy migrate to zones that are then surrounded by regions of low chromium. Corrosion could be halted cheaply by processes that distribute chromium atoms uniformly on the steel's surface. See also 1911 Materials.
Arthur J. Epstein and Joel Miller at Ohio State University report a plastic material containing magnesium that becomes magnetic when illuminated with blue light; it loses its magnetism partially when illuminated with green light.
Mathematics
Manindra Agrawal, Neeraj Kayal, and Nitin Saxena publish a deterministic polynomial-time algorithm that checks whether a number is prime. Polynomial time means that the time taken to solve a problem by a computer increases with complexity of the problem at a rate similar to that of the increase of a polynomial or, essentially, the increase of a fixed power of a number. This is contrasted with exponential time, which increases much faster since the power of the number itself increases. See also 1980 Mathematics.
Preda Mihailescu of the University of Paderborn, Germany, proves Eugène Catalan's 1844 conjecture that 8 and 9 are the only examples of consecutive whole numbers that are also powers (8 is the cube of 2 and 9 is 3 squared).
Medicine & health
A Swedish study suggests that potato chips, French fries, and other foods cooked at high temperatures contain high levels of the potential carcinogen acrylamide.
A trial with an experimental vaccine against human papillomavirus-16, the cause of cervical cancer, shows that it is 100 percent effective in a study of 1200 sexually active young women.
In June Ronald McKay and coworkers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health demonstrate with mice that embryonic stem cells coaxed into becoming brain cells cure murine Parkinson's disease. See also 2001 Medicine & health.
A large-scale study of the effects of hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women is halted because the side effects, including increased risk of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots, outweigh the benefits, which appear to be slight.
In May David E. Cummings of the University of Washington and the Department of Veterans Affairs in Seattle, Washington, and coworkers identify the hormone ghrelin, which causes hunger, slows metabolism, and decreases the ability to use fat for energy. In August Stephen R. Bloom of the Hammersmith Hospital at Imperial College School of Medicine in London determines that a second hormone, known as peptide YY3,36, or PYY, which is produced by the small intestine in response to food, switches off hunger in the brain.
Doctors in Saudi Arabia perform the first uterus transplant.
Physics
Scientists at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory detect an important reaction between neutrinos and deuterium atoms, the "neutral current," which allows the detection of all three neutrino flavors.
Robert C. Dynes of the University of California, San Diego, and coworkers discover that coating a superconductor with a very thin layer of silver raises the temperature at which it becomes superconducting, although thicker layers have the opposite effect. See also 1989 Physics.
Studies of a Fermilab experiment in which a particle called sigma minus is shot into a target reveal signs of previously unknown heavy particles that contain two charm quarks each, called twice-charmed baryons. See also 1964 Physics.
Researchers produce the first antimatter hydrogen gas at CERN in Geneva. The international collaboration ATHENA traps positrons and antiprotons in a Penning trap; they combine forming a gas of about 50,000 antihydrogen atoms. See also 1995 Physics.
Two teams of physicists discover a new form of radioactivity, the simultaneous emission of two protons from iron-45 nuclei.
Transportation
On March 1 the space shuttle Columbia, carrying a crew of Scott Altman, Duane Carey, Nancy Currie, John Grunsfeld, Richard Linnehan, Michael Massimino, and James Newman, is launched to service the Hubble Space Telescope. The crew installs a new power unit, new cameras, and new solar arrays.
On April 8 Atlantis is launched to continue the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS), bringing and installing a central truss segment. The crew is Michael Bloomfield, Stephen Frick, Lee Morin, Ellen Ochoa, Jerry Ross, Steve Smith, and Rex Walheim. Atlantis is launched on October 7 with a second truss segment and a crew of Jeffrey Ashby, Sandra Magnus, Pamela Melroy, Piers Sellers, David Wolf, and Fyodor Yurchikhin (Russia).
Russia continues to carry out emergency vehicle exchanges on ISS. Soyuz TM 34 carries Yuri Gidzenko (Russia), Robertor Vitori (ESA), and Mark Shuttleworth (South Africa, a paying tourist), who all return on Soyuz TM 33, which had been left as the emergency vehicle. Similarly, on October 30, Soyuz TMA-1, the start of an upgraded series of Soyuz vehicles, brings Yury Lonchakov (Russia), Sergei Zaletin (Russia), and Frank DeWinne up to the ISS; they return on Soyuz TM 34.
Endeavour is launched on June 5 to provide crew exchanges and to bring additional equipment to ISS. The crew is Franklin Chang-Diaz, Kenneth Cockrell, Paul Lockhart -- all from the United States -- and Philippe Perrin (France). They deliver a Microgravity Science Glovebox for use in working with hazardous materials. Endeavour returns on November 23 with John Herrington (first Native American in space), Paul Lockuard, Michael Lopez-Alegria, and James Wetherbee (all from the United States) as crew and brings a new girder to ISS.
2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the:
International Year of Ecotourism and Mountains
Year of the Outback in Australia
National Science Year in the United Kingdom
Autism Awareness Year in the United Kingdom
See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.
Overview of the year
In contrast to 2000 and 2001, which retained elements of the late 1990s, 2002 shifted into a new cultural decade. With the declining popularity of late 1990s and early 2000s acts like 'N Sync and The Backstreet Boys after band break-ups, rap acts like 50 Cent and Eminem rose in popularity. Pop-Punk acts like Good Charlotte and New Found Glory also appealed to adolescents. 2002 also marked the begining of the controversial Iraq War, which many say, along with 9/11, was the true generation definer of the 2000s.
Events
January
January 1 - The Republic of China officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei.
January 1 - The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially enters in to force.
January 5 - Charles Bishop, a 15 year-old student pilot, crashes a light aircraft into a Tampa, Florida building, evoking fear of a copycat 9/11 terrorist attack.
January 9 - The United States Department of Justice announces it is going to pursue a criminal investigation of Enron.
January 10 - Enrique Bolaños began his five-year term as President of the Republic of Nicaragua.
January 13 - President George W. Bush faints after choking on a pretzel.Confirmation needed
January 14 - The case of Adelaide Abankwah comes into trial in New York
January 16 - A student shoots 6 people at the Appalachian School of Law, killing three.Confirmation needed
January 16 - John Ashcroft announces that American Taliban member John Walker Lindh would be tried in the United States.
January 16 - The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida, and the Taliban.
January 17 - Eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
January 18 - A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying anhydrous ammonia derails outside of Minot, North Dakota, killing one.
January 22 - AOL Time Warner brings a federal suit against Microsoft seeking damages. The suit alleges that the market for AOL's Netscape Navigator Internet browser was harmed when Microsoft started to give away a competing browser.Confirmation needed
January 22 - Kmart Corp becomes the largest retailer in American history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
January 22 - Clyde Hood sentenced for 14 years in prison for Omega Trust fraudConfirmation needed
January 24 - Terrorist suspect John Walker Lindh's hearing begins.Confirmation needed
January 27 - Several explosions at a military dump in Lagos, Nigeria kill more than 1,000.Confirmation needed
February
February 2 - Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands marries Máxima, Princess of Orange in Amsterdam.
February 3 - Costa Rica: elections for President and Congress
February 8-February 24 - 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah
February 12 - The trial of former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan MiloÅ¡eviÄ begins at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague
February 12 - Nuclear waste: US Secretary of Energy makes the decision that Yucca Mountain is suitable to be the United States' nuclear repository.
February 13 - Queen Elizabeth II gives former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani an honorary knighthood.
February 16 - Rachel Thaler, aged 16, blown up at a pizzena in an Israeli shopping mall following a suicide bombing attack on a crowd of teenagers.
February 19 - NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of using its thermal emission imaging system.
February 20 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370
February 20 - In most of the world, at 20:02 (8:02 PM) local time, date (written as day/month), time, and year are all 2002, making each of them alone, any two together, and the combination of all three, all palindromes.
February 22 - Norwegian-facilitated ceasefire begins in Sri Lanka
February 23 - FARC kidnaps Ingrid Betancourt in Colombia when she campaigns for presidency
February 27 - Ethnic conflict in India: 59 Hindu pilgrims die aboard a train burned by a Muslim mob in Godhra, India, sparking a series of riots, leaving hundreds dead
February 28 - The ex-currencies of all euro members officialy (at EU-level) cease to be legal tender.
March
March 1 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: In eastern Afghanistan, Operation Anaconda begins.
March 1 - 28 people die in continuing violence in Ahmedabad. Police shoot and kill five while attempting to control rioters.
March 1 - The Envisat environmental satellite successfully reaches an orbit 800km above the Earth on its 11th launch, carrying the heaviest payload to date at 8500kg.
March 1 - Space Shuttle Columbia flies Hubble Space Telescope service mission (STS-109).
March 1 - Peseta discontinued as official currency of Spain and is replaced with the euro (€)
March 3 - São Tomé and PrÃncipe: elections for the legislature
March 6 - France agrees to return the remains of Saartje Baartman to South Africa
March 10 - Colombia: elections for the legislature; Togo: elections for the Parliament
March 11 - BBC 6 Music, the first new BBC music radio station in decades, is launched
March 12 - In Texas, Andrea Yates is found guilty of drowning her five children on June 20, 2001. She is later sentenced to life in prison
March 17 - Portugal: elections for the Parliament
March 19 - US Attack on Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda ends (started on March 1) after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities
March 21 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three other suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl
March 27 - Netanya suicide attack: A suicide bomber kills 28 people in Netanya, Israel
March 31 - Ukraine: elections for the Parliament
April
Funeral procession of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen MotherApril 2 - Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, when militants take shelter there. A siege ensues.
April 9- Funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother takes place in Westminster Abbey, London.
April 15 - An Air China Boeing 767-200 crashes into a hillside during heavy rain and fog near Pusan, South Korea, killing 128
April 15 - The Alameda Corridor transportation project in Los Angeles, California opens to rail traffic, ceasing operations of through freight trains on the 120-year-old BNSF Harbor Subdivision.
April 17 - Four Canadian infantrymen are killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire from two U.S. F-16s.
April 18 - New order of insects, Mantophasmatodea, announced.
April 25 - South African Mark Shuttleworth blasts off from the Baikonur cosmodrome; he had paid £15 million for the trip.
April 26 - Robert Steinhauser opens fire on his former teachers and other students in Erfurt, Germany and then kills himself: 16 dead.
April 27 - Three people killed in Laughlin, Nevada River Run Riot.
April 30 - Pakistan: Pakistani voters approve a referendum granting a five-year term for Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf.
May
The Flag of East TimorMay 4 - In Germany, BV Borussia Dortmund wins the Bundesliga title after a 2-1 victory over SV Werder Bremen.
May 6 - In the Netherlands, politician Pim Fortuyn is killed by Volkert van der Graaf.
May 7 - Gay Canadian teenager Marc Hall is granted a court injunction ordering that he be allowed to attend his high school prom with his boyfriend.
May 9 - The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agreed to have 13 suspected militants among them deported to several different countries. The standoff started April 2.
May 9 - In Kaspiysk, Russia, a remote-control bomb explodes during a holiday parade, killing 43 and injuring at least 130.
May 10 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
May 12 - Former President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.
May 15 - The Netherlands: elections for the Lower House.
May 16 - Star Wars: Attack of the Clones is released in theaters.
May 20 - Restoration of East Timor independence
May 21 - US State Department releases report citing seven State-Sponsors of Terrorism;Iran,Iraq,Cuba,Libya,North Korea,Sudan,andSyria.
May 22 - In Washington, DC, Chandra Levy's remains are found in Rock Creek Park.
May 22 - American civil rights movement: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls.
May 23 - Irish Football Captain, Roy Keane, Is sent home from the Training Camp in Saipan, by Manager Mick McCarthy after an Argument over Training arrangements. This cause a huge Media sensation in Ireland and Britain. Many people were split over two sides and some called it the Second Irish Civil War.
May 23 - First Eurovision Song Contest in a former Soviet country: Estonia
May 25 - The Boston Celtics come back from twenty-six points down to defeat the New Jersey Nets in Game 3 of the National Basketball Association's Eastern Conference Finals.
May 25 - China Airlines Flight 611 broke up near the Penghu Islands at Taiwan Strait, killing all 225 people on board.
May 26 - The Mars Odyssey finds signs of huge water ice deposits on the planet Mars.
May 28 - Washington DC's medical examiner declares that Chandra Levy's death was the result of homicide.
May 31 through June 30 - 17th Football World Cup in South Korea and Japan
June
Concorde leads the Red Arrows over London in a fly past for Queen Elizabeth II on her Golden JubileeJune 1 - The Los Angeles Lakers def the Sacramento Kings 112-106, to win Game 7 of the National Basketball Association's 2002 Western Conference Finals.
June 3 - The "Party in the Palace" takes place at Buckingham Palace, London for Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee celebrations.
June 4 - Quaoar is discovered.
June 4 - Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh ride in the gold state coach from Buckingham Palace to St Paul's Cathedral for a special service marking the Queen's 50 years on the throne. In New York, the Empire State Building is lit in purple for her honour.
June 5 - Elizabeth Smart is kidnapped from her Salt Lake City, Utah home.
June 5 - Mozilla 1.0, the first 'official' version, is released.
June 6 - The United States House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee announces it is probing Martha Stewart's ImClone stock sales.
June 8 - Serena Williams defeats her sister Venus Williams in straight sets to win the 2002 French Open.
June 10 - Annular solar eclipse.
June 11 - Antonio Meucci was recognised as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.
June 12 - The Los Angeles Lakers def the New Jersey Nets 4 games to 0 to win the 2002 NBA Finals.
June 13 - The Detroit Red Wings def the Carolina Hurricanes 4 games to 1 in the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals.
June 14 - In Karachi, Pakistan, a car bomb in front of the U.S. consulate kills twelve Pakistanis and injures fifty.
June 18 - Arizona experiences its worst forest fire, burning 462,606 acres (1,872 km²) near the Mogollon Rim.
June 30 - Brazil defeats Germany 2-0 to win the Football World Cup 2002.
July
July 1 - Russian passenger jet and a cargo plane collide over the town of Uberlingen in Southern Germany - 72 dead
July 1 - Wendy J. Hamilton became president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
July 5 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq once again rejects new U.N. weapons inspections proposals
July 10 - At a Sotheby's auction, Peter Paul Rubens' painting "The Massacre of the Innocents" is sold for £49.5million (US$76.2 million) to Lord Thomson
July 13 - A lighting strike sets off the Sour Biscuit Fire in Oregon and northern California, which is left to burn 499,570 acres (2,022 km²) when finally contained on September 5.
July 14 - During Bastille Day celebrations, Jacques Chirac escapes an assassination attempt unscathed.
July 15 - So-called "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and for the possession of explosives during the commission of a felony. Lindh agrees to serve 10 years in prison for each of the charges
July 19 - K-19: The Widowmaker starring Harrison Ford is released.
July 21 - Telecommunications giant WorldCom files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the largest such filing in United States history
July 27 - Helen Clark leader of the Labour Party is historically re-elected in a landslide victory over the Right Wing in the New Zealand general election of 2002.
July 27 - A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashes at an air show in Ukraine killing 78 and injuring more than 100 others, the largest air show disaster in history.
August
August 6 - President George W. Bush signs Public Law 107-209 into effect, posthumously granting honorary American citizenship to Marquis de la Fayette for his support of the American Revolution.
August 27 - Simon & Schuster sues Michael Pelligrino and Artist Management Group because Pelligrino had written a book claiming to be a son of late Mafioso Carlo Gambino
September
September 2 - The opening of the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development, successor of the 1972 Conference on the Human Environment, 1983 World Commission on Environment and Development, and the 1992 Conference on Environment and Development.
September 3 - Consolidated Freightways files for bankruptcy
September 5 - A car bomb kills at least 30 people in Afghanistan, and an apparent assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai fails the same day.
September 5 - The Sour Biscuit Fire in Oregon and northern California, which burned 499,570 acres (2,022 km²), is finally contained.
September 8 - Typhoon Sinlaku causes huge waves on the Qiantangjiang River in Sheijang Province, China
September 11 - The World Summit on Sustainable Development comes to a close.
September 12 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President George W. Bush, addresses the U.N. and challenges its members to confront the "grave and gathering danger" of Iraq or stand aside as the United States and likeminded nations act.
September 15 - The Swedish parliamentary election leaves Prime Minister Göran Persson and the Social Democrats in power.
September 22 - The German federal election leaves Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, his Social Democrats and the Greens in power
October
October 2 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.S. Congress passes a joint resolution which explicitly authorizes the President to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate.
October 7 - Discovery of Quaoar is announced.
October 11 - Lone bomber explodes a home-made bomb in the Myyrmanni shopping mall north of Helsinki, Finland - casualties include himself. See Myyrmanni bombing.
October 12 - Bali bombing: Terrorists detonate massive bombs in two nightclubs in Kuta, Bali, killing 202 and injuring over 300.
October 16 - Iraq disarmament crisis: George W. Bush signs the Iraq war resolution.
October 24 - The Beltway snipers are arrested.
October 25 - U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, his family and staff, are killed by a plane accident at Eveleth, Minnesota.
October 27 - The Anaheim Angels defeat the San Francisco Giants in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series.
November
The Department of Homeland Security is formed in response to terrorist concerns in the United States.
November 5 - U.S. Elections: The Republican Party maintains control of the House of Representatives and regains control of the Senate.
November 7 - Iran bans advertising of US products.
November 8 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UN Security Council Resolution 1441 – The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves a resolution on Iraq, forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences".
November 9 - In Los Angeles, California, television and film actor Merlin Santana is shot to death while sitting in the passenger seat of a friend's car parked on the 3800 block of Victoria Avenue.
November 13 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq agrees to the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 1441.
November 13 - The oil tanker Prestige sinks off the Galician coast and causes a huge oil spill.
November 14 - Argentina defaults on a US$805 million World Bank payment
November 15 - Hu Jintao becomes general secretary of the Communist Party of China.
November 16 - A Campaign Against Climate Change march takes place in London from Lincoln's Inn Fields, past Esso offices to the United States Embassy.
November 18 - Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
November 21 - NATO Summit in Prague - Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia invited to become NATO members.
November 22 - In Nigeria, more than 100 people are killed at an attack aimed at the contestants of the Miss World contest.
November 25 - US President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Act into law, establishing the Department of Homeland Security in the largest US government reorganization since the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 (the Senate passed the bill 90-9 on November 19).
December
December 4 - Total solar eclipse
December 7 - Iraq disarmament crisis: As required by the recently passed U.N. resolution, Iraq files a 12,000 page weapons declaration with the U.N. Security Council. Although it is supposed to be a complete declaration, it is seen as incomplete by the Security Council and weapons inspectors.
December 10 - High Court of Australia hands down its judgement in the Internet defamation dispute in the case of Gutnick v Dow Jones.
December 18 - Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was released into theaters.
December 24 - Laci Peterson of Modesto, California is reported missing.
December 27 - Suicide truck-bomb attack destroys headquarters of Chechnya's Moscow-backed government, killing 72 people.
December 29 – Communist New People's Army blows up a bust of Ferdinand Marcos in Benguet, Philippines.
Unknown Date
Naruto (anime) is created by Studio Perriot.
American Prohibition Foundation incorported.
Births
August
August 2 - Kara Hoffman, American actress
August 2 - Shelby Hoffman, American actress
December
December 6 - Sophia Rosalinda Bratt, daughter of Benjamin Bratt and Talisa Soto
Deaths
For more deaths see: Deaths in 2002
January
January 3 - Freddy Heineken, Dutch-born beer magnate (b. 1923)
January 8 - Alexander Prochorow, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
January 8 - Dave Thomas, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1932)
January 12 - Stanley Unwin, South African comedian (b. 1911)
January 12 - Cyrus Vance, United States Secretary of State (b. 1917)
January 13 - Ted Demme, American film and television director (b. 1963)
January 16 - Michael Bilandic, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1923)
January 16 - Bobo Olson, American boxer (b. 1928)
January 16 - Ron Taylor, American actor (b. 1952)
January 17 - Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer (b. 1916)
January 20 - Carrie Hamilton, actress (b. 1963)
January 22 - Peggy Lee, American singer and actress (b. 1920)
January 23 - Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist (b. 1930)
January 23 - Robert Nozick, American philosopher (b. 1938)
January 28 - Dick "Night Train" Lane, American football player (b. 1928)
January 28 - Astrid Lindgren, Swedish children's book author (b. 1907)
January 29 - Harold Russell, Canadian-born actor (b. 1914)
February
February 6 - Max Perutz, Austrian-born molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1914)
February 8 - Joachim Hoffmann, German historian (b. 1930)
February 9 - Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom (b. 1930)
February 13 - Waylon Jennings, Country music singer (b. 1937)
February 14 - Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer (b. 1922)
February 15 - Howard K. Smith, American television journalist (b. 1914)
February 15 - Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (b. 1963)
February 16 - Walter Winterbottom, English football manager (b. 1913)
February 19 - Virginia Hamilton, American writer
February 20 - Willie Thrower, American football player (b. 1930)
February 21 - John Thaw, British actor (b. 1942)
February 22 - Chuck Jones, American animator (b. 1912)
February 22 - Jonas Savimbi, Angolan rebel leader (b. 1934)
February 24 - Leo Ornstein, American composer and pianist (b. 1912)
February 26 - Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
February 27 - Spike Milligan, British comedian, writer, and poet (b. 1918)
February 27 - Mary Stuart, American actress (b. 1926)
February 28 - Helmut Zacharias, German violinist (b. 1920)
March
March 11 - James Tobin, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
March 14 - Cherry Wilder, New Zealand author (b. 1930)
March 24 - César Milstein, Argentine scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1927)
March 25 - Kenneth Wolstenholme, British football commentator (b. 1920)
March 27 - Milton Berle, American comedian and actor (b. 1908)
March 27 - Dudley Moore, British pianist, comedian, and actor (b. 1935)
March 27 - Billy Wilder, Austrian-born film screenwriter and director (b. 1906)
March 30 - Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, queen of George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1900)
March 31 - Barry Took, British comedian and writer (b. 1928)
April
April 5 - Layne Staley, American singer (Alice in Chains) (b. 1967)
April 8 - Maria Felix, Mexican actress (b. 1914)
April 9 - Leopold Vietoris, Austrian mathematician (b. 1891)
April 13 - Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racecar driver (b. 1928)
April 15 - Byron White, American athlete and Supreme Court Justice (b. 1917)
April 16 - Franz Krienbühl, Swiss speed skater (b. 1929)
April 16 - Robert Urich, American actor (cancer) (b. 1946)
April 18 - Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer (b. 1914)
April 18 - Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and wrestler (b. 1938)
April 25 - Indra Devi, yoga teacher (b. 1899)
April 25 - Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, American rapper (TLC) (b. 1971)
April 27 - George Alec Effinger, American author (b. 1947)
April 27 - Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Swiss industrialist and art collector (b. 1921)
April 28 - Ruth Handler, American toy manufacturer (b. 1916)
April 28 - Alexander Lebed, Russian general and politician (b. 1950)
May
May 5 - Hugo Bánzer Suarez, President of Bolivia (b. 1926)
May 6 - Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (assassinated) (b. 1948)
May 7 - Seattle Slew, American racehorse (b. 1974)
May 11 - Joseph Bonanno, Italian-born gangster (b. 1905)
May 13 - Ruth Cracknell, Australian theatre and television actor (b. 1925)
May 13 - Valeri Lobanovsky, Ukrainian football manager (b. 1939)
May 19 - John Gorton, nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911)
May 20 - Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist and author (b. 1941)
May 21 - Niki de Saint Phalle, French artist (b. 1930)
May 23 - Sam Snead, American golfer (b. 1912)
May 26 - Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (b. 1932)
May 28 - Jean Berger, German-born composer (b. 1909)
June
June 1 - Hansie Cronje, South African cricketer (b. 1969)
June 4 - Fernando Belaúnde Terry, President of Peru (b. 1912)
June 5 - Dee Dee Ramone, American bassist (The Ramones) (b. 1952)
June 6 - Hans Janmaat, Dutch politician (b. 1934)
June 7 - Mary Lilian Baels, Belgian princess (b. 1916)
June 10 - John Gotti, American gangster (b. 1940)
June 11 - Robbin Crosby, American guitarist (Ratt) (AIDS) (b. 1959)
June 12 - Bill Blass, American fashion designer (b. 1922)
June 17 - Willie Davenport, American athlete (b. 1943)
June 17 - Fritz Walter, German footballer (b. 1920)
June 18 - Jack Buck, baseball announcer (b. 1924)
June 22 - Darryl Kile, baseball player (b. 1968)
June 23 - Pedro 'El Rockero' Alcazar, Panamian boxer (b. 1975)
June 24 - Pierre Werner, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (b. 1913)
June 26 - Jay Berwanger, American football player (b. 1914)
June 27 - John Entwistle, English bassist (The Who) (b. 1944)
June 29 - Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (b. 1928)
July
July 4 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr., U.S. general (b. 1912)
July 5 - Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (b. 1924)
July 5 - Ted Williams, baseball player (b. 1918)
July 6 - Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman (b. 1932)
July 6 - John Frankenheimer, American film director (b. 1930)
July 8 - Ward Kimball, American animator (b. 1913)
July 9 - Laurence Janifer, American writer (b. 1933)
July 9 - Rod Steiger, American actor (b. 1925)
July 13 - Yousuf Karsh, Turkish-born photographer (b. 1908)
July 14 - JoaquÃn Balaguer, President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1906)
July 16 - John Cocke, American computer scientist (b. 1925)
July 19 - Alan Lomax, American folklorist and musicologist (b. 1915)
July 23 - Leo McKern, Australian actor (b. 1920)
July 23 - Chaim Potok, American author and rabbi (b. 1929)
July 28 - Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
August
August 4 - Carmen Silvera, British actress (b. 1922)
August 5 - Josh Ryan Evans, actor (b. 1982)
August 5 - Chick Hearn, American basketball announcer (b. 1916)
August 6 - Edsger Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist (b. 1930)
August 11 - Galen Rowell, American photographer, writer, and climber (plane crash) (b. 1940)
August 12 - Enos Slaughter, baseball player (b. 1916)
August 14 - Dave Williams, American singer (Drowning Pool) (b. 1972)
August 15 - Kyle Rote, American football player and coach (b. 1928)
August 16 - Abu Nidal, Palestinian terrorist (b. 1937)
August 23 - Hoyt Wilhelm, baseball player (b. 1922)
August 25 - Dorothy Hewett, Australian writer (b. 1923)
August 31 - Lionel Hampton, American musician (b. 1908)
August 31 - George Porter, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920)
September
September 11 - Johnny Unitas, American football player (b. 1933)
September 18 - Bob Hayes, American athlete (b. 1942)
September 19 - Sergei Bodrov Jr., Russian actor (b. 1971)
September 19 - Robert Guéï, military ruler of the Côte d'Ivoire (b. 1941)
September 21 - Robert Lull Forward, American author and physicist (b. 1932)
September 23 - Vernon Corea, British broadcaster (b. 1927)
October
October 6 - Claus von Amsberg, husband of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (b. 1926)
October 10 - Teresa Graves, American actress (b. 1948)
October 12 - Ray Conniff, American musician and bandleader (b. 1916)
October 13 - Stephen Ambrose, American historian and biographer (b. 1936)
October 17 - Derek Bell, Northern Ireland musician (b. 1935)
October 18 - Nikolai Rukavishnikov, cosmonaut (b. 1932)
October 24 - Harry Hay, American activist (b. 1912)
October 25 - Richard Harris, Irish actor (b. 1930)
October 25 - Paul Wellstone, U.S. Senator from Minnesota (b. 1944)
October 30 - Jam Master Jay, musician (Run DMC) (b. 1965)
November
November 2 - Charles Sheffield, English author and physicist (b. 1935)
November 3 - Lonnie Donegan, Scottish musician (King of Skiffle) (b. 1931)
November 15 - Myra Hindley, English murderer (b. 1942)
November 17 - Abba Eban, Israeli foreign affair minister (b. 1915)
November 21 - Hadda Brooks, American jazz singer, pianist, and composer (b. 1916)
November 24 - John Rawls, American political theorist (b. 1921)
November 26 - Verne Winchell, American doughnut entrepreneur (b. 1915)
November 28 - Norm McDonald, Australian rules footballer (b. 1925)
December
December 3 - Glenn Quinn, Irish actor (b. 1970)
December 5 - Ne Win, Burmese dictator
December 6 - Father Philip Berrigan, American priest and political activist (b. 1923)
December 6 - Charles Rosen, American pianist and pioneer in artificial intelligence (b. 1927)
December 9 - Stan Rice, American painter and poet (b. 1942)
December 18 - Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor General of Canada (b. 1934)
December 22 - Desmond Hoyte, Prime Minister and President of Guyana (b. 1929)
December 22 - Joe Strummer, British musician and singer (The Clash) (b. 1952)
Nobel Prizes
Peace - Jimmy Carter
Literature - Imre Kertész
Chemistry - John B. Fenn and Koichi Tanaka, Kurt Wüthrich
Physics - Raymond Davis Jr. and Masatoshi Koshiba, Riccardo Giacconi
Physiology or Medicine - Sydney Brenner, H. Robert Horvitz, and John E. Sulston
Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel - Daniel Kahneman and Vernon L. Smith
Fields Medalists
Laurent Lafforgue, Vladimir Voevodsky