2002

**2002** (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday in the Gregorian calendar.

## Events

- January 1 – The Treaty on Open Skies, initially signed in 1992, officially enters into
- January 1 – Euro notes and coins started to be used in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, the Republic of Ireland, and the Netherlands.
- January 5 – A light aircraft crashes into a Tampa, Florida building, bringing fear of a repeat September 11, 2001 attacks.
- January 10 – Enrique Bolaños became the President of the Republic of Nicaragua.
- January 16 – The UN Security Council agreed to forbid selling arms to Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida, and the Taliban and freezes their assets.
- January 17 – Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo erupts, leaving about 400,000 people without a home.
- January 23 – _Wall Street Journal_ reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Pakistan, accused of being a CIA agent.
- January 31 – A large section of the Antarctic Larsen Ice Shelf begins breaking up, eventually consuming about 3,250 km² (1,254 miles²) after 35 days.
- February 8-24 – The 19th Olympic Winter Games were held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
- March 1 – The US military and coalition forces launched Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan.
- April 1 – The Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia.
- April 28 – Green Party of Pakistan is formed
- May 20 – Independence of East Timor from Indonesia.
- May 31 – June 30 – The 2002 FIFA World Cup is held in South Korea and Japan, first time in the Asian continent, Brazil defeats Germany in the final match 2-0.
- June 16 - Padre Pio is canonized In Vatican City.
- July 1 – Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC), entered into force.
- July 9 – The African Union, successor to the Organization of African Unity, was founded in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- September 10 – The Switzerland joins the United Nations.
- November 7 – About 20,000 inhabitants of Gibraltar refused to join Spain in a referendum.
- November – Outbreak of SARS epidemic in the Chinese province of Guangdong.

## Nobel prize winners

- Chemistry – John B. Fenn
- Chemistry – Koichi Tanaka
- Chemistry – Kurt Wüthrich
- Economics – Daniel Kahneman
- Economics – Vernon L. Smith
- Literature – Imre Kertész
- Medicine – Sydney Brenner
- Medicine – H. Robert Horvitz
- Medicine – John E. Sulston
- Peace – Jimmy Carter
- Physics – Raymond Davis Jr.
- Physics – Riccardo Giacconi
- Physics – Masatoshi Koshiba

## Births

- January 22 - Caitlin Clark, American basketball player
- March 2 - Alyssa Raghu, American singer
- April 5 - Golden Cañedo, Philippine singer
- April 29 - Karina Bautista, Philippine actress
- May 16 - Shayne Sava, Philippine actress
- July 18 - Zachary Turner, Canadian murder victim (d. 2003)
- September 9 - Rylee Goodrich, American murder victim (d. 2021)
- September 24 - Kim Ga-eul, South Korean rapper and singer
- November 3 -
    - Bugoy Cariño, Philippine actor
    - Kyline Alcantara, Philippine actress
- December 13 - Mari Luz, Spanish murder victim (d. 2008)
- December 27 - Liberty German, American murder victim (d. 2017)
- December 28 - Kelsey Briggs, American murder victim (d. 2005)

### January

- January 6 – Sanya Dharmasakti, Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1907)
- January 8 – Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's fast food chain (b. 1932)
- January 12 – Cyrus Vance, 57th United States Secretary of State (b. 1917)
- January 19 – Vavá, Brazilian association football player (b. 1934)
- January 21 – Peggy Lee, American singer and actress (b. 1920)
- January 22 – Kenneth Armitage, British sculptor (b. 1916)
- January 28 – Astrid Lindgren, Swedish writer (b. 1907)

### February

- February 4 – Agatha Barbara, 3rd President of Malta (b. 1923)
- February 8 – Zizinho, Brazilian footballer (b. 1921)
- February 8 – Ong Teng Cheong, 5th President of Singapore (b. 1936)
- February 9 – Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom (b. 1930)
- February 13 – Waylon Jennings, American country music singer (b. 1937)
- February 22 – Chuck Jones, American cartoonist (b. 1912)
- February 22 – Jonas Savimbi, Angolan politician and rebel leader (b. 1934)

### March

- March 10 – Elguja Amashukeli, Georgian sculptor and painter (b. 1928)
- March 11 – James Tobin, American economist (b. 1918)
- March 12 – Spyros Kyprianou, 2nd President of Cyprus (b. 1932)
- March 27 – Milton Berle, American actor, entertainer and comedian (b. 1908)
- March 27 – Dudley Moore, British actor (b. 1935)
- March 27 – Billy Wilder, Austrian-born director (b. 1906)
- March 29 - Rico Yan, Philippine actor (b. 1975)
- March 30 – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, queen of George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1900)

### April

- April 5 – Layne Staley, American singer (Alice in Chains) (b. 1967)
- April 8 - María Félix, Mexican actress (b. 1914)
- April 16 – Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
- April 16 – Ramiro de León Carpio, 31st President of Guatemala (b. 1942)
- April 22 – Albrecht Becker, German actor and artist (b. 1906)

### May

- May 3 – Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal, Prime Minister of Somalia (b. 1928)
- May 5 – Hugo Banzer, President of Bolivia (b. 1926)
- May 6 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (b. 1948)
- May 17 – László Kubala, Hungarian footballer (b. 1927)
- May 18 – Davey Boy Smith, British professional wrestler (b. 1962)
- May 19 – John Gorton, 19th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911)
- May 24 – Xi Zhongxun, Chinese politician (b. 1913)

### June

- June 4 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, 49th and 52nd President of Peru (b. 1912)
- June 7 – B. D. Jatti, President of India (b. 1913)
- June 24 – Pierre Werner, 18th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (b. 1913)
- June 27 – John Entwistle, English bass guitarist (The Who) (b. 1944)
- June 29 – Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (b. 1928)

### July

- July 5 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (b. 1924)
- July 14 – Joaquín Balaguer, 41st, 45th & 49th President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1906)

### August

- August 6 - Edsger W. Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist (b. 1930)
- August 16 – Abu Nidal, Palestinian militant (b. 1937)
- August 19 – Eduardo Chillida, Spanish Basque sculptor (b. 1924)
- August 21 – Adelina Domingues, American supercentenarian (b. 1888)

### September

- September 17 – Edvaldo Alves de Santa Rosa, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1934)
- September 18 – Mauro Ramos, Brazilian footballer (b. 1930)
- September 18 – Bob Hayes, Athletics sprinter and American Football wide receiver (b. 1942)
- September 23 – Eduard Gufeld, Soviet chess player (b. 1936)
- September 24 – Mike Webster, American football player (b. 1952)

### October

- October 6 – Prince Claus of the Netherlands, husband of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (b. 1926)
- October 13 – Stephen E. Ambrose, American historian and biographer (b. 1936)
- October 19 – Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Mexican photographer (b. 1902)
- October 25 – Richard Harris, Irish actor (b. 1930)
- October 31 – Michail Stasinopoulos, 1st President of Greece (b. 1903)

### November

- November 3 – Jonathan Harris, American character actor (b. 1914)
- November 18 – James Coburn, American actor (b. 1928)
- November 20 – Kakhi Asatiani, Russian footballer (b. 1947)

### December

- December 5 - Ne Win, President of Myanmar (b. 1911)
- December 12 – Nikolai Amosov, Ukrainian surgeon (b. 1913)
- December 22 – Joe Strummer, British musician (The Clash) (b. 1952)