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&nbsp;km² (1,254&nbsp;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)

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

### August 
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* 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 
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* 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 
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* 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 
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* 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 
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* 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)

## References