2002

2002 (MMII) was .
Events
January 1 - The Treaty on Open Skies, initially signed in 1992, officially enters into force.
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 Bolanos 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.
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 is established 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 Wuthrich
Economics - Daniel Kahneman
Economics - Vernon L. Smith
Literature - Imre Kertesz
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
March 2 - Alyssa Raghu, American singer
March 29 - Paul Andrei Maftei, Romanian football player & bassist (Fecal Matter)
April 5 - Golden Canedo, Philippine singer
April 29 - Karina Bautista, Philippine actress
May 16 - Shayne Sava, Philippine actress
July 18 - Zachary Turner, Canadian murder victim (d. 2003)
July 25 - Gabriel Drutu, Romanian singer & rapper (Trupa Filmului) (d. 2023)
September 9 - Rylee Goodrich, American murder victim (d. 2021)
November 3 -
Bugoy Carino, 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
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 - Vava, 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 - Maria Felix, Mexican actress (b. 1914)
April 16 - Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
April 16 - Ramiro de Leon 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 - Laszlo 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 Belaunde 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 - Joaquin 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 Alvarez 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)
References