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2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the:
Events
Euro banknotes in circulation throughout the twelve countries of the European Union that form the Eurozone
- January 1 -
- Introduction of euro banknotes and coins in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and Portugal.
- The Republic of China officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei.
- 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.
- January 16 -
- 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 -
- January 24 - Terrorist suspect John Walker Lindh's hearing begins.
- January 27 - Several explosions at a military dump in Lagos, Nigeria kill more than 1,000.
- 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 through February 24 - 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah
- February 12
- February 13 - Queen Elizabeth II gives former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani an honorary knighthood.
- 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
- 20 February - 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 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
- 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 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.
- The Sour Biscuit Fire in Oregon and northern California, which burned 499,570 acres (2,022 km²), is finally contained.
- 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
- 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
- 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 invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become 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).
Deaths
For more deaths see: Deaths in 2002
January
- January 3 - Freddy Heineken, 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, comedian
- January 12 - Cyrus Vance, United States Secretary of State (b. 1917)
- January 13 - Ted Demme, film and television director (b. 1963)
- January 16 - Michael Bilandic, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1923)
- January 16 - Bobo Olson, American boxer
- January 16 - Ron Taylor, American actor
- January 17 - Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer (b. 1916)
- January 22 - Peggy Lee, American singer and actress
- January 23 - Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist (b. 1930)
- January 23 - Robert Nozick, philosopher (b. 1938)
- January 28 - Dick "Night Train" Lane, American football player
- January 28 - Astrid Lindgren, Swedish children's book author (b. 1907)
- January 29 - Harold Russell, actor
February
- February 6 - Max Perutz, founder of molecular biology (b. 1914)
- February 8 - Joachim Hoffmann, German historian (b. 1930)
- February 9 - The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, sister of Queen Elizabeth II of England (b. 1930)
- February 10 - Harold Furth, American leader in plasma physics and nuclear fusion
- February 11 - Barry Foster, British actor
- February 12 - Theresa Ferber Bernstein, artist
- February 14 - Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer (b. 1922)
- February 15:
- February 16 - Walter Winterbottom, the first England football manager (b. 1913)
- February 21 - John Thaw, actor (b. 1942)
- February 22:
- February 24 - Leo Ornstein, composer and pianist (b. 1912)
- February 26 - Lawrence Tierney, actor
- February 27:
- February 28 - Helmut Zacharias, German violinist (b. 1920)
March
April
May
- May 5 - Hugo Bánzer Suarez, President of Bolivia
- May 6 - Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (assassinated)
- May 7 - Seattle Slew, American thoroughbred racehorse
- May 11 - Joseph Bonanno, Sicilian Mafia boss
- May 13 - Valeri Lobanovsky, Ukrainian football manager
- May 19 - John Gorton, nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia
- May 20 - Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist and author (b. 1941)
- May 21 - Niki de Saint Phalle, French artist (b. 1930)
- May 23 - Sam Snead, American golfer
- May 26 - Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian marathon 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 Belaunde Terry, Peruvian politician, president of Peru (1963-1968) (1980-1985)
- June 5 - Dee Dee Ramone, American musician, bassist with The Ramones (b. September 18, 1952)
- June 6 - Hans Janmaat, controversial far-right politician in the Netherlands
- June 7 - Mary Lilian Baels, Princess of Rethy, Belgium
- June 10 - John Gotti, imprisoned mobster
- June 11 - Robbin Crosby, guitarist of rock band Ratt
- June 12 - Bill Blass, fashion designer
- June 17:
- June 18 - Jack Buck, Major League Baseball announcer
- June 22:
- June 23 - Pedro 'El Rockero' Alcazar, Panamian boxer
- June 24 - Pierre Werner, former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, "father of the euro"
- June 26 - Jay Berwanger, college football player, first winner of the Heisman Trophy
- June 27 - John Entwistle, bassist for The Who
- June 29 - Rosemary Clooney, singer, actress
July
- July 4 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr., African-American general
- July 5:
- July 6 - John Frankenheimer, film director
- July 8 - Ward Kimball, Disney animator
- July 9:
- July 13 - Yousuf Karsh, celebrity portrait photographer
- July 14 - Joaquín Balaguer, Dominican politician, president of Dominican Republic (1960-1962, 1966-1978, 1986-1996)
- July 16 - John Cocke, key figure in the development of RISC architecture
- July 19 - Alan Lomax, American folklorist and musicologist (b. 1915)
- July 23:
August
- August 4 - Carmen Silvera, British actress
- August 4 - (approximate date) Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, child-murder victims
- August 5:
- August 6 - Edsger Dijkstra, computer scientist
- August 11 - Galen Rowell, Acclaimed outdoor photographer, writer, and climber, killed in plane crash near home of Bishop, CA., with wife Barbara.
- August 12 - Enos Slaughter, baseball Hall of Famer
- August 14 - Dave Williams, the singer of Drowning Pool (found dead on the band's tour bus)
- August 16 - Abu Nidal, Palestinian terrorist
- August 23 - Hoyt Wilhelm, Baseball Hall of Fame member
- August 25 - Dorothy Hewett, Australian poet, playwright and novelist
- August 27 - Richard Ricci, Utah handyman and religious fanatic suspected of kidnapping 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart
- August 31 - Lionel Hampton, American jazz musician
September
October
November
December
- December 3 - Glenn Quinn, actor
- December 5 - Ne Win, Burmese dictator
- December 6 - Father Philip Berrigan, priest, political activist
- December 6 - Charles Rosen, pioneer in artificial intelligence
- December 9 - Stan Rice, painter, educator, poet, husband of author Anne Rice
- December 18 - Ray Hnatyshyn, former Governor General of Canada (b. 1934)
- December 22 - Joe Strummer, British musician, guitarist/vocalist with The Clash (b. August 21, 1952)
Nobel Prizes
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