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Year 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.
The year 2002 was designated the:
See also: the almanac of events for this year.
The year number was a palindrome (next palindrome year will be 2112).
Events of 2002
January
- January 1 - The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially enters into force.
- January 1 - Euro notes and coins issued in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Ireland and in the Netherlands.
- January 3 - The University of Miami defeats Nebraska 37-14 in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to win college football's national championship.
- 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 will pursue a criminal investigation of Enron.
- January 10 - Enrique Bolaños begins his 5-year term as President of the Republic of Nicaragua.
- January 12 - The X (roller coaster) opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California
- January 19 - In the AFC Divisional Playoffs the New England Patriots defeated the Oakland Raiders 16-13 in overtime playoff game played in a driving snow storm. The game was remembered as The Snow Bowl when Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson stripped the ball from Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
- January 14 - The asylum case of Adelaide Abankwah is heard in New York.
- January 16 - Appalachian School of Law shooting: A student shoots 6 people at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia, killing 3.
- January 16 - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announces that American Taliban member John Walker Lindh will be tried in the United States.
- January 16 - The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and freezes the assets of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida, and the Taliban.
- January 17 - The eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo displaces an estimated 400,000 people.
- January 18 - A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying anhydrous ammonia derails outside of Minot, North Dakota, killing 1.
- January 23 - Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Pakistan, accused of being a CIA agent by his captors.
- January 24 - Terrorist suspect John Walker Lindh's hearing begins.Confirmation needed
- January 25 - Thomas Junta kills junior coach Michael Costin during a fight at a junior hockey game in Massachusetts
- January 27 - Several explosions at a military dump in Lagos, Nigeria kill more than 1,000.Confirmation needed
- January 31 - A large section of the Antarctic Larsen Ice Shelf begins disintegrating, eventually consuming about 3,250 km² (1,254 miles²) over a 35-day period
February
Artists concept of the 2001 Mars Odyssey Spacecraft
- February 19 - NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars 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) the local time, date (written as day/month), time, and year are all 2002, making each of them alone, any 2 together, and the combination of all 3, all palindromes.
- February 22 - Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
- February 22 - A Norwegian-facilitated ceasefire begins in Sri Lanka.
- February 23 - FARC kidnaps Ingrid Betancourt in Colombia while she campaigns for the presidency.
- February 27 - A series of riots leaves hundreds dead, after 59 Hindu pilgrims die aboard a train burned by a Muslim mob in Godhra, India.
- February 27 - Rachel Thaler, 16, of Ginot Shomron died of wounds suffered in February 16 suicide bomb attack.
- February 28 - The ex-currencies of all euro members officially (at EU-level) cease to be legal tender.
March
Hubble Space Telescope after servicing by the crew of STS-109
- March 1 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: In eastern Afghanistan, Operation Anaconda begins.
- March 1 - Continuing violence in Ahmedabad kills 28; police shoot and kill 5 rioters.
- March 1 - The Envisat environmental satellite successfully reaches an orbit 800 km above the Earth using an Ariane 5 on its 11th launch, carrying the heaviest payload to date at 8500kg.
- March 1 - STS-109: Space Shuttle Columbia flies the Hubble Space Telescope service mission, its last before STS-107.
- March 1 - The Peseta is discontinued as the official currency of Spain and is replaced with the euro (€).
- March 3 - São Tomé and Príncipe hold legislative elections.
- March 4 - Ansett Australia, One of the oldest airlines in the world and the second largest in Australia ceases operation after collapsing Financially. This day and event also marked the largest job loss in Australian history.
- March 6 - France agrees to return the remains of Saartjie Baartman to South Africa.
- March 10 - Colombia holds legislative elections.
- March 10 - Togo holds parliamentary elections.
- March 11 - BBC 6 Music, the first new BBC music radio station in decades, is launched.
- March 12 - In Houston, Texas, Andrea Yates is found guilty of drowning her 5 children on June 20, 2001. She is later sentenced to life in prison.
- March 14 - 125 vehicles are involved in a massive pile up on Interstate 75 in Ringgold, Georgia
- March 17 - Portugal holds parliamentary elections.
- March 17 - In Islamabad, Pakistan, the International Protestant Church attack occurs.
- 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 22 - Ameer Khattab or Ibn al Khattab the Saudi rebel who fought in Chechnya and Afghanistan was poinoned and killed by a traitor paid by Russia.
- March 21 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with 3 other suspects are charged with murder 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 30 - Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother dies in her sleep at the Royal lodge, aged 101
- March 31 - Ukraine holds parliamentary elections.
- March 31 - Earthquake in Taiwan.
April
- April 1 - Maryland defeats Indiana 64-52 to win the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
- April 2 - Israeli forces besiege the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, when militants take shelter there.
- April 9 - The funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother takes place in Westminster Abbey, London.
- April 11 - April 14 - Failed military coup d'état against the leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
- 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 16 - Dr. Bernd Pischetsrieder becomes the seventh CEO of the Volkswagen automobile company, succeeding Dr. Ferdinand Piech.
- April 17 - Four Canadian infantrymen are killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire from 2 US F-16s.
- April 18 - A new insect order, Mantophasmatodea, is announced.
- April 21 - French presidential election, 2002: The first round results in a runoff between Jacques Chirac and the leader of the main French far-right party, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
- April 22 - At a special session of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Director-General Jose Bustani is fired.
- April 25 - Soyuz TM-34: South African Mark Shuttleworth blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome; he had paid £15 million for the trip.
- April 26 - Robert Steinhäuser opens fire on his former teachers and other students in Erfurt, Germany and then kills himself; 16 are dead.
- April 27 - The Laughlin, Nevada River Run Riot leaves 3 dead.
- April 30 - Pakistan: Pakistani voters approve a referendum granting a 5-year term for Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf.
May
May 20: Flag of East Timor
- May 4 - In Germany, BV Borussia Dortmund wins the Bundesliga title after a 2-1 victory over SV Werder Bremen.
- May 5 - In the second round of the French presidential election, Jacques Chirac is reelected.
- May 6 - In the Netherlands, politician Pim Fortuyn is killed by Volkert van der Graaf.
- May 7 - China Northern Airlines Flight 6136 crashed into the bay near Dalian, killing all 103 passengers and 9 crew members.
- 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 agree to have 13 suspected militants among them deported to several different countries.
- 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 11 - Ray Charles takes part - with other musicians - in a peace concert in Rome, which was the first event to take place inside the city’s ancient Colosseum since 404 A.D. The event was organized in partnership with the Glocal Forum and the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation.
- May 12 - Former President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a 5-day visit with Fidel Castro, becoming the first U.S. President, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.
- May 12 - The Russian Shuttle Buran is destroyed when the roof of the hangar collapses, killing 8 workers.
- May 15 - The Netherlands holds elections for the Lower House.
- May 20 - East Timor regains its independence.
- May 21 - The US State Department releases a report naming 7 state sponsors of terrorism: Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.
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