2002 - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday in the Gregorian calendar, the 2002nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations,the 2nd year of the 3rd millennium, the 2nd year of the 21st century, and the 3rd year of the 2000s decade.

• 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 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.^[1]
• 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.^[2]
• 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.

• Chemistry – John B. Fenn
• Chemistry – Koichi Tanaka
• Chemistry – Kurt Wüthrich
• Economics – Daniel Kahneman^[3]
• 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

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

• 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 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 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 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 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)

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