What happened in 2002

68 events　World 8, North America 15, Europe 10, USSR / Russia 4, Asia 7, Middle East 10, Latin America 6, Africa 8

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Highlights of 2002

World8

  • Mar 1The Envisat environmental satellite is launched, with its purpose being the recording of information on environmental change.
  • Mar 25Shenzhou 3 is launched from China.
  • Apr 25South African Mark Shuttleworth blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the Soyuz TM-34, becoming the first African space tourist.
  • May 31The 2002 FIFA World Cup begins, taking place in South Korea and Japan.
  • Aug 22Typhoon Rusa, the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in 43 years, makes landfall, killing at least 236 people.
  • Aug 28EUMETSAT launches the Meteosat 8 satellite as part of its Meteosat program.
  • Sep 21Hurricane Lili crosses Cuba and several other Caribbean islands before making landfall in Louisiana.
  • Dec 29Shenzhou 4 is launched from China.

North America15

  • Jan 6The Boston Globe publishes results of an investigation leading to the criminal prosecutions of five Roman Catholic priests and bringing widespread attention to the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy.
  • Jan 16The United Nations and Sierra Leone create a joint Special Court for Sierra Leone to prosecute the Revolutionary United Front.
  • Jan 29American president George W. Bush defines an axis of evil consisting of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea in his State of the Union Address.
  • JanOperation Enduring Freedom – Philippines: The Philippines and the United States begin a joint operation to combat Jihadist groups in the Philippines.
  • Feb 5NASA launches the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager as part of the Explorers Program.
  • Feb 8The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
  • Feb 19NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
  • Mar 11The Tribute in Light is installed at the World Trade Center site in New York City.
  • May 4NASA launches the Aqua satellite as part of the Earth Observing System.
  • May 24United States President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin sign the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty.
  • May 30The formal eight-month rescue and recovery operation at Ground Zero in New York City officially concluded with a solemn, largely silent ceremony, marking the completion of the removal of approximately 1.8 million tons of debris from the site following the September 11 attacks.
  • Jul 3NASA launches the CONTOUR satellite but loses contact.
  • Oct 24The culprits of the D.C. sniper attacks are arrested after they kill ten people in the United States over the previous three weeks.
  • Nov 32002 Denali earthquake: A 7.9 magnitude earthquake, one of the strongest North American earthquakes recorded, occurs in Alaska.
  • Nov 25U.S. President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Act into law, establishing the Department of Homeland Security, in the largest U.S. government reorganization since the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947. Following a several month-long transitional period, it commences operations the following year.

Europe10

  • Jan 1The Euro is introduced as the official physical currency in the Eurozone countries. The first physical transactions are carried out on Réunion. The former currencies of all the countries that use the Euro cease to be legal tender on February 28.
  • Feb 12The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former president of Yugoslavia, begins at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
  • Mar 27Nanterre massacre: A man kills eight members of the Nanterre town council in France at the end of a council meeting.
  • Apr 26Erfurt school massacre: An expelled student kills 16 people and commits suicide at a school in Erfurt, Germany.
  • Jul 1The Rome Statute comes into force, thereby establishing the International Criminal Court.
  • Jul 27The Sknyliv air show disaster takes place, killing 77, becoming the deadliest air show accident of all time.
  • Oct 17The European Space Agency launches the INTEGRAL observatory.
  • Nov 7A sovereignty referendum is held in Gibraltar. The people reject Spanish sovereignty.
  • Nov 13Prestige oil spill: Greek oil tanker begins spilling oil off the coast of Galicia. It will continue until November 19, spilling 60,000 tonnes of oil in the worst environmental disaster in the history of the Iberian Peninsula.
  • Nov 22Prague summit: NATO announces seven new countries that intend to join: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

USSR / Russia4

  • May 92002 Kaspiysk bombing: Over 40 people are killed when insurgents bomb a military parade in Kaspiysk, Russia.
  • Aug 192002 Khankala Mi-26 crash: Chechen separatists shoot down a Russian Mil Mi-26, killing 127 soldiers. It was the worst aviation disaster in the history of the Russian military.
  • Oct 23Chechen rebels take control of the Nord-Ost theatre in Moscow and hold the audience hostage. At least 170 people are killed following a Russian attempt to subdue the militants.
  • Dec 272002 Grozny truck bombing: Chechen suicide bombers attack the government headquarters in Grozny, Russia, killing over 70 people.

Asia7

  • Feb 27A mob attacks a train near Godhra, India, killing approximately 59 people. The state of Gujarat breaks out into riots, including the Gulbarg Society massacre on February 28 that kills approximately 69 people.
  • May 14Kaluchak massacre: Militants attack a bus and an Indian army camp in Kaluchak, Jammu and Kashmir, killing 31 people and escalating the India–Pakistan standoff.
  • May 20Timor-Leste independence: East Timor regains its independence as the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste after 2.5 years of United Nations administration and 26 years of Indonesian occupation since 1975.
  • Jun 29Second Battle of Yeonpyeong: During the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, two North Korean patrol boats cross a contested border in between the two Koreas and attack two South Korean Chamsuri-class patrol boats.
  • Oct 12Jemaah Islamiyah militants detonate multiple bombs in two nightclubs in Kuta, Bali, killing 202 people and injuring over 300 people, making it the worst terrorist act in Indonesia's history.
  • Nov 8The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 1441, forcing Iraq to either disarm or face "serious consequences". Iraq agrees to the terms of the resolution on November 13.
  • Nov 162002–2004 SARS outbreak: The first case of the Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic, a zoonosis caused by a coronavirus, is recorded in Guangdong province of south China.

Middle East10

  • Feb 32002 Afyon earthquake: A 6.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey, killing 41 people and damaging thousands of buildings.
  • Mar 2Afghan and coalition troops carry out Operation Anaconda in the Shah-i-Kot Valley, the largest combat operation against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban to that point.
  • Mar 27A Palestinian suicide bomber kills 30 people and injures 140 others at a hotel in Netanya, Israel.
  • Mar 29In response to increasingly common attacks by Palestinian militants, Israeli initiates Operation Defensive Shield, a large-scale counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank.
  • Apr 1Battle of Jenin: Israeli forces attack Palestinian militants in the Jenin refugee camp.
  • Apr 2Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem: Israeli forces besiege the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem when militants take shelter there. The siege will last for 38 days.
  • Apr 3Battle of Nablus: Israeli forces occupy Nablus, Palestine.
  • Jun 13Afghanistan changes its official longform name to the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan.
  • Jun 222002 Bou'in-Zahra earthquake: A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes north-western Iran, killing over 200 people.
  • Oct 16The Bibliotheca Alexandrina opens in Alexandria, Egypt, in a ceremony attended by several heads of state.

Latin America6

  • Apr 11Llaguno Overpass events: a shootout takes place between the Caracas Metropolitan Police and pro-government Bolivarian Circles in central Caracas, Venezuela, near the presidential Miraflores Palace, causing 19 deaths and injuring 127 people. The military high command refuse President Hugo Chávez's order to implement the Plan Ávila as a response to the protests and demands his resignation. President Chávez is subsequently arrested by the military. Chávez's request for asylum in Cuba is denied, and he is ordered to be tried in a Venezuelan court.
  • Apr 14President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela is restored to power following an attempted coup.
  • May 2Bojayá massacre: A church is struck with a cylinder bomb during a conflict between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, killing an estimated 119 people.
  • Sep 14Hurricane Isidore crosses Cuba, the Yucatán Peninsula, and Louisiana.
  • Oct 272002 Brazilian general election: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is elected President of Brazil.
  • Dec 2Opponents of President Chavez begin a strike in Venezuela.

Africa8

  • Feb 22UNITA guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in clashes against government troops led by Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos in Moxico Province, Angola.
  • Apr 1The South West State of Somalia is established as an autonomous territory in Somalia by Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud.
  • Aug 26Earth Summit 2002 takes places in Johannesburg, South Africa, aimed at discussing sustainable development by the United Nations.
  • Sep 19General Robert Guéï leads an army mutiny in an attempt to overthrow Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, resulting in civil war.
  • OctOperation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa: The United States deploys troops to the Horn of Africa to combat Islamist groups and pirates.
  • Nov 282002 Mombasa attacks: Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, but their colleagues fail in their attempt to bring down an Arkia Israel Airlines charter flight with surface-to-air-missiles.
  • Dec 17A peace agreement is made in the Second Congo War, approving the creation of the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • Dec 272002 Kenyan general election: Kenya holds its first free elections, ousting the dominant Kenya African National Union Party following a victory of the National Rainbow Coalition.