WORLD HISTORY · 2002 日本語
Events of 2002Heisei 14 (Japan) · Year of the Horse
What happened in 2002?
In May 2002, the FIFA World Cup co-hosted by South Korea and Japan kicked off. In September, Prime Minister Koizumi visited North Korea, where it admitted abducting Japanese citizens, and five abductees returned to Japan in October.
- Bush delivers "axis of evil" speechNorth America
- East Timor gains independenceAsia
- Japan–South Korea World Cup opensAsia
- International Criminal Court establishedEurope
- North Korea admits abductions at summit with JapanAsia
- Koshiba Masatoshi wins Nobel Prize in PhysicsAsia
- Terrorist bombing on BaliAsia
- Five abductees return to JapanAsia
Tap an event to jump to it in the timeline below.
2002 at a glance
| Japanese era | Heisei 14 |
|---|---|
| Chinese zodiac | Year of the Horse |
| Age of people born in 2002 | Turn 24 in 2026 |
| Previous / next year | 2001 (Heisei 13) ／ 2003 (Heisei 15) |
| Events | 115 |
| AP World History | Unit 9 (Globalization) |
| AP U.S. History | Period 9 |
Famous people born in 2002
Our birthday pages list 179 people born in 2002. Here are some of them.
- Caitlin ClarkBorn January 22 · turns 24 this year · American basketball star who became the NCAA Division I career scoring leader a…
- Zion SuzukiBorn August 21 · turns 24 this year
- NingningBorn October 23 · turns 24 this year
- Alina ZagitovaBorn May 18 · turns 24 this year
- Sadie SinkBorn April 16 · turns 24 this year
- Bradley BarcolaBorn September 2 · turns 24 this year
- Simon AdingraBorn January 1 · turns 24 this year
- Nico GonzálezBorn January 3 · turns 24 this year
- Vladyslav VanatBorn January 4 · turns 24 this year
- Elly De La CruzBorn January 11 · turns 24 this year
- Eva LysBorn January 12 · turns 24 this year
- JJ PeterkaBorn January 14 · turns 24 this year
Show 28 more
- Tim StützleBorn January 15 · turns 24 this year
- SamuelBorn January 17 · turns 24 this year
- Anastasia ZakharovaBorn January 18 · turns 24 this year
- Karim AdeyemiBorn January 18 · turns 24 this year
- Ki-Jana HoeverBorn January 18 · turns 24 this year
- Arnaud KalimuendoBorn January 20 · turns 24 this year
- Moussa DiabatéBorn January 21 · turns 24 this year
- Joško GvardiolBorn January 23 · turns 24 this year
- Nicola ZalewskiBorn January 23 · turns 24 this year
- Lil MoseyBorn January 25 · turns 24 this year
- Darya AstakhovaBorn January 26 · turns 24 this year
- Tabyana AliBorn January 28 · turns 24 this year
- Yoo Seon-hoBorn January 28 · turns 24 this year
- Bijan RobinsonBorn January 30 · turns 24 this year
- TylaBorn January 30 · turns 24 this year
- Beñat TurrientesBorn January 31 · turns 24 this year
- Hong Ye-jiBorn January 31 · turns 24 this year
- Brian BrobbeyBorn February 1 · turns 24 this year
- Seth JarvisBorn February 1 · turns 24 this year
- JisungBorn February 5 · turns 24 this year
- TaehyunBorn February 5 · turns 24 this year
- Ona HuczkowskiBorn February 6 · turns 24 this year
- Shedeur SandersBorn February 7 · turns 24 this year
- Jalen GreenBorn February 9 · turns 24 this year
- Liam LawsonBorn February 11 · turns 24 this year
- Jaden IveyBorn February 13 · turns 24 this year
- Sophia LillisBorn February 13 · turns 24 this year
- Jaxon Smith-NjigbaBorn February 14 · turns 24 this year
Events of 2002 (timeline · 115)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Israeli forces seize the Palestinian freighter Karine A in the Red Sea, finding 50 tons of weapons.
President of the United States George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
War in Afghanistan: The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan and subsequently murdered.
An explosion at a military storage facility in Lagos, Nigeria, kills at least 1,100 people and displaces over 20,000 others.
TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100, crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia, killing 94.
In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush describes "regimes that sponsor terror" as an Axis of evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
Daniel Pearl, American journalist and South Asia Bureau Chief of The Wall Street Journal, kidnapped on January 23, is beheaded and mutilated by his captors.
The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, begins at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands. He dies four years later before its conclusion.
An Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154 crashes in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.
NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
A cooking gas cylinder explodes on board an Egyptian National Railways train in El Ayyat, causing a fire and killing over 370 people.
Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
An Ariane 4 rocket is launched from the Guiana Space Centre carrying Intelsat 904.
Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at London Stansted Airport causing minor injuries.
Godhra train burning: A Muslim mob torches a train returning from Ayodhya, killing 59 Hindu pilgrims.
During the religious violence in Gujarat, 97 people are killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in the Gulbarg Society massacre.
The Envisat environmental satellite successfully launches aboard an Ariane 5 rocket to reach an orbit of 800 km (500 mi) above the Earth, which was the then-largest payload at 10.5 m long and with a diameter of 4.57 m.
Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-109 to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins, (ending on March 19 after killing 500 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, with 11 Western troop fatalities).
Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers and 200 Al-Qaeda Fighters are killed as American forces attempt to infiltrate the Shah-i-Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.
An earthquake in Mindanao, Philippines, kills 15 people and injures more than 100.
Sofia Gubaidulina's Johannes-Ostern is premiered, together with her earlier Johannes-Passion, at Hamburg's Michaeliskirche, performed by soloists, choir and orchestra from the Mariinsky Theatre combined with NDR choir and orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev.
Nanterre massacre: In Nanterre, France, a gunman opens fire at the end of a town council meeting, resulting in the deaths of eight councilors; 19 other people are injured.
Passover massacre: A Palestinian suicide bomber kills 29 people at a Passover seder in Netanya, Israel.
In reaction to the Passover massacre two days prior, Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield against Palestinian militants, its largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.
Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, into which armed Palestinians had retreated.
The MPLA government of Angola and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War.
The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-110, carrying the S0 truss to the International Space Station. Astronaut Jerry L. Ross also becomes the first person to fly on seven spaceflights.
Over two hundred thousand people march in Caracas towards the presidential palace to demand the resignation of President Hugo Chávez. Nineteen protesters are killed.
A suicide bomber blows herself up at the entrance to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda Market, killing seven people and wounding 104.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez returns to office two days after being ousted and arrested by the country's military.
Air China Flight 129 crashes on approach to Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, killing 129 people.
Robert Steinhäuser kills 16 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany, before committing suicide.
One hundred three people are killed and 51 are injured in a plane crash near Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, Nigeria.
Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum.
A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.
An EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 crashes on approach to Tunis–Carthage International Airport, killing 14 people.
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 terrorists among them deported to several different countries.
FBI agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Russia for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro, becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since the Cuban Revolution.
The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and three years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).
Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
The "55 parties" clause of the Kyoto Protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland.
China Airlines Flight 611 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes into the Taiwan Strait, with the loss of all 225 people on board.
The tugboat Robert Y. Love collides with a support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, resulting in 14 deaths and 11 others injured.
The last steel girder is removed from the original World Trade Center site. Cleanup duties officially end with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York City.
Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-111, carrying the Expedition 5 crew to the International Space Station to replace the Expedition 4 crew. Astronaut Franklin Chang-Díaz becomes the second person to have flown on seven spaceflights.
Eastern Mediterranean event. A near-Earth asteroid estimated at ten meters in diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya. The explosion is estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
The first direct electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans is carried out by Kevin Warwick in the United Kingdom.
Antonio Meucci is acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.
Near-Earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles (121,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
An earthquake measuring 6.5 Mw strikes a region of northwestern Iran killing at least 261 people and injuring 1,300 others and eventually causing widespread public anger due to the slow official response.
The Igandu train disaster in Tanzania kills 281, the worst train accident in African history.
Naval clashes between South Korea and North Korea lead to the death of six South Korean sailors and sinking of a North Korean vessel.
Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, a Tupolev Tu-154, and DHL Flight 611, a Boeing 757, collide in mid-air over Überlingen, southern Germany, killing all 71 on board both planes.
The International Criminal Court is established to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.
A Boeing 707 crashes near Bangui M'Poko International Airport in Bangui, Central African Republic, killing 28.
The African Union is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The organization's first chairman is Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.
The Massacre of the Innocents, a painting by Peter Paul Rubens, is sold at a Sotheby's auction for £49.5 million (US$76.2 million) to Lord Thomson.
French president Jacques Chirac escapes an assassination attempt from Maxime Brunerie during a Bastille Day parade at Champs-Élysées.
The Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan sentences British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh to death, and three others suspected of murdering The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl to life.
"American Taliban" John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and possession of explosives during the commission of a felony.
A Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer crashes near Estes Park, Colorado, killing both crew members.
Ukraine airshow disaster: A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashes during an air show at Lviv, Ukraine killing 77 and injuring more than 500 others, making it the deadliest air show disaster in history.
Nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, are rescued after 77 hours underground.
Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9560 crashes after takeoff from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing 14 of the 16 people on board.
Khankala Mi-26 crash: A Russian Mil Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile outside Grozny, killing 118 soldiers.
A group of Iraqis opposed to the regime of Saddam Hussein take over the Iraqi embassy in Berlin, Germany for five hours before releasing their hostages and surrendering.
Rico Linhas Aéreas Flight 4823 crashes on approach to Rio Branco International Airport, killing 23 of the 31 people on board.
Typhoon Rusa, the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in 43 years, makes landfall, killing at least 236 people.
The Oakland Athletics win their 20th consecutive game, an American League record, until the Cleveland Indians surpassed it in 2017.
Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, becomes a full member of the United Nations.
Total Linhas Aéreas Flight 5561 crashes near Paranapanema, Brazil, killing both pilots on board.
The overcrowded Senegalese ferry, MV Le Joola, capsizes off the coast of the Gambia killing more than 1,000.
The Beltway sniper attacks begin in Washington, D.C., extending over three weeks and killing 10 people.
The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-112 to continue assembly of the International Space Station.
Iraq War: The United States Congress approves the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.
Terrorists detonate bombs in two nightclubs in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia, killing 202 and wounding over 200.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina opens in Egypt, commemorating the ancient library of Alexandria.
Second Chechen War: Chechen separatist terrorists seize the House of Culture theater in Moscow and take approximately 700 theater-goers hostage.
Approximately 50 Chechen terrorists and 150 hostages die when Russian special forces troops storm a theater building in Moscow, which had been occupied by the terrorists during a musical performance three days before.
A fire destroys a luxurious department store in Ho Chi Minh City, where 1,500 people are shopping. More than 60 people die and over 100 are unaccounted for in the deadliest peacetime disaster in Vietnam.
A federal grand jury in Houston, Texas indicts former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow on 78 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice related to the collapse of his ex-employer.
Chinese authorities arrest cyber-dissident He Depu for signing a pro-democracy letter to the 16th Communist Party Congress.
Jiang Lijun is detained by Chinese police for signing the Open Letter to the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
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".
Veteran's Day Weekend Tornado Outbreak: A tornado outbreak stretching from Northern Ohio to the Gulf Coast, one of the largest outbreaks recorded in November.
A Fokker F27 Friendship operating as Laoag International Airlines Flight 585 crashes into Manila Bay shortly after takeoff from Ninoy Aquino International Airport, killing 19 people.
Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman posts the first of three preprint texts with his proof of the Poincaré conjecture. It remains the only of the Millennium Prize Problems in mathematics to be solved. He later refused both the prize money from Clay Mathematics Institute as well as the Fields Medal for his work.
Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq agrees to the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 1441.
Hu Jintao becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and a new nine-member Politburo Standing Committee is inaugurated.
The first cases of the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak are traced to Foshan, Guangdong Province, China.
Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
The Greek oil tanker Prestige splits in half and sinks off the coast of Galicia, releasing over 76,000 m3 (20 million US gal) of oil in the largest environmental disaster in Spanish and Portuguese history.
NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.
Arturo Guzmán Decena, founder of Los Zetas and high-member of the Gulf Cartel, is killed in a shoot-out with the Mexican Army and the police.
Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-113 to the International Space Station carrying the Expedition 6 crew and the P1 truss.
Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya; their colleagues fail in their attempt to bring down Arkia Israel Airlines Flight 582 with surface-to-air missiles.
European Union enlargement: The EU announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members on May 1, 2004.
Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and presidential elections within two years.
California gubernatorial recall: Then Governor of California Gray Davis announces that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier.
A U.S. MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25 in the first combat engagement between a drone and conventional aircraft.
Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
FAQ
What year was 2002 in the Japanese calendar?
2002 was Heisei 14 in the Japanese era system.
What Chinese zodiac animal is 2002?
2002 is the Year of the Horse.
How old is someone born in 2002?
They turn 24 on their birthday in 2026.
What happened in 2002?
In May 2002, the FIFA World Cup co-hosted by South Korea and Japan kicked off. In September, Prime Minister Koizumi visited North Korea, where it admitted abducting Japanese citizens, and five abductees returned to Japan in October.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.