| |
| 2002 |
| January 1st |
 |
The
Euro (€) was officially launched as the new single currency
for 12 of the member states of European Union. The Euro (€)
was introduced to the world's financial markets on January 1st
1999. |
|
| January 1st |
|
The
People's Republic of China officially joined the World Trade
Organisation, as Chinese Taipei. |
|
| January 1st |
|
The
'Open Skies' mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in
1992, officially entered in to force. |
|
| January 5th |
|
In
the United States, Charles Bishop, a 15 year-old student pilot,
crashed a light aircraft into a building in Tampa, Florida.
It evoked fear of a another September 11th terrorist attack. |
|
| January 9th |
|
The
United States Department of Justice announced it was going to
pursue a criminal investigation of the company Enron. |
|
| January 12th |
|
The
former United States Secretary of State Cyrus Vance died. |
|
| January 16th |
|
John
Ashcroft announced that the American Taliban member John Walker
Lindh would be tried in the United States. |
|
| January 16th |
|
The
UN Security Council unanimously established an arms embargo
and the freezing of the assets of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida,
and the Taliban. |
|
| January 17th |
|
An
eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, displaced an estimated 400,000 people. |
|
| January. |
|
President
George W. Bush Jr. defined US policy in his 'Axis of Evil' speech
at his State of the Union address at Congress, Washington. |
|
| February
9th |
|
In
Britain, Princess Margaret, the sister of Queen Elizabeth II,
died. |
|
| February
12th |
|
The
trial of former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Slobodan Milosevic began at the United Nations war crimes
tribunal in The Hague, Holland. |
|
| February
13th |
|
In
Britain, Queen Elizabeth II gave former New York City mayor
Rudolph Giuliani an honorary knighthood. |
|
| February
19th |
|
NASA's
Mars Odyssey space probe began to map the surface of the red
planet using its thermal emission imaging system. |
|
| February
20th |
|
In
Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injured over 65 people
and killed at least 370. |
|
| February
21st |
|
British
actor John Thaw died. Thaw was famous for his roles in the TV
show 'The Sweeney' in the 1970s, and later 'Inspector Morse'. |
|
| February
27th |
|
In
India 59 Hindu pilgrims were killed on a train burned by a Muslim
mob in Godhra. It sparked a series of riots leaving hundreds
dead. |
|
| February
28th |
|
The
ex-currencies of all euro members officially (at EU-level) ceased
to be legal tender. The Euro (€) was introduced on the
January 1st 2001. |
|
| March 1st |
|
'Operation
Anaconda' began. A US led coalition in the war against terror
invaded Afghanistan to remove the ruling Muslim Taliban, who
were seen as the sponsors of global terrorism. Afghanistan was
used for training and a safe ground for terrorists. |
|
| March
1st |
|
The
NASA Space Shuttle 'Columbia' mission (STS-109) launched to
conduct servicing on Hubble Space Telescope. |
|
| March 1st |
|
The
Spanish Peseta was discontinued as the official currency of
Spain and was soley replaced with the euro (€), which had
been introduced on January 1st 2001. |
|
| March 12th |
|
In
Texas, United States, mother Andrea Yates was found guilty of
drowning her five children on June 20th 2001. She was later
sentenced to life in prison. |
|
| March 19th |
|
'Operation
Anaconda' ended. The US led coalition killed 500 Taliban and
Al-Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities. The Taliban
were defeated and removed from power in Afghanistan. |
|
| March 21st |
|
In
Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh as well as three other suspects
were charged with the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal
reporter Daniel Pearl. |
|
| March 25th |
|
British
football commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme died. Famous for his
remarks at the end of England's World Cup victory in 1966. |
|
| March 30th |
|
In
Britain the Queen Mother died. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, queen of
George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II. |
|
| April 2nd |
|
Israeli
forces surrounded the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, when
militants took shelter there and which began 38 day siege, which
ended on May 9th. |
|
| April 9th |
|
At
Westminster Abbey in London, the funeral of the Queen Mother
took place. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, queen of George VI and mother
of Queen Elizabeth II. |
|
| April 15th |
|
An
Air China Boeing 767-200 crashed and kiled 128 when smashed
into a hillside during heavy rain and fog near Pusan, South
Korea. |
|
| April
25th |
|
South
African Mark Shuttleworth blasted off from the Russian Baikonur
cosmodrome. Shuttleworth had paid £15 million for the
trip to Space. |
|
| April 30th |
|
In
Pakistan voters approved a referendum granting a five-year term
for Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf. |
|
| May 6th |
|
In
the Netherlands, politician Pim Fortuyn was killed by Volkert
van der Graaf. |
|
| May 9th |
|
The
38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
came to an end when the Palestinians inside agreed to have 13
suspected militants among them deported to several different
countries. The standoff started on April 2nd. |
|
| May 9th |
|
In
Kaspiysk, Russiania, a remote-control bomb explodes during a
holiday parade, killing 43 and injuring at least 130. |
|
| May 10th |
|
FBI
agent Robert Hanssen was sentenced to life without the possibility
of parole for selling American secrets to Russia for $1.4 million
in cash and diamonds. |
|
| May 12th |
|
Former
US President Jimmy Carter arrived in Cuba for a five-day visit
with Fidel Castro. Carter was the first President of the United
States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's
1959 revolution. |
|
| May 21st |
|
The
US State Department released a report which cited seven 'State-Sponsors
of Terrorism'. The countries included were Iran, Iraq, Cuba,
Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria. |
|
| May 22nd |
|
A
jury in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, convicted former Ku Klux Klan
member Bobby Frank Cherry of the murders of four girls with
the bombing 16th Street Baptist Church 1963. |
|
| May 25th |
|
China
Airlines Flight 611 broke up near the Penghu Islands at Taiwan
Strait and killed all 225 passengers on board. |
|
| May
26th |
|
The
Mars Odyssey found signs of huge water ice deposits on the planet
Mars. |
|
| June 3rd |
|
The
'Party in the Palace' took place at Buckingham Palace in London
for Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee celebrations. |
|
| June 4th |
|
Queen
Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh attended a special service
at St Pauls Cathedral marking 50 years on the throne. In New
York, the Empire State Building was lit in purple in her honour. |
|
| June
4th |
|
The
discovery of the new planet Quaoar by astronomers Chad Trujillo
and Michael Brown, at the California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena, California, United States. The largest object to
have been found in the solar system since the discovery of Pluto
in 1930. |
|
| June 10th |
|
American
gangster John Gotti died. The Mafia boss was convicted of murder
of mob boss Paul Castellano and of racketeering on April 2nd
1992 and was sentenced to life in prison. |
|
| June 11th |
|
Antonio
Meucci was recognised as the first inventor of the telephone
by the United States Congress. |
|
| June 14th |
|
In
Karachi, Pakistan, a car bomb detonated in front of the U.S.
consulate killed 12 and injured fifty Pakistanis. |
|
| June 27th |
|
English
bassist John Entwistle died. Entwistle was the bass player for
the legendary British rock group 'The Who'. |
|
| July 5th |
|
Iraq
once again rejected the new U.N. weapons inspections proposals. |
|
| July 14th |
|
In
France, during Bastille Day celebrations, Jacques Chirac escaped
an assassination attempt unscathed. |
|
| July 15th |
|
In
the United States the 'American Taliban' John Walker Lindh pleaded
guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and for the possession
of explosives during the commission of a felony. Lindh was sentenced
to 10 years in prison for each of the charges. |
|
| July 27th |
|
A
Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashed at an air show in Ukraine. 78 were
killed and more than 100 others were injured. |
|
| September
5th |
|
An
assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai failed,
and on the same day a car bomb killed at 30 people in Afghanistan. |
|
| September
10th |
|
Switzerland,
known for its neutrality, finally joined the United Nations. |
|
| September
12th |
|
U.S.
President George W. Bush Jr. addressed the U.N. and challenged
its members to confront the "grave and gathering danger"
of Iraq or stand aside as the United States and likeminded nations
act. |
|
| October 2nd |
|
The
U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution which explicitly authorised
the President to use the Armed Forces of the United States as
he determined to be necessary and appropriate. |
|
| October
7th |
|
The
discovery of Quaoar was announced at a meeting of the American
Astronomical Society. The Quaoar was the largest object found
in the solar system since Pluto in 1930. Discovery was made
on June 4th. |
|
| October 12th |
|
Extreme
Muslim terrorists detonated bombs in two nightclubs in Kuta,
Bali. Sari nightclub bombed as "westerners" were targeted.
202 people were killed and over 300 injured, mostly Australians.
Australians were targeted for their part in the coalition against
terrorism. |
|
| October 16th |
|
The
United States President George W. Bush Jr. signed the Iraq war
resolution. |
|
| October 24th |
|
In
the United States 'The Beltway' snipers were arrested. |
|
| November
7th |
|
In
the Middle-East Iran banned advertising of all US products. |
|
| November
8th |
|
UN
Security Council Resolution 1441. The United Nations Security
Council unanimously approved and passed a resolution on Iraq,
which forced Saddam Hussein to disarm or face 'serious consequences'. |
|
| November
13th |
|
Iraq
agreed to the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 1441,
which was passed on November 8th. |
|
| November
13th |
|
The
oil tanker Prestige sank off the Galician coast and caused a
huge oil spill. |
|
| November
15th |
|
Hu
Jintao became the general secretary of the Communist Party of
the People's Republic of China. |
|
| November
18th |
|
The
United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrived in
Iraq. |
|
| November
21st |
|
NATO
Summit in Prague. The former Eastern European countries, Bulgaria,
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia were
invited to become NATO members. |
|
| November
22nd |
|
In
Nigeria, more than 100 people were killed at an attack aimed
at the contestants of the Miss World contest. |
|
| November
25th |
|
US
President George W. Bush Jr. signed the Homeland Security Act
into law, and established the Department of Homeland Security
in the largest US government reorganisation since the creation
of the Department of Defense in 1947. The Senate passed the
bill 90-9 on November 19th. |
|
| December
7th |
|
As
required by the recently passed U.N. resolution, Iraq files
a 12,000 page weapons declaration with the U.N. Security Council.
Although it is supposed to be a complete declaration, it is
seen as incomplete by the Security Council and weapons inspectors. |
|
| December
22nd |
|
British
musician and singer Joe Strummer died. Strummer was part of
the legendary punk band The Clash. |
|
| December
27th |
|
Suicide
truck-bomb attack destroyed the headquarters of Chechnya's Moscow-backed
government which killed 72 people. |
|
| December
29th |
|
Communist
New People's Army blew up a bust of Ferdinand Marcos in Benguet,
Philippines. |
|
| |
|
: Return To Top :
Return to : Global
Timeline Menu
| 1900-1909
| 1910-1919 | 1920-1929
| 1930-1939 | 1940-1949
|
| 1950-1959 | 1960-1969
| 1970-1979 | 1980-1989
| 1990-1999 |
| 2000-2011 |
|
