WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2002
Find out what all happened January to December 2002

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. (20. August 2002)

The United States withdraws from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. (13. June 2002)

An MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25. (23. December 2002)

The Greek oil tanker Prestige splits in half and sinks off the coast of Galicia, releasing over 20 million US gallons (76,000 m³) of oil in the largest environmental disaster in Spanish and Portuguese history. (19. November 2002)

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. (29. March 2002)

Reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan and subsequently murdered . (23. January 2002)

Police arrest spree killers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, ending the Beltway sniper attacks in the area around Washington, DC. (24. October 2002)

At a Sotheby's auction, Peter Paul Rubens' painting The Massacre of the Innocents is sold for £49.5million (US$76.2 million) to Lord Thomson. (10. July 2002)

The first public version of the web browser Mozilla Firefox ("Phoenix 0.1") is released. (23. September 2002)

NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system. (19. February 2002)

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. (17. December 2002)

The International Criminal Court is established to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. (1. July 2002)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez returns to office two days after being ousted and arrested by the country's military. (14. April 2002)

A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people. (7. May 2002)

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. (26. May 2002)

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. (14. June 2002)

NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members. (21. November 2002)

Moscow Theatre Siege: Approximately 50 Chechen terrorists and 150 hostages die when Russian Spetsnaz storm a theater building in Moscow, which had been occupied by the terrorists during a musical performance three days before. (26. October 2002)

Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people. (17. January 2002)

China Airlines Flight 611 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes into the Taiwan Strait. All 225 people on board are killed. (25. May 2002)