WHAT ALL HAPPENED APRIL TO DECEMBER 2002
Find out what all happened April to December 2002

2003 California 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. (18. December 2002)

A scandal breaks out in the United Kingdom when news reports accuse MI6 of sheltering Abu Qatada, the supposed European Al-Qaeda leader. (7. July 2002)

Robert Steinhäuser infiltrates and kills 16 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot. (26. April 2002)

Ho Chi Minh City ITC fire, a fire destroys a luxurious department store where 1500 people are shopping. Over 60 people die and over 100 are unaccounted for. It is the deadliest disaster in Vietnam during peacetime. (29. October 2002)

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". (8. November 2002)

The last successful telemetry from the NASA space probe Pioneer 10. (27. April 2002)

Soham murders: 10-year-old school girls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells go missing from the town of Soham, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. (4. August 2002)

Naval clashes between South Korea and North Korea lead to the death of six South Korean sailors and sinking of a North Korean vessel. (29. June 2002)

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. (9. May 2002)

The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and 3 years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976). (20. May 2002)

Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty. (24. May 2002)

In Nigeria, more than 100 people are killed at an attack aimed at the contestants of the Miss World contest. (22. November 2002)

Earth Summit 2002 begins in Johannesburg, South Africa (26. August 2002)

Democrat James Traficant is expelled from the United States House of Representatives on a vote of 420 to 1. (24. July 2002)

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

The French oil tanker Limburg is bombed off Yemen. (6. October 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)

A Russian Mil Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile outside Grozny, killing 118 soldiers. (19. August 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)

Moscow Theatre Siege begins: Chechen terrorists seize the House of Culture theater in Moscow and take approximately 700 theater-goers hostage. (23. October 2002)