2002
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Calendar overview 2002
Map with all linked pages: 
| 2002 in other calendars | |
|---|---|
| Ab urbe condita | 2755 |
| Armenian calendar | 1450-1451 |
| Ethiopian calendar | 1994-1995 |
| Badi calendar | 158-159 |
| Bengali calendar | 1408-1409 |
| Berber calendar | 2952 |
| Buddhist calendar | 2546 |
| Burmese calendar | 1364 |
| Byzantine calendar | 7510-7511 |
| Chinese calendar | |
| - era | 4698-4699 or 4638-4639 |
| – 60-year cycle |
Metal Snake (辛巳, 18)– |
|
French Revolutionary Calendar |
CCX - CCXI 210-211 |
| Hindu calendar | |
| – Vikram Sambat | 2058-2059 |
| – Shaka Samvat | 1924-1925 |
| Iranian calendar | 1380-1381 |
| Islamic calendar | 1422-1423 |
| Japanese calendar | |
| – Nengō (era): | Heisei 14 |
| - Koki | 2662 |
| Jewish calendar | 5762-5763 |
| Coptic calendar | 1718-1719 |
| Korean calendar | |
| – Dangun era | 4335 |
| – Juche era | 91 |
| Minguo calendar | 91 |
| Modern Olympics | XXVII |
| Seleucid calendar | 2313-2314 |
| Thai solar calendar | 2545 |
events
politics and world affairs
January
- 1 January: Kaspar Villiger again becomes President of Switzerland .
- January 1: The euro is put into circulation as a new currency.
- January 1: Afghanistan . Hamid Karzai takes over the transitional government.
- 1 January: The EU lifts the visa requirement for Romania .
- 1 January: Entry into force of the bilateral agreement between the EU and Switzerland
- January 2 Levy Mwanawasa becomes President of Zambia .
- January 2: Argentina . Eduardo Duhalde becomes the new President .
- January 11: Argentina ended its currency's convertibility against the US dollar ( Argentina Crisis ).
- January 11: Guantanamo / Cuba . The US establishes a prison camp designed to hold "enemies without combatant status".
- January 12: Pakistan . In a keynote address, President Pervez Musharraf condemns terrorism and intolerance.
- January 17: The 1992 Helsinki Convention comes into force, replacing the 1974 Helsinki Convention .
- January 20: Republic of the Congo . A referendum in the Republic of Congo confirms the constitutional reform to transform it into a presidential republic.
February
- February 10: Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on a state visit to Mexico
- February 11: Parliamentary elections in Liechtenstein
- February 13: Germany takes a leading role in building up the police force in Afghanistan .
- February 14: Chancellor Gerhard Schröder visits Argentina
- February 14: Bahrain becomes a kingdom. First king is Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa .
- February 14 Afghan Minister of Aviation and Tourism Abdul Rahman is killed by pilgrims at Kabul airport because he wants to fly to India on the only Afghan plane . Pilgrims have been waiting for a flight to Mecca for days .
- February 19: Rampage at the business school in Freising
- February 22: Death of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi ( Angola )
- February 24: General elections in Laos
March
- March 3: Referendum in Switzerland on membership of the United Nations
- March 10: General elections in Colombia
- March 15: Armistice negotiations resume in Angola
- March 17: Parliamentary elections in Portugal
- March 19: Federal President Johannes Rau visits Romania
- March 19: Italian government adviser Marco Biagi is assassinated in Bologna by a Red Brigade splinter group
- March 21 Thousands of laid-off workers protest in Liaoyang , north China , demanding the release of a jailed labor leader
- March 21: A car bomb near the US embassy in Lima kills nine people and injures at least 25 others. The attack took place a few days before the arrival of US President George W. Bush
- March 22: When the Bundesrat votes on the immigration law , there is a scandal in the Bundesrat when the state of Brandenburg votes inconsistently and the Bundesrat President then evaluates this vote as a yes vote. With its decision of December 18, 2002, the Federal Constitutional Court overturned this decision
- March 25: Abdullah Tarmugi becomes Speaker of Parliament in Singapore
April
- April 4 Armistice agreement signed between military UNITA and government forces in Angola
- April 6: José Manuel Barroso becomes Prime Minister of Portugal
- April 8: The President of the People's Republic of China , Jiang Zemin , pays a state visit to Germany
- April 11: Tunisia . Attack on the synagogue "Al Ghriba" on Djerba
- April 11: Caracas , Venezuela . Coup against the Chavez government after a mass demonstration in the streets of the capital; around 15 dead, formation of an interim government
- April 13: Caracas, Venezuela. After further mass demonstrations , Hugo Chávez returns to power
- April 14: Comoros . presidential elections
- April 16: One month before the elections in the Netherlands , the government under Wim Kok resigns because of the events in Srebrenica in 1995.
- April 20: General elections on Niue
- April 22: Algeria . Association Agreement with the EU
- April 26: Erfurt killing spree . Robert Steinhäuser kills 16 people at Gutenberg-Gymnasium with a handgun and commits suicide.
- April 30: Algeria and Germany reach framework agreement on technical cooperation
- April 30: Parliamentary elections in Albania . Servet Pëllumbi becomes President
May
- 1 May: The EU - Jordan Association Agreement enters into force
- May 2: Bahamas . Perry Christie becomes Prime Minister
- May 2 Young Vivian becomes Prime Minister of Niue
- May 5: France . Jacques Chirac is re-elected as President
- May 6: France. President Jacques Chirac appoints Jean-Pierre Raffarin as Prime Minister
- May 6: Marc Ravalomanana becomes President of Madagascar
- May 6: Netherlands . Assassination of politician Pim Fortuyn
- May 8: Abel Pacheco de la Espriella becomes President of Costa Rica
- May 12: Amadou Toumani Touré becomes President of Mali
- 14 May: Sierra Leone general and presidential elections ; Ahmad Tejan Kabbah is confirmed in office as President
- May 16: General elections in the Dominican Republic .
Flag of the new state of East Timor
- May 20: After almost three years, the United Nations grants East Timor independence
- May 22: The Lower House in Nepal is dissolved
- May 24 Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty signed by Russia and the United States
- 25 May: Lesotho general election .
- May 29: Federal President Johannes Rau visits Slovenia
- May 30: General elections in Algeria
June
- June 13: The US unilaterally withdraws from the ABM treaty
- June 13: First council meeting of all Afghan tribal leaders in Kabul , Afghanistan
- June 14: Intergovernmental agreement on film economic relations between Luxembourg and Germany
- 17 June: The EU - Lebanon Association Agreement is signed
- June 24: Albania . Parliament elects former Defense Minister Alfred Moisiu as President
- June 30: Parliamentary elections in Cameroon
July
- July 1: A Russian Tupolev Tu-154 passenger plane and a DHL Boeing 757 freighter collide at 11,000 m above Lake Constance near Überlingen and crash. There are 71 dead. The reason given was an error by the responsible Swiss air surveillance agency Skyguide . The plane collision at Überlingen is the worst plane crash over Germany in recent times
- July 5 Angola ratifies the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines
- July 7 Algeria releases 101 Moroccan prisoners of war after more than 20 years of captivity
- July 14: Three spectators overpower the Frenchman Maxime Brunerie in Paris when he wants to kill President Jacques Chirac with a carabiner at the parade for the National Day.
- July 15: Presidential election in India
- July 16th: The republican underground organization Northern Ireland 's IRA apologizes for the first time for the civilian victims of its own terrorist actions
- July 25: APJ Abdul Kalam is sworn in as President of India
- July 27: Fatos Nano becomes head of government in Albania
- July 30: Democratic Republic of the Congo . Peace agreement signed in Pretoria , South Africa with Rwanda
- 30 July: 5th visit of Pope John Paul II to Mexico
August
- August 3: Bolivia . Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Bustamante was elected President
- August 7: Álvaro Uribe Vélez becomes President of Colombia
- August 15 Michael Somare becomes Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
- 22 August: Inauguration of the Police Academy in Kabul , Afghanistan by President Hamid Karzai and Interior Minister Taj Mohammad Wardak
- August 23: Angola . Government and UNITA agree to implement the Lusaka Protocol within 45 days
- August 24: New government formed in Cameroon
- 26 August: World Summit on Sustainable Development begins in Johannesburg
September
- September 5: Opening of the German-Romanian Chamber of Commerce in Bucharest , Romania
- September 6 Iajuddin Ahmed becomes President of Bangladesh
- September 10: Switzerland becomes the 190th member of the United Nations
- September 15: Parliamentary elections and government reshuffle in Macedonia
- September 16: Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta becomes Prime Minister of Mali
- September 19: Another coup attempt in Ivory Coast
- 22 September: 2002 federal election . SPD and Greens are able to just about maintain their government majority, SPD = 251 seats, CDU/CSU = 248, Greens = 55, FDP = 47. The PDS fails because of the five percent clause, but wins two direct seats in Berlin.
- 24 September Bahrain enacts law establishing free trade unions
- September 27:
- Parliamentary elections in Morocco
- the President of São Tomé and Príncipe dismisses the government
October
- October 4: Maria das Neves Ceita Baptista de Sousa becomes head of state in São Tomé and Príncipe
- 5 October: Parliamentary elections in Latvia
- October 5: Rwanda . All military troops from Congo are back
- October 8: Senate elections in Kazakhstan
- October 8 Foreign Minister of Israel Shimon Peres visits Mauritania
- October 10: Local elections in Algeria , in which the FLN again emerges victorious
- 10 October: General elections in Pakistan
- October 11: Lokendra Bahadur Chand becomes the new prime minister of Nepal
- October 12: A bomb attack in Bali kills 202 and injures 209
- October 16: Opening of the "Bibliotheca Alexandrina" in Alexandria , Egypt
- October 21: King Abdullah II of Jordan on a state visit to Germany
- October 21: Mexico . Start of the APEC summit
- October 23: Russia . Chechen rebels take 850 people hostage in Moscow's Dubrovka Theater . The hostage-taking, in which 130 hostages and all the kidnappers died, ended three days later.
- October 24: Bahrain . First round of general elections in almost 30 years. Second ballot: October 31st
November
- November 1 Branko Crvenkovski becomes Prime Minister of Macedonia
- November 7: Idrissa Seck becomes Prime Minister of Senegal
- November 11: Federal President Johannes Rau on a state visit to Spain
- November 12: Concordat between the Holy See and Brandenburg
- 15 November: Rwanda cabinet reshuffle .
- November 17: Municipal elections in Peru
- November 18: Chile signs the Association Agreement with the EU in Brussels
- November 20: Angola . Official completion of the implementation of the Lusaka Protocol
- 21 November: Estonia is invited to NATO accession negotiations
- November 21: Concordat between the Holy See and Bremen
- November 21 Zafarullah Khan Jamali becomes Prime Minister of Pakistan
- November 21 Viktor Yanukovych becomes Prime Minister of Ukraine
- 24 November: National Council elections in Austria , ÖVP party with the most votes
- November 27: Denmark . Anders Fogh Rasmussen becomes prime minister
- November 29: Federal President Johannes Rau visits Budapest , Hungary
December
- December 13th: The EU summit in Copenhagen decides to admit ten new members on May 1st, 2004 (“eastward enlargement”)
- December 15: Equatorial Guinea : President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is re-elected for a further seven-year term
- December 15: General elections in Madagascar
- December 22: Janez Drnovšek becomes President of Slovenia
- December 30: Mwai Kibaki becomes President of Kenya
- December 30: Constitutional amendment in Togo
business
- 1 January: The euro is introduced as a common currency in twelve European Union countries , as well as in Andorra , Monaco , Montenegro , San Marino and the Vatican . Since then, euro cash has been legal tender. The very first to be able to pay with the euro are the residents of the French overseas department of Réunion
- April 8th: With Kirch Media 's filing for bankruptcy , the bankruptcy of Leo Kirch's media empire becomes official.
- April 12: Double taxation agreement between Germany and Oman
- April 14: The investment promotion and protection agreement between Germany and Cambodia comes into force
- June 24: New investment promotion and protection agreement between Germany and Thailand
- July 21: Telephone company WorldCom files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in South New York bankruptcy court, causing one of the biggest stock market scandals.
- September 20: The DAX (German share index) falls below 3000 points for the first time since 1996
- December 19: Double taxation agreement between Germany and Macedonia
- December 30: The publisher of The New York Times acquires the Washington Post publisher's 50 percent interest in the global daily newspaper International Herald Tribune and becomes its sole owner.
- The US company Compaq is taken over by Hewlett-Packard .
science and technology
- February 23: The Nebra sky disc is secured in a police operation.
- April 6: The Neuschwanstein meteorite falls in the German-Austrian border area.
- May 4: Launch of the US NASA research satellite Aqua to explore the role of water in the complex ecosystem of our planet
- May 12 Buran 1.01 , the only Buran program orbiter ever flown into space , is destroyed at the Baikonur Cosmodrome when the roof of the abandoned hangar collapses.
- May 21: The second ISO newsletter is published.
- July 3: Steve Fossett successfully circumnavigates the world in a balloon in thirteen and a half days.
- June 5: East Timor becomes a member of UNESCO .
- June 10: Annular solar eclipse in the North Pacific
- September 20: The Rama VIII Bridge over the Mae Nam Chao Phraya is officially opened in Bangkok.
- 1 October: The United States of America rejoins UNESCO
The mosquito species Anopheles gambiae , vector of malaria
- 3 October: The genomes of the malaria pathogens Plasmodium yoelii yoelii and Plasmodium falciparum and on 4 October the vector, the mosquito species Anopheles gambiae , were completely decoded.
- November 19: Opening of the mathematics center in Giessen
- December 4: Total solar eclipse in southern Africa and Australia
- The Hansen Prize is awarded for the first time
- Start of the pilot school project MODUS21
Culture
- 15 May – 20 October: The Swiss National Exhibition Expo.02 can be visited.
- June 8th – September 15th: The Documenta11 world exhibition of art takes place in Kassel .
- June 27th: The " Upper Middle Rhine Valley cultural landscape " between Bingen / Rüdesheim and Koblenz is declared a " World Heritage Site " by UNESCO .
- July 22: The cultural agreement between Germany and Kyrgyzstan comes into force.
- August 20: The Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto (MART) opens in Rovereto , which houses, among other things, a collection of futuristic art .
- September: The Pinakothek der Moderne is inaugurated in Munich .
- November 16: The Escher Museum opens in The Hague , dedicated to the oeuvre of Dutch artist and graphic artist MC Escher .
- Günter Grass publishes Im Krebsgang .
- Martin Walser publishes Death of a Critic .
- The Belgian city of Bruges and the Spanish city of Salamanca are joint European Capitals of Culture .
- Sachsen LB Art Prize awarded for the first time
- Opening of the Walter Art Museum
- Opening of the Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli
- Carl Zuckmayer's secret report is published by Wallstein-Verlag .
- Inauguration of the largest statue, the Spring Temple Buddha in China
music
- Marie N wins the 47th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in Tallinn on 25 May with the song I Wanna for Latvia .
- Opening of the new concert hall ( Philharmonie for Westphalia ) in Dortmund .
See also: Category:Music 2002
Movie and TV
- On April 28, 2002, after ten years, Tele 5 will be back on German television.
society
- January 5: Out of sympathy for the terrorist Osama bin Laden , a fifteen-year-old flies a small plane into a 42-story bank building in Tampa , Florida . He is the sole victim of the suicide bombing .
- February 2: Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Máxima Zorreguieta marry in Amsterdam .
- April 26: 19-year-old former student Robert Steinhäuser kills 16 people and then himself during a ten-minute rampage at Erfurt 's Gutenberg-Gymnasium (see Erfurt rampage )
- May 2: Establishment of the Krzysztof Nowak Foundation .
- 18 June: On the third "Social Day" organized by Schüler Helfen Leben , 210,000 schoolchildren in Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and Lower Saxony swap their school desks for a paid job and donate over 3.8 million euros to charitable causes
- September 15: Founding of the European Inter-University Center for Human Rights and Democratization in Venice.
Sports
Entries of athletics world records see under the respective discipline under athletics .
- German football champions : men: Borussia Dortmund , women: 1. FFC Frankfurt
- DFB Cup Winners : Men: FC Schalke 04 , Women: 1. FFC Frankfurt
- January 5: Luan Krasniqi becomes European Heavyweight Champion in boxing; he defeated René Monse on points.
- January 6th: Sven Hannawald is the first ski jumper to win all four individual competitions in the Four Hills Tournament .
- February 8th to 24th: XIX. Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City , United States .
- February 8: Vitali Klitschko wins his boxing match against Vaughn Bean at Volkswagen Halle , Braunschweig , Germany , by technical knockout
- March 3 to October 13: Host of the 53rd Formula 1 World Championship
- March 16: Wladimir Klitschko wins his boxing match against Francois Botha at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart , Germany by technical knockout
- April 7th to November 3rd: Host of the 54th FIM Motorcycle Road World Championship
- April 27: SC Magdeburg becomes the first German handball Bundesliga team to win the EHF Champions League .
- May 5: In the final of the Basketball Euroleague, Panathinaikos Athens defeated Kinder Bologna 89:83 and became European champions for the third time.
- May 31 to June 30: 17th World Cup in Japan and South Korea ; Brazil wins the final against Germany 2-0 and becomes world champion for the fifth time. Most of the favorites like France and Argentina don't make it past the preliminary round.
- July: Tour de France winner becomes Lance Armstrong .
- July 21: Michael Schumacher wins his fifth Formula 1 world championship title
- November 23: Vitali Klitschko wins his boxing match against Larry Donald at Westfalenhalle , Dortmund , by technical knockout
- December 7: Wladimir Klitschko wins his boxing match against Jameel McCline in Mandalay Bay , Las Vegas , Nevada , United States , by technical knockout
- December 12: Oak Hill vs. St.Vincent-St.Mary (see LeBron James ) is the first high school basketball game to be broadcast live on US television.
- 22 December: Voted Sportsman of the Year in Germany: Franziska van Almsick , Sven Hannawald , German national football team .
disasters
- January 27: About 30 explosions occur in a burning Nigerian Army ammunition depot in Lagos . They destroy adjacent buildings and cause thousands of people to flee in panic, causing more deaths. About 1000 victims are the balance sheet.
- February 12: Khorramabad , Iran . An Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154 crashes into a mountain in the Sefid Kouh mountain range while on approach for landing in heavy fog . All 117 passengers on board die.
- March 3: 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Hindu Kush region , Afghanistan , killing 166
- March 25: 6.1 magnitude earthquake in Hindu Kush region , Afghanistan , killing approximately 1000
- April 15: Busan , South Korea . An Air China Boeing 767 , coming from Beijing , crashes into a wooded area on the last attempt to land. 128 people die, 39 can be saved.
- May 3: The overloaded ferry Salahuddin 2 sinks in a storm on the Meghna River in Bangladesh south of Dhaka . At least 450 people drown.
- May 7: Dalian , Liaoning , People's Republic of China . A China Northern Airlines ( Flight 6136 ) MD-82 crashes into the sea just offshore. All 112 people on board die.
- May 25: Near Penghu Island , Taiwan , a China Airlines Boeing 747-209B suddenly disappeared from radar 20 minutes after takeoff from Taipei Airport . The machine falls from about 12,000 meters into the sea and tears all 225 people on board to their deaths. The cause was that the rear end was never repaired after it hit the ground in 1980.
- June 4: The Zeyzoun Dam in Syria ruptures. The tsunami kills up to 100 people.
- June 22: 6.5 magnitude earthquake in Iran , killing 261
- July 1: Plane crash over Owingen near Überlingen on Lake Constance, 71 people die, including 45 children and young people.
- July 27: 85 people die and more than 100 are injured in the Lemberg Flugtag accident . It is the worst catastrophe at an aerobatic demonstration to date .
- August: Elbe flood 2002 : Flood of the century on the Elbe and some of its tributaries, Lower and Upper Austria , in Upper Styria and in Vienna as well as in the Czech Republic through the Danube and its tributaries
- September 26: Sinking of the Senegalese ferry Le Joola , the only ferry between Casamance and Dakar, killing over 1,800
- October 12: Bali . Bomb attacks on two nightclubs in Kuta kill 202 people, mostly Australian tourists.
- October 23: Moscow , Russia . Hostage-taking by Chechen terrorists during a performance of the musical "Nord-Ost" at the Dubrovka Theater. About 120 of the approximately 800 hostages die when they are liberated by Russian security forces.
- November 15: Warship Destroyer sinks 5,000 feet east of Sable Island .
Born
First half of the year
- January 1 Amona Aßmann , German actress
- January 3 Anna Shpynyova , Russian ski jumper
- January 13: Alexandra Föster , German rower
- January 13: Frederik Vesti , Danish racing car driver
- January 16: Jonas Schmidt-Foß , German voice actor
- January 18 Lewis Williams , Welsh darts player
- January 22: Daniel Moroder , Italian ski jumper
- January 26: Jomaine Consbruch , German footballer
- February 2 Soni Bringas , American actress and dancer
- February 4 Troy Parrott , Irish footballer
- February 4 Jackie R. Jacobson , American actress
- February 5 Davis Cleveland , American actor
- February 5: Tim Lemperle , German footballer
- February 11: Liam Lawson , New Zealand automobile racer
- February 12: Mohamed Ihattaren , Dutch-Moroccan footballer
- February 14: Alessandro Schuster , German actor
- February 14: Nick Woltemade , German footballer
- February 18 Adam Gawlas , Czech darts player
- February 22: Celina Borko , German voice actress
- February 22: Erik Shuranov , Ukrainian-German footballer
- February 24: Oscar Brose , German actor
- March 1: Dalia Mya Schmidt-Foß , German voice actress and actress
- March 3 Lorenzo Musetti , Italian tennis player
- March 8 Lorenzo Colombo , Italian footballer
- March 16 Isabelle Allen , British actress
- March 22: Andrei Jessipenko , Russian chess champion
- March 29: Cem Türkmen , Turkish-German footballer
- March 30: Ella Zirzow , German actress
- April 4 Daniel Grassl , Italian figure skater
- April 12: Max Krauthausen , German child actor
- April 16 Sadie Sink , American actress
- April 20 Irina Alexeyeva , Russian artistic gymnast
- April 23 Craig Galliano , Gibraltarian darts and soccer player
- April 23: Tim Prica , Swedish footballer
- April 25: Johanna Bassani , Austrian Nordic Combined († 2020)
- April 28 Adrianna Di Liello , Canadian actress and dancer
- May 9 Cree Cicchino , American actress and dancer
- May 9: Isabel Marie Gose , German swimming champion
- May 13 Zoe Wees , German singer
- May 16 Ryan Gravenberch , Dutch Surinamese footballer
- May 18 - Alina Zagitova , Russian figure skater and Olympic champion
- May 25: Noah Atubolu , German footballer
- June 1: Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi , Tunisian taekwondoin
- June 2 Madison Hu , American actress
- June 4: Joséphine Pagnier , French ski jumper
- June 12 Charles Crombez , Belgian actor
- June 17: Lisa and Lena , German web video producers
- June 17 Sean Negrette , Gibraltarian darts player
- June 19: Efraín Álvarez , American-Mexican soccer player
- June 25 Mason Vale Cotton , American actor
- June 28 Marta Kostyuk , Ukrainian tennis player
Second half of the year
- July 2 Sebastiano Esposito , Italian footballer
- July 4 Dirk Geiger , German motorcycle racer
- July 15: Samed Onur , Turkish-German footballer
- July 21: Rika Kihira , Japanese figure skater
- July 23 Benjamin Flores, Jr. , American actor and rapper
- July 26 Michael Campion , American actor
- July 30: Alex Gufler , Italian luger
- July 30: Sofya Samodurova , Russian figure skater
- August 8: Mustafa Kapı , Turkish footballer
- August 9 Elina Nagula , Russian billiards player
- August 26 Angelina Simakova , Russian artistic gymnast
- August 30 Paige Jones , American ski jumper
- September 5: Einár , Swedish rapper (died 2021)
- September 8 Gaten Matarazzo , American actor
- September 19 Jason and Kristopher Simmons , American actors
- September 22 Cody Veith , American actor
- September 27 Jillian Shea Spaeder , American actress
- September 30 Maddie Ziegler , American dancer, actress and model
- October 6 Rio Mangini , American actor, pianist and voice actor
- October 6: Cleopatra Stratan , Moldavian singer
- October 10: Thomas Kuc , Brazilian actor
- October 14: Luis Engel , German chess grandmaster
- October 17: Maximilian Beier , German footballer
- October 17: Momo Cissé , Guinean-French footballer
- October 23 Shin Eun-soo , South Korean actress
- October 26: Emma Schweiger , German actress
- October 30: Lilly Liefers , German actress
- October 31: Ansu Fati , Spanish-Guinea-Bissau footballer
- November 6: Mya-Lecia Naylor , British actress († 2019)
- November 10: Eduardo Camavinga , Franco-Congolese footballer
- November 20 Madisyn Shipman , American actress
- November 21: Aminata Camara , Gambian football player
- December 9 Sam Bolton , British ski jumper
- December 11: Jamie Gerstenberg , German soccer goalkeeper
- December 29 Hanna Aronsson Elfman , Swedish alpine skier
- December 30 Josefa Schellmoser , German skeleton pilot
- December 31: Casar , German rapper
day unknown
- Elias Eisold , German actor
- Sarina Hutter , Swiss floorball player
- Charlotte Krause , German actress
- Budhia Singh , Indian marathon runner
- Lucy Ella von Scheele , German actress
Died
This is a list of the most important people who died in 2002. For a more detailed list, see Necrolog 2002 .
January
Astrid Lindgren (died January 28)
- January 1: Matthias Fuchs , German actor (b. 1939)
- January 1: Paul Hubschmid , Swiss film and theater actor (b. 1917)
- January 7: Geoffrey Crossley , British motor racing driver (b. 1921)
- January 8: Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov , Russian physicist (born 1916)
- January 8: Pascal Rywalski , Swiss Capuchin and Minister General (b. 1911)
- January 9: Eddie Zack , American country musician (b. 1922)
- January 12: John Stephen Hales , Australian businessman (born 1922)
- January 12: Cyrus Vance , American politician (b. 1917)
- January 13: Samuel Dolin , Canadian composer and music educator (b. 1917)
- January 13: Amparo Montes , Mexican singer (b. 1925)
- January 14: Ebenezer Ako-Adjei , Ghanaian politician, lawyer, publisher and journalist (b. 1916)
- January 16: Hilde Adolf , German politician (born 1953)
- January 17: Camilo José Cela , Spanish writer (born 1916)
- January 17: Héctor Tosar , Uruguayan composer (b. 1923)
- January 18: Cövdət Hacıyev , Azerbaijani composer (b. 1917)
- January 19: Jeffrey Astle , English footballer (b. 1942)
- January 19: Franz Innerhofer , Austrian writer (born 1944)
- January 21: Peggy Lee , American jazz singer (b. 1920)
- January 22: Kenneth Armitage , British sculptor (b. 1916)
- January 23: Pierre Bourdieu , French sociologist (born 1930)
- January 23: Robert Nozick , American philosopher (b. 1938)
- January 24: Elie Hobeika , Lebanese militiaman and politician (b. 1956)
- January 24: Igor Kipnis , American harpsichordist (born 1930)
- January 27: Franz Meyers , German politician (born 1908)
- January 27: Alain Vanzo , French opera singer (born 1928)
- January 28: Astrid Lindgren , Swedish children's book author (b. 1907)
- January 30: Carlo Karges , German musician (born 1951)
- January 30: Inge Morath , American photographer (b. 1923)
February
Hildegard Knef († February 1)
- February 1: Raimund Gensel , German actor (b. 1940)
- February 1: Hildegard Knef , German actress (born 1925)
- February 3: Aglaja Veteranyi , Swiss actress and writer (born 1962)
- February 4: Boogaloo Ames , American jazz, blues and boogie-woogie pianist (b. 1918)
- February 4: Inge Konradi , Austrian actress (born 1924)
- February 6: Max Ferdinand Perutz , British chemist (born 1914)
- February 7: Carlos Díaz , Cuban singer (b. 1930)
- February 7: Dennis Herrold , American rockabilly musician (b. 1927)
- February 8 Elisabeth Mann Borgese , German marine biologist and daughter of Thomas Mann (born 1918)
- February 8: Ong Teng Cheong , Singaporean politician (b. 1936)
- February 8: Joachim Hoffmann , German historian (b. 1930)
- February 8 Vesta M. Roy , American politician (b. 1925)
- February 9: Princess Margaret , sister of Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1930)
- February 10: Dave Van Ronk , American blues musician (b. 1936)
- February 11: Barry Foster , British actor (born 1931)
- February 11: Traudl Junge , secretary to Adolf Hitler (b. 1920)
- February 13: Waylon Jennings , American country music singer (b. 1937)
- February 14: Abdul Rahman , Afghan politician (b. 1953)
- February 14: Mick Tucker , English drummer, The Sweet (b. 1947)
- February 14: Günter Wand , German conductor (born 1912)
- February 16: Moisés Moleiro , Venezuelan politician and historian (b. 1937)
- February 17: Heinz Kaminski , German chemical engineer and space explorer (b. 1921)
- February 20: Stephen Longstreet , American novelist, screenwriter and illustrator (b. 1907)
- February 21: Hamlet Lima Quintana , Argentine writer and musician (b. 1923)
- February 22: Chuck Jones , American comic artist and film director (b. 1912)
- February 22: Jonas Savimbi , Angolan politician and rebel leader (b. 1934)
- February 22: Barbara Valentin , German actress (born 1940)
- February 22: Ronnie Verrell , English jazz drummer (b. 1926)
- February 24: Eva Hoffmann-Aleith , German pastor and writer (b. 1910)
- February 24: Leo Ornstein , Russian pianist and composer (b. 1892)
- February 24: Gregorio Walerstein , Mexican film producer and screenwriter (b. 1913)
- February 25: Henrik Oskarsson , Swedish freestyle skier (born 1960)
- February 26: Oskar Sala , German composer and physicist (born 1910)
- February 28: Helmut Zacharias , German violinist (born 1920)
- February: Camille Andréa , Canadian songwriter (born 1909)
March
Marion Countess Dönhoff († March 11)
- March 1: Donnie Bowshier , American country and rockabilly musician (b. 1937)
- March 1: Cecil Farris Bryant , American politician (b. 1914)
- March 2: Thomas Owen , Belgian writer (b. 1910)
- March 3: Everhardus Jacobus Ariëns , Dutch pharmacologist (born 1918)
- March 3: Earl Bernard Murray , American trumpeter and conductor (b. 1926)
- March 4: Margarete Neumann , German writer (born 1917)
- March 9: Normand Lockwood , American composer and music educator (b. 1906)
- March 10: Sleiman Hajjar , Lebanese Bishop in Canada (b. 1950)
- March 11: James Tobin , American economist (b. 1918)
- March 11: Marion Gräfin Dönhoff , German journalist and publicist (born 1909)
- March 12: Friedrich Falch , Austrian politician (born 1918)
- March 12: Jean-Paul Riopelle , French-Canadian painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
- March 13: Ivano Blason , Italian footballer (b. 1923)
- March 13: Hans-Georg Gadamer , German philosopher (b. 1900)
- March 13: Bayliss Levrett , American racing driver (b. 1913)
- March 14: Furuyama Komao , Japanese writer (b. 1920)
- March 16: Ray Doggett , American rockabilly musician, songwriter and producer (b. 1936)
- March 17: Christian Graf von Krockow , German political scientist (b. 1927)
- March 19: Marco Biagi , Italian politician, scientist and publicist (b. 1950)
- March 19: Erkki Salmenhaara , Finnish composer and musicologist (born 1941)
- March 21: Herman Talmadge , American politician (b. 1913)
- March 22: Boris Sichkin , Russian-American actor, dancer and choreographer (b. 1922)
- March 23: Jan Kotík , Czech painter (b. 1916)
- March 24: César Milstein , British molecular biologist and Nobel laureate (b. 1927)
- March 24: Bob Said , American racing driver and film producer (b. 1932)
- March 27: Matthias Beltz , German cabaret artist (b. 1945)
- March 27: Lotte Ulbricht , German politician, wife of Walter Ulbricht (b. 1903)
- March 27: Billy Wilder , American director, screenwriter and producer (b. 1906)
- March 29: Petermax Müller , German automobile racer and dealer (b. 1912)
- March 30: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon , mother of Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1900)
- March 30: Benjamin Harkarvy , American dance teacher, ballet master and choreographer (b. 1930)
- March: Elguja Davitis dze Amashukeli , Georgian sculptor and painter (b. 1928)
April
- April 1: Simo Häyhä , Finnish sniper (b. 1905)
- April 1: Heinrich Popitz , German sociologist (b. 1925)
- April 2: Jack Kruschen , Canadian actor (b. 1922)
- April 3: Heinz Drache , German actor (b. 1923)
- April 3: Frank Tovey , British musician (b. 1956)
- April 5: Layne Staley , American rock singer and guitarist for the band Alice in Chains (born 1967)
- April 6: Martin Sperr , German writer and actor (b. 1944)
- April 7: John Agar , American actor (b. 1921)
- 8 April: Franz Liebl , Sudeten German author of the Egerland and Upper Palatinate dialect (b. 1923)
- April 9: Jean Estager , French automobile racer (b. 1919)
- April 9: Jürgen Hart , German cabaret artist (b. 1942)
- April 9: Stefan Kaminsky , German bank manager (b. 1926)
- April 10: Manfred Köhnlechner , German naturopath (b. 1925)
- April 10: Yūji Hyakutake , Japanese amateur astronomer (born 1950)
- April 11: Elmer Angsman , American football player (b. 1925)
- April 13: Ivan Desny , Franco-German actor (b. 1922)
- April 16: Herbert Wernicke , German director and set designer (b. 1946)
- April 18: Thor Heyerdahl , Norwegian ethnologist, anthropologist and adventurer (b. 1914)
- April 20: Pierre Rapsat , Belgian singer (born 1948)
- April 21: Desmond Titterington , British racing driver (b. 1928)
- April 22: Victor Weisskopf , Austrian physicist and co-founder of the Pugwash movement (b. 1908)
- April 23: Manfred Bieler , German writer (born 1934)
- April 24: Hans Ferdinand Bürki , Swiss educator, psychologist and theologian (b. 1925)
- April 24: Emil Friedman , Czech music teacher, violinist and conductor (b. 1908)
- April 25: Lisa Lopes , American singer (b. 1971)
- April 27: Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon , German industrialist (b. 1921)
- April 28: Alexander Ivanovich Lebed , Russian general and politician (b. 1950)
- April 29: Sune Andersson , Sweden national football player and coach (b. 1921)
- April 30: Karel Milota , Czech poet, writer and translator (born 1937)
- April 30: Charlotte von Mahlsdorf , self-confessed transvestite, museum founder (b. 1928)
May
- May 1: Karel Ptáčník , Czech writer (born 1921)
- May 1: Willi Dungl , Austrian health expert (b. 1937)
- May 1: Ursula von Wiese , German-Swiss actress, publishing editor, translator and writer (b. 1905)
- May 2: Heinz Jankofsky , German cartoonist (born 1935)
Richard Stücklen with Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker
- May 2: Richard Stücklen , German politician (b. 1916)
- May 5: Hugo Banzer Suárez , Bolivian politician and President (b. 1926)
- May 5: Čestmír Vycpálek , Czech football player and coach (b. 1921)
- May 6: Murray Adaskin , Canadian composer and conductor (born 1906)
- May 6: Pim Fortuyn , Dutch politician (born 1948)
- May 6: Samuel Dresden , Dutch novelist and literary scholar (b. 1914)
- May 6: Mariana Sansón Argüello , Nicaraguan poet and painter (born 1918)
- May 9: Philippe Verellen , Belgian racing driver (b. 1962)
- May 9: Leon Stein , American composer (born 1910)
- May 10: Gabriele Mucchi , Italian painter (b. 1899)
- May 10: David Riesman , American sociologist and educationalist (b. 1909)
- May 13 Valeriy Lobanovskyj , Ukrainian football coach (b. 1939)
- May 18: Wolfgang Eduard Schneiderhan , Austrian musician (born 1915)
- May 19: John Gray Gorton , Australian Prime Minister (b. 1911)
- May 19: Hans Posegga , German composer, pianist and conductor (born 1917)
- May 20: Stephen Jay Gould , American paleontologist, geologist and evolutionist (b. 1941)
- May 21: Niki de Saint Phalle , French sculptor and painter (born 1930)
- May 24: Johannes Overath , German Catholic theologian and priest (b. 1913)
- May 29: Friedrich Kempf , German Jesuit and historian (b. 1908)
- May 30: Walter Laird , British dancer (born 1920)
June
Fritz Walter († June 17)
- June 2: Günther Schubert , German soccer goalkeeper (b. 1955)
- June 3: Sam Whipple , American actor (b. 1960)
- June 4: Cliff Gleaves , American rockabilly musician and DJ (born 1930)
- June 5: Curtis Amy , American saxophonist and flautist (b. 1929)
- June 5: Dee Dee Ramone , bassist for the Ramones (b. 1951)
- June 9: Lito Peña , Puerto Rican saxophonist, bandleader, composer and arranger (b. 1921)
- June 10: Louis Jeannin , French motorcycle racer (b. 1907)
- June 13: Ralph Shapey , American conductor and composer (b. 1921)
- June 13: Johann Herberger , German soccer player (b. 1919)
- June 15: Choi Hong-hi , founder of modern Korean martial art Taekwondo (b. 1918)
- June 17: Fritz Walter , German soccer player and honorary captain of the German national soccer team (b. 1920)
- June 18: Walter Villa , Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1943)
- June 20: Erwin Chargaff , American biochemist and writer (b. 1905)
- June 20: Martinus Osendarp , Dutch athlete and Olympian (born 1916)
- June 24: Frank Ripploh , German film director (born 1949)
- June 25 Karl-Heinz Klostermeier , German economist and broadcasting director (b. 1936)
- June 26: Barbara Georgina Adams , British Egyptologist (b. 1945)
- June 26: Alfred Lorenzer , German psychoanalyst and sociologist (b. 1922)
- June 27: John Entwistle , English rock musician (bassist), The Who (b. 1944)
- June 27: Russ Freeman , American jazz pianist (b. 1926)
- June 29: Ole-Johan Dahl , Norwegian computer scientist (born 1931)
- June 29: Alfred Dregger , German politician (born 1920)
- June 29: Rosemary Clooney , American pop and jazz singer and actress (b. 1928)
- June 30: Richard Allen , American session musician (b. 1932)
July
- July 1: David Clarke , British racing driver (b. 1929)
- July 2: Ray Brown , American jazz bassist (b. 1926)
- July 2: Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur , French composer and organist (b. 1908)
- July 3: Josef Haiböck , Austrian general (b. 1917)
- July 4: Gerald Bales , Canadian organist, pianist, composer, choirmaster and music teacher (b. 1919)
- July 4: Lutz Moik , German actor and voice actor (born 1930)
- July 6: Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani , Indian entrepreneur (b. 1932)
- July 6: John Frankenheimer , American film director (b. 1930)
- July 9: Rod Steiger , American film actor (b. 1925)
- July 10: Frieda Grafe , German film critic (born 1934)
- July 10: Alan Shulman , American composer and cellist (b. 1915)
- July 11: Erni Bieler , Austrian jazz and schlager singer (b. 1925)
- July 11: Rosco Gordon , American blues musician (b. 1928)
- July 12: Ellen Callmann , American art historian (b. 1926)
- July 13: Robert Schwan , German football manager (b. 1921)
- July 14: Harry Igor Ansoff , American mathematician and economist (b. 1918)
- July 14: Joaquín Balaguer , President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1906)
- July 16: John Cocke , American computer scientist (b. 1925)
- July 17: Joseph Luns , Dutch politician (born 1911)
- July 17: Valentina Vinogradova , Soviet-Russian national volleyball player (b. 1943)
- July 18: Hermann Appel , German engineer (b. 1932)
- July 21: Eduardo Cabrera , Cuban pianist, arranger and bandleader (b. 1936)
- July 24 – Gaynell Tinsley , American football player and coach (b. 1913)
- July 25: Johannes Joachim Degenhardt , German cardinal (b. 1926)
- July 25: Tilemann Grimm , German sinologist (b. 1922)
- July 26: Jutta Hecker , German writer (b. 1904)
- July 28: Archer John Porter Martin , British chemist and Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
- July 29: Renato Pirocchi , Italian racing driver (b. 1933)
- July 29: Tesfamariam Bedho , Eritrean Bishop (b. 1934)
- July 30: Josef Arthold , Austrian politician (born 1934)
- July 30: Willy Mattes , Austrian composer (b. 1916)
August
- August 4: Robert Noehren , American organist, organ builder and music teacher (b. 1910)
- August 6: Jim Crawford , British racing driver (b. 1948)
- August 6: Edsger W. Dijkstra , Dutch computer scientist (born 1930)
- August 10: Kristen Nygaard , Norwegian computer scientist (born 1926)
- August 11: Jiří Kolář , Czech poet and visual artist (b. 1914)
- August 13: Hermann Haller (composer) , Swiss composer (b. 1914)
- August 15 Heinz-Josef Adamski , German historian, folklorist and high school teacher (b. 1911)
- August 15: Alberto Bertuccelli , Italian footballer (b. 1924)
- August 15: Jesse Brown , American politician (b. 1944)
- August 18: Helmut Körschgen , German actor (born 1923)
- August 19: Eduardo Chillida , Basque sculptor (b. 1924)
- August 19: Otto Wüst , Bishop of Basel (b. 1926)
- August 21: Adelina Domingues , Cape Verdean American age record holder (b. 1888)
- August 25: William Warfield , American singer (bass-baritone) (b. 1920)
- August 27: Justus Ahlheim , German politician (born 1925)
- August 27: Jane Tilden , German actress (born 1910)
- August 29: Lance Macklin , English racing driver (b. 1919)
- August 31: Lionel Hampton , American jazz musician (b. 1908)
September
- September 2: Jerry Boyd , American boxing trainer and cut man (b. 1930)
- September 6: Edna Roxanne Atkins , Canadian hurdler (b. 1912)
- September 7: Eugenio Coseriu , Romanian linguist (born 1921)
- September 7: Uzi Gal , Israeli weapons designer (b. 1923)
- September 8: Georges-André Chevallaz , Swiss politician (born 1915)
- September 8 Marco Siffredi , French extreme snowboarder (b. 1979)
- September 12: Ludwig Koch , German trade unionist (b. 1909)
- September 15: Kay Espenhayn , German swimmer in disabled sports (b. 1968)
- September 15: Heinz Seiler , German handball coach and player (b. 1920)
- September 16: Rika Unger , German sculptor (b. 1917)
- September 17: Dodo Marmarosa , American jazz pianist (b. 1925)
- September 18: Hazel Brooks , American actress (b. 1924)
- September 19: John O'Gorman Arundel , Canadian ice hockey player (born 1927)
- September 19: Yohannes Woldegiorgis , Ethiopian Bishop (b. 1921)
- September 22: Julio Pérez , Uruguayan footballer (b. 1926)
- September 22: Marga Petersen , German track and field athlete and Olympian (b. 1919)
- September 23: Eberhard Werner , German artist and landscape painter (b. 1924)
- September 26: Vincenzo Andronico , Italian actor (born 1924)
- September 30: Hans-Peter Tschudi , Swiss politician (born 1913)
- September: Dieter Aschenborn , Namibian painter (b. 1915)
October
- October 2: Heinz von Foerster , Austrian cyberneticist and founder of Constructivism (b. 1911)
- October 3 Willi Paul Adams , German Americanist and historian (b. 1940)
- October 3: Victor Maag , Swiss Protestant clergyman and university teacher (b. 1910)
- October 5: Jay R. Smith , American child actor (b. 1915)
- October 6: Wolfgang Mischnick , German politician (b. 1921)
- October 6: Viola Mitchell , American violinist (b. 1911)
- October 6: Prince Claus von Amsberg , husband of Queen Beatrix (b. 1926)
- October 8: Philippe Boutros Chebaya , Lebanese Bishop (b. 1920)
- October 9: Randy Atcher , American country music singer and musician (b. 1918)
- October 9: Aileen Wuornos , American serial killer (b. 1956)
- October 11: Werner Eberlein , member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED (b. 1919)
- October 13: Stephen Edward Ambrose , American historian and biographer (b. 1936)
- October 14: Keizō Hino , Japanese writer (b. 1929)
- October 16: Karl-Heinz Kreienbaum , German actor (b. 1915)
- October 19: Manuel Álvarez Bravo , Mexican photographer (b. 1902)
- October 21: Jesse Leonard Greenstein , American astronomer (born 1909)
- October 21: Manfred Ewald , sports functionary of the GDR (b. 1926)
- October 22: Geraldine Countess Apponyi de Nagy-Appony , Albanian Queen (b. 1915)
- October 23: Marianne Hoppe , German actress (b. 1909)
- October 24: Harry Hay , American civil rights activist (b. 1912)
- October 25: Annemie Fontana , Swiss artist (born 1925)
- October 25: Richard Harris , Irish actor (born 1930)
- October 25: René Thom , French professor of mathematics (b. 1923)
- October 26: Siegfried Unseld , German publisher (b. 1924)
- October 30: Pierre Aigrain , French physicist and Secretary of State for Research (b. 1924)
- October 30: Jam Master Jay , American rapper (b. 1965)
November
Rudolf Augstein († November 7)
- November 1: Ekrem Akurgal , Turkish Classical Archaeologist (b. 1911)
- November 3: Lonnie Donegan , British musician (b. 1931)
- November 3: Hildegard Grube-Loy , German watercolor painter (born 1916)
- November 3 Dirk Schneider , German politician and East German agent (b. 1939)
- November 7: Rudolf Augstein , German journalist, publisher and publicist (b. 1923)
- November 9: Adrian Aeschbacher , Swiss pianist (born 1912)
- November 9: Heinrich Schiemann , German science journalist (b. 1916)
- November 10: Gert Westphal , German actor, "Reader of the Nation" (b. 1920)
- November 13: Roland Hanna , American jazz pianist (b. 1932)
- November 13: Juan Schiaffino , Uruguayan-Italian footballer (b. 1925)
- November 17: Abba Eban , Israeli politician and diplomat (b. 1915)
- November 18: James Coburn , American film actor (b. 1928)
- November 19: Gérard Laureau , French automobile racer and entrepreneur (b. 1920)
- November 20: Florian Dąbrowski , Polish composer and music teacher (b. 1913)
- November 20: Gaby von Schönthan (born Gabriele Philipp , w. Gabriele Frischauer ), Austrian actress and writer (b. 1926)
- November 24: John Rawls , American philosopher (b. 1921)
- November 25: Karel Reisz , British film director (born 1926)
- November 27: Edwin L. Mechem , American politician (b. 1912)
- November 29: Daniel Gélin , French actor (b. 1921)
- November 30: Hans Hartz , German musician and songwriter (b. 1943)
- November: Rómulo Aguerre , Uruguayan photographer (b. 1919)
- November: Antonín Šponar , Czechoslovak alpine skier (b. 1920)
December
- December 2: Leslie Elizabeth Bullock Andrews , American politician (b. 1911)
- December 2: Ivan Illich , Austrian author, philosopher and theologian (b. 1926)
- December 2: Mehmet Emin Toprak , Turkish actor (born 1974)
- December 3: Klaus Löwitsch , German actor (b. 1936)
- December 5: Heinrich Wilhelm Ahrens , German jurist, merchant and manager (b. 1903)
- December 5: Bob Berg , American jazz musician (b. 1951)
- December 6: Jerzy Adamski , Polish featherweight boxer (b. 1937)
- December 6: Gerhard Löwenthal , German journalist and TV presenter (b. 1922)
- December 9 Jesús Torres Tejeda , Dominican radio announcer, producer and director (year of birth unknown)
- December 10: Hans Eisen , German general (b. 1922)
- December 10: Ian MacNaughton , British director (b. 1925)
- December 12: Nikolai Mikhailovich Amosov , Russian-Ukrainian heart surgeon, designer and book author (b. 1913)
- December 12: Dee Brown , American writer and historian (b. 1908)
- December 12: Mary Siragusa , Dominican pianist and music teacher (b. 1920)
- December 19: Will Hoy , British motor racing driver (b. 1953)
- December 22: Kurt Aepli , Swiss silversmith, jewelry and appliance designer and vocational educator (b. 1914)
- December 22: Mario Ruiz Armengol , Mexican composer, pianist and conductor (b. 1914)
- December 22: Joe Strummer , British rock musician, frontman for the band The Clash (b. 1952)
- December 22: Gabrielle Wittkop , French writer, artist, essayist and journalist (b. 1920)
- December 23: Tatamkhulu Afrika , South African writer and poet (b. 1920)
- December 24: Mohammed Al-Fassi , Saudi Arabian-Moroccan businessman (b. 1952)
- December 26: Horst Heinrich , Bavarian politician (born 1938)
- December 26: Herb Ritts , American photographer (b. 1952)
- December 27: George Roy Hill , American film director (b. 1921)
- December 27: Hans Joachim Stoebe , German Protestant clergyman and university teacher (b. 1909)
- December 28: Maria Carbone , Italian opera singer and singing teacher (b. 1908)
- December 28: Koreyoshi Kurahara , Japanese film director and screenwriter (born 1927)
- December 31: Jürgen Dethloff , German inventor (born 1924)
date unknown
- Beverly Harper , Australian author (born 1941)
- Jan Kucharski , Polish organist and music teacher (born 1908)
Nobel prizes
- Physics : Raymond Davis junior , Masatoshi Koshiba and Riccardo Giacconi
- Chemistry : Kurt Wüthrich , John B. Fenn , and Kōichi Tanaka
- Medicine : Sydney Brenner , H. Robert Horvitz and John E. Sulston
- Literature : Imre Kertész
- Nobel Peace Prize : Jimmy Carter
- Economics : Daniel Kahneman and Vernon L. Smith
web links
Commons : 2002 - Collection of images, videos and audio files
itemizations
- ↑ www.un.org
- ↑ Shipping disasters timeline . BBC March 31, 2006, accessed October 28, 2018.