2002: Calendar year

• January 1 – The Treaty on Open Skies, initially signed in 1992, officially enters into force.
• January 1 – Euro notes and coins started to be used in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, the Republic of Ireland, and the Netherlands.
• January 5 – A light aircraft crashes into a Tampa, Florida building, bringing fear of a repeat September 11, 2001 attacks.
• January 10 – Enrique Bolaños became the President of the Republic of Nicaragua.
• January 16 – The UN Security Council agreed to forbid selling arms to Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida, and the Taliban and freezes their assets.
• January 17 – Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo erupts, leaving about 400,000 people without a home.
• January 23 – Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Pakistan, accused of being a CIA agent.
• January 31 – A large section of the Antarctic Larsen Ice Shelf begins breaking up, eventually consuming about 3,250 km² (1,254 miles²) after 35 days.
• February 8-24 – The 19th Olympic Winter Games were held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• March 1 – The US military and coalition forces launched Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan.
• April 1 – The Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia.
• April 28 – Green Party of Pakistan is formed
• May 20 – Independence of East Timor from Indonesia.
• May 31 – June 30 – The 2002 FIFA World Cup is held in South Korea and Japan, first time in the Asian continent, Brazil defeats Germany in the final match 2-0.
• June 16 - Padre Pio is canonized In Vatican City.
• July 1 – Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC), entered into force.
• July 9 – The African Union, successor to the Organization of African Unity, was founded in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
• September 10 – The Switzerland joins the United Nations.
• November 7 – About 20,000 inhabitants of Gibraltar refused to join Spain in a referendum.
• November – Outbreak of SARS epidemic in the Chinese province of Guangdong.

• Chemistry – John B. Fenn
• Chemistry – Koichi Tanaka
• Chemistry – Kurt Wüthrich
• Economics – Daniel Kahneman
• Economics – Vernon L. Smith
• Literature – Imre Kertész
• Medicine – Sydney Brenner
• Medicine – H. Robert Horvitz
• Medicine – John E. Sulston
• Peace – Jimmy Carter
• Physics – Raymond Davis Jr.
• Physics – Riccardo Giacconi
• Physics – Masatoshi Koshiba

• March 2 - Alyssa Raghu, American singer
• March 29 - Paul Andrei Maftei, Romanian football player & bassist (Fecal Matter)
• April 5 - Golden Cañedo, Philippine singer
• April 29 - Karina Bautista, Philippine actress
• May 16 - Shayne Sava, Philippine actress
• July 18 - Zachary Turner, Canadian murder victim (d. 2003)
• July 25 - Gabriel Druțu, Romanian singer & rapper (Trupa Filmului) (d. 2023)
• September 9 - Rylee Goodrich, American murder victim (d. 2021)
• November 3 -
  • Bugoy Cariño, Philippine actor
  • Kyline Alcantara, Philippine actress
• December 13 - Mari Luz, Spanish murder victim (d. 2008)
• December 27 - Liberty German, American murder victim (d. 2017)
• December 28 - Kelsey Briggs, American murder victim (d. 2005)

January

 

 

 

 

• January 6 – Sanya Dharmasakti, Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1907)
• January 8 – Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's fast food chain (b. 1932)
• January 12 – Cyrus Vance, 57th United States Secretary of State (b. 1917)
• January 19 – Vavá, Brazilian association football player (b. 1934)
• January 21 – Peggy Lee, American singer and actress (b. 1920)
• January 22 – Kenneth Armitage, British sculptor (b. 1916)
• January 28 – Astrid Lindgren, Swedish writer (b. 1907)

February

 

 

 

 

 

 

• February 4 – Agatha Barbara, 3rd President of Malta (b. 1923)
• February 8 – Zizinho, Brazilian footballer (b. 1921)
• February 8 – Ong Teng Cheong, 5th President of Singapore (b. 1936)
• February 9 – Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom (b. 1930)
• February 13 – Waylon Jennings, American country music singer (b. 1937)
• February 22 – Chuck Jones, American cartoonist (b. 1912)
• February 22 – Jonas Savimbi, Angolan politician and rebel leader (b. 1934)

March

 

 

 

 

 

 

• March 10 – Elguja Amashukeli, Georgian sculptor and painter (b. 1928)
• March 11 – James Tobin, American economist (b. 1918)
• March 12 – Spyros Kyprianou, 2nd President of Cyprus (b. 1932)
• March 27 – Milton Berle, American actor, entertainer and comedian (b. 1908)
• March 27 – Dudley Moore, British actor (b. 1935)
• March 27 – Billy Wilder, Austrian-born director (b. 1906)
• March 29 - Rico Yan, Philippine actor (b. 1975)
• March 30 – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, queen of George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1900)

April

 

 

• April 5 – Layne Staley, American singer (Alice in Chains) (b. 1967)
• April 8 - María Félix, Mexican actress (b. 1914)
• April 16 – Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
• April 16 – Ramiro de León Carpio, 31st President of Guatemala (b. 1942)
• April 22 – Albrecht Becker, German actor and artist (b. 1906)

May

 

 

 

 

• May 3 – Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal, Prime Minister of Somalia (b. 1928)
• May 5 – Hugo Banzer, President of Bolivia (b. 1926)
• May 6 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (b. 1948)
• May 17 – László Kubala, Hungarian footballer (b. 1927)
• May 18 – Davey Boy Smith, British professional wrestler (b. 1962)
• May 19 – John Gorton, 19th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911)
• May 24 – Xi Zhongxun, Chinese politician (b. 1913)

June

 

 

 

 

• June 4 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, 49th and 52nd President of Peru (b. 1912)
• June 7 – B. D. Jatti, President of India (b. 1913)
• June 24 – Pierre Werner, 18th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (b. 1913)
• June 27 – John Entwistle, English bass guitarist (The Who) (b. 1944)
• June 29 – Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (b. 1928)

July

 

 

• July 5 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (b. 1924)
• July 14 – Joaquín Balaguer, 41st, 45th & 49th President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1906)

August

 

 

• August 6 - Edsger W. Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist (b. 1930)
• August 16 – Abu Nidal, Palestinian militant (b. 1937)
• August 19 – Eduardo Chillida, Spanish Basque sculptor (b. 1924)
• August 21 – Adelina Domingues, American supercentenarian (b. 1888)

September

 

• September 17 – Edvaldo Alves de Santa Rosa, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1934)
• September 18 – Mauro Ramos, Brazilian footballer (b. 1930)
• September 18 – Bob Hayes, Athletics sprinter and American Football wide receiver (b. 1942)
• September 23 – Eduard Gufeld, Soviet chess player (b. 1936)
• September 24 – Mike Webster, American football player (b. 1952)

October

 

 

• October 6 – Prince Claus of the Netherlands, husband of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (b. 1926)
• October 13 – Stephen E. Ambrose, American historian and biographer (b. 1936)
• October 19 – Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Mexican photographer (b. 1902)
• October 25 – Richard Harris, Irish actor (b. 1930)
• October 31 – Michail Stasinopoulos, 1st President of Greece (b. 1903)

November

 

• November 3 – Jonathan Harris, American character actor (b. 1914)
• November 18 – James Coburn, American actor (b. 1928)
• November 20 – Kakhi Asatiani, Russian footballer (b. 1947)

December

 

• December 5 - Ne Win, President of Myanmar (b. 1911)
• December 12 – Nikolai Amosov, Ukrainian surgeon (b. 1913)
• December 22 – Joe Strummer, British musician (The Clash) (b. 1952)