Westchester High School

What Events Happened in 2002

• The Euro becomes the official currency of twelve of the European Union's Members
• Mount Nyiragongo Volcano erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo displaces an estimated 400,000 people
• Kmart Corp becomes the largest retailer in American history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
• Miss World Pageant causes Riots Nigeria
• Largest Expansion in the History of NATO with seven Eastern and Central European Nations accepted as new members Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.
• Slobodan Miloševic trial former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia begins at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague
• Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother of the UK Dies
• Chechen Rebels take 800 theatergoers hostage in Moscow and threaten to blow up the theater , 3 days later special forces storm the building resulting in the death of 128 hostages and 41 rebels
• Queen Elizabeth II's celebrates her Golden Jubilee
• Leaders of the world's richest nations meeting at the G8 summit in Canada agree to help the poorest countries in the world by providing funding for economic and political development in Africa.
• Two Snipers in Washington DC area kill 10 people and injure 3 more spreading panic and fear
• Iraq rejects new U.N. weapons inspections proposals
• WorldCom files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the largest such filing in United States history
• United Airlines files for bankruptcy protection
• Elizabeth Smart is kidnapped from her family's Salt Lake City home ( Found Alive in 2003 )
• Priests Indiscretion uncovered when files show major cover up for priests accused of abuse
• A wildfire destroys almost a half million acres in Oregon’s Siskiyou National Forest
• Forest fires in Colorado have destroyed nearly 100,000 acres of land making them the worst in the states history.
• Terrorists detonate massive bombs in two nightclubs in Kuta, Bali, killing 202 and injuring over 300.
• Mobs of Muslims Burn the Sabarmati Express Train Killing 57 Hindu Pilgrims
• The Basque terrorist organization ETA continues it's bombing campaign in support of its aim for self determination for the Basque country.
• Restrictions are further loosened for mercy killings and assisted suicide for patients with unbearable, terminal illness in the Netherlands.
• East Timor Gains Independence From Indonesia
• George Bush creates the Department of Homeland Security to fight threats of terrorism
• "Miss B" Granted Right To Die in Landmark British Case
• Expelled student goes on shooting rampage killing 13 teachers at Erfurt, Germany
• A major earthquake rocks Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan
• A Suicide bomber blows himself up aboard a bus in Haifa
• Estimated 40 million people now infected with Aids / HIV virus worldwide.
• Terrorist Dirty Bomb Plot Foiled In The United States.
• The plan to create a single Nuclear Waste Dump in the United States at Yucca Mountain, Nevada to replace 130 separate dumps around the US is passed by the US Senate
• Brazil Wins 2002 World Cup in Korea Republic and Japan
• The Winter Olympic Games are held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
• Yasser Arafat trapped in his Compound By Israeli Troops until his death in 2004
  

Popular Culture 2002

Popular Films

• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
  
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  
• Spider-Man
  
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
  
• Men in Black II
  
• Die Another Day
  
• Signs
  
• Ice Age
  
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding
  
• Minority Report
  
• Chicago
  
• The Pianist
  
• About Schmidt
  
• Gangs of New York
  

Popular Musicians

• Michelle Branch
  
• Vanessa Carlton
  
• Good Charlotte
  
• Counting Crows
  
• Puddle of Mudd
  
• Revolution
  
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
  
• Eminem
  
• Kylie Minogue
  
• Avril Lavigne
  
• Revolution
  
• The Offspring
  
• Madonna
  
• Christina Aguilera
  
• Pink
  
• The Rolling Stones
  
• The Coral
  
• U2
  
• Bon Jovi
  
• Robbie Williams
  
• Travis
  
• Pink
  
• Supergrass
  
• Alanis Morissette
  
• No Doubt
  
• Oasis
  
• Céline Dion
  
• Shania Twain
  
• Coldplay
  
• Linkin Park
  
• Justin Timberlake
  
• Creed

Technology 2002

• The Mars Odyssey finds signs of huge water ice deposits on the planet Mars
• A Huge 660 pound meteorite plunges into earths atmosphere and explodes in a fireball over southern Bavaria a piece of the meteorite is found and named Neuschwanstein after the local castle