On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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Joyce Purnick Metro Matters column celebrates many layers of New York on day that brings Cuban Day Parade, Salute to Israel Day Parade and Bike New York to city (M)
Fast-breeding, rapacious armies of northern pike, also known as saw-tooth Satan spawns, still occupy Lake Davis in Portola, Calif, five years after state officials thought problem would be licked and five years into escalating and increasingly desperate campaign of poisoning, electrocution and even precision bombing to eradicate them; species, whose native habitat lies east of Mississippi, threatens trout fishery; marine biologists fear science-fiction-movie-type consequences if pike make way out of lake into open waters of Sacramento and San Joaquin Deltas; say they could be nearly impossible to contain and could decimate California's dwindling salmon and steelhead populations, among other species; map; photos (M)
Seattle Mariners defeat New York Yankees, 10-6; photo (M)
Walter B Hewlett's long, unsuccessful effort to block Hewlett-Packard's plan to buy Compaq Computer has focused investors, analysts and company on many hurdles that must be overcome to make merger work; Hewlett chief executive Carleton S Fiorina's defense of deal has revealed planning behind merger was swift and thorough (M)
Lawyers and jury consultants say picking jury to hear obstruction of justice charge against Arthur Andersen in Enron case will be harder for Andersen than for Justice Department, even though it needs only one true believer to prevent guilty verdict; note people tend to have less sympathy for big, powerful accounting firm than for individual charged with crime (M)
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of May 1, 2002, covering May 6, 2002.
Ashanti
Sheryl Crow
Celine Dion
Various Artists
Soundtrack
2002Cole Palmer, English footballer[†]
Cole Jermaine Palmer is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Chelsea and the England national team. Known for his dribbling, playmaking and composure, he is regarded as one of the best players in the world.
2002Angel Reese, American basketball player[†]
Angel Reese is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and for Rose BC of the Unrivaled basketball league. Nicknamed "Bayou Barbie" and "Chi Barbie", she played college basketball for the Maryland Terrapins and LSU Tigers.
2002Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, conductor, and educator (born 1906)[†]
Murray Adaskin, was a Toronto-born Canadian violinist, composer, conductor and teacher. After playing violin with a band, he studied composition and became the director of the Music department of the University of Saskatchewan. Many of his compositions were written while in Victoria after his retirement.
2002Otis Blackwell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1932)[†]
Otis Blackwell was an American songwriter whose work influenced rock and roll. His compositions include "Fever", "Great Balls of Fire" and "Breathless", "Don't Be Cruel", "All Shook Up", and "Return to Sender", and "Handy Man".
2002Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (born 1948)[†]
Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn, was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List in 2002.
2002Bjørn Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist (born 1940)[†]
Bjørn John Johansen was a Norwegian jazz musician, known from a number of recordings and international cooperation. He has been one of the most influential Norwegian saxophonists of all time and has been the inspiration for a generations of musicians, among them Jan Garbarek.
2002Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio-interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum.[†]
Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn, was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List in 2002.
2002Founding of SpaceX.[†]
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an American space technology company headquartered at the Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the company has made numerous advancements in rocket propulsion, reusable launch vehicles, human spaceflight and satellite constellation technology. As of 2025, SpaceX is the world's dominant space launch provider, its launch cadence eclipsing all others, including private competitors and national programs like the Chinese space program. SpaceX, NASA, and the United States Armed Forces work closely together by means of governmental contracts.
In 2002, the world population was approximately 6,337,730,342 people[†]