On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
In 2002, the world population was approximately 6,337,730,342 people[†]
2002Big Bill Neidjie, Australian activist and last speaker of the Gaagudju language (born c. 1920)[†]
Big Bill Neidjie, nicknamed "Kakadu Man", was the last surviving speaker of the Gaagudju language, an Aboriginal Australian language from northern Kakadu, after which Kakadu National Park is named. He was an elder of the Gaagudju people and a custodian of the land, who cared deeply about preserving his culture and land.
2002Sam Snead, American golfer and journalist (born 1912)[†]
Samuel Jackson Snead was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for the better part of four decades and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Snead was awarded a record 94 gold medallions, for wins in PGA of America Tour events and later credited with winning a record 82 PGA Tour events tied with Tiger Woods, including seven majors. He never won the U.S. Open, though he was runner-up four times. Snead was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
2002The "55 parties" clause of the Kyoto Protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland.[†]
The Kyoto Protocol (Japanese: 京都議定書, Hepburn: Kyōto Giteisho) was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and that human-made CO2 emissions are driving it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. There were 192 parties (Canada withdrew from the protocol, effective December 2012) to the Protocol in 2020.
Russia's Tyumen Oil cancels half-billion-dollar bond sale after PricewaterhouseCoopers revokes its audit opinion given on April 29; accounting confusion arose over how oil company's assets should be valued in corporate reorganization that began in 2000 (M)
Philadelphia Phillies defeat New York Mets, 5-2; photos (M)
Bernard Holland reviews performance by Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch featuring work by Franz Schmidt (M)
Article on eight-year-old 'green' development on Dewees Island, off Charleston, South Carolina, which bans toxic building materials, encourages use of durable, energy-efficient materials and protects native trees; developer John L Knott Jr says inspiration comes from traditional sea island houses; community has only 150 home sites on 1,206 acres and no stores, paved roads or lawns; houses cannot be more than 5,000 square feet; treehouse-inspired home of Rives and Walter Yost described; photos (M)
Government-run Korea Asset Management Corp will stop buying any more nonperforming loans in six months and banking industry will be certifiably off disabled list; South Korea's banking industry was profitable in 2001, for first time since crisis, and its financial health has improved to point that Korea Asset Management has begun phasing itself out; graph (M)
Bush Documents Show Broader Enron Contacts Documents released by the White House showed that administration officials had more extensive contacts with Enron executives in 2001 than previously disclosed. The contacts included meetings, phone conversations, letters and e-mail messages, and concerned a range of issues, from a national energy policy document and the California energy crisis to appointments of administration officials. The release of the information came hours after a deeply divided Senate panel voted to issue two subpoenas to the White House, with Democrats accusing the White House of stonewalling earlier requests. [Page A1.]
Creditors have decided to take control of Hynix Semiconductor's board, which has obstructed their efforts to sell Hynix's main businesses to pay off debt; government-run Korea Exchange Bank says creditors will convert $2.3 billion in bonds they hold into shares of company's stock on June 7 (M)
Remains of Chandra Ann Levy, 24-year-old Washington intern missing for more than year, are found in park in Washington; man walking his dog discovers body in secluded part of Rock Creek Park, less than four miles from Levy's apartment; on Apr 30, 2001, last day she was seen, Levy had looked up Web site of historic house in park on her laptop computer; confirmation that remains are those of Levy comes in matter of hours through check of dental records; finding shifts status of case from missing person to that of death; Chief Charles Ramsey of Washington Metropolitan Police Dept says manner and cause of death is pending autopsy; Levy case preoccupied news media until Sept 11 terror attacks because Levy was linked romantically with Rep Gary A Condit; Condit, who initially denied involvement with Levy, did eventually acknowledge their relationship, but he has denied involvement in her disappearance; photos; map (M)
Phyllis Grann's arrival in January as vice chairwoman of Random House has led to persistent questions among agents and rival publishers about just what position she is playing; Grann has told agents, executives at Random House and other friends in book business that she feels bored and frustrated; Grann has complained that Random House has failed to make use of her talents; Grann is more than 60 years old but has said she is not ready to retire, and her friends say she is frustrated that her role lacks definition; photo (M)
Scientists say they may have found out why dieters who lose weight often gain it back and why certain type of stomach surgery helps severely obese people lose great deal of weight; say hormone called ghrelin, which makes people hungry, slows metabolism and decreases body's ability to burn fat; say dieters who lose weight make more ghrelin than they did before dieting, as if bodies are fighting to regain lost fat; say extremely obese people who have so-called gastric bypass to lose weight wind up with relatively little ghrelin, which may explain their decreased appetites after surgery; scientists caution that research is in its infancy, and that ghrelin is not likely to be cause of most obesity; findings reported in New England Journal of Medicine; graph (M)
Claude Bebear, chairman of AXA and one of France's most influential businessmen, calls for change in Vivendi Universal's strategy and management of chief executive Jean-Marie Messier; Bebear is not member of Vivendi's board but AXA owned about 5.7 million Vivendi shares at end of 2001; photo (S)
Malaysia's economy grew 1.1 percent in first quarter compared with first three months of 2001; economists say exports appear to be on rebound, pointing to data showing that exports rose in March for first time sine January 2001 (S)