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[†]
2002Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1910)[†]
Archer John Porter Martin was a British chemist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the invention of partition chromatography with Richard Synge.
2002Nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, are rescued after 77 hours underground.[†]
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United Kingdom and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a colliery, a coal mine is called a "pit", and above-ground mining structures are referred to as a "pit head". In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine.
2002Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9560 crashes after takeoff from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing 14 of the 16 people on board.[†]
Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9560 was a repositioning flight from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow to Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg. On 28 July 2002, the Ilyushin Il-86 aircraft operating the flight crashed after take-off from Sheremetyevo. 14 of the 16 crew members on board were killed, making the crash the deadliest aviation accident involving the Ilyushin Il-86.
Success of minor league baseball teams among fans is due in large part to family-friendly atmosphere, newness of ballparks and affordability of tickets; photos (M)
Wall Street is currenly being buffeted by financial scandals, but such fiascos have been feature of New York life for centuries; good news for city is that it has survived all of them; drawing (M)
Nine miners are rescued from flooded coal mine in Quecreek, Pa, after three days of fighting for survival in 50-degree cold; desperate rescue operation reaches miners after assorted mechanical setbacks; sinking of 6-inch air pipe into mine to find trapped men is singled out among the critical turnings in rescue operation; photos (M)
Some very wealthy older Americans are buying huge life insurance policies on themselves, paying highest possible rates, because each dollar they spend on these policies eliminates $9 in income, gift, generation-skipping and estate taxes; loophole, developed by Jonathan G Blattmachr, New York lawyer, and Michael D Brown, former chemical engineer, was cleared by IRS in 1996, but some leading tax lawyers, as well as accountants and insurance agents, say it should not be legal; these critics say it effectively disguises gift to one's heirs that should be taxed like any other gift; photo (M)
Pope John Paul II's weakened physical condition now largely defines his papacy and overshadows other aspects of it; some Catholics admire pope's courage and determination, but wonder whether he is fit enough to handle challenges that confront him, such as scandal of sexual abuse of children by priests; pope's frailty is clear in Toronto and is said to have been one of reasons he has not included US on this North American visit; photos (M)
Kurds have created closest thing to free Kurdistan in northern 10th of Iraq, where British and American warplanes have kept Iraqi troops at bay for 10 years, but they fear teir autonomy could be lost if Pres Bush's makes good his threat to oust Saddam Hussein; one fear is that new American war could founder, leaving them exposed to full might of Iraqi reprisals as American troops withdraw, or that Hussein might make pre-emptive strike into Kurdish-controlled areas to keep Americans from using them as base; another fear is that US will succeed in ousting Hussein and that they will be subjected to another dictator, since US has always favored strongman government in Iraq; photos; map (M)
Cincinnati Reds defeat New York Mets, 2-1, in extra innings; photo (M)
Television networks are mixing ever-more-sophisticated drama and comedy shows with increasingly crude game and reality shows; latter appeal to generation raised on low-brow MTV and Nickelodeon programming, are cheap to produce and help offset costs of upscale shows; high-low split is evident at all networks, but NBC and Fox offer best models; photos (M)
New York Jets offensive line is fragile this year, coming off season when offense allowed second-fewest sacks in league; photos (M)
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Banks' possible roles in recently-exposed corporate misdeeds could damage already battered investor confidence; bank stocks, formerly firmer than most, have begun falling in price, led by Citigroup and J P Morgan Chase; bank stocks' weighting in Standard & Poor's 500-stock index grew when they outperformed rest of market, so their recent downturn hurts investors in big, popular mutual funds that mirror performance of S&P 500; Financial Modernization Act (1999) increased reach of banks into all areas of financial services, and missteps caused by their aggressive approaches exposed myth of their being safe haven for investors; photos; stock price graph (M)
Daniel Wakin Coping column describes visit to workshop behind Cathedral Church of St John the Divine, where stonecarver Chris Pellettieri depends on commissions from wealthy patrons; drawing (M)