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[†]
2002Jacob Sartorius, American social media personality and singer[†]
Rolf Jacob Sartorius is an American social media personality and singer. He rose to fame via social media after posting lip-syncing videos on short-form video application Musical.ly. In 2016, he began releasing music with his debut single "Sweatshirt", which, along with his second single "Hit or Miss", charted on the Hot 100 in the United States and in Canada.
2002Heinz von Foerster, Austrian-American physicist and philosopher (born 1911)[†]
Heinz von Foerster was an Austrian-American scientist combining physics and philosophy, and widely attributed as the originator of second-order cybernetics. He was twice a Guggenheim fellow and also was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1980. He is well known for his doomsday equation, published in a 1960 issue of Science, predicting that the hyperbolic growth of the Earth's population will result in the instantaneous disappearance of all humans on Friday, 13 November, A.D. 2026.
2002The Beltway sniper attacks begin in Washington, D.C., extending over three weeks and killing 10 people.[†]
The D.C. sniper attacks were a series of coordinated shootings that occurred over three weeks in October 2002 throughout the Washington metropolitan area, consisting of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. These were preceded by a series of murders and robberies in several states starting in February 2002. Seven people were killed, and seven others were injured in the preliminary shootings, and ten people were killed and three others were critically wounded in the October shootings. In total, the snipers killed 17 people and wounded 10 others in a 10-month span.
Germany's Munich Re will inject $1.4 billion into its US unit, American Re, to strengthen its capital position (S)
Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, NY, was built at cost of $30 million for swimming and diving contests in 1998 Goodwill Games, but has been used only sparsely; county officials estimate that it loses $2.3 million annually, and County Executive Thomas R Suozzi says it must cut costs and raise revenue, be privatized or be closed; County Legislature's presiding officer Judith Jacobs hopes to save center by making it profitable; photos (M)
Working Today is company that offers opportunity for freelance, contract and temporary workers in New York to buy health insurance; organizational profile; photos (M)
Six Continents, world's biggest hotel owner, will split its hotel and pub businesses next April (S)
New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon fires manager Bobby Valentine in end-of-season move that seemingly contradicts his past support of manager; contends that he considered firing general manager Steve Phillips as well; photos (M)
New York Yankees defeat Anaheim Angels, 8-5, to lead American League division series, 1-0; photos (M)
Communications Failure Transportation and immigration officials testified that had the F.B.I. and C.I.A. shared information with them they might have tracked down two Sept. 11 hijackers. PAGE A17 Dock Dispute Is a Turf War The standoff that has closed 29 Pacific ports involves just a few hundred jobs that the union fears will be shifted to nonunion labor. PAGE A20
Elan may have to find more than $400 million to make up for drop in investments; says $840 million invested in its biotechnology funds, which is guaranteed to pay back by 2005, is worth $391 million; product sales fell to $200 million in third quarter from $375 million in previous quarter; graph (S)
Taiwan plans to sell half of its 60 percent stake in Taiwan Cooperative Bank, valued at 35.6 billion Taiwan dollars ($1 billion), by end of 2003 as it tries to refinance record national debt and pare budget deficit (S)
Clerical Jobs at Center Of West Coast Port Dispute In the standoff that has shut West Coast ports and threatens to undermine the economy, employers and union officials agree that the heart of the dispute involves a few hundred clerical jobs held by longshoremen who keep track of cargo. The union's fear is that when new technologies are introduced, the jobs will go to companies using nonunion labor. As the dispute continues, retailers and manufacturers have begun to focus on contingency plans to let them ship goods in case the ports remain closed. [Page A20.]
Standoff on provisions of homeland security legislation noted
Robust pace of auto sales slows in September, causing fresh round of big incentives from Ford Motor Co and General Motors and debate from Wall Street about industry's outlook; industry sales rise 3.2 percent compared with September 2001, but fall sharply from strong pace this year; General Motors, where sales fall 12.8 percent, says it will offer no-interest 60-month loans on most of its 2003 passenger cars and minivans; Ford, whose sales are up 3.2 percent, also announces new incentives; DaimlerChrysler's sales rise 18 perent from year earlier; company is weighing its own incentive package; graph (M)