At A Glance

22 December 2002 at a glance

Day of the week
22 December 2002 was a Sunday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Lose Yourself” by Eminem.
Top Film of 2002
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 2002 was The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Bestselling Novel of 2002
“The Summons” by John Grisham was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 2002.
Top-Rated TV Show
“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (CBS) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 2002–03 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 22 December is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 22 December 2002 fell in the Year of the Horse.
Birthstone
The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 22 December 2002 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 22 December

  • 1997 Somali Civil War: Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquishes the disputed title of President of Somalia by signing the Cairo Declaration, in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first major step towards reconciliation in Somalia since 1991.
  • 2001 Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Northern Alliance, hands over power in Islamic State of Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
  • 2001 Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
  • 2008 An ash dike ruptures at a solid waste containment area for a Tennessee Valley Authority coal-fired power plant in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing 4.2 million m3 (1.1 billion US gal) of coal fly ash slurry in the largest industrial spill in U.S. history.
  • 2010 The repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Famous people born on December 22

  • Ralph Fiennes, English actor (born 1962)
  • Ted Cruz, Canadian-American lawyer and politician (born 1970)
  • Jean-Michel Basquiat, American painter and poet (1960–1988)
  • Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and theorist (1887–1920)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 2002 in the United States

A selection from Wikipedia's '2002 in the United States'. Not a complete list.

  • January 8 – The No Child Left Behind Act is signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush.
  • March 1 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: In eastern Afghanistan, Operation Anaconda begins.
  • March 14 – SpaceX is founded by Elon Musk in El Segundo, California.

Life in the US in 2002

President

George W. Bush

Gas (per gallon)

$1.36

Loaf of Bread

$1.14

Average House

$187,600

Weekly Wage

$591

Or

Browse by Year

Famous Faces Born in the 2000s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

About The Day You Were Born

Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.

About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →