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← 2001 2000 1999 2002 in the United States → 2003 2004 2005
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	History of the United States (1991–2016) Timeline of the history of the United States (1990-2009) List of years in the United States

Events from the year2002 in the United States.

• President:George W. Bush (R-Texas)
• Vice President:Dick Cheney (R-Wyoming)
• Chief Justice:William Rehnquist (Virginia)^[1]
• Speaker of the House of Representatives:Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois)
• Senate Majority Leader:Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota)
• Congress:107th

• January 5 –Charles Bishop, a 15-year-old student pilot, crashes a light aircraft into a building inTampa, Florida, evoking fear of acopycat9/11 terrorist attack.
• January 6 – TheBoston Globe publishes a story detailing theCatholic Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal.
• January 8 – TheNo Child Left Behind Act is signed into law by U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush.
• January 9 – TheUnited States Department of Justice announces it will pursue a criminal investigation ofEnron.
• January 11 – The first detainees arrive atCamp X-Ray (Guantanamo).
• January 13 – President Bush chokes on apretzel and faints briefly.^[2]
• January 14 – The asylum case ofAdelaide Abankwah is heard inNew York.
• January 16
  • TheUnited Nations Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets ofOsama bin Laden,al-Qaeda and the remaining members of theTaliban.
  • A studentshoots six at theAppalachian School of Law inGrundy, Virginia, killing 3.
• January 18 – ACanadian Pacific Railway train carrying anhydrousammonia derails outside ofMinot, North Dakota, killing one.
• January 21 –Cyberchase premieres onPBS Kids.
• January 23 –The Wall Street Journal reporterDaniel Pearl is kidnapped inPakistan, accused of being aCIA agent by his captors.
• January 29 – In hisState of the Union Address, President Bush describesNorth Korea,Iran andIraq as an "axis of evil".^[3]
• January 31 – U.S. special forces are deployed in thePhilippines inOperation Enduring Freedom – Philippines, part of thewar on terror.^[3]

• February 1 – Kidnapped reporterDaniel Pearl ofThe Wall Street Journal is murdered inKarachi,Pakistan.
• February 3 –Super Bowl XXXVI: TheNew England Patriots beat theSt. Louis Rams 20–17 at theLouisiana Superdome inNew Orleans to win their firstSuper Bowl title.
• February 8–24 – TheWinter Olympics are held inSalt Lake City, Utah. TheUnited States wins 10 gold, 13 silver and 11 bronze medals.
• February 12 – The U.S. Secretary of Energy makes the decision thatYucca Mountain is suitable to be the United States' nuclear repository.
• February 13 – QueenElizabeth II gives formerNew York City mayorRudolph Giuliani an honoraryknighthood.
• February 19 –NASA'sMars Odysseyspace probe begins to map the surface ofMars using its thermal emission imaging system.

• March 1
  • STS-109:Space ShuttleColumbia flies theHubble Space Telescope service mission, its last before the disastrousSTS-107.
  • U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: In easternAfghanistan,Operation Anaconda begins.
• March 12 – InHouston,Texas,Andrea Yates is found guilty ofdrowning her five children on June 20, 2001. She is later sentenced to life in prison.
• March 14 – 125 vehicles are involved in a massive pile up onInterstate 75 inRinggold, Georgia.
• March 15 –Ice Age is released in theaters.
• March 19 –US war in Afghanistan:Operation Anaconda ends (started on March 1) after killing 500Taliban andal Qaeda fighters, with 11 allied troop fatalities.
• March 21 – InPakistan,Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and three others are charged with the kidnapping and killing ofThe Wall Street Journal reporterDaniel Pearl.
• March 24 – The74th Academy Awards, hosted byWhoopi Goldberg, are held atKodak Theatre inHollywood, withRon Howard'sA Beautiful Mind winning four awards, includingBest Picture andBest Director. The film ties withPeter Jackson'sThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in award wins, while the latter leads the nominations with 13. The telecast garners over 41.8 million viewers.
• March –Layalina Productions, Inc. non-profit public diplomacy initiative is inaugurated.^[4]

• April 1 –Maryland defeatsIndiana 64–52 to win theNCAA Men's Basketball Championship at theGeorgia Dome inAtlanta, Georgia.
• April 17 – FourCanadian infantrymen are killed inAfghanistan byfriendly fire from two USF-16s.
• April 19 – TheSenate defeats President Bush's plan to authorize oil exploration in theArctic National Wildlife Refuge.^[3]
• April 27 – TheLaughlin, NevadaRiver Run Riot kills three.

• May 1 –Nicktoons TV (renamedNicktoons in 2003, then in 2009) launches in the United States.
• May 3 –Spider-Man is released in theaters as the first film in the Spider-Man trilogy.
• May 10 –FBI agentRobert Hanssen is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility ofparole for selling American secrets toMoscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
• May 12 – Former U.S. PresidentJimmy Carter arrives inCuba for a five-day visit withFidel Castro, becoming the first U.S. president, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959revolution.
• May 16 –Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones is released in theaters.
• May 21 – TheState Department releases a report naming seven state sponsors of terrorism:Iran,Iraq,Cuba,Libya,North Korea,Sudan andSyria.
• May 22
  • 16th Street Baptist Church bombing: A jury inBirmingham, Alabama convictsKu Klux Klan memberBobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls.
  • Police in Washington, D.C. announce that the skeletal remains ofFederal Bureau of Prisons internChandra Levy, who has been missing for a year, have been found inRock Creek Park.
• May 26 –I-40 bridge disaster: A barge collides with the Interstate 40 bridge across theArkansas River in eastern Oklahoma, killing 14.

• June 5 – 14-year-oldElizabeth Smart is kidnapped from her bedroom inSalt Lake City,Utah. She is rescued nine months later.
• June 11
  • The first episode ofAmerican Idol airs.
  • Antonio Meucci is recognized as the first inventor of the telephone by theUnited States Congress.
• June 12 – TheLos Angeles Lakers sweep theNew Jersey Nets in the2002 NBA Finals to win their third consecutive NBA championship.
• June 14 – InKarachi,Pakistan, acar bomb in front of the U.S. Consulate kills 12 Pakistanis and injures 50.
• June 21 –Walt Disney Pictures' 42nd feature film,Lilo & Stitch, is released to positive reviews and box-office success.
• June 29 – Vice PresidentDick Cheney serves asacting president for a few hours while PresidentGeorge W. Bush undergoes acolonoscopy procedure undersedation.

• July 4 –2002 Los Angeles International Airport shooting: Egyptian immigrant Hesham Mohamed Hadayet kills two and injures six before being killed by a security officer. The incident is called an act ofterrorism.
• July 13 – A lightning strike sets off theSour Biscuit Fire inOregon and northernCalifornia, which burns 499,570 acres (2,022 km²).
• July 15 – InWashington, D.C., "AmericanTaliban"John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to aiding the enemy and possession of explosives during the commission of afelony; Lindh agrees to serve 10 years in prison for each charge.
• July 20 –The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius debuts onNickelodeon.
• July 21 –Telecommunications giantWorldCom files forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the largest such filing in United States history.
• July 24 – CongressmanJames Traficant of Ohio isexpelled from the House of Representatives by a vote of 420–1 following his ten felony convictions.

• August 12 – InArlington, Virginia,US Airways declares bankruptcy.

• September 2 –Liberty's Kids premieres onPBS Kids.
• September 4 –Kelly Clarkson wins the firstAmerican Idol competition.
• September 5 – TheSour Biscuit Fire inOregon and northernCalifornia, which burned 499,570 acres (2,022 km²), is contained.
• September 7 – The Fox Network'sFox Kids block (which had been on the air since 1990) airs for the final time. It was replaced the following week (on September 14) by the 4Kids-programmedFoxBox.^[5]
• September 11 – Thousands of people inNew York City and across the nation attend ceremonies as the United States commemorates the first anniversary of the9/11 attacks.
• September 12 –Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush addresses the U.N., and challenges its members to confront the "grave and gathering danger" ofIraq, or stand aside as the United States and likeminded nations act.^[3]
• September 14 – Major upheavals take place on Saturday mornings, as the four major networks change their programming on this day.Fox, having sold Fox Kids Worldwide toThe Walt Disney Company the previous year, endsFox Kids and sells its airtime to4Kids Entertainment, who begin programming a new children's programming block as theFox Box. Disney, meanwhile, having acquired the Fox Kids brand, endsDisney's One Saturday Morning onABC and renamedABC Kids.CBS, whose then-corporate siblingNickelodeon programs its lineup, rebrands itsNick Jr. on CBS block asNick on CBS and refocuses it on children 2–11 years old, whileNBC signs a contract withDiscovery Networks to air a programming strand calledDiscovery Kids on NBC (a spinoff of a former digital cable channelDiscovery Kids), which replaces the teen-oriented blockTNBC.^[5][6]

• October 2
  • TheBeltway sniper attacks begin with five shootings taking place inMontgomery County, Maryland.
  • TheCongress of the United States passes a joint resolution, which authorizes the President to use theUnited States Armed Forces as he deems necessary and appropriate, againstIraq.
• October 9 – TheDot-com bubblebear market reaches bottom, when theDow Jones Industrial Average slips below 7,200.
• October 9–10 –Congress passes theIraq Resolution authorizing theIraq War.^[3]
• October 16 – TheIraq War Resolution is authorized by a majority of theU.S. Congress.
• October 24 – TheBeltway sniper attacks end with the arrest ofJohn Allen Muhammad andLee Boyd Malvo. The pair killed 10 people and wounded three others in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area in this series of attacks; they had killed seven other people in prior attacks.
• October 25 – U.S. SenatorPaul Wellstone, his family, and his staff are killed in a plane accident atEveleth, Minnesota.
• October 27 – TheAnaheim Angels defeat theSan Francisco Giants in Game 7 of the2002 World Series to win their firstWorld Series title.

• November 2 – TheGodless Americans March on Washington brings together 2,000 atheists, freethinkers, agnostics, and humanists in a mile-long parade down theNational Mall.
• November 3 – The 7.9 M_w Denali earthquake shakes theAlaska Interior with a maximumMercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing one injury and $20–56 million in losses.
• November 5 – Republicans gain a majority in the Senate and a larger majority in theHouse of Representatives followingcongressional elections.^[3]
• November 6 – The U.S.Federal Reserve System drops its primary discount rate by 25basis points to 0.75%, putting the realinterest rate solidly below theinflation rate.
• November 7 –Iran bans the advertising of United States products.
• November 8 – TheUnited Nations passesResolution 1441 giving Iraqi PresidentSaddam Hussein a final opportunity to cooperate with international weapons inspectors.^[3]
• November 12 – ToxicologistKristin Rossum is convicted of the 2000 murder of her husband Gregory de Viller inSan Diego. Rossum had poisoned her victim usingfentanyl, passing off the crime as a suicide.^[7]
• November 16 – ACampaign against Climate Change march takes place inLondon fromLincoln's Inn Fields, pastEsso offices to the United States Embassy.
• November 25 – U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush signs theHomeland Security Act into law, establishing theDepartment of Homeland Security. It was the largest U.S. government reorganization since the creation of theDepartment of Defense in 1947.
• November 27 –Walt Disney Pictures' 43rd feature film,Treasure Planet, is released to positive reception, but turns outs to be a rare box office bomb from the studio.

• December 9 –United Airlines, the second largest airline in the world, files for bankruptcy.^[8]
• December 13 – PresidentGeorge W. Bush announces asmallpox vaccination program for military personnel, as well as for civilian healthcare and emergency workers to protect againstbioterrorism risks. He announces that the public will not be called up for shots until 2004 at the earliest.^[9]
• December 21 – President Bush receives his smallpox vaccine.^[10]

• Iraqi no-fly zones (1991–2003)^[11]
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

• January 10 –Laken Riley, murder victim (d.2024)
• January 11 –Dro Kenji, musician
• January 12 –Balin Miller, climber (d. 2025)
• January 15 –Levon Hawke, actor
• January 20
  • Michael Barbieri, actor
  • Joshua Colley, actor and singer
• January 21 –Noah Adnan, Indonesian soccer player
• January 22 –Caitlin Clark, basketball player
• January 25 –Lil Mosey, rapper

• February 5 –Davis Cleveland, actor
• February 13 –Sophia Lillis, actress
• February 21 –Duwap Kaine, rapper
• February 26 –Kendra and Maliyah Herrin, conjoined twins

• March 4 –Jacob Hopkins, actor
• March 7 –Darby Glass, icon
• March 15 –Sam McCarthy, actor

• April 2 –Emma Myers, actress
• April 5 –Ahmad Al-Qaq, Palestinian footballer
• April 6 –Andrea Botez, chess player
• April 8
  • Skai Jackson, actress
  • Ken San Jose, Filipino-American dancer
• April 10 –Ava Michelle, actress, dancer, and model
• April 16 –Sadie Sink, actress
• April 18 –Noah Thompson, singer
• April 19 –Loren Gray, social media personality
• April 24 –Skylar Stecker, singer and actress
• April 25 –Eitan Bernath, social media personality

• May 6
  • Emily Alyn Lind, actress
  • Angel Reese, basketball player
• May 7
  • Jake Bongiovi, actor
  • Andrew Barth Feldman, actor
• May 9 –Cree Cicchino, actress
• May 15 –Chase Hudson, social media influencer
• May 20 –Trinity Rodman, soccer player
• May 28 –Malik Tillman, soccer player

• June 2 –Madison Hu, actress
• June 3 –Eva Bella, voice of youngElsa in the Disney movieFrozen
• June 25
  • Tamir Rice, African-American boy killed by police (d.2014)
  • Benson Boone, American singer
• June 26 –Chandler Smith, race car driver
• June 29 –Marlhy Murphy, musician, actress and media personality

• July 24 –Benjamin Flores Jr., actor and rapper
• July 26 –Michael Campion, actor
• July 31 –Abi Carter, singer^[12]

• August 1 –Oona Laurence, actress
• August 6 –Nessa Barrett, singer
• August 9 –Wan Kuzri Wan Kamal, Malaysian soccer player
• August 16
  • Katie Feeney, social media influencer
  • Talia Ryder, actress
• August 19 –Brighton Sharbino, actress
• August 26 –Lil Tecca, rapper
• August 30 –Bktherula, rapper

• September 6 –Asher Angel, actor
• September 7 –Ericdoa, musician
• September 8 –Gaten Matarazzo, actor
• September 13 –Chiara Aurelia, actress
• September 15 –Rhema Marvanne, singer
• September 27 –Jenna Ortega, actress
• September 29 –Chloe Moriondo, musician and youtuber
• September 30 –Maddie Ziegler, dancer

• October 2 –Jacob Sartorius, singer
• October 6 –Rio Mangini, actor
• October 12 –Iris Apatow, actress
• October 15 –Malu Trevejo, Cuban-American social media personality
• October 16 –Madison Wolfe, actress
• October 24 –Lyn Lapid, singer
• October 25 –Johnny Sequoyah, actress
• October 26 –Emma Schweiger, actress
• October 28 –Lola Tung, actress

• November 1 –NLE Choppa, rapper
• November 11
  • Azzi Fudd, college basketball player
  • Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, murder victim (d.2018)
• November 12 –Paolo Banchero, American-Italian basketball player^[13]
• November 13 –Nikki Hahn, actress
• November 13 –Giovanni Reyna, soccer player^[14]
• November 14 –Ben Bowen, notable victim (d.2005)
• November 20 –Madisyn Shipman, actress^[15]
• November 26 –Baylee Littrell, singer
• November 30 –Emily Skinner, child actress

• December 12 –Allegra Acosta, actress
• December 30 –Bugha, esports athlete
• December 31 –Sophia Laforteza, singer and dancer

• January 1
  • Carol Ohmart, actress (b.1927)
  • Julia Phillips, movie producer (b.1944)
• January 3 –Miki Dora, surfer (b.1934)
• January 4 –Nathan Chapman, soldier (b.1970)
• January 6 –John W. Reynolds Jr., politician and jurist (b.1921)
• January 7
  • Mighty Igor, wrestler (b.1931)
  • Avery Schreiber, actor and comedian (b. 1935)
• January 8 –Dave Thomas, businessman (b.1932)
• January 9 –K. William Stinson, politician (b.1930)
• January 10 –John Buscema, comic book artist (b.1927)
• January 12
  • Ernest Pintoff, animator (b.1931)
  • Cyrus Vance, lawyer and Secretary of State (b.1917)
• January 13 –Ted Demme, film and television director and producer (b.1963)
• January 14 –Edith Bouvier Beale, socialite (b.1917)^[16]
• January 15 –Michael Bilandic, politician,Mayor of Chicago (b.1923)
• January 16
  • Bobo Olson, boxer (b.1928)
  • Ron Taylor, actor (b.1952)
• January 18 –Marilyn Harris, writer (b.1931)
• January 20 –Carrie Hamilton, actress and daughter ofCarol Burnett (b.1963)
• January 21 –Peggy Lee, singer, songwriter, and actress (b.1920)
• January 22 –Stanley Marcus, businessman and author (b.1905)
• January 23 –Robert Nozick, philosopher (b.1938)
• January 25 –Rudolph B. Davila, Army officer (b.1916)
• January 28 –Dick "Night Train" Lane, American football player (b.1928)

• February 1
  • Irish McCalla, actress (b.1928)
  • Daniel Pearl, journalist and murder victim, died inKarachi, Pakistan (b.1963)
• February 2 –Paul Baloff, singer (b.1960)
• February 4 –Helen Dodson Prince, astronomer (b.1905)
• February 6 –Guy Stockwell, actor (b.1933)
• February 7
  • Elisa Bridges, actress and model (b.1973)
  • Ellen Demming, actress (b.1922)
• February 8 –Nick Brignola, jazz musician (b.1936)
• February 9 –Fred Gehrke, football player (b.1918)
• February 10
  • Jim Spencer, baseball player (b.1947)
  • Dave Van Ronk, folk musician (b.1936)
  • Vernon A. Walters, Army officer and a diplomat (b.1917)
• February 11 –George Kasem, politician (b.1919)
• February 13 –Waylon Jennings, American country singer (b.1937)
• February 15 –Howard K. Smith, television journalist (b.1914)
• February 18 –Jack Lambert, actor (b.1920)
• February 19 –Virginia Hamilton, writer (b.1936)
• February 20 –Willie Thrower, American football player (b.1930)
• February 22 –Chuck Jones, animator (b.1912)
• February 24
  • Leo Ornstein, Russian-born American composer and pianist (b.1892)
  • Mel Stewart, actor, director, and musician (b.1929)
• February 26 –Lawrence Tierney, actor (b.1919)
• February 27 –Mary Stuart, actress (b.1926)

• March 1 –C. Farris Bryant, politician (b.1914)
• March 3 –Al Pollard, football player (b.1928)
• March 5 –Howard Cannon, politician (b.1912)
• March 7 –Mickey Haslin, baseball player (b.1909)
• March 9 –Irene Worth, actress (b.1916)
• March 11 –James Tobin, Nobel economist (b.1918)
• March 15 –Sylvester Weaver, television executive (b.1908)
• March 17 –Rosetta LeNoire, actress (b.1911)
• March 23 –Eileen Farrell, soprano (b.1920)
• March 26 –Randy Castillo, musician (b.1950)
• March 27
  • Milton Berle, comedian and actor (b.1908)
  • Dudley Moore, actor, comedian, and musician (b.1935)
  • Billy Wilder, Austrian-born director (b.1905)

• April 5 –Layne Staley, singer and songwriter (b.1967)
• April 7 –John Agar, actor (b.1921)^[17]
• April 14 –Arthur W. Coats Jr., California politician (b.1914)^[18]
• April 15 –Byron White, athlete and Supreme Court Justice (b.1917)
• April 16 –Robert Urich, actor (b.1946)
• April 18 –Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and wrestler (b.1938)
• April 22 –Linda Lovelace, American pornographic actress (b.1949)
• April 25 –Lisa Lopes, rapper, died inLa Ceiba,Atlántida,Honduras (b.1971)
• April 27
  • George Alec Effinger, writer (b.1947)
  • Ruth Handler, businesswoman (b.1916)

• May 9 –Dan Devine, American football player and coach (b.1924)
• May 6 –Otis Blackwell, songwriter (b.1931)
• May 11 –Joseph Bonanno, mafioso (b.1905 in Italy)
• May 16 –Big Dick Dudley, professional wrestler (b.1968)
• May 17 –Dave Berg, cartoonist (b.1920)
• May 20 –Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist and writer (b.1941)
• May 23 –Sam Snead, golfer (b.1912)
• May 24
  • Susie Garrett, actress (b.1929)
  • Wallace Markfield, writer (b.1926)
• May 28 –David Parker Ray, kidnapper and serial killer (b.1939)^[19]

• June 5 –Dee Dee Ramone, songwriter and musician (b.1951)
• June 6 –Robbin Crosby, guitarist (b.1959)
• June 10
  • Maury Travis, serial killer (b.1965)
  • John Gotti, murderer and leader of organized crime (b.1940)
• June 12 –Bill Blass, fashion designer (b.1922)^[20]
• June 17 –Willie Davenport, track and field athlete (b.1943)
• June 22
  • Darryl Kile, baseball player (b.1968)
  • Eppie Lederer, journalist and radio host (b.1918)
• June 23 –Logan Tucker, murder victim (b.1996)
• June 26 –Jay Berwanger, American football player (b.1914)
• June 27
  • John Entwistle, English musician (b.1944)
  • Ralph Erickson, baseball pitcher (b.1902)
• June 29 –Rosemary Clooney, singer and actress, and wife ofJosé Ferrer and mother ofMiguel Ferrer (b,1928)

• July 2 –Ray Brown, American bassist (b.1926)
• July 4 –Benjamin O. Davis Jr., general (b.1912)
• July 5 –Ted Williams, baseball player (b.1918)
• July 6 –John Frankenheimer, film director (b.1930)
• July 8 –Ward Kimball, animator (b.1913)
• July 9 –Rod Steiger, actor and husband ofClaire Bloom (b.1925)
• July 10 –Laurence Janifer, writer (b.1933)
• July 16 –John Cocke, computer scientist (b.1925)
• July 19 –Alan Lomax, folklorist and musicologist (b.1915)
• July 23 –Chaim Potok, writer and rabbi (b.1929)

• August 5
  • Josh Ryan Evans, American actor (b.1982)
  • Chick Hearn, American basketball announcer (b.1916)
• August 11 –Galen Rowell, American photographer, writer, and climber (b.1940)
• August 14 –Dave Williams, American musician (b.1972)
• August 15 –Kyle Rote, American football player (b.1928)
• August 16 –Jeff Corey, American actor (b.1914)
• August 23 –Hoyt Wilhem, baseball player (b.1922)
• August 31
  • Lionel Hampton, American musician (b.1908)
  • Martin Kamen, American chemist (b.1913)

• September 3 –Ted Ross, American actor (b.1934)
• September 4 –Jerome Biffle, American athlete (b.1928)
• September 5 –David Todd Wilkinson, American cosmologist (b.1935)
• September 7 –Erma Franklin, American singer (b.1938)
• September 11
  • Kim Hunter, American actress (b.1922)
  • Johnny Unitas, American football player (b.1933)
• September 14
  • LaWanda Page, comedian and actress (b.1920)
  • Paul Williams, saxophonist (b.1915)
• September 18 –Bob Hayes, American football player and track and field athlete (b.1942)
• September 21 –Robert L. Forward, writer, inventor, and physicist (b.1932)
• September 22 –Mickey Newbury, American singer-songwriter (b.1940)
• September 24 –Mike Webster, football player (b.1952)
• September 28 –Whitney Blake, actress and director (b.1926)

• October 3 –Bruce Paltrow, television and film director and producer (b.1943)

• c. October 5 –Jay R. Smith, American actor and comedian (b.1915)
• October 9 –Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (b.1956)
• October 10 –Teresa Graves, American actress and comedian (b.1948)
• October 12 –Ray Conniff, musician and bandleader (b.1916)
• October 13 –Stephen Ambrose, American historian and biographer (b.1936)
• October 17 –Aileen Riggin, American swimmer and diver (b.1906)
• October 18 –Kam Fong Chun, American actor (b.1918)
• October 23
  • Adolph Green, American lyricist and playwright (b.1914)
  • Richard Helms, American CIA director (b.1913)
• October 24
  • Harry Hay, British-born American activist (b.1912)
  • Peggy Moran, actress (b.1918)
• October 25 –Paul Wellstone, American politician (b.1944)
• October 28 –Margaret Booth, American film editor (b.1898)
• October 30 –Jam Master Jay, American Hip-Hop DJ (b.1965)

• November 3 –Jonathan Harris, actor (b.1914)
• November 9 –Merlin Santana, actor (b.1976)
• November 14 –Eddie Bracken, actor (b.1915)
• November 15 –Roberta Leighton, drag racer
• November 18 –James Coburn, actor (b.1928)
• November 21 –Hadda Brooks, jazz singer, pianist, and composer (b.1916)
• November 24 –John Rawls, philosopher (b.1921)
• November 27 –Billie Bird, actress and comedian (b.1908)
• November 26 –Verne Winchell, businessman (b.1915)

• December 1 –Dave McNally, baseball player (b.1942)
• December 2 –Mal Waldron, jazz pianist, composer, and arranger (b.1925)
• December 3 –Glenn Quinn, Irish actor (b.1970)
• December 5 –Roone Arledge, sports and news broadcasting executive (b.1931)
• December 6
  • FatherPhilip Berrigan, priest, member of thePlowshares Movement and political activist (b.1923)
  • Charles Rosen, pioneer in artificial intelligence (b.1927)
• December 9 –Stan Rice, painter and poet (b.1942)
• December 26 –Herb Ritts, photographer (b.1952)
• December 27 –George Roy Hill, film director (b.1921)
• December 30 –Mary Brian, actress (b.1906)

• Galen Schlosser, American architect^[21]

• 2002 in American soccer
• 2002 in American television
• List of American films of 2002
• Timeline of United States history (1990–2009)

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• 2002 in the United States
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• Years of the 21st century in the United States

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