2002

• Ashanti – “Foolish”
• Avril Lavigne – “Complicated”
• Avril Lavigne – “Sk8er Boi”
• Eminem – “Lose Yourself”
• Enrique Iglesias - “Hero”
• Jennifer Lopez – “Ain’t It Funny”
• Jimmy Eat World – “The Middle”
• Kelly Clarkson – “A Moment Like This”
• Kylie Minogue – “Can’t Get You Out of my Head”
• Linkin Park – “In the End”
• Mary J. Blige – “Family Affair”
• Nelly – “Hot in Herre”
• Nelly ft Kelly Rowland – “Dilemma”
• Nickelback – “How You Remind Me”
• No Doubt – “Hey Baby”
• Pink – “Get the Party Started”
• Pink - "Just Like a Pill"
• Shakira – “Whenever, Wherever”
• Usher – “U Got It Bad”
• Vanessa Carlton – “A Thousand Miles”

• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Spider-Man
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
• Men in Black II
• Die Another Day
• Signs
• Ice Age
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding
• Minority Report

• The Bachelor
• Degrassi: The Next Generation
• American Idol
• Monk
• Dr. Phil
• CSI: Miami

• Family Guy
• Jackass
• Charma & Greg
• Roswell
• The X-Files
• Ally McBeal
• Felicity
• The Rosie O'Donnell Show
• Sailor Moon

• Season: Thailand
• 2 tribes of 8 new players, picked by 2 oldest players
• Winner: Brian Heidik
• Runner-up: Clay Jordan

• Season: Marquesas
• 2 tribes of 8 new players
• Winner: Vecepia Towery
• Runner-up: Neleh Dennis

• Summer replacement show on Fox. Co-hosted by Ryan Seacrest & Brian Dunkleman
• Winner: Kelly Clarkson
• Released the song "A Moment Like This" which broke 38-year-old record held by The Beatles for biggest leap to #1

• Jacob Sartorius - pop singer, INstagram star, musical.ly
• Maddie Ziegler - dancer, on "Dance Moms"
• Skai Jackson - actress, on Disney's "Jessie"
• Finn Wolfhard - TV actor, on "Stranger Things", movie "It"
• Jenna Ortega - TV actress, in CW's "Jane the Virgin"
• Gaten Matarazzo - TV actor, on "Stranger Things"
• Romeo Beckham - Instagram star, son of soccer star David Beckham and former pop star Victoria Beckham (of the Spice Girls)
• Sadie Sink - TV actress, on "Stranger Things"
• Isaak Presley - TV actor, in Netflix's "Fuller House"
• Michael Campion - TV actor, on "Fuller House"
• Charles Gitnick - Instagram star and rising artist, 3D anti-gun work
• Ethan Wacker - TV actor, on "Bizaardvark"

• Lisa Lopes - American rapper, known by her stage name "Left Eye"part of girl group TLC with hits like "Waterfalls" and "No Scrubs" (died at age 30)
• Richard Harris - Irish actor, in first 2 Harry Potter movies as Dumbedore
• Queen Elizabeth - the Queen mother
• Dave Thomas - founder of Wendy's restaurant chain
• John Gotti - American mobster, godfather of the powerful Gambino family

• Euro becomes official currency of the European Union
• first American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson
• Department of Homeland Security established
• iRobot Corporation released the first version of its Roomba vacuum cleaning robot

• airplane mode
• dubstep
• goji berry
• nip slip
• parkour
• selfie
• thumb drive
• vlog

The Euro becomes the official currency of twelve of the European Union's Members.

Chechen Rebels take 800 theatergoers hostage in Moscow and threaten to blow up the theatre , 3 days later special forces storm the building resulting in the death of 128 hostages and 41 rebels

October 2- 24: over 3 weeks there were a series of coordinated shootings. Two Snipers in Washington DC area kill 10 people and injure 3 more spreading panic and fear. The snipers were John Allen Muhammad (aged 41) and Lee Boyd Malvo (aged 17), who travelled in a blue, 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan. Fear of the apparently random shootings generated a great deal of public apprehension, especially at service stations and the parking lots of large stores. 

The first season of American Idol premiered on June 11, and continued to September 4. It was won by Kelly Clarkson. That first season was co-hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman, the latter of whom left the show after the season ended. Immediately post-finale, Clarkson released the single "A Moment Like This" which went on to break a 38-year-old record held by The Beatles for a song's biggest leap to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It jumped up from number fifty-two to number one in just one week. 

On February 6, Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years since her accession to the British throne. On October 4, the Queen arrives in Canada to start of 12-day tour to mark her 50th anniversary as Queen of Canada.

By taking the silver medal in singles luge, Georg Hackl of Germany became the first person in Olympic history to earn a medal in the same individual event five times in a row. In the women’s bobsleigh, Vonetta Flowers of the US became the first black athlete to earn winter gold, while ice hockey player Jarome Iginla of Canada followed as the first black male winner. A feature of these Games was the emergence of the extreme sports, such as snowboarding, moguls and aerials, which appeared in previous Olympic Winter Games but have captured greater public attention in recent years.

Australian skater Steven Bradbury cruised off the pace in his semifinal only to see three of his competitors crash into each other, allowing him to finish second and go through to the final. Bradbury was again well off the pace, but lightning struck again and all four other competitors crashed out in the final turn, leaving a jubilant Bradbury to take the most unlikely of gold medals, the first for Australia—or any other country of the Southern Hemisphere—in the Olympic Winter Games.

The Canadian men's ice hockey team defeated the American team 5–2 to claim the gold medal, ending 50 years without the hockey gold. The Canadian women's team also defeated the American team 3–2 after losing to them at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano.

November 25 – U.S. President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Act into law, establishing the Department of Homeland Security, in the largest U.S. government reorganization since the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947.

November 19 – Michael Jackson dangles his nine-month-old son over the balcony of his Berlin hotel room in an apparent attempt to connect with the fans below. He releases a statement later that day calling the incident a "terrible mistake".