Timeline

2002

Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

Aug

05

21st Century

Divers recover U.S.S. Monitor turret

On August 5, 2002, the rusty iron gun turret of the U.S.S. Monitor broke from the water and into the daylight for the first time in 140 years. The ironclad warship was raised from the floor of the Atlantic, where it had rested since it went down in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, during the Civil War. Divers had been working for six weeks to bring it to the surface.

On this day in 2002, the rusty iron gun turret of the U.S.S. Monitor broke from the water and into the daylight for the first time in 140 years. The ironclad warship was raised from the floor of the Atlantic, where it had rested since it went down in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, during the Civil War. Divers had been working for six weeks to bring it to the surface.

Oct

11

U.S. Presidents

Jimmy Carter wins Nobel Peace Prize

On October 11, 2002, former President Jimmy Carter wins the Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”

NORWAY-NOBEL-CARTER

Nobel laureate and former US President Jimmy Carter arrives 08 December 2002 in Oslo, where he will receive the Nobel Peace Prize 10 December. (Photo by NTB / AFP) (Photo by -/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

NTB/AFP via Getty Images

Oct

23

European History

Hostage crisis in Moscow theater

On October 23, 2002, about 50 Chechen rebels storm a Moscow theater, taking up to 800 people hostage during a sold-out performance of a popular musical.

Armed Chechens take Theatre Hostages

MOSCOW - OCTOBER 24: A general view of the theatre that was seized by armed men early on October 24, 2002 in Moscow. Armed men entered the crowded Moscow theatre on Wednesday and took the audience hostage; the Federal Security Service said 'A Soviet-era House of Culture that belonged to a ball-bearing plant was staging a performance of the musical "Nord-Ost"'. The poster on the theatre reads: "Nord-Ost". (Photo by Getty Images).

Getty Images

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