Timeline February 2002

Events in February 2002 15

• 1912 – 2002 Chuck Jones (1912-2002) Died 22 February 2002, aged 89 Chuck Jones was an animation director at Warner Bros. who shaped the personalities of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd and created Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Pepe Le Pew and Marvin the Martian. His shorts included What's Opera, Doc and the much-praised Duck Amuck. He later directed the television version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
• 1918 – 2002 Spike Milligan (1918-2002) Died 27 February 2002, aged 83 Spike Milligan was the driving creative force behind The Goon Show, the anarchic BBC radio comedy of the 1950s that influenced generations of British humour. Born in India, he wrote surreal scripts, comic verse and a series of war memoirs. He spoke openly about the bipolar disorder that troubled him throughout his life.
• 1930 – 2002 Princess Margaret (1930-2002) Died 9 February 2002, aged 71 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II. In the 1950s she gave up plans to marry the divorced Group Captain Peter Townsend, a decision seen as a clash between duty and personal life. Her later years were marked by ill health following several strokes.
• 1934 – 2002 Jonas Savimbi (1934-2002) Died 22 February 2002, aged 67 Jonas Savimbi founded UNITA and led it through nearly three decades of civil war against Angola's MPLA government. Backed at various times by the United States and apartheid South Africa, he rejected election results in 1992 and returned to war. He was killed in a firefight with government troops, and a ceasefire followed within weeks.
• 1937 – 2002 Waylon Jennings (1937-2002) Died 13 February 2002, aged 64 Waylon Jennings was a central figure in the 'outlaw' country movement that pushed back against the polished Nashville sound of the 1970s. He had played bass for Buddy Holly and gave up his seat on the plane that crashed in 1959. His hits included 'Luckenbach, Texas' and, with Willie Nelson, 'Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys'.
• 2002 Murder of Daniel Pearl Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped and killed in Pakistan Daniel Pearl, the South Asia bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal, was abducted in Karachi on 23 January 2002 while researching Islamist militant networks. He was held for a week and then beheaded by his captors, who released a video of the killing in February. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed later admitted carrying out the murder.
• 2002 Becomes oldest player to score 50 in a game Jordan scores 51 points against the New Jersey Nets, becoming the oldest player in NBA history to reach 50 points in a game.
• 2002 Wins Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording First Grammy Award win Minogue won her first Grammy Award, for Best Dance Recording for "Can't Get You Out of My Head," at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. The win affirmed her critical and commercial resurgence following the success of Fever.
• 2002 Marriage of Willem-Alexander and Máxima Royal wedding in Amsterdam Crown Prince Willem-Alexander married Máxima Zorreguieta.
• 2002 U2 play the Super Bowl halftime show 9/11 tribute The names of the September 11 victims scroll behind them.
• 2002 Death of Prince Claus Husband of Queen Beatrix Prince Claus, husband of Queen Beatrix, died after a long illness.
• 2002 Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II Britain marks the Queen's 50 years on the throne Celebrations through 2002 marked the 50th anniversary of Elizabeth II's accession on 6 February 1952, including extensive Commonwealth tours and a weekend of events in June with concerts at Buckingham Palace and a carriage procession. Around a million people gathered on the Mall. The jubilee year was overshadowed by the deaths of the Queen's sister and mother.
• 2002 2002 Winter Olympics XIX Winter Games - Salt Lake City First games held under high security following 9/11. Winner: Germany (Norway had more golds).
• 2002 Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt Colombian presidential candidate seized by FARC Ingrid Betancourt, a Green Party candidate in Colombia's presidential election, was kidnapped by FARC guerrillas on 23 February 2002 while travelling in a former demilitarised zone. She was held in jungle camps for more than six years. Her captivity drew international attention before she was freed in a military rescue operation in 2008.
• 2002 Godhra train fire and Gujarat riots Communal violence kills more than a thousand in India On 27 February 2002 a fire on a train at Godhra in Gujarat killed 59 Hindu pilgrims, and the cause was widely blamed on a Muslim mob. Over the following weeks retaliatory riots across the state killed more than a thousand people, most of them Muslims, and displaced tens of thousands. The state government led by Narendra Modi was accused of failing to halt the violence.