Timeline July 2002

Events in July 2002 12

• 1908 – 2002 Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002) Died 13 July 2002, aged 93 Yousuf Karsh was an Armenian-Canadian photographer who became the leading portraitist of the mid-20th century. His 1941 portrait of a scowling Winston Churchill, taken just after he plucked away the statesman's cigar, became one of the most reproduced photographs ever. He photographed scores of world figures from his Ottawa studio over five decades.
• 1918 – 2002 Ted Williams (1918-2002) Died 5 July 2002, aged 83 Ted Williams spent his entire career with the Boston Red Sox and is regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. In 1941 he batted .406, and no player has reached .400 for a season since. His playing years were twice interrupted by military service as a pilot, in the Second World War and Korea.
• 1925 – 2002 Rod Steiger (1925-2002) Died 9 July 2002, aged 77 Rod Steiger was an American actor of the intense, Method school whose roles included the mob-connected brother in On the Waterfront, the title character in The Pawnbroker and the bigoted Southern sheriff in In the Heat of the Night, for which he won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor. He also played Napoleon and Mussolini. He spoke publicly about his struggles with depression.
• 2002 Wimbledon 2002 Men: Lleyton Hewitt · Women: Serena Williams Serena's first Wimbledon title.
• 2002 International Criminal Court comes into being Rome Statute enters into force The Rome Statute took effect on 1 July 2002 after the required 60 ratifications, establishing the first permanent court to try individuals for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court is seated in The Hague and depends on member states to arrest suspects. The United States, China and Russia declined to join.
• 2002 Uberlingen mid-air collision Passenger jet and cargo plane collide over Germany On the night of 1 July 2002 a Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 and a DHL Boeing 757 collided over Uberlingen in southern Germany, killing all 71 people on both aircraft, most of them Russian schoolchildren. Investigators blamed failings at the Swiss air traffic control service and conflicting instructions from the controller and the onboard collision-avoidance system. In 2004 a bereaved father killed the controller who had been on duty.
• 2002 First solo balloon flight around the world Steve Fossett completes a long-sought aviation feat The American adventurer Steve Fossett landed in Queensland, Australia, on 4 July 2002, having circled the globe alone in a helium and hot-air balloon in under 15 days. It was his sixth attempt and the first time anyone had flown a balloon solo around the world. He routed the flight through the southern hemisphere to use its steadier winds.
• 2002 African Union founded Continental body replaces the Organisation of African Unity The African Union was launched at a summit in Durban, South Africa, on 9 July 2002, succeeding the Organisation of African Unity that had existed since 1963. Modelled partly on the European Union, it created a commission, a pan-African parliament and provisions for intervention in member states. Thabo Mbeki became its first chairperson.
• 2002 WorldCom files for bankruptcy Record US corporate collapse after accounting fraud The telecommunications company WorldCom sought Chapter 11 protection on 21 July 2002 after disclosing that it had hidden about 11 billion dollars in expenses to inflate profits. It was the largest bankruptcy in US history at the time, surpassing Enron. Founder Bernard Ebbers was later sentenced to 25 years in prison, and the company was rebuilt as MCI.
• 2002 Sknyliv air show disaster Lviv, Ukraine A Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 crashes into spectators during an air show near Lviv, killing 77 people — the deadliest air-show accident in history.
• 2002 Bruce Springsteen releases The Rising After 9/11 His response to the September 11 attacks, with the E Street Band.
• 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act signed US overhauls corporate financial regulation President Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on 30 July 2002 in response to the Enron and WorldCom scandals. It created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, required chief executives to certify their accounts, and tightened rules on auditor independence and internal controls. It remains the main framework for US public-company financial reporting.