• January 6- The Boston Globe published a story detailing the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal.
  

• January 19 - "Tuck Rule Game" AFC Playoff Game: with under 2 minutes to play New England Patriots trail Oakland Raiders, 13-10 in a driving snowstorm a Tom Brady fumble was ruled an incomplete pass. Patriots win 16-13 in overtime.
  

• January 23 - Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan. The radical Muslims subsequently murdered him on February 1.
  

• February 3 - Super Bowl XXXVI, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans: The New England Patriots beat St. Louis Rams, 20-17. QB Tom Brady was named the game’s MVP.
  

• May 6 - Entrepreneur Elon Musk founds SpaceX.
  

• September 10 - Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, joined the United Nations.
  

• November 16 - The first case of SARS is recorded in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China.
  

• November 25 - U.S. President George W. Bush signed the Homeland Security Act into law.  The Department of Homeland Security was the largest U.S. government reorganization since the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947.
  

• December 18 - Governor of California Gray Davis announced the state faces a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier.

Notable Deaths -

Byron "Whizzer" White (1917-2002) American football player (Chicago Bears halfback) and U.S. Supreme Court Justice, died at 84.

Waylon Jennings (1937-2002) American 'outlaw' country singer-songwriter, and guitarist, died of diabetic complications at 64.

Milton Berle (1908-2002) American comedian and TV host died at 93.

Notable Deaths in Sports -

* World Road Race Champion: Marcel “Black Eagle” Kint (1914-2002) superstar Belgian professional road racer, who won 31 major races between 1935 and 1951. In his finest year he won the 1938 World Cycling Championship RR.

* Vuelta a Espana Champion: Gustave Deloor (1913-2002) Belgian professional road racer, who won the first two editions of the Vuelta a Espana in 1935 and 1936.

Seattle Slew (1972-2002) Grand American racehorse (Triple Crown 1977), dies at the age of 28.

Theodore “Ted” Williams (1918-2002) American Baseball player, he was the last player to bat over .400 in single season. He died at 84.

Johnny Unitas (1933-2002) superstar NFL quarterback, played for the Baltimore Colts and San Diego Chargers. He was one of the greatest passers of all times, dies of a heart attack at 69.

Notable Births (in Sports)-

Caitlin Elizabeth Clark, (January 22, 2002) American basketball guard born in Des Moines, Iowa, she was the NCAA Div I all-time leading scorer, NCAA Player of the Year 2023, and WNBA Rookie of the Year 2024 while playing for the Indiana Fever.

2001

2003

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