May 2002

Saturday 04:

An EAS Airlines BAC 1-11-500 crashes in a suburb of Kano, Nigeria shortly after takeoff killing more than 148 people.

Monday 06:

The World Wrestling Federation announces that they have changed their name to World Wrestling Entertainment after losing a court battle with the World Wildlife Fund.

Tuesday 07:

A China Southern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea killing 112 people.

Thursday 09:

In Kaspiysk, Russia, a remote-controlled bomb explodes during a holiday parade killing 43 and injuring at least 130.

Friday 10:

Lynda Lyon Block is executed in Yellow Mama, the electric chair of Alabama.

Sunday 12:

Former President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.

Tuesday 14:

Ten members of the Darwin-based Network Against Prohibition invade the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory of Australia.

Thursday 16:

2002 - ' opens in cinemas.

Monday 20:

East Timor becomes independent from Indonesian rule.

Wednesday 22:

American civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.

Thursday 23:

The "55 parties" clause of the Kyoto protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland.

Saturday 25:

China Airlines Flight 611: A Boeing 747-200 breaks apart in mid-air and plunges into the Taiwan Strait killing 225 people.

Sunday 26:

Álvaro Uribe becomes President of Colombia.

Friday 31:

The 17th Football World Cup, co-hosted by Japan and South Korea, begins with a 1-0 upset of France by Senegal. The tournament ends on June 30, with Brazil winning a record fifth World Cup title.