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Noughties Appreciation: Year 2002

Click for all the episodes of Noughties Appreciation.

I don't remember much about 2002, so I'll start with What Made The News (/ what mattered to me back then or what I now see as important in history):

January 1 – Euro notes and coins are issued in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands.

January 16 – The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and freezes the assets of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.

February 1 – Kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is murdered in Karachi, Pakistan.

March 1 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: In eastern Afghanistan, Operation Anaconda begins.

March 19 – US war in Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda ends (started on March 1) after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, with 11 allied troop fatalities.

April 9 – The funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother takes place in Westminster Abbey, London.

April 11 – April 14 – A military coup d'état against the leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez fails.

June 30 – Brazil wins the FIFA World Cup for a record fifth time. 3 R's (Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Rivaldo) murrrked!!! I actually did think England stood a good chance of winning this one. Well that was until Ronaldinho's step-over sent Ashley Cole on a diversion, followed by the infamous Seaman lob (intentional!). Ronaldo returned from what I think was a near season long injury to finish top goalscorer. Legend!!!

August 17 - Bodies of English 10 year-olds Holly Chapman and Jessica Wells are found near the perimeter fence of RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk. Was the second major story of the year where someones kids went missing then found dead.

September 17 – The body of missing school girl Amanda (Milly) Dowler is found in Hampshire 6 months after her disappearance. Another one of those sad stories that gripped the nation. Those stories were frequent back then. 2000 was Sarah Payne and Damilola Taylor.

October 12 – Terrorists detonate bombs in 2 nightclubs in Kuta, Bali, killing 202 and injuring over 300

October 24 – The Beltway snipers, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, are arrested.

November 8 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves UN Security Council Resolution 1441, forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences".

November 13 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq agrees to the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

November 14 – Argentina defaults on a US $805 million World Bank loan payment.

November 18 – Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.

November 22 – In Nigeria, more than 100 are killed at an attack aimed at the Miss World contestants.

November 25 – U.S. President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Act into law, establishing the Department of Homeland Security, in the largest U.S. government reorganization since the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947.

Sounds of 2002

Can honestly say I don't really remember much apart from rising star 50 Cent, Ja Rule's last year of domination/over-saturation.

Of his many collaborations, Rainy Dayz by Mary J Blige was my favourite. Just found out it was originally written for TLC hence the "Crazy, sexy and cool" and "Chasing waterfalls" references. Makes sense now.



To signify their power Murder Inc. released their compilation. Loved Down 4 U, both the song and video. Gotti and his fat gut sitting at the wheel on the yacht with the blurred Murder Inc logo. Who remembers the rumours of Nas joining them after The Pledge remix. That hurt my soul



Missy Elliott revealed a new look in the video for Work It taken from 2002 album Under Construction. The new slimeline version of Missy signified her downfall IMO (in my opinion). She thought it was alright to rap about drinking from the furry cup. We still remembered her as fat Missy though.

The infamous booty-munching R. Kelly tape leaked

Justin Timberlake's journey as the soloist begun. For the record, Justified is better than FutureSex/LoveSounds. I remember me and my friends furiously debating if The Neptunes were better than Timbaland using this album as a reference point. Sign of a classic.

Speaking of The Neptunes, although I feel 2001 was the peak of the career, they produced a banger in Nelly's Hot In Herre (did they ever say why they used 2 r's?).

This Shakira 'Whenever, Wherever' riddim was 'ard



Another one of our musical favourites left us too soon. In April, Lisa Lopes, member of recrd-breaking R&B girl group TLC was killed in car crash in Honduras. The documentary (Last Days of Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes?) she made prior to the accident still freaks me out. Being in a car that ran over and killed the kid who had the same surname, the numerology, the fact it all seemed to lead to her death and the actual footage of her death...

Also passing on to better pastures were Davey Boy Smith aka 'British Bulldog', cricketer Hansie Cronje, 32, died in a helicopter crash, and mob boss of the Gambino family John Gotti was buried in a gold casket after dying from cancer.

2002 in vision

February 11 - Two new BBC children's channels, CBeebies (aimed at children under 6) and CBBC (aimed at children aged 6–13) launch.

March 2 - BBC Four launches in the UK, replacing BBC Knowledge. The opening night is simulcast on BBC Two. I didn't even remember BBC Knowledge. Shows they were right for killing that channel

March 5 The Osbournes reality show premieres on MTV (2002-2005). Loved that program

March 27 - ITV Digital placed into administration. Most subscription channels cease broadcasting on the network on May 1. Oh how I lol'd. OnDigital you know. Wayyyyyssssste

April 1 Degrassi: The Next Generation the Canadian hit TV-series premieres in the U.S. on The N. (2002-Present). Lol the program Drake was in. Didn't watch it. Didn't know what it was until associated with Drake

May 19 - The X-Files ended

June 2 - Crime drama The Wire premieres on HBO (2002—2008). How many of us knew about it then?

July 26 - Blonde siren (she was hot) Kate Lawler crowned winner of Big Brother 2002. However, the real winner of the show was the ditsy blonde Jade Goody. Alison Hammond (the big black bird) also did well, now presenting on This Morning. I rank this the 3rd best series.

August 25 I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! premieres on ITV in the UK (2002-present). Can't remember who won it, never watched it, was too big a Big Brother fan to be traitor.

September 16 - Channel 5 in the UK rebrands itself to Five, and drops its Digital On-screen Graphic. Didn't help them much, they still suck!

October 28 - The names for the London (Carlton and LWT), West (HTV West) and Wales (HTV Wales) are dropped altogether, and replaced with ITV1 London, ITV1 West of England and ITV1 Wales respectively, though the names continue to appear elsewhere. The weekend didn't start until ITV handed over to LWT. Good old TV.

I just clocked, these are the days I still watched TV. The time before internet. Watch the TV posts shrink in years to come. Feel free to leave comments on any memories you have from 2002.

Comments

  1. You said it - "Justified" is way better than "FS/LS". I don't get the whole appreciation the latter album gets. The Neptunes' production owned the 2002. "Like I Love You" is probably the best pop single of the 00's.

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