2002

The foot and mouth crisis is declared over after eleven months.
Princess Margaret, the Queen’s younger sister, dies after suffering a stroke aged 71.
Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at London Stansted Airport.
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, dies aged 101 at Royal Lodge, Windsor.
London City Hall is opened on the south bank of the River Thames, designed by Norman Foster.
As part of her Golden Jubilee celebrations, the Queen dines at 10 Downing Street with the five living former prime ministers who have served under her; Tony Blair, John Major, Margaret Thatcher, James Callaghan and Edward Heath. She is also joined by several relatives of deceased former Prime Ministers, including Clarissa Eden, Countess of Avon, widow of Prime Minister Anthony Eden.
An earthquake in Dudley is felt throughout England and Wales.

BBC 6 Music, the first new BBC Radio station in decades, is launched.
Girl band Girls Aloud are formed from the five female contestants who win the ITV talent show Popstars The Rivals.
On the Record, the BBC’s flagship political programme, finishes after fourteen years on air.

Sound of the Underground, Girls Aloud’s debut single, is the UK’s Christmas number one.
The fastest-selling debut single in UK chart history was released by the Winner of the TV talent show, Pop Idol; Will Young had been voted as the winner by over 4 million people in the final, after winning six out of the nine weeks, with Gareth Gates, the eventual runner-up, winning three times. “Anything is Possible/Evergreen”, topped the charts for 3 weeks and sold over 1.1 million copies in its first week of sale; altogether it sold over 1.7 million copies, becoming the 11th biggest-selling single in the UK and also the second fastest-selling single in the UK, with only Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” ahead of it. Young reached the top again with his second single “Light My Fire”.

Artist	Title
Daniel Bedingfield	Gotta Get Thru This
Aaliyah	More Than A Woman
George Harrison	My Sweet Lord
Enrique Iglesias	Hero
Westlife	World Of Our Own
Will Young	Anything Is Possible/Evergreen
Gareth Gates	Unchained Melody
Oasis	The Hindu Times
Sugababes	Freak Like Me
Holly Valance	Kiss Kiss
Ronan Keating	If Tomorrow Never Comes
Liberty X	Just A Little
Eminem	Without Me
Will Young	Light My Fire
Elvis vs JXL	A Little Less Conversation
Gareth Gates	Anyone Of Us (Stupid Mistake)
Darius	Colourblind
Sugababes	Round Round
Blazin’ Squad	Crossroads
Atomic Kitten	The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)
Pink	Just Like A Pill
Will Young & Gareth Gates	The Long And Winding Road/Suspicious Minds
Las Ketchup	The Ketchup Song (Asereje)
Nelly Feat. Kelly Rowland	Dilemma
DJ Sammy & Yanou Feat. Do	Heaven
Westlife	Unbreakable
Christina Aguilera	Dirrty
Daniel Beddingfield	If You’re Not The One
Eminem	Lose Yourself
Blue Feat. Elton John	Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
Girls Aloud	Sound Of The Underground

Great Britain competes at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and wins 1 gold and 1 bronze medal.
4 May – Arsenal win the FA Cup with a 2–0 win over London rivals Chelsea in the cup final.
8 May – Arsenal win their second double in five seasons (and the third in their history) after a 1–0 away win over defending champions Manchester United.
The England national football team’s World Cup campaign, hosted jointly by Japan and South Korea, begins with a 1–1 draw against Sweden.
21 June – England’s hopes of winning the World Cup are ended by a 2–1 defeat to Brazil in the quarter-finals.
Rio Ferdinand becomes the most expensive player in English football when he completes his £29,100,000 transfer from Leeds United to Manchester United.
Leicester City F.C. move into their new 32,000-seat Walker’s Stadium, named under a sponsorship deal with Walker’s Crisps, after 111 years at Filbert Street. It is officially opened by former England striker Gary Lineker, who was born locally and started his playing career with the club.

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