Buran, the Russian equivalent to the Space Shuttle, is destroyed in a storm at Baikonur

East Timor regains its independence after 2-and-a-half years of United Nations administration and 26 years of occupation by Indonesia since 1975.

• In Moscow, United States President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty to replace the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 and the START II Treaty of 1993.
• A Boeing 747 operating as China Airlines Flight 611 breaks up and crashes in the Taiwan Strait, killing all 225 passengers and crew on board.

1. A penumbral lunar eclipse was visible in eastern Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and the western Americas. The penumbral lunar eclipse had a penumbral magnitude of 0.68933, the umbral magnitude of -0.28877, was the 66th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 111 (descending node).
2. The 2002 FIFA World Cup takes place in South Korea and Japan;[31] which is ultimately won by Brazil