Tag: 2002

Hostage crisis in Moscow theater

Year
2002
Month Day
October 23

On October 23, 2002, about 50 Chechen rebels storm a Moscow theater, taking up to 700 people hostage during a sold-out performance of a popular musical.

The second act of the musical “Nord Ost” was just beginning at the Moscow Ball-Bearing Plant’s Palace of Culture when an armed man walked onstage and fired a machine gun into the air. The terrorists—including a number of women with explosives strapped to their bodies—identified themselves as members of the Chechen Army. They had one demand: that Russian military forces begin an immediate and complete withdrawal from Chechnya, the war-torn region located north of the Caucasus Mountains.

Chechnya, with its predominately Muslim population, had long struggled to assert its independence. A disastrous two-year war ended in 1996, but Russian forces returned to the region just three years later after Russian authorities blamed Chechens for a series of bombings in Russia. In 2000, President Vladimir Putin was elected partly because of his hard-line position towards Chechnya and his public vow not to negotiate with terrorists.

After a 57-hour-standoff at the Palace of Culture, during which two hostages were killed, Russian special forces surrounded and raided the theater on the morning of October 26. Later it was revealed that they had pumped a powerful narcotic gas into the building, knocking nearly all of the terrorists and hostages unconscious before breaking into the walls and roof and entering through underground sewage tunnels. Most of the guerrillas and 120 hostages were killed during the raid. Security forces were later forced to defend the decision to use the dangerous gas, saying that only a complete surprise attack could have disarmed the terrorists before they had time to detonate their explosives.

After the theater crisis, Putin’s government clamped down even harder on Chechnya, drawing accusations of kidnapping, torture and other atrocities. In response, Chechen rebels continued their terrorist attacks on Russian soil, including an alleged suicide bombing in a Moscow subway in February 2004 and another major hostage crisis at a Beslan school that September.

READ MORE: How Opioids Were Used as Weapons During the Moscow Theater Hostage Crisis

Source

TV producer Roone Arledge dies

On December 5, 2002, the legendary television producer and executive Roone Arledge dies in New York City, at the age of 71. Born in Forest Hills, Queens, Arledge won his first producing job from New York’s Channel 4, where he worked behind the scenes on a puppet show starring Shari Lewis. After unsuccessfully pitching a pilot called For Men Only to NBC, he was noticed by ABC executive Ed Sherick, and began working at ABC’s fledgling sports division in 1960.

From the start of his tenure at ABC, Arledge aimed to “add show business to sports,” as he put it. He pioneered a number of new techniques in college football programming, including hand-held cameras, aerial footage and improved sound. With Sherick, he introduced ABC’s Wide World of Sports, a weekly roundup of sporting events–featuring many less mainstream sports from around the world–hosted by Jim McKay. The groundbreaking show became a hit, and by 1964 Arledge was a network vice president; he became president of ABC Sports four years later.

More than anyone else, Arledge brought sports programming out of its limited weekend niche and into prime time, beginning with the broadcast of the Olympic Games in 1968. In 1970, Arledge solidified his impact with the premiere of Monday Night Football with Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford and Don Meredith, which opened the floodgates for all major sports to move into prime time. Arledge’s enormously influential style–including “up close and personal” stories about athletes’ lives and technological innovations such as instant and slow-motion replays, split-screen views and isolated cameras–aimed to thrill audiences and get them emotionally involved in the broadcast. His philosophy continues to define sports programming today.

Notoriously detail-oriented, Arledge truly showed his mettle during the 1972 Olympics in Munich, when Arab terrorists took 11 Israeli athletes hostage. As the U.S. broadcaster of the Games, ABC had exclusive access, and under Arledge’s guidance, the network covered the unfolding crisis continuously for the next 17 hours, up to and including the announcement that the hostages had been killed. ABC, Jim McKay- and Arledge won a historic total of 29 Emmys for the Munich coverage.

Arledge took over ABC’s struggling news division in 1977, retaining control of ABC Sports as well. Renaming the nightly newscast World News Tonight, he nurtured the careers of top newscasters such as Peter Jennings and oversaw the coverage of such momentous topics as apartheid in South Africa and the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict. During the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-80, Arledge produced a nightly special on the crisis, a first in network news. The show later became Nightline, hosted by Ted Koppel. Arledge put another network star, Barbara Walters, at the head of the first news magazine show, 20/20. By 1990, ABC News was turning a yearly profit of some $70 million, another first for a network news division.

In the mid-1990s, Arledge began to relinquish day-to-day control at ABC; the Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of the network in 1996 accelerated this process. Three months before his death on December 5, 2002, Arledge was awarded the first-ever lifetime achievement Emmy–his 37th Emmy Award overall.

Source

New England Patriots win first Super Bowl


Year
2002
Month Day
February 03

On February 3, 2002, the New England Patriots shock football fans everywhere by defeating the heavily favored St. Louis Rams, 20-17, to take home their first Super Bowl victory. Pats’ kicker Adam Vinatieri made a 48-yard field goal to win the game just as the clock expired.

Super Bowl XXXVI took place at the Superdome in New Orleans with a crowd of almost 73,000 in attendance. In the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America, the game was played amidst intense security and included a tribute to the 9/11 victims. Former President George H.W. Bush conducted the coin toss, the first president to ever do so in person. Mariah Carey sang the National Anthem and U2 performed during the halftime show.

The NFC champion Rams were coached by Mike Martz, who joined the team in 1999 as offensive coordinator and became head coach in 2000. The team’s offense–nicknamed “The Greatest Show on Turf”–was believed to be one of the best in football history. Kurt Warner, a two-time NFL MVP, quarterbacked the Rams, who had won their first Super Bowl in 2000. The American Football Conference champion Patriots were coached by Bill Belichick, who joined the team in 2000, the same year quarterback Tom Brady was drafted. Brady took over for Pats’ starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe after he was injured early in the 2001-2002 season, and Belichick made the decision to stay with the younger quarterback even after Bledsoe recovered, a call that initially met with controversy. (Bledsoe did play in the AFC Championship game, after Brady was forced to leave with an injury.)

Going into the Super Bowl on February 3, the Rams’ high-powered offense and Super Bowl experience combined to make them 14-point favorites. True to form, the Rams scored first, but by halftime, the underdog Patriots had stifled the Rams offense, and capitalized on two St. Louis turnovers to pull ahead, 14-3.

The Pats converted another Rams turnover into a 17-3 lead in the third quarter before the Rams finally seemed to come alive. Warner ran in a touchdown and then connected with wide receiver Ricky Proehl with just one minute, 30 seconds remaining to tie the score. In the end, though, it proved too little, too late: Brady deftly led the Pats on a 53-yard drive and into field goal range, and with seven seconds left on the clock, Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal to give the Pats the victory, 20-17. It was the first time a Super Bowl had ever been won with a team scoring as the game clock expired. (Colts kicker Jim O’Brien kicked a game-winner in Super Bowl V, but there were five seconds left in the game.)

Source

Katie Hnida is first woman to play in Division I football game


Updated:
Original:
Year
2002
Month Day
December 25

On December 25, 2002, the University of New Mexico junior place-kicker Katie Hnida attempts to kick an extra point in a game against UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl. Though her kick was blocked by UCLA, Hnida became the first woman to play in a Division I football game.

Hnida was the latest of a small number of female players to attempt to make inroads into college football beginning in the mid-1990s. She began her college football career at the University of Colorado, transferred to Santa Barbara City College in 1999 and was invited to try out for New Mexico after they saw a video of her kicking skills. After suiting up for each home game of the season, Hnida was given the go-ahead by Coach Rocky Long to make the extra point attempt after Desmar Black returned a 55-yard interception for a touchdown in the first quarter. She kicked the ball too low, and UCLA’s Brandon Chillar blocked it. Hnida didn’t kick again in the game, which UCLA went on to win 27-13. The following season, Hnida kicked two extra points on two attempts in New Mexico’s win over Texas State on August 30, 2003, becoming the first woman to score during a Division I game.

Hnida’s story got an unpleasant footnote in 2004, when she told Sports Illustrated that she had been sexually harassed and bullied during her time at the University of Colorado, and that she had been raped by a teammate. Despite being joined by several other women in her accusations of harassment, Hnida declined to press charges, and the case was not pursued. The Colorado football coach, Gary Barnett, responded to the allegations by insulting Hnida and calling her “not only a girl” but a “terrible” player; he was suspended briefly and left the team in 2005.

Source

President George W. Bush announces plan for “faith-based initiatives”


Year
2002
Month Day
February 07

President George W. Bush announces his plan to federally fund faith-based initiatives.

Bush started his day at a National Prayer Breakfast held in the ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel, where he explained the basic philosophy behind his plan. In service to others, he said, we find deep human fulfillment. And as acts of service are multiplied, our nation becomes a more welcoming place. Later that day, he announced the new policy from the Oval Office with leading members of Congress and the press in attendance. Bush proposed that faith-based organizations should assume a greater role in providing social-service programs without breaching the separation of church and state. He suggested that government should not discriminate against faith-based programs, but it should encourage them to flourish. Under his plan, religious groups could receive federal funding to implement programs usually carried out by secular non-profit organizations.

A devout Christian, Bush’s plan applied to a multitude of denominations in order to, in his words, unleash these fantastic armies of compassion which exist all across the country. The new policy received bipartisan support, including kudos from leading Senators Joseph Liebermann and Rick Santorum. The senators agreed with Bush that individuals and couples should receive tax breaks for donations to faith-based charities as well as secular organizations.

Bush’s plan to federally fund faith-based programs upset secularists and debate over the efficacy and constitutionality of the program continued into his second term. 

Source

President Bush unveils strategy for homeland security

Year
2002
Month Day
July 16

On July 16, 2002, President George W. Bush announces his plan for strengthening homeland security in the wake of the shocking September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., in which nearly 3,000 people had been killed. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, in an attempt to prevent further bloodshed on American soil, Bush launched a massive overhaul of the nation’s security, intelligence and emergency-response systems through the creation of the White House Office of Homeland Security. It was part of a two-pronged effort, which included pre-emptive military action against terrorists in other countries, to fight the war on terror.

During a White House press conference that day, Bush gave the American public a preview of the changes to come, including, but not limited to, a color-coded warning system that identified different levels of threat, assessing which industries and regions were vulnerable to attack. He also proposed changes in laws that would give the president increased executive powers, particularly with regard to anti-terrorism policy.

On the day of his announcement, it appeared that Bush and Congress formed a fairly united front in favor of the new policy. However, as soon as the Department of Homeland Security was established, critics who feared the potential abuse of presidential powers and the abandonment of civil liberties in the name of national security raised their voices. Bush tried to reassure them that the changes were constitutional and open to Congressional oversight. However, over the next few years, his administration faced accusations of violating the Constitution and creating a political culture of secrecy and cronyism.

READ MORE: The War on Terror

Source

Kelly Clarkson wins first “American Idol”

Year
2002
Month Day
September 04

On September 4, 2002, Kelly Clarkson, a 20-year-old cocktail waitress from Texas, wins the first season of American Idol in a live television broadcast from Hollywood’s Kodak Theater. Clarkson came out on top in the amateur singing contest over 23-year-old runner-up Justin Guarini after millions of viewers cast their votes for her by phone. She was awarded a recording contract and went on to sell millions of albums and establish a successful music career. (Clarkson and Guarnini also co-starred in the 2003 box-office bomb From Justin to Kelly, which was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for that year’s worst film but lost to the Jennifer Lopez-Ben Affleck vehicle Gigli.) Starting with its first season, American Idol became one of the most popular TV programs in U.S. history and spawned a slew of talent-competition shows.

American Idol was based on a British TV show called Pop Idol, which was developed by the English-born entertainment executive Simon Fuller and debuted in the U.K. in 2001. The Idol concept was shopped around in the United States and reportedly rejected by several TV networks before Fox picked it up. The American Idol premiere, which aired on June 11, 2002, was co-hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman (who was dropped from the program after Season One) and starred a trio of judge—the acerbic British music executive Simon Cowell, the singer-choreographer Paula Abdul and the musician-producer Randy Jackson. The show followed the judges as they selected contestants, who were required to be teens or young adults, from open auditions around the United States. Contestants who made the cut were flown to Hollywood, where they were eventually narrowed to 10 finalists, who performed live on television and were critiqued by the judges. Home viewers phoned in their votes for their favorite performers and each week the contestant who received the lowest number of votes was eliminated from the competition.

Following Clarkson’s Season One victory, subsequent American Idol winners—including Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks and David Cook—have had varying degrees of success in their music careers. In some cases, American Idol runner-ups, such as Clay Aiken (Season Two, second place) and Chris Daughtry (Season Five, fourth place), have sold more records than certain A.I. winners. Jennifer Hudson, who finished seventh in Season Three of the show, later won an Academy Award for her supporting performance in Dreamgirls (2006), the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013. 

Source

“General Hospital” airs 10,000th episode

Year
2002
Month Day
April 17

On April 17, 2002, ABC airs the 10,000th episode of the daytime drama General Hospital, the network’s longest-running soap opera and the longest-running program ever produced in Hollywood.

Created by Frank and Doris Hursley, General Hospital premiered on April 1, 1963. It was set in the fictional town of Port Charles in upstate New York, and focused on the lives and loves of the staff working in the town’s General Hospital. Prominent characters in the show’s early days included Dr. Steve Hardy (John Beradino) and Nurse Audrey March (Rachel Ames). On the same day General Hospital debuted, ABC’s rival network, NBC, launched its own medical soap opera, The Doctors. Both networks were attempting to capitalize on the success of prime time-medical dramas such as Dr. Kildare and Ben Casey.

General Hospital set a new standard for daytime soap operas by introducing dramatic action-adventure plot lines into the complicated mix of family and romantic issues that was the usual bread and butter of soaps at the time. Still, by the late 1970s, the show’s ratings had dropped to the point where it seemed on the brink of cancellation. In general, ratings for daytime soap operas were declining, a development some attributed to the fact that growing numbers of women–the target audience for the genre since the first of its kind, CBS’s Guiding Light, debuted in 1952–were entering the work force and weren’t home during the day. In 1978, Gloria Monty took the reins as executive producer of General Hospital; in a few short years, the show had become the No. 1 daytime drama, largely by captivating growing numbers of teenage audiences.

One of the big secrets to the show’s new success was viewers’ fascination with the romance of the “super couple” Luke Spencer and Laura Webber (known to millions of fans simply as “Luke and Laura”), played by Anthony Geary and Genie Francis. After bad-boy Luke stole Laura from her lawyer husband, Scotty Baldwin (Kin Shriner), their 1981 wedding became the most-watched event in soap-opera history. 

In the 10,000th episode of General Hospital, Nurse Audrey receives a medal commemorating her 10,000 days of service. Rachel Ames departed the show in 2007. Among the more famous performers to appear on General Hospital over the years are Demi Moore, who got her start on the show, and Rick Springfield, who became a pop star due to his soap-opera fame. Other General Hospital veterans include John Stamos, Jack Wagner and Ricky Martin. Elizabeth Taylor, a longtime fan of the show, made a cameo appearance in 1981.

One General Hospital spinoff, Port Charles, ran from 1997 to 2003; another, General Hospital: Night Shift, premiered in 2007 (it ran for just two seasons). The original General Hospital celebrated its 50th anniversary on April 1, 2013.

Source

Nigerian aircraft crashes in crowded city

Year
2002
Month Day
May 04

On May 4, 2002, an EAS Airline plane crashes into the town of Kano, Nigeria, killing 148 people. The Nigerian BAC 1-11-500 aircraft exploded in a densely populated section of the northern Nigerian city.

The Executive Airline Services twin-engine plane took off from Kano at about 1:30 p.m. with 76 people on board headed for Lagos. Witnesses on the ground saw that the plane immediately showed signs of distress before plunging toward the ground. It then ripped through a working-class neighborhood, shearing off the roofs of dozens of homes and a couple of mosques. About three full blocks of structures were destroyed.

Many of the victims on the ground were burned to death in the fiery explosion. Two passengers on the plane did manage to survive. One, Najib Ibrahim, said, I thought I had no chance. I was surrounded by fire. I was lucky because I was sitting near the exit door. Some of the passengers who died were government officials who had been attending a book party for Nigeria’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Maitama Sule.

Just prior to the crash, Nigerian authorities had voiced concern about the use of old aircraft by the many private carriers operating in the country and had announced a ban on planes older than 22 years. However, the British Aircraft plane that crashed in Kano was not an old airplane. 

Source

Explosions trigger deadly panic in Nigeria


Year
2002
Month Day
January 27

Explosions at a military depot in Lagos, Nigeria, trigger a stampede of fleeing people, during which more than 1,000 people are killed.

The Ikeja armory was located just north of the city center of Lagos and housed a large barracks and munitions depot. On January 27, a Sunday afternoon, a street market was set up at Ikeja when fire broke out. It spread to a munitions area and, at about 6 p.m., caused a huge explosion.

The blast immediately leveled an area of several square blocks and killed approximately 300 people, mostly soldiers and their families. The explosion was heard and felt 30 miles away and the tremors collapsed homes and broke windows as many as 10 miles away. Making matters worse, the explosion sent munitions debris raining down over a wide swath of the north side of Lagos. This caused fires to break out all over the city.

The explosions and fires caused a general panic in part of the city. Lagos has a large canal, the Oke-Afa, running north to south through the city. On the other side of the canal is a banana plantation. Apparently, much of the panicking crowd thought they could seek refuge in the banana fields, but failed to remember the location of the canal in the dark. As thousands of people pushed toward the fields, at least 600 people drowned in the canal.

Stampedes in other parts of the city killed hundreds more, most of them children separated from their parents. Approximately 5,000 people were injured in total, overwhelming the city’s hospitals. Explosions continued throughout the night and into the following afternoon. Due to a lack of firefighters in Lagos, the blazes were not contained until more than 24 hours later. At least 12,000 people were left homeless by the disaster.

Afterward, the commander of Ikeja issued a statement, “On behalf of the military, we are sorry … efforts were being made in the recent past to try to improve the storage facility, but this accident happened before the high authorities could do what was needed.” In fact, it turned out that city officials had told the military to modernize the facility the year before, following a small explosion, but that virtually nothing had been done.

Source