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2002

After the September 11 attacks of the previous year, foreign policy and international relations were generally united in combating al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. The United States especially was a leading force in combating terrorist groups. 2002 also saw the signing and establishment of many international agreements and institutions, most notably the International Criminal Court, the African Union, the Russian-American Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, and the Eurozone.

The global economy, partly due to the September 11 attacks, generally stagnated or declined. Stock indices, such as the American Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Japanese Nikkei 225 both ended the year lower than they had started. In the later parts of 2002, the world saw the beginning of a SARS epidemic, which would go on to affect mostly China, Europe, and North America.

Population
The world population on January 1, 2002, was estimated to be 6.272 billion people, and it increased to 6.353 billion people by January 1, 2003. An estimated 134.0 million births and 52.5 million deaths took place in 2002. The average global life expectancy was 67.1 years, an increase of 0.3 years from 2001. The rate of child mortality was 7.05%, a decrease of 0.27pp from 2001. 26.85% of people were living in extreme poverty, a decrease of 1.40pp from 2000.

The number of global refugees was approximately 12 million at the beginning of 2002, but it declined to 10.3 million by the end of the year. Approximately 2.4 million refugees were repatriated in 2002, of which 2 million were Afghan. 293,000 additional refugees were displaced in 2002, primarily from Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Somalia, Ivory Coast, and the Central African Republic.

Conflicts
There were 31 recognised armed conflicts in 2002, a net decrease from the previous year: seven conflicts ended in 2001, while conflicts in Angola, Congo, and Ivory Coast began or resumed in 2002. The deadliest conflicts in 2002 were those in Burundi, Colombia, Kashmir, Nepal, and Sudan. Among developed nations in 2002, national defense shifted toward counterterrorism after the September 11 attacks and the invasion of Afghanistan the previous year. Conflicts in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Israel, and the Philippines were directly related to countering Islamic terrorism.

Internal conflicts
The Colombian conflict escalated after far-left insurgents occupied demilitarized zones and kidnapped Íngrid Betancourt, effectively ending peace talks. The insurgents began bombing cities, and over 200,000 Colombians were displaced by the conflict in 2002.

The Nepalese Civil War escalated in 2002, with casualties approximately equaling the combined totals from 1996 to 2001; half of this increase was civilian casualties, as civilians were targeted by both the Nepali government and the communist insurgents. Chechen insurgents in Russia escalated their attacks during the Second Chechen War, destroying a Russian Mil Mi-26 in August and causing a hostage crisis in Moscow. The Second Liberian Civil War also escalated, causing widespread displacement of civilians.

Conflicts that saw some form of resolution in 2002 include the Eelam War III in Sri Lanka, which was halted with a ceasefire agreement on February 24, and the Angolan Civil War, which was resolved in April with a ceasefire between the Angolan government and UNITA. Internationally brokered peace talks advanced in the Second Sudanese Civil War, some factions of the Somali Civil War,  and the Second Congo War, with the latter producing an agreement on December 17 to create a Congolese transitional government. Afghanistan underwent its first year without direct military conflict in over two decades, though sporadic attacks were carried out by the Taliban insurgency and Al-Qaeda. An agreement was reached with the government of Burundi and the CNDD-FDD on December 3, but the other major faction in Burundi, the Palipehutu-FNL, did not participate in peace talks.

International conflicts
The only direct conflict between nations in 2002 was the India–Pakistan standoff in Kashmir, beginning in late 2001. This conflict was primarily one of brinkmanship, with the threat of nuclear warfare. Riots in Gujarat and suicide bombings in Jammu further escalated tensions. The two countries stood down in May.

The Second Intifada continued in 2002 between the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian paramilitary groups with an escalation in violence. Palestinian suicide bombings became coordinated to maximize the number of civilian casualties, while the Israeli military killed approximately twice as many Palestinians in retaliation. In response to the suicide bombings, Israel carried out Operation Defensive Shield in March. Under this operation, Israel occupied much of West Bank, and it and briefly held Palestinian president Yasser Arafat under house arrest. The Battle of Jenin was particularly destructive, with the United Nations finding both parties to be irresponsible regarding collateral damage.

Art and architecture
Economic downturn and aftermath the September 11 attacks limited the art industry in 2002. Organizations were less willing to give patronage, and tourists were less willing to visit art exhibitions and museums, particularly in New York and the Middle East. The Documenta11 exhibition took place in Kassel, Germany, contributing to the early movement of art globalization with its focus on experimental and documentary works from developing nations. Traditional visual art was mostly replaced by film and photography at the exhibition. Critically acclaimed paintings in 2002 include The Upper Room, a collection of paintings by Chris Ofili based on a drawing of a monkey by Andy Warhol, and Dispersion, an abstract work by Julie Mehretu.

The architecture world focused on the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, and various exhibitions were held to showcase design concepts. The Tribute in Light was implemented on the site during the interim. New structures constructed or opened in 2002 include the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York, the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures in Tokyo, The Gherkin in London, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria. The Bronx Developmental Center in New York, Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, and the Lever House in New York were all renovated, and the Maslon House was demolished in California.

Media
The highest-grossing films globally in 2002 were The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Spider-Man. The highest-grossing non-English film was Hero (Mandarin), the 28th highest-grossing film of the year. Film was marked by several unexpected successes and failures in 2002, including the underwhelming performances of a Star Wars film, a James Bond film, and a Disney film, and the word-of-mouth success of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Critically acclaimed films from 2002 include Adaptation,  Far from Heaven,  and Talk to Her.

Music sales in 2002 amounted to about 3 billion units, a decline of 8% from 2001. CD albums remained the dominant form of music, making up 89% of the market. DVD music sales increased by 40%, while cassette tape music sales decreased by 36%. Pop music saw a major decline in 2002 as it was overtaken by country music and hip hop music. Globally, the best-selling albums in 2002 were The Eminem Show by Eminem, Let Go by Avril Lavigne, and the Elvis Presley greatest hits album ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits. The best-selling non-English album was Mensch by German singer Herbert Grönemeyer, the 29th best-selling album overall.

Sony and Microsoft introduced online gaming services for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles, respectively. Critically acclaimed video games released in 2002 include Eternal Darkness, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Metroid Prime, Metroid Fusion, and Super Mario Sunshine. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault was influential in the war-based first-person shooter genre with its portrayal of grand cinematic battles. 2002 was the final year of traditional survival horror before it was overtaken by action-based survival horror games in franchises such as Resident Evil.

Sports
The 2002 Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City, with Norway winning the most gold medals. Allegations that a figure skating judge was bribed to favor Russia in a figure skating event led to France and Russia both receiving gold medals in the event. The Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester.

The 2002 FIFA World Cup was held in Japan and South Korea, and it ended with a 2–0 victory by Brazil over Germany. The traditionally well-performing teams of Argentina, France, and Italy did not meet expectations, while Senegal, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States performed better than they had historically.

In boxing, the Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson was preceded by a scuffle during a press conference. Lennox Lewis went on to defeat Mike Tyson. In American football, the Tuck Rule Game between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders became a national controversy after officials cited the obscure tuck rule to challenge a pass by Tom Brady. Bruno Peyron set the record for the fastest circumnavigation by sailing in 2002, making the trip in 64 days.

Economy
International trade increased by 1.9% in 2002, correcting from a decrease in 2001. Most countries experienced only limited growth of output and employment in the year, and economic policy within the largest economies focused primarily on combating inflation. The gross world product increased by 1.7%, the second lowest growth in a decade after that of 2001. Most developed nations began 2002 in a budget surplus and ended in a deficit. The Euro, a single official currency for the nations of the European Union, was introduced on January 1.

The early 2000s recession began to stabilize in the final months of the year. Growth was focused in the first half of the year before tapering in the second half as stock markets entered into a downturn. Particularly affected was AOL-Time Warner, with its stocks losing 65% of their value by the fall. The information technology industry in particular saw major decline in 2002 before it began its recovery from the dot-com crash that had previously affected it. The telecommunications industry was affected even more severely.

The price drops associated with the September 11 attacks persisted for several months into 2002. Latin American economies with large deficits were severely affected by lower prices, limiting export growth and preventing capital from entering the region, requiring further increases to the deficit. The region overall saw a negative GDP in 2002. Imports grew significantly in East Asia, with China competing with the United States as one of the largest export markets for other countries in the region. Imports in Latin America and Africa decreased compared to the previous year.

The United States recovered in part from the recession that had affected the Western world, while Europe's recovery was more limited. South America saw significant economic challenges: Argentina's economic crisis continued from 2001, Brazil had low confidence in its economy, and Venezuela's economy suffered amid political upheaval. Unlike the Western world, Eastern Europe and Asia showed strong growth in 2002. Africa did not share this growth, as it also experienced a weak economy during the year.

Several companies in the United States underwent major scandals in 2002, including the WorldCom scandal that led to what was then the largest bankruptcy in American history, and accounting scandals emerging from the previous year's Enron scandal. Others included the ImClone stock trading case and fraud cases at Adelphia and Tyco. These scandals brought the arrests of several high-profile executives.

Environment and weather
2002 was the second hottest year on record, exceeded only by 1998. There was below average precipitation in 2002, with droughts in Australia, northern China, India, and western United States. Heavy rains in late 2002 caused significant flooding in eastern Asia and central Europe.

The third Global Environment Outlook report was published in May. A major oil spill took place off the coast of Galicia, Spain, when the MV Prestige ruptured and sank. The deadliest earthquake in 2002 was a 6.1-magnitude earthquake that struck northern Afghanistan on March 25, killing approximately 1,000 people.

The 2002 Atlantic hurricane season saw 12 named storms, a near-average number. Most of them were relatively minor, with only 4 four becoming hurricanes, of which two attained major hurricane status. The season's activity was limited to between July and October, a rare occurrence caused partly by El Niño conditions. The two major hurricanes, Hurricane Isidore and Hurricane Lili, both made landfall in Cuba and the United States, and combined were responsible for most of the season's damages and deaths. The 2002 Pacific typhoon season entailed a typical number of typhoons, but they were above average in intensity with 46% of typhoons reaching "intense strength". Typhoon Rusa was the deadliest typhoon in 2002, killing at least 113 people in South Korea.

Health
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized "reducing risks" and "promoting healthy life" as its health concern of focus in the 2002 World Health Report.

Global food supplies reduced in 2002 amid droughts and drops in harvest yields. Famines occurred in Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Eritrea, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Swaziland were also heavily affected by insufficient food. The fishing industry was not affected, increasing slightly from previous years.

Politics
2002 saw the creation of a new sovereign nation in East Timor. Brazil, Lesotho, and Senegal established democracy in 2002 through the acceptance of fair elections, while Bahrain and Kenya moved toward democracy through the strengthening of political institutions. Democracy was disestablished in Ivory Coast and Togo following mass political violence and unfair elections, respectively. Afghanistan underwent significant liberalization under a transitional government following end of major fighting in the War in Afghanistan, particularly in the capital of Kabul, though distant regions of the country remained oppressed by warlords. Civil rights also increased following the end of conflicts in Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia. Turkey lessened its restrictions on the country's Kurdish population in 2002.

Terrorism dominated politics internationally in 2002, with both terrorist acts and attempts to declare groups as terrorist organizations being prevalent throughout the year. Islamic terrorism was widely seen as responsible for terrorist attacks throughout the year. In response, the United States began providing military assistance against terrorists in several countries as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. International law regarding these actions had yet to be settled, and international organizations spent the year debating how action against terrorist groups should be carried out.

George W. Bush defined an "axis of evil" in an address in January, naming Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as foreign adversaries of the United States. Increasing tensions between Iraq and the United States became a major geopolitical issue in 2002 amid suspicions that Iraq had resumed its production of weapons of mass destruction. The United Nations delivered an ultimatum for Iraq to comply with weapons inspections in late 2002. Because of this dispute, as well Hussein's involvement with terrorist groups amid the War on Terror, an invasion of Iraq by the United States was widely expected.

The Rome Statute entered into force in July, establishing the International Criminal Court. The International Court of Justice ruled in three cases: it ruled that diplomatic immunity applied to all crimes, including crimes against humanity, and it settled two territorial disputes, ruling in favor of Cameroon over Nigeria and in favor of Malaysia over Indonesia. A lesser court was established by the United Nations in Sierra Leone prosecute figures associated with the nation's civil war. The prosecution of former Yugoslavian Slobodan Milošević was delayed, and the genocide portion of the charges against him was dropped.

The Chinese Communist Party chose Hu Jintao as its next leader in a November meeting. The African Union formally came into existence in July. The United Kingdom held a Golden Jubilee celebration for Queen Elizabeth II, marking fifty years as the monarch. In Latin America, the great depression in Argentina continued into 2002, causing significant political turmoil. Venezuela also underwent political crisis with an attempted coup against President Hugo Chávez in April and a national strike against his administration later in the year. Brazil elected the leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in response to the economic instability.

Religion
The Church of England determined in July that divorcees could marry in the church. Then in December, the church saw its first leader in centuries from outside its own membership when the Welsh Rowan Williams was confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury. The Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal continued from 2001. The church adopted rules on how to address sexual abuse allegations on January 8, and Pope John Paul II made his second papal statement on the matter on March 22. Belarus made the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus into the state's legally recognized religion, curtailing practice of other religions. Islam grappled with the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2002, facing both the expansion of Islamic terrorism and of United States military action in combating it.

Science and technology
Major genetic advances in 2002 included the discovery of small RNA, the genome sequence for indica rice, and the genome sequences for malaria carriers anopheles gambiae and plasmodium falciparum. Developments were also made in understanding of TRP channels in taste, the role of light in a circadian rhythm, and the development of 3D imagery of cells. The hominid ancestor Sahelanthropus was identified in 2002 from fossils found in Chad. Bavarian pine voles were discovered in Austria after being thought extinct in the 1960s.

Archeological finds in 2002 included the alleged ossuary of James, brother of Jesus; red ochre cave art in the Blombos Cave in South Africa, created approximately 77,000 years ago and the oldest known artwork; the largest Etruscan civilization settlement found to date, from approximately 2,600 years ago; a collection of bamboo slips featuring 200,000 characters of calligraphy from the Qin dynasty; two stone slabs featuring the Indian emperor Ashoka; ancient irrigation canals under Tucson, Arizona; a Mayan mural in San Bartolo, Guatemala; an Aztec shrine on Pico de Orizaba in Mexico; and the Palace of Parliament of Upper Canada that had been destroyed in the War of 1812.

The September 11 attacks of the previous year caused a shift in focus among cultural anthropologists to the study of violence in society.

61 successful and four failed space launches took place in 2002. NASA launches included the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, the Aqua research satellite, and a Polar Operational Environmental Satellite. The European Space Agency launched the Meteosat 8 satellite in August and the INTEGRAL observatory in October. It also saw the launch of the Envisat satellite. China launched the Shenzhou 3 and Shenzhou 4 missions in March and December, respectively. Study with the Cosmic Background Imager revealed a more detailed image of cosmic background radiation, and telescopes were able to counteract the scattering effect of Earth's atmosphere through adaptive optics.

Hybrid vehicles first saw widespread popularity in 2002.

The open-source-software movement saw growth throughout the year, in part because of Microsoft's success in avoiding tighter regulations in court. Action by the Chinese government to block Google in China provoked a hacktivist movement in the United States that worked to circumvent such restrictions in authoritarian nations. New developments in peer-to-peer sharing allowed decentralized file sharing between computers, causing a proliferation of online piracy. Blogging also became a common practice in 2002. Klez was a computer worm that spread extensively in 2002 before public awareness limited its effectiveness.

January

 * January – Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines: The Philippines and the United States begin a joint operation to combat Jihadist groups in the Philippines.
 * January 1
 * The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially enters into force.
 * The Euro is the official currency introduced in the Eurozone countries. The former currencies of all the countries that use the Euro ceased to be legal tender on February 28.
 * January 6 – The Boston Globe publishes results of an investigation leading to the criminal prosecutions of five Roman Catholic priests and bringing widespread attention to the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy.
 * January 17 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
 * January 18 – The Sierra Leone Civil War comes to a conclusion with the defeat of the Revolutionary United Front by government forces.
 * January 27 – 2002 Lagos armoury explosion: Explosives are set off accidentally in Lagos, Nigeria, causing widespread fires and a human stampede. Over one thousand people are killed, and thousands are left homeless.

February

 * February 3 – 2002 Afyon earthquake: A 6.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey, killing 41 people and damaging thousands of buildings.
 * February 6 – Queen Elizabeth II of the Commonwealth realms celebrates her Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years since her accession to the thrones of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
 * February 8–24 – The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
 * February 12 – The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former president of Yugoslavia, begins at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
 * February 14 – The State of Bahrain is declared a constitutional monarchy and becomes the Kingdom of Bahrain.
 * February 19 – NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
 * February 20 – 2002 El Ayyat railway accident: A train fire in El Ayyat, Egypt kills at least 370 people.
 * February 22
 * UNITA guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in clashes against government troops led by Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos in Moxico Province, Angola.
 * The government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers agree to a ceasefire, temporarily ending the Sri Lankan Civil War. It would last until the resumption of hostilities in 2008.
 * February 27 – A mob attacks a train near Godhra, India, killing approximately 59 people. The state of Gujarat breaks out into riots, including the Gulbarg Society massacre on February 28 that kills approximately 69 people.

March

 * March – 2002–2003 conflict in the Pool Department: The Ninja militia attacks government forces in the Republic of the Congo, triggering a long-term conflict.
 * March 1 – The Envisat environmental satellite is launched, with its purpose being the recording of information on environmental change.
 * March 3 – Switzerland votes in favor of a referendum to join the United Nations, challenging a long-held tradition of neutrality and isolationism.
 * March 2–10 – Afghan and coalition troops carry out Operation Anaconda in the Shah-i-Kot Valley, the largest combat operation against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban to that point.
 * March 11 – A fire at a girls' school in Mecca, Saudi Arabia kills 15 students. The deaths are attributed to Islamic religious police that prevented the girls from leaving because their dress did not comply with Islamic standards of modesty.
 * March 25 – 2002 Hindu Kush earthquakes: A 6.1 magnitude earthquake strikes Nahrin, Afghanistan, killing 800 people and leaving 10,000 homeless.
 * March 27 – A Palestinian suicide bomber kills 30 people and injures 140 others at a hotel in Netanya, Israel.
 * March 29 – In response to increasing terrorist attacks by Palestinians, Israeli initiates Operation Defensive Shield, a large-scale counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank.

April

 * April 1
 * The South West State of Somalia is established as an autonomous territory in Somalia by Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud.
 * Battle of Jenin: Israeli forces attack a refugee camp from which Palestinian terrorist attacks were carried out.
 * April 2 – Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem: Israeli forces besiege the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem when militants take shelter there. The siege will last for 38 days.
 * April 3–8 – Battle of Nablus: Israeli forces occupy Nablus, Palestine.
 * April 4 – A peace agreement is made to end the Angolan Civil War.
 * April 11
 * Llaguno Overpass events: a shootout takes place between the Caracas Metropolitan Police and pro-government Bolivarian Circles in central Caracas, Venezuela, near the presidential Miraflores Palace, causing 19 deaths and injuring 127 people. The military high command refuse President Hugo Chávez's order to implement the Plan Ávila as a response to the protests and demands his resignation. President Chávez is subsequently arrested by the military.  Chávez's request for asylum in Cuba is denied, and he is ordered to be tried in a Venezuelan court.
 * Ghriba synagogue bombing: 21 people are killed in a synagogue bombing in Djerba, Tunisia.
 * April 14 – President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela is restored to power following an attempted coup.
 * April 15 – Air China Flight 129 crashes into a hillside during heavy rain and fog near Busan, South Korea, killing 129 people.
 * April 25 – South African Mark Shuttleworth blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the Soyuz TM-34, becoming the first African space tourist.

May

 * May 2 – Bojayá massacre: A church is struck with a cylinder bomb during a conflict between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, killing an estimated 119 people.
 * May 9 – 2002 Kaspiysk bombing: Over 40 people are killed when insurgents bomb a military parade in Kaspiysk, Russia.
 * May 12 – Buran, the Russian equivalent to the Space Shuttle, is destroyed in a storm at Baikonur.
 * May 14 – Militants attack a bus and an Indian army camp in Kaluchak, Jammu and Kashmir, killing at least 33 people.
 * May 20 – East Timor regains its independence after $2 1/2$ years of United Nations administration and 26 years of occupation by Indonesia since 1975.
 * May 23 – Netflix becomes a publicly traded company.
 * May 24 – In Moscow, United States President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin sign the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty to replace the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 and the START II Treaty of 1993.
 * May 25 – China Airlines Flight 611 breaks up mid-air and crashes in the Taiwan Strait, killing all 225 passengers and crew on board.
 * May 31–June 30 – The 2002 FIFA World Cup takes place in South Korea and Japan; which is ultimately won by Brazil.

June

 * June 4
 * 2002 FIFA World Cup: The South Koreans win their first ever FIFA World Cup match.
 * The ringed dwarf planet Quaoar is discovered by astronomers Chad Trujillo and Michael Brown at the Palomar Observatory.
 * The Zeyzoun Dam in Zayzun, Syria fails.
 * June 6 – An object with an estimated diameter of 10 meters enters the Earth's atmosphere over the Mediterranean and detonates in mid-air.
 * June 10
 * Solar eclipse of June 10, 2002: A large annular solar eclipse covers over 99% of the Sun, creating a dramatic spectacle for observers in a narrow path at most 13 km wide; it lasts just 23 seconds at the point of maximum eclipse. It is seen from Australasia, across the Pacific and the Mexico coast, and is the 35th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 137.
 * British scientist Kevin Warwick carries out first direct electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans.
 * June 13 – Afghanistan changes its official longform name to the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan.
 * June 22 – 2002 Bou'in-Zahra earthquake: A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes north-western Iran, killing approximately 440 people.
 * June 24 – A passenger train collides with a freight train in Dodoma Region, Tanzania, killing 281 people, making it the worst rail accident in African history.
 * June 29 – Second Battle of Yeonpyeong: During the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, two North Korean patrol boats cross a contested border in between the two Koreas and attack two South Korean Chamsuri-class patrol boats.
 * June 30 – 2002 FIFA World Cup: Brazil beats Germany 2–0 in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final with Ronaldo scoring the two goals; Brazil's captain Cafu, who becomes the first player to appear in three successive World Cup finals, accepts the trophy on behalf of the team.

July

 * July 1
 * The Rome Statute comes into force, thereby establishing the International Criminal Court.
 * A Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 passenger jet and a DHL Boeing 757-200F cargo plane collide over the town of Überlingen, Germany, killing 71 people.
 * July 4 - a Prestige Airlines Boeing 707 leased by Gomair crashes on approach, killing 28 out of the 30 on board.
 * July 9 – The Organisation of African Unity is disbanded and replaced by the African Union.
 * July 11
 * The first synthetic virus is announced after being successfully created and tested at Stony Brook University.
 * Perejil Island crisis: Moroccan occupy the uninhabited Spanish-controlled Perejil Island, leading to a week-long standoff before Spanish forces reclaim the island.
 * July 13 – Militants attack in Qasim Nagar, Jammu and Kashmir, killing 29 people.
 * July 14 – The only captive baiji dolphin dies as the species approaches extinction.
 * July 27 – Sknyliv air show disaster: 77 people are killed and 543 injured when a Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 fighter jet crashes into spectators during an aerobatics presentation at Sknyliv airfield near Lviv, Ukraine. It is the deadliest air show accident in history.

August

 * August 19 – 2002 Khankala Mi-26 crash: Chechen separatists shoot down a Russian Mil Mi-26, killing 127 soldiers. It was the worst aviation disaster in the history of the Russian military.
 * August 26 – Earth Summit 2002 begins in Johannesburg, South Africa, aimed at discussing sustainable development by the United Nations.
 * August 22–September 4 – Typhoon Rusa, the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in 43 years, made landfall, killing at least 236 people.

September

 * September 10 – Switzerland joins the United Nations as the 190th member state after rejecting a place in 1986.
 * September 19 – General Robert Guéï leads an army mutiny in an attempt to overthrow Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, resulting in civil war.
 * September 20 – The Kolka–Karmadon rock ice slide in Northern Ossetia, Russia kills at least 125 people.
 * September 24 – Akshardham Temple attack: Gunmen attack a temple in Gandhinagar, India, killing 30 people.
 * September 25 – The Vitim event, a possible bolide impact, occurs in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia.
 * September 26 – The Senegalese passenger ferry MV Le Joola capsizes in a storm off the coast of the Gambia, killing 1,863 people.
 * September 27 – East Timor is admitted to the United Nations as the 191st member state; it also changes its official longform name from "Democratic Republic of East Timor" to "Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste".

October

 * October – Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa: The United States deploys troops to the Horn of Africa to combat Islamist groups and pirates.
 * October 11 – The United States Congress approves military action in Iraq should it fail to comply with United Nations requirements for weapons of mass destruction.
 * October 12 – Jemaah Islamiyah militants detonate multiple bombs in two nightclubs in Kuta, Indonesia, killing 202 people and injuring over 300 in the worst terrorist act in Indonesia's history.
 * October 23–25 – Chechen rebels take control of the Nord-Ost theatre in Moscow and hold the audience hostage. At least 170 people are killed following a Russian attempt to subdue the militants.
 * October 24 – 2002 Bahraini general election: Bahrain holds its first Parliamentary elections since 1973.
 * October 27 – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is elected President of Brazil.
 * October 29 – Ho Chi Minh City ITC fire: A fire at the International Trade Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam kills at least 54 people.

November

 * November 7 – A sovereignty referendum is held in Gibraltar. The people reject Spanish sovereignty.
 * November 8 – The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 1441, forcing Iraq to either disarm or face "serious consequences". Iraq agrees to the terms of the resolution on November 13.
 * November 13 – Prestige oil spill: Greek oil tanker MV Prestige begins spilling oil coast of Galicia. It will continue until November 19, spilling 60,000 tonnes of oil in the worst environmental disaster in the history of the Iberian Peninsula.
 * November 16 – 2002–2004 SARS outbreak: The first case of the Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic, a zoonosis caused by a coronavirus, is recorded in Guangdong province of south China.
 * November 20 – Miss World riots: Muslims in Nigeria riot against the Miss World pageant, killing hundreds.
 * 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. Following a several month-long transitional period, it commences operations the following year.
 * November 28 – 2002 Mombasa attacks: Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, but their colleagues fail in their attempt to bring down an Arkia Israel Airlines charter flight with surface-to-air-missiles.

December

 * December 23 – A U.S. MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25 in the first combat engagement between a drone and conventional aircraft.
 * December 27
 * 2002 Grozny truck bombing: Chechen suicide bombers attack the government headquarters in Grozny, Russia, killing over 70 people.
 * 2002 Kenyan general election: Kenya holds its first free elections, ousting the dominant Kenya African National Union Party following a victory of the National Rainbow Coalition.

Nobel Prizes

 * Chemistry – John B. Fenn and Koichi Tanaka, Kurt Wüthrich
 * Economics – Daniel Kahneman and Vernon L. Smith
 * Literature – Imre Kertész
 * Peace – Jimmy Carter
 * Physics – Raymond Davis Jr. and Masatoshi Koshiba, Riccardo Giacconi
 * Physiology or Medicine – Sydney Brenner, H. Robert Horvitz, and John E. Sulston

title: 2002


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3Com

3Com Corporation was an American digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe, Howard Charney and others. Bill Krause joined as President in 1981. Metcalfe explained the name 3Com was a contraction of "Computer Communication Compatibility", with its focus on Ethernet technology that he had co-invented, which enabled the networking of computers.

3Com provided network interface controller and switches, routers, wireless access points and controllers, IP voice systems, and intrusion prevention systems. The company was based in Santa Clara, California. From its 2007 acquisition of 100 percent ownership of H3C Technologies Co., Limited (H3C) —initially a joint venture with China-based Huawei Technologies—3Com achieved a market presence in China, and a significant networking market share in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. 3Com products were sold under the brands 3Com, H3C, and TippingPoint.

On April 12, 2010, Hewlett-Packard completed the acquisition of 3Com, and it no longer exists as a separate entity. 3Com's products, support, and technologies were eventually merged into HPE's Aruba Networks business unit following HP's acquisition of Aruba in 2015 and subsequent split into HPE later that same year.

Xerox PARC (1972–1979)
After reading an article on ALOHAnet, Robert Metcalfe became interested in computer networking. ALOHAnet was an over-the-air wide area network system in Hawaii using ultra high frequency radios and made several assumptions that Metcalfe thought would not be correct in practice. He developed his own theories of how to manage traffic, and began to consider an "ALOHAnet in a wire" networking system. In 1972, he joined Xerox PARC to develop these ideas, and after pairing up with David Boggs, the two had early 3 Mbit/s versions of Ethernet working in 1973. They then went on to build up a networking protocol known as PARC Universal Packet (PuP), with the entire system ready for build-out by late 1974.

At this point, Xerox management did nothing with it, even after being approached by prospective customers. Increasingly upset by management's lack of interest, Metcalfe left Xerox in 1975, but he was lured back again the next year. Further development followed, resulting in the seminal Xerox Network Systems (XNS) protocol, which was completed by 1978. Once again, Metcalfe found that management was unwilling to actually do anything with the product, and he threatened to leave and in 1979 he left the company.

Founding and early days (1979–1996)
Metcalfe subsequently co-founded 3Com in 1979. The other co-founders were Metcalfe's college friend Howard Charney and two others. Bill Krause joined as President in 1981 and became CEO in 1982 and led 3Com until 1992 when he retired. 3Com began making Ethernet adapter cards for many early 1980s computer systems, including the DEC LSI-11, DEC VAX-11, Sun-2 and the IBM PC. In the mid-1980s, 3Com branded their Ethernet technology as EtherSeries, while introducing a range of software and PC-based equipment to provide shared services over a local area network (LAN) using XNS protocols. These protocols were branded EtherShare (for file sharing), EtherPrint (for printing), EtherMail (for email), and Ether-3270 (for IBM host emulation). 3Com became a public company via an initial public offering (IPO) in 1984.

The company's network software products included:
 * 3+Share file and printer sharing.
 * 3+Mail e-mail.
 * 3+Route for routing XNS over a 3+ Server serial port towards a remote 3+ (Route) LAN.
 * 3+Remote/PC for routing XNS towards a Remote 3+ PC Workstation serial port.
 * 3+NetConnect to support flexible XNS routing between a number of connected 3+ Ethernets AND/OR Token Ring Networks.
 * 3+3270/SNA Gateway to enable standard 3+ MS-DOS workstations to emulate standard IBM 3270 Terminals, via the 3+ LAN and the connected SNA Gateway, towards a remote IBM-compatible mainframe system
 * MultiConnect (?) was a chassis-based multi-port 10BASE2 Ethernet repeater.
 * 3Server, a server-grade PC for running 3+ services.
 * 3Station, a diskless workstation.
 * 3+Open file and printer sharing (based on Microsoft's LAN Manager).
 * Etherterm terminal emulation.
 * Etherprobe LAN analysis software.
 * DynamicAccess software products for Ethernet load balancing, response time, and RMON II distributed monitoring.

3Com's expansion beyond its original base of PC and thin Ethernet products began in 1987 when it merged with Bridge Communications. This provided a range of equipment based on Motorola 68000 processors and using XNS protocols compatibly with 3Com's Etherterm PC software.
 * CS/1, CS/200 communication servers ("terminal servers")
 * Ethernet bridges and XNS routers
 * GS/1-X.25 X.25 gateway
 * CS/1-SNA SNA gateway
 * NCS/1 network control software running on a Sun Microsystems computer

By 1995, 3Com's status was such that they were able to enter into an agreement with the city of San Francisco to pay $900,000 per year for the naming rights to Candlestick Park. That agreement ended in 2002.

1997–2000
In 1997, 3Com merged with USRobotics (USR), a maker of dial-up modems, and owner of Palm, Inc. USRobotics was known for its Sportster line of consumer-oriented modems, as well as its Courier business-class modem line. This merger spelled the beginning of the end of 3Com. In addition to consumer network electronics, USRobotics was a well-known manufacturer of a dialup access server, the "Total Control Hub", rebadged by 3Com as the "Total Control 1000", based largely on its Courier modem technology. This key business product competed against Cisco's AS5200 access server line in the mid-1990s as the explosion of the Internet led to service provider investment in dialup access server equipment. 3Com continued the development of the Total Control line until it was eventually spun off as a part of Commworks, which was then acquired by UTStarcom.

In August 1998, Bruce Claflin was named chief operating officer. The modem business was rapidly shrinking. 3Com attempted to enter the DSL business, but was not successful.

In the lucrative server network interface card (NIC) business, 3Com dominated market share, with Intel only able to break past 3Com after dramatic price slashing. It started developing Gigabit Ethernet cards in-house but later scrapped the plans. Later, it formed a joint venture with Broadcom, where Broadcom would develop the main integrated circuit component and the NIC would be 3Com branded.

In 1999, 3Com acquired NBX, a Boston company with an Ethernet-based phone system for small and medium-sized businesses. This product proved popular with 3Com's existing distribution channel and saw rapid growth and adoption. As one of the first companies to deliver a complete networked phone system, and increased its distribution channel with larger telephony partners such as Southwestern Bell and Metropark Communications, 3Com helped make VoIP into a safe and practical technology with wide adoption.

3Com then tried to move into the smart consumer appliances business and in June 2000, 3Com acquired internet radio startup Kerbango for $80 million. It developed its Audrey appliance, which made an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. It scrapped the Audrey and Kerbango products less than a year later.

In March 2000, in a highly public and criticized move, 3Com exited the high-end core routers and switch market to focus on other areas of the business. The CoreBuilder Ethernet and ATM LAN switches, PathBuilder and NetBuilder WAN Routers were all discontinued June 2000. CoreBuilder products and the customer base was migrated over to Extreme Networks. The PathBuilder and NetBuilder were transitioned to Motorola. 3Com focused its efforts from 2000 to 2003 on building up the HomeConnect, OfficeConnect, SuperStack, NBX and Total Control product lines. Due to this perceived exit from the Enterprise market, 3Com would never gain momentum with large customers or carriers again.

In July 2000, 3Com spun off Palm as an independent company. Following Palm's IPO, 3Com continued to own 80percent of Palm, but 3Com's market capitalization was smaller than Palm's. U.S. Robotics was also spun out again as a separate company at this time.

2001 and beyond
In January 2001, Claflin became chief executive officer, replacing Éric Benhamou, CEO from 1990 to 2000. He was criticized for the costly diversification in the mobile handheld computer market. At this point, the company's main line of business, selling addon network interface cards ("NICs"), was also shrinking rapidly, mainly because many new computers had NICs built in. The company started slashing or selling divisions and going through numerous rounds of layoffs. The company went from employing more than 12,000 employees to fewer than 2,000.

In May 2003, the company moved its Silicon Valley Santa Clara headquarters to Marlborough, Massachusetts. It also formed a venture called H3C with Huawei, whereby 3Com would sell and rebrand products under the joint venture.

In 2003, 3Com sold its CommWorks Corporation subsidiary to UTStarcom, Inc. CommWorks was based in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and developed wireline telecommunications and wireless infrastructure technologies.

In January 2006, Claflin announced he would be leaving the company. In January 2006, R Scott Murray became CEO of 3Com and chairman of H3C Technology in China, the joint venture with Huawei Technologies. Murray voluntarily resigned from the company in August 2006 over his concerns about the questionable business ethics of Huawei and potential cyber security risks posed by Huawei. Edgar Masri returned to 3Com to head as president and CEO following Murray's departure.

In September 2007, Bain Capital agreed to buy the company for $2.2 billion, with minority equity financing from Huawei Technologies. However, the deal met with U.S. government regulatory opposition and it fell through early in 2008, following concerns over Huawei's risk of conducting cyber security threats against the United States Government and its allies, Huawei's former dealings in Iran, and Huawei being operated by a former engineer in China's People's Liberation Army. Edgar Masri left the company in April 2008, partially as a result of the failed Bain transaction.

In April 2008, Robert Mao was named chief executive, and Ron Sege president and chief operating officer.

In fiscal year 2008 ended May 30, 2008, 3Com had annual revenue of $1.3 billion and more than 6,000 employees in over 40 countries. In September 2008, 3Com reported financial results for its fiscal 2009 first quarter, which ended August 29, 2008. Revenue in the quarter was $342.7 million compared to revenue of $319.4 million in the corresponding period in fiscal 2008, a 7 percent increase. Net income in the quarter was $79.8 million, compared with a net loss of $18.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2008.

The company reported that it had more than 2,700 engineers, with more than 1,400 United States patents and nearly 180 Chinese-issued patents, as well as more than 1050 pending Chinese applications. It also reported pending applications for 35 separate inventions outside of China covering a wide range of networking technologies.

Acquisition by HP
On November 11, 2009, 3Com and Hewlett-Packard announced that Hewlett-Packard would acquire 3Com for $2.7 billion in cash. On April 12, 2010, Hewlett-Packard completed its acquisition. When Hewlett-Packard split into Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Hewlett-Packard Inc., the 3Com unit continued with HPE and was ultimately integrated into Aruba Networks along with the rest of HP's networking portfolio.

Products

 * Fixed configuration Ethernet switches including stackable switches: 3Com brand Gigabit switches Switch 5500G, 4800G, 4500G, 4200G, Baseline, OfficeConnect; 3Com brand Fast Ethernet switches Switch 5500, 4500, 4210, Baseline, OfficeConnect; H3C brand switches S5600, S5500, S5100, S3600, S3610, S3100.
 * Modular Chassis switches: 3Com brand 8800, 7900E, 7500. H3C brand S9500, S7500, S7500E.
 * Wide area network routers
 * Wireless access points, adapters, and connectivity products
 * Internet access gateways and firewalls, both wired and wireless
 * Network management applications
 * Network security platforms including the TippingPoint Intrusion Prevention System.
 * IP Telephony applications including PBX and Computer Telephony Integration. Telecommunications products utilized Voice over Internet Protocol and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Voice platforms included VCX and NBX.
 * Local area network interface cards
 * IP Video Surveillance and Network Storage (marketed in China, South Africa, South America and other key markets)
 * Consumer USB webcams and associated software (3Com HomeConnect)
 * The 3Com Laser Library which, at the time, was a revolutionary CD based documentation and tech support tool (brain child of Dirk Martin)

Acquisitions
3Com came close to merging with computer maker Convergent Technologies, abandoning the pact just two days before a vote was scheduled in March 1986. Later, 3Com went on to acquire the following:
 * Bridge Communications in 1987
 * BICC Data Networks in 1992
 * Star-Tek in 1993
 * Synernetics in 1993
 * Centrum in 1994
 * NiceCom in 1994
 * AccessWorks, Sonix Communications, Primary Access, and Chipcom in 1995
 * Axon Networks and OnStream Networks in 1996
 * USRobotics merger/acquisition in 1997 (included product lines: Sportster, Courier, Palm, Megahertz, Conferencelink, Audrey, and more)
 * NBX in 1999
 * Kerbango in 2000
 * TippingPoint in 2005
 * Huawei-3Com (H3C) in 2007 (Bought out Huawei's 49% stake for US$882 million from a 2003 joint venture)

Former subsidiaries
CommWorks Corporation was a subsidiary of 3Com Corporation, based in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. It was sold to UTStarcom of Alameda, California in 2003.

CommWorks was formerly the Carrier Network Business unit of 3Com, comprising several acquired companies: U.S. Robotics (Rolling Meadows, Illinois), Call Technologies (Reston, Virginia), and LANsource (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). CommWorks was able to use technology from each company to create IP softswitch and IP communications software. U.S. Robotics provided media gateways (the Total Control 1000 product line, formerly used for dial-modem termination) and softswitch technology. Call Technologies provided Unified Messaging software. LANsource provided fax-over-IP software that was integrated with the Unified Messaging platform.

The Carrier Network Business unit of 3Com developed an Inter-working function technology that became the first and dominant 2G CDMA wireless data gateway product. In partnership with Unwired Planet (now Openwave) and Qualcomm Quicknet connect allowed for 6 second connect times versus modems connecting the call in approximately 30 seconds. This product was deployed in the United States, Japan, and Korea covering the 2G CDMA market sample carriers included Sprint. It led to follow on products that became core to CommWorks now UTStarcom offerings including the 2.5 and 3G packet data gateway products known as PDSN and Home Agents.

CommWorks/3Com co-developed an H.323-based softswitch with AT&T in 1998 for use in a "transparent trunking" application for AT&T's residential long-distance customers. Long distance telephone calls were redirected from the LEC's ingress CLASS 5 switch to the Total Control 1000 media gateway, where it was converted from TDM to IP and transported across AT&T's WorldNet IP backbone. When it reached the destination, it was passed to the egress LEC's CLASS 5 switch as an untariffed data call.

CommWorks modified the gateway and softswitch software to support SIP for MCI/WorldCom's hosted business offering in 2000.

Although 3Com sold CommWorks to UTStarcom, they retained intellectual property rights to the softswitch technology. After modifying the software to enable enterprise PBX features, 3Com released this technology as VCX, the industry's first pure SIP PBX, in 2003.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: 3Com


text:
The 3DO Company

The 3DO Company, also known as 3DO, was an American video game company. It was founded in 1991 by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, in a partnership with seven other companies. After 3DO's flagship video game console, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, failed in the marketplace, the company exited the hardware business and became a third-party video game developer and published well-known games series like Army Men, Battletanx, High Heat Major League Baseball and Might and Magic but It went bankrupt in 2003 due to poor sales of its games. Its headquarters were in Redwood City, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Console developer
Trip Hawkins wanted to get into the hardware market after the software market exploded with interest thanks to his involvement at Electronic Arts. When the company was first founded, its original objective was to create a next-generation CD-based video game system called the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, which would be manufactured by various partners and licensees; 3DO would collect a royalty on each console sold and on each game manufactured. For game publishers, 3DO's $3 royalty per sold game was very low compared to the royalties Nintendo and Sega collected from game sales on their consoles. The launch of the console in October 1993 was well-promoted, with a great deal of attention in the mass media as part of the "multimedia wave" in the computer world.

The 3DO console launched in October 1993 at the price of US$699. Poor console and game sales trumped the enticingly low royalty rate and proved a fatal flaw. While 3DO's business model attracted game publishers with its low royalty rates, it resulted in the console selling for a price higher than the SNES and Sega Genesis combined, hampering sales. While companies that manufactured and sold their own consoles could sell them, at a loss, for a competitive price, making up for lost profit through royalties collected from game publishers, the 3DO's manufacturers, not collecting any money from game publishers, and owing royalties to the 3DO Company, had to sell the console for a profit, resulting in high prices. As the console failed to compete with its cheaper competitors, game developers and publishers, while initially attracted by low royalties, dropped support for the console as its games failed to sell. Stock in the 3DO Company dropped from over $37 per share in November 1993 to $23 per share in late December. Though the company's financial figures dramatically improved in the fiscal year ending March 1995, with revenues nearly triple that of the previous fiscal year, they were still operating at a loss. The console's prospects continued to improve through the first half of 1995 with a number of critical success, including winning the 1995 European Computer Trade Show award for best hardware.

In January 1996, The 3DO Company sold exclusive rights to its next generation console, M2, to Matsushita for $100 million. Thanks in part to revenues from the sale of M2 technology to Matsushita and other licensees, in the first quarter of 1996 the 3DO Company turned a profit for the first time since it was founded, with a net income of $1.2 million. Over the second half of 1996, the company restructured to focus on software development and online gaming, in the process cutting its staff from 450 to 300 employees. President Hugh Martin was given full operating control, while Hawkins remained with the company as chairman, CEO, and creative director.

Third-party developer
After selling the M2 technology to Matsushita, the company acquired Cyclone Studios, New World Computing, and Archetype Interactive. 3DO established a new office in Redmond, Washington devoted to PC games development, with Tony Garcia as its head. In mid-1997 it sold off its hardware business to Samsung for $20 million, making a final break from its origins as a console developer.

The company's biggest hit was its series of Army Men games, featuring generic green plastic soldier toys. Its Might and Magic and especially Heroes of Might and Magic series from subsidiary New World Computing were perhaps the most popular among their games at the time of release. During the late 1990s, the company published one of the first 3D MMORPGs: Meridian 59, which survives to this day in the hands of some of the game's original developers.

After struggling for several years, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2003. Employees were laid off without pay.

The company's game brands and other intellectual properties were sold to rivals like Microsoft (High Heat Baseball), Namco (Street Racing Syndicate), Take-Two Interactive (Army Men) and Ubisoft (Might and Magic, Heroes of Might and Magic). Founder Trip Hawkins paid $405,000 for rights to some old brands and the company's "Internet patent portfolio".

In April 2020, over 30 of the company's titles were purchased from Prism Entertainment by Ziggurat Interactive.

Canceled

 * Army Men: Arcade Blasts
 * Army Men: Platoon Command
 * Army Men: Sarge's War (Released by Global Star Software)
 * The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Distributed (U.S. only)

 * Pinball Builder: A Construction Kit for Windows
 * Pinball Gold Pack

3DO Rating System
The 3DO Rating System was a rating system created by The 3DO Company and used on games released for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. The rating system, which went into use in March 1994, uses the following four categories:

 * E - Everyone
 * 12 - Guidance for age 12 & under
 * 16 - Guidance for age 16 & under(Japan Only)
 * 17 - Guidance for age 17 & under
 * AO - Adults Only

These ratings would appear on the lower front and back of the packaging, while the back of the packaging also specified what content was present in the game. In late 1994, the majority of 3DO's competitors signed on with a new rating system from the Entertainment Software Rating Board; despite this, the 3DO Company opted to continue providing their own rating system, leaving publishers of 3DO games to decide whether to use the 3DO Rating System or the new ESRB ratings. The 3DO rating for each game was designated voluntarily by the game's publisher, in contrast to the ESRB ratings, which were determined independently by the ESRB.

title: The 3DO Company


text:
3Station

The 3Station was a diskless workstation, developed by Bob Metcalfe at 3Com and first available in 1986. The 3Station/2E had a 10 MHz 80286 processor, 1 megabyte of RAM (expandable to 5 MB), VGA-compatible graphics with 256 kB of video RAM, and integrated AUI/10BASE2 (BNC) network transceivers for LAN access. The product used a single printed-circuit board with four custom ASICs. It had neither a floppy disk drive nor a hard disk nor any cooling fan device, and thus it was 100% silent during operation, booting from a special "Startvolume" - (SW-Image) located at the preferred 3server-XXX Server, while also loading / storing all (HW/SW) Drivers, end-user Apps & Data files on a preferred 3Com Network Server.

Because of its very straightforward, simple and optimized internal HW and SW architecture, the 3Station/2E Nnetworking PC appeared to operate extremely fast and efficient during the daily workload for the actual Network Client.

The 3Station/2E HW (Systemboard etc.) was further embedded within a quite tasteful / stylish / slimline (1HU) mechanical Case Design far ahead from most PC Cabinet designstyles offered at the market by that time.

3Com advertised "significant cost savings" due to the 3Station's ease of installation and low maintenance (this would now be referred to under the banner of total cost of ownership). The 3Station's cost lay somewhere between that of an IBM PC clone and an IBM PC of the day. It was not commercially successful, nor were any of the similarly configured "low end" workstations that followed.

Typical customer for 3Stations
3Stations's were sold as a package with a 3Server as a central hub. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) were a significant customer for this setup (through Groupe Bull subsidiary Bull HN, née Honeywell), eventually purchasing many thousand 3Stations and associated 3Server machines. The network enabled the tax office to centrally control software versions from the Canberra office, distributing them Australia wide without the tedium and cost of updating thousands of independent, hard drive based PCs.

When the 286 processor became obsolete, the ATO opened a tender for replacement of the 3Station 2E with a suitable 386 based machine. The tender process was eventually won by Bull HN with a product labelled "3Station/386", but only shared the external case as a common part. 3Com had very little input into the design other than supplying technical help and access to networking chip sets. The internals were a custom designed single board based on the 3Com Etherlink II for networking, and ATI graphics. 3Station 2 and 3s were manufactured under license in Sydney until the contract ended.

title: 3Station


text:
HTTP 404

In computer network communications, the HTTP 404, 404 not found, 404, 404 error, page not found, or file not found error message is a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) standard response code, to indicate that the browser was able to communicate with a given server, but the server could not find what was requested. The error may also be used when a server does not wish to disclose whether it has the requested information.

The website hosting server will typically generate a "404 Not Found" web page when a user attempts to follow a broken or dead link; hence the 404 error is one of the most recognizable errors encountered on the World Wide Web.

Overview
When communicating via HTTP, a server is required to respond to a request, such as a web browser request for a web page, with a numeric response code and an optional, mandatory, or disallowed (based upon the status code) message. In code 404, the first digit indicates a client error, such as a mistyped Uniform Resource Locator (URL). The following two digits indicate the specific error encountered. HTTP's use of three-digit codes is similar to the use of such codes in earlier protocols such as FTP and NNTP. At the HTTP level, a 404 response code is followed by a human-readable "reason phrase". The HTTP specification suggests the phrase "Not Found" and many web servers by default issue an HTML page that includes both the 404 code and the "Not Found" phrase.

A 404 error is often returned when pages have been moved or deleted. In the first case, it is better to employ URL mapping or URL redirection by returning a 301 Moved Permanently response, which can be configured in most server configuration files, or through URL rewriting; in the second case, a 410 Gone should be returned. Because these two options require special server configuration, most websites do not make use of them.

404 errors should not be confused with DNS errors, which appear when the given URL refers to a server name that does not exist. A 404 error indicates that the server itself was found, but that the server was not able to retrieve the requested page.

History
The term "404 Not Found" was coined by Berners-Lee himself, who explained in a 1998 interview that he wanted to make the error message "slightly apologetic". He also said that he considered using "400 Bad Request" instead, but decided that it was too vague and technical.

The first documented case of a 404 error appearing on a web page was in 1993, when a user tried to access a page about the Mosaic web browser on the NCSA website. The page had been moved to a different location, but the link had not been updated. The user reported the error to the NCSA team, who fixed the link and added a humorous message to their 404 page: "We're sorry, but the document you requested is not here. Maybe you should try someplace else."

Since then, 404 errors have become one of the most common and recognizable errors on the Web. Many websites have customized their 404 pages with creative designs, messages, or features to entertain or assist their visitors. For example, Google's 404 page features a broken robot and a link to its homepage, while GitHub's 404 page shows a random image of a parallax star field and a link to its status page. Some websites have also used their 404 pages to showcase their brand personality, humor, or social causes. For instance, Lego's 404 page shows the Lego minifigure Emmet along with a humorous message, Amazon's displays the image of a dog, Peugeot's shows a picture of its 404 model, and RTÉ's shows an image of Bosco.

Soft 404 errors
Some websites report a "not found" error by returning a standard web page with a "200 OK" response code, falsely reporting that the page loaded properly; this is known as a soft 404. The term "soft 404" was introduced in 2004 by Ziv Bar-Yossef et al.

Soft 404s are problematic for automated methods of discovering whether a link is broken. Some search engines, like Yahoo and Google, use automated processes to detect soft 404s. Soft 404s can occur as a result of configuration errors when using certain HTTP server software, for example with the Apache software, when an Error Document 404 (specified in a .htaccess file) is specified as an absolute path (e.g. http://example.com/error.html ) rather than a relative path (/error.html). This can also be done on purpose to force some browsers (like Internet Explorer) to display a customized 404 error message rather than replacing what is served with a browser-specific "friendly" error message (in Internet Explorer, this behavior is triggered when a 404 is served and the received HTML is shorter than a certain length, and can be manually disabled by the user).

There are also "soft 3XX" errors where content is returned with a status 200 but comes from a redirected page, such as when missing pages are redirected to the domain root/home page.

Proxy servers
Some proxy servers generate a 404 error when a 500-range error code would be more correct. If the proxy server is unable to satisfy a request for a page because of a problem with the remote host (such as hostname resolution failures or refused TCP connections), this should be described as a 5xx Internal Server Error, but might deliver a 404 instead. This can confuse programs that expect and act on specific responses, as they can no longer easily distinguish between an absent web server and a missing web page on a web server that is present.

Intentional 404s
In July 2004, the UK telecom provider BT Group deployed the Cleanfeed content blocking system, which returns a 404 error to any request for content identified as potentially illegal by the Internet Watch Foundation. Other ISPs return a HTTP 403 "forbidden" error in the same circumstances. The practice of employing fake 404 errors as a means to conceal censorship has also been reported in Thailand and Tunisia. In Tunisia, where censorship was severe before the 2011 revolution, people became aware of the nature of the fake 404 errors and created an imaginary character named "Ammar 404" who represents "the invisible censor".

Microsoft Internet Server 404 substatus error codes
The webserver software developed by Microsoft, Microsoft's Internet Information Services (IIS), returns a set of substatus codes with its 404 responses. The substatus codes take the form of decimal numbers appended to the 404 status code. The substatus codes are not officially recognized by IANA and are not returned by non-Microsoft servers.

Substatus codes
Microsoft's IIS 7.0, IIS 7.5, and IIS 8.0 servers define the following HTTP substatus codes to indicate a more specific cause of a 404 error:

 * 404.0 – Not found.
 * 404.1 – Site Not Found.
 * 404.2 – ISAPI or CGI restriction.
 * 404.3 – MIME type restriction.
 * 404.4 – No handler configured.
 * 404.5 – Denied by request filtering configuration.
 * 404.6 – Verb denied.
 * 404.7 – File extension denied.
 * 404.8 – Hidden namespace.
 * 404.9 – File attribute hidden.
 * 404.10 – Request header too long.
 * 404.11 – Request contains double escape sequence.
 * 404.12 – Request contains high-bit characters.
 * 404.13 – Content length too large.
 * 404.14 – Request URL too long.
 * 404.15 – Query string too long.
 * 404.16 – DAV request sent to the static file handler.
 * 404.17 – Dynamic content mapped to the static file handler via a wildcard MIME mapping.
 * 404.18 – Query string sequence denied.
 * 404.19 – Denied by filtering rule.
 * 404.20 – Too Many URL Segments.

Custom error pages

Web servers can typically be configured to display a customised 404 error page, including a more natural description, the parent site's branding, and sometimes a site map, a search form or 404-page widget. The protocol level phrase, which is hidden from the user, is rarely customized. Internet Explorer, however, will not display custom pages unless they are larger than 512 bytes, opting instead to display a "friendly" error page. Google Chrome included similar functionality, where the 404 is replaced with alternative suggestions generated by Google algorithms, if the page is under 512 bytes in size. Another problem is that if the page does not provide a favicon, and a separate custom 404-page exists, extra traffic and longer loading times will be generated on every page view.

Many organizations use 404 error pages as an opportunity to inject humor into what may otherwise be a serious website. For example, Metro UK shows a polar bear on a skateboard, and the web development agency Left Logic has a simple drawing program. During the 2015 UK general election campaign the main political parties all used their 404 pages to either take aim at political opponents or show relevant policies to potential supporters. In Europe, the NotFound project, created by multiple European organizations including Missing Children Europe and Child Focus, encourages site operators to add a snippet of code to serve customized 404 error pages which provide data about missing children.

While many websites send additional information in a 404 error message—such as a link to the homepage of a website or a search box—some also endeavor to find the correct web page the user wanted. Extensions are available for some content management systems (CMSs) to do this.

Tracking 404 errors
A number of tools exist that crawl through a website to find pages that return 404 status codes. These tools can be helpful in finding links that exist within a particular website. The limitation of these tools is that they only find links within one particular website, and ignore 404s resulting from links on other websites. As a result, these tools miss out on 83% of the 404s on websites. One way around this is to find 404 errors by analyzing external links.

One of the most effective ways to discover 404 errors is by using Google Search Console, Google Analytics or crawling software.

Another common method is tracking traffic to 404 pages using log file analysis. This can be useful to understand more about what 404s users reached on the site. Another method of tracking traffic to 404 pages is using JavaScript-based traffic tracking tools.

title: HTTP 404


text:
51-FORTH

51-FORTH is an implementation of the Forth programming language for the Intel 8051 microcontroller. It was created in 1989 by Scott Gehmlich of IDACOM Electronics (which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 1990), and sent to Giovanni Moretti of Massey University, from whom it was propagated widely. The original  package is available from many archive sites, along with several other implementations of Forth.

This implementation is subroutine-threaded, with about 20 words written in assembly language, and the complete system occupying a total of about 8K of RAM. It was cross-developed from a VAX to an RTX2000 Forth system connected to dual-ported RAM accessible to the microcontroller.

title: 51-FORTH


text:
56 kbit/s line

A 56 kbit/s line is a digital connection capable of carrying 56 kilobits per second (kbit/s), or 56,000 bit/s, the data rate of a classical single channel digital telephone line in North America. Since the wide deployment of faster, cheaper technologies, 56 kbit/s lines are generally considered to be an obsolete technology.

Speed derivation
The figure of 56 kbit/s is derived from its implementation using the same digital infrastructure used since the 1960s for digital telephony in the public switched telephone network, which uses a sampling rate of 8,000 Hz for PCM audio with 8-bit audio bit depth to encode analogue signals into a digital stream of 64,000 bit/s. However, in the T-carrier systems used in the US and Canada, a technique called bit-robbing uses, in every sixth frame, the least significant bit for Channel Associated Signaling (CAS). This effectively renders the lowest bit of the 8 speech bits unusable for data transmission, and so a 56 kbit/s line uses only 7 of the 8 data bits in each sample period to send data, thus giving a data rate of 8 kHz × 56 kbit/s.

title: 56 kbit/s line


text:
5ESS Switching System

The 5ESS Switching System is a Class 5 telephone electronic switching system developed by Western Electric for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) and the Bell System in the United States. It came into service in 1982 and the last unit was produced in 2003.

History
The 5ESS came to market as the Western Electric No. 5 ESS. It commenced service in Seneca, Illinois on March 25, 1982, and was destined to replace the Number One Electronic Switching System (1ESS and 1AESS) and other electromechanical systems in the 1980s and 1990s. The 5ESS was also used as a Class-4 telephone switch or as a hybrid Class 4/Class 5 switch in markets too small for the 4ESS. Approximately half of all US central offices are served by 5ESS switches. The 5ESS was also exported, and manufactured outside the US under license.

The 5ESS–2000 version, introduced in the 1990s, increased the capacity of the switching module (SM), with more peripheral modules and more optical links per SM to the communications module (CM). A follow-on version, the 5ESS–R/E, was in development during the late 1990s but did not reach market. Another version was the 5E–XC.

The 5ESS technology was transferred to the AT&T Network Systems division upon the 1984 breakup of the Bell System. The division was divested by AT&T in 1996 as Lucent Technologies, and after becoming Alcatel-Lucent in 2006, it was acquired by Nokia in 2016.

The 5ESS switch is still in widespread use in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) in the United States and elsewhere, but they are being replaced with more modern packet switching systems. 5ESS switches in service in 2021 also included several operated by the United States Navy.

Architecture
The 5ESS switch has three main types of modules: the Administrative Module (AM) contains the central computers; the Communications Module (CM) is the central time-divided switch of the system; and the Switching Module (SM) makes up the majority of the equipment in most exchanges. The SM performs multiplexing, analog and digital coding, and other work to interface with external equipment. Each has a controller, a small computer with duplicated CPUs and memories, like most common equipment of the exchange, for redundancy. Distributed systems lessen the load on the Central Administrative Module (AM) or main computer.

Power for all circuitry is distributed as –48 VDC (nominal), and converted locally to logic levels or telephone signals.

Switching Module
Each Switching Module (SM) handles several hundred to a few thousand telephone lines or several hundred trunks or combination thereof. Each has its own processors, also called Module Controllers, which perform most call handling processes, using their own memory boards. Originally the peripheral processors were to be Intel 8086, but those proved inadequate and the system was introduced with Motorola 68000 series processors. The name of the cabinet that houses this equipment was changed at the same time from Interface Module to Switching Module.

Peripheral units are on shelves in the SM. In most exchanges the majority are Line Units (LU) and Digital Line Trunk Units (DLTU). Each SM has Local Digital Service Units (LDSU) to provide various services to lines and trunks in the SM, including tone generation and detection. Global Digital Service Units (GDSU) provide less-frequently used services to the entire exchange. The Time Slot Interchanger (TSI) in the SM uses random-access memory to delay each speech sample to fit into a time slot which will carry its call through the exchange to another or, in some cases, the same SM.

T-carrier spans are terminated, originally one per card but in later models usually two, in Digital Line Trunk Units (DLTU) which concentrate their DS0 channels into the TSI. These may serve either interoffice trunks or, using Integrated Subscriber Loop Carrier, subscriber lines. Higher-capacity DS3 signals can also have their DS0 signals switched in Digital Network Unit SONET (DNUS) units, without demultiplexing them into DS1. Newer SM's have DNUS (DS3) and Optical OIU interfaces (OC12) with a large amount of capacity.

SMs have Dual Link Interface (DLI) cards to connect them by multi-mode optical fibers to the Communications Modules for time-divided switching to other SMs. These links may be short, for example within the same building, or may connect to SMs in remote locations. Calls among the lines and trunks of a particular SM needn't go through CM, and an SM located remotely can act as distributed switching, administered from the central AM. Each SM has two Module Controller/Time Slot Interchange (MCTSI) circuits for redundancy.

In contrast to Nortel's DMS-100 which uses individual line cards with a codec, most lines are on two-stage analog space-division concentrators or Line Units, which connect as many as 512 lines, as needed, to the 8 Channel cards that each contain 8 codecs, and to high-level service circuits for ringing and testing. Both stages of concentration are included on the same GDX (Gated Diode Access) board. Each GDX board serves 32 lines, 16 A links and 32 B links. Limited availability saves money with incompletely filled matrixes. The Line Unit can have up to 16 GDX boards connecting to the channel boards by shared B links, but in offices with heavier traffic for lines a lesser number of GDX boards are equipped.

ISDN lines are served by individual line cards in an ISLU (Integrated Services Line Unit).

Administrative Module
The Administrative Module (AM) is a dual-processor mini main frame computer of the AT&T 3B series, running UNIX-RTR. AM contains the hard drives and tape drives used to load and backup the central and peripheral processor software and translations. Disk drives were originally several 300 megabyte SMD multi-platter units in a separate frame. Now they consist of several redundant multi-gigabyte SCSI drives that each reside on a card. Tape drives were originally half inch open reel at 6250 bits per inch, which were replaced in the early 1990s with 4 mm Digital Audio Tape cassettes.

The Administrative Module is built on the 3B21D platform and is used to load software to the many microprocessors throughout the switch and to provide high speed control functions. It provides messaging and interface to control terminals. The AM of a 5ESS consists of the 3B20x or 3B21D processor unit, including I/O, disks, and tape drive units. Once the 3B21D has loaded the software into the 5ESS and the switch is activated, packet switching takes place without further action by the 3B21D, except for billing functions requiring records to be transferred to disk for storage. Because the processor has duplex hardware, one active side, and one standby side, a failure of one side of the processor will not necessarily result in a loss of switching.

Communication Module
The Communications Module (CM) forms the central time switch of the exchange. 5ESS uses a time-space-time (TST) topology in which the Time-Slot-Interchangers (TSI) in the Switching Modules assign each phone call to a time slot for routing through the CM.

CMs perform time-divided switching and are provided in pairs; each module (cabinet) belonging to Office Network and Timing Complex (ONTC) 0 or 1, roughly corresponding to the switch planes of other designs. Each SM has four optical fiber links, two connecting to a CM belonging to ONTC 0 and two to ONTC 1. Each optical link consists of two multimode optical fibers with ST connectors to plug into transceivers plugged into backplane wiring at each end. CMs receive time-multiplexed signals on the receive fiber and send them to the appropriate destination SM on the send fiber.

Very Compact Digital Exchange
The Very Compact Digital Exchange (VCDX) was developed with the 5ESS-2000, and marketed to mostly non-Bell telephone companies as an inexpensive, effective way to offer ISDN and other digital services in an analog switching center. This avoided the capital expense of retrofitting the entire analog switch into a digital one to serve all of the switch's lines when many wouldn't require it and would remain POTS lines.

An example would be the (former) GTE/Verizon Class-5 telephone switch, the GTD-5 EAX. Like the Western Electric 1ESS/1AESS, it served mostly medium to large wire centers.

The standalone VCDX was also capable of serving as a switch for very small wire centers (a CDX- Community dial office) of fewer than ~400 lines. However, for small wire centers, 400-4000 lines, that function was usually served by RSM's, a 5ESS "Remote SM", ORM's or Wired ORM's. The RSM is controlled by T1 lines connected to a DLTU unit. The first 2 T1's are the control of the RSM and are necessary for any Recent Changes to take place. RSM's can have up to 10 T1's. There can be multiple RSM's in an office. An ORM can be fed via direct fiber or via coax thus called Wired ORM's. An RSM or ORM can have many of the same peripheral units that are part of a full 5ESS switch. An RSM has a limited distance and can serve parts of a larger metro area or rural offices. An ORM or wired ORM can be anywhere technically, and preferred over the RSM once the ORM became available. Both the RSM and ORM is often used as a Class-5 wire center for small to medium towns hosted from a 5ESS located in a larger city. The Wired ORM is connected via coax from a MUX unit and fed to a TRCU which converts the coax to connection to the DLI, There was also a two-mile ORM that was used when an office was broken out or took an area from another office. The distance on this was 2 miles from a host office and fed direct via fiber. As with any SM, the size is dictated by the number of time slots needed for each peripheral unit. ORM's are linked with DS3, RSM's are linked with T1 lines. The VCDX was also used as a large private branch exchange (PBX). Small communities of less than 400 lines or so were also provided with SLC-96 units or Anymedia units.

The standalone VCDX has a single Switching Module, and no Communications Module. Its Sun Microsystems SPARC workstation runs the UNIX-based Solaris (operating system) that executes a 3B20/21D processor MERT OS emulation system, acting as the VCDX's Administrative Module. The VCDX uses the CO's normal telephone power sources (which are very large uninterruptible power supplies), and has connections to the CO Digital cross connect system for T1 access, etc.

Signaling
The 5ESS has two different signaling architectures: Common Network Interface (CNI) Ring and Packet Switching Unit (PSU)-based SS7 Signaling.

Software
The development effort for 5ESS required five thousand employees, producing 100 million lines of system source code, mostly in the C language, with 100 million lines of header files and makefiles. Evolution of the system took place over 20 years, while three releases were often being developed simultaneously, each taking about three years to complete. The 5ESS was originally U.S.-only and the international sales resulted in a complete development system and team, in parallel to the U.S. version.

The development systems were Unix-based mainframe systems. There were around 15 of these systems active at the peak. There were development machines, simulator machines, and build machines, etc. Developers' desktops were multi-window terminals (versions of the Blit developed by Bell Labs) until the mid 1990s, when Sun workstations were deployed. Developers continued to login into the servers for their work, using X11 on their workstations as a multi-window environment.

Source code management was based on SCCS and utilized "#feature" lines to separate source code between releases, between features specific to US or Intl, and the like. Customisation around the vi and Emacs text editors allowed developers to work with the appropriate view of a file, hiding the parts that were not applicable to their current project.

The change request system used the SCCS MR to create named change sets, tied into the IMR (initial modification request) system which had purely numeric identifiers. An MR name was created with subsystem prefix, IMR number, MR sequence characters, and a character for the release or "load". So, for the gr (generic retrofit) subsystem, the first MR created for the 2371242 IMR, destined for the 'F' load, would be gr2371242aF.

The build system used a simple mechanism of build configuration that would cause makefile generation to occur. The system always built everything, but used checksum results to decide if a file had actually changed, before updating the build output directory tree. This provided a huge reduction in build time when a core library or header was being edited. A developer could add values to an enum, but if that did not change the build output, then subsequent dependencies on that output would not have to be relinked or libraries built.

OAMP
The system is administered through an assortment of teletypewriter "channels", also called the system console, such as the TEST channel and the Maintenance channel. Typically provisioning is done either through a command line interface (CLI) called RCV:APPTEXT, or through the menu-driven RCV:MENU,APPRC program. RCV stands for Recent Change/Verification, and can be accessed through the Switching Control Center System. Most service orders, however, are administered through the Recent Change Memory Administration Center (RCMAC). In the international market, this terminal interface has localization to provide locale-specific language and command name variations on the screen and printer output.

title: 5ESS Switching System


text:
1838

January–March

 * January 10 – A fire destroys Lloyd's Coffee House and the Royal Exchange in London.
 * January 11 – At Morristown, New Jersey, Samuel Morse, Alfred Vail and Leonard Gale give the first public demonstration of Morse's new invention, the telegraph.
 * January 21 – The first known report about the lowest temperature on Earth is made, indicating -60 °C in Yakutsk.
 * January 23 – A 7.5 earthquake strikes the Romanian district of Vrancea causing damage in Moldavia and Wallachia, killing 73 people.
 * February 6 – Boer explorer Piet Retief and 60 of his men are massacred by King Dingane kaSenzangakhona of the Zulu people, after Retief accepts an invitation to celebrate the signing of a treaty, and his men willingly disarm as a show of good faith.
 * February 17 – Weenen massacre: Zulu impis massacre about 532 Voortrekkers, Khoikhoi and Basuto around the site of Weenen in South Africa.
 * February 24 – U.S. Representatives William J. Graves of Kentucky and Jonathan Cilley of Maine face each other in a duel with rifles at 80 yards near Bladensburg, Maryland. On the third attempt, Congressman Cilley is fatally wounded and bleeds to death.
 * March 13 – A combination of rain and melting snow causes the Danube River to overflow its banks, washing away villages in western Hungary and inundating the twin cities that become Budapest. More than 150 people are drowned and Europe's nations come to Hungary's aid to prevent the spread of famine and disease.
 * March 31 – The first installment of Nicholas Nickleby, the new novel by Charles Dickens, is released as the opener of a 20-part serialization in London.

April–June

 * April 4–22 – The paddle steamer SS Sirius (1837) makes the transatlantic crossing to New York from Cork, Ireland in 18 days, though not using steam continuously.
 * April 8–23 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel's paddle steamer SS Great Western (1838) makes the transatlantic crossing to New York from Avonmouth, England, in 15 days, inaugurating a regular steamship service.
 * April 30 – Nicaragua declares independence from the Federal Republic of Central America.
 * May
 * The People's Charter is drawn up in the United Kingdom, demanding universal suffrage.
 * Lord Durham and his entourage arrive in Upper Canada, to investigate the cause of the 1837 rebellion in that province. This leads to Durham submitting the Durham Report to Britain.
 * An insurrection breaks out in Tizimín, beginning the campaign for the independence of Yucatán from Mexico.
 * May 26 – Trail of Tears: The Cherokee Nation is forcibly relocated in the United States.
 * May 28 – Braulio Carrillo is sworn in as Head of State of Costa Rica, thus beginning his second term in office.
 * June 10 – Myall Creek massacre: 28 Indigenous Australians are killed.
 * June 28 – The coronation of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom takes place at Westminster Abbey in London.

July–September

 * July 4 – In the United States, the Iowa Territory is formally established, following the signing of a bill by President Martin Van Buren on June 12. In addition to Iowa, which will become a state on December 28, 1846, the Territory also includes most of what will become the states of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Robert Lucas, former Governor of Ohio, takes office as the first Territorial Governor.
 * August 1 – Most former slaves in the British Empire are released from apprenticeships, giving them full emancipation under terms of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.
 * August 6 – The Polytechnic Institution, predecessor of the University of Westminster and Britain's first polytechnic, opens in Regent Street, London.
 * September 7 – Grace Darling and her father rescue 13 survivors from the Forfarshire, off the Farne Islands.
 * September 18 – The Anti-Corn Law League is established in Britain by Richard Cobden.

October–December

 * October 1 – First Carlist War – Battle of Maella: Supporters of Infante Carlos, Count of Molina, are victorious.
 * October 5 – Killough massacre, believed to be both the largest and last Native American attack on white settlers in East Texas. 18 casualties are either killed or carried away.
 * October 27 – Lilburn Boggs, Governor of Missouri, by Missouri Executive Order 44, declares Mormons to be enemies of the state, and encourages the extermination or exile of the religious minority, forcing nearly 10,000 Mormons out of the state.
 * November 3 – The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce is founded (renamed The Times of India in 1861).
 * November 5 – Dissolution of the Federal Republic of Central America: Honduras and Costa Rica follow the example of Nicaragua and secede from the federation.
 * November 16 – Austria: Moravia opens the final section of Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway (Rajhrad–Brno) for exhibition (preliminary) use.
 * November 27 – Pastry War: Mexico is invaded by French forces.
 * December 16 – Battle of Blood River: The Boers win a decisive victory over the Zulus.
 * December – First Anglo-Afghan War: British and Presidency armies set out from Punjab in support of Shah Shujah Durrani's claim to the throne of Afghanistan.

Date unknown

 * The Pitcairn Islands become a Crown colony of the United Kingdom, and women there are the first in the world to be granted and maintain women's suffrage.
 * Sylvain Charles Valée founds Skikda, Algeria.
 * Proteins are discovered by Gerardus Johannes Mulder. and named by Jöns Jacob Berzelius.
 * Friedrich Bessel makes the first accurate measurement of distance to a star.
 * Biblical criticism: Christian Hermann Weisse proposes the two-source hypothesis.
 * Duke University is established in North Carolina.
 * The 5th century BC bronze Chatsworth Head is acquired by the 6th Duke of Devonshire at Smyrna, from H. P. Borrell.

January–March

 * January 4 – General Tom Thumb, American circus performer, entertainer (d. 1883)
 * January 6
 * Anton Berindei, Wallachian-born Romanian general and politician (d. 1899)
 * Max Bruch, German composer (d. 1920)
 * January 16 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher, psychologist (d. 1917)
 * January 29 – Edward W. Morley, American chemist noted for working on the Michelson–Morley experiment (d. 1923)
 * February 2 – John Joseph Jolly Kyle, Scots-born Argentine chemist (d. 1922)
 * February 6 – Sir Henry Irving, English actor (d. 1905)
 * February 9 – Sir Evelyn Wood, British field marshal, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1919)
 * February 12 – Julius Dresser, American writer (d. 1893)
 * February 13 – Annetta Seabury Dresser, American writer (d. 1893)
 * February 16 – Henry Brooks Adams, American historian (d. 1918)
 * February 18 – Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist, philosopher (d. 1916)
 * March 3 – George William Hill, American astronomer (d. 1914)
 * March 11 – Ōkuma Shigenobu, Japanese politician (d. 1922)
 * March 12 – Sir William Perkin, English chemist (d. 1907)
 * March 15 – Alice Cunningham Fletcher, American ethnologist, anthropologist, and social scientist (d. 1923)

April–June

 * April 2 – Léon Gambetta, 37th Prime Minister of France (d. 1882)
 * April 3 – John Willis Menard, African-American politician (d. 1893)
 * April 12 – John Shaw Billings, American military and medical leader (d. 1913)
 * April 16
 * Ernest Solvay, Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist (d. 1922)
 * Martha McClellan Brown, American temperance movement leader (d. 1916)
 * April 18 – Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French chemist (d. 1912)
 * April 21 – John Muir, American ecologist (d. 1914)
 * April 28 – Tobias Asser, Dutch jurist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1913)
 * May 10 – John Wilkes Booth, American actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1865)
 * May 11 – Isabelle Bogelot, French philanthropist (d. 1923)
 * May 20 – Jules Méline, French statesman (d. 1925)
 * July full date unknown – Bass Reeves, one of the first black Deputy U.S. Marshals west of the Mississippi River (d. 1910)
 * June 14 – Yamagata Aritomo, Japanese field marshal, Prime Minister (d. 1922)
 * June 19 – Mary Cole Walling, American patriot, lecturer (d. 1925)
 * June 24 – Gustav von Schmoller, German economist (d. 1917)
 * June 27 – Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Indian author (d. 1894)

July–September

 * July 1 – Marie-Louise Jaÿ, French businesswoman (d. 1925)
 * July 5 – Vatroslav Jagić, Croatian scholar (d. 1923)
 * July 7 – Felice Napoleone Canevaro, Italian admiral (d. 1926)
 * July 8 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German military officer, founder of the Zeppelin Company (d. 1917)
 * July 11 – John Wanamaker, American merchant and religious, civic and political figure (d. 1922)
 * July 20 – Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, British statesman, author (d. 1928)
 * September 2
 * Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Indian guru, philosopher (d. 1914)
 * Liliuokalani, last Queen of Hawaii (d. 1917)
 * September 17 – Valeriano Weyler, Spanish general (d. 1930)
 * September 21
 * Constantin Budișteanu (birth also reported as November 4), Wallachian-born Romanian soldier and politician (d. 1911)
 * Victoria Woodhull, American woman's suffrage leader; first woman to run for U.S. President (d. 1927)
 * September 27 – Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Confederate brigadier general, Texas governor and president of Texas A&M University (d. 1898)
 * September 28 – Sai Baba, Indian spiritual master and National saint (d. 1918)
 * September 29 – Henry Hobson Richardson, American architect (d. 1886)
 * September 30 – Phoebe Jane Babcock Wait, American physician (d. 1904)

October–December

 * October 6 – Giuseppe Cesare Abba, Italian patriot, writer (d. 1910)
 * October 8 – John Hay, diplomat, private secretary to Abraham Lincoln, 37th United States Secretary of State (d. 1905)
 * October 25 – Georges Bizet, French composer (d. 1875)
 * October 31 – King Luís I of Portugal (d. 1889)
 * November 1 – Khedrup Gyatso, 11th Dalai Lama (d. 1856)
 * November 4 – Constantin Budișteanu (birth also reported as September 21), Wallachian-born Romanian soldier and politician (d. 1911)
 * November 7 – Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, French writer (d. 1889)
 * November 8 – Rufus W. Peckham, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1909)
 * November 13 – Joseph F. Smith, 6th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1918)
 * November 17 – Sir Lambton Loraine, 11th Baronet, British naval officer (d. 1917)
 * November 20 – Hedvig Raa-Winterhjelm, pioneer Scandinavian actor (d. 1907)
 * November 23 – Stephanos Skouloudis, 34th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1928)
 * December 3 – Cleveland Abbe, American meteorologist (d. 1916)
 * December 3 – Octavia Hill, British social reformer (d. 1912)
 * December 19 – Darinka Petrovic, Princess consort of Montenegro (d. 1892)
 * December 20 – Edwin Abbott Abbott, English theologian, author (d. 1926)
 * December 30 – Émile Loubet, 8th President of France (d. 1929)

Date unknown

 * Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī, Islamic teacher, writer (d. 1897)
 * Bass Reeves, American lawman and first black deputy U.S. marshall (d. 1910)

January–June

 * January 3 – Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Saxony (b. 1759)
 * January 5 – Anthony Van Egmond, leader in Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837 (d. in jail) (b. 1778)
 * January 12 – Joshua Humphreys, American naval architect (b. 1751)
 * January 13 – John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1751)
 * February 21 – Silvestre de Sacy, French linguist (b. 1758)
 * February 24 – Christoph Johann von Medem, German courtier (b. 1763)
 * March 7 – Robert Townsend (spy), American member of the Culper Spy Ring (b. 1753)
 * March 13 – Poul Martin Møller, Danish philosopher (b. 1794)
 * March 16 – Nathaniel Bowditch, American mathematician (b. 1773)
 * March 23 – Michael Anckarsvärd, Swedish politician (b. 1742)
 * April 3 – François Carlo Antommarchi, French physician (b. 1780)
 * April 6 – José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva, Brazilian statesman, naturalist (b. 1763)
 * April 9 – Piet Uys, Voortrekker leader (in battle) (b. 1797)
 * May – Francisco Gómez, President of El Salvador (b. 1796)
 * May 17 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French politician (b. 1754)
 * May 19 – Sir Richard Hoare, English archaeologist (b. 1758)
 * May 23 – Jan Willem Janssens, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (b. 1762)
 * June 4 – Thomas Hancorne, Welsh Anglican clergyman and judicial officer (b. 1752)
 * June 14 – Maximilian von Montgelas, Bavarian statesman (b. 1759)

July–December

 * July 19 – Christmas Evans, Welsh preacher (b. 1766)
 * August 1 – John Rodgers, American naval officer (b. 1772)
 * August 17 – Lorenzo Da Ponte, librettist for Mozart (b. 1749)
 * August 21 – Adelbert von Chamisso, German writer (b. 1781)
 * September 1 – William Clark, American explorer (b. 1770)
 * September 15 – Alexandra Branitskaya, Russian political activist, courtier and businessperson (b. 1754)
 * September 18 – Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington (b. 1752)
 * September 27 – Bernard Courtois, French chemist (b. 1777)
 * October 1 – Charles Tennant, Scottish chemist, industrialist (b. 1768)
 * October 3 – Black Hawk, Sauk Indian chief, autobiographer (b. 1767)
 * October 5 – Pauline Léon, French feminist, radical (b. 1768)
 * November 7 – Anne Grant, Scottish poet (b. 1755)
 * November 21 – Georges Mouton, count of Lobau, Marshal of France (b. 1770)
 * December 12 – Elisha Clark, American politician (b. 1752)
 * December 20 – Hégésippe Moreau, French writer and poet (b. 1810)

title: 1838