The World in 2002 the year Europe switched its money
631MInternet users
1.2BMobile phones
59MInternet users in China
$1.36Gallon of gas (US)
$5.81Movie ticket (US)
37ยขUS postage stamp
$115MSpider-Man debut weekend
$1Euro back to a dollar
50Years of Elizabeth II (UK)
Printers made about 15 billion euro notes for the big money switch. Stacked in one pile, they would stand more than 1,000 km tall, roughly ten times higher than the edge of space.
Life back then

Phones could now send pictures as well as words. With Napster shut down, people traded songs on Kazaa instead, and digital cameras began pushing film aside. Spider-Man broke box office records, The Osbournes turned a rock star's family into the biggest show on TV, and about 23 million Americans watched the first American Idol final.
The year in 8 events
- ๐ถJan 1 Euro coins and bills arrive in 12 countries. Over 300 million people change money at once.
- โท๏ธFeb 8 The Winter Olympics open in Salt Lake City.
- ๐ณ๏ธApr 21 Jean-Marie Le Pen, a far-right candidate, reaches the runoff in France's presidential vote. Huge street protests follow and Jacques Chirac wins easily.
- ๐May 20 East Timor becomes the world's newest country. The small nation in Southeast Asia voted to leave Indonesia three years earlier.
- โฝJun 30 Brazil beats Germany and wins a record fifth World Cup, played in Japan and South Korea.
- ๐Jul 21 American phone company WorldCom goes bankrupt, an even bigger failure than Enron.
- ๐ฏ๏ธOct 12 Bombs kill 202 people at a tourist spot in Bali, Indonesia.
- ๐ก๏ธNov 25 The US creates the Department of Homeland Security, its biggest new agency in decades.