2002

Events

January

• January 1: The euro replaces the drachma as the currency of Greece.
• January 22: A powerful earthquake (6.3 on the Richter scale) strikes Karpathos and the surrounding area.

February

• February 20: For the first time in volleyball history, two Greek teams, Olympiakos and Iraklis, qualify for the Champions League final four.
• February 23: Gogo Tsiligiri breaks the Greek women's indoor pole vault record with a 4.37m jump.

April

• April 16: Panathinaikos inaugurate the first football museum in Greece.
• April 19: My Big Fat Greek Wedding is first released in the USA.

May

• May 5: Panathinaikos defeat Kinder Bologna 89-83 to win their third Euroleague title.
• May 25: Olympiakos become the first Greek water polo team to win the Champions League after defeating Honved 9-7 in the final in Budapest.

June

• June 29: A bomb that detonates in the hands of Savvas Xeros starts a chain reaction of arrests of Novermber 17th members.

July

• July 3: Greek police locate the main hideout of the Revolutionary Organisation 17 November.

• July 23: 37-year old teacher, Konstantinos Telios, surrenders to the police in Thessaloniki as a member of the Revolutionary Organisation 17 November.

August

• August 3: Greece wins its first medal in a European Aquatics Championships. The 4x200m free style team (Thanassis Economou, Nikos Xylouris, Spyros Gianniotis and Giannis Kokkodis) takes third place.
• August 7: Katerina Thanou and Katerina Vongoli win the gold medal in 100m and discus respectively, at the European Championships in Munich. Anastasia Kelesidou and Alexandros Papadimitriou place 3d in discus and shot put respectively.
• August 8: Mirela Maniani wins gold in the javelin throw at the European Championship in Munich. Her throw of 67.47m breaks the record for European Championship Games.
• August 9: Kostas Kenteris wins gold at the Munich European Championship with a 19.85 performance at the 200m.
• August 19: Periklis Iakovakis smashes Thanassis Kalogiannis' 15 year-old record (48.80) in the 400m race with 48.66 in Leeds.

September

• September 18: Olympiakos thrash Bayer Leverkusen 6-2 in a Champions' League game. Predrag Djordjevic scores three goals.

October

• October 2: AEK Athens striker Demis Nikolaidis scores against Real Madrid (3-3) in a Champions League match to become Greek top scorer in european competitions (25 goals) surpassing Dimitris Saravakos (24 goals).
• October 9: An EU committee decides that Cyprus and nine other - mostly Eastern European - countries should be accepted into the European Union.

November

• November 2: Marousi BC player, Angelos Koronios, breaks Nikos Galis' record for most points scored in the Greek A1 League.
• November 10: In the match between Ionikos FC and OFI, Sophia Grillaki becomes the first Greek woman assistant referee in the history of the Alpha Ethniki.
• November 13: The Greek tanker "Prestige" sinks off the coast of northern Spain causing an ecological disaster.
• November 28: The European Court of Human Rights awards a 13.7 million euro (4.6 billion drachmas) monetary compensation to the former King Constantine II and rules against the Greek government for the seizure of the royal property.

December

• December 30: Olympiakos defeat Vasas of Hungary 6-5 to win the European Super Cup of Water Polo.

Deaths

January

• January 11: Zoras Tsapelis, actor

February

• February 1: Stathis Tsanaktzis, footballer
• February 8: Yiannis Pathiakakis, footballer

March

• March 12: Spyros Kyprianou, Cypriot politician and President.

April

• April 18: Dimitris Dimitriou, footballer
• April 29: Yiannis Cholevas, footballer

June

• June 1: Kakia Analyti, actress.
• June 7: Malvina Karali, reporter and playwriter.

July

• July 20: Michalis Kritikopoulos, footballer

August

• August 25: Yiannis Gionakis, actor

September

• September 6: Ilia Livikou, actress

October

• October 30: Aliki Diplarakou, winner of Miss Europe beauty pageant
• October 31: Michail Stasinopoulos, politician, President of Greece

December

• December 2: Alan Ashman, former coach of Olympiakos.
• December 26: Michael Polatof, fashion and stage designer

Births

January

• January 30: Christos Tzolis, footballer.