December 20, 2002 (Friday)
- Barbara Joyce Williams Ferrell, daughter of baseball player Ted Williams, has dropped her lawsuit to have the body of her father removed from a cryonics storage facility and cremated.
- Maoist guerrillas ambushed a police van in Jharkhand, a state in eastern India, killing 18 people, mostly police officers. At least 20 policemen were wounded in the ambush and the gunbattle that followed.
- Senator Trent Lott resigned as Senate Majority Leader, concluding that his approving statements of fellow Senator Strom Thurmond's segregationist run for President of the United States in 1948 had limited his effectiveness and that of his fellow Republicans.
- Portland Trail Blazers players, Golden State Warriors players and Warriors' fans get involved in a melee after the Trail Blazers beat the Warriors, 113–111 in Oakland. It might be the first time in NBA history that a home team's fans attack the visiting team during or after a game.
- Speed skater Catriona Le May Doan won the Lou Marsh Trophy, given annually to Canada's outstanding athlete. She edgted out Dallas Mavericks guard Steve Nash.
- The magazine Science chose the discovery of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) as the top science story of the year. The molecular switches have the potential to treat such diseases as HIV and cancer.
- Scientists at California Institute of Technology announced the discovery of clouds of methane on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.
- Governor Frank H. Murkowski of Alaska announced that he had chosen his daughter, state Representative and House Majority Leader Lisa Murkowski, to succeed him in the United States Senate. The elder Murkowski, in winning the recent election as governor, was forced to leave his Senate position.
- The cult television show Firefly, created by Joss Whedon is canceled.