September 19, 2002 (Thursday)
- An attempted coup by disaffected former soldiers of Côte d'Ivoire was put down, with the death of the alleged coup leader, General Robert Guéï, a former military dictator of the country. Guéï was killed when his car refused to stop at a roadblock in downtown Abidjan. Rebels continue in control of the cities of Bouaké and Korhogo.
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: After a suicide bomber kills 5 and wounds more than 60 on a bus next to Tel Aviv's Great Synagogue, Israeli troops, tanks, and bulldozers destroy buildings in Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters.
- U.S. plan to invade Iraq: The Bush administration pressures US Congress to pass a resolution giving Bush authority to use "all means he determines to be appropriate, including force" to oust Saddam Hussein and disarm Iraq.
- Extreme weather, recent celebrity deaths: About one-third of the Maili glacier breaks off from the Caucasus Mountains and buries Karmadon, Russia, under up to 500 feet of ice and debris, killing 125, including the young Russian movie star Sergei Bodrov Jr.
- Hurricane Isabelle strikes the Northeastern part of the United States.