Inventions & Breakthroughs of November 2002
Gadgets, lab surprises, odd bets, and future-shocks from this slice of the calendar.
1 
Robotic Vacuum Cleaner
2 
Smartphone with Touch Interface
3 
Web Services APIs
4 
Social Networking Platform (Friendster)
5 
Online Payment Expansion
6 
Wi-Fi Security Standard (WPA)
7 
Digital Audio Streaming
8 
Medical Robotic Surgery Expansion
9 
High-Definition Digital Television
10 
Location-Based Mobile Services
The Sounds of
Popular recordings and roots/country selections associated with the year
HEADLINES ON November 25, 2002
Full News Archive
- Headline: Middle Class Faces Health Benefits Crisis. Impact: When middle-class Americans started losing health benefits, it set off a chain reaction leading to the rise of DIY medicine. Fast forward to 2023, and now everyone thinks they're a doctor after watching a YouTube video.. Fact: Did you know that losing health benefits can lead to more people Googling their symptoms instead of going to a doctor? Welcome to the age of self-diagnosis!.
- Headline: Cendant's Involvement in SEC Inquiry. Impact: The SEC's inquiry into Cendant caused a domino effect in the real estate world, leading to tighter regulations. Eventually, this inspired a new generation of conspiracy theorists convinced that all real estate deals are just elaborate cover-ups for alien land ownership.. Fact: Fun fact: Cendant's overstated revenues might have been less egregious than the number of times people claim to have seen Bigfoot. Spoiler: they both probably exist only in people's imaginations..
- Headline: CBS Wants '60 Minutes' Chief To Hand Over the Stopwatch. Impact: Don Hewitt's fight to keep his position at CBS led to a wave of television producers thinking they were untouchable. This directly contributed to reality television, because if you can’t trust the news, why not watch people eat bugs for entertainment?. Fact: Did you know that '60 Minutes' was so successful it inspired countless imitators? Because nothing says investigative journalism like a ticking stopwatch and a bunch of angry people..
Wall Street Time Machine
The Right Call: If you'd invested $1,000 in any one of these companies in 2002, here's what the stored 2025 dataset estimates.
Rank #1
NFLX
Netflix
Price in 2002
$0.12
2025 dataset value
$785,671
Netflix - If you invested $1,000 in 2002, it would be worth $785,671 today (785.7x return)
Rank #2
AAPL
Apple
Price in 2002
$0.35
2025 dataset value
$779,032
Apple - If you invested $1,000 in 2002, it would be worth $779,032 today (779.0x return)
🦸 Top 5 Comics
The Ultimates #1
$25
Y: The Last Man #1
$300
New X-Men #128
$50.00
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 2 #1
$30
Spider-Man: Blue #1
$200
🧸 Top 5 Toys
Beyblade (Metal Series)
$250.00
Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game
$150.00
LEGO Bionicle
$150.00
Bratz Dolls
$150.00
RoboSapien
$200.00
🎮 Top 5 Video Games
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
$400.00
Metroid Prime
$22.98
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
$100.00
Kingdom Hearts
$120.00
Battlefield 1942
$50.47
⚾ Top 5 Trading Cards
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon 1st Edition Blue-Eyes White Dragon
$10,000
2002 Pokémon Neo Destiny Shining Charizard
$250,000
2002 Topps Chrome Tom Brady Refractor
$200,000
2002 Magic: The Gathering Set Foil Charmed Griffin
$20
2002 FIFA World Cup Ronaldo Panini Sticker
$28,800