The 2002 Commonwealth Games known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coincide with the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, head of the Commonwealth, Manchester was selected for the 2002 Games ahead of London; the 2002 Commonwealth Games was, prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics, the largest multi-sport event to be held in the UK, eclipsing the London 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating. In terms of sports and events, the 2002 Games were the largest Commonwealth Games in history featuring 281 events across 17 sports; the Games were considered a success for the host city, providing an event to display how Manchester had changed following the 1996 bombing. The Games formed the catalyst for the widespread regeneration and heavy development of Manchester, bolstered its reputation as a European and global city internationally. Rapid economic development and continued urban regeneration of the now post-industrial Manchester continued after the Games which helped cement its place as one of the principal cultural cities in the United Kingdom.

The opening and closing ceremonies, the athletic and the rugby sevens events were held at the City of Manchester Stadium, purpose built for the Games. Unusually for a large multi-sport event—the second-largest competition by number of countries and athletes participating—the shooting events were held in the National Shooting Centre in Bisley, some 200 miles from the main focus of the Games in Manchester. Seventy-two nations competed in 3 team sports events. Sporting legacy includes the British Cycling team who inherited the Manchester Velodrome and went on to win eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics and another eight gold medals at the 2012 Olympics attributed to the availability of the velodrome. Manchester City F. C. inherited the City of Manchester Stadium, as a result, have since found themselves in a desirable investment opportunity in age of foreign football investment. The club was taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group led by Sheikh Mansour in 2008, without the stadium, a takeover would have been far less certain.

The Games were a formative moment for Manchester and Britain with then-IOC president Jacques Rogge viewing the games as an important litmus test as to whether Britain could host the Summer Olympics. The success of the Games encouraged and inspired the future London bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics with London going on to win the bid on 6 July 2005 and the games were staged seven years later. While England decided to bid for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, three English cities London and Sheffield showed interest to host the Games; the Commonwealth Games Council of England had to choose one city and forward to the Commonwealth Games Federation. London hosted the 1934 Commonwealth Games as well as the 1908 and 1948 Summer Olympics and Sheffield hosted the 1991 Summer Universiade. Manchester had bid for the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics but lost to Atlanta and Sydney respectively. Bob Scott, chairman of the committee of Manchester Bid for the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics, supported the Manchester's Commonwealth Games bid and said that Manchester must continue to'think big' and bidding for the Commonwealth Games would be an excellent step forward.

Sheffield withdrew from the bidding process as they were unable to come to agreement over financial guarantees. So the 24 members of the CGCE were left to choose between Manchester and London, voted 17-7 for Manchester. In November 1995, the CGF awarded the 2002 Games to Manchester; the venues were eclectic ranging from high-tech architecture in the City of Manchester Stadium to the 19th-century Grade II* listed Manchester Central hall. The Games' main venue was the City of Manchester Stadium, which hosted all athletics events, the rugby sevens and the opening and closing ceremonies; the stadium was a downscaled version of that proposed during Manchester's bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Construction started in January 2000, was completed shortly before the Games; the cost was £110 million, £77 million of, provided by Sport England, with the remainder funded by Manchester City Council. For the Commonwealth Games the stadium featured a single lower tier running around three sides of the athletics track, second tiers to the two sides, with an open-air temporary stand at one end, giving an overall capacity of 41,000.

The stadium formed the centrepiece of an area known as Sportcity. Other venues in Sportcity include the Manchester Velodrome, which hosted cycling, the £3.5m National Squash Centre, built for the Games. Swimming and diving events took place at Manchester Aquatics Centre, another purpose-built venue, the only one in the United Kingdom with two 50 m pools; the Manchester Arena built in 1994, at the time was the largest arena in Europe and hosted netball and boxing. The shooting events were held at Bisley; the NSC saw major redevelopment of all its ranges in order to host the fullbore rifle, smallbore rifle and clay target events. The Games Village is located on 30 acres of land, which operates as the Fallowfield Campus within the University of Manchester during the games; the 2002 Queen's Jubilee Baton Relay, the continuation of a tradition that started with the 1958 Games, consisted of the relay of an electronic baton, containing a personal message from Elizabeth II across 23 Commonwealth nations.

The relay culminated in the arrival of the baton at the City of Manchester Stadium, opening the Games. The speech was the

The 1889 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 1 July until 13 July, it was the 13th staging of the Wimbledon Championships, the first Grand Slam tennis event of 1889. William Renshaw won his seventh singles title, which as late as 1977 was thought to be a feat unlikely to be surpassed. However, in 2000 Pete Sampras equaled this total, in 2012 Roger Federer won a seventh title; the record was broken by Federer in 2017 when he became the first man to win eight singles titles at Wimbledon. The Renshaw brothers were unbeaten in doubles for seven years; the men's doubles were played after completion of the singles competitions. William Renshaw defeated Ernest Renshaw, 6–4, 6–1, 3–6, 6–0 Blanche Hillyard defeated Lena Rice, 4–6, 8–6, 6–4 Ernest Renshaw / William Renshaw defeated George Hillyard / Ernest Lewis 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 0–6, 6–1 Official Wimbledon Championships Website

Michel Vidal was a U. S. Representative from Louisiana. Born in the city of Carcassonne, France, Vidal completed university-level studies in France before emigrating to the Republic of Texas. Soon after Texas became annexed to the United States, Vidal moved to the French-speaking region of south Louisiana, he engaged in literary and scientific pursuits and served as associate editor of several American and French newspapers for the French-speaking populations of the U. S. and Canada. He served as an editor of the New York Courrier des États-Unis and the New Orleans Picayune. At the close of the Civil War he was appointed by General John T. Sheridan a registrar for the city of New Orleans. In 1867, he moved to Opelousas, where he founded and edited the Saint Landry Progress, he served as delegate to the State constitutional convention of 1867 and 1868 after 1876. Upon readmission of Louisiana to representation in Congress, Vidal was elected, from Louisiana's 4th congressional district, as a Republican to the Fortieth United States Congress, was in office until 1870.

He was appointed a United States commissioner under the convention concluded with Peru in 1868 for the adjustment of claims of citizens of either country. On his leaving Congress, Vidal was appointed by President Ulysses Grant as United States consul at Tripoli, where he served from April 5, 1870 to October 12, 1876, he died in Montreal