As the 20th Century draws to a close it is interesting to look back at the events that have helped shape it. This section summarises many of these important events. You can search for an event by name or view all the events chronologically. You can also use the Timelines section to view these major events on a timeline.
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"Boer War (1900)",2,0,0,0
The Boer War was fought between the \JBoers\j and the British in South \JAfrica\j from 1899 to 1902. The \JBoers\j were descendants of the Dutch settlers who had arrived in the seventeenth century. The British had also settled parts of South \JAfrica\j, most notably through the efforts of Cecil Rhodes and his British South African Company. Rhodes had begun his northward expansion by proclaiming a protectorate over Bechuanaland in 1884 before advancing into Rhodesia, later called Zimbabwe. The British had then expanded their territorial claims, securing Nyasaland as a protectorate in 1889, and upsetting the \JBoers\j who claimed rights to southern \JAfrica\j, maintaining that they were the first Europeans to settle there.
The conflict began when the Boer state of \JTransvaal\j demanded that Britain withdraw troops from the \JTransvaal\j frontier, insisting that these troops were "menacing the independence of the \JTransvaal\j Republic," and that failure to withdraw would constitute "a declaration of war." The British Government ignored the demand, describing it as "grotesquely arrogant and defiant," and regretting that \JTransvaal\j had "taken so serious a step."
In the first year of the war, the \JBoers\j won the initial series of battles at Ladysmith, Kimberley, Mafeking, Stormberg, Modder River, Magersfontein, Colenso, and Moderspruit. Despite the early Boer victories, the tide of the war turned when the British won the Battle of Paardeberg and captured \JPretoria\j under Lord Roberts, before finally wiping out Boer commandos fighting a guerrilla war against isolated British settlements and communication lines.
By 1902, the British emerged the victors through sheer weight of numbers, taking control over former Boer states. In 1910, these states joined Cape Colony and Natal to form the Union of South \JAfrica\j, which then supported Britain during the 1914-18 First World War.
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"Boxer Uprising in China (1900)",3,0,0,0
From 1898 to 1900, Chinese rebels rose up in opposition to western interference in their internal affairs and their religion. The uprising was called the \JBoxer\j Rebellion because the rebels belonged to the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, which believed that boxing was the most effective form of defense, and that the magical powers of its followers would protect them from foreign weapons.
The rebels attacked Christian missionaries, churches, and converts, killing 200 foreigners. They besieged foreign legations in Tianjin and Peking for up to 55 days. The rebels were joined by a Chinese army following the dowager empress Cixi, who also declared war on foreigners. The foreign powers teamed up to suppress the rebellion, calling in troop reinforcements, including Americans. The victorious foreign powers then executed the rebels and introduced the \JBoxer\j Protocol (1901) which extended foreign rights in China.
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"Australian Nation Established (1901)",4,0,0,0
At a ceremony in Sydney's Centennial Park on January 1, the Commonwealth of \JAustralia\j was formally proclaimed, unifying the former colonies under one flag and one federal constitution based on an Anglo/American model.
Although first proposed when the separate colonies achieved self-government from the British in the 1850s, the federation did not attract support until called for by New South Wales Premier Henry Parkes during a speech in Tenterfield in 1889. Between 1890 and 1899, a series of conventions were held around \JAustralia\j to debate the issue before a federal structure was adopted through a referendum. The British Parliament and Queen Victoria then approved the constitution in 1900, paving the way for the creation of the new nation.
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"Death of Queen Victoria (1901)",5,0,0,0
Queen Victoria died aged 81 on January 22, 1901, at her seaside home on the Isle of Wight. Crowned in 1838 at the age of 18, she had reined for 63 years. Hers was the longest reign of any British monarch, and one in which she had presided over the creation of an ever-expanding empire that reached its zenith under her rule.
In 1840, Queen Victoria had married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. They had nine children, and her eldest son, Edward VII, succeeded her to the throne.
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"First Radio Signal Across the Atlantic (1901)",6,0,0,0
On December 12, Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi, who had developed the world's first radio signals, supervised the sending of the first international transmission of these signals from Poldhu, Cornwall, England to Newfoundland, North America. It was a major scientific breakthrough, as it proved such signals could travel great distances and follow the curvature of the \JEarth\j. From that moment on, the possibilities for human communication over vast distances were great indeed. Sixty-eight years later, people on \JEarth\j would be communicating with the first man to travel to the Moon.
The American Wright brothers made history on December 17 when their powered biplane made the world's first ever controlled and sustained flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville Wright (1871-1948) recorded the flight from the ground, while his brother Will Wright (1867-1912) flew their plane further than either of them had ever flown in test flights before.
Orville Wright reported a distance over the ground of 852 feet which was flown in 59 seconds. On a series of four flights the plane averaged 31 miles. The Wright brothers' pioneering flights in powered heavier-than-air machines inspired other inventors and aviators who helped create the airline industry.
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"Henry Ford Founded Ford Motor Company (1903)",8,0,0,0
American engineer Henry Ford (1863-1947) founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903, pioneering the modern assembly-line mass production techniques for what became his famous Model T Ford (1908-9), 15 million of which were produced up to 1928. A competent manufacturer, Ford had designed and produced his first petrol-driven motor car in 1893, and had created his first company in \JDetroit\j in 1899.
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"Russo-Japanese War (1904-5)",9,0,0,0
\JRussia\j and \JJapan\j went to war in 1904 over disputed territory in Manchuria and northern China. Although transporting troops by sea, the tightly-knit Japanese army successfully invaded northern China, defeating the Russian soldiers, who were poorly led, and badly organized and equipped. Japanese ships bombarded Port Arthur, blockaded Russian troops at Vladivostock before landing in Korea, where they defeated the Russians at Yalu River, Liaoyang, and then Mukden as they fought their way overland.
When the Russian fleet finally arrived from European waters, the Japanese destroyed the flotilla off the Tsushima Islands. The war was the beginning of the end for \JRussia\j. \JJapan\j was modernizing rapidly and her war machine was a rising power in the region. \JRussia\j's political leadership was increasingly incompetent, as the old Czarist Empire was beginning to disintegrate, and was further weakened by the 1905 revolution. The Japanese confirmed their victories in the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth mediated by the United States.
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"St. Petersburg Massacre (1905)",10,0,0,0
On January 22, Russian Orthodox priest, Georgy Gapon, led a procession of 1,500 strikers and their families to meet Czar Nicholas II in St. Petersburg. The protesters sang the Czar's hymn "God Save the People," carried icons, pictures of the Czar, and petitions calling for better working conditions. Although Father Gapon had advised authorities of the plan, Russian troops attacked the marchers without warning as they approached the Winter Palace, killing 100 protesters and wounding many others. Father Gapon managed to escape but other strike leaders were seized.
The 1905 massacre, known as Bloody Sunday, proved to be the first stage of the revolution which succeeded in overturning \JRussia\j's Czarist government. While the Czar introduced minor reforms, the inflexibility of his regime hardened the resolve of the reformers, and radical resistance built up until 1917, when the Bolshevik leader Lenin led a successful revolution and installed a Communist government.
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"San Francisco Earthquake (1906)",11,0,0,0
On April 17, San Francisco was struck by its worst \Jearthquake\j on record. Some 700 people were killed, 28,000 buildings were destroyed, and 250,000 people rendered homeless by the quake, which started a large number of fires and left the streets humped into ridges and depressions piled with debris from fallen walls. As a result of the damage done to the city, new building codes were introduced to minimize destruction from any future earthquakes.
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"BlΘriot Crossed the English Channel (1909)",12,0,0,0
French aviator Louis BlΘriot's flight across the English Channel on July 25 demonstrated conclusively the international potential of airplanes. He landed at Dover Castle after a 40-minute flight from \JFrance\j to England in a 24 horse-powered monoplane, winning a ú1,000 prize offered by the \ILondon Daily Mail\i to the first person to achieve the feat. BlΘriot's pioneering achievement, without the use of a compass, came only six years after the American Wright brothers had demonstrated that powered heavier-than-air machines could fly.
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"Peary Reached North Pole (1909)",13,0,0,0
American polar explorer, Admiral Robert Peary, won the race to reach the North Pole in 1909 when he led the first successful expedition to the most northerly point in the world.
He had already made eight \JArctic\j voyages to the \JGreenland\j coast, and crossed the continent from West to East by traveling over the ice. Although Peary's claim was disputed by rival explorer Frederick Cook, who claimed he reached the Pole in 1808, Cook's claim was never substantiated.
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"Amundsen Reached South Pole (1911)",14,0,0,0
Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) won the race to reach the South Pole when he led his party there on December 14. The veteran Amundsen, who had visited the Pole with the 1897 Belgian expedition and sailed in search of the North West passage in 1903, created controversy by lightening his load when he used sled dogs for food on the return trip back from the Pole.
Rival British explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his party also reached the South Pole one month later but they died on the return journey.
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"Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Revolution in China (1911)",15,0,0,0
A band of radical reformers put an end to centuries of dynastic rule in China when they rebelled against the Emperor on October 26, and went on to establish a Chinese Republic on December 26. Dr. \JSun\j Yat-sen, also known as \JSun\j Yixian (1866-1925), was the leader of the revolutionaries, and was named provisional President of the Republic.
\JSun\j Yat-sen was a Christian who had trained as a doctor in Hong Kong, and he believed, along with his followers, that it was wrong for the Emperor and his supporters to live in luxury while the bulk of the population starved. He also aimed to rid China of the foreign powers exploiting the Chinese economy.
\JSun\j Yat-sen established the Kuomintang Party which fought for his Three People's Principles of nationalism, democracy, and economic reform. However, his party failed to implement reforms, and Communist leader Mao Tse-tung built up a peasant-based party which eventually defeated the Kuomintang and established the People's Republic of China in 1949.
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"Sinking of the Titanic (1912)",16,0,0,0
The sinking of the \ITitanic\i on April 15 was history's worst peacetime maritime disaster. A total of 1,513 lives were lost when the luxury White Star liner went down within three hours of striking an \Jiceberg\j in the North Atlantic while on her maiden voyage from \JSouthampton\j to New York. Only 700 people fortunate enough to secure a place in a lifeboat survived the disaster, and the lack of sufficient lifeboats has since been blamed for the high death toll. At the time, the impact of the disaster was heightened because the authorities had claimed that the 46,329 gross tonnes ship was unsinkable.
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"Assassination of Ferdinand (1914)",17,0,0,0
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his pregnant wife Sofia were assassinated in the Bosnian town of \JSarajevo\j on June 28. The gunman was a young Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, who wanted more autonomy for Serbs living in the Bosnian region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Although the underlying causes of the First World War had been festering for years, the Archduke was the heir to the Habsburg throne, and his assassination triggered the war's outbreak. On July 28, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on tiny \JSerbia\j. When \JRussia\j sprang to the defense of \JSerbia\j, announcing mobilization, \JGermany\j took sides with the Habsburg Empire. \JFrance\j then sided with \JRussia\j, mobilizing in support of \JSerbia\j, and battlelines began forming. On August 1, \JGermany\j declared war on \JRussia\j and then on \JFrance\j on August 3. On August 4, Britain declared war on \JGermany\j, which responded by invading \JBelgium\j and \JFrance\j. World War I had begun.
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"Russian Revolution (1917)",18,0,0,0
In October 1917, the Bolshevik Party seized political power in Moscow, a move that gave them control over \JRussia\j and eventually enabled them to install a Communist government. The success of these pioneer Communists ended the dynasty of Romanovs who had ruled \JRussia\j since 1613, and ushered in a new political era for the world that lasted more than 70 years, until the disintegration of the Communist movement began in 1989.
Czar Nicholas II had begun to lose control of \JRussia\j during the First World War, with the people rebelling on a number of occasions. The unrest culminated in a revolt in February 1917. On March 14, political leaders formed a provisional government and the Czar abdicated the following \Jday\j.
Branding the provisional government "bourgeois," Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin directed \JBolsheviks\j to take over newly-formed "worker's councils" or "soviets." Lenin demanded an end to \JRussia\j's part in the war, advocating "Peace, Land and Bread." In September, the \JBolsheviks\j took over Petrograd and the Moscow soviets, and then executed a "coup d'Θtat," seizing control of the government in Moscow and establishing a forerunner for the world's first Communist government in the name of the oppressed people of \JRussia\j.
The following year, on July 17, Czar Nicholas II and his family were murdered with Bolshevik Government permission.
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"Russian Civil War (1918)",19,0,0,0
The \JBolsheviks\j' seizure of power in 1917 was opposed by many sections of Russian society and by many nations around the world. By 1918, anti-Bolshevik counter-revolutionary troops had mobilized and begun fighting the \JBolsheviks\j for control of \JRussia\j. First World War Allies, including Britain, \JFrance\j, and \JCzechoslovakia\j, opposed the \JBolsheviks\j and committed troops to fight for the "White Army." \JPoland\j also began a war with \JRussia\j during this period. Lenin's Red Army responded by mobilizing 5.5 million men, and by November 16, 1921, the Russian Government claimed that the counter-revolution was over.
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"End of First World War (1918)",20,0,0,0
After four years of bitter fighting, the European Allies won the First World War. Led by French marshal Foch, the Allies defeated the German offensive in August 1918, forcing the German leader Kaiser William II to abdicate, and \JGermany\j to surrender unconditionally by November 11.
It was a clear victory for the Allies, whose members included the larger nations of Britain and \JFrance\j, assisted towards the end of the war by the United States of America. \JRussia\j, although formerly an Ally, withdrew from the war once the \JBolsheviks\j seized power in Moscow.
The Great War was the costliest in European history, with an estimated 8.5 million lives lost and many more seriously injured. \JGermany\j was not invaded, but much of northern \JFrance\j and southern \JBelgium\j were left in ruins.
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"First Transatlantic Flight (1919)",21,0,0,0
Ten years after the first flight over the English Channel, the first Transatlantic flight was made in a Vickers-Vimy machine on June 14 by John Alcock (1892-1919) of Manchester and Arthur Brown (1886-1948) of Glasgow.
Alcock and Brown took 16 hours and 27 minutes to fly from Newfoundland to Ireland. Although the flight was completed successfully, the plane's nose ploughed into the ground upon landing but neither pilot was hurt. Alcock, however, was killed soon after from injuries received in an accident during another flight. Brown, who was an engineer, was appointed manager of an \Jengineering\j company. Both men were knighted for their achievements.
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"Treaty of Versailles Introduction (1919)",22,0,0,0
The European map was dramatically altered by the First World War when the victorious Allies drew up a peace treaty in Versailles. Based on the "Fourteen Points" proposed by American President Woodrow Wilson, the Treaty of Versailles attempted to create a set of international conditions that would guarantee peace into the future. French leader Georges Clemenceau also insisted \JGermany\j be punished for her "war guilt," and imposed conditions that guaranteed French security from future German attacks. These conditions included confiscating one-eighth of \JGermany\j's European land, all her colonies, her foreign investments, and most of her military forces and merchant marine.
ò \JFrance\j was given \JAlsace\j-Lorraine;
ò \JBelgium\j got Eupen and Malmedy;
ò Denmark got northern Schleswig-Holstein;
ò \JPoland\j got West Prussia, Danzig, and Silesia
ò \JLithuania\j got Memel;
ò \JFrance\j got economic use of the Saar region for 15 years;
ò The Rhine was demilitarized;
ò \JGermany\j renounced the Brest-Litovsk Treaty with \JRussia\j;
ò \JGermany\j agreed to limit her armed forces;
ò \JGermany\j agreed to pay \Jreparations\j which in 1921 totaled US$32,000 million; and
ò All German colonies were confiscated and given to the victors as mandates.
Although the Germans complained, they signed the Treaty on June 28, 1919. However, the harsh conditions fueled German resentment, and eventually contributed to the outbreak of the Second World War.
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"League of Nations Formed (1919)",23,0,0,0
The world's first truly international political body was formed when the 1919 Paris Peace Conference wrote a constitution for the League of Nations, including it in each of the peace treaties.
Based in Geneva, the League was managed by a Council with an annual Assembly for the representation of members, who within three years included Britain, \JFrance\j, \JItaly\j, and \JJapan\j, with \JGermany\j and \JRussia\j joining later. By the early 1930s, the League represented the major powers, apart from the United States, which maintained a post-war isolationist policy.
The League aimed to put an end to war by settling disputes quickly and creating conditions that would make conflict unnecessary. Although the League was unable to prevent \JGermany\j, \JItaly\j, and \JJapan\j from aggression, and unable to prevent the Second World War, it set an important precedent for the United Nations, which was formed in 1945.
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"First Female Member of Parliament (1919)",24,0,0,0
British politician Viscountess Nancy Witcher Astor (1879-1964) became the first woman to represent an electorate in the British parliament when she succeeded her husband in 1919 as the Member for Plymouth, England, in the House of Commons.
Born Nancy Langhorne in Danville, Virginia, USA, she took her seat in parliament nine years before British women obtained the vote and at a time when the female \Jsuffragette\j movement was fighting for that right. Lady Astor, as she was known, became a champion of women's rights and the temperance movement.
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"Prohibition Became Law in USA (1920)",25,0,0,0
On January 16, the United States Government passed an act of parliament prohibiting the manufacture and distribution of alcohol. The move came in response to mounting public opinion led by the temperance movement, which believed that the evils of alcohol outweighed the benefits.
The legislation, known as the Volstead Act, ordered manufacturers and distributors of alcohol to cease production and destroy any remaining supplies. Federal Agents toured the nation supervising and enforcing the Prohibition Law. Illegal alcohol was soon available, however, and the nation entered a rebellious post-war celebration era of dancing, singing, and party-going which became known as the "Roaring Twenties."
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"Russian Sailors Revolted (1921)",26,0,0,0
On February 28, Russian sailors on the naval vessel \IKronstadt\i rebelled against the new Bolshevik government that had taken over \JRussia\j under Lenin in 1917. The sailors claimed the new Communist government was not delivering the democracy and popular participation the \JBolsheviks\j promised.
Although Lenin sent in the Red Army to crush the sailors, the revolt confirmed the strength of the support for the counter-revolution. This counter-revolutionary resistance was widespread and took some years for the Communists to suppress.
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"Great British Coal Strike (1921)",27,0,0,0
On March 31, British \Jcoal\j miners went on a national strike in an attempt to persuade the government to maintain its control of the mines rather than hand them over to private companies. Whereas the government's wartime control had ensured safer working conditions, and regular hours and wages, the miners claimed that the owners exploited them.
The strike, which became a lock-out, lasted until July 1, when the government promised to subsidize the \Jcoal\j industry. Eventually however, the miners were forced to negotiate with the owners, who forced them to accept lower wages and longer hours. This, in turn, led to the Great Strike of 1926.
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"Irish Free State Established (1921)",28,0,0,0
A treaty signed in London on December 21 provided for the creation of an Irish Free State which would become a member of the British Commonwealth. The treaty formally ended a brutal two-year civil conflict in Ireland between British authorities and the Irish Republican Army. At least 622 people had been killed as a result of the breakdown of law and order.
Made up of 26 Irish counties, the Irish Free State did not include six counties in Ulster, Northern Ireland, which opted to remain part of the United Kingdom. While disappointed Catholic Republicans hoped that this division of the island was only temporary, the Protestant Ulster Unionists were determined that the north's British status should be permanent. The outlawed Irish Republican Army, meanwhile, remained active as an underground force committed to the reunion of north and south, and decades of sectarian violence followed.
The Irish Free State was renamed the Republic of Ireland in 1949.
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"Mussolini's Rise to Power (1922)",29,0,0,0
Fascist leader Benito Mussolini led his Blackshirts into \JRome\j on October 30 in an overt bid for power. In March 1919, Mussolini had founded the Fasci di Combattmento to combat \Jsocialism\j, and amid growing popular support for the party, including that of businessmen nervous about the spread of strikes, he had declared himself Il Duce, or leader of the Fascists.
One \Jday\j after his march on \JRome\j, Mussolini became Prime Minister of \JItaly\j. His fascist party won the elections easily, establishing the first National Fascist Government. Mussolini then changed the election laws, ensuring his absolute control of parliament.
Mussolini went on to prepare \JItaly\j for war, teaming up in the 1930s with Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi \JGermany\j, to form the Axis force which was defeated by the Allies in 1945. Mussolini was executed by Italian partisans on April 28, 1945 and hung upside down in a town square.
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"New Turkish Republic (1922)",30,0,0,0
The leader of the Turkish nationalists, Mustafa Kemal Atatⁿrk (1881-1938), proclaimed a new Turkish republic on November 1, after a long and bitter struggle by the Turks for their independence and sovereignty. Turkey had been defeated in the First World War, and \JGreece\j had invaded the war-ravaged country, occupying the city of Constantinople on July 29, 1922 in defiance of the Allies, who had forbidden such a move.
\JGreece\j then looked set to dominate Turkey until Kemal had emerged as a new leader. At the head of his revamped troops, he drove the Greeks from Constantinople before capturing \JSmyrna\j. A victorious Kemal was elected president on August 13, 1923.
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"Tokyo Earthquake (1923)",31,0,0,0
On September 1, an \Jearthquake\j measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale struck the Kanto region, near \JTokyo\j, \JJapan\j. More than 143,000 people were killed, hundreds of thousands of homes were destroyed, and two million people were displaced as a result of the massive quake.
The disaster was compounded by outbreaks of \Jcholera\j and \Jmalaria\j caused by widespread flooding and a breakdown in services. The government declared martial law, and refugees fled the \JTokyo\j region for the countryside, searching for food, \Jwater\j, and shelter.
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"Hitler's Munich Putsch (1923)",32,0,0,0
On November 8, Adolf Hitler, the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' (Nazi) Party, attempted to organize a rebellion aimed at toppling \JGermany\j's government. Hitler had already attracted attention when he assumed leadership of the party and began to criticize the Weimar Republic.
The uprising, known as the Munich Putsch, failed to mobilize sufficient support and Hitler was arrested on November 11 in a village outside Munich and sent to prison. Although he had gained the backing of field marshal von Ludendorff, Hitler's other "followers," including local military and political leaders, deserted him as soon as they could escape the custody of his paramilitary \Jbrownshirts\j, who had forcibly enlisted support for their leader.
While Hitler failed on this occasion, he strengthened his position during nine months in prison by writing his political treatise, \IMein Kampf,\i and he soon succeeded in obtaining the power he needed to lead \JGermany\j back to war.
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"Death of Lenin (1924)",33,0,0,0
Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Russian \JBolsheviks\j, died aged 53 on January 21, 1924 after suffering a series of strokes. Revered as a hero whose life was cut short, his body was embalmed and put on permanent view in a \Jmausoleum\j in Moscow's Red Square.
Lenin was born on April 22, 1870, and studied law at St. Petersburg and Kazan universities where he organized revolutionary activities against the Czar. A strict Marxist, he was imprisoned in \JSiberia\j for his revolutionary beliefs and, after his release, reorganized the Bolshevik Party, persuading the \JBolsheviks\j to split from the Mensheviks in 1903. He then led the party during its revolutionary seizure of power in 1917 and helped establish the first Soviet government. As government leader he also introduced the first post-revolutionary program, New Economic Policy. His death in 1924 left the new Russian Communist nation without an obvious successor.
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"The General Strike (1926)",34,0,0,0
The general strike lasted from May 4 to 12 and was one of the biggest disputes ever organized by the working class in modern Britain to improve their conditions. Initially instigated by \Jcoal\j miners on May 1, the dispute became a general strike organized by the British Trade Union Congress (\JTUC\j) three days later after the miners refused to accept wage cuts and were locked out of the mines by the operators.
With workers in many industries demonstrating their support for the miners, the general strike brought the economic life of the country to a halt as never before. The conservative forces were extremely worried because of the success of the Russian working classes who had actually organized a revolution only nine years earlier, overthrowing the entire conservative order.
The British Government responded quickly, however, deploying troops to help run emergency transport and supplying services assisted by volunteers and students. In time, the government's action undermined the general strike and the \JTUC\j was forced to back down.
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"Wall Street Crash (1929)",35,0,0,0
In October 1929, the prices of the stocks and shares on the New York Stock Market in Wall Street dropped dramatically, precipitating the Great Depression. The crash was caused by panic selling, with a rush of investors suddenly deciding that speculative share prices, which had been climbing since 1927, no longer reflected the real worth of the stocks.
By October 24 - dubbed Black Thursday - 13 million shares had changed hands and by October 29, 16 million shares had changed hands. With many shares bought on credit and sold at any price, fortunes were lost when the bubble burst. Confidence in the American economy plunged overnight, and people began withdrawing their savings from the banks. Many companies then went bankrupt, creating widespread unemployment and depression.
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"The Great Depression (1929-34)",36,0,0,0
The Great Depression affected the world economy from October 1929 to 1934. It was a time of great hardship, triggered by the Wall Street Stock Market crash, which caused a drop in worldwide production and prices, resulting in massive unemployment in free market economies throughout the western world.
Companies went bankrupt, factories fell silent, and docks became idle. Many banks collapsed, including around 44 per cent of banks in the US, and hundreds of thousands of ordinary consumers lost all their savings. With one in five of the world's labor force out of work, millions survived only by eating at soup kitchens, fixing worn shoes with cardboard, and patching their old clothes until the international economy revived in the 1930s.
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"Japan Invaded Manchuria (1931)",37,0,0,0
In September 1931, Japanese troops invaded China's Manchuria, claiming they were protecting local residents after a bomb exploded on the Japanese-operated South Manchurian railway near Mukden, which they occupied along with Changchun and Kirin.
The Japanese, who wished to exploit the economic resources of Manchuria, occupied the rest of the province within five months. \JJapan\j then renamed it Manchukuo and converted it into a puppet state, installing the former Chinese Emperor Puyi as the nominal head. The Chinese were unable to repel the Japanese invasion, as they had been fighting amongst themselves following Dr. \JSun\j Yat-sen's 1911 rebellion which overthrew the last dynasty and attempted to establish a republic.
In 1933, \JJapan\j withdrew from the League of Nations, which had verbally condemned the invasion, and in 1937 joined the Anti-Comintern Pact with fellow fascists \JItaly\j and Nazi \JGermany\j, who fought against the Allies in the Second World War (1939-45). \JJapan\j was forced out of China after being defeated in 1945.
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"Hitler Appointed Chancellor of Germany (1933)",38,0,0,0
Adolf Hitler, the 43-year-old leader of the Nationalist Socialist German Workers' (Nazi) Party, was appointed Chancellor of \JGermany\j in January, 1933. Hitler's promise of work for all had attracted millions of Germans who had been unemployed since the end of the First World War, and his Nazi party was the largest in the Reichstag, with 196 seats.
Hitler's appointment as Chancellor of \JGermany\j gave him the power base he needed to prepare the country for war. Within the year he had dissolved all opposition political parties, replaced \JGermany\j's Boy Scout movement with the Hitler Youth movement, set about re-arming, and withdrawn from the League of Nations, the organization established to keep peace after the 1914-18 war. In 1935, he introduced racial anti-Jewish laws, and in violation of the Versailles Treaty, announced the creation of a new German air force, the \JLuftwaffe\j, and reintroduced conscription.
Hitler's subsequent campaign to occupy or annex countries adjacent to \JGermany\j's border culminated in the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Hitler died, presumably by suicide, on April 30, 1945, after the Allied forces had advanced into \JGermany\j.
Benito Mussolini's fascist Italian troops invaded and brutally subjugated \JAbyssinia\j (\JEthiopia\j) in October 1935. The Italians claimed they had the right to occupy \JEthiopia\j because this action followed their earlier 1882 invasion and occupation of Eritrea, a northern state adjacent to \JAbyssinia\j. In reality, they were attracted by the resources of \JAbyssinia\j which they needed to prepare for further conquests. \JItaly\j annexed \JEthiopia\j as "Italian East \JAfrica\j."
As Mussolini had met with \JGermany\j's new fascist leader Adolf Hitler in 1934, forging a fascist agreement, \JGermany\j supported \JItaly\j's invasion of \JEthiopia\j. In October 1936 the two fascist powers confirmed this agreement in the \JRome\j-Berlin Axis.
The League of Nations declared \JItaly\j an aggressor and imposed sanctions, but only in a half-hearted manner. \JItaly\j responded by withdrawing from the League in 1937.
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"Spanish Civil War (1936-39)",40,0,0,0
The Spanish Civil War started in July 1936 when two rival political groups fought for control of \JSpain\j. On one side of the conflict were the right-wing Nationalists led by General Franco, composed of conservative forces including fascists supported by Nazi \JGermany\j and fascist \JItaly\j, who opposed the 1931-36 Spanish Republic. On the other side were the idealistic left-wing Republicans, composed of socialists and Communists supported by Soviet \JRussia\j, who were in favor of the Republic.
The Nationalists advanced from the west to capture north-west and south-west \JSpain\j before occupying southern and northern \JSpain\j, encircling the Republicans trapped in central \JSpain\j before taking the capital Madrid. Franco's forces won because they were much more cohesive, better organized, and enjoyed greater foreign support than the Republicans, who had little support from the Russian Communists, themselves suffering from economic difficulties.
#
"Abdication of King Edward VIII (1936)",41,0,0,0
Edward VIII (1894-1972) came to the throne of Great Britain in January 1936, but only ruled until December 1936, when he abdicated to marry a commoner, Mrs. Wallis Simpson. Born Bessie Wallis Warfield in the United States, Mrs. Simpson had been twice divorced, and neither the church nor the state would approve the marriage.
After Edward married Wallis Simpson in \JFrance\j, the couple lived in the \JBahamas\j, where he served as Governor, before they returned to settle in Paris. Six months after the \Jabdication\j, Edward's younger brother was crowned King George VI of England.
#
"Japan Invaded China (1937)",42,0,0,0
After the 1931 invasion of Manchuria, \JJapan\j set about strengthening her position in China, putting increasing pressure on the north. In 1932, the Japanese sent warships to threaten Shanghai, and increased their military influence by capturing Shanhaikuan and later annexing Jehol. In 1935, the Japanese took over Chahar and Suiyuan and then set up a puppet regime in East Hopei. By 1936, \JJapan\j controlled the Chinese economy north of the Yellow River.
Using a bogus incident as a pretext, \JJapan\j invaded China in July 1937, the same year in which she signed an Anti-Comintern Pact with fascist \JGermany\j and \JItaly\j and prepared for war. The Japanese remained in occupation until they were expelled by a combination of the Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang), Chinese Communists, and Soviet forces following the end of the Second World War.
#
"Munich Crisis (1938)",43,0,0,0
In 1938, Britain believed that the last chance for world peace was to halt future German invasions of Europe by signing a treaty allowing \JGermany\j to expand into one final area. After \JGermany\j had occupied or annexed areas adjacent to her borders, including the Saar, Rhineland, and \JAustria\j, the Allies (Britain and \JFrance\j) met the Axis powers (\JGermany\j and \JItaly\j) in Munich, and agreed to give western \JCzechoslovakia\j (Sudetenland) to \JGermany\j on the condition that \JGermany\j would not invade any more countries.
On his arrival back in London, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940) hailed the Munich Agreement as achieving "peace for our time." In March 1939, however, \JGermany\j seized the rest of \JCzechoslovakia\j, violating the agreement and making it clear that Hitler was bent on conflict. The disillusioned Chamberlain resigned soon after as Britain prepared for an inevitable war.
#
"Outbreak of Second World War (1939)",44,0,0,0
The Second World War began following the German invasion of \JPoland\j on September 1. Britain and \JFrance\j, who had agreed to protect \JPoland\j after \JGermany\j occupied, annexed, or invaded a series of smaller countries from the late 1930s, declared war on \JGermany\j on September 3.
There were two main sides. The Axis included Nazi \JGermany\j who had signed an agreement with fascist \JItaly\j (the \JRome\j-Berlin Axis), and then fascist \JJapan\j (the \JRome\j-Berlin-\JTokyo\j Triangle). \JGermany\j was also initially supported by Soviet \JRussia\j, with whom she had signed a non-aggression pact in which they agreed to divide \JPoland\j between them. After \JGermany\j attacked Soviet \JRussia\j in 1942, however, Soviet \JRussia\j changed sides. The Axis was also supported by smaller powers including \JHungary\j, \JFinland\j, and \JBulgaria\j.
The Allies initially included Great Britain and the British Commonwealth, \JFrance\j, \JPoland\j, \JBelgium\j, Denmark, the Netherlands, China, and smaller powers. After \JJapan\j attacked the American naval base in the island state of Hawaii in 1941, the United States joined the Allies.
On April 9, 1940, \JGermany\j invaded \JNorway\j and neutral Denmark using the "\Jlightning\j strike" or \Iblitzkrieg\i attacking technique. \JGermany\j wanted to secure \JNorway\j's iron ore supplies and use her fjords as shipping ports from which to attack Britain. British and French troops who rushed to defend \JNorway\j were defeated and withdrew by May.
On May 10, \JGermany\j launched an invasion of Holland, \JBelgium\j, and \JFrance\j, conquering Holland within four days and \JFrance\j by June 14, despite strong resistance by the Allied forces, who were driven west to the port of \JDunkirk\j on the English Channel.
#
"Churchill Elected Prime Minister of Britain (1940)",45,0,0,0
Britain gained a champion fighter to lead them through the war when Conservative member of parliament, Winston Churchill, became Prime Minister in 1940, and formed a coalition government after the resignation of the would-be peacemaker, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Churchill was also Minister for Defense throughout the Second World War, and was an inspired leader who spearheaded Britain's fight against Nazi \JGermany\j with great determination.
Churchill had the advantage of being an excellent military strategist. He had trained at Sandhurst, fought with the Nile Expeditionary Force in 1898, covered the Boer War as a correspondent, served as First Lord of the Admiralty in 1911, and helped lead the disastrous 1915 Dardanelles campaign, from which he learned valuable lessons. He had also been Minister for Munitions in 1917, and Secretary of State for War and Air (1919-21).
Although defeated at the first election held after the war, Churchill led the Conservatives back to power in 1951, becoming Prime Minister again.
#
"Dunkirk Evacuation (1940)",46,0,0,0
On May 27, British military and civilian personnel evacuated 340,000 troops from the French port of \JDunkirk\j across the Channel to England after the troops had fled from the Germans invading \JFrance\j. The evacuation, called "Operation Dynamo," saved 200,000 British Expeditionary Forces and 140,000 French troops. The rescuers sailed over from England in a flotilla of boats, ranging from naval vessels to small power boats, to transport the defeated troops more than 22 miles across \Jwater\j to safety.
Operation Dynamo was the biggest evacuation in history. Through their brave actions, the British civilians enabled the Allied troops to regroup until it was time to return to Europe to defeat the Germans.
#
"Battle of Britain (1940)",47,0,0,0
In July 1940, Nazi \JGermany\j launched an aerial onslaught against Britain as a prelude to a planned invasion. Although the bombing continued until 1942, the main raids over Britain were carried out from July to October 1940, the worst period being "the Blitz" in September, when the Germans tried to bomb London into submission.
The Battle of Britain pitted a force of 2,500 German \Jaircraft\j of all descriptions against 820 British fighter planes. The British Spitfires and Hurricanes fought well in the air however, especially against 869 German ME 109 fighter planes. The British also enjoyed a home ground advantage and radar detection, while the Germans, even though they were more experienced, were restricted by limited fuel.
The Royal Air Force defended Britain around the clock, month after month, and after long and hard-fought battles, defeated the German \JLuftwaffe\j planes, preventing the planned German invasion of Britain, known as Sealion, which Hitler soon canceled. The RAF shot down 325 \JLuftwaffe\j planes and lost 265 planes, but 50,000 British people were killed as a result of the German bombing raids.
#
"Germany Invaded Soviet Russia (1941)",48,0,0,0
Although Hitler had signed a non-aggression pact with Stalin, his Nazi German troops invaded Soviet \JRussia\j on June 22. Code named "Operation Barbarossa," three sets of troops were deployed to Soviet \JRussia\j in northerly, central, and southerly directions, hoping to cut through the border and sneak around to encircle Russian troops manning the frontiers. Hitler's ambitions were to destroy \JCommunism\j, and to capture the wheat fields of the \JUkraine\j and the oil supplies in the Caucasus in order to supply food to his troops and fuel for their vehicles.
Despite these ambitions, however, Hitler overreached himself, and his defeat by Soviet \JRussia\j was the first major Second World War turning point in favor of the Allies. Although Hitler diverted 75 per cent of his troops and war materials, including three million men, 3,500 tanks, and 5,000 \Jaircraft\j, the Soviet soldiers enjoyed a home ground advantage with more food, winter clothing, and fuel, enabling them to survive the same freezing winter that defeated the Germans the way it had defeated Napoleon more than 100 years earlier. But while the tough fighting Soviet soldiers managed to drive the Germans back out of \JRussia\j, they lost 20 million people in the war, the largest death toll of any nation in any war throughout history.
#
"Japan Attacked Pearl Harbor (1941)",49,0,0,0
On December 7, Japanese bombers launched a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, without declaring war. Operating from an \Jaircraft\j carrier fleet in the Pacific, 200 Japanese planes attacked the naval base, sinking five battleships, disabling another three, destroying 200 \Jaircraft\j, and killing 2,350 men. \JJapan\j lost 29 of her own planes in the attack.
Although the bombardment crippled the US for some months until she rebuilt her fleet, this single act more than any other was \JJapan\j's undoing in the Second World War, as it provoked the US to enter the conflict. In time, the US defeated \JJapan\j, ultimately dropping atom bombs on \JHiroshima\j and \JNagasaki\j.
#
"The Holocaust (1941-44)",50,0,0,0
The term \JHolocaust\j means great destruction or loss, and was first used to describe the mass extermination of Jewish people by the Nazis during the Second World War. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi followers, who considered Jews to be less than human, had been persecuting them for years, removing Jewish rights in \JGermany\j as early as 1935. During the war, \JGermany\j occupied many countries with large Jewish populations, and initially Jews were herded into ghettos or rounded up and killed by special death squads.
The systematic extermination of the Jews began in 1941, when the decision was made to ship Jewish people to concentration camps set up in eastern Europe. In what the Nazis called "the final solution" to the "Jewish problem," people were crammed into railway freight cars and sent to camps such as \JAuschwitz\j, Belsen, Treblinka, and Sobibor, where most went straight to their deaths in specially designed gas chambers.
An estimated 70 per cent of Europe's Jews were murdered in the \JHolocaust\j.
#
"Battle of Midway Islands (1942)",51,0,0,0
After bombing Pearl Harbor in 1941, \JJapan\j gained control of the Pacific, occupying Malaya, \JSingapore\j, \JBurma\j, Hong Kong, the \JPhilippines\j, and many of the islands. In the battle for Midway Islands in June 1942, the Japanese deployed five \Jaircraft\j carriers with nearly 400 planes and 5,000 troops, far outnumbering the United States forces. Nevertheless, the US sank four Japanese \Jaircraft\j carriers and 296 planes, losing only one carrier and 132 \Jaircraft\j.
The victory of the United States over \JJapan\j in the battle for Midway Islands was a decisive turning point in the war, giving the Allies control over the Pacific and putting \JJapan\j on the defensive, with the US forces then moving west towards \JJapan\j, driving the Japanese back across the Pacific. \JJapan\j's defeat in the battle was of the same strategic significance to the war in the Pacific as \JGermany\j's defeat at Stalingrad was to the war in Europe.
#
"Russians Defeat Germans at Stalingrad (1943)",52,0,0,0
The successful Russian defense of the German attack against Stalingrad was the key victory in the defeat of the German invasion of Soviet \JRussia\j. As such, the Russian victory at Stalingrad represented a major turning point of the Second World War in Europe, leaving the Germans on the defensive until the end of the conflict in 1945.
Hitler had ordered General von Paulus and his \JV1\j Panzer division to take the city with 250,000 men, but Russian General Zhukov fought back with two pincer attacks from the north and the south of the city, encircling and annihilating the German troops. After the Germans surrendered, \JRussia\j took 91,000 prisoners.
The Russians had already helped the Allied war effort by engaging 75 per cent of the German war machine on the eastern front for three years. Whereas the Axis powers deployed 228 divisions, or 5,250 tanks and 4,000,000 men against \JRussia\j, there were only 61 divisions deployed on the western front. This battle on the eastern front thereby gave the Allies on the western front time to prepare for the invasion and liberation of Europe in 1944.
#
"D-Day Landing (1944)",53,0,0,0
The Allies, who had fled from \JDunkirk\j in 1940, returned to liberate Europe from Nazi German occupation on June 6, 1944, landing at Normandy to open up the long awaited "western front."
Confident that the Russians would preoccupy the Germans on the "eastern front," the Allies had first started the final offensive against the Germans by landing on the Italian island of Sicily in July, 1943, and at Salerno on the Italian mainland in September, 1943. The Allies planned to divert additional German troops to the south, forcing the Germans to fight in both the south and the east, the aim being to minimize the opposition when the bulk of the Allied forces landed in the west.
The successful D-\JDay\j landing at Normandy was code named "Overlord." It was led by United States General Eisenhower and involved 1,000,000 troops from six Allied divisions: three American, two British, and one Canadian. After the landing, the Allies swept across Europe, liberating nations from German occupation and finally invading \JGermany\j, meeting the Russians who were liberating Europe from the east. The European war against \JGermany\j had been won.
#
"Yalta Conference (1945)",54,0,0,0
The Allied leaders met at Yalta from February 4 to 11 to plan the end of the Second World War and the rebuilding of the world during the forthcoming peace. At this summit meeting, British leader Winston Churchill, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and United States President Franklin Roosevelt discussed the disarmament and partition of \JGermany\j, the creation of the United Nations, and new frontiers including the Soviet/Polish border.
The Allies also persuaded the Soviet Union to declare war on \JJapan\j once \JGermany\j was defeated. It was an historic meeting and an unusual alliance, given that capitalist democracies such as the US and Britain were opposed to \JCommunism\j. After the war, this traditional suspicion returned and developed into the Cold War.
#
"Atom Bombs Dropped on Japan (1945)",55,0,0,0
On August 6, the United States dropped its first atom bomb on the Japanese city of \JHiroshima\j to force the Japanese Government to surrender. The bomb killed or wounded 150,000 people and destroyed 75 per cent of all buildings. A second bomb was then dropped on \JNagasaki\j on August 9, killing or wounding 75,000 people and destroying one-third of the city.
In 1945 the US was the only country who had the atom bomb, which had been developed under US army control from 1942 onwards as the "Manhattan Project." The chief of the scientific team was J. Robert Oppenheimer. "Little Boy," the bomb dropped on \JHiroshima\j was never tested, but "Fat Man," the bomb used against \JNagasaki\j, had been tested in New Mexico on July 16.
#
"End of Second World War (1945)",56,0,0,0
Although the European theatre of war ended on May 8 with the defeat of \JGermany\j in Europe (VE \JDay\j), the Second World War did not end until August 14 (VJ \JDay\j), when \JJapan\j surrendered, bringing the war in the Pacific to a close on September 2 after \JJapan\j signed the capitulation on board USS \IMissouri.\i
War casualties 1939-45:
Great Britain - 244,723 killed and 277,090 wounded.
British Commonwealth - 109,929 killed and 197,908 wounded.
United States - 230,173 killed and 613,611 wounded.
\JGermany\j - 3,000,000 killed and 1,000,000 wounded.
USSR - 20,000,000 killed and an unknown number wounded.
The military forces of the victorious Allies: the US, Britain, \JFrance\j, and the USSR, occupied the defeated countries of \JGermany\j and \JAustria\j. The Allies also imposed peace treaties on five other defeated countries: \JItaly\j, \JHungary\j, \JFinland\j, \JRomania\j, and \JBulgaria\j, confiscated territory from all except \JBulgaria\j, and forced these defeated nations to reduce their armed forces and pay heavy indemnities.
#
"United Nations Established (1945)",57,0,0,0
On October 24, the victorious Allies of the Second World War established the United Nations (UN) as a successor to the failed League of Nations, which had attempted in vain to keep the peace between the First and Second World Wars. The United Nations was founded by 51 countries who wanted to maintain world order and foster international co-operation. By 1994 the UN had 184 members.
The charter, which was drafted during the war by the United States, Britain, and Soviet \JRussia\j, aimed at achieving a community of independent sovereign states to preserve the security of the world by taking collective action against war and the causes of war.
Six main bodies:
1. General Assembly (plenary body which supervises the work of the UN generally).
2. Security Council (responsible for maintaining peace and security under the leadership of five permanent members: China, USSR, Britain, \JFrance\j, and US).
3. Secretariat (responsible for diplomatic management under the Secretary General).
4. The International Court of Justice (responsible for adjudicating and settling disputes between nations).
5. Economic and Social Council (responsible for supervising work of committees, commissions, and agencies).
6. Trusteeship Council (responsible for supervising the transfer from Trust Territories to self-government).
There is also a range of subsidiary agencies such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (\JUNESCO\j).
#
"Cold War and Iron Curtain (1946)",58,0,0,0
The Cold War began after the end of the Second World War when the Anglo-American Allies began to fear their former USSR ally, which was taking over "liberated" eastern European nations such as \JCzechoslovakia\j, \JPoland\j, \JHungary\j, \JBulgaria\j, \JRomania\j, and East \JGermany\j.
In 1946, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill claimed that the Soviet Union had drawn an "Iron Curtain" across central Europe, isolating the Communist-controlled eastern European nations from the free democratic nations in western Europe. Nazi \JGermany\j's propaganda leader Goebbels had used the term in 1943. It was a popular description of eastern European \JCommunism\j until the late 1980s when \JCommunism\j collapsed.
#
"India Gained Independence (1947)",59,0,0,0
India was granted independence by the British Government on August 15. Indian leaders had been agitating for independence for some time, with Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru rejecting self-government proposals and demanding that the British quit India on September 20, 1945.
India was split into two countries: a smaller India for Hindus and the new \JPakistan\j for Muslims. Pandit Nehru was Prime Minister of India, and Liaquat Ali Khan was Prime Minister of \JPakistan\j. Although long-awaited, the newly won independence and partitioning sparked religious riots between the mutually hostile Hindus and Muslims. On January 30 the following year, a Hindu fanatic assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, who had called for an end to the religious fighting and had given up eating in an appeal for unity.
#
"Berlin Airlift (1948)",60,0,0,0
After the Second World War, \JGermany\j was divided into East \JGermany\j, which was controlled by the Communist Soviet Union, and West \JGermany\j, which was controlled by the Allied Americans, British, and French. The main German city of Berlin, which lay deep in Soviet-controlled East \JGermany\j, was also divided into East Berlin (controlled by the Soviet Union) and West Berlin (controlled by the Allies).
In an attempt to force the western Allies out of the city, the Soviet Union imposed a blockade on the western sectors of Berlin in 1948, cutting off all road, rail, and canal routes, and thereby stopping the flow of food, fuel, and raw materials to some 2,500,000 consumers.
The western Allies responded by mounting a massive airlift from airfields in western \JGermany\j, in a daring operation in defiance of Soviet wishes, American and British \Jaircraft\j launched 277,264 flights over 11 months, carrying 4,000-5,000 tons of food each \Jday\j for the people of West Berlin, until the Soviet Union called off the blockade on May 12, 1949.
#
"Communists Proclaimed People's Republic of China (1949)",61,0,0,0
Mao Tse-tung proclaimed the Chinese Communist People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square on October 1, naming Chou En-lai as Premier and Foreign Minister.
Mao had led the Communist Party of China during the 1920s, when the Nationalists and Communists began fighting within the republic, established by Dr. \JSun\j Yat-sen in 1911. Mao gained his credentials after leading his loyal band of Communists on a Long March to Yanan in 1934-35, establishing a strong-hold in the north-west of China and winning widespread backing in the countryside. The Communist war against the Nationalists was then put on hold to fight the Japanese, who invaded China in 1937, but it began again after \JJapan\j surrendered in 1945.
Although the Nationalist had the support of the United States, which opposed \JCommunism\j, the Communists developed superior forces, and went on to capture several Nationalist strongholds, including Shanghai. Following the defeat of its troops, the former Nationalist Government of Chiang Kay-shek fled to \JTaiwan\j.
#
"Korean War (1950-53)",62,0,0,0
Following the Communist victory in China in 1949, war erupted in Korea on June 25, 1950 when North Korean Communist forces invaded non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations Security Council condemned the invasion as an act of aggression, calling for a ceasefire and ordering the Koreans to withdraw to the 38th parallel. The peninsula had been partitioned along the 38th parallel in 1945, after the United States occupied South Korea to drive out the defeated Japanese army.
When North Korea refused to withdraw, the UN called for assistance, and 16 nations, led by the United States, offered to help defend South Korea. United States General Douglas MacArthur was in charge of the non-Communist forces, which succeeded in driving the northern Communists back to the Chinese border.
China then entered the war, and with North Korean forces, captured the South Korean capital Seoul on June 28, 1951. The UN/US forces retaliated, pushing the Communists back over the 38th parallel, and establishing South Korea as a non-Communist nation by the armistice of 1953.
#
"Death of Stalin (1953)",63,0,0,0
Joseph Stalin, the hard-line leader of the Soviet Union and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR, died on March 5, 1953. His death ushered in a more humane era of \JCommunism\j which eventually led to de-Stalinization and finally the collapse of \JCommunism\j.
Originally named Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, Stalin was born in 1879, the son of a former serf-turned-cobbler in Georgia. Educated and expelled by a theological seminary, he joined a social democratic underground revolutionary organization and after some years in Siberian exile joined the \JBolsheviks\j, playing an active role in the 1917 October Revolution which seized power in the name of the Communists under Lenin. After becoming People's Commissar for Nationalities and then member of the Communist Party \JPolitburo\j, he strengthened his grip on power as General Secretary of the Party's Central Committee. Once Lenin died in 1924, Stalin ruled the USSR like a dictator.
His policies of \Jsocialism\j in one country, agricultural collectivization, and forced industrialization, claimed millions of people's lives. Stalin also purged the government and associated institutions, killing, imprisoning, and executing millions of so-called "enemies of the people." After his death, his successor Krushchev denounced Stalin and began the slow healing process of de-Stalinization.
#
"Mt Everest Conquered (1953)",64,0,0,0
After many years of failed attempts by mountaineers around the world, New Zealand climber Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mt Everest on May 29, becoming the first men to stand on top of the world at 8,848 meters (29,028 feet) above sea level. The two climbers were members of a party led by British mountaineer John Hunt.
It was Norgay's eighth attempt to achieve the feat and Hillary's second. Hillary was subsequently knighted and then spent much of his life helping provide educational facilities for the Sherpas and people of \JNepal\j who had helped him conquer the world's highest mountain.
#
"Queen Elizabeth II Crowned (1953)",65,0,0,0
Following the death of the British monarch, King George VI, his eldest child Elizabeth was crowned Queen at London's Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953. Elizabeth had already been proclaimed Queen on February 6, 1952.
As Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, she had married in 1947. Her husband became the Duke of Edinburgh and was later given the title Prince Philip. Queen Elizabeth II is head of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
#
"Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954)",66,0,0,0
Vietnamese Communists for the first time defeated a French force at the battle of Dien Bien Phu, an outcome which resulted in \JFrance\j's withdrawal from Vietnam. \JFrance\j had occupied the country since seizing \JSaigon\j in 1859, only to be supplanted by \JJapan\j during the Second World War. Following the war, \JFrance\j hoped to regain colonial status, but conflict began in 1946 after the breakdown of negotiations with the Communist-dominated Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh.
The French defeat and the subsequent Geneva settlement left North Vietnam under Communist rule and the South under anti-Communist rule. Elections planned for 1956 to unite the country did not eventuate, and as the struggle between North and South grew, the United States assumed the anti-Communist role vacated by the French in 1954, increasing assistance to the South and providing a small number of military advisors. Ultimately, in what proved to be a disastrous move, the US became embroiled in the 1964-75 Vietnam War on behalf of the South.
#
"Warsaw Pact (1955)",67,0,0,0
In response to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (\JNATO\j) by Western nations in 1949, a balancing force was created by Communist nations in 1955. Members of the military mutual assistance treaty, known as the Warsaw Pact, included the USSR, \JPoland\j, East \JGermany\j, \JHungary\j, \JRomania\j, \JCzechoslovakia\j, \JBulgaria\j, and \JAlbania\j.
The treaty set up a central and unified command structure for all the armies of the member states. All members agreed to assist each other should any state be attacked. \JAlbania\j withdrew in 1968, however, and the Pact was dissolved in 1991 after the end of the Cold War.
#
"De-Stalinization (1956)",68,0,0,0
The unrelenting hard-line of Soviet \JCommunism\j, practiced under Communist Party Secretary Joseph Stalin from his rise in 1924 to his death in 1953, was terminated in 1956, when the new Secretary Nikita Krushchev denounced Stalin at the 20th Party Congress in Moscow. Krushchev also denounced Stalin's \Jcult\j of personality and one-man dictatorial style of control, opening up a new softer style of government that evolved until the eventual collapse of traditional Soviet \JCommunism\j in the late 1980s.
Krushchev's de-Stalinization caused a split between the Soviet Union and Communist China, whose leader Mao Tse-tung preferred to follow Stalin's original hard-line and develop his \Jcult\j of personality. Nevertheless, the de-Stalinization policy was a turning point for the Communist world.
#
"Hungarian Uprising (1956)",69,0,0,0
In October 1956, Hungarian anti-hardline Communist rebels organized the first major revolt against the Soviet Union's control over Eastern Bloc countries, opening up a crack in the faτade of the Iron Curtain. The rebels, led by Imre Nagy, were inspired by Soviet leader Krushchev's denunciation of Stalin at the 20th Soviet Communist Party Congress.
The Hungarians, who had opposed the total control exercised by the Soviet Union over \JHungary\j's political, economic, and social life, ran amok. Rioting students and workers tipped over statues of Stalin and tore posters off the walls, demanding a softer style of government in the future. Nagy also announced \JHungary\j's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. Soviet tanks then invaded, crushed the riot, killed many protesters, and executed Nagy. Thousands of Hungarians fled to the West, where some, like Nagy's nephew Istvan Nagy, became highly successful businessmen.
#
"Suez Crisis (1956)",70,0,0,0
In 1956 President Nasser of \JEgypt\j triggered an international crisis when he nationalized the Suez Canal in defiance of an agreement stating that control of the waterway should remain with the international Suez Canal Company. President Nasser's move was aimed at raising alternative funds to pay for the construction of \JEgypt\j's \JAswan\j Dam following the withdrawal of financial aid by the United States, which objected to \JEgypt\j's purchase of arms from the Soviet Union.
Britain and \JFrance\j, however, did not want to lose influence over the canal, or pay exorbitant fees to send their ships through the vital route linking the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea. Thus, when Israel invaded \JEgypt\j hoping to strengthen its position in the Middle East, both Britain and \JFrance\j supported the action, and later sent forces to occupy the Canal zone. On November 3, under pressure from both the US and the USSR, Britain and \JFrance\j agreed to withdraw, an agreement widely regarded as a major defeat, but one which ended the crisis.
#
"USSR Launched First Sputnik (1957)",71,0,0,0
Soviet \JRussia\j caught the budding space community by surprise when it launched the world's first man-made \Jsatellite\j from the Tyuratam site on October 4. Sputnik I (Russian for "traveling companion") weighed 84 kg or 185 lb, and was launched and powered by batteries enabling it to transmit signals for three weeks as it orbited \JEarth\j at an altitude of more than 800 kilometers (500 miles).
The early Russian success spurred the Americans into action, and by 1969 they had put the first man on the moon. Eventually the two nations began working together in space.
#
"EEC Created (1958)",72,0,0,0
The Treaty of \JRome\j established the European Economic Community (\JEEC\j) or European Common Market, consisting of western European member nations. It was formed to create an integrated economic unit which would then develop into an integrated political grouping to minimize the risk of future war.
The original six members in 1958 included \JFrance\j, \JBelgium\j, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, \JItaly\j, and West \JGermany\j. They were later joined by Denmark, the United Kingdom and Ireland (1973), \JGreece\j (1981), and \JSpain\j and \JPortugal\j (1986).
The \JEEC\j created common and standardized institutions for industrial production, regulation, and marketing, forming one of the largest trading blocs in history, controlled by a series of supra-national bodies including the European Parliament, European Commission, Council of Ministers, and European Court of Justice.
#
"Great Leap Forward (1958)",73,0,0,0
In 1958, aware that his Communist nation was lagging behind, Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung introduced the Great Leap Forward, designed to speed up progress in both agricultural and industrial production. Claiming that China had to "walk on two legs," Mao urged people to strive for greater output in both primary produce and steel production.
Thousands of peasants were organized into special communes to work in farms or local industry. But as this diverted peasants from purely agricultural production, output levels declined and the economy "fell between two stools." Contrary to Mao's expectations, the economy weakened greatly and millions of people suffered from starvation and dislocation.
#
"Cuban Revolution (1959)",74,0,0,0
Cuban dictator General Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1 by 32-year-old revolutionary Fidel Castro and his followers. A former \JHavana\j lawyer, Castro had been imprisoned in 1953 after an unsuccessful attempt to oust the Batista dictatorship, but was released under an amnesty and went to Mexico to plan the revolution in exile. He returned to \JCuba\j in 1956, and in 1958, launched a full-scale guerrilla war which ultimately succeeded in forcing Batista to relinquish power and flee the island nation.
After Castro came to power, he proclaimed a Marxist-Leninist program and set about implementing far-reaching reforms, nationalizing plantation estates and distributing land plots to peasants. However, Castro's revolution alarmed the United States, which had traditionally enjoyed access to naval ports and intervention rights in Cuban affairs, but suddenly found itself with a Communist state on its southern doorstep. In 1961, the US Government unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow Castro and install a democratic leader through an abortive invasion at the Bay of Pigs.
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"Sino/Soviet Split (1960)",75,0,0,0
The denunciation of Stalin by Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev in 1956 ushered in a new more humane era for most nations within the international Communist movement, except for \JAlbania\j and China, which chose to continue following the hard-line Stalinist policies. The Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Tse-tung, took the most defiant stance, declaring the Soviet Communists "revisionists" and "capitalist roaders" who needed to be resisted and opposed.
Despite the great financial and technical assistance provided by the USSR since 1949, Mao publicly disassociated China from the USSR in 1960. Mao declared that China would go it alone and create its own Communist model without further assistance from the world's Communist leader, a move which damaged the Chinese economy.
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"Bay of Pigs (1961)",76,0,0,0
Alarmed by the Communist takeover of nearby \JCuba\j following Fidel Castro's successful revolution, United States President, John F. Kennedy, used the Central Intelligence Agency to organize an anti-revolutionary invasion of \JCuba\j, designed to remove Castro and replace him with a democratic leader sympathetic to the US. With the Cold War at its height, some Americans feared the international Soviet-backed Communist movement could use \JCuba\j as a launching pad to attack the US.
The US invasion was officially led by Cuban exiles who hoped to reinstate democracy with the support of the Cuban people. On April 17, the 1,500 US-backed exiles tried to beach their craft at the southern Bay of Pigs but were defeated by Castro's Cuban defense forces, who took 1,173 prisoners, later ransomed for $US53 million in food and medicine. The US attempt to overthrow Castro had underestimated the strength of the Cuban armed forces and the extent of Fidel Castro's popularity. As such, it was a disastrous failure which merely strengthened links between \JCuba\j and the USSR, the Cold War enemy of the US.
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"Berlin Wall Erected (1961)",77,0,0,0
The Communist East German Government constructed a 45-kilometer (28-mile) concrete wall between East and West Berlin to prevent people in the East from escaping to the free market capitalism in the West. Reinforced by watchtowers and gun emplacements, the wall stopped many illegal migrations, but hundreds continued to try to escape and many were shot in the process.
The West Germans built a museum in honor of the dead on their side of the wall, which became a symbol of human rights repression and a target of demonstrators over the years. West Germans increasingly attacked the wall as \JCommunism\j softened, and was eventually opened in November 1989.
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"World's First Astronaut (1961)",78,0,0,0
Soviet \JRussia\j's Yuri Gagarin became the world's first \Jastronaut\j when he flew around the \Jplanet\j in the \JVostok\j spaceship \Jsatellite\j, realizing a centuries-old dream of people on \JEarth\j. Gagarin was awarded the status of Hero of the Soviet Union, and then shared the Galabert Astronautical Prize with pioneering American \Jastronaut\j John Glenn in 1963.
Gagarin was subsequently killed in a plane accident during military training in the USSR, after which his home town Gzhatsk was renamed Gagarin. Gagarin's flight spurred on the American-manned space travel program, which succeeded in putting a man on the moon by 1969.
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"Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)",79,0,0,0
A crisis erupted on October 16 when United States U-2 spy planes detected long-range Soviet missile sites in \JCuba\j, just two years after Soviet \JRussia\j had vowed to defend the Communist island nation against US aggression. US President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of \JCuba\j, warning Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev that US forces would seize any offensive weapons that he attempted to deliver. Following a tense battle of nerves, the crisis was resolved on October 28, when Mr. Krushchev agreed to dismantle the launch sites and return the missiles to the Soviet Union. Mr. Kennedy, in turn, pledged that the US would never invade \JCuba\j.
At its height, the incident sparked international fears of a serious conflict between the US and the Soviet Union. It also inspired the USSR to fast track its nuclear weapons production program, and worsened Cold War relationships between the two superpowers.
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"Algerian Independence (1962)",80,0,0,0
\JAlgeria\j gained its independence from \JFrance\j in 1962 after a series of long and bitter conflicts. The French had occupied \JAlgeria\j and fought for control throughout the nineteenth century, using the legendary forces of the French Foreign Legion to capture many strategic positions and place them under French administration.
Although the French Government had controlled \JAlgeria\j from 1902, the Algerians resisted their colonial demands and resented their presence. By 1952, the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) waged a war against the French occupying forces, which eventually forced the French to abandon the territory. Even the Second World War hero Charles de Gaulle, who was re-elected in 1958 to win the Algerian war, was unable to stem the tide of anti-colonialism.
Ahmed Ben Bella became the first Algerian president of the new republic.
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"Kennedy Assassinated (1963)",81,0,0,0
John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated on November 22 while riding in an open car in a motorcade through the streets of \JDallas\j, \JTexas\j, during a state visit. The gunman was identified as Lee Harvey Oswald, a former marine who had served in the American forces and then lived in the USSR for some time until he was refused Soviet citizenship. Before he could be brought to trial, however, Oswald was shot dead by Jack Ruby, a \JDallas\j nightclub owner with links to the underworld and the police.
The slaying was investigated a number of times due to confusion surrounding the incident, and two government inquiries were prompted by repeated allegations that the US military industrial complex ordered Kennedy's assassination because he wanted to withdraw American forces from Vietnam and other conflicts. The second congressional committee found that Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.
\BFor information of Kennedy's speech please click on\b \JKennedy, John F(itzgerald) speech\j\b
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"Vietnam War and United States Involvement (1964-75)",82,0,0,0
The Vietnam War had its origins in the division of the country between the Communist North and non-Communist South during the 1954 Geneva Settlement. Following the withdrawal of former colonial power \JFrance\j that year, the United States began providing aid to South Vietnam, and later sent military advisers as rebellion in the South intensified, with guerrillas known as Viet Cong challenging the South Vietnamese Government and gaining ground, especially among the peasants in the countryside. In 1964, regular North Vietnamese forces marched south along what became known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail to actively support the Viet Cong, whose rebellious efforts they had earlier encouraged.
Fearing a domino-effect throughout Southeast Asia, US President Lyndon Johnson was determined to halt the Communist advance. Under the Tonkin Bay Resolution, passed by the US Congress after a North Vietnamese naval attack on two American destroyers, President Johnson embarked on a policy of escalation, increasing the number of US troops from 25,000 in 1965 to 500,000 by 1968, and initiating a massive bombing campaign, which included the use of chemical defoliants to clear areas of the countryside in the South. However, the strategy brought little success against the guerrilla tactics of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers, and only served to strengthen support for the Communists.
Back in the US, meanwhile, public anti-war sentiment mounted, particularly after the 1970 US invasion of \JCambodia\j. Finally, failure in the field and opposition at home forced US President Richard Nixon to agree to a ceasefire and withdraw from the war in 1973. Despite the ceasefire, fighting between North and South soon resumed, and the war effectively ended with victory for the North on April 29, 1975, when the Communists captured the southern capital of \JSaigon\j, which was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
The cost of the Vietnam War was enormous. The US spent billions of dollars fighting a losing battle which left 58,000 Americans killed or missing. Vietnam itself was devastated, with millions of people maimed or killed.
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"Civil Rights Bill (1964)",83,0,0,0
On July 2, United States President, Lyndon B. Johnson, signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was the most radical law of its kind in US history. Inspired by a series of civil rights campaigns beginning in the 1950s, the bill prohibited racial discrimination in employment, public facilities, places of public accommodation, union membership, and Federal funded programs. It guaranteed, at least on paper, equal rights to black and white Americans with penalties for abuse.
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"Rhodesian Independence (1965)",84,0,0,0
Rhodesian political leader Ian Smith declared his nation's independence from Britain in 1965 after years of political struggle. Rhodesia was named after British-born South African statesman Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902), who in 1889 had secured a charter over the area for the British South African Company.
After the period during which it was administered by the British South African Company, Rhodesia had developed into a self-governing British colony (1923). However, the British refused to allow full independence under African rule, so the white majority government declared their independence unilaterally in 1965. African political movements then fought for control and gained full independence in 1980 under black leader Robert Mugabe. The area was renamed Zimbabwe.
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"Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966)",85,0,0,0
From 1966 until his death in 1976, Mao Tse-tung enforced a campaign he called the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which was designed to stop the Communist revolution from stagnating by wiping out old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. The campaign employed Red Guards, mostly students and young soldiers who were fanatical supporters of Chairman Mao.
Throughout China, older party officials, intellectuals, and artists suspected of harboring pro-Western or pre-revolutionary ideas were driven from their jobs and banished to forced labor camps. The campaign severely disrupted economic, social, and political life in China, with thousands of people killed, and innumerable architectural treasures and artifacts destroyed.
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"Greek Monarchy Overthrown (1967)",86,0,0,0
In 1967 a revolutionary junta rose up against the Greek King Constantine, taking charge of the government and expelling the King from the palace, forcing him to flee to England. Although King Constantine tried to organize a counter-revolutionary force to regain his crown, he failed, and the monarchy was abolished in 1969.
The military junta controlled the government until 1974, but it was unpopular and out of keeping with the centuries of ancient Greek democratic tradition, and there was great rejoicing when democracy was restored.
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"Arab/Israeli War (1967)",87,0,0,0
The Israel army sparked a major conflict known as the "Six \JDay\j War" when it invaded the \JSinai\j desert, occupying the \JSinai\j peninsula, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, the ancient city of \JJerusalem\j, strategic locations along the Suez Canal, and areas of Jordan and \JSyria\j. The Arab world fought back, with Egyptian leader Nasser leading a United Arab Republic force against the Jews. However, the Israelis won major territorial gains, and 300,000 people were made homeless before peace was negotiated.
The Six \JDay\j War was the third in a series of Arab/Israeli wars, following on from the 1948 and 1956 conflicts when Israel had tried to occupy the \JSinai\j.
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"Pueblo Incident (1968)",88,0,0,0
In 1968 the North Korean Communist government captured an American Intelligence ship \IPueblo,\i which was gathering information off the North Korean coast. The \IPueblo\i (named after the American Indian tribe) was part of the US military campaign to stop Communist governments spreading their global influence.
As the Americans were fighting against \JCommunism\j in Vietnam, they needed as much early warning information about the Communists as they could get. The North Koreans, however, seized the ship and imprisoned the crew. After a period of tense negotiations, the crew was released in December and the incident was over.
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"USSR Invaded Czechoslovakia (1968)",89,0,0,0
In 1968 the army of the USSR invaded \JCzechoslovakia\j to suppress an anti-Soviet democratic freedom movement which had developed after the soft-line Communist leader Alexander Dubcek came to power in early 1968 as First Secretary of the Communist Party of \JCzechoslovakia\j. Although there had been different attempts at liberalization and dramatic protests, including students setting fire to themselves, it was not until Dubcek's appointment that the liberalization movement had flourished.
The USSR crushed the uprising, known as the "\JPrague\j Spring," and retained its control over \JCzechoslovakia\j until 1989, when the collapse of \JCommunism\j ushered in a more democratic system of government and inspired the break-up of \JCzechoslovakia\j into constituent republics.
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"Martin Luther King Assassinated (1968)",90,0,0,0
On April 4, black American civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, was killed by a single rifle shot as he stood on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, \JTennessee\j. A Baptist minister and a gifted orator, Dr. King had led the 1950s \JAlabama\j campaign against racist segregation laws, and in 1964 had won both the Nobel Peace Prize and the Kennedy Peace Prize.
Although Dr. King advocated peaceful protest, his assassination sparked riots in 167 United States cities and on innumerable campuses across the country. The following year, James Earl Ray confessed to the crime and was convicted without trial, but rumors of a wider conspiracy and cover-up persisted, particularly after Ray recanted his confession, claiming he was a pawn in a larger conspiracy to silence the black civil rights campaigner. Dr. King's family backed Ray's claim, but Ray died in prison before his quest for the trial that his guilty plea had forestalled could succeed.
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"Student Riots (1968)",91,0,0,0
Angered by the escalation of American involvement in the Vietnam War since the mid-1960s, and inspired by mounting protests against the war, students around the democratic world mounted a series of protest marches and demonstrations. Students were empowered by a series of rock concerts held around the world starring radical musicians singing protest songs, smoking the prohibited narcotic plant marijuana, wearing flowers in their hair, and urging their fellow citizens to "make love not war."
The conflict between the students and the authorities peaked later with the Kent State University massacre where police shot four protesting students. The protests illustrated the unpopularity of the war to politicians and helped persuade the American Government to withdraw from Vietnam by 1973.
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"Sino/Soviet Border War (1969)",92,0,0,0
Tensions which had risen between former Communist allies, China and the Soviet Union, following their Sino/Soviet split in 1960, sparked a border conflict which gave rise to fears of full-scale war between the two giants. Mao Tse-tung threatened to attack the Soviet Union, claiming that the USSR had taken the "revisionist road" and become "a running dog of American \Jimperialism\j" because of its softer Communist policy following the 1956 de-Stalinization.
Mao was also using the USSR as an outside threat to unite his people who he was forcing at the same time to participate in his Cultural Revolution. The USSR for its part claimed that the Chinese had encroached on territorial areas along their mutual border.
Although the war of words continued for some time, accompanied by skirmishes along the border in the region to the north of China, major conflict was averted.
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"Moon Landing (1969)",93,0,0,0
American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin flew 344,400 km (238,850 miles) from \JEarth\j in the Apollo II \Jspacecraft\j and landed on the moon, \JEarth\j's only natural \Jsatellite\j and one quarter of its size.
With millions of people watching live via \Jtelevision\j, Neil Armstrong ushered in a new space age when he stepped down from his \Jspacecraft\j onto the lunar surface on July 22, becoming the first person to do so. Realizing the significance of this historic moment he said, "This is one small step for man but a giant leap for mankind." He was followed by Buzz Aldrin who also walked on the moon, while a third member of the expedition Mike Collins remained in the mother \Jspacecraft\j.
The mission, with its successful return to \JEarth\j, was rated as one of the greatest achievements of the human race.
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"Indian/Pakistani War (1971)",94,0,0,0
The rivalry between India and \JPakistan\j following the partition of India by the British in 1947 flared in 1971, with conflict erupting between the opposing forces. The conflict was sparked by a rebellion in East \JPakistan\j by separatists who wanted to break away from West \JPakistan\j and create an independent state.
The rival airforces attacked each other and fighting continued on the ground until the leaders of both sides negotiated the independence of \JBangladesh\j. The two sides had also fought in 1948 over Kashmir and Jammu, and tensions escalated from time to time over a series of unresolved issues.
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"US President Nixon Visited China (1972)",95,0,0,0
After waging war against Vietnam for a decade, and maintaining a hostile stance towards its giant Communist neighbor, American president Richard Nixon ushered in a new era when he visited China in 1972. Talks between Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung and Nixon put an end to hostilities, softened relations, and opened the door to new political and economic relationships. Nixon's visit was a great coup for Mao, whose country was in turmoil caused by the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), and increased his standing at home and abroad. The visit was also a coup for Nixon whose country was troubled by domestic problems and who was himself involved in the \JWatergate\j scandal which was threatening to, and eventually did, force him from office.
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"American Withdrawal from Vietnam (1972)",96,0,0,0
Having lost the war in Vietnam both on the ground and in the air after ten years of fighting the Vietnamese Communists, the Americans announced in 1972 that they would be withdrawing their troops. Although they were still fighting the war, they made the decision to de-escalate, withdrawing stage by stage in an attempt to stop the North Vietnamese Communists from taking over \JSaigon\j and South Vietnam too soon.
As they had deployed 500,000 soldiers at the height of the war, this withdrawal took some time and was not completed until 1975 when the last American troops left Vietnam.
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"Bloody Sunday in Londerry (1972)",97,0,0,0
British security forces breaking up a banned march in the Catholic Bogside district of \JLondonderry\j, Northern Ireland, on January 30, opened fire on the crowd, killing 14 unarmed Catholic civil rights protesters. The incident, which became known as Bloody Sunday, fueled hatred for British rule in Northern Ireland and swelled the ranks of the outlawed Irish Republican Army.
Although witnesses claimed that none of the marchers was armed with anything more than stones, the British Army chief in charge of the battalion in question insisted that his men opened fire only after they had been fired upon. The original inquiry in 1972 was later denounced as a whitewash, and in 1998, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced a new probe into the massacre.
Palestinian terrorists, members of the Black September group, broke into the Israeli athletes' compound at the Munich Olympics on September 5. Two athletes were killed, and nine others held hostage as the terrorists demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. When Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir refused the terrorists' demands, West German police took over the operation. Eventually, all nine Israeli hostages were killed along with five Palestinians and a German policeman.
The rest of the Israeli team immediately flew home after what was the first terrorist attack on a modern Olympic Games. Controversially, the Olympic Committee decided that the Games should continue.
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"Anti-Marxist Chile Coup (1973)",99,0,0,0
In 1973 the armed forces overthrew \JChile\j's Marxist President Salvador Allende (1908-73) and installed a military dictatorship crushing \JChile\j's short-lived attempt at \Jsocialism\j. Like South America's popular Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara (1928-67), Allende was a medical doctor turned political reformer, inspired by the suffering of the poorer classes.
Unlike Guevara, Allende created a socialist government not through revolution, but by coming up through the political ranks representing the left-wing in parliament. Having founded the Chilean Socialist Party in 1933, he served in the government as minister and senator before being elected in 1970 as President while leading the Socialist Party Unidad Popular. His socialist program threatened vested interests, however, so the military removed him.
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"Arab/Israeli War (1973)",100,0,0,0
The 1973 Arab/Israeli War was also called the Yom Kippur or Ramadan War. Tensions had grown since the 1967 "Six \JDay\j War," when the Israelis had taken land, including the Golan Heights, West Bank, Gaza Strip, and \JSinai\j Peninsula.
The 1973 war caused great concern among the international community, which feared its spread. It also dislocated the lives of a large number of civilians.
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"President Nixon Resigned (1974)",101,0,0,0
On August 9, Republican President Richard Nixon became the first United States President to resign his office, choosing to step down rather than face \Jimpeachment\j for his role in the \JWatergate\j scandal.
The scandal had surfaced in June the previous year, when intruders were caught bugging Washington's \JWatergate\j building, the headquarters of the Democratic Party's national committee. Subsequent investigations revealed that the intruders were linked to the Committee to Re-elect the President, and that Mr. Nixon's senior aides were also involved. Prosecutors then obtained a White House audio tape on which Mr. Nixon was heard telling his aides to obstruct \JFBI\j inquiries into the matter. With the public up in arms, the media and judicial system accusing him of undemocratic and dishonest behavior, and \Jimpeachment\j proceedings looming, Mr. Nixon chose to resign.
\B\IFor information on Nixon's speech please click on\b\i \JNixon, Richard M(ilhous) speech\j\b
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"Ethiopian Revolution (1974)",102,0,0,0
On September 12, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie (1891-1975) was overthrown by a military coup after months of instability. Although a Crown Prince was installed, the monarchy was abolished. The Emperor, who was 82 years old and known as "the Lion of Judah," had himself led a revolution in 1916 against the old order and government of Lij Yasu. He had westernized the institutions of government and modernized the country.
Although he fled during the Italian occupation of 1935-36, he returned after the Second World War and helped organize the Organization of African Unity. A 1973 \Jfamine\j, economic collapse, and industrial unrest precipitated the revolution against him. He was held in great respect throughout his life and became a hero for the Rastafarian movement.
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"Khmer Rouge Seized Control in Cambodia (1975)",103,0,0,0
On April 17, the Khmer Rouge Communist army captured the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, transforming the country's government into a totalitarian Communist dictatorship and changing its name to \JKampuchea\j. The Communists had been fighting for control of \JCambodia\j since they deposed non-Communist leader Prince Sihanouk in 1970 and created the Khmer Republic. The United States, fighting a losing effort against Communist forces in Vietnam, had tried in vain to stop the Communist takeover in neighboring \JCambodia\j.
The leader of the Khmer Rouge guerrilla army, Pol Pot, who had trained in Ho Chi Minh's anti-French forces in Vietnam in the 1940s, was elected chairman of \JCambodia\j's Communist Party. He ushered in a period of draconian terror as he executed opponents and forced the population, including those from the cities, to collectivize agriculture in the country. An estimated 3 million people died in what became known as Pol Pot's "killing fields" regime.
In 1979, the Vietnamese invaded \JCambodia\j to destroy what they regarded as the fraudulent Communist dictatorship of the Khmer Rouge. The Vietnamese had the support of the Cambodian people, and after fierce fighting, they defeated Pol Pot's forces, capturing Phnom Penh and driving the Khmer Rouge into the countryside. The Vietnamese restored the country's name of \JCambodia\j, and later re-installed Prince Sihanouk as leader. \JCambodia\j was then placed under the supervision of the United Nations.
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"Per≤n Deposed (1976)",104,0,0,0
On March 24, Argentinean President Isabelita Per≤n was deposed and sent into exile by an army coup. The subsequent installation of a military dictatorship ended a period of popular rule by members of the celebrated Per≤n family.
Isabelita had taken over the presidency in 1974 following the death of her husband Juan Per≤n, one of Argentina's most loved leaders, who had improved conditions for the working class upon seizing power as a military leader in 1943. Although deposed himself during the economic crisis of 1955, Juan Per≤n was recalled in 1973, when he assumed leadership and then won a popular election.
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"Concorde Flights (1976)",105,0,0,0
The first \Jsupersonic\j airliner \JConcorde\j began transatlantic flights from London to New York on May 24. The new \Jaircraft\j reduced the flight time to three and a half hours, having a maximum speed of 2.2 times the speed of sound, a cruising speed of 2,000 kilometers per hour (1,300 miles per hour), and a maximum range of 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles).
\JConcorde\j was built by the British \JAircraft\j Corporation and Aerospatiale of \JFrance\j. The \Jaircraft\j led the \Jsupersonic\j \Jaircraft\j industry until 1996, when the Russians launched another version they claimed was faster than \JConcorde\j.
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"Soweto Massacre (1976)",106,0,0,0
On June 18, South African police killed 176 protesters and injured another 1,228 in the worst racial conflict since the creation of the South African Union in 1910. The conflict started in black dominated schools when students protested against having to use the white \JAfrikaans\j language instead of their own black Bantu tongue.
Police shot dead a 13-year-old boy sparking riots in the black township of Soweto, home to one million black South Africans. Police then dropped tear gas from helicopters and surrounded the township with a 1,000-strong cordon to suppress the riot. Although the police succeeded, the riots strengthened the black cause, enabling them to claim victory by the 1990s and vote in a black majority government.
To mark the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, the government and people of the United States celebrated it with a nationwide celebration commemorating the war, which gave rise to the creation of the American system of government and nation. The highlights included a flotilla of tall ships from 31 nations which sailed up the Hudson River watched by three million spectators.
The Queen of England, Elizabeth II, also visited the US from July 7 on an official state visit. The people of America participated enthusiastically in the bicentenary with committees organizing activities around the nation, including special events in the political capital, Washington D.C., and historic towns like Philadelphia.
On July 4 Israeli commandos stormed a hijacked plane at \JEntebbe\j Airport, \JUganda\j and freed the hostages. Palestinian terrorists had hijacked an Air \JFrance\j 330-B airbus loaded with Israelis soon after it took off from \JAthens\j, forcing it to fly to \JEntebbe\j.
The Israeli commandos flew into \JEntebbe\j Airport under the cover of darkness in three Hercules C-130 transport planes. They stormed the plane and killed seven terrorists before releasing the hostages and flying them to Israel. The rescue set new standards in anti-terrorist response, sending a warning to future would-be terrorists.
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"Death of Mao Tse-tung (1976)",109,0,0,0
The death of Mao Tse-tung on September 9, 1976 brought an end to the hard-line Communist party era in China, and ushered in a new softer ideological period that eventually led to the partial adoption of the very capitalist ways which Mao had so vehemently opposed.
Mao had led the revolution in the early days from its inception through to the Long March, the defeat of the Kuomintang and his proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. He maintained control through a series of power struggles and purges, including the 1958 Great Leap Forward and the 1966 Cultural Revolution, always purging his opponents and consolidating the nationwide personality \Jcult\j of "Chairman Mao." He transformed China from an isolated and backward foreign vassal to a united independent republic and a full member of the United Nations.
Few rulers in history had achieved such absolute power, and after Mao Tse-tung's death both government and economic activities were decentralized.
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"South African Homelands (1976)",110,0,0,0
On October 25, the black rural homeland of Transkei, the traditional territory of the Xhosa tribe, was the first area to be granted independence by the white South African \Japartheid\j regime. Having originally gained self-government in 1963, Transkei, with an area of 43,798 square kilometers or 16,910 square miles lying between the Kei and Mtamvuna Rivers on the Indian Ocean in south-east South \JAfrica\j, was established as a model South African Bantustan.
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"Jimmy Carter Elected US President (1976)",111,0,0,0
On November 2, Democratic Party leader Jimmy Carter was elected President of the USA. It was the first win in eight years for the Democrats who came in as a fresh "new broom" party after the troubled years of the Republican government, dominated by the \JWatergate\j scandal, in which President Nixon was implicated in the theft of Democrat documents stolen from party offices.
A former peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, Carter became the first President from the South to lead America since the 1861 Civil War, when the North had defeated the South to abolish \Jslavery\j from the USA.
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"Pakistani Military Coup (1977)",112,0,0,0
On July 5, \JPakistan\j's army overthrew the Bhutto government and imposed military law. A graduate of Oxford and \JCalifornia\j universities, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1928-79) had practiced as a lawyer before joining the Pakistani Government in 1958. He became a minister for Foreign Affairs in 1963.
Faction fighting then forced him out of the cabinet, so Bhutto formed his own \JPakistan\j People's Party in 1967. He was voted back in as President after \JBangladesh\j (formerly East \JPakistan\j) broke away in the 1971 war, and proceeded to introduce a series of social and economic reforms. These angered the right-wing Islamic forces whose leader General Zia ul-Haq deposed Bhutto. The military then tried Bhutto for corruption and executed him in 1979.
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"Voyager Space Mission (1977)",113,0,0,0
In 1977, America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched two Mariner series spaceships, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. One of the world's most sophisticated missions into outer space, it aimed to explore the planets past Mars, including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
The two spaceships eventually reached Jupiter in March 1979 then used a gravity boost from Jupiter to fly on to Saturn, arriving in November 1980. Voyager 1 proceeded to fly out of the system while Voyager 2 flew on to Uranus, arriving in January 1986, then on to Neptune, arriving in August 1989, sending back to \JEarth\j unprecedented details on Uranus and Neptune. Both \Jspacecraft\j were still sending back information on the outer solar system well into the 1990s.
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"Death of Elvis Presley (1977)",114,0,0,0
American rock-and-roll superstar Elvis Presley, 42, was found dead on August 16, allegedly from a drug overdose. The sudden death of the popular pioneer of modern music inspired a wave of mourning around the world, and his home Graceland became a shrine.
Born in 1935, Elvis Aaron Presley had graduated from church choir singing, modeling his style on black blues and gospel singers before recording his first songs in 1953 in \JTennessee\j. Promoter Tom Parker had then picked the commercial potential of Elvis and manufactured a professional career that took the rock star to the top. From early hits such as "Heartbreak Hotel" (1956), Elvis created a sexy hip-gyrating performing style that excited millions of fans. His 45 best-selling pop tunes, and a range of films won him a place in music history.
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"Biko Died in Prison (1977)",115,0,0,0
The funeral on September 5 for South African black activist leader Steve Biko, who died in police custody after allegedly being beaten to death by white prison guards, sent a wave of remorse around anti-racist circles in the Western world. Biko was a threat to the white minority government because he founded and led the "black consciousness" movement which elevated black people in South \JAfrica\j and gave them hope.
He had also led black protests as inaugural president of the all-black South African Students Organization (1969) and president of the Black People's Convention (1972). Determined to stop his popular leadership galvanizing blacks into action, the white government issued orders restricting his freedom and detained him regularly before putting him in prison. He was reportedly bashed to death, becoming a martyr for majority black rule, which was achieved by the 1990s.
#
"Central African Coronation (1977)",116,0,0,0
Jean Bokassa of the Central African Republic (CAR) crowned himself Emperor Bokassa I during a lavish coronation ceremony modeled on the British monarchy. His ill-founded and illegitimate coronation was ridiculed by the international community, which also criticized the astronomical cost of the coronation that was reputed to be one quarter of the CAR income.
The unpopular Bokassa was overthrown in 1979 by rebel forces who abolished his empire and installed the more acceptable and less conceited David Daco as president.
#
"Nicaragua War (1978)",117,0,0,0
Left-wing Sandanista guerrillas waged a national campaign of violence, attempting to overthrow the government of President Anastasio Somoza in 1978. Anastasio was the third member of the Somoza family to rule \JNicaragua\j since 1934, when his father seized control.
The anti-government revolt began on January 23 with a national strike in protest against the Somoza government. On February 12, the Frente Sandinista de Liberaci≤n then prepared for civil war, which they won after a bitter struggle, enabling them to install a socialist government supported by the Soviet Union. The United States then fought against this government supporting rival contras until President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was elected in 1990.
#
"John Paul II Became Pope (1978)",118,0,0,0
On October 16 \JPoland\j's John Paul II became the first non-Italian in 450 years to be chosen as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He succeeded John Paul I who died in his sleep after reigning for only 33 days (after succeeding Pope Paul VI who had died of a heart attack on August 6).
Originally named Karol Jozef Wojtyla, the new Pope was born in Wadowice and educated and ordained in \JPoland\j where he taught moral theology at the Universities of Lublin and Cracow. He served as \JArchbishop\j and Metropolitan of Cracow (1964-78) before being appointed Cardinal in 1967 and then Pope in 1978.
#
"US and China Created Diplomatic Relations (1978)",119,0,0,0
On December 15, China and the United States established full diplomatic relations for the first time since Mao Tse-tung's Communist Party established the People's Republic of China in 1949. The anti-Communist US had opposed Mao and his revolution, instead supporting the opposing Kuomintang forces of Chiang Kai-shek, which had retreated to \JTaiwan\j after being defeated by Mao.
Although there were effectively two "Chinas" for decades, one small capitalist island and one large mainland Communist state, it was only a matter of time before Communist China would win support even from vehemently anti-Communist nations like the US, who decided to normalize relations following the death of the hard-liner Mao in 1976. The US was also interested in establishing new trading relations with the large market that China represented.
#
"Idi Amin Expelled from Uganda (1979)",120,0,0,0
In January 1979, \JTanzania\j's army invaded \JUganda\j, overpowering government troops and expelling dictator Idi Amin. Amin's troops had attacked \JTanzania\j the previous year, and Tanzanian leader Julius Nyerere took revenge by destroying Msaka and Mbarasa before claiming the capital \JKampala\j.
Amin had seized power in 1971, ousting elected President Milton Obote, declaring himself President, and promoting himself to General. He was then condemned by the international community for banning all political opposition, and only the maverick Muslim leader of \JLibya\j, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, provided him with military support.
\JTanzania\j's "army of liberation" installed Yusuf Lule as the new Ugandan President, and drove out Amin supporters and 100,000 refugees.
#
"Ayatollah Khomeini Established Republic (1979)",121,0,0,0
On February 1, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to \JIran\j as leader after 16 years in exile in \JFrance\j. He met with little opposition, with his followers, known as mullahs, having forced the despised Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi into exile on January 16, claiming that the Shah was ruining \JIran\j economically, creating a poorer class of starving masses, terrorizing people with his secret police, and importing the worst of Western values.
Following his victorious return, the aged religious leader presided over a fundamentalist Islamic state, introducing a new constitution based on Islamic law and proceeding to destroy all Western influence.
#
"Britain's First Female Prime Minister (1979)",122,0,0,0
Britain became one of the first major world powers to be led by a woman when Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher, 53, won the general election on May 4. An Oxford graduate who had worked as a research chemist and then a lawyer, Mrs. Thatcher had entered Parliament in 1954, becoming Minister for Education in 1970. In 1975, she had succeeded Ted Heath as leader of the Conservative Party in opposition, leading them to victory in 1979.
As Prime Minister, Mrs. Thatcher reshaped British social, economic, and political life along hard-line "right-wing" political lines, privatizing a range of government industries and services. She became Britain's longest serving Prime Minister, surviving until 1990, when she was voted out by her party and replaced by John Major.
#
"Marxists Seized Nicaragua (1979)",123,0,0,0
On July 19 the Marxist-inspired Sandinistas overthrew \JNicaragua\j's President Anastasio Somoza after a violent battle and installed a new Marxist government. The Marxist government took over the Nicaraguan capital \JManagua\j, occupying the National Palace amidst great popular celebrations. Somoza had ruled for 12 years as an authoritarian dictator supported only by close allies and the United States, who preferred to support anti-Communist forces. It was a victory for the socialist people's cause over the American-supported Somozan government.
#
"Mountbatten Assassinated (1979)",124,0,0,0
On August 27 the Irish Republican Army (IRA) murdered Earl Mountbatten of \JBurma\j, who was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, by bombing a fishing boat he was on near his summer home at Mullaghmoor in Ireland. The radical IRA were keen to promote their campaign against the British presence in Ireland.
Mountbatten, born in 1900, may have been targeted because he had served as the last Viceroy of India representing Britain's government on the sub-continent. He had also served as the Chief of the Defense Force Staff, First Sea Lord, and had helped lead Second World War operations including the D-\JDay\j Landing and the defeat of the Japanese in India and \JBurma\j.
#
"USSR Invaded Afghanistan (1979)",125,0,0,0
In December 1979, the Soviet Union expanded its Communist Empire by installing a pro-Soviet government in \JAfghanistan\j. The USSR had already infiltrated \JAfghanistan\j, supplying the government with arms and ammunition to aid its battle with Muslim rebels supported by \JPakistan\j, and sending in 5,000 Soviet combat troops, which took control of the country.
The USSR gained political influence and by December was able to install a puppet government, arousing the anger of the international community. The Soviet Government proved unpopular, however, and opposing forces fought back, eventually forcing the USSR to retreat in 1989.
#
"British Oil Rig Disaster (1980)",126,0,0,0
In March 1980, a semi-submersible oil rig, the \IAlexander Kielland,\i collapsed and sank 200 miles off the coast of \JNorway\j, killing 123 workers. It was one of the worst accidents in the history of North Sea oil exploration. The 10,000 ton rig, which served as an accommodation platform for oil workers in the Phillips \JPetroleum\j Edda field, collapsed when one of its legs gave way. The British Government demanded safety checks on all rigs and standards were improved as a result.
In 1980, United States President Jimmy Carter ordered an airborne commando raid to rescue a party of 53 American hostages seized by Iranian President Ayatollah's Khomeini's Muslim fundamentalists. The operation failed when helicopters broke down, and eight Americans were killed and five wounded in an accidental collision.
The Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, resigned over the badly organized mission and was replaced by Senator Edmund Muskie. On April 7, the US broke off relations with \JIran\j, which eventually responded to pressure and released the weakest hostage, Richard Queen, on July 11.
#
"Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) Became Independent (1980)",128,0,0,0
On April 18, the British colony of Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zimbabwe under the leadership of Robert Mugabe, who had been elected Prime Minister on March 4. The transition to independence had been negotiated at a Commonwealth conference held in Lancaster House, London, and symbolized another milestone in Europe's declining control and influence over \JAfrica\j in the long and bitter de-colonization process.
The country had been named Rhodesia after British pioneer Cecil Rhodes, who had led settlement parties into the region during the previous century. The new nation took its name from the Zimbabwe ruins in the south of the country which were once the seat of a powerful indigenous culture.
#
"London's Iran Hostage Crisis (1980)",129,0,0,0
On April 30, a terrorist group calling itself the Group of the Martyr seized the Iranian Embassy in London, holding it for five days and forcing a state of siege. The terrorists were demanding that their Arab allies be released from an Iranian prison.
The terrorists took 19 hostages, killing two of them before British Special Air Service (SAS) troops stormed the building. Five of the six terrorist gunmen were killed in the SAS raid, and all of the remaining hostages were released.
#
"Death of Yugoslavia's Marshal Tito (1980)",130,0,0,0
Marshal Josip Broz Tito, founding father of modern Yugoslavia, died aged 87 on May 4, 1980. Tito had led anti-Nazi partisans during the Second World War and helped liberate the region from the fascist control of the axis powers. A Croat himself, he had united the different peoples of six republics to establish a Communist state with Soviet help in 1945. In 1948, however, Tito had separated Yugoslavia from the Soviet Union's Eastern Bloc of Communist nations, and in the 1950s had become a leader of the group in the United Nations that was not aligned with either of the Cold War foes: the United States and the USSR.
With the death of Marshal Tito, old regional hostilities resurfaced, leading to the breakup of Yugoslavia a decade later as the republics of \JSlovenia\j, Macedonia, \JCroatia\j, and Bosnia-Herzogovina declared independence, and ethnic and religious groups began to fight each other for territory.
#
"Solidarity in Poland (1980)",131,0,0,0
On September 17, Polish socialist activist Lech Walesa was elected Chairman of the National Committee of Solidarity, a trade union that finally became a new anti-Communist force in Polish and European politics. Walesa had previously led a nationwide shipyard strike, which started in Gdansk at the Lenin shipyard and eventually involved 500,000 workers.
Solidarity held its first national conference in 1981, but Walesa was imprisoned for 12 months at the end of the year. After being banned for more than seven years, Solidarity was made legal in 1989 and quickly emerged as the political party to overthrow the Communists. In 1990, the former shipyard worker Walesa won a landslide victory in the Polish presidential election to become the first freely elected president of \JPoland\j for 50 years.
#
"Start of Iran/Iraq War (1980)",132,0,0,0
In 1980, war broke out between \JIraq\j and \JIran\j when the army of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein crossed the border and invaded its neighbor. \JIraq\j's objective was to gain full control of the vital Shatt Al-Arab waterway, which divided the two countries and had been under joint Iraqi-Iranian control since 1975. \JIran\j, which was ruled by the fundamentalist Muslim Ayatollah Khomeini, was already quarreling with the United States and could ill-afford to take on another enemy. Nevertheless, the war continued until a United Nations-mediated ceasefire took effect in August 1988. While both sides claimed victory, the war itself claimed around one million lives.
#
"Norway's First Female Prime Minister (1981)",133,0,0,0
Gro Harlem Brundtland, the leader of the Labor Party, was elected as \JNorway\j's first female Prime Minister in 1981. A former physician who had worked in public medicine, she had also served as environment minister.
When conservatives gained power through a minority government led by Kare Willoch later in the year, Ms. Brundtland went on to chair the World Commission on Environment and Development, producing the environmental textbook \IOur Common Future\i for the international community and the European Community Parliament.
#
"First Reusable Space Shuttle Flight (1981)",134,0,0,0
On April 12, the world entered a new era of space exploration when America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched its new shuttle Columbia from Kennedy Space Center in \JFlorida\j. It was the first lift-off of a reusable \Jspacecraft\j, launched into space with the aid of booster rockets, but able to return under its own power. The reusable shuttle was designed to lower the cost of one-off missions, which had amounted to millions of dollars each time.
#
"Socialists Claimed France (1981)",135,0,0,0
On May 10, Franτois Mitterrand was elected as \JFrance\j's first socialist President since the 1930s. It was Mr. Mitterrand's third attempt to win the presidency, and his decisive victory over conservative leader Giscard d'Estaing was attributed to his success in uniting left-wing parties, including Communists, in his support. In subsequent general elections, the Socialist Party won nationwide, giving the political left-wing unprecedented control in \JFrance\j.
#
"Assassination of President Sadat in Egypt (1981)",136,0,0,0
Mohammed Anwar el-Sadat, President of \JEgypt\j from 1970-81, was assassinated while previewing a military parade in \JCairo\j on October 6. The assassins had smuggled themselves into the military procession in a truck, jumping out when it drew level with the official viewing area, then rushing towards Sadat firing automatic guns and throwing grenades. Five other people were also killed in the attack.
Although many believed that the killers were Muslim extremists opposed to President Sadat's 1978 peace agreement with Israel, which was condemned by most Arab governments, others suspected that the government of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi might have been involved in the assassination.
Sadat's vice president Hosni Mubarak succeeded him as president.
#
"Falklands War (1982)",137,0,0,0
After years of failed negotiations, Argentinean forces invaded the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) on April 2, overwhelming the 70 British marines stationed there to protect Britain's claim to the disputed outpost. Although US Secretary of State, Alexander Haig, tried to mediate, the conflict escalated when Britain sent a task force steaming 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles) to retake the islands, which had been a British colony since 1833.
The Argentineans surrendered on June 14 after a number of fierce battles at sea and on land, which resulted in the loss of just over a thousand lives: 750 Argentinean and 254 British. As a result of the defeat, rebel forces in Argentina removed President Galtieri. The victory, however, was a triumph for Conservative British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who had gambled that her forces could win in a battle fought far from home.
#
"Israel Invaded Lebanon (1982)",138,0,0,0
On June 6, Israel launched a full-scale invasion of \JLebanon\j, an operation code-named "Peace of Galilee" aimed at driving the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) bases away from the northern border of Israel. The Israelis sent 90,000 troops into battle, easily overpowering the PLO bases, after which they moved on to \JBeirut\j where they encircled PLO fighters including their leader, Yasser Arafat. After the Israelis had more than achieved their objective, both sides agreed on a ceasefire on June 25.
Shortly afterwards, when the United Nations confirmed the right of Israel to exist, Yasser Arafat also signed documents confirming for the first time that the PLO believed the modern State of Israel, established in 1948, had the right to exist. The United States, however, continued to deny the right of the PLO to exist as a legitimate body.
#
"IBM PC Introduced (1983)",139,0,0,0
Although mainframe computers had been in use for some years, it was not until 1983 that the United States computer manufacturing company, International Business Machines (\JIBM\j), launched the personal computer (PC). The major configuration was an 8088 16-bit \Jmicroprocessor\j, 128,000 bytes of memory, a single 10 million byte hard disk, and one 360,000 byte floppy disk.
The advent of the PC popularized the computer as never before. As they became more powerful, PCs were used in virtually all branches of organizations, with networks often replacing the mainframe computer. User-friendly PCs also made significant inroads into the home.
#
"Green Politics (1983)",140,0,0,0
In 1983, the West German Greens, led by Petra Kelly, won their first seats in elections for the West German parliament, signaling a new era of environmental politics. Although the Christian Democrats won the election under Chancellor Helmet Kohl, the Greens began to have a significant impact on policy.
Green political parties were then founded around the world, giving a parliamentary voice to groups like Greenpeace, which had been campaigning for environmental reforms. Key issues which began to emerge, apart from over-population, included the hole in the ozone layer, global warming, and rising sea levels.
#
"Ethiopian Drought (1983)",141,0,0,0
In 1983 \JEthiopia\j found itself in the throes of a \Jdrought\j which affected millions of its citizens. Because the climate had changed due to environmental damage, the traditional rains had failed to nourish fertile areas, and the bulk of the crops on which the people depended had failed.
By 1984 the \Jdrought\j had worsened, with the Ethiopian Government claiming that 600,000 people had died and eight million more were at risk. Media coverage alerted the world, and millions of dollars were raised through charity organizations to help feed the people of \JEthiopia\j.
#
"Star Wars (1983)",142,0,0,0
On March 23, despite progress in the Geneva-based USSR/US disarmament talks, United States President Ronald Reagan developed a policy to create a new anti-missile defense system called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). President Reagan claimed the new defense system would be needed against the Soviet Union because it was "an Evil Empire." The SDI was soon nicknamed "Star Wars." Because of a number of factors, including cost, the SDI was never fully implemented.
#
"War in Beirut (1983)",143,0,0,0
On April 18 the fight for control of \JLebanon\j's strategic capital \JBeirut\j reached new heights when a suicide bomb was driven into the American Embassy killing 60 people and wounding 100 others. The bomb was in protest of the American soldiers which had joined the international peace-keeping force in an attempt to control the city and keep other forces from taking over.
On October 23 more than 300 American and French soldiers were killed in two simultaneous suicide attacks on allied headquarters, bringing the conflict to a head.
#
"Sri Lankan Civil War (1983)",144,0,0,0
Fighting broke out in Sri Lanka in July 1983, when Tamil separatist rebels, known as the Tamil Tigers, attacked the Singhalese majority, sparking a violent on-going conflict in the capital, Colombo. During the conflict, 380 people were killed and thousands were forced to flee, losing their homes and livelihood. President Junius Jayawardene ordered his security troops to clamp down on the Tamils, who retreated to the jungle in the north, where they have continued their fight for an independent state.
#
"Australia Won America's Cup (1983)",145,0,0,0
\JAustralia\j won the America's Cup on September 26, taking the trophy from the Americans for the first time in 132 years and making yachting history in the process. The yacht \IAustralia II,\i with its secretly designed keel, convincingly outsailed the American yacht \ILiberty\i over seven races. Owned by millionaire Australian businessman Alan Bond, and skippered by John Bertrand, \IAustralia II\i and its crew won international acclaim and ushered in a new era of more competitive yachting.
#
"United States Invaded Grenada (1983)",146,0,0,0
The United States Government sent 6,000 troops to invade \JGrenada\j in October 1983 after leaders of a local "Revolutionary Military Council" (RMC) ousted and killed Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and his cabinet ministers from the moderate New Jewel Movement.
The Americans regarded the coup as a threat to their own security, and the invasion, code-named "Urgent Fury," was designed to remove the RMC and install a pan-Caribbean council to govern the tiny island until democratic elections could be held. Although the local Grenadan troops put up a fight, the United States succeeded in its mission, which was criticized by the United Nations Security Council as a violation of international law.
#
"Ethiopian Relief (1984)",147,0,0,0
Throughout 1984 the international community collected food and medical services for the victims of the Ethiopian \Jdrought\j. With hundreds of thousands of people dying from starvation, the government appealed to the rest of the world for help.
Although hundreds of thousands of tons of food were delivered, some of this could not be distributed to the needy because of a number of reasons, including bad roads, lack of transport, and wars being fought to the north in the Eritrea and Tigre regions.
#
"Colored Vote in South Africa (1984)",148,0,0,0
On August 22, colored people were allowed to vote in elections for the first time in South \JAfrica\j. The South African Government had established a skin-color-based hierarchy with white at the top, followed by colored, then black, and in some cases, Indian as a separate category. Although black people were still excluded from the electoral process, the inclusion of the coloreds signaled the beginning of the end of the "\Japartheid\j" system of racial segregation which the whites had imposed since establishing the government of South \JAfrica\j.
#
"Assassination of Indira Gandhi (1984)",149,0,0,0
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (1917-84) was killed in the gardens of her home by two of her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984, sparking a series of anti-Sikh riots throughout India in which more than 1,000 people died. The assassination came after Indira Gandhi ordered the storming of the Sikh's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple at \JAmritsar\j, in order to crush a rebellion of extremists, led by Sant Bhindranwale, who had occupied the temple to gain more independence for Sikhs in the Punjab area. The operation to take the Golden Temple cost the lives of 90 soldiers and 712 Sihks.
Following the death of Mrs. Gandhi, her son Rajiv was sworn in as India's new Prime Minister.
#
"Bhopal Disaster (1984)",150,0,0,0
On December 3, toxic gas leaked from a Union Carbide factory in the Indian town of Bhopal, killing over 2,000 people and hospitalizing 180,000 others. The United States-owned factory made pesticides, which were used to protect crops from insects. The poisonous gas, methyl isocyanate (MIC), leaked from a faulty tank and spread through the town around the factory, choking residents. Although five Union Carbide officials were arrested for criminal negligence, the plant reopened within days, prompting 200,000 residents to flee the area.
#
"Rainbow Warrior Sunk (1985)",151,0,0,0
On July 10, French secret agents sabotaged the Greenpeace environmental patrol ship \IRainbow Warrior\i in New Zealand's Auckland harbor, blowing up the ship with two limpet mines. One crewman, the ship's photographer, was killed in the blast. The \IRainbow Warrior\i had been planning to sail into the South Pacific to protest against impending French nuclear tests on Mururoa \JAtoll\j. The New Zealand Government caught, tried, and jailed the French terrorists in New Zealand. International pressure forced French Defense Minister Charles Hernu to resign.
#
"Live Aid Concert (1985)",152,0,0,0
On July 13, an international rock concert organized by Irish musician Bob Geldof raised $US70 million in aid of African \Jfamine\j victims. Performed in front of hundreds of thousands of fans in London and Philadelphia simultaneously, and televised in 152 countries, the all-\Jday\j concert was the largest ever intercontinental \Jsatellite\j link-up.
One and a half billion people watched the concert on \Jtelevision\j, with hundreds of thousands phoning telethon headquarters to pledge donations. The event featured stars such as Elton John, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Joan Baez, Tina Turner, and Phil Collins. Phil Collins actually performed in London then flew on the \JConcorde\j to Philadelphia where he performed again on the same \Jday\j. The performers gave their time free of charge.
#
"Titanic Found (1985)",153,0,0,0
Deep-sea divers located the wreck of the \ITitanic\i off the coast of Newfoundland on September 1. The discovery of the sunken wreckage of the luxury White Star liner confirmed that the ship had broken into two pieces.
The \ITitanic\i sank in April 1912 after striking an \Jiceberg\j on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic. It was history's worst peacetime maritime disaster, with only 700 of the 2,224 people on board managing to secure a place in a lifeboat. The impact of the disaster was heightened because the authorities had claimed the 46,329 gross tonnes ship was unsinkable.
#
"Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster (1986)",154,0,0,0
On January 28, the United States space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after take-off from the Kennedy Space Center in \JFlorida\j, killing all seven crew members. One of the crew was schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, who had won a place on board in a special NASA scheme to allow ordinary citizens to travel into space.
The disaster, witnessed on \Jtelevision\j by millions of horrified people, was triggered when a failure in one of the booster rockets started a fire, causing fuel tanks on board to explode in a vast ball of flames. It was considered a major setback for the space shuttle program, and led to the dismissal of key executives by the NASA administration.
#
"Marcos Fled (1986)",155,0,0,0
On February 25, Ferdinand Marcos, President of the \JPhilippines\j for 20 years, fled the country and went into exile in Hawaii after he was overthrown by a popular front led by opposition leader, Corazon Aquino. Corazon Aquino, whose politician husband Benigno Aquino had been killed by Marcos' troops in 1983, had stood against Marcos in the recent elections, and was sworn in as the nation's new President.
The Marcos regime, backed by the United States for its anti-Communist stance, had been marked by increasing repression, misuse of foreign financial aid, and political murders. In Hawaii, Marcos and his wife Imelda were forced to fight demands from United States courts investigating charges of financial mismanagement, corruption, and human rights abuses during his years in power. Meanwhile, the Philippine Government moved to freeze Marcos' accounts in Swiss banks, claiming that the funds were part of billions of dollars embezzled by the former president and his associates during his 20-year rule.
Ferdinand Marcos died in 1989, and his body was return to the \JPhilippines\j for burial in 1993.
#
"Olof Palme Assassinated (1986)",156,0,0,0
Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme (1930-86) was shot dead by an unknown gunman on February 28. Mr. Palme, who had been prime minister from 1969-76 and again from 1982-86, was fatally wounded as he walked with his wife on a Stockholm street on their way home from the cinema.
Leader of the Social Democratic Party, Mr. Palme had been a critic of the role of the United States in the Vietnam War, and before his re-election in 1982, had acted as the United Nation's special envoy in the attempt to settle the \JIran\j-\JIraq\j conflict. The shooting of Mr. Palme was Sweden's first assassination, and placed security forces on guard around the world. Mr. Palme was succeeded by Ingvar Carlsson.
#
"United States Bombed Libya (1986)",157,0,0,0
On April 15, United States President, Ronald Reagan, ordered the bombing of the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. The US had accused \JLibya\j of masterminding a range of terrorist attacks, including the hijacking of international \Jaircraft\j and the bombing of a Berlin nightclub frequented by US soldiers. On January 8, President Reagan had frozen Libyan assets in the US, but this had failed to stop the terrorist activities. On March 24, the two sides clashed again over air space. Although members of the international community criticized the US bombing, it made an impact on \JLibya\j's terrorist activities.
#
"Chernobyl Nuclear Power Disaster (1986)",158,0,0,0
On April 26, a series of explosions inside \JRussia\j's \JChernobyl\j nuclear power plant 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the city of Kiev created a fireball which blew the concrete lid off the reactor, releasing dangerous levels of radioactivity into the \Jatmosphere\j. The accident occurred as scientists attempted to install a safety system in the station, which was less than 10 years old.
Thousands of people in the area were evacuated, but the radioactive fallout drifted over much of Europe, reaching Sweden, \JFinland\j, the northern part of Britain, and even \JFrance\j and \JItaly\j. It contaminated agricultural produce including milk and meat, generating long-term cancer deaths from those most exposed. The accident was the worst in the history of nuclear power, becoming a black milestone to serve as a warning for the future.
#
"USSR's Glasnost and Perestroika (1987)",159,0,0,0
In January, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the policy of glasnost (openness), allowing freedom of information and movement in an effort to liberalize daily life in Soviet \JRussia\j. Later in the year he also introduced the policy of perestroika (restructuring), which applied to the reform of the economy and the government. Mr. Gorbachev then ordered the release of 140 political prisoners and allowed limited choice in local government elections for the first time. Together, these modernizing policies loosened the grip of the Communist Government and its secret police, and led in time to dissent and the collapse of totalitarian \JCommunism\j.
#
"Nuclear Arms Reductions (1987)",160,0,0,0
At a three-\Jday\j Washington summit from December 8-10, United States President, Ronald Reagan, and Soviet President, Mikhail Gorbachev, agreed to reduce arms on an unprecedented scale, signing a treaty banning all short-range and medium-range nuclear weapons in Europe. The international community regarded the arms limitation treaty as the biggest post-war turning point towards world peace.
On January 26, a fleet of 11 square-rigged tall ships arrived in Sydney, having retraced the original 12,000 mile founding voyage from England to \JAustralia\j to commemorate the 1788 settlement of \JAustralia\j by the British, when 1,350 convicts and naval personnel settled the new continent.
Conceived and led by Australian historian Dr. Jonathan King, the re-enactment expedition was history's longest and largest, carrying well over 1,350 passengers from many nations, who sailed from London along the original route. The expedition cost the life of Danish sailor, Henrik Neilson, when he was lost overboard.
#
"Ocean Oil Spill (1989)",162,0,0,0
On March 25 the American tanker \IExxon Valdez\i struck rocks near Prince William Sound off the Alaskan coast, spilling tons of oil into the ocean, creating one of the worst cases of ocean \Jpollution\j in history. The 937-foot tanker spilled out 10 million gallons of crude oil, polluting 100 miles of coastline in one of the world's most pristine wilderness areas.
The oil caused irreparable damage to wildlife including seabirds, otters, and seals. The environmental movement used the event to create new standards.
#
"Tiananmen Square Massacre (1989)",163,0,0,0
On June 4, the Chinese army crushed a revolt by thousands of pro-democracy students in \JBeijing\j's Tiananmen Square. The protesting students had occupied Tiananmen Square for seven weeks before Communist government leader Deng Xiaoping's army sent in tanks and soldiers, who advanced against the protesters, killing hundreds.
The incident was broadcast internationally on \Jtelevision\j, and the Chinese Government was strongly condemned for responding with violence to appeals for human rights.
#
"San Francisco Earthquake (1989)",164,0,0,0
On October 19, an \Jearthquake\j measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale struck San Francisco. The quake killed 80 people, many of whom were driving to work on the Nimitz Freeway and were crushed in their cars on the lower level when sections of the double-decker concrete roadway above them collapsed. It was the city's worst \Jearthquake\j since 1906, when 700 people were killed, and confirmed San Francisco as an \Jearthquake\j-prone area, prompting even greater precautions for the future.
#
"Non-Communists Won Czechoslovakia (1989)",165,0,0,0
In November 1989, the Communist regime, which had been in force in \JCzechoslovakia\j since 1948, was overthrown after years of sporadic anti-Communist protests. Vaclav Havel, a writer who had been prominent in the Charter 77 movement for human rights and who had been jailed by the Communist government in February, was elected as the newly liberated \JCzechoslovakia\j's first President.
The fall of the Communist regime in \JCzechoslovakia\j came amid the breakdown of \JCommunism\j in \JPoland\j and \JHungary\j, and later \JRomania\j.
#
"Berlin Wall Demolished (1989)",166,0,0,0
On November 10, the wall dividing Communist East Berlin and democratic West Berlin was demolished by the combined effort of citizens and authorities. The demolition of the wall, the most enduring symbol of the Cold War, coincided with collapse of Communist regimes in a number of eastern European countries, and followed a period of increasing demonstrations by Germans who wanted more freedom.
Prior to the wall's demise, thousands of East Germans had also begun escaping through \JHungary\j to West \JGermany\j, and the East German Communist Government's President, Erich Honecker, had resigned. This led in turn to the resignation of the East German Government which was eventually replaced by a group of reformist politicians who established a new more liberal administration.
#
"America Invaded Panama (1989)",167,0,0,0
United States troops invaded Panama on December 21, officially "to protect American citizens from violence," but unofficially to remove local leader Manuel Noriega from office. A former US ally who was now regarded as a criminal, Noriega had gained power in May after a blatantly "fixed" election.
When his troops lost the battle against the invading US forces, Noriega went into hiding. Accusing Noriega of drug trafficking, United States President, George Bush, issued an order for his arrest. Noriega surrendered to the US authorities on January 3, 1990.
#
"Mandela Freed (1990)",168,0,0,0
On February 11, South African President F. W. de Klerk released black African political activist Nelson Mandela from prison, where he had been held for 27 years on charges of "\Jtreason\j." The South African Government, which had been practicing \Japartheid\j for decades, also granted an amnesty to other political prisoners and lifted restrictions on a range of leading organizations, including the African National Congress (ANC).
As a result, the ANC suspended its struggle against the white South African Government. Mr. Mandela, who was then elected Deputy President of the ANC, began to negotiate terms with Mr. de Klerk for a multi-racial government and society.
#
"Global Warming (1990)",169,0,0,0
On April 17, leading members of the international community held a meeting on global warming. Encouraged by the environmental movement, especially international organizations such as Greenpeace, world leaders sat down and examined evidence which demonstrated temperatures on our \Jplanet\j were heating up.
The increased heat caused changes in climate, shifting rain away from the Equator towards the \Jpoles\j and altering agricultural patterns. The meeting concluded that temperatures could rise between 1 and 5 degrees by 2050, and recommended that nations reduce population levels, and stop destroying forests and burning \Jfossil\j fuels.
#
"Iraq Invaded Kuwait (1990)",170,0,0,0
On August 2, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ordered his forces to invade neighboring \JKuwait\j. Six days later, he declared that \JIraq\j had annexed the tiny oil-rich Persian Gulf state. World leaders were outraged by the move, and the United Nations immediately imposed an economic blockade on \JIraq\j, under which the country was prohibited from exporting oil and importing foreign goods.
Arab states, including \JEgypt\j and Saudi \JArabia\j, also demanded that \JIraq\j withdraw from \JKuwait\j, but Saddam refused, instead deploying Iraqi troops to the Saudi border, a move that prompted United States President, George Bush, to dispatch US soldiers to the Persian Gulf region. Other countries, including Britain, then declared that they would send troops in support of the US. In early November, the US decided to double its forces in the Gulf, and on November 30, the UN passed a resolution threatening war unless \JIraq\j withdrew by January 15, 1991. Once again, Saddam refused to move, and by the following \Jday\j, the Gulf War had begun.
#
"Reunification of Germany (1990)",171,0,0,0
East and West \JGermany\j were formally reunited on October 2, becoming one nation for the first time since the end of the Second World War, when the defeated \JGermany\j was divided by the Western allies and the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, provisions had been made for "a monetary, economic and social union" between the two countries at a round of meetings attended by East and West German leaders, and leaders from the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, and \JFrance\j. Helmut Kohl was elected as the first Chancellor of the reunited \JGermany\j.
#
"Cold War Ended (1990)",172,0,0,0
World superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, declared that the Cold War between them was over. The Cold War, which began after the end of the Second World War, was essentially a competition for the hearts and minds of European citizens between the two ideologically opposed allies who had liberated Europe from the Germans.
The war between the Communist bloc and the West may have been cold, but it had spread far beyond Europe and led to a nuclear arms race which fueled mutual tension and mistrust. For 30 years, peace had been based on Mutual Assured Destruction, or MAD, which meant that no power could really "win" a nuclear war. The end of the long ideological battle was marked by a series of nuclear disarmament agreements between the superpowers during the late 1980s.
#
"Gulf War (1991)",173,0,0,0
On January 16, the United States and its allies, led by American Norman Schwarzkopf, launched an air war, code named "Operation Desert Storm," against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, whose forces had invaded \JKuwait\j and had refused to leave by the United Nations deadline of January 15. In an aerial conflict that was televised live around the world, the US and its allies bombed key Iraqi military centers that had been set up in \JKuwait\j and over the border in \JIraq\j.
However, the air attacks alone were not enough to liberate \JKuwait\j, and on February 24, an allied land offensive was launched to drive Iraqi troops out of the tiny Persian Gulf state. In what was a devastating defeat for \JIraq\j, much of the Iraqi army fled or surrendered, and the war on the ground lasted just 100 hours. On February 28, a ceasefire was declared. As a result of the six-week Gulf War, the US and its allies lost 250 personnel, while \JIraq\j lost between 35,000 and 100,000 people.
#
"Apartheid Ended (1991)",174,0,0,0
On February 1, South African leader F. W. de Klerk announced that the country would be abolishing all \Japartheid\j legislation, which had upheld the system of racial segregation imposed by the whites since they established the Government of South \JAfrica\j. The move further opened the door for black majority rule, and recently-released African National Congress Deputy President, Nelson Mandela, began to gather support for his inevitable takeover, having already met Zulu leader, Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, head of the rival Zulu-based Inkatha movement.
#
"Third Gandhi Assassinated (1991)",175,0,0,0
Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in Sriperumpudur, Tamil Nadu, on May 21, bringing an end to the rule of a family dynasty. The assassin was a female Tamil separatist who presented him with a bouquet of flowers which detonated on contact, killing both herself and the prime minister.
Rajiv Gandhi was the son of former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, who had been assassinated in 1984, and the grandson of India's first post-independence leader Nehru. Mahatma Gandhi, the great Indian peace leader and one time head of the Indian National Congress, had also been assassinated in 1948.
#
"Breakup of Yugoslavia (1992)",176,0,0,0
The Communist state of Yugoslavia, a group of six republics established under Marshal Tito in 1945, became engulfed by conflict as four of its republics began to maneuver for independence. Unilateral declarations of independence by \JSlovenia\j, Macedonia, and \JCroatia\j were considered illegal by the central Yugoslav Government, and the Serb-dominated Yugoslavian National Army (YNA) moved quickly in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the republics breaking away.
The confrontation between the YNA and \JCroatia\j, which declared independence on June 25, developed into civil war. Although the international community recognized Croatian independence later in the year, fighting continued between Croats and Serb guerrillas, resulting in the mass expulsion of around 100,000 Serb civilians from a large swathe of \JCroatia\j.
Meanwhile, fighting broke out in Bosnia-Herzogovina after Bosnian Croats and Muslims also opted for independence in March the following year. The international community recognized the independence of Bosnia-Herzogovina in April, but the conflict between the different national, racial, and religious groups escalated, developing into a war that would stretch until 1995.
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was declared in 1992. It consisted of only two of the republics which made up former Yugoslavia: \JSerbia\j and \JMontenegro\j.
#
"Collapse of USSR (1991)",177,0,0,0
On December 25, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as executive President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) which had earlier ceased to exist. On August 19, Communist Party hard-liners had launched a coup against Mr. Gorbachev, which failed to succeed due to the intervention of Boris Yeltsin, the President of the newly-formed Russian Federation.
Within days, however, several Soviet republics had opted for independence from the USSR, and on December 8, \JRussia\j, \JUkraine\j, and Belorussia had announced that they wanted to establish a Commonwealth of Independent States (\JCIS\j). The \JCIS\j was founded on December 21, and was supported by most of the former USSR members.
#
"Bosnian War (1992-95)",178,0,0,0
Bosnia-Herzogovina's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in March 1992 was supported by Bosnian Muslims and Croats but opposed by Bosnian Serbs, igniting a bitter inter-ethnic conflict that raged until 1995. The conflict created the largest flow of refugees in Europe since the Second World War as Bosnian Serb forces drove the non-Serbian population from shared areas or forced them into camps, and United Nations troops sent to keep the peace and set up safe areas for the displaced became caught up in the fighting.
Various internationally proposed political settlements were rejected by the Bosnian Serbs between 1993 and 1994, including a plan which called for the partition of Bosnia largely along the lines of Serbian and Croatian military gains. Finally, repeated Serb attacks on \JSarajevo\j triggered \JNATO\j air strikes on Bosnian Serb targets, leading to a ceasefire in October 1995. On December 14, leaders of the war's Serb, Croat, and Muslim factions signed a peace treaty based on an agreement reached during talks the previous month at Dayton, Ohio. Under the so-called Dayton Accord, Bosnia was to remain a single state made up of two political entities: a Bosnian Muslim-Croat Federation and a Bosnian Serb Republic. The accord also called for the establishment of a \JNATO\j-led peace implementation force.
The Bosnian War left 200,000 people dead or missing, and more than two million people displaced.
An International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague later indicted a number of Bosnian Serbs for crimes allegedly committed during the three-year civil conflict.
On October 12 more than 100 traditional sailing vessels, including square-rigged tall ships, arrived in the West Indies to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus - the first man to sail from Europe to the Americas. The flotilla, increasing in numbers as it progressed, had sailed from the hometown of Columbus in \JGenoa\j, \JItaly\j, towards San Salvador where he had landed 500 years earlier.
The fleet then sailed on to New York for the 500th anniversary party, providing a parade down the Hudson River of more than 200 sailing craft.
#
"Breakup of Czechoslovakia (1993)",180,0,0,0
On January 1, \JCzechoslovakia\j, which until 1989 had been ruled by Communists since the end of the Second World War, broke up into two states: the Czech Republic and \JSlovakia\j. Czechoslovakian President Vaclav Havel was elected leader of the Czech Republic, and Michal Kovac was elected leader of \JSlovakia\j. Assets were divided between the two new states which vowed to co-operate in peace and harmony.
#
"All South Africans to Vote (1993)",181,0,0,0
On February 12, the South African Government and the African National Congress agreed that all people in South \JAfrica\j could vote in the next election, which was scheduled for April 1994. They also agreed that the party with the largest number of votes would elect the president. The person widely expected to fill the position was Nelson Mandela, who had earned his leadership by years of political campaigning and a long prison sentence during which his status grew.
#
"World Trade Center Bombed (1993)",182,0,0,0
On February 26, four Arab immigrants bombed New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring 1,000. The bomb, which sent a shockwave of fear through Manhattan, exploded in an underground garage causing millions of dollars worth of damage. Arab leader Mohammad A. Salameh was convicted on March 4, 1994, along with Mahmud Abouhalima, Nidal A. Ayyad, and Ahmad M. Ajaj. Other Arab suspects, including a radical Muslim cleric, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, evaded trial.
#
"Growth of Ozone Hole (1993)",183,0,0,0
Although European Community members had agreed to cut back on the production of \Jchlorofluorocarbons\j (CFCs) in December 1992, the international community was dismayed when the World Meteorological Organization reported on March 5, 1993 that ozone levels had fallen 20 per cent over Northern Europe and Canada.
As the ozone layer acts like an atmospheric shield and is needed to protect humans from the ultraviolet radiation of the \Jsun\j, world and industry leaders agreed to step up efforts to ban CFCs, promising to stop by January 1995. The world's largest producer, du Pont Nemours & Co, agreed to stop by the end of 1994.
#
"China Elected Steady Leader (1993)",184,0,0,0
The moderate Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Jiang Zemin, 67, was elected to the additional post of Chinese President on March 31, giving him more power than any leader since Mao Tse-tung.
The real control over China remained in the hands of the old revolutionary leader Deng Xiaoping, who had survived from the days of Mao and had great status in China - even though he had not appeared in public for some time and actually held no official positions. Nevertheless, international observers regarded Mr. Zemin's new appointment as a step in the right direction for the troubled giant, still suffering from years of brutal dictatorship under Mao.
#
"Waco Tragedy (1993)",185,0,0,0
On April 19 a religious \Jcult\j set fire to a building in Waco, \JTexas\j killing themselves rather than face punishment at the hands of the US authorities, who had surrounded the building for 51 days and begun closing in on the \Jcult\j members.
\JCult\j leader David Koresh, 33, of the Branch Davidians, died along with 74 other \Jcult\j followers including 17 children. It was the worst American mass religious \Jcult\j suicide since 900 members of a \Jcult\j poisoned themselves in Jonestown in 1979.
#
"Israel and PLO Signed Washington Accord (1993)",186,0,0,0
On September 13, United States President, Bill Clinton, succeeded in persuading Israel's leader, Itzhak Rabin, and the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Arafat, to shake hands in Washington on an agreement designed to end decades of violent confrontation between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The agreement had been reached after lengthy negotiations in Oslo, \JNorway\j, and represented the first step towards Palestinian self-rule.
Under the terms of the so-called Oslo peace agreement, the Palestinians were to receive limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli forces were to withdraw eventually, leaving the territories to be administered by a Palestinian Council. The agreement also called for final status talks to be completed by May 4, 1999.
Troops of Russian President Boris Yeltsin attacked the parliament on October 4 to put down a revolt by rebel political deputies and their supporters. The hard-line Communist deputies, led by parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov and vice president Aleksandr Rutskoy, had occupied the parliamentary building with their allies as part of a bid to stop Mr. Yeltsin implementing reforms. The deputies had also voted to impeach him as president. Mr. Yeltsin responded by declaring a state of emergency and storming the building with his tanks, which fired into the windows. At least 142 people were killed in the battle, described as the most violent fight in Moscow since the Russian Revolution in 1917.
#
"Maastricht Treaty in Place (1993)",188,0,0,0
After years of negotiations, the Maastricht Treaty establishing the European Union took effect on November 1, giving Europe a binding document signed by all 12 member states of the European Community. The treaty, an updated version of the 1957 Treaty of \JRome\j which created the European Community, granted the 12 states "an ever-closer union" with special rights and obligations. Members included Britain, \JFrance\j, \JGermany\j, Denmark, \JBelgium\j, \JGreece\j, Ireland, \JItaly\j, \JSpain\j, the Netherlands, \JPortugal\j, and Luxembourg.
#
"Los Angeles Earthquake (1994)",189,0,0,0
One of the worst American East Coast earthquakes struck Los Angeles on February 17, killing 61 people and causing billions of dollars in damage. The quake, which registered 6.8 on the Richter scale, knocked over skyscrapers and freeways full of cars, and also started fires in many regions.
With transport disrupted, and gas and electricity services to millions of homes and offices cut, a state of emergency was declared. President Bill Clinton pledged $US8.6 billion in relief funds for what was one of the worst natural disasters in American history.
#
"Hebron Massacre (1994)",190,0,0,0
On February 25 an Israeli armed with an automatic weapon murdered between 30 and 40 \JArabs\j worshiping in a mosque in \JHebron\j. The Israeli gunman, Baruch Goldstein, an American-born medical doctor and fanatical right-wing extremist, also wounded 150 other Palestinians when he opened fire on the group worshiping at the Cave of the Patriarchs mosque.
The massacre was the worst single act of violence in the West Bank since Israel's occupation from 1967. When they realized what had happened, surviving worshipers turned on the gunman and beat him to death on the spot.
#
"European Union Expanded (1994)",191,0,0,0
In early 1994, the European Union reached agreement on terms of admission for three new European states: \JAustria\j, Sweden, and \JFinland\j. \JNorway\j's application for membership was put on hold until fishing disputes in the North Sea were settled. The three new members confirmed the success of the European Union, which since its birth as the European Community under the 1957 Treaty of \JRome\j, aimed to unite the whole of Europe into one common unit with a free trade zone, common currency, and common foreign policy.
#
"Anglican Church Ordained Women (1994)",192,0,0,0
The Anglican Church admitted 32 women into the church as priests on March 12, breaking a 450-year-old tradition. The ordination of the women, performed in \JBristol\j Cathedral by Bishop Barry Rogerson, followed a 1975 ruling by the General Synod of the Anglican Church that there was no theological basis for the exclusion of women from the priesthood.
In response to the women's ordination, some 700 clergymen threatened to leave the Anglican Church for the Roman Catholic Church. The move also invoked the wrath of Pope John Paul II, who claimed it was a "profound obstacle to every hope of reunion between the Catholic and Anglican churches."
#
"Rwandan Genocide (1994)",193,0,0,0
Between April and July, some 800,000 Rwandan Tutsi and moderate Hutu civilians were slaughtered in a genocidal campaign orchestrated by hard-liners in the African nation's Hutu government. The massacres, many of which were carried out by Hutu peasants armed with machetes, spears, and clubs, began on April 6 after the plane of \JRwanda\j's Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down by unknown assailants as he returned from power-sharing talks with the rebel Tutsi \JRwanda\j Patriotic Front (RPF).
The carnage only ended when the RPF, led by Major General Paul Kagame, overcame the French-backed Hutu government army and seized control in early July. By then, three-quarters of \JRwanda\j's minority Tutsi population had been brutally exterminated, but ethnic conflict continued as suspected genocide criminals were hunted down, and vast numbers of Hutu began fleeing into neighboring countries, creating a major refugee problem.
The United Nations later came under fire for its policy during the genocide. Although the officer in charge of a UN peacekeeping force in \JRwanda\j had repeatedly warned of plans for a systematic campaign of killings, his calls for reinforcements were refused and UN peacekeeping troops were withdrawn from the troubled country.
#
"Tunnel Linked France and UK (1994)",194,0,0,0
On May 6, the tunnel linking Britain and \JFrance\j was formally opened in \JCalais\j by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and French President Franτois Mitterrand. Begun in 1987, the tunnel was 50 kilometers (31 miles) long and carried trains which transported trucks, cars, and other goods on a Eurostar rail system.
In launching the new link between their countries, the leaders announced that it would open for private cars to be loaded onto the trains in June 1995. The completion of the tunnel was an historic milestone, as for the first time the \Jwater\j barrier between Britain and Europe that had saved Britain from invasion over the centuries was "bridged."
#
"Nelson Mandela Became President of South Africa (1994)",195,0,0,0
Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South \JAfrica\j's first black leader on May 10 after his African National Congress (ANC) party won a landslide victory in April 26 elections, the first in which the people of all races in South \JAfrica\j had been allowed to vote. The ANC secured 252 seats in the National Assembly Parliament, the white National Party 82 seats, the Zulu Party 43 seats, with four other minor parties sharing 23 seats.
In his speech, President Mandela praised the last white President, F. W. de Klerk, who had abandoned the policy of \Japartheid\j formalized in 1948, and released Mr. Mandela and other political prisoners from the nation's jails, thus abolishing years of white domination. With the end of one of the world's last colonial empires, black history was made, and South \JAfrica\j took its place among the world's free and democratic states.
On October 5, Swiss police found the bodies of 48 \Jcult\j followers of the Order of the Solar Temple who had committed suicide in two small villages. They took their lives because they believed the world would end now that mankind had polluted the environment. The bodies of five other \Jcult\j members were found in Quebec where they had also killed themselves. \JBelgium\j \Jcult\j founder Luc Jouret had inspired the suicide with his theory of an impending apocalypse.
#
"Muslims Hijacked French Plane (1994)",197,0,0,0
Islamic fundamentalists hijacked a French Airbus A-300 on the runway at \JAlgiers\j, capital of \JAlgeria\j, on December 24. The hijackers killed three passengers over the Christmas period before being allowed to fly to \JMarseille\j, \JFrance\j. On arrival, French paramilitary commandos stormed the plane, killed four gunmen and released the hostages. The Armed Islamic Group had planned to blow up the plane over Paris in protest against French support for \JAlgeria\j.
#
"AIDS Claimed One Million Lives (1995)",198,0,0,0
On January 3, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the number of AIDS cases reported to its Geneva headquarters had reached one million. Claiming that many cases went unreported and undiagnosed, WHO officials also said they believed four million people suffered from the disease worldwide.
According to WHO, 70 per cent of AIDS cases were in \JAfrica\j, followed by 9 per cent in the United States, 6 per cent in Asia, and 4 per cent in Europe. Meanwhile, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that AIDS had become the leading cause of death in the US for both men and women aged between 25 and 40 years.
#
"Kobe Earthquake (1995)",199,0,0,0
The port of Kobe, \JJapan\j's sixth largest city, was struck by a powerful \Jearthquake\j on January 17. Approximately 6,000 people were killed by the quake, another 30,000 were injured, and some 300,000 were left homeless. Raised highways were smashed down, blocks of apartments demolished, and streets were filled with rubble, hampering rescue efforts and causing widespread criticism of the government's emergency services. Damage caused by the \Jearthquake\j was estimated at $US150 billion, one fifth of \JJapan\j's 1994 annual budget.
#
"Tokyo Subway Attack (1995)",200,0,0,0
On March 20, the Japanese religious sect, Aum Shinrikyo, released the deadly toxic nerve gas, sarin, in the \JTokyo\j subway, killing 12 people and injuring 5,500 others. Inspired by Shiva, Hindu god of destruction (and regeneration), the sect had mounted a co-ordinated operation on three different underground train lines at peak hour. Sect leader Shoko Asahara was apprehended on May 16, hiding in the Aum compound in Kamikuishiki.
#
"Oklahoma Building Bombed (1995)",201,0,0,0
The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was devastated by a powerful truck bomb on April 19. The blast brought down much of the building, trapping 200 office workers and a number of children in a \Jday\j-care center on the second floor. In all, 168 people died as a result of the bombing, and around 500 others were injured.
On June 11, 1997, after a long-running trial, United States Army veteran, Timothy McVeigh, who had been apprehended driving away from the scene of the bombing, was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death by lethal injection. Twelve months later, McVeigh's former army buddy, Terry Nichols, was sentenced to life in prison without parole after he was found guilty of conspiring with McVeigh to bomb the federal building.
#
"V-E Day Commemorated (1995)",202,0,0,0
On May 6 soldiers past and present, and political leaders gathered in Europe to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Victory in Europe (VE) \JDay\j campaign which spearheaded the Allied victory against Hitler's Nazi \JGermany\j. The celebrations began with a three-\Jday\j ceremony in London, attended by Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother. Further festivities were held in Paris, Berlin, and Moscow.
The events included fly-pasts, parades, exhibitions, displays, and parties enjoyed by a peace-loving generation who gave thanks for the sacrifices of those who died in the war.
#
"Ebola Virus Struck Africa (1995)",203,0,0,0
On May 30, the World Health Organization announced that 153 people in Zaire had died from the little-known Ebola virus. Seven of the victims were Italian nuns who contracted the deadly virus while caring for infected patients.
The Ebola virus, believed to be transmitted to humans by insects, rodents, or other animals, struck Kikwit, initially creating fears that the disease would spread through the 600,000 population, many of whom exhibited the symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and hemorrhaging. Scientists immediately began studying the disease, searching for evidence of the cause and seeking a cure.
#
"Nuclear Treaty Extended (1995)",204,0,0,0
On June 11, world nations voted to extend the original Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which had been signed in 1970 for a 25-year period. Representatives of 174 nations made the decision at the United Nations Headquarters in New York after three weeks of debate.
The initiative had been led by the original signatory powers, the United States, Britain, and \JRussia\j, joined by \JFrance\j and China, who had signed in 1992. Delegates expressed the hope that all five powers would continue to abide by the treaty, which called for the destruction of nuclear weapons and prohibited non-nuclear nations from developing them.
#
"French Nuclear Tests (1995)",205,0,0,0
On September 5, the French Government detonated the first of a series of underground nuclear tests at the Mururoa \JAtoll\j in the south Pacific Ocean. The French action sparked international condemnation, as well as official protests from the governments of \JJapan\j, \JAustralia\j, and New Zealand. It also incited violent anti-nuclear demonstrations in Tahiti.
Despite world outrage, \JFrance\j proceeded to detonate a total of six bombs through to January 27, 1996. Although 95 countries on the United Nations Disarmament Committee had voted for an immediate ban on nuclear testing, \JFrance\j insisted that it needed to perform the tests to improve a computer simulation program to be used in the future. French President, Jacques Chirac, announced the end of nuclear testing at Mururoa \JAtoll\j on February 23.
#
"United Nations Turned Fifty (1995)",206,0,0,0
On October 24, the United Nations began a three \Jday\j celebration at its New York Headquarters to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the international organization. The celebration gathered the largest number of world leaders in history, with delegates representing 178 nations, along with 23 observers, speaking in support of the UN and calling for increased efforts to ban nuclear testing and the arms trade. Leaders also signed a document confirming that they supported the aims and aspirations of the United Nations initially agreed upon at the foundation of the world body on October 24, 1945.
#
"Assassination of Itzhak Rabin (1995)",207,0,0,0
Israeli Prime Minister, Itzhak Rabin, was assassinated on November 4 after delivering a speech at a peace rally in Tel Aviv. The killer, Jewish ultranationalist extremist, Yigal Amir, who declared he was acting on orders from God, was opposed to Mr. Rabin's Middle East peace policy, which included Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory claimed by the Palestinians.
Following the assassination, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres became Prime Minister, pledging to continue Mr. Rabin's search for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, visited Israel to offer his personal condolences to Mr. Rabin's widow Leah, who blamed the right-wing Israeli Likud party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, for inciting the attack.
It was the first time a Jewish person had killed a Jewish leader, and Yigal Amir was subsequently convicted of the crime, along with associates, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
#
"Dunblane Massacre (1996)",208,0,0,0
On March 13 a single gunman entered a school in Dunblane, Scotland, and slaughtered sixteen children between the ages of four and five and their teacher, with an automatic gun, before then shooting himself. Police investigators discovered the gunman, Thomas Hamilton, had a history of child abuse and was mentally unbalanced. On March 17 the British Government asked the nation to stop work and hold a minute's silence for the teacher and children that were killed.
#
"Britain's 'Mad Cow Disease' (1996)",209,0,0,0
On March 25, the British Government was force to admit publicly that some British cows carried a disease fatal to humans. The disease was identified by medical authorities as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), which had a strong link to the human equivalent, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). Both diseases affected the brain cells, causing motor degeneration manifested through \Jdementia\j, staggering, jerking, personality change, and finally coma.
Europe banned the import of British beef on March 26, and in a further blow to the British beef industry, the government ordered the slaughter of millions of \Jcattle\j suspected of carrying what became known as "mad cow" disease.
#
"Israelis Attacked UN Base (1996)",210,0,0,0
A United Nations base in southern \JLebanon\j was taken by surprise on April 18, when the Israeli army shelled the normally immune site. The attack killed up to 100 people and outraged the international community, drawing heavy condemnation from United Nations Secretary General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali. The Israelis, however, claimed that they had made a mistake and had been aiming for hostile enemy bases in \JLebanon\j.
#
"Port Arthur Massacre (1996)",211,0,0,0
On April 28, Tasmanian Martin Bryant committed the world's worst peace-time civilian massacre by a single gunman when he went on a shooting rampage with an automatic weapon, killing 35 innocent people in the historic Australian tourist resort, Port Arthur. Port Arthur, in the island state of \JTasmania\j, had been the site of a prison in the British penal colony of \JAustralia\j during the mid to late nineteenth century.
Martin Bryant was convicted of the mass murder and sentenced to life in prison. The Australian Liberal Party Government subsequently sought to impose stricter gun control laws, banning the sale of automatic weapons and introducing a gun "buy-back" scheme.
#
"Life on Mars (1996)",212,0,0,0
The American space agency, NASA, announced on August 7 that they had discovered life forms on the \Jplanet\j Mars. NASA had examined a \Jmeteorite\j which had fallen to \JEarth\j some years earlier and confirmed that it contained evidence of primitive life forms that had existed in the past on "the red \Jplanet\j." Humans had suspected that there was life on Mars for some time and the \Jmeteorite\j confirmed that life on \JEarth\j was not the only living thing in the solar system.
#
"Israel Withdrew From Hebron (1997)",213,0,0,0
On January 1, Israel and Palestine confirmed that they would both sign an agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from \JHebron\j in the West Bank. Palestinians in the West Bank town of \JHebron\j had been celebrating the forthcoming withdrawal of Israeli troops since November, but members of Israel's cabinet had threatened to withdraw their support in protest against the plan.
The two leaders signed the agreement on January 15, but it continued to cause rifts within the Israeli Government, with one minister, Benjamin Begin, resigning. In contrast, up to 60,000 Palestinians turned out to greet Palestinian Yasser Arafat on his arrival in \JHebron\j, his first visit there for over 30 years.
#
"Yachtsmen Rescued in Southern Ocean (1997)",214,0,0,0
On January 9, Tony Bullimore, the stricken British yachtsman, was rescued 2,600 kilometers off the coast of Western \JAustralia\j by the Australian Defence Force, who also saved French yachtsman Thierry Dubois nearby. \IExide Challenger,\i the yacht Bullimore was sailing in the Vendee Globe around-the-world race, had tipped over on January 4 when the light-weight keel broke.
From January 4-9, in a miracle survival defying all odds, Bullimore had kept calm and sheltered inside his yacht in "the doghouse" as he awaited rescue. He had used his emergency beacons, including the life-saving EPIRB (Electronic Positioning International Radio Beacon) to let rescuers know of his position.
Bullimore was rescued by the Royal Australian Naval \Jfrigate\j, \IAdelaide,\i and pulled from the \Jwater\j by naval officer, Pete Wicker. Despite his ordeal, Bullimore was safe and well, apart from some frostbite in his fingers and losing the top part of his thumb when a hatch slammed shut.
The rescue mission had cost the Australian Government more than $AUD1 million.
On January 12, Diana, Princess of Wales, visited \JAngola\j on behalf of the Red Cross to help raise support for a global ban on the use of landmines. Over ten million landmines are scattered throughout \JAngola\j, killing and injuring thousands of people each year. Diana also visited landmine victims in Bosnia, hoping to increase awareness of the landmine issue leading up to the global conference in \JNorway\j in February.
US President Bill Clinton also announced his decision to call for a global ban on landmines at an impending United Nations conference. America, along with Britain, said they wanted "smart" mines, which self-destruct after a period of time, to be excluded from the ban, while China and \JRussia\j opposed the global landmine ban. The United States subsequently agreed to join a Canadian bid to forge a global treaty banning landmines by the end of 1997.
South Korea endorsed the bid in principle, but argued that its own landmines must be kept in place until the threat of a North Korean invasion was extinguished.
#
"Death of China's Leader (1997)",216,0,0,0
China's paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, died aged 92 on February 20. Although frail and seriously ill, he had maintained control and worked right up to his death. He was the last link to the revolutionary Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung, having trained with Mao and served under his leadership until Mao's death in 1976. Deng's death thereby signaled a new post-revolutionary era for China.
World leaders immediately sent their condolences to Deng's family, paying tribute to the leader. A memorial service was held in \JBeijing\j's Great Hall of the People and, according to Deng's wishes, the funeral was comparatively modest and without grandeur. Some 10,000 members of China's top political establishment attended the service, but the Chinese authorities controlled the event tightly, restricting the number of mourners and displays of affection.
After a six-\Jday\j mourning period, Deng Xiaoping was cremated at the Babaoshan revolutionary cemetery in \JBeijing\j. Thousands of people then gathered in the village in the southwestern province of Sichuan, which was the birthplace of Deng, to pay their final respects to the paramount leader.
#
"Dolly the Cloned Lamb (1997)",217,0,0,0
In February 1997, a team of scientists led by Dr. Ian Wilmut at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, announced that it had successfully cloned a sheep. With the use of nuclear transfer technology, the lamb called Dolly had been cloned from a single mammary \Jgland\j cell of a six-year-old "mother" sheep to become the identical twin of the donor ewe. In late 1997, Dolly was mated with a Welsh Mountain ram, and in April 1998 gave normal birth to a female lamb which was named Bonnie by the Roslin Institute scientists, who were delighted that their creation was able to reproduce naturally.
While the experiment's success held enormous implications for the future of medicine and agriculture, it also raised ethical, moral, and legal concerns. Such concerns prompted a number of governments around the world to impose a total ban on human \Jcloning\j. The World Health Organization also agreed that human \Jcloning\j was unacceptable, but acknowledged that the scientific breakthrough achieved by the Roslin Institute team had the potential to produce significant benefits for research into human and animal health.
#
"Political Crisis in Albania (1997)",218,0,0,0
On March 3, a state of emergency was declared in \JAlbania\j amid widespread anti-Government violence sparked by the collapse of pyramid investment schemes. The situation soon deteriorated even further, with protesters refusing to accept a 48-hour government ceasefire, and rebels in the south rejecting President Sali Berisha's demands to lay down their arms.
Rebels then increased their control over towns in the south of the country and seized the largest military camp in southern \JAlbania\j, while foreign countries were forced to evacuate their diplomats as looters attacked the capital, Tirana. As turmoil and anarchy reigned, \JItaly\j declared a state of emergency to help cope with more than 10,000 \JAlbanian\j refugees, and sent 5,000 soldiers to \JAlbania\j to join a United Nations force overseeing the distribution of aid to the needy.
\JAlbania\j's political parties finally agreed that general elections should be held. On June 30, \JAlbania\j's ruling Democratic Party was defeated by the country's Socialist Alliance. As former key government aides abandoned the country, the new President, Fatos Nano, announced that the incoming Socialist Government would adopt legislation preventing Democratic Party officials fleeing \JAlbania\j before their corrupt five years of power could be fully investigated.
#
"Peru Siege Drew to a Close (1997)",219,0,0,0
On March 26, \JPeru\j's President Alberto Fujimori claimed that the long-running hostage crisis in Lima was coming to an end. He announced that the hostages who had been held inside the Japanese Ambassador's residence since late 1996 would be freed, while the Tupac Amaru rebels would receive a multi-million dollar payoff and asylum in \JCuba\j.
\JJapan\j also announced it would consider giving economic aid to \JCuba\j if \JCuba\j agreed to accept the rebels. The following month the Japanese ambassador to \JPeru\j, Ambassador Morihisa Aoki, returned home to \JJapan\j after his harrowing hostage ordeal. Although not as violent as some, the siege, having started in late 1996, was one of the longest running in history.
#
"Labour Won British Election (1997)",220,0,0,0
The Labour Party won an overwhelming victory in Britain's general elections on May 1, bringing a dramatic end to 18 unbroken years of government by the Conservative Party. Voters swung to the younger, new-look Labour leader, Tony Blair, 43, who had been promoting "New Labour" for Britain since winning the leadership position some years earlier. While Labour secured a majority of 179 seats in the House of Commons, five key Conservative ministers lost their seats.
#
"Iran Hit by Earthquake (1997)",221,0,0,0
On May 10, an estimated 4,000 people died after an \Jearthquake\j measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale hit Qaen, north-east of Birjand in \JIran\j. A further 6,000 people were also reported to have been injured in the disaster. The government of \JIran\j asked for assistance from the international community, prompting countries from all around the world to give aid to the victims.
But even as rescue workers and government officials tended the wounded and cleared away the rubble, \JIran\j was hit by another \Jearthquake\j, this time measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale. Although it caused less damage, it underlined the vulnerability of the country and likelihood of future earthquakes.
#
"Space Station Repaired in Orbit (1997)",222,0,0,0
On May 15, the space shuttle Atlantis docked safely with the Russian space station, Mir, as part of a United States/Russian space expedition. Atlantis delivered \Jastronaut\j Dr. Michael Foale, who replaced Jerry Linenger, the American \Jastronaut\j who had been aboard Mir for four months. After Foale, who planned to remain on Mir for four and a half months, transferred to Mir, the space shuttle Atlantis returned from its mission to the Kennedy Space Center in \JFlorida\j.
On June 25, however, a subsequent docking exercise went wrong when a cargo craft collided with Mir. Although Russian officials said that the American and two Russians aboard Mir were in no danger, the men were instructed to conserve oxygen because the station had suffered significant damage when hit by the cargo craft.
Faced with the prospect of abandoning the station and returning to \JEarth\j in an escape craft, the astronauts set about restoring power. Reporting their progress, the crew then appeared in a \Jtelevision\j link with \JEarth\j, where they showed some of the damage that was caused when the cargo craft collided with their home.
Although NASA officials confirmed that the situation was improving, the future of Mir depended on the crew who still had to carry out repair work. This was more difficult than first thought, however, and the space station was plunged into darkness when a vital computer cable was mistakenly unplugged. This caused a further drop in power, compelling the crew to retreat to the Soyuz space capsule to communicate with \JEarth\j, until they restored power to the main space station. These problems then inspired space officials to send a new crew to the stricken vessel to help with repairs.
On August 7, the two-man Russian relief team reached the Mir space station but was forced to dock manually when automatic systems developed a fault. The relief workers immediately tackled the most urgent task: repairing the vessel's oxygen system.
Their replacements back in space fared little better, as a computer failure, triggered during the docking operation, sent the space station spinning chaotically in \Jorbit\j, losing its orientation toward the \JSun\j. This emergency forced the crew to shut down all \Jenergy\j-consuming systems, leaving only vital life-support systems operational while they worked to re-charge the batteries.
Once they restarted the Mir space station computer system, the craft stopped spinning through space and Mission Control confirmed that the crew could reinstate the craft's stable alignment with the \JSun\j, enabling the solar panels to provide power once again.
The United States, meanwhile, conducted three separate inquiries into safety aboard Mir before sending relief \Jastronaut\j, David Wolf, on the shuttle Atlantis to replace Foale. But despite problems created by a leaking spacesuit, the Russian-US crew aboard space station Mir completed the risky task of reconnecting all power cables in the station's damaged Spektr module. This had been operating on 60 per cent power since the June 25 collision, finally enabling life for the crew in space to return to normal.
#
"Peace Between Old Rivals (1997)",223,0,0,0
On May 26, United States President, Bill Clinton, and Russian President, Boris Yeltsin, signed a pact in Paris which stated that \JRussia\j and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (\JNATO\j) were no longer adversaries, and that they would work together to create a secure, stable Europe. The pact also gave \JRussia\j the right to be included in \JNATO\j discussions in the future.
After almost 50 years of Cold War hostility between East and West, the May 26 agreement was regarded as one of the biggest milestones in world peace this century.
#
"Hong Kong Returned to China (1997)",224,0,0,0
At the stroke of midnight on June 30, Hong Kong, a British colony since 1842, was returned to Chinese rule in accordance with an agreement signed in 1984. Earlier in the \Jday\j, Britain had held lavish farewell ceremonies attended by dignitaries including Britain's Prince Charles, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the 28th and last colonial Governor, Chris Patten.
Following the handover, the territory's elected legislature was replaced by a legislature appointed by \JBeijing\j. After the new government was sworn in, Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, welcomed Hong Kong's return to the "motherland," urging all patriots to strive for the return of Macau, the resolution of "the \JTaiwan\j question," and the peaceful reunification of the Chinese people in accordance with the "one country, two systems" principle.
#
"Mars Pathfinder Mission (1997)",225,0,0,0
The United States Pathfinder \Jspacecraft\j landed on Mars on July 4, the nation's 221st Independence \JDay\j, beaming back color photographs of a landscape comprised of stones, boulders, plateaus, and mountains. The following \Jday\j, Sojourner, the six-wheeled, solar-powered pride of the Pathfinder mission, descended onto freezing Martian soil via a rear ramp to become the first mobile vehicle to rove and explore another \Jplanet\j.
NASA officially declared an end to the Mars Pathfinder mission after contact was lost three months later. By then, the project had far exceeded the 30 days that scientists had expected, sending back to \JEarth\j 16,000 pictures of the Red \JPlanet\j taken from the landing craft, and a further 550 taken from the Sojourner rover. The mission was thereby voted one of the most successful in the history of space exploration, and inspired NASA to forecast men on Mars by 2020.
#
"Pol Pot 'Show Trial' (1997)",226,0,0,0
On July 25, American journalist, Nate Thayer, claimed to have found the notoriously elusive Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, in northern \JCambodia\j, but refused to reveal details until his story was published in the Hong-Kong based \IFar Eastern Economic Review.\i
Adding weight to Thayer's claim, the clandestine Khmer Rouge radio announced that Pol Pot was convicted of \Jtreason\j at a recent trial and sentenced to life imprisonment. Video footage of Pol Pot's trial in the northern Cambodian Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng was then broadcast on global \Jtelevision\j networks featuring Pol Pot looking frail but well.
Thayer, who attended the trial, claimed it was not "a hoax" and that Pol Pot was indeed "finished." Cambodian coup leader, Hun Sen, on the other hand, scoffed at the show trial of the shadowy Khmer Rouge leader, calling it a "political game," and insisting Pol Pot was still controlling guerrilla forces in the country's north. The \IFar Eastern Economic Review\i claimed that Thayer was the first Westerner in 18 years to sight the notorious Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot.
Khmer Rouge General, Im Nguon, also claimed the guerrilla movement had broken with Pol Pot, while reiterating its allegiance to ousted co-Prime Minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh. As the instigator of Pol Pot's show trial, Im Nguon now claimed to be the movement's military chief and deputy political leader, but conceded that Ta Mok, otherwise known as "the butcher," effectively remained in control of the rebel forces.
Meanwhile, Cambodian leader Hun Sen threatened to launch a military attack to capture Pol Pot if the Khmer Rouge refused to surrender the former guerrilla leader to face an international court. Hun Sen said he would also appeal to the Thai Government to close the border north of the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng.
#
"Australian Ski Tragedy (1997)",227,0,0,0
On July 30, at least 18 people were buried beneath hundreds of tons of rubble when a landslide demolished two ski lodges at Thredbo in the Australian state of New South Wales. Most of those trapped were employees of the Thredbo Village Resort. The only survivor was Australian ski instructor, Stuart Diver, who was rescued after surviving over 60 hours buried beneath the rubble of the ski lodges engulfed by the landslide.
On August 6, after an exhausting week-long effort by rescue workers in Thredbo, the last body was retrieved from the rubble of the two ski lodges. Eighteen people were confirmed to have died in the disaster, and plans were announced to turn the area into a park with a memorial to the victims.
#
"Princess of Wales Killed in Car Accident (1997)",228,0,0,0
Britain was plunged into grief on August 31, when Diana, Princess of Wales, died aged 36 from injuries suffered in a Paris car crash. Diana's companion, Dodi Al Fayed, and the driver of the Mercedes limousine, Henri Paul, were also killed when the vehicle crashed at high speed in a tunnel near the River Seine.
Amid a mountain of floral tributes, millions of mourners lined London's streets on September 6 as Diana's funeral cortege made its way to Westminster Abbey, escorted on the last leg of the journey by her two young sons, Princes William and Harry, her brother Earl Spencer, her former husband, Prince Charles, and her sons' grandfather, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The funeral service was attended by family and friends, international celebrities, members of Europe's royal families, and representatives of world governments. It was beamed live to 60 countries around the world, reaching a record audience estimated at 2.5 billion, and radio reports of the procession and ceremony were translated into at least 44 languages.
French authorities investigating the crash later confirmed that the driver's blood alcohol was more than three times the legal limit, the passengers were not wearing seat belts, the vehicle was being pursued by the paparazzi at the time of the tragedy, and another car was involved.
#
"Algerian Massacres (1997)",229,0,0,0
On August 31, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, condemned the continuing bloody massacres in \JAlgeria\j where Islamic Fundamentalists were alleged to have killed at least 230 people. Mr. Annan called for international intervention in what was formerly regarded as an internal problem, saying the world could not continue to ignore the scope of the violence in \JAlgeria\j. The Islamic Fundamentalists were trying to unseat the government because it was not running \JAlgeria\j according to Islamic law.
On September 5, in a savage three-hour onslaught, about 50 attackers armed with knives and hatchets massacred at least 87 people and injured almost 100 others in a village near \JAlgiers\j. French newspapers reported that Algerian security forces had located and destroyed the main hide-out of an elite force of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) about 70 kilometers southwest of \JAlgiers\j. The security operation killed 70 of the 100 members of the underground GIA force, which was believed to be responsible for most of the massacres in the area.
#
"Cambodian Crisis (1997)",230,0,0,0
On September 1, as sporadic shelling continued around \JCambodia\j's contested northwestern border town of O'Smach, King Norodom Sihanouk prayed for peace at a two-hour traditional Buddhist ceremony held at the royal chapel near his residence in Siem Reap. The King's previous calls for a ceasefire were ignored by the Hun Sen government, which insisted that royalist forces entrenched in O'Smach must either surrender or fight until they were defeated.
The Cambodian Government reiterated that fighting in the country's northwest would only cease when royalist forces surrendered. In a statement signed by co-Prime Ministers, Hun Sen and Ung Huot, the government offered amnesty to all opposition soldiers and officials, with the exception of former First Prime Minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, and two of his top military men, General Nhiek Bun Chhay and General Serey Kosal.
#
"North Korean Tidal Wave (1997)",231,0,0,0
On September 1, Red Cross officials reported that the tidal wave which smashed dikes and flooded fields in North Korea the previous month had destroyed an estimated 700,000 tonnes of corn, exacerbating the starving nation's food crisis. It was the worst tidal wave in the nation's history and one of the worst on record.
The tidal wave, reported to be more than eight meters high, carried \Jseaweed\j and debris as far inland as 10 kilometers, and was caused by \JTyphoon\j Winnie, which lashed eastern China at the same time.
#
"Progress on Landmines (1997)",232,0,0,0
On September 2, an international conference seeking a global ban on landmines opened in Oslo, with delegates observing a one-minute tribute of silence to the late Princess of Wales. Norwegian Foreign Minister, Bjoern Tore Godal, vowed to spare no efforts to achieve the goal for which Diana had strenuously campaigned for during the last months of her life - to produce a text for a global treaty banning landmines.
The United States proposed an open-ended arrangement which would allow the continued use of landmines in the Korean peninsula's demilitarized zone separating North and South. Canadian Foreign Minister, Lloyd Axworthy, one of the leaders in formulating the draft treaty, declared that Canada would destroy its remaining anti-personnel mines before the scheduled treaty signing in early December, having already destroyed two-thirds of its stockpile last year.
After days of debate, a draft treaty banning the use, production, sale, and storing of landmines was released for review by governments of the countries participating in the Oslo conference, however the draft was challenged by the United States.
Despite this opposition to the draft, close to 100 countries endorsed the draft treaty on September 19 to ban anti-personnel landmines.
The text of the treaty prohibited the use, production, and development of landmines, and required a country to destroy its stockpiles, and remove all landmines it had laid.
#
"Declaration of Obligations (1997)",233,0,0,0
At a meeting in \JSingapore\j on September 2, the InterAction Council, a 29-member group of elder world statesmen, completed a draft of a 19-point Universal Declaration of Human Obligations designed to complement the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, urging the United Nations and individual governments to adopt the document.
The original Declaration of Human Rights was created in 1945 by world leaders who formed the United Nations after the Second World War. The InterAction Council was chaired by former Australian prime minister, Malcolm Fraser, and its members included former German chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, and former United States president, Jimmy Carter.
#
"Death of Mother Teresa (1997)",234,0,0,0
On September 5, Mother Teresa, winner of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize for her selfless devotion to the destitute, died aged 87 of cardiac arrest at Mother House, the \JCalcutta\j headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity order she founded in 1950, and which had extended to more than 100 countries around the world. The body of the internationally-renowned missionary was moved to Saint Thomas Catholic Church in central \JCalcutta\j to lie in state for a week, allowing tens of thousands of mourners to file by and pay their last respects.
In a complete break with tradition, the Indian Government decided to honor Mother Teresa with a state funeral, an honor usually reserved for serving heads of state. On September 13, her open casket, escorted by military guards and accompanied in song by 400 white-robed nuns, was drawn through the streets of \JCalcutta\j on the same gun carriage used to carry Mahatma Gandhi's body to his \Jcremation\j site almost 50 years earlier. After a funeral mass attended by some 12,000 people, including scores of foreign dignitaries, Mother Teresa was privately buried in the courtyard of Mother House.
#
"Asian Fires Caused Pollution (1997)",235,0,0,0
From early September to late November, much of Southeast Asia was shrouded by a blanket of choking smog generated by forest fires burning out of control on the Indonesian islands of \JBorneo\j and \JSumatra\j. Many of the fires had been started by logging and plantation companies for the purpose of clearing land.
As air \Jpollution\j reached hazardous levels, causing respiratory problems for millions of people and reducing visibility to almost zero in some areas, \JIndonesia\j stood ready to evacuate the island of \JSumatra\j, and neighboring \JMalaysia\j declared a state of emergency. Meanwhile, thousands of firefighters unsuccessfully fought to control the blazes, which destroyed vast tracts of forest and forced endangered native species from their natural habitat.
The arrival of the seasonal monsoon in mid-November brought rain and wind changes which finally cleared the dangerous pall of smog and eased the emergency. Meteorologists warned, however, that the haze could return if the fires were not controlled by the end of the season.
#
"Hundreds Died in Ferry Disaster (1997)",236,0,0,0
On September 8, as many as 400 people drowned when a packed ferry capsized off \JHaiti\j. United Nations personnel from the \JHaiti\j peacekeeping force led the rescue effort, backed by the United States Coast Guard. Divers recovered the bodies of those trapped in a heavily overloaded Haitian ferry which sunk in 120 feet of \Jwater\j 50 yards from shore.
\JHaiti\j's President visited the disaster scene at Montrouis, but was confronted by angry villagers demanding to know why the government had not taken steps to prevent such accidents.
#
"Scottish Home-Rule (1997)",237,0,0,0
On September 11, the people of Scotland voted in a referendum on a British Government proposal to return parliament to Edinburgh for the first time in nearly three centuries. Scots were asked two questions: whether they wanted their own parliament, and whether they wanted it to have limited power to set taxes. British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who spearheaded the final days of the campaign, endorsed the "yes" vote.
The result of the referendum was an overwhelming victory for Scottish home-rule campaigners, with 74.3 per cent of voters in favor of a Scottish parliament, and 63.5 per cent wanting the parliament to have tax-varying powers.
The new parliament inherited its powers on July 1, 1999.
#
"Afghanistan Civil War (1997)",238,0,0,0
On September 12, the United Nations called for a truce as fighting raged in \JAfghanistan\j. Opposition forces fired at least five rockets at the capital Kabul, held by the Islamic Taliban militia, while the northern opposition stronghold of Mazar-e-Sharif came under siege for a third \Jday\j.
Fighting entered a fourth \Jday\j around the besieged stronghold of Mazar-e-Sharif as \JAfghanistan\j's Taliban militia continued its offensive to take control of the city. Taliban warplanes pounded Mazar-e-Sharif with bombs, while a large-scale counter-attack mounted by opposition forces on Taliban positions outside the city was reportedly beaten back.
The fighting came just four months after the Taliban claimed to control all of \JAfghanistan\j.
#
"Chinese Congress Met (1997)",239,0,0,0
On September 13, Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, opened the ruling Communist Party's 15th Congress, outlining sweeping reforms which included opening big state-owned companies to public shareholding, and relaxing controls over smaller companies to allow sales and mergers.
On September 18 in \JBeijing\j, delegates to the 15th Communist Party Congress elected a new 193-member Central Committee, dropping the National People's Congress chairman, 72-year-old Qiao Shi, who was regarded as one of the main rivals to President Jiang Zemin. Also dropped as a result of the election were the senior Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission, General Liu Huaqing, and another former influential military leader, General Yang Baibing.
#
"Welsh Home-Rule (1997)",240,0,0,0
The people of Wales went to the polls on September 19 to vote in a referendum on a British Government proposal to establish a Welsh home-rule parliament in \JCardiff\j for the first time in 600 years. Unlike the parliament proposed for Scotland however, the Welsh assembly would not have the power to make laws or raise taxes.
Welsh voters only narrowly endorsed the British Government proposal. The referendum result was based on a voter turn-out of just over 50 per cent with a margin of just 7,000 in favor of independence. A total of 559,419 or 50.3 per cent, voted for independence, while 552, 698 or 49.7 per cent voted against independence. Only a huge vote of 49,115 against 26,119 in the Welsh heartland of Carmarthenshire turned the tide.
The new parliament inherited its powers on July 1, 1999.
#
"Brightest Star Discovered (1997)",241,0,0,0
On October 8, United States scientists discovered the brightest star in the universe, naming it \JPistol\j after the \Jpistol\j shaped nebula of gas clouds surrounding it. Ten million times brighter than the \Jsun\j, the new star was believed to be the biggest star in the universe, with a radius of between 149.5 million and 224.5 million kilometers, compared to the \Jsun\j's radius of 692,000 kilometers.
According to the University of \JCalifornia\j scientists, \JPistol\j was born between one and three million years ago. The scientists also said that \JPistol\j was burning as much \Jenergy\j in six seconds as the \Jsun\j does in a year, and that it would burn itself out well before the \Jsun\j, which is expected to last another 5 billion years.
#
"Briton Sets New Land Speed Record (1997)",242,0,0,0
On October 13, British fighter pilot Andy Green became the first person to break the sound barrier on land, producing an average speed of 762 miles per hour in two runs across Nevada's Black Rock Desert. However, Green missed out on setting a \Jsupersonic\j land speed record, failing by one minute to complete the two runs within one hour as stipulated by international racing rules. On October 15, he made another attempt and succeeded in setting the record, averaging a speed of 763.035 miles per hour in the two runs, which he completed within the stipulated time.
#
"Stock Market Crash (1997)",243,0,0,0
On October 27, the New York stock exchange suffered its biggest one-\Jday\j points drop on record, with the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging 554.26 points, or 7.18 per cent, to 7,161.15. The drop was the worst since the infamous 1987 "Black Monday" crash, but not as bad in percentage terms as either Black Monday or the 1929 Wall Street Crash which precipitated the Great Depression.
It was the first time in market history, however, that organizers imposed the emergency mechanisms that had been introduced after the 1987 Black Monday crash, with trading automatically suspended when the index dropped 350 point, and again when the index was down 554.75 points. It was also the first time that market trading had been halted since the November 22, 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
United States White House officials along with Treasury Secretary, Robert Rubin, appealed for calm, assuring investors that the markets were working smoothly. President Bill Clinton also intervened to offer words of reassurance, reminding the American people that the economy was still as strong and vibrant as it had been for a generation.
#
"Kyoto Protocol (1997)",244,0,0,0
After 11 days of intense negotiations, delegates to a December United Nations conference on climate change in \JKyoto\j, \JJapan\j, endorsed the world's first comprehensive accord to combat global warming. The historic treaty, known as the \JKyoto\j Protocol, aimed to reduce worldwide emission of six greenhouse gases by an average of 5 per cent on 1990 levels over the period 2008 to 2012. It also included the potential for gas-absorbing sinks and for offshore trading of excess quota between industrialized nations.
The heat-trapping gases that were to be subject to limitation included the three main polluting and naturally occurring gases: carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and \Jmethane\j. The three other gases identified as emerging threats to the world's climate were hydroflourocarbons, perflourocarbons, and sulfur hexaflouride.
The \JKyoto\j Protocol specifically called for the United States to limit emissions by 7 per cent, the European Union by 8 per cent, and \JJapan\j by 6 per cent, with most other industrialized nations facing cuts ranging between 5 and 8 per cent. Exceptions were \JAustralia\j, \JNorway\j, and \JIceland\j, which would be allowed to increase emissions by 8 per cent, 1 per cent, and 10 per cent respectively, while levels for New Zealand, \JUkraine\j, and \JRussia\j were to remain unchanged. Developing nations, including major greenhouse gas emitters such as China and India, were urged to set voluntary targets.
#
"El Ni±o (1997-98)",245,0,0,0
El Ni±o is a term used to describe a particular set of \Jweather\j patterns resulting from rising surface \Jwater\j temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Latin America. The rise in ocean \Jwater\j \Jtemperature\j is caused by the southward penetration of warm ocean currents off \JPeru\j, yielding a change in the normal circulation of the \Jatmosphere\j between the eastern Pacific region and northern \JAustralia\j. The phenomenon, more pronounced every three to eight years, mostly sets in just after Christmas, hence the name El Ni±o, meaning "Christ-child."
The 1997-98 El Ni±o ranked as one of the major climatic events of the century, toppling \Jweather\j records around the world. In Southeast Asia, extremely dry conditions rekindled smoldering fires in \JIndonesia\j, threatening to repeat the previous year's smog crisis, and crops and \Jwater\j supplies were severely affected in countries such as \JIndonesia\j, \JMalaysia\j, the \JPhilippines\j, Vietnam, and further south in Papua New Guinea. In the worst hit regions, lives were lost and thousands more threatened by \Jfamine\j and outbreaks of \Jcholera\j.
The United States, on the other hand, experienced its warmest and wettest January and February ever, with West Coast regions lashed by storms, rains, and high winds which caused millions of dollars in damage. Further south, the Bolivian gold mining town of Mokotoro was swamped by a massive mudslide triggered by heavy El Ni±o rains. Sixty people were killed and many of the town's surviving residents were left homeless. In northern \JPeru\j many were airlifted out of towns hit by floods and mudslides.
By July 1998, El Ni±o had waned, but its cold sibling La Ni±a ("the little girl"), characterized by the reverse circumstances, had appeared sooner than expected. The last major La Ni±a was in 1988.
#
"Asian Economic Crisis (1997-98)",246,0,0,0
During the latter half of 1997, the Asian region entered a period of prolonged economic crisis. On July 2, \JThailand\j was forced to float its currency, the baht, and by August it became the first of three Asian countries to receive emergency assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), reaching agreement on a $US17.2 billion economic rescue package. \JIndonesia\j followed suit in October, negotiating a $US38 billion package with the IMF, while South Korea finally succumbed in early December, accepting tough IMF terms for a massive $US55 billion bailout package.
Asia's economic crisis was fueled by ongoing debt servicing difficulties and the initial effects of IMF-prescribed reforms, many of which sparked social unrest and political instability. Thai Prime Minister, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, became the region's first major political casualty when he bowed to public pressure and stepped down in November 1997 after only 11 months in office. The following May, a public backlash over food shortages and spiraling prices forced \JIndonesia\j's President Soeharto to resign after 32 years in power. Meanwhile, investor confidence waned in the face of political and financial uncertainty, sending regional stock and currency markets plunging to new record lows. By May 1998, Hong Kong's bubble economy had burst, leaving the territory facing recession and its authorities vowing to defend the currency's peg to the US dollar at all costs. By August 1998, the Malaysian Government announced that its once-booming economy was also in recession.
The fallout from the Asian meltdown was felt in varying degrees throughout the world, and as early as January 1998 \JJapan\j had come under mounting international pressure to help revive the region's floundering economies by opening its markets and implementing further measures to boost domestic demand. Despite the pressure, \JJapan\j failed to take any steps until April, by which time the Japanese economy itself was in deep trouble. On June 12, the release of official figures confirmed that the world's second largest economy was in the throes of its worst recession since the Second World War. On July 13, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto became the third major political casualty of the Asian region's economic crisis when he resigned to accept responsibility for the loss of public confidence in the ability of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party to help \JJapan\j rebound and lead the rest of Asia out of its turmoil.
#
"Korean Peace Talks (1997-98)",247,0,0,0
On December 9, historic peace talks began in Geneva between North and South Korea, and their respective Korean War allies, China and the United States. The four-way talks represented the first formal peace negotiations involving the key participants since the three-year conflict ended in 1953, and although the ultimate goal was to forge a more durable agreement to replace the fraying armistice that brought a halt to the fighting, the first round of talks was not aimed at yielding visible progress on specific issues. Instead, the occasion was regarded as an initial meeting to familiarize the teams with each other and with the format of the discussions, which were expected to continue through subsequent rounds over quite some period of time.
When the introductory meeting concluded the following \Jday\j with a commitment for another session in March, the outcome was unanimously hailed as productive. However, a major source of contention was Washington's rejection of North Korea's demand that United States troops withdraw from South Korea, an issue that plagued both the second round of talks in March and a third round in October.
#
"European Union Expansion (1997-98)",248,0,0,0
In December 1997, the European Union agreed to admit six new members in the biggest single enlargement in its 40-year history. Accession negotiations were scheduled for early 1998 with Cyprus and five former Communist states: \JPoland\j, \JHungary\j, the Czech Republic, Estonia and \JSlovenia\j.
The planned expansion was soon marred by tensions over Cyprus and Turkey, with \JFrance\j losing its bid to stop entry talks for Cyprus when the other EU countries voted to start negotiations while maintaining pressure on the Greek Cypriot Government to bring the Turkish Cypriot north to the table. Turkey's bid to be included in this stage of the EU enlargement had been rejected, and Turkish Cypriots thereby refused to join the Greek Cypriot delegation in the negotiations.
Despite the tensions, membership talks with Cyprus and the five ex-Communist countries commenced on March 31. Turkey, however, branded the talks with the Greek Cypriot Government as an "historic mistake."
#
"Pope John Paul II Visited Cuba (1998)",249,0,0,0
Pope John Paul II arrived in \JCuba\j on January 21 for an unprecedented five-\Jday\j tour of the Communist island nation. During his historic visit, the Pope urged the United States to ease its oppressive 35-year economic embargo on \JHavana\j and called for \JCuba\j to open itself up to the world, also suggesting that the officially atheist nation needed more justice, freedom, humanity and, most importantly, Christianity.
Almost a month after the papal visit, the Cuban Government agreed to release several dozen prisoners of conscience whose names had been included on a list forwarded by the Vatican. The US responded by announcing a slight relaxation of its policy towards \JCuba\j, agreeing to allow a resumption of direct humanitarian charter flights, to permit Cuban-Americans to send money to their families, and to expedite sales of medicine and medical supplies.
#
"Execution of Karla Faye Tucker (1998)",250,0,0,0
On February 3, convicted murderer Karla Faye Tucker, 38, was put to death by lethal injection. She was the first woman to be executed in the state of \JTexas\j since 1863, and the second woman to be executed in the US since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Convicted for the 1983 pickaxe killings of two people from Houston, Tucker had confessed to committing the grisly crimes. During her imprisonment, the former prostitute and drug addict became a born-again Christian and attracted a flock of supporters worldwide. In her widely publicized appeal campaign, the US Supreme Court rejected two last-minute calls for leniency and even Pope John Paul II urged Texan Governor, George W. Bush, to show her clemency. In an effort to have her sentence commuted to life in prison, her supporters argued not on the grounds of her sex, but on the depth of her spiritual conversion.
On February 23, United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, succeeded in negotiating a breakthrough accord with Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein. Acclaimed as a diplomatic coup, the accord ended a prolonged deadlock over the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) disarmament program and averted a threatened United States-led military strike against \JIraq\j.
Tensions between the United States and \JIraq\j had flared in October 1997, when \JBaghdad\j refused entry to all American members of UNSCOM teams charged with dismantling \JIraq\j's weapons of mass destruction. \JBaghdad\j's subsequent threats to shoot down an American U-2 surveillance plane employed by the agency prompted a build-up of United States military forces in the Persian Gulf and warnings of retaliatory action, strongly echoed by Britain. \JRussia\j quickly stepped in as mediator, and by late November 1997 had forged a deal allowing the UNSCOM teams to resume their work.
Within days, however, the United States and Britain demanded that UNSCOM inspectors be allowed access to sites previously declared off-limits, including Saddam Hussein's palaces. Despite renewed warnings of military strikes, \JIraq\j refused, claiming that the sites in question were sensitive. In mid-January 1998, tensions were increased yet again when a defiant \JIraq\j blocked an UNSCOM team led by an American, and insisted that the composition of inspection teams reflect that of the UN Security Council.
Throughout the confrontation, permanent Security Council members \JRussia\j, \JFrance\j, and China remained strongly opposed to the use of armed force to ensure Iraqi compliance with UN resolutions. Nevertheless, by mid-February 1998, the United States stood poised to launch Operation Desert Thunder, having amassed an enormous military force in the Gulf. Amid diminishing hopes for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, Kofi Annan's eleventh-hour peace mission yielded agreement and defused the threat of an imminent military showdown.
By the end of the year however, tensions resurfaced, and the US and Britain launched Operation Desert Fox against \JIraq\j on December 16.
#
"Kosovo Crisis Erupted (1998)",252,0,0,0
On March 9, the six-nation Contact Group responsible for coordinating the peace process in the former Yugoslavia held its first emergency ministerial meeting since the end of the 1992-95 Bosnian war. The London meeting of foreign ministers from the United States, Britain, \JRussia\j, \JFrance\j, \JGermany\j, and \JItaly\j was hastily convened to formulate a united response to events in the southern Serbian province of \JKosovo\j, the newly erupted trouble spot in the Balkans.
Trouble had been brewing in \JKosovo\j well before 1989, when \JBelgrade\j suspended the province's autonomy. In late February 1998, however, the province was projected to the forefront of European concerns after Serbian security forces launched a crackdown against the \JKosovo\j Liberation Army, an outlawed ethnic \JAlbanian\j guerrilla groups fighting for independence.
Amid fears that the conflict could spill into neighboring \JAlbania\j and Macedonia, the March 1998 Contact Group meeting marked the start of a series of retaliatory measures against \JBelgrade\j, including economic sanctions, an arms embargo, and threats of \JNATO\j military intervention. It also marked the start of an ongoing diplomatic drive to open a dialogue between \JBelgrade\j, which regarded \JKosovo\j as the cradle of Serbian history and culture, and \JKosovo\j's ethnic Albanians, who constituted 90 per cent of the province's population. Despite divisions over the means of achieving the desired peace settlement, the Contact Group unanimously rejected the ethnic \JAlbanian\j bid for independence, instead proposing a compromise solution involving a broad-based autonomy that would restore the rights taken from \JKosovo\j's \JAlbanian\j Muslims over the past decade, but at the same time preserve the political integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
#
"Russia's Political and Economic Crisis (1998)",253,0,0,0
On March 23, Russian President Boris Yeltsin dismissed the government of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin for failing to push through measures to combat the country's deepening economic problems. In late April, Mr. Yeltsin emerged the victor of a month-long battle when the Communist-controlled \JDuma\j finally approved his prime-ministerial candidate, Sergei Kiriyenko. However, in an abrupt tactical reversal on August 23, Mr. Yeltsin sacked the government of Prime Minister Kiriyenko and recalled Mr. Chernomyrdin as acting prime minister, embroiling \JRussia\j in a political and economic crisis that shook financial markets throughout the world and triggered fears of a global downturn.
\JRussia\j's own financial markets had begun to slide in November 1997 as foreign investors took flight amid concerns over the government's inability to collect domestic taxes and pay overdue wages to striking state workers. In May 1998, \JRussia\j's central bank tripled interest rates to 150 per cent in a bid to stem the exodus of capital from the country's markets. The International Monetary Fund came to \JRussia\j's rescue in July, agreeing on terms for a $US22.6 billion bailout that staved off a possible \Jdevaluation\j of the ruble and allowed the government breathing space as it struggled to meet debt servicing obligations.
The bailout failed to halt the deterioration and, on August 17, the Russian Government announced a de facto \Jdevaluation\j of the ruble and a 90-\Jday\j moratorium on debt repayments, moves that unleashed further chaos on Russian markets and adversely affected those throughout Europe. Following the dismissal of Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko's Government six days later, \JRussia\j's stock market index crashed to its lowest recorded level since its introduction in 1995, and the embattled ruble collapsed, losing 40 per cent of its value as the country's central bank abandoned the fight to support it.
\JRussia\j had suddenly become one of the weakest links in the global economy. The benchmark CRB index of global commodity prices, already depressed by Asia's troubles, fell to its lowest level in 21 years, sending the commodity-based currencies of Canada and \JAustralia\j diving to record lows, and opening a new battle front in Latin America. Anxious United States markets reacted, and in late August, New York's Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its largest ever weekly points loss. The slump of the world's most closely-watched financial barometer unnerved world markets yet again, sparking concerns that what had begun as Asian contagion in mid-1997 could well become a global pandemic.
#
"Impotence Pill Took US by Storm (1998)",254,0,0,0
In April 1998, drug manufacturer, Pfizer, launched a new "wonder" impotence drug, Viagra, onto the United States market. The drug was originally created to treat \Jangina\j patients, however it was soon found to have a noticeable side effect. By early May Viagra had been prescribed to more than 1 million impotent men, mostly middle-aged. This blockbuster male impotence pill was proving to be the most popular prescription drug in US history. More than 2.5 million prescriptions had been written for Viagra by July and US health organizations were refusing to give coverage for the drug, saying the cost would be prohibitive due to the drug's ballooning popularity.
In July, a 63-year-old New York diabetic who suffered a heart attack after taking four Viagra pills in five days became the first customer to file a lawsuit against Pfizer, claiming that the product was unreasonably dangerous and seeking $US80 million in damages. Around 30 deaths believed to be related to the drug Viagra were soon reported, including at least four who were diabetic. Pfizer, however, maintained that there was no proof Viagra caused the deaths. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched an investigation into the cause of the deaths and on August 24 posted a new report on the \JInternet\j, stating that at least 69 Americans who took Viagra had died in the first four months it was on the market. However, the FDA noted that the link with Viagra was circumstantial.
#
"Nuclear Tests in South Asia (1998)",255,0,0,0
Despite international efforts to secure a global ban on nuclear testing, India successfully detonated a triple underground test in the Thar desert in the western state of \JRajasthan\j on May 11. In defiance of international outrage, two further nuclear tests were conducted on May 13 in the Pokharan Range of the same region. The blasts were in violation of India's own self-imposed 25-year moratorium on nuclear testing, and the United States, although initially caught off-guard, responded by recalling its ambassador and imposing more than $US20 billion in sanctions. Other leading nations were swift in lodging formal protests and undertaking similar actions.
Ignoring international appeals for restraint, India's archenemy \JPakistan\j detonated five underground nuclear explosions on May 28 in a tit-for-tat response to its neighbor's tests. Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, defended the action and said \JPakistan\j was prepared to cap its newly tested Ghauri missile with nuclear warheads, giving \JPakistan\j the capability for a successful strike on most targets in India. On May 30, \JPakistan\j carried out a sixth nuclear test detonation, prompting the United States and other nations to announce the immediate imposition of broad economic sanctions.
Amid fears of an escalating nuclear arms race in South Asia, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1172 condemning India and \JPakistan\j for their nuclear tests, and calling on both countries to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty as non-nuclear states. Although the rival nations both announced self-declared moratoriums on further nuclear testing, they resisted international pressure, remaining resolute in their criticism of the Big Five nuclear powers as an exclusive club, one that they claimed was restricting access to an arsenal of over 30,000 nuclear weapons to five key players: the United States, Britain, China, \JFrance\j, and \JRussia\j.
#
"Death of Frank Sinatra (1998)",256,0,0,0
American singing and acting legend, Frank Sinatra, died from a heart attack on May 14 at the age of 82. Affectionately known as "Ol' Blue Eyes," "The Chairman of the Board," or just plain "Franky," Sinatra had been hospitalized several times since early 1997.
Throughout his extraordinary 60-year career, Sinatra starred in a swag of films and recorded hundreds of songs, becoming the most recognized and imitated vocalist of the century, one whose influence spread from the Big Band era to the present \Jday\j. He gave his last concert in November 1994 in Atlantic City.
Summing up the feelings of Sinatra's millions of fans, United States President Bill Clinton said of the sometimes-controversial entertainer: "He really did do it his way."
#
"Fall of Indonesia's President Soeharto (1998)",257,0,0,0
On May 21, \JIndonesia\j's President Soeharto announced that he was stepping down after 32 years in power. Just two months earlier, \JIndonesia\j's People's Consultative Assembly had affirmed the unopposed re-election of Mr. Soeharto for a seventh consecutive five-year term, and his resignation was a stunning victory for the country's student population, who had initiated the push to force the veteran leader from office.
Calls for Mr. Soeharto's resignation had begun in January as \JIndonesia\j plunged into its worst economic crisis in decades. Following his re-appointment in March, thousands of students defied riot police to take to the streets of major cities in almost daily demonstrations to demand a new leadership as well as political and economic reforms. Opposition politicians, church leaders, and workers enraged by spiraling food prices threw their support behind the students, and clashes between protesters and police escalated, engulfing \JIndonesia\j in its worst social turmoil in decades. In mid-May, the capital, Jakarta, was rocked by days of bloodshed and \Jmayhem\j in which some 500 people were killed, and thousands of buildings and cars were destroyed.
On May 20, with students vowing to keep up their protests, the Speaker of the Parliament and the leaders of its four factions demanded that President Soeharto resign immediately in the interest of national unity. The following \Jday\j, Mr. Soeharto officially handed over the presidency to his long-time friend and ally, Vice President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie. \JIndonesia\j's powerful armed forces commander, General Wiranto, endorsed the transfer of power, called for national calm, and pledged to continue to protect the safety and honor of the former president and his family.
#
"Northern Ireland's Good Friday Peace Accord (1998)",258,0,0,0
An accord aimed at ending three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland was put to a referendum on May 22, and was accepted by a 71.12 per cent majority in Northern Ireland, and a 92 per cent majority in the Republic of Ireland. The historic peace agreement, reached on Good Friday, April 10, signaled the biggest change in the British province's political status since Ireland was partitioned in 1921. It proposed an elected Northern Ireland Assembly of both Catholics and Protestants, a North-South Council to deal with issues of common interest to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and a Council of the Isles representing all regions of Britain and Ireland.
The four main parties committed to the Good Friday accord secured a total of 76 seats when the people of Northern Ireland returned to the polls on June 25 to elect the members of their new 108-seat provincial assembly. The new power-sharing assembly was inaugurated on July 1, when its members elected Protestant Ulster Unionist leader, David Trimble, as First Minister, and Catholic Social Democrat and Labor Party leader, Seamus Mallon, as Deputy First Minister. On September 14, the new assembly's first working session got underway, marking another vital step forward in the peace process.
#
"Shuttle and Space Station Mir Parted Company (1998)",259,0,0,0
NASA's space shuttle Discovery blasted off from its \JFlorida\j launch pad on June 2 for its ninth and final rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir, drawing fuel for the 8.5-minute climb into \Jorbit\j from a new, lightweight aluminum \Jlithium\j alloy strap-on tank, used for the first time. The shuttle's mission was to bring home Australian-born Andrew Thomas, the last of seven NASA astronauts to serve aboard the orbiting Russian outpost.
The official end of NASA's three-year relationship with the Russian space complex was acknowledged by the Mir crew, who presented the shuttle astronauts with a parting gift, a large wrench used on space walks. The wrench was to become a symbolic cosmic relay stick passing from Mir to the first crew of the new International Space Station, a joint project of the United States, \JRussia\j, Europe, \JJapan\j, and Canada.
#
"German Rail Disaster (1998)",260,0,0,0
On June 3, 95 people were killed and around 200 others were injured when a high-speed train service broke a wheel on the first passenger car, derailed, and crashed into a bridge in central \JGermany\j. It was \JGermany\j's worst rail disaster in over 50 years. The \JHamburg\j-bound Inter-City Express (ICE) 884, traveling at 200 km/h, jumped the tracks and struck the supports of a road bridge near the small town of Eschede, 50 km north of Hannover. The bridge collapsed, burying part of the train under the rubble, while 13 carriages of the Inter City Express were telescoped into one another by the impact. Rescue workers struggled among the debris and wreckage for several days in a mammoth effort to find trapped survivors.
As the death toll rose in the days after the crash, Chancellor Helmut Kohl broke off a summit in \JItaly\j to return home and lead his country in mourning. Meanwhile, German rail authorities moved swiftly to withdraw 60 trains from service of the same type as Inter-City Express 884, and lower the speed limit for all ICE trains from 280 km/h to 160 km/h until rigorous inspection of the entire fleet was completed.
#
"Japan's Economy Fell into Recession (1998)",261,0,0,0
The release of official first-quarter figures on June 12 confirmed that the Japanese economy had slumped into its worst recession in 50 years, despite repeated warnings from the United States, which for months had led an international drive urging \JJapan\j to radically alter its policy and initiate a wide-reaching stimulus package to revive its sagging economy and help lead the rest of the Asian region out of its financial turmoil.
Indications of the seriousness of \JJapan\j's malaise had emerged in March, when consumer spending suffered its largest-ever fall and unemployment soared to a post-war record of 2.77 million. In April, the country's currency outlook rating was downgraded to negative, sending the Japanese yen plunging amid escalating concerns over the government's failure to promote growth. The government responded by announcing a 16 trillion yen economic stimulus package, later boosted to 20 trillion yen, but the plan did little to restore market confidence. In the face of \JJapan\j's mounting bank debts and overpriced assets, the yen continued its slide, dragging down other regional currencies with it.
Three days after \JJapan\j's recession was officially acknowledged, the yen crashed to a near eight-year low, and the central banks of \JJapan\j and the United States intervened to defend it, prompted by fears that the fall of \JJapan\j's currency would rob Asia of its chance to recover. Once again, the Japanese Government was warned that it must adopt energetic measures to rebuild the nation's banking sector, deregulate the domestic economy, and provide permanent tax relief.
Throughout the year, however, support for \JJapan\j's ruling Liberal Democratic Party had waned, and Upper House elections on July 12 yielded a resounding no-confidence vote in the government's ability to take the necessary steps. The following \Jday\j, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto announced that he was resigning to accept the blame for the party's heavy election losses. On July 30, Keizo Obuchi became \JJapan\j's new Prime Minister, naming an all new 20-member "economic reconstruction" Cabinet which he charged with the task of lifting the world's second-largest economy out of its worst recession since the Second World War.
#
"The Permanent International Criminal Court (1998)",262,0,0,0
On June 15, United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, opened a five-week 156-nation diplomatic conference aimed at establishing a permanent International Criminal Court to try perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The new court was to be based at The Hague alongside the International Court of Justice.
Throughout the conference, some 60 like-minded countries from Europe, Asia, \JAfrica\j, and Latin America argued that the court should be strong and independent, and that there should be no exemptions from its \Jjurisdiction\j. The United States disagreed, outlining a plan, supported by \JRussia\j, China, and \JFrance\j, that would allow states to opt out of the court's \Jjurisdiction\j for a period of at least ten years. The US also proposed that the court should not be allowed to take proceedings against nationals of a state that was not party to the founding treaty.
On July 18, a majority of delegates, including \JFrance\j and \JRussia\j, voted in favor of a statute that fell far short of US requirements, and the US maintained its opposition, warning that it might have to rethink its international troop commitments. China, India, Sri Lanka, the \JPhilippines\j, Israel, and \JLibya\j also refused to sign the founding treaty. Despite the lack of unanimous support, the decision to establish the International Criminal Court was hailed by Kofi Annan as a gift of hope for future generations.
#
"Nigeria's Political Turmoil (1998)",263,0,0,0
Violence erupted in \JNigeria\j on July 7 following the sudden death in detention of Chief Moshood Abiola, 60, the presumed winner of the nation's annulled 1993 elections, and the man many Nigerians believed to be their rightful leader. It was the second sudden death of a dominant political figure in the space of a month. On June 8, military ruler General Sani Abacha, who had seized power in the chaos following the annulled 1993 elections, had died of an apparent heart attack. General Abacha, 54, was the man destined to become \JNigeria\j's civilian president following planned August 1998 elections, for which he was the sole candidate approved by all five officially recognized political parties.
As social unrest continued to simmer, General Abacha's successor, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, unveiled his own program to end a 15-year stretch of military rule in \JAfrica\j's most populous nation. General Abubakar promised free elections in early 1999 with a civilian president to be sworn in by May 29, and invited the formation of new political parties to promote their own candidates. He dismantled the five political parties set up under General Abacha's regime, scrapped elections held prior to General Abacha's death, and freed all political detainees.
Reaction to General Abubakar's move was mixed, with skepticism mostly voiced by supporters of the late presidential claimant, Moshood Abiola. However, international observers agreed that if the program was implemented, it would bring a relatively swift transition to democratic civilian rule, something \JNigeria\j has known for only 10 of its 38 years of independence from Britain.
#
"Papua New Guinea Hit by Tsunami (1998)",264,0,0,0
Three tidal waves between seven and ten meters high struck a 30-kilometer stretch of Papua New Guinea's remote northwest coast on the evening of July 17. The massive wave train, or \Jtsunami\j, was generated by a \Jmagnitude\j-7 undersea \Jearthquake\j which had occurred 30 minutes earlier about 10 kilometers off the Papua New Guinean coast. The three waves then swept in from the darkness without warning, engulfing heavily populated villages on a spit of sand between the sea and the Sissano lagoon near the town of Aitape in West Sepik province.
In the days following the disaster, international rescue teams and aid workers searched frantically for survivors, at the same time pursuing the grim task of retrieving bodies trapped in debris or within the lagoon's mangrove swamps. Amid the mounting threat of infection and disease, a major priority was to provide food, shelter, and medical treatment for the 6,000 traumatized people left homeless by the \Jtsunami\j, many of whom had sustained injuries. After the extent of the devastation was assessed, the giant \Jtsunami\j was ranked among the world's worst this century, having left some 1,600 people confirmed dead and more than 2,500 others missing, most of them swept out to sea.
#
"Burial of Russian Czar (1998)",265,0,0,0
On July 17, 80 years to the \Jday\j when they were executed by Bolshevik revolutionaries, the remains of \JRussia\j's last czar, Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, their daughters Olga, Tatyana, and Anastasia, three servants, and the family doctor, were buried in a newly-built vault in the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress in the former imperial capital of St. Petersburg. Amid the pomp of an 18-gun salute, honor guards, and a congregation of solemn dignitaries, including 62 of the czar's relatives, Russian President Boris Yeltsin stood before the nine coffins to describe the shooting of the Romanov family as a "monstrous crime," and their burial in the cathedral as a redemption of common guilt and a symbol of Russian unification.
Despite Mr. Yeltsin's last-minute decision to attend the ceremony, the funeral was still a source of great controversy. The head of the Orthodox Church refused to conduct the service, and many Russian church leaders and opposition politicians boycotted the ceremony due to skepticism about the authenticity of the remains, which had been subjected to DNA testing after being discovered in an unmarked forest grave in 1991. The Russian media, however, praised Mr. Yeltsin's attendance at the ceremony, claiming that it rightly expressed national sentiments of reconciliation and repentance.
#
"United States Embassies Bombed (1998)",266,0,0,0
The United States embassies in two neighboring East African countries were the dual targets of closely coordinated terrorist attacks on August 7. At around 10.25 a.m. local time, a massive truck bomb blast rocked the US Embassy in the Kenyan capital, \JNairobi\j. No more than ten minutes later, a powerful truck bomb exploded in the grounds of the US Embassy on the northern outskirts of the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam.
The bomb blast in \JTanzania\j killed nine Tanzanians and one Kenyan, and left another 70 people injured, including a number of Americans. In \JKenya\j, the scale of the disaster was far greater due to the embassy building's location on a busy intersection in the heart of \JNairobi\j's central business district. Occupants of nearby office blocks also became victims of the attack, along with passing pedestrians and motorists. A five-story building adjacent to the embassy was reduced to rubble, burying scores of victims and triggering a frantic six-\Jday\j multinational rescue operation. Altogether, 253 people, including 12 Americans, died as a result of the Kenyan explosion, and nearly 5,000 people were injured.
#
"The Monica Lewinsky Scandal (1998)",267,0,0,0
In a videotaped session at the White House on August 17, William Jefferson Clinton became the first serving president of the United States to give sworn testimony to a criminal grand jury investigating his actions. The criminal investigation had been launched in January by independent counsel Kenneth Starr amid allegations that Mr. Clinton had engaged in an 18-month sexual relationship with former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, and pressured her to lie about it when submitting an affidavit in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.
Mr. Clinton denied the allegations at the time, and despite legal appeals by his administration, a series of witnesses, including White House lawyers and Secret Service presidential bodyguards, were called to give evidence before the grand jury convened by Mr. Starr. Ms. Lewinsky, 25, was eventually granted immunity from prosecution in return for her full and truthful testimony, and made her first appearance before the grand jury on August 6.
Within hours of giving his own testimony, Mr. Clinton delivered an unprecedented televised speech to the American people, during which he finally admitted having had an inappropriate relationship with Ms. Lewinsky, and expressed deep regret about misleading people, including his wife Hillary. Mr. Clinton also insisted that he did not ask anyone to lie or destroy evidence, and that he did not commit \Jperjury\j himself, arguing that while he failed to volunteer information, his own deposition in the subsequently dismissed Paula Jones case had been legally accurate.
Mr. Starr argued differently in a 445-page report sent to Congress on September 9 and posted on the \JInternet\j two days later. In his report, Mr. Starr described 10 encounters between Mr. Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky in sexually explicit detail, and laid out 11 grounds for possible \Jimpeachment\j. Although graphic sexual material from Ms. Lewinsky's deposition was also posted on the \JInternet\j, the president's job approval rating remained high, with polls indicating that most Americans shared the Democrats' desire for an early end to the matter.
Nevertheless, Republican leaders rejected the push for a quick review and censure of the president. Amid increasingly partisan congressional debate, the Republican majority proceeded to approve the release of further supporting evidence submitted by Mr. Starr, at the same time insisting that Congress adhere to a proper and orderly process of votes and hearings to determine whether Mr. Clinton's alleged offences amounted to the "high crimes and misdemeanors" required by the United States Constitution as justification for his \Jimpeachment\j.
#
"United States Hit Back at Terrorism (1998)",268,0,0,0
On August 20, United States warships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea launched cruise missile strikes against alleged terrorist installations in \JSudan\j and \JAfghanistan\j. The surprise air raids, timed to minimize casualties, inflicted moderate to severe damage on their targets: a suspected chemical weapons-related plant in the Sudanese capital of \JKhartoum\j, and a suspected paramilitary training compound south of the Afghan capital, Kabul. Both sites had been linked by Washington to exiled Saudi Arabian dissident, Osama bin Laden, a key sponsor of Islamic terrorist groups who had repeatedly called for a holy war against American interests and American people.
The raids sparked furious protests from \JSudan\j and \JAfghanistan\j, but the United States justified its move as one of legitimate self-defense rather than aggression against the Islamic world, claiming to have compelling evidence that Osama bin Laden's global terrorist network was behind the deadly August 7 bomb attacks on its embassies in \JKenya\j and \JTanzania\j, and that the network was planning further attacks on American facilities in the near future. Traditional allies such as Britain were quick to voice support for Washington's action, defending the right of the United States to protect itself against international \Jterrorism\j, but \JRussia\j expressed outrage over the air strikes, while anti-American states such as \JIran\j and \JLibya\j accused Washington of committing international \Jterrorism\j itself.
#
"German Swing to the Left (1998)",269,0,0,0
\JGermany\j entered a new era on September 27 when voters handed victory to Gerhard Schroeder, 54, and his center-left Social Democratic Party, rejecting Chancellor Helmut Kohl's bid for a record fifth term in office and ending 16 years of conservative rule under his Christian Democratic Union. The electoral defeat was the worst for the conservatives since 1949, with support for the Christian Democrats plummeting more than 6 per cent overall, and Dr. Kohl losing his own constituency of Ludwigshafen. The West's longest surviving political leader until then, Dr. Kohl, 68, had become the first post-war German chancellor to be voted out of office.
The fall of Dr. Kohl's administration completed the sweep of the main power centers of Europe by socialist and center-left parties, with the anti-government swing giving the Social Democratic Party 40.9 per cent of the vote, the German Greens 6.7 per cent, and the former East German Communists, renamed the Party of Democratic \JSocialism\j, 5.1 per cent of the vote, for the first time granting them full status as a minority party in the national parliament. Three weeks after the election, \JGermany\j officially turned to the political left when Mr. Schroeder's Social Democrats and the ecological Greens agreed on the formation of a new Red-Green coalition government.
#
"Wye River Memorandum (1998)",270,0,0,0
On October 23, after nine days of round-the clock negotiations at Wye Plantation outside Washington, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, signed a United States-brokered interim agreement that ended more than 18 months of stalemate in Middle East peacemaking, and prepared the way for final status talks, due to be completed by May 4, 1999 under the terms of the 1993 Oslo peace agreement. In accordance with the freshly forged Wye River Memorandum, Israel was committed to a phased withdrawal from a further 13 per cent of the West Bank, and to the release of several hundred Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. The Palestinians, in turn, were bound to take systematic and effective measures, overseen by the United States, against the organizations and \Jinfrastructure\j of violent Islamic extremists, and to approve the removal of anti-Israeli provisions from the Palestinian Charter.
The Palestinian Authority ratified the land-for-security Wye River Memorandum on October 30, and after repeated delays it was ratified by Israel's \JKnesset\j on November 17. Three days later, Israel carried out its initial commitments under the interim peace deal, beginning the first withdrawal from occupied West Bank land in nearly two years and releasing 250 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. The occasion was soured, however, by the opposition of many of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own ministers, as well as Palestinian complaints that 150 of the freed prisoners were common criminals and not political detainees as requested. In early December, with his coalition splintered over the land-for-security agreement, the embattled Israeli prime minister suspended further implementation of the Wye River Memorandum because of alleged Palestinian violations, and Middle East peacemaking came to a standstill once again.
#
"Hurricane Mitch (1998)",271,0,0,0
When Hurricane Mitch raged out of the Caribbean on October 26, it was ranked as a rare Category Five, the highest rating on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane strength, making it one of the most powerful and potentially catastrophic Atlantic storms of the century. Although Mitch was gradually downgraded to a tropical depression, it nevertheless proved to be one of the most lethal Atlantic storms in history. Its fatal force came not just from its winds but from the torrential rains it unleashed as its center stalled in the Caribbean for almost a week, drenching parts of Central America with up to two feet of rain daily, and triggering floods and mudslides which left at least 11,000 people dead, 13,000 missing, and 3 million homeless.
El Salvador, \JGuatemala\j, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and \JJamaica\j recorded a combined death toll of at least 453 people as a result of the storm, but \JHonduras\j and \JNicaragua\j bore the brunt of the deadly downpour. Some 6,500 people died and 11,000 were reported missing in \JHonduras\j alone, where floodwaters submerged half the country, destroying most of its \Jinfrastructure\j and devastating its farm-based economy. In neighboring \JNicaragua\j, officials reported more than 3,800 confirmed deaths, and as many as 1,500 people were assumed buried alive in the country's remote northwest after the crater lake of the Casita \Jvolcano\j collapsed, sending an avalanche of mud and rocks onto a number of villages below.
As starvation and disease threatened to claim even more victims, military teams from the United States, Mexico, \JFrance\j, and Britain joined forces with hundreds of foreign aid workers and local volunteers to mount a massive relief and rescue operation, and pledges of financial aid and debt relief poured in from around the world. The United States National Hurricane Center declared Mitch to be the deadliest Atlantic hurricane in more than two centuries, and it was widely feared that the disastrous floods and mudslides caused by the killer storm would set back development in Central America by 20 years, having left some of the world's most impoverished nations with no crops to harvest, no animals to slaughter, and facing rebuilding costs expected to total billions of dollars.
#
"John Glenn's Return to Space (1998)",272,0,0,0
Legendary American \Jastronaut\j, John Glenn, returned to space aboard the shuttle Discovery on October 29, 36 years after he became the first American to \Jorbit\j \JEarth\j in his Friendship 7 space capsule. At age 77, the retiring Senator for Ohio was the oldest person ever to venture into the cosmos, and his blastoff aboard the $US2 billion winged spaceship from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, \JFlorida\j, was hailed as a great \Jday\j for Americans and senior citizens alike.
The scientific purpose of John Glenn's second historic mission was to allow researchers to study the effects of physiological responses which are common to both aging and space flight, and throughout the veteran \Jastronaut\j's nine days in \Jorbit\j, he took part in numerous experiments. After traveling 5.7 million kilometers and circling \JEarth\j 134 times, John Glenn was once again feted as a hero when he walked unaided from Discovery following a safe touchdown at Kennedy Space Center on November 7.
#
"Cambodian Reconciliation (1998-99)",273,0,0,0
\JCambodia\j's rival political leaders, Prime Minister Hun Sen and his former co-prime minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh, agreed to form a coalition government on November 13, ending almost four months of bitter deadlock following the country's July 26 elections, the first since Hun Sen ousted Prince Ranariddh in a bloody coup twelve months earlier. On December 7, with the internationally recognized Cambodian Government in place, the country regained its seat in the United Nations General Assembly, paving the way for the resumption of foreign aid, much of which had been suspended because of the 1997 coup.
\JCambodia\j's next step towards reconciliation came the following February, when the last of the notorious Khmer Rouge rebel force, which had supported the royalist struggle against Hun Sen's troops, formally joined the country's army, an event hailed by the government as the end of \JCommunism\j and the country's return to peace after more than 30 years of fighting. Finally, on March 6, the Cambodian military captured Ta Mok, dubbed "The Butcher" for his brutal reputation as Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's chief of staff during the 1975-79 "killing fields" regime. Ta Mok was the only Khmer Rouge commander still at large who had not concluded a peace deal with the new Cambodian Government.
#
"Birth of the International Space Station (1998)",274,0,0,0
At 0640 GMT on November 20, \JRussia\j ushered in a new era in space exploration when it launched the first module of the $US60 billion International Space Station from the Baikonur cosmodrome in the former Soviet republic of \JKazakhstan\j. Amid the cheers of officials monitoring the launch, the unmanned Zarya navigation and propulsion module, which was built by \JRussia\j and financed by the United States, separated from the Russian Proton booster rocket and went into \Jorbit\j 353 kilometers above \JEarth\j, unfolding its solar panels, the key source of \Jenergy\j, and going on to complete several orbits by early afternoon.
The successful launch of the Zarya or "Daybreak" module set the foundation for the new international station, to be built over at least 44 flights through to the year 2004 or later, a process that would involve astronauts in a series of space walks to bring together nearly 500,000 kilograms of man-made mass designed to hold seven of their members in an interior equal to the inside of two 747 jets. As a joint project of the United States, \JRussia\j, Europe, \JJapan\j, and Canada, the development of the International Space Station had been credited with both scientific and political importance, and its symbolic birth on the brisk and windy November morning was hailed by representatives of the cooperating countries as an historic \Jday\j.
#
"Operation Desert Fox (1998)",275,0,0,0
The United States and Britain launched a sustained four-\Jday\j air offensive against \JIraq\j on December 16, one \Jday\j after a report detailing \JBaghdad\j's continued refusal to comply with weapons inspection demands was presented to the United Nations Security Council by Richard Butler, the chairman of the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) charged with \JIraq\j's disarmament. Code-named Operation Desert Fox, the joint United States-British air campaign was the biggest show of force against \JIraq\j since the 1991 Gulf War, the stated aim being to degrade \JIraq\j's nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons capabilities, and reduce its military capacity to threaten its neighbors.
The timing of the first wave of strikes, less than 24 hours before the United States House of Representatives was due to debate four articles of \Jimpeachment\j against President Bill Clinton, inevitably aroused suspicions about Mr. Clinton's motives, with opponents both at home and abroad openly voicing skepticism about the president's decision to order the attack. Reaction from Arab and Muslim nations ranged from concern to strong condemnation, and a bitter rift opened between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. \JFrance\j dissociated itself from the United States-British military action, warning of the grave human consequences, while \JRussia\j and China accused Richard Butler of distorting the report which triggered it and called for his immediate resignation. \JRussia\j took the added step of withdrawing its ambassadors from Washington and London in protest.
Although the United States and Britain declared the four-\Jday\j mission to be a success, claiming to have set back Iraqi missile development by a year or more, \JBaghdad\j remained defiant, charging Washington and London of criminal aggression in violation of the UN charter. \JBaghdad\j also vowed not to allow UNSCOM to return to work as long as Richard Butler was in charge and the crippling sanctions imposed after the 1990 Iraqi invasion of \JKuwait\j remained in effect, a stand that prompted critics of the United States-led air raids to blame Washington for squandering the chance to monitor \JIraq\j's weapons program on the ground.
#
"European Economic and Monetary Union Launched (1999)",276,0,0,0
As the stroke of midnight ushered in the year 1999, Europe entered a new era, with \JAustria\j, \JBelgium\j, \JFinland\j, \JFrance\j, \JGermany\j, Ireland, \JItaly\j, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, \JPortugal\j, and \JSpain\j officially adopting the euro, a new shared currency, and handing over a substantial part of their economic policy-making powers to a new European Central Bank, whose board was headed by Dutchman, Win Duisenberg, and included the president of every central bank in the euro zone. The unprecedented economic and monetary union of the eleven countries marked the culmination of years of planning, and was hailed by its advocates as a step toward greater political \Jintegration\j in Europe, which had been ravaged by two world wars and centuries of conflict.
Following its launch, the new single currency was used mainly for electronic transactions. The 290 million Europeans affected by the change were not able to handle euros in cash form, with notes and coins not due to circulate until 2002, but could elect to have euro-denominated bank and credit card accounts, mortgages, and travelers' and personal checks. The exchange rates of the eleven participating nations had been forever fixed against the shared currency, and just as this allowed consumers to shop and compare prices in different countries, it also allowed businesses operating in the euro zone to benefit from an elimination of the costs and risks associated with foreign currency exchange. Widely considered to be one of the most ambitious and complicated financial operations in history, the launch of European economic and monetary union created an economic giant accounting for nearly one fifth of world output and trade, and posed a potentially formidable challenge to the status of the United States dollar as the world's most sought-after reserve currency.
#
"Impeachment Trial of Bill Clinton (1999)",277,0,0,0
On January 7, the United States Senate opened the \Jimpeachment\j trial of President William Jefferson Clinton, with 100 senators raising their right hands to take their oaths as jurors before presiding officer, William Rehnquist, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In what was only the second \Jimpeachment\j trial in United States history, and the first in more than 130 years, Mr. Clinton faced two articles of \Jimpeachment\j approved by the House of Representatives on December 19, 1998. The first article of \Jimpeachment\j alleged that Mr. Clinton committed \Jperjury\j in his August 1998 testimony before the grand jury convened by independent counsel Kenneth Starr to investigate the president's relationship with former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The second article of \Jimpeachment\j alleged that Mr. Clinton obstructed justice in his attempts to conceal the truth of his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky.
After six days of televised legal representations from Republican House of Representatives prosecutors and White House defense lawyers, the Senate went behind closed doors to debate the explosive issue of calling witnesses in the trial. Voting along party lines, the Senate approved a motion to order Monica Lewinsky, lawyer Vernon Jordan, and White House adviser Sidney Blumenthal to give closed-door, videotaped depositions. The tapes were later viewed privately by the senators, and portions were used by the prosecution and the defense to present their final arguments in the Senate. The depositions did not reveal any new information, and with a two-thirds majority needed to convict the president and remove him from office, it was already clear that the prosecution would not muster the required 67 votes.
On February 12, 1999, after 13 months of political turmoil, the Senate acquitted President Clinton on both \Jimpeachment\j charges. In a stinging rebuke to the House Republican \Jimpeachment\j managers, five Republican senators joined the 45 Democrats in opposing the obstruction of justice charge, which failed on a 50-50 vote, while five more Republicans voted against the \Jperjury\j charge, which failed 45-55. An attempt to censure Mr. Clinton also failed, falling 11 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed. Immediately after the Senate votes, the chief Republican prosecutor, House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde, said he had no regrets, and that he and the other prosecutors had fulfilled their oath of office to discharge their duty according to the Constitution. Meanwhile, a subdued Mr. Clinton publicly apologized to the American people for the trauma his affair with Monica Lewinsky had caused, and urged that partisan rancor be set aside, calling for a time of reconciliation and renewal.
#
"Brazil's Financial Crisis (1999)",278,0,0,0
On January 13, \JBrazil\j acknowledged that it had lost the battle to defend its four-year-old currency against infection from financial market turmoil in Asia and \JRussia\j. Reversing a long-standing pledge to protect the currency, considered the centerpiece of the country's economic stabilization drive, the Brazilian Government effectively devalued the real by allowing it to trade within a wider band against the United States dollar. The move saw the real instantly drop by more than 8 per cent against the dollar, which sent stocks tumbling throughout Latin America and around the world, triggering widespread fears of another wave of global financial chaos.
Two days after the controlled \Jdevaluation\j attempt, \JBrazil\j allowed its currency to float freely on world markets. Within weeks, the battered real lost some 37 per cent of its value, and interest rates were elevated dramatically in a bid to stem massive dollar outflows as foreign investors took flight. \JBrazil\j was no longer able to meet International Monetary Fund conditions for a $US41.5 billion rescue package approved in November 1998 to shore up its faltering economy and avert the threat of recession in the rest of Latin America, and urgent negotiations began to set new targets to narrow the country's huge budget deficit.
With growth sacrificed for crisis-driven fiscal austerity throughout much of 1998, figures released in February 1999 showed that Latin America's largest economy had grown just 0.15 per cent after a 3.68 per cent expansion in 1997, the bleakest result since 1992 when the economy contracted 0.54 per cent. In the fourth quarter of 1998, \JBrazil\j's gross domestic product had fallen 1.89 per cent compared with the same period in 1997. It was also the second consecutive quarterly drop, and confirmed that \JBrazil\j's economy, the world's eighth largest, had effectively slipped into recession.
#
"Source of the AIDS Virus (1999)",279,0,0,0
In January 1999, an international team of scientists from the University of \JAlabama\j in the United States confirmed that the human immunodeficiency virus (\JHIV\j), which causes the deadly AIDS virus, was first passed to humans from chimpanzees. Led by Dr. Beatrice Hahn, the team made the breakthrough discovery when analyzing blood and tissue samples from an African laboratory chimp named Marilyn, who died in 1985 at the age of 26.
Although humans are the only creatures who can contract \JHIV\j, African chimps can contract a non-progressive simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), but only three cases had ever been documented. When Dr. Hahn and her colleagues found the virus in Marilyn, they compared it with the other SIV strains and with several strains of \JHIV\j. They discovered that three SIV strains taken from the subspecies of \Jchimpanzee\j known as Pan troglodytes troglodytes, to which Marilyn belonged, strongly resembled the three subgroups of \JHIV\j. The chimp SIV also showed evidence of the genetic changes, known as SIVcpz, which are not only necessary to infect another species such as humans, but can also cause illness.
The first known case of AIDS was a Bantu man who died in what is now the Democratic Republic of \JCongo\j, the habitat of the Pan troglodytes troglodytes subspecies. Most scientists had long supported the theory that AIDS must have spread to humans through infected \Jape\j or monkey meat, and the confirmation of that theory by Dr. Hahn's team opened the way for further studies to determine why the infected chimps had developed an immunity to illness, information that the scientific community hoped could lead to a cure and a vaccine for the disease in humans.
#
"Death of Jordan's King Hussein (1999)",280,0,0,0
Hassein bin Talal, the third ruler of the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan, died aged 63 on February 7, just two days after his return to \JAmman\j from the Mayo Clinic in the United States, where he had been receiving treatment for lymphatic cancer. Born on November 14, 1935, Hussein had succeeded his father as King on August 11, 1952, and as the Middle East's longest-serving leader and a key force in the quest for Arab-Israeli peace, his passing was felt deeply throughout the region. In recognition of King Hussein's status as one of the century's great leaders and peacemakers, past and present leaders from some 75 countries attended his state funeral in \JAmman\j the following \Jday\j, with allies and foes united in mutual respect.
The loss of Jordan's monarch brought about the country's first transition of executive power in almost 50 years. During a brief return home from the United States two weeks earlier, the ailing King Hussein had disinherited his 51-year-old younger brother Hassan, crown prince since 1965, and had named his eldest son, Prince Abdullah, as crown prince and heir. Less than three hours after the King's death was announced to the Jordanian people, Abdullah was sworn in as the strategic desert kingdom's fourth monarch, buoyed by pledges of ongoing economic support from powerful Western allies such as the United States. In his first royal decree, Jordan's new and inexperienced King Abdullah II, who at 37 was a generation removed from other Arab leaders, nominated his 18-year-old half-brother Hamza as crown prince, fulfilling the dying wish of their late father.
Turkish authorities captured Abdullah Ocalan, the fugitive leader of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), in the Kenyan capital, \JNairobi\j, on February 15. Expelled from years of self-exile in \JSyria\j in October 1998, Ocalan had been arrested in \JRome\j in November on a long-standing German \Jextradition\j request, which \JBonn\j declined to activate, fearing unrest between \JGermany\j's Turkish and Kurdish communities. Ocalan had then become the subject of a diplomatic row when \JItaly\j refused to hand him over to Turkey, citing a constitutional provision prohibiting \Jextradition\j to countries with the death penalty. While most \JKurds\j regarded Ocalan as a freedom fighter, Turkey regarded him as a traitor and a terrorist, accusing him of the deaths of an estimated 29,000 people during the outlawed PKK's 14-year armed struggle for independence.
The capture of Turkey's most wanted man sparked days of violent protests by \JKurds\j and their supporters in major cities around the world. It also prompted a renewed Turkish assault on rebel PKK bases in neighboring \JIraq\j, as well as calls for a ,0,0,0
meanwhile, three senior ministers were forced to resign amid heavy criticism over a failed operation to secretly harbor Ocalan in the Greek diplomatic mission in \JNairobi\j for 12 days prior to his arrest, an act arch-foe Turkey condemned as hostile.
Upon his return to Turkey, Abdullah Ocalan was held as the sole inmate of an island prison in the Sea of Marmara some 60 kilometers (37 miles) from \JIstanbul\j. On February 23, he was charged with \Jtreason\j, and on June 29, after a month-long trial, he was condemned to death by a Turkish court.
#
"Lahore Declaration (1999)",282,0,0,0
The \JLahore\j Declaration was signed by Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, on February 21, capping an historic cross-border visit by Mr. Vajpayee, the third ever by an Indian leader and the first in a decade. The declaration superseded the Shimla Agreement of 1972, negotiated after \JPakistan\j lost the 1971 war, the last of three major conflicts between the neighbors since the partition of the former British Raj gave birth to their rival nations in 1947.
In the first of seven pledges contained in the new document, the two leaders vowed to intensify their efforts to resolve all issues, including the key issue of Kashmir, divided between the two nations since 1947 and at the heart of their history of conflict. The document also committed both sides to engage in increased high-level dialogue and to avoid interference in each other's internal affairs.
In terms of the crucial nuclear issue, the \JLahore\j Declaration reaffirmed moratoriums on further testing, announced by both sides after they conducted tit-for-tat nuclear test explosions in May 1998. In associated documents, the arch-rivals agreed to a series of confidence building measures to reduce the risk of nuclear war in South Asia. These measures included advance warning of any ballistic missile tests, and notification of any accidental, unauthorized, or unexplained incident that might trigger a nuclear response.
#
"Nigeria's Return to Civilian Rule",283,0,0,0
On February 27, Nigerians voted in a presidential election that was the climax of a transition program to end a 15-year stretch of military rule and restore civilian democracy to the nation, which had been controlled by the military for all but 10 years since it gained independence from Britain in 1960. The success of the election was necessary for \JNigeria\j to regain international respect and financial assistance, and was closely monitored by a high-profile American observer team, as well as hundreds of other observers from the European Union and the Organization of African Unity.
The victor in the landmark 1999 presidential election was former military ruler, retired General Olusegun Obasanjo, 61, whose Peoples Democratic Party had won a majority in the national assembly elections already contested under the transition plan. The president-elect had originally come to power in 1976 when the previous ruling general, Murtala Muhammad, was assassinated, but in 1979 he had supervised elections and handed back government to civilians.
President Obasanjo took office according to plan on May 29.
#
"Landmine Pact Becomes Law (1999)",284,0,0,0
An international treaty banning anti-personnel landmines, concluded in \JOttawa\j in December 1997, became binding on March 1, 1999. As it came into effect, the treaty had been signed by 133 countries and ratified by 67, committing them never to use, develop, produce, stockpile, or transfer anti-personnel mines. Signatory states were also obliged to destroy stockpiled mines within four years, and to clear mines on the ground of their territory within 10 years.
The landmine pact was the first international treaty to ban a widely used weapon system since the end of the Second World War. However, major landmine users and producers, the United States, \JRussia\j, and China, had refused to join the pact to prohibit the weapons, which are blamed for killing or maiming more than 25,000 people each year.
#
"Expansion of NATO (1999)",285,0,0,0
On March 12, the foreign ministers of \JPoland\j, \JHungary\j, and the Czech Republic signed formal documents of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (\JNATO\j) at a ceremony in the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, where the late President Truman announced the creation of the Western military alliance in 1949. The three central European nations were the first former members of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact to join \JNATO\j, and their formal accession expanded the alliance to 19 members, and capped a controversial process, bitterly opposed by \JRussia\j, that began with the end of the Cold War a decade earlier.
At an emergency session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on March 17, six members were expelled as recommended by the IOC's executive board following an internal investigation into allegations of corruption surrounding Salt Lake City's successful bid to stage the 2002 Winter Games. The six members were found guilty of breaking IOC rules by accepting lavish gifts from the United States city before it won the IOC vote in 1995. Four other implicated members had previously resigned rather than face expulsion, while two top executives of the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee had been dismissed as a result of separate investigations into the allegations.
The scandal was the biggest of its kind ever to hit the modern Olympic movement, and in an effort to reduce the opportunity for future corruption, the IOC members attending the emergency session approved unprecedented changes to the organization. As an immediate measure, IOC members were banned from visiting aspirant host cities for the 2006 Winter Games. Instead, it was agreed that an elected 16-person college would choose the final two candidates from a short list of six before the full IOC session voted for the host city. It was also agreed that a new IOC commission charged with implementing structural reforms would determine the longer-term selection procedure, and that an ethics commission would be established to oversee the conduct of IOC members.
#
"First Non-Stop Balloon Flight Around the World (1999)",287,0,0,0
Swiss psychiatrist, Bertrand Piccard, 41, and former British Air Force pilot, Brian Jones, 51, became the first people to circle the globe non-stop in a hot-air \Jballoon\j when their Breitling Orbiter 3 craft crossed over the north African country of Mauritania on March 20. The duo had lifted off in the silver tear-drop shaped \Jballoon\j from the Swiss \JAlpine\j village of \JChateau\j d'Oex on March 1, and had taken 19 days, 21 hours, and 47 minutes to achieve their goal.
Throughout their historic voyage, the two men were confined in a high pressure capsule, working in shifts as the \Jballoon\j flew eight kilometers above the \Jearth\j over the sands of North \JAfrica\j and the Arabian Desert, across India, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and Central America, before catching a favorable jet stream that propelled it on the last leg across the Atlantic Ocean. The epic journey over more than 30 countries set world records for circumnavigation, distance, duration, and altitude, and was one of the last remaining aeronautical feats that had eluded a number of challengers in previous years.
#
"Paraguay's Political Turmoil (1999)",288,0,0,0
\JParaguay\j was plunged into crisis when Vice President, Luis Maria Argana, was assassinated by gunmen in the capital, Asuncion, on March 23. Dr. Argana's murder was the bloodiest episode to date in a struggle for control of the \JColorado\j Party, which had ruled for 52 years, and Congress immediately issued a statement blaming President Raul Cubas and his ally Lina Oviedo, a former army chief sentenced to ten years in prison for attempting to overthrow former President Juan Carlos Wasmosy in 1996.
On March 25, two days after the slaying of Dr. Argana, \JParaguay\j's Senate brought forward the \Jimpeachment\j trial of President Cubas, originally scheduled for April. The president was charged with misuse of power for freeing Mr. Oviedo after taking office in 1998, and then defying a Supreme Court order to send him back to jail. Riots between rival political supporters during the \Jimpeachment\j proceedings resulted in the deaths of six people, and President Cubas resigned on March 28 to prevent further bloodshed, blaming his fate on a conspiracy by Congress. He left for \JBrazil\j the same \Jday\j, while Mr. Oviedo fled to Argentina, where he was granted political asylum.
Power was then handed to Senate chief, Luis Angel Gonzalez Macchi, who secured the backing of the armed forces to become the fourth president of the South American nation since a 1989 coup ended the 35-year dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner. On March 30, 1999, the \JColorado\j Party formed a new unity Government with the Liberal Party and National Encounter opposition, allowing them the vice presidency and four key ministries, including industry and foreign affairs.
#
"NATO's Air War Against Yugoslavia (1999)",289,0,0,0
On March 24, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (\JNATO\j) launched a coordinated campaign of air attacks against Yugoslavia. It was the first \JNATO\j offensive against a sovereign nation in the military alliance's 50-year history, and came after a year of clashes between Yugoslav security forces and the \JKosovo\j Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic \JAlbanian\j guerrilla group fighting for independence in the southern Serbian province of \JKosovo\j.
The immediate aim of the United States-led air strikes was to force Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic, to accept an internationally-drafted peace plan to settle the conflict. The plan, finalized during compulsory Contact Group talks with both sides at the Rambouillet chateau in \JFrance\j the previous month, demanded that Mr. Milosevic withdraw the bulk of his troops from \JKosovo\j, grant autonomy to its ethnic \JAlbanian\j majority, and accept the presence of a \JNATO\j force to implement peace in the province. Although the plan did not satisfy the KLA goal of independence, it was signed by the ethnic \JAlbanian\j delegation to a second round of talks in mid-March. Mr. Milosevic, however, rejected the plan's demand for \JNATO\j peacekeepers as infringing Yugoslav sovereignty in \JKosovo\j.
\JNATO\j's decision to launch the air war opened a deep rift with \JRussia\j, which was vehemently opposed to military action against Yugoslavia. It also set in motion Europe's biggest humanitarian operation since the end of the First World War as hundreds of thousands of Kosovar \JAlbanian\j Muslims were forcibly evicted or fled the strife-torn province to neighboring \JAlbania\j, Macedonia, and the smaller Yugoslav republic of \JMontenegro\j, a crisis that ultimately necessitated mass airlifts of refugees to Western countries.
On June 9, after 78 days of \JNATO\j bombing had devastated \JSerbia\j's \Jinfrastructure\j and claimed hundreds of civilian lives, Yugoslavia signed a Russian-mediated accord aimed at bringing peace to \JKosovo\j and allowing the refugees to return to their homes. On June 10, as Yugoslav forces began their withdrawal from the province, \JNATO\j suspended its air campaign, and the United Nations Security Council, in compliance with Yugoslav demands, endorsed the deployment of a 50,000-strong \JKosovo\j peacekeeping force with a \JNATO\j core and Russian participation.
As a result of the 11-week bombardment, to which the United States committed nearly 800 of the 1,100 \JNATO\j \Jaircraft\j involved, Yugoslavia confirmed that it lost 462 army soldiers and 114 members of the police forces. \JNATO\j's only casualties were two United States pilots killed when their \Jhelicopter\j crashed during a training flight in \JAlbania\j and then later two soldiers belonging to the British military, who were killed by a bomb blast when they were helping the KLA clear unexploded bombs in \JKosovo\j.
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"Southeast Asia United (1999)",290,0,0,0
In a March 31 ceremony hailed as an historic event for the region's 500 million people, \JCambodia\j was formally admitted to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). \JCambodia\j's anticipated entry to the 32-year-old regional group had been postponed following a July 1997 coup in which Prime Minister Hun Sen ousted his coalition partner, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, plunging the country into further civil conflict.
With \JCambodia\j's admission to the group, ASEAN finally incorporated all 10 Southeast Asian nations: \JBrunei\j, \JCambodia\j, \JIndonesia\j, Laos, \JMalaysia\j, \JMyanmar\j, the \JPhilippines\j, \JSingapore\j, \JThailand\j, and Vietnam. Although these countries ranged from democracies to military dictatorships and Communist states, ASEAN declared that one of the dreams of its founding fathers had been fulfilled, and that Southeast Asia, which had long been divided by colonial powers, proxy wars, or internecine strife, was united at last.
A ten-year manhunt and seven months of intense negotiations came to an end in April 1999 when \JLibya\j surrendered two men accused of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 102 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988. The suspects had already been indicted in the United States and Britain, but Tripoli had refused to extradite them, prompting the United Nations to impose sanctions against \JLibya\j in 1992. It was not until August 1998 that Washington and London had proposed a compromise deal, announcing that they would allow the men to be tried in the Netherlands under Scottish law. Libyan agreement to the compromise proposal was finally secured by the personal intervention of Saudi Arabian leaders and South African President, Nelson Mandela.
After the two alleged Libyan secret service agents were handed over to a United Nations representative at Tripoli's international airport on April 5, they were flown to the Netherlands, where authorities turned them over to Scottish police at the Camp Zeist compound, a former United States military air base near the central Dutch city of Utrecht which had been placed under Scottish \Jjurisdiction\j. The following \Jday\j, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, 47, and Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima, 43, were formally charged with conspiracy, murder, and contravention of the \JAviation\j Security Act 1982.
The mid-air explosion of Pan Am Flight 102 in 1988 killed 270 people: 259 passengers and crew, 189 of whom were United States citizens, and 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie.
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"Another Solar System Discovered (1999)",292,0,0,0
In April, astronomers in the United States and \JAustralia\j concluded that a trio of giant gas planets circling a \JSun\j-like star called Upsilon Andromedae in the \Jconstellation\j Andromeda was comparable to the nine-\Jplanet\j grouping that contains \JEarth\j. Although the astronomers had been finding extrasolar planets since 1995, this was the first time that they had identified a solar system beyond our own.
In announcing their discovery of the system, some 44 light years away from \JEarth\j, the astronomers said the closest \Jplanet\j to Upsilon Andromedae was a body about three-fourths the mass of Jupiter which orbited the star once every 4.6 days. They estimated that the next \Jplanet\j was the distance of Venus from the \JSun\j, twice Jupiter's mass, and orbited the star every 242 days, and that the third \Jplanet\j was four times Jupiter's mass, and orbited the star every 3.5 years at a distance two and a half times the distance of \JEarth\j from the \JSun\j.
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"Territory of Nunavut was Created (1999)",293,0,0,0
In the first redrawing of Canada's maps in 50 years, a vast new \JArctic\j territory called Nunavut was carved out of the Northwest Territories on April 1, creating a self-governing region for the \JInuit\j, formerly known as Eskimos, who were struggling to cope with the breakdown of their old way of life. For thousands of year, they had roamed the frozen North, hunting, fishing, and living in igloos and tents, but in the late 1950s and early 1960s they were enticed off the land by Canadian Government programs providing housing, medicine, education, and food. As a result, a once independent subsistence culture soon became heavily dependent on social assistance.
At its creation, Nunavut, meaning "Our Land," became Canada's third territory, stretching from Hudson Bay to Ellesmere Island on the \JArctic\j Ocean to cover a fifth of the country's land. It had a population of 27,000, 85 per cent of whom were native \JInuit\j. Its new capital, Iqaluit, had a population of 4,500 people. The official languages were English, French, and Inuktitut, an oral \JInuit\j language for which Anglican missionaries had created a written form. The first premier of the new Canadian territory was Paul Okalik, a 34-year-old Inuk law graduate who was faced with the daunting task of lifting his people from the quagmire of chronic unemployment, \Jalcoholism\j, and despair.
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"Military Coup in Niger (1999)",294,0,0,0
\JNiger\j's President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara was gunned down by members of his own presidential guard at Niamey Airport on April 9. Although his death was officially described as "an unfortunate accident," Mainassara's own coup in January 1996 and his transformation into an elected president four months later had never been accepted by a political opposition led by those he overthrew, and within hours of his assassination, the parliament in which his supporters reigned supreme was dissolved and political activity was suspended.
Following Mainassara's burial on April 11, \JNiger\j's army announced that it had formed a National Reconciliation Council for a transitional period of nine months in order to end the vacuum created by the president's sudden death. The army also announced that all national institutions, including the Supreme Court, had been dissolved, and that all senior army and police officers had been retired, including the late president's army chief. The former commander of Mainassara's presidential guard, Major Daouda Malam Wanke, was named to succeed his slain boss as head of the predominantly Islamic West African state.
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"Missile Testing in India and Pakistan (1999)",295,0,0,0
On April 11, India successfully test-fired an upgraded version of its Agni ballistic missile, ending a five-year period of restraint on the controversial weapon. The launch of the longer-range, solid-fuel Agni II, capable of sending a nuclear warhead deep into China or arch-rival \JPakistan\j, was described as an act of defense by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who dismissed international criticism to insist that India remained committed to credible minimum deterrence.
Although \JPakistan\j was given advance warning of the launch in accordance with the \JLahore\j Declaration, signed with India in February, its reaction was one of angry defiance, with Islamabad vowing to give a "befitting" response. Spurning international appeals for restraint, \JPakistan\j proceeded to test-fire its medium-range Ghauri II missile on April 14, and its short-range Shaheen missile on April 15.
The tit-for-tat shows of ballistic missile strength came less than a year after world condemnation was provoked by retaliatory sets of nuclear test blasts between the rival nations. With the Kashmir dispute unresolved, religious differences intact, the scars of three wars between the neighbors remaining, and neither side committed to the global regime for nuclear arms control, the new round of tests inevitably renewed international fears of an arms race in South Asia.
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"NATO's 50th Anniversary (1999)",296,0,0,0
From April 23-25, leaders of the 19 member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (\JNATO\j) celebrated the alliance's 50th anniversary with a summit at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington, where \JNATO\j's founding treaty had been signed in 1949 as a bulwark against the Soviet Union. The three-\Jday\j anniversary summit was held during the fifth week of the alliance's air campaign against Yugoslavia, its first offensive against a sovereign nation; thus the timing also underscored \JNATO\j's transition from a collective defense organization to an assertive military force.
With Yugoslavia remaining defiant and an estimated 600,000 ethnic Albanians having fled the Serbian province of \JKosovo\j since the air strikes began on March 24, the anniversary summit was inevitably dominated by the alliance's ongoing operations in the Balkans. In reaffirming its commitment to the air campaign, \JNATO\j issued a statement warning Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that economic pressure would increase and air attacks would intensify unless he withdraws his forces from \JKosovo\j, allows the refugees to return, and accepts a \JNATO\j-led force to implement peace.
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"Panama's First Woman President (1999)",297,0,0,0
On May 2, Panamanians elected Arnulfista Party candidate, Mireya Moscoso, 52, as the first woman president to head the Central American nation. Ms. Moscoso's closest rival in the presidential race was Martin Torrijos, whose father, military dictator Omar Torrijos, had overthrown her late husband, President Arnulfo Arias, in a 1968 coup.
In defeating Mr. Torrijos, Ms. Moscoso became the first leader not connected with the ruling Revolutionary Democrat Party to take power peacefully since her late husband was deposed. Ms. Moscoso's election victory also earned her the right to oversee the December 31 withdrawal of the United States military after a century-long presence, and the transfer to Panamanian hands of the nation's most valuable resource: the Panama Canal.
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"United States Hit by Deadly Tornadoes (1999),",298,0,0,0
The worst swarm of tornadoes in half a century ripped through the United States heartland on May 3 and 4, killing 51 people, and causing widespread devastation expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take years of work to repair. The hardest hit area was Oklahoma City, where 41 people were killed and hundreds more injured as one massive force-five \Jtornado\j cut a 19-mile (30 kilometer) long, half-mile (.8 km) wide swathe through the city, destroying or severely damaging 10,000 homes, and tossing cars and buses in the air like toys. To the north in Wichita, Kansas, five people were killed by a \Jtornado\j so violent that it hurled homes from a trailer park into a nearby lake. Another four people were killed in \JTennessee\j, and one person was killed in \JTexas\j.
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"Chinese Embassy Bombed (1999)",299,0,0,0
A diplomatic storm erupted on May 7 when United States-led \JNATO\j warplanes mistakenly unleashed three missiles on the Chinese Embassy in the Yugoslav capital, \JBelgrade\j. At least three people were killed and more than 20 others were injured in the missile strikes, which came during the seventh week of the military alliance's air offensive to force Yugoslavia to accept its terms for a settlement to the \JKosovo\j conflict. The attack on the Chinese Embassy also came during a period of strained relations between \JBeijing\j and Washington.
\JNATO\j said its planes had targeted the wrong building because of an outdated map used by the US Central Intelligence Agency, and despite regrets expressed by the alliance and by US President, Bill Clinton, China lodged an official protest, condemning both the bombing of its embassy and the \JNATO\j air campaign against Yugoslavia, and announcing a number of retaliatory measures, including the suspension of all military cooperation and human rights dialogue with the US. News of the death and destruction at the embassy also sparked the largest public protests in China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy demonstrations, with angry students besieging the US Embassy in \JBeijing\j as well as US consulates in other cities across China.
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"Turkey Devastated by Earthquake (1999)",300,0,0,0
In the pre-dawn hours of August 17, Turkey's industrialized northwest was struck by a massive earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale. The epicenter of the quake was near the port city of Izmit, but Istanbul, Adapazari, Yalova, Golcuk, Bolu, and Bursa were also badly affected.
About 60,000 buildings in the disaster zone were damaged or demolished by the force of the quake, leaving thousands of victims trapped beneath the rubble. The international community rushed to Turkey's aid, and after a frantic search and rescue effort, 621 people were pulled alive from the debris. The confirmed human toll finally amounted to some 15,000 dead, another 27,000 injured, and at least 200,000 people left homeless.
Turkey estimated that recovery from the catastrophe could cost up to $US10 billion, and the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Union, and the United States all pledged substantial support. The Turkish Government also promised a review of building laws in order to prevent the substandard construction that was widely believed to be responsible for the earthquake's horrendous death toll.
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"Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum (1999)",301,0,0,0
A new course for Middle East peacemaking was set when Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, and Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, signed an accord at a ceremony held in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on September 5. It was the first such agreement reached by Mr. Barak, who had taken office in July after defeating former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on an election pledge to forge a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.
Informally dubbed "Wye Two," the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum modified the United States-brokered Wye River Memorandum, signed by Mr. Netanyahu in October 1998 but frozen in December. Under the modified accord, Israel was committed to releasing 350 Palestinian prisoners and completing the process of transferring an additional 13 per cent of the West Bank to Palestinian self-rule by January 20, 2000. The Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum also gave both sides one year to negotiate a permanent peace treaty that would settle contentious issues such as the future of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements, the fate of Palestinian refugees, and the final boundaries of a Palestinian homeland.
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"East Timor: A Nation in Waiting (1999)",302,0,0,0
In an August 30 United Nations-organized ballot, the people of East Timor rejected an offer of special autonomy within Indonesia and overwhelmingly voted in favor of becoming an independent state. The "popular consultation" was held under a May 5 agreement between the UN, the former colonial power Portugal, and Indonesia, which had invaded the territory in 1975 and annexed it the following year, a move the UN had never recognized.
The lead-up to the historic ballot had been marred by an upsurge of violence and intimidation, but the outcome sparked an even more murderous backlash. Armed anti-independence militia gangs, backed by sections of the Indonesian military, embarked upon a terror campaign of killing, looting, and burning, forcing thousands of independence supporters to flee their homes and the UN to evacuate most of its staff.
Under intense international pressure, Jakarta finally agreed to allow a UN peace enforcing mission to enter the ravaged territory, and an Australian-led International Force for East Timor was endorsed by the UN Security Council on September 15. Five days later, the first wave of the 7,500-strong international military contingent arrived in Dili to restore order and provide security for the territory's transition to independence after centuries of foreign rule.
In September 1999, Russia launched a military offensive against targets in Chechnya with the stated aim of wiping out Islamic militants sheltering in the breakaway region. The militants were accused by Moscow of spearheading an Islamic insurgency in neighboring Dagestan and of masterminding a spate of bombings in Russian cities that had killed nearly 300 people.
As thousands of Chechen civilians fled the fighting to neighboring Ingushetia, Moscow came under a barrage of international criticism for using a disproportionate amount of force, but despite the mounting criticism, the Russian onslaught continued. In early February 2000, after months of aerial bombardment, the rebels abandoned the Chechen capital, Grozny, and Moscow declared that the operation to ôliberateö the city was over. By this time, however, Grozny lay in ruins, and even as Russian forces turned their guns on guerrilla strongholds in ChechnyaÆs southern mountains, the rebels vowed to wage an indefinite partisan war.
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"Japanese Nuclear Accident (1999)",304,0,0,0
On September 30, 439 people were exposed to radiation following an accident at a uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, northeast of the Japanese capital, Tokyo. The accident was JapanÆs worst nuclear accident ever, and occurred when plant workers mistakenly loaded nearly eight times the proper amount of uranium into a tank, causing it to reach ôcriticality,ö the point at which a nuclear reaction becomes self-sustaining.
At the time, nuclear energy covered about one third of JapanÆs electricity demand, and the accident inevitably sparked calls for industry-wide reform. Public opposition to nuclear energy also mounted when the plant operator, JCO Co., admitted illegally revising a government-approved manual to allow the workers to use buckets instead of a pump to transfer a uranium solution to the mixing tank.
On December 21, a plant worker who had received 17,000 times the average yearly dose of radiation became the accidentÆs first fatality when he died of multiple organ failure in a Tokyo hospital. Four months later, a second plant worker whose body had been ravaged by radiation sickness also died of multiple organ failure.
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"Pakistani Military Coup (1999)",305,0,0,0
On October 12, the 31-month-old elected government of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted in a lightning military coup led by sacked army chief, General Pervez Musharraf. In defiance of world opinion, General Musharraf then suspended the Constitution, placed all of Pakistan under the control of the armed forces, and declared himself the countryÆs chief executive.
On April 6 the following year, Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to 25 years in jail after being convicted on charges of terrorism and hijacking by a Karachi Anti-Terrorism court. The charges stemmed from the day of the coup, when Mr. Sharif allegedly tried to prevent a plane carrying General Musharraf from landing at Karachi airport. Although hijacking is a capital offence in Pakistan, the twice-elected, twice-deposed former prime minister managed to escape the gallows, where one of his predecessors, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had been executed 21 years earlier.
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"India Lashed By Super-Cyclone (1999)",306,0,0,0
A massive international relief and rescue operation was launched after the eastern Indian state of Orissa was lashed by a super-cyclone on October 29. The cyclone, which packed winds of up to 160 miles per hour and generated towering waves, was the second to ravage the Orissa coast in less than two weeks.
Despite early warnings and the evacuation of people from coastal areas, the impact of the storm was devastating. Almost 10,000 people were killed and at least two million were left homeless. Overall, an estimated 15 million people were affected by the disaster, many losing all means of earning a living.
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"Macau Returned to China (1999)",307,0,0,0
At the stroke of midnight on December 19, China regained the enclave of Macau after 442 years of Portuguese rule, an event marking the last chapter in the history of EuropeÆs first and final colonial outpost on Chinese soil. Thereafter, the colorful gambling haven of just 430,000 people became a Special Administrative Region of the PeopleÆs Republic of China, retaining its political and legal systems and its free-market economy under the ôone country, two systemsö formula, but with Beijing assuming control of defense and foreign affairs.
Edmund Ho Hau-wah, a 44-year-old Chinese businessman, was appointed by Beijing as Chief Executive of MacauÆs first post-handover government.
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"Indian Airlines Hijack Drama (1999)",308,0,0,0
An Indian Airlines passenger plane was seized by a group of armed men during a scheduled flight from Nepal to New Delhi on December 24. After touching down in both India and Pakistan, the A-300 Airbus flew to the United Arab Emirates, where the hijackers released 27 of the passengers and the body of a slain Indian man. The following day, the plane took off for Afghanistan, finally coming to a standstill at the airport in Kandahar.
In exchange for the lives of the 154 passengers and crew still on board the aircraft, the hijackers demanded the release of 35 militants held in Indian jails, including Pakistani Muslim cleric, Maulana Masood Azhar, who had been arrested in 1994 on charges of setting up separatist groups in Indian-controlled Kashmir. On December 31, after days of intense negotiations, India agreed to free the cleric and two other militants. As part of the deal, the five hijackers and their three associates were given 10 hours to leave Afghanistan once the handover had been completed.
Less than six months later, India claimed that the freed cleric had formed a new Kashmiri separatist group, the Jaish-e-Mohammad (Army of Mohammad), and that he had already recruited thousands of members in neighboring Pakistan.
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"Biosafety Protocol (2000)",309,0,0,0
On January 29, more than 130 countries meeting in Montreal reached a landmark agreement to regulate trade in genetically modified agricultural products. The United Nations-sponsored Biosafety Protocol was negotiated in response to health, environmental, and trade concerns prompted by the increase in plants and animals which contained genes transferred from other species in order to produce certain characteristics, such as resistance to pests and herbicides.
For the first time under an international agreement, the protocol required exporters, such as the United States and Canada, to label commodity shipments that might contain genetically modified products. It also set the stage for European and developing countries suspicious of genetically modified products to reject them without conclusive scientific evidence of harm. At the same time, however, the protocol contained a ôsavings clauseö emphasizing that it did not override rights and obligations under other international agreements, including those of the World Trade Organization.
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"Austria Isolated (2000)",310,0,0,0
Austria entered a period of diplomatic isolation when a new coalition government comprising the conservative PeopleÆs Party and the controversial far-right Freedom Party was sworn into office on February 4, ending 30 years of Social Democratic-led rule. The Freedom Party, which had dramatically increased its vote in October 1999 elections to secure second place behind the Social Democrats, was led by Joerg Haider, who had attracted international condemnation for his alleged xenophobic views and his past remarks appearing to minimize Nazi crimes.
Although Mr. Haider was not in the new government, with the chancellorship going to PeopleÆs Party Leader Wolfgang Schuessel, members of the Freedom Party were awarded the vice-chancellorship and the portfolios of finance, defense, justice, and social affairs. Israel responded by immediately withdrawing its ambassador and the United States also recalled its ambassador for consultations. Meanwhile, in an unprecedented move, AustriaÆs 14 European Union partners, already the focus of criticism for attempting to influence the domestic politics of a member state, carried out their earlier threat and froze bilateral political contacts with Vienna.
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"FinlandÆs First Woman President (2000)",311,0,0,0
On February 6, FinlandÆs Foreign Minister, Tarja Halonen, was elected as the countryÆs first woman president, winning 51.6 per cent of the vote to defeat her Centrist opponent, former prime minister Esko Aho. While Ms. HalonenÆs election victory ended eight decades of male monopoly of FinlandÆs highest office, it also extended the Social DemocratsÆ 18-year hold on the presidency by another six years.
Tarja Halonen took office in March 2000 when the term of President Martii Ahtisaari expired.
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"New Era for Croatia (2000)",312,0,0,0
A decade of nationalist rule in Croatia came to an end on February 7 when centrist politician Stipe Mesic was sworn in as the countryÆs president. The ceremony in Zagreb was attended by dozens of foreign dignitaries eager to demonstrate their support for the new reformist leader, who succeeded the late Franjo Tudjman, architect of CroatiaÆs independence from former Yugoslavia and the only president the country had known since 1990.
During his years in office, Mr. Tudjman had been accused by the West of not respecting human rights and of failing to cooperate fully with The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia. As a result, Croatia had been excluded from NATOÆs Partnership for Peace Program, denied European Union funds, and barred from even initial talks on membership of the bloc.
On assuming the presidency, Stipe Mesic thereby pledged to abandon his predecessorÆs nationalist policies and give Croatia a fresh start by supporting the efforts of the war crimes tribunal, improving relations with neighboring Bosnia, and preparing the country for entry into the European Union and NATO.
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"WorldÆs First Cloned Pigs (2000)",313,0,0,0
Three years after BritainÆs PPL Therapeutics announced the birth of the worldÆs first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, the company revealed that it had created the worldÆs first cloned pigs. The piglets named Millie, Christa, Alexis, Carrel, and Dotcom were born on March 5, having been cloned from adult cells by PPLÆs staff in Blacksburg, Virginia, partly supported by the United States GovernmentÆs National Institute of Standards and Technology.
PPLÆs long-term objective was to help solve the world-wide organ shortage crisis by developing genetically modified pigs whose organs and cells could be transplanted successfully into humans, a process known as xenotransplantation. Having overcome the known technical hurdles to clone the five healthy piglets, PPL said the next step was to combine the various strategies into one male and one female pig, and then breed from the pair.
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"Ugandan Cult Tragedy (2000)",314,0,0,0
In early 2000, an estimated 1,000 Ugandan members of the fanatical Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God were killed in one of the worst cult tragedies in modern history. The scale of the tragedy began to unfold on March 17, when about 500 charred bodies were found in the burnt-out remains of a church in the southwest Ugandan town of Kanungu. The deaths were initially regarded as a mass ritual suicide, but after mass graves at other sites linked to the cult yielded hundreds of bodies, many showing external signs of violence, the church inferno was reassessed as the culmination of a systematic policy of killing cult members.
Ugandan authorities suspected that the cultÆs leaders had ordered the mass murder after members, who had sold all their possessions and donated the proceeds to the church, began demanding the return of their money when the world did not end on December 31, 1999, as had been predicted. The authorities also believed that Joseph Kibwetere, a 68-year-old failed politician and self-styled prophet who headed the apocalyptic cult, escaped the church blaze along with his assistant, Gredonia Mwerinda, a former prostitute who claimed to communicate with the Virgin Mary.
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"TaiwanÆs Nationalists Voted Out of Office (2000)",315,0,0,0
Voters in Taiwan ended more than five decades of rule by the Nationalist Party when they elected opposition Democratic Progressive Party candidate, Chen Shui-bian, in an historic first-past-the-post presidential ballot on March 18. Mr. Chen, the second of the islandÆs ten presidents to be directly elected and the first native Taiwanese to hold the office, was sworn in on May 20, replacing Lee Ten-hui, who stepped down after 12 years in power.
China had earlier warned that unless TaiwanÆs new president accepted its notion of ôone Chinaö he would be courting disaster, and in Mr. ChenÆs much-awaited inauguration speech, he pledged to maintain the National Reunification Guidelines, adopted in 1991. Under the guidelines, Taiwan, which had split from mainland China in 1949, acknowledged that both the mainland and Taiwan areas were parts of Chinese territory, and that reunification, under the conditions of equality and democracy, should be the goal of all Chinese.
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"United Nations Caught off Guard in Sierra Leone (2000)",316,0,0,0
In early May 2000, some 500 peacekeepers from the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) were taken hostage by rebels amid disputes over disarmament, a key plank in a July 1999 peace accord to end eight years of brutal civil war in the West African nation. UNAMSIL had been building up since November to police the accord, and the capture of the peacekeepers left the peace process in disarray and the mission on the verge of collapse.
At the center of the crisis was the rebel group known as the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), whose leader Foday Sankoh had taken up arms in 1991 and been sentenced to death for treason in 1998. Under the 1999 peace deal, however, Mr. Sankoh had been granted a full amnesty and a seat in the government of elected President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.
In the weeks that followed the abduction of the peacekeepers, Foday Sankoh was arrested, and a rebel advance on the capital, Freetown, was blocked by the combined efforts of UNAMSIL, a British taskforce, and the fledgling Sierra Leone Army. Meanwhile, the piecemeal release of the hostages was aided by the mediation of Liberian President, Charles Taylor, a long time ally of Mr. Sankoh.
After almost four weeks, the rebels released the last group of hostages. The crisis, however, remained a major embarrassment for UNAMSIL, which many at the UN had hoped would be a model for peacekeeping in Africa after criticism of earlier missions in Somalia and Rwanda.
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"IsraelÆs Withdrawal from South Lebanon (2000)",317,0,0,0
In the pre-dawn hours of May 24, Israel evacuated the last of its troops from south Lebanon, ending a 22-year military occupation of the region. The action was taken under United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, which was adopted in 1978, and called on Israel to withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory following an incursion to attack Palestinian guerrillas. In 1985, however, three years after another wide-scale Israeli invasion targeting Palestinian guerrillas, the Jewish state had established a nine-mile-deep ôsecurity zoneö in south Lebanon with the declared aim of blocking attacks on its northern border.
IsraelÆs departure on May 24, 2000, initially planned to be completed by July 7, was accelerated by the collapse of its South Lebanon Army militia allies in the face of advancing Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, who had been fighting a war of attrition to oust Israeli troops from the zone. The pullout also went ahead in the absence of a peace accord with Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon, but Israeli public opinion had turned against the occupation because of a steady loss of lives and a realization that the war with Hezbollah could not be won.
From the time Israel first invaded Lebanon in 1978 until its last casualty in 2000, the Jewish state lost close to 1,000 men. The Lebanese death toll over the same period was estimated at tens of thousands, most during IsraelÆs 1982 invasion.
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"Korean Summit (2000)",318,0,0,0
On June 13, South Korean President, Kim Dae Jung, arrived at PyongyangÆs Sunan Airport aboard the first direct flight from Seoul to the North Korean capital in more than five decades. Mr. Kim was met at the airport by his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong Il, and the two leaders later launched a landmark three-day summit, the first between the Koreas since the peninsula was divided into the communist North and the capitalist South in 1945.
The 1950-53 Korean War had ended in an armed truce, leaving the North and South still technically at war, and during the historic summit, the two Kims signed a ground-breaking accord that was received with euphoria on both sides of the worldÆs most heavily militarized border. The accord raised the prospect of an end to half a century of confrontation by committing the old Cold War foes to work for reunification in the future, to settle humanitarian issues such as the reunion of separated families, to build mutual confidence by activating cooperation and exchanges in all fields, and to promote the balanced development of the national economy through economic cooperation.
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"First Draft of Human Genetic Code (2000)",319,0,0,0
On June 26, the two main rivals in the race to map the complete human genetic sequence set acrimony aside to jointly announce that they had both achieved their monumental goal. In announcing the biological breakthrough, however, the United States biotechnology company Celera Genomics Inc. and the publicly funded Human Genome Project stressed that it was only the beginning, and that much was still needed to be done to ensure that the ôhuman book of lifeö was free of gaps and errors.
Nevertheless, their work in deciphering the genome was widely hailed as a scientific milestone that would eventually revolutionize medicine by altering the way diseases are detected and treated, and possibly even eradicating some.
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"Elian Gonzalez Custody Saga (2000)",320,0,0,0
Cuba celebrated a major moral victory when six-year-old Elian Gonzalez flew into Havana aboard a private jet from Washington on June 28. The childÆs arrival in the Cuban capital came just hours after the United States Supreme Court rejected an emergency request by his Miami relatives to keep him in the US and grant him a political asylum hearing against the wishes of his Cuban father.
Elian had been at the center of a bitter custody dispute between his father and his more distant Miami relatives since November 1999, when he was rescued from the sea off Florida following a shipwreck in which his mother and 10 other illegal Cuban immigrants drowned. Throughout the highly politicized legal battle, the hitherto unknown young castaway had been the subject of heated ideological debate and relentless media attention, even when he was seized from his Miami relatives by heavily armed agents enforcing the orders of the US Justice and Immigration departments.
Ironically, the outcome of the seven-month custody saga represented a rare moment of consensus between Havana and Washington. From the start, the decades-old adversaries had both sought ElianÆs return to his father on the communist-ruled island, and had both opposed efforts by the boyÆs Miami relatives, backed by FloridaÆs powerful Cuban exile community, to block that.
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"MexicoÆs Longest-Ruling Party Defeated (2000)",321,0,0,0
Mexican voters ended the reign of the worldÆs longest ruling political party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, when they handed victory to National Action Party candidate, Vicente Fox, in an historic presidential election on July 2. The result represented the first presidential election defeat for the Institutional Revolutionary Party after 13 consecutive victories since its foundation in 1929, and outgoing President Ernesto Zedillo pledged the full co-operation of his government for a smooth handover of power in the months leading to Mr. FoxÆs assumption of office on December 1.
