Unix Timestamp: 949708800
Saturday, February 5. 2000, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Zimbabwe's House of Assembly allows power-sharing between the African National Union – Patriotic Front and the Movement for Democratic Change. //www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE5143WY20090205 (Reuters)

A suicide bomber kills 24 people and injures at least 40 in Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan. //www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29033836/ (MSNBC)

February 6 – A tornado outbreak, the deadliest in 23 years, kills 58 in the Southern United States.

A major tornado outbreak across the Southern United States leaves 57 people dead, and causes some polling places to be closed early. The hardest hit areas are in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas including the Memphis area, northern Middle Tennessee and Jackson, Tennessee. //www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23006771/ (MSNBC) //news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080206/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather (AP via Yahoo! News)

Israeli attacks kill eight Hamas members on the Gaza Strip as Hamas claims responsibility for the Dimona attack. //ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jD4YSkDPlclqd9dHvg2f0Ij18zEgD8UK99JO0 (AP via Google News)

U.S. stock market indices plunge more than 3% after a report shows signs of economic recession in the service sector. The SP 500 fall 3.2%, The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 370 points.

Saudi Arabia's religious authority endorses plan by King Fahd to modernize the holy sites of Mecca. //www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/06/1075854031711.html

Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan publicly admits illegally transferring nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Following a written apology from Khan, President Pervez Musharraf issues a formal pardon. //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3459149.stm//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3460685.stm

2003 invasion of Iraq: Responding to criticism that pre-war intelligence gathering was faulty, CIA director George Tenet states that analysts had never presented Saddam Hussein's Iraq as an imminent threat in the years immediately preceding the coalition invasion. Tenet states that an overall objective assessment for policymakers of a "brutal dictator who was continuing his efforts to deceive and build programs" that might "surprise" and threaten US interests was outlined in the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate. //www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june04/prewarintel_02-05.html//story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=542e=5u=/ap/intelligence_cia//www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1039033.htm//www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040205-015646-7035r

War in Darfur begins.

BBC Choice closes for the final time at 12:30 a.m., being replaced with BBC Three at 7 p.m.

Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the UN Security Council on Iraq.

At the United Nations US Secretary of State Colin Powell presents the US government's case against the Saddam Hussein government of Iraq, as part of the diplomatic side of the U.S. plan to invade Iraq. The presentation includes tape recordings, satellite photographs and other intelligence data, and aims to prove WMD production, evasion of weapons inspections and a link to Al-Qaida.

The Cricket World Cup begins in South Africa.

Congressman Howard Coble, of North Carolina, chairman of the House committee overseeing homeland security, said that the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II was justified, and that it had been done for their own safety. He was roundly criticized by Asian American members of Congress and spokespeople for Asian American organizations.

Byron De La Beckwith is convicted of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.

Belgium becomes a federal monarchy rather than a unitarykingdom.

Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.

The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.

Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Kuwait, thus starting the ground phase of the war.

A Michigan court bars Dr. Jack Kevorkian from assisting in suicides.

In the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, rioting breaks out against the settlement of Armenian refugees there.

Manuel Fraga becomes the president of Galicia, Spain.

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union votes to end its monopoly of power, clearing the way for multiparty elections.

Australia cancels its involvement in U.S.-led MX missile tests.

London-based Laker Airways collapses, leaving 6,000 stranded passengers and debts of $270 million.

February 7 ndash The Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978 hits the New England region and the New York metropolitan area, killing about 100 and causing over US$520 million in damage.

Nearly 2,000 students become involved in a racially charged riot at Escambia High School in Pensacola, Florida 30 students are injured in the 4-hour fray.

Władysław Gomułka is expelled from the Central Council of the Polish Communist Party.

Switzerland gives women voting rights in state elections, but not in all canton-specific ones.

An earthquake in the city of Tuscania, Italy kills 31.

"Apollo 14" lands on the Moon.

A huge oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California closes the city's harbor.

Kashmir Day On February 5, 1964, India backed out of its promise to hold plebiscite in disputed territory of Kashmir. Instead, in March 1965, the Indian Parliament passed a bill, declaring Kashmir a province of India. In 1948, India had taken the issue of Kashmir to the United Nations Security Council and offered to hold a plebiscite in the held Kashmir under UN supervision.

February 9 ndash In Congo, President Joseph Kasavubu names Joseph Ileo as the new Prime Minister.

Adolph Coors III, the chairman of the board of the Coors Brewing Company, is kidnapped, and his captors demand a ransom of $500,000. Coors was later found murdered, and Joseph Corbett, Jr., is indicted for the crime.

The first CERNparticle accelerator becomes operational in Geneva, Switzerland.

Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Southern California.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower refuses a clemency appeal for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.

The Soviet Union breaks diplomatic relations with Israel after bomb explosion in Soviet embassy.

Walt Disney's feature film "Peter Pan", premieres.

Air Training Corps: The Air Training Corps was formed.

U.S President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposes a plan to enlarge the Supreme Court of the United States.

GMT: A radio time signal is broadcast for the first time from the Royal Greenwich Observatory.

Five Power Naval Disarmament Treaty signed between United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy

Finnish Minister of the Interior Heikki Ritavuori is assassinated by Ernst Tandefelt.

Pope Pius XI (Achille Ratti) succeeds Pope Benedict XV as the 259th pope.

DeWitt and Lila Wallace publish the first issue of "Reader's Digest".

In the Soviet Russia, the Cheka becomes the GPU, a section of the NKVD.

President of the United StatesWarren G. Harding introduces the first radio in the White House.

Baragoola, last of the Binngarra style Manly ferries, is launched at Balmain

The SS Tuscania is torpedoed off the Irish coast, it is the first ship carrying American troops to Europe to be torpedoed and sunk.

The new constitution of Mexico is adopted.

The first issue of "Glasgow University Magazine" is published.

The Giuseppe Verdiopera "Otello" premieres at La Scala.

King Léopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo Free State as a personal possession.

The Derby County Football Club is founded

Phoenix, Arizona is incorporated.

The largest slave auction in United States history, dubbed as 'The Weeping Time'. Over a 2-day period, Pierce M. Butler sells 436 men, women, children, and infants, all of whom are kept in stalls meant for horses at a racetrack in Savannah, Georgia, for weeks beforehand.

France and the United Kingdom formally declare war on China in the Second Opium War.

Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States promulgated.

Lord Palmerston becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

A rescue effort, called the First Relief, leaves Johnson's Ranch to save the ill-fated Donner Party. These California bound emigrants became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846–1847, and some had resorted to cannibalism to survive.

The murder of a Capuchin friar and his Greek servant leads to the Damascus affair, a highly publicized case of blood libel against the Jews of Damascus.

Upon his death, King Charles XIII of Sweden (Charles II of Norway) is succeeded on both thrones by his adoptive son Charles XIV/III John, starting the Royal House of Bernadotte.

British Regency: George, Prince of Wales becomes Prince Regent because of the perceived insanity of his father, King George III of the United Kingdom.

South Carolina becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.

An observer in Wilmington, North Carolina reports to the Edinburgh newspaper "Caledonian Mercury" that three ships were seized by British men-of-war on the charge of carrying official documents without sts. The strict enforcement causes seven other ships to leave Wilmington for other ports.

The Great Holocaust of the Sikhs is carried out by the forces of Ahmed Shah Abdali in Punjab. In all, over 500,000 men, women and children perish in this caign of slaughter.

The ship "Ridderschap van Holland" is lost at sea after it departs the Cape of Good Hope, but does not arrive at Batavia.

The Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty of China dies and is succeeded by his son the Kangxi Emperor.

In Edinburgh, Scotland claimant King Charles II of England is declared King in his absence. Scotland is the first of the three Kingdoms to recognize his claim to the throne.

Roger Williams emigrates to Boston.

The Huguenot rebels and the French government sign the Treaty of Paris, ending the second Huguenot rebellion.

In Nagasaki, Japan, 26 people are martyred. They practiced Catholicism and were taken captive after all forms of Christianity were outlawed the previous year.

during the Arauco War, Pedro de Avendaño with sixty men capture Caupolicán, the Mapuche Gran Toqui leading their first revolt against the Spanish Empire, nearby Antihuala enced with a small band of followers.

Truce of Vaucelles: Fighting temporarily ends between France and Spain.

Archbishop of CanterburyThomas Cranmer is declared a heretic.

Akbar ascends to the throne of the Mughal Empire at age 13 he will rule until his death in 1605 by which time most of the north and centre of the Indian subcontinent will be under his control.

Fire destroys parts of Old Cairo.

Pope Clement IV succeeds Pope Urban IV as the 183rd pope.

India, Delhi: Ghiyas-Ud-Din-Balban comes to the throne and introduces Sijdah.

Kublai Khan sends a delegation to Japan, which loots islands along the way.

The Mamluk Bahri dynasty of Egypt captures several cities and towns from Crusader states in the Middle East, including the cities of Haifa, Arsuf, and Caesarea Maritima these events eventually precipitate the Eighth Crusade in 1267.

Battle of Crug Mawr: Owain Gwynedd of Wales defeats the Normans.

Peter Abelard writes the "Historia Calamitatum", detailing his relationship with Heloise.

The Saint Denis Basilica is completed in Paris.

Treaty of Durham: Stephen I of England concedes Cumberland to David I of Scotland.

Grimoald, duke of Bari, supported by the emperor, rebels against the king of Sicily Roger II.ref name=encyclopedia

The people of Novgorod rebel against the hereditary prince Vsevolod of Pskov and depose him.

Emperor Go-Suzaku ascends the throne of Japan.

Edward the Confessor's younger brother Alfred Aetheling is blinded and murdered in an apparent attempt to seize the throne of England from Harold I.

First appearance of the Flower Sermon in Buddhist literature