Unix Timestamp: 978652800
Friday, January 5. 2001, 12:00:00 AM UTC

A Tunisian protester who set himself alight in unrest that sparked further protests across the country dies of his injuries. //english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/201115101926215588.html (Al Jazeera) //www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gvlq0htygTTMcYuT3WFYVP70ooKw?docId=CNG.e2087db1933744ecf1316369eb2684df.481 (AFP) //af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE70408420110105 (Reuters)

Australia beats England by ten wickets in the final Ashes cricket test match. The 5-0 series whitewash is only the second in history, the previous being in the 1920-1921 series. It is the final test match for Australian team members Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer. //www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21014489-5001505,00.html (The Australian)

A hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, collapses, killing 76 pilgrims visiting to perform Hajj.

Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System, is identified by a team led by Michael E. Brown using images originally taken on , 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.

Mahmoud Abbas is elected to succeed Yasser Arafat as Palestinian AuthorityPresident.

The same storm which pounded the U.S. earlier in the month hits England, Scandinavia and the Baltic States, leaving 13 dead with widespread flooding and power cuts.

Police arrest seven suspects in connection with Wood Green ricin plot.

Milan Bandić, mayor of Zagreb tries to bribe a police officer after causing a car accident while driving under the influence of alcohol. This will lead to his resignation and a three-year-long hiatus in his mayor term

January 8 ndash The 2000 al-Qaeda Summit of several high-level al-Qaeda members (including 2 9/11American Airlines hijackers) is held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is assassinated by an Israeli Shabak-planted, bomb-laden cell phone.

Georgian troops attack Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, opening the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan undergoes prostate surgery, causing speculation about his physical fitness to continue in office.

Bülent Ecevit, of CHP forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government)

The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kuchea.

The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier "Lake Illawarra", killing twelve people.

"Wheel of Fortune" premieres on NBC.

"AM America" makes its television debut on ABC.

Howard Hughes speaks by telephone to denounce Clifford Irving's supposed biography of him.

An Iberian Airlines passenger plane crashes into a 250-meter peak on the island of Ibiza 104 are killed.

U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program.

The 1st ever ODI cricket match is played between Australia England at the M.C.G.

The Soviet Union launches "Venera 5" toward Venus.

"Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as the leader of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia. {{Cite book

The first album on which The Beatles play, "My Bonnie", credited to Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers (recorded last June in Hamburg), is released by Polydor in the U.K.

Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be dismissed for having "handled the ball" in test match cricket.

Samuel Beckett's play "Waiting For Godot" has its first public stage première in French as "En attendant Godot" at the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris.

U.S. SenatorEstes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of organized crime in the U.S.

Los Angeles, California receives its first recorded snowfall.

U.S. President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.

KDKA-TV becomes the first local, on-air television station in the US.

Warner Brothers shows the first color newsreel ("Tournament of Roses Parade" and the "Rose Bowl").

Australia recognizes the Polish Committee of National Liberation as the government of Poland.

The "Daily Mail" becomes the first transoceanic newspaper.

WWII: At the Battle of Bardia in Libya, Australian and British troops defeat Italian forces, the first battle of the war in which an Australian Army formation takes part.

Amelia Earhart is officially declared dead after her disappearance.

Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.

Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first female governor (Wyoming) in the United States. Twelve days later, Ma Ferguson becomes first female governor of Texas.

The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor.

Moscow Art Theatre production of "Hamlet" opens.

Old Style December 23, 1911)

Prague Party Conference: Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik Party break away from the rest of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party.

Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.

The play "The Scarlet Pimpernel" opens at the New Theatre in London and begins a run of 122 performances and numerous revivals.

An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Röntgen has discovered a type of radiation later known as X-rays.

Dreyfus Affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.

Preston is declared the winner of the inaugural Football League in England.

Gilbert Sullivan's "Princess Ida" has its première at the Savoy Theatre, London.

Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire.

Paraguayan War: Brazilian Army commander Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias enters Asunción, Paraguay's capital. Some days later he declares the war is over. Nevertheless, Francisco Solano López, Paraguay's president, prepares guerrillas to fight in the countryside.

The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom.

Davy Crockett arrives in Texas.

The Treaty of the Dardanelles between the United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire is concluded.

The body of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, lies in state in the Painted Hall of the Greenwich Hospital prior to his funeral.

William Symington demonstrates his "Charlotte Dundas", the first practical steamboat, in Scotland.

American Revolution: Richmond, Virginia is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart finishes Sonata in C for Keyboard.

Great Kalmyk (Torghut) Migration under Ubashi Khan from the east bank of the Lower Volga River back to the homeland of Dzungaria, at this time under Qing Dynasty rule.

Empress Elisabeth of Russia dies and is succeeded by her nephew Peter III. Peter, an admirer of Frederick the Great, immediately opens peace negotiations with the Prussians.

Robert-François Damiens makes an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Louis XV of France.

King Charles II of England gives the title Duke of St Albans to Charles Beauclerk, his illegitimate son by Nell Gwyn.

Franco-Dutch War ndash Battle of Turckheim: In Turckheim, Alsace, France, the French defeat Austria and Brandenburg.

The "Journal des sçavans" begins publication in France, the first scientific journal.

Battle of Surat: The Maratha Chhatrapati Shivaji defeats Inayat Khan of Mughal.

Emperor Go-Sai ascends the throne of Japan.

A great fire breaks out in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

Felix Manz, co-founder of the Swiss Anabaptists, is drowned in the Limmat in Zürich by the Zürich Reformed state church.

Duke Ludovico Sforza recaptures Milan, but is soon driven out again by the French.

Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold of Burgundy is again defeated, and this time is killed. This marks the end of the Burgundian Wars.

Poet François Villon is banned from Paris.

John I succeeds his father, Peter IV, as King of Aragon and Valencia, and forms an alliance with France and Castile.

In Japan, a platform to observe the stars for astrologers is erected for the first time.

Pope Felix I succeeds Pope Dionysius as the 26th pope.

Paul of Samosata is deposed as Patriarch of Antioch (though he is not removed until 272).