Unix Timestamp: 997142400
Tuesday, August 7. 2001, 12:00:00 AM UTC

United States astronauts Douglas H. Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson fail on the International Space Station (ISS)'s longest spacewalk and sixth longest spacewalk to repair a cooling system, which means two more spacewalks are now required. //www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10903004 (BBC) //www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2009257,00.html ("TIME")

Senator Miguel Carrioza says the Congress of Paraguay is not interested in considering the protocol for Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosur. //en.mercopress.com/2009/08/07/paraguayan-senate-not-interested-in-having-venezuela-in-mercosur (MercoPress)

Typhoon Morakot hits Taiwan, killing 500 and stranding more than 1,000 via the worst flooding on the island in half a century.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was concerned over Georgia's military preparations, while a Georgian official said Russia would further undermine its role as peacekeeper if it failed to convince the South Ossetian side on talks. //www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=18916 (Civil Georgia) //www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=18917 (Civil Georgia)

The 2008 South Ossetia war begins, as Georgia and Russia launch a major offensive inside the separatist region of South Ossetia after days of border skirmishes between the two sides.

Two men are arrested in Paris for stealing Pablo Picasso paintings from the apartment of his granddaughter. //www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/09/2000410.htm (AFP via ABC News Australia)

Astronomers of the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey announce the discovery of TrES-4, the largest known planet in the universe, circling the star GSC 02620-00648 in the Hercules Constellation. //www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/07/healthscience/NA-SCI-US-Planet-Discovery.php (AP via IHT) //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6934603.stm (BBC)

Israel evicts Jewish settlers from Hebron. A dozen religious members of the Israeli Army refuse to participate and are sentenced for up to a month in a military jail. //www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/08/1999203.htm (AFP via ABC News Australia)

Convicted terrorist, Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, found guilty yesterday by the Republic of Ireland's Special Criminal Court of membership of an illegal organisation and directing terrorism, is sentenced to twenty years in prison. //www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-12712116,00.html

Liberian crisis: President Charles Taylor resigns as Nigerian peacekeepers entered Liberia. Taylor names his vice president, Moses Blah, as his successor. Peacekeepers intercepted an arms shipment to Liberia from Libya. Taylor, who is indicted for war crimes, indicates that he will seek political asylum in Nigeria. //edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/08/07/cnna.taylor/

Three members of Manchester rock band Oasis have been injured in a head-on car crash in Indianapolis while on tour in the U.S. None were seriously injured.

Hundreds of Chechen guerrillas invade the Russian republic of Dagestan, triggering a short war.

1998 U.S. embassy bombings: The bombings of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, kill 224 people and injure over 4,500 they are linked to terrorist Osama Bin Laden, an exile of Saudi Arabia.

Heavy rains kill more than 80 cers near Huesca, Spain.

Operation Storm ends with a UN-brokered ceasefire remaining Serbian forces start surrendering.

Shapour Bakhtiar, former prime minister of Iran, is assassinated.

The Colombian frigate "Caldas" enters Venezuelan waters near the Los Monjes Archipelago, sparking the Caldas frigate crisis between both nations.

Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.

Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Spadolini resigns.

August 31 ndash Lech Wałęsa leads the first of many strikes at the Gdańsk Shipyard.

The Japanese Usu volcano erupts.

Viking program: Viking 2 enters into orbit around Mars.

"Apollo 15" returns to Earth.

Internment in Northern Ireland: British security forces arrest hundreds of nationalists and detain them without trial in Long Kesh prison 20 people die in the riots that follow.

India signs a 20-year treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union.

Harold Haley, Marin County Superior Court Judge, is taken hostage and murdered, in an effort to free George Jackson from police custody.

An East German court sentences Günter Laudahn to life imprisonment for spying for the United States.

Lunar Orbiter 1, the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit the moon, is launched.

Race riots occur in Lansing, Michigan.

Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaysia, recommends the expulsion of Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia, negotiating its separation with Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore.

Singapore is expelled from the Federation of Malaysia, which recognizes it as a sovereign nation. Lee Kuan Yew announces Singapore's independence and assumes the position of Prime Minister of the new island nation.

Indonesian president Sukarno collapses in public.

An explosion at an Arkansas missile plant kills 53.

Vietnam War: The United States Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

Vostok 2 with Titov onboard lands in Soviet Union.

The Côte d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) becomes independent from France.

The United Nations Charter is ratified by the United States Senate, and this nation becomes the third one to join the new international organization.

President Harry Truman announces the successful bombing of Hiroshima with the atomic bomb, while returning from the Potsdam Conference aboard the U.S. Navy heavy cruiser in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Soviet Union declares war on Japan.

IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).

WWII: Battle of Guadalcanal begins ndash The U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps begin the first American offensive of the war with an hibious landing on the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

The British destroyer HMS Severn (N57)sinks the Italien Marconi class submarine.

Simele massacre: More than 3,000 AssyrianIraqis are killed by Iraq government troops.

The Peace Bridge opens between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York.

WWI: Portugal joins the Allies.

The body of Martha Tabram is found, a possible murder victim of Jack the Ripper.

The Salvation Army foundation deed is signed.

September 20 ndash The first Canadian elections sees John A. Macdonald's Conservatives elected to government

A football match played under unknown set of rules is held between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College.

Battle of Boyacá: Simón Bolívar is victorious over the Royalist Army in Colombia.

Pope Pius VII decrees the bull Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum reestablishing the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) all over the world, after having approved their survival and existence in Russia.

The United States Department of War is established.//clerk.house.gov/art_history/highlights.html?action=viewintID=192

George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit (or the Order of the Purple Heart) to honor soldiers' merit in battle (reinstated later by Franklin D. Roosevelt and renamed to the more poetic Purple Heart to honor soldiers wounded in action).

Russia and Sweden sign the Treaty of Åbo.

Pirate Nicholas Brown captured near Xtabi, Jamaica

November ndash Mary Toft allegedly gives birth to 16 rabbits in England the story is later revealed to be a hoax.

The brigantine "Le Griffon", commissioned by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, is towed to the southern end of the Niagara River, to become the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes.

The English and Spanish fleets again engage off the coast of Flanders. The English again are more successful.

Mary, Queen of Scots, leaves for France.

Battle of Guinegate: A French army sent to invade the Netherlands is defeated by Maximilian of Austria.

The Ming DynastyChinese military general Cao Qin stages a coup against the Tianshun Emperor after setting fire to the eastern and western gates of the Imperial City (Beijing) (which are doused by pouring rains during the day-long uprising), Cao Qin finds himself hemmed in on all sides by imperial forces, loses three of his own brothers in the fight, and instead of facing execution he flees to his home in the city and commits suicide by jumping down a well located within his walled compound.

Council of Pisa closes.

Pope John XXII succeeds Pope Clement V as the 196th pope.

Pope Stephen III succeeds Pope Paul I as the 94th pope.

Arioald succeeds his brother-in-law Adaloald as king of the Lombards (approximate date).

The Byzantines defeat the Avars, Slavs and Persians who were besiegingConstantinople for the first time.

Penda becomes king of Mercia (traditional date).

Edinburgh is founded by King Edwin of Northumbria.

Majorian is beaten and tortured for five days, and later beheaded near the Iria River (Lombardy).

Olybrius becomes second candidate for the western throne. He is the husband of Placidia held in Vandal captivity.

King Genseric continues the Vandal raids on the coast of Sicily and Italy. Ricimer sends an embassy to Carthage.