Unix Timestamp: 1017792000
Wednesday, April 3. 2002, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Eight people are missing and one dies as a fishing boat sinks while searching for the South Korean "Cheonan" warship that sank last week near the Northern Limit Line border with North Korea. //english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2010/04/03/60/0301000000AEN20100403002000320F.HTML (Yonhap) //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8601540.stm (BBC)

German troops kill at least five Afghan soldiers in a friendly fire incident north of the capital Kabul. //www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5429577,00.html (Deutsche Welle) //www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7549389/Germans-kill-Afghan-allies-in-accident.html ("The Daily Telegraph") //www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1218847lang=eng_news ("Taiwan News")

The controversial African Renaissance Monument, which is taller than the Statue of Liberty, is inaugurated in the Senegalese capital Dakar. //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8601382.stm (BBC) //english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/04/201043101020481723.html (Al Jazeera) //www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hqJurZzLGbwBPrHaFg6oVd8SYY4Q (AFP) //edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/04/03/senegal.statue/?hpt=T2 (CNN) //www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/04/senegal-african-renaissance-statue ("The Guardian")

April 4 ndash The 21st NATO Summit is held, 60 years after the founding of the organization. Former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is appointed as the new Secretary General of NATO.

Greek and Turkish Cypriots open a crossing at Ledra Street, a main shopping street in Cyprus' divided capital Nicosia that has come to symbolize the island's ethnic partition. //www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/03/europe/EU-GEN-Cyprus-Ledra-Street.php (AP via "The International Herald Tribune")

"Second Orange Revolution": The President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, dissolves the Ukrainian Parliament, following defections that increased the majority of his opponents.

"United States v. Microsoft": Microsoft is ruled to have violated United Statesantitrust laws by keeping an oppressive thumb on its competitors.

United States v. Microsoft: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust laws by keeping an oppressive thumb on its competitors.

The Thalit massacre in Algeria: All but one of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.

Former Senator John Tower and 22 others are killed in an airplane crash in Brunswick, Georgia, United States.

STS-37: Space Shuttle \'\'Atlantis\'\' is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The shuttle launched an observatory to study gamma rays before returning to Earth on April 11.

Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six other people are killed when a helicopter collides with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania.

Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.N. Security Council passes the Cease Fire Agreement, Resolution 687. The Resolution calls for the destruction or removal of all of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, all stocks of agents and components, and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities for ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 km and production facilities and for an end to its support for international terrorism. Iraq accepts the terms of the resolution on April 6.

William Kennedy Smith, a nephew of U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, is identified as a suspect in an alleged Palm Beach, Florida sexual assault.

STS-37: Space Shuttle "Atlantis" is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The shuttle launched an observatory to study gamma rays before returning to Earth on April 11.

Argentina's Invasion of South Georgia

The 50th Academy Awards are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California with "Annie Hall" winning Best Picture.

Tiananmen Incident: Large crowds lay wreaths at Beijing's "Monument of the Martyrs" to commemorate the death of Premier Zhou Enlai. Poems against the Gang of Four are also displayed, provoking a police crackdown.

The Eurovision Song Contest 1976 is won by Brotherhood of Man, representing the United Kingdom, with their song "Save Your Kisses for Me".

James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The United States Treasury Department reintroduces the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.

An explosion in an ammunition factory in Lapua, Finland kills 40.

The Soviet manned space mission "Soyuz 18a" ends in failure during its ascent into orbit when a critical malfunction occurs in the second and third stages of the booster rocket during staging, resulting with the cosmonauts and their Soyuz spacecraft having to be ripped free from the vehicle.

Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title.

Bus massacre: The Kataeb militia kills 27 Palestinians during an attack on their bus in Ain El Remmeneh, Lebanon, triggering the Lebanese civil war.

Vietnam War: The first military Operation Babylift flight, C5A 80218, crashes 27 minutes after takeoff, killing 138 on board 176 survive the crash.

Bill Gates founds Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Asia's first professional basketball league, the Philippine Basketball Association, plays its first game at the Araneta Coliseum.

A coup d'état in Chad led by the military overthrows and kills President François Tombalbaye.

Eight people in South Korea, who are involved in People's Revolutionary Party Incident, are hanged.

The first handheld cellular phone call is made by Martin Cooper in New York City.

Chile and East Germany establish diplomatic relations.

"Un banc, un arbre, une rue" by Séverine (music by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre, text by Yves Dessca) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 for Monaco

Mount Etna erupts in Sicily.

In Ceylon, a group calling themselves the People’s Liberation Front begins a rebellion against the Bandaranaike government.

The American movie "Planet of the Apes" is released in theaters.

"La, la, la" by Massiel (music and lyrics by Manuel de la Calva and Ramón Arcusa) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 for Spain, at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

A double explosion in downtown Richmond, Indiana kills 41 and injures 150.

Apollo Program: Apollo-Saturn mission 502 ("Apollo 6") is launched, as the second and last unmanned test-flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle.

A shootout between Black Panthers and Oakland police results in several arrests and deaths, including 16-year-old Panther Bobby Hutton.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot dead at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots erupt in major American cities, lasting for several days afterwards.

The first manmade object "Luna 10" enters lunar orbit.

The world's first space nuclear power reactor, "SNAP-10A", is launched by the United States from Vandenberg AFB, California. The reactor operates for 43 days and remains in Low Earth orbit.

SCLC volunteers kick off the Birmingham caign (Birmingham, Alabama) against racial segregation in the United States with a sit-in.

Castro's revolutionary army begins its attacks on Havana.

Vladimir Petrovdefects from the Soviet Union and asks for political asylum in Australia.

Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed outside Manila, the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March.

Shipwrecked steward Poon Lim is rescued by Brazilian fishermen after being adrift for 130 days.

WWII: Japanese forces begin an all-out assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.

WWII: Operation ''Weserübung'': German ships set out for the invasion of Norway.

Refik Saydam forms the new government in Turkey. (12 th government Refik Saydam had served twice as a prime minister )

Adolf Hitler orders the German military to start planning for Fall Weiss, the codename for the invasion of Poland.

Faisal II becomes King of Iraq.

The Slovak-Hungarian War ends with Slovakia ceding eastern territories to Hungary.

Bruno Richard Hauptmann, convicted of kidnapping and killing Charles Lindbergh III, is executed in New Jersey.

Persia signs the Litvinov Protocol.ref name=Rezun/

United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia return to the (bullion) gold standard.

The first midair collision occurs, between a Daimler Airwayde Havilland DH.18 and a Compagnie des Grands Express AériensFarman Goliath over Poix-de-Picardie, Amiens, France.

Teapot Dome scandal: The United States Secretary of the Interior leases Teapot Domeoil reserves in Wyoming.

Joseph Stalin is appointed General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party.

Vienna Secession movement founded.

The first edition of the Italian sports newspaper "La Gazzetta dello Sport" is published.

The Brighton Beach Hotel in Coney Island is moved 520 feet using six steam locomotives by Civil Engineer B.C. Miller to save it from ocean storms.

Gottlieb Daimler is granted a German patent for his single-cylinder water-cooledengine design.

Old West outlaw Jesse James is shot in the back of the head and killed by Robert Ford.

The Pony Express begins its first run from Saint Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California.

Princess Caraboo appears in Almondsbury in Gloucestershire, England.

In England, a letter from the Agitators of the New Model Army, protesting delay of pay, is read in the House of Commons.

The House of Lords passes the Self-denying ordinance, requiring members of the Parliament of England to resign commissions in the armed services.

John Wheelwright is banished from Boston and founds Exeter New Hshire.

Battle of Nájera: Pedro of Castile is restored as King of Castile (now in Spain) after defeating his half-brother, Henry II. Pedro is aided in the battle by the English and Henry by the French.

Paul of Caen is installed as Abbot of St Albans the building of St Albans Abbey Church commences.

The kingdom of Duklja is founded.

The "Bayeux Tapestry" is made.

Alfonso VI of Castile conquers Coria.ref name=picard2000

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor granted the county of Friuli, with ducal status, to Sigaerd, Patriarch of Aquileia.

The first Parliament of Friuli is created.

The first recorded Trial by combat is held in England.

The first EnglishCluniacBenedictine priory is established.

Hugh of Burgundy supports the king of Aragon in his conquest of the castle of Muñones from the emir of Zaragossa.ref name=cruzadas aragon

Dionysius V Lazaros becomes Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.

Pope Christodolos of Alexandria ends his reign as Coptic Pope.

Vsevolod of Kiev becomes the prince of Kievan Rus'.

Robert Curthose instigates his first insurrection against his father, William the Conqueror.

The pope, Gregory VII, places the island of Corsica under the secular rule of the archbishop of Pisa.