Unix Timestamp: 1029283200
Wednesday, August 14. 2002, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Gabon signs over US$4 billion of contracts with Indian and Singaporean companies for infrastructure projects, on the eve of the country's 50th anniversary since independence. //www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5im6tYmfieW1n9a-rmH0R1QPtWLAA (AFP) //news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-08/15/c_13445359.htm (Xinhua) //www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=138718sectionid=351020506 (Press TV)

Lawyers for the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, say he is abandoning his second appeal against his conviction for the December 1988 attack as Scottish officials consider his request to be sent home to Libya. //www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32414949/ns/world_news-terrorism/ (MSNBC)

A suicide bomber attacks the Thiraa Dijla bridge in Taji, Iraq, killing at least 10 people. Meanwhile, a U.S. raid kills four people in Baghdad. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6946028.stm (BBC)

Multiple suicide bombings kill 572 people in Qahtaniya, northern Iraq.

A Russian far right group calling itself National Socialism/White Power publishes a video on the Internet showing the execution of two men, one from Tajikstan and the other one from Dagestan. Russian authorities investigate the video. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6946810.stm (BBC)

Gunmen kidnap Abdel Jabar al-Wagaa, the deputy Oil Minister of Iraq. //www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/15/2005229.htm (Reuters via ABC News Australia)

2007 Kahtaniya bombings: At least 250 people die in bombings in areas near the town of Kahtaniya in northern Iraq as suicide bombers drive fuel tankers into residential compounds of the Yazidi sect. //www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1484109720070814?feedType=RSSfeedName=topNews (Reuters)

British authorities investigate two new suspected cases of foot and mouth disease, one in Kent and one in Surrey outside the exclusion zone. //www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070814.wfootmouth0815/BNStory/International/?page=rssid=RTGAM.20070814.wfootmouth0815 (The Globe and Mail)

Five American servicemen die in a CH-47 Chinook helicopter crash near the Al Taqaddum air base in Iraq. //www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/14/wiraq114.xml (The Telegraph)

Helios Airways Flight 522 crashes near the town of Grammatiko in Greece, killing 121 people. Observations from fighter jet aircraft indicate a decompression problem.

6.4 Richter scale earthquake near the Greek Ionian island of Lefkada – 24 injured

A major power outage due to a power grid failure affects more than people in the northeast of North America, including New York City, New Jersey, Cleveland, Ottawa, Toronto and Detroit //www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-newyork0815,0,2936608.story?coll=bal-home-headlines//www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59083-2003Aug14.html//www.cjad.com/content/cjad_news/article.asp?id=n081461A//abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/power_outage030814.html ABC //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3152451.stm BBC //www.cnn.com/2003/US/08/14/power.outage/index.html CNN. According to U.S. authorities, the cause is still unclear according to the Canadian Department of National Defense, the chain reaction was started by a lightning strike in the Niagara Falls region on the U.S. side of the border //abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030814_1766.html. A press release with some technical details of the event is available at //www.nerc.com/. The NRC reports that all nine affected nuclear power plants have been safely shut down //www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2003/03-102.html.

SARS: Public health officials are investigating seven deaths and several infections in an outbreak that resembles, but is not believed to be, SARS in a nursing home in Surrey, British Columbia (a suburb of Vancouver). However, until more is known about the disease, the home will be treated as a SARS site for safety's sake. //www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030814.wvirus0814a/BNStory/Front/ !reported by Reuters Thu August 14, 2003 02:38 p.m. ET

Tsar Nicholas II and his family are canonized by the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Dora the Explorer, one of Nickelodeon's hottest shows, debuts.

August 17 ndash The Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles nominates U.S. Vice President Al Gore for President and Senator Joe Lieberman for Vice President.

A rocket ignited during a fireworks display in Arequipa, Peru knocks down a high-tension power cable into a dense crowd, electrocuting 35 people.

An avalanche buries Alison Hargreaves, the first woman to climb Mt. Everest without oxygen she is reported dead.

Enzo Ferrari, founder of the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari, dies at the age of 90, after a long illness.

U.S. President Jimmy Carter defeats Senator Edward Kennedy to win renomination, at the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York City.

Dorothy Stratten, the 1980 Playboy Playmate of the Year is murdered by estranged husband Paul Leslie Snider, who subsequently commits suicide.

A freak storm during the Fastnet Race results in the death of 15 sailors.

Turkeyinvades for the second time in Cyprus, occupying 37% of the island's territory.

An East GermanIlyushin airliner crashes near East Berlin all 156 onboard perish.

British troops are deployed in Northern Ireland following the 3-day Battle of the Bogside.

Wonderful Radio London shuts down at 3:00 PM in anticipation of the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act. Many fans greet the staff upon their return to London that evening with placards reading Freedom died with Radio London.

Explorer 6 sends the first picture of Earth from orbit.

A 4-engine Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation aircraft belonging to KLM crashes into the sea with 99 people on board.

West Germany joins the IMF and the World Bank.

1948 Ashes series: The Australian batsman Don Bradman, playing his last Test cricket match, against England at The Oval, is bowled by Eric Hollies for a duck however, The Invincibles win the match by an innings and 149 runs, and The Ashes 4-0.

Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization founded as a specialized agency of the United Nations.

The novel "Animal Farm" by George Orwell is first published by Fredric Warburg in London.

WWII: Emperor Hirohito announces Japan's surrender on the radio. The United States calls this day V-J Day (Victory in Japan). This ends the period of Japanese expansionism and begins the period of Occupied Japan.

WWII: Korea gains independence following Japan's surrender.

Indonesian nationalists Soekarno and Mohammad Hatta declare the independence of the Republic of Indonesia, with Soekarno as president. Dutch colonial authorities do not approve.

WWII: Emperor Hirohito accepts the terms of the Potsdam Declaration.

PresidentJosé P. Laurel issues an Executive Proclamation putting an end to the Second Philippine Republic, thus putting an end to his term as President of the Philippines.

The Quadrant Conference begins in Quebec City Canadian Prime Minister MacKenzie King meets with Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

'night" ndash In London, instruments detect a massive burst of cosmic rays.

United States President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law.

Loggers cause a forest fire in the Coast Range of Oregon, later known as the first forest fire of the Tillamook Burn. It is extinguished on September 5, after destroying .

The original Hetch Hetchy Moccasin Powerhouse is completed and goes on line.

A fire at the World Exhibition in Brussels destroys exhibitions of Britain and France.

Ismael Montes becomes President of Bolivia.

Boxer Rebellion: An international contingent of troops, under British command, invades Peking and frees the Europeans taken hostage.

September 15 ndash London Dock Strike: Dockers strike for a minimum wage of sixpence an hour (The dockers' tanner), which they eventually receive, a landmark in the development of New Unionism in Britain.

President Abraham Lincoln meets with a group of prominent African-Americans ndash the first time an American President had done so. He suggests that Black people should migrate to Africa or to Central America, but this advice is rejected.

Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza\\'iri is defeated at Isly in Morocco the sultan of Morocco soon repudiates his ally.

The Poor Law Amendment Act in the UK states that no able-bodied British man can receive assistance unless he enters a workhouse (a kind of poorhouse).

The Treaty of Värälä ends the Russo-Swedish War.

In protest at the St Act, Bostonians attack the home of official Andrew Oliver.

Seven Years\' War ndash French and Indian War: Fort Oswego falls to the French.

October ndash War of the Polish Succession: A preliminary peace, ratified in 1738, is concluded.

Freedom of the press: "New York Weekly Journal" writer John Peter Zenger is not acquitted of seditious libel against the royal governor of New York, on the basis that what he published was true.

A Dutch fleet is defeated by the Portuguese in the Battle of Cape Rachado.

The Koreans are victorious over the Japanese in the naval Battle of Hansan.

Queen Elizabeth I of England agrees to establish a protectorate over the Netherlands.ref name=CBH/

A first group of colonists sent by Sir Walter Ralegh under the charge of Ralph Lane lands in the New World to create Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. This group will depart the following June.ref name=CBH/

Antwerp is captured by Spanish forces under the Prince of Parma, who orders Protestants to leave the city. As a result, over half of the 100,000 inhabitants flee to the northern provinces. Furthermore, upon hearing of the capture of Antwerp, a relief fleet sent to raise the siege instead blockades the Schelde river, preventing any and all ships from reaching Antwerp for two centuries. This effectively destroys Antwerp's position as an important trade city and de-facto capital of the Dutch provinces. Its position is taken over by various northern cities, most prominently Amsterdam.

Christopher Columbus lands at Trujillo and names the country 'Honduras'.

Edward I becomes King of Portugal.

September ndash Cosimo de' Medici, later the "de facto" ruler of Florence and patron of Marsilio Ficino, is exiled by the Albizzi/Strozzi faction. (Cosimo returns a year later, to the day, in 1434).

In Ming Dynasty China, cotton is listed as a permanent item of trade on the tax registers of Songjiang prefecture.

The Ming Dynasty in China disbands their naval fleet after the last great maritime expedition led by Admiral Zheng He, altering the balance of power in the Indian Ocean and making it easier for Portugal and other Western naval powers to gain dominance over the seas.

September ndash Cosimo de\\\\' Medici, later the "de facto" ruler of Florence and patron of Marsilio Ficino, is exiled by the Albizzi/Strozzi faction. (Cosimo returns a year later, to the day, in 1434).

Portugal conquers the city of Ceuta from the Moors, initiating the Portuguese Empire and European expansion and colonialism.

Saladin conquers Syria and becomes sultan.

William of Tyre is excommunicated by the newly appointed Heraclius of Jerusalem, firmly ending their struggle for power.

The Siege of Kerak is waged between the Ayyubids and the Crusaders, in which regentGuy of Lusignan refuses to fight.

Joseph of Exeter writes the first account of a sport resembling cricket.

Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures and flee to western Japan to escape pursuit by the Minamoto clan (traditional Japanese date: Twenty-fifth Day of the Seventh Month of the Second Year of Juei).

Andronicus I Comnenus becomes Byzantine Emperor.

Battle of Hab: Baldwin II of Jerusalem's Crusaders defeat Ilghazi's army, saving Antioch.

Pope Paschal II succeeds Pope Urban II as the 160th pope./onlyinclude