Unix Timestamp: 1034812800
Thursday, October 17. 2002, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Somali militant group Al-Shabab threatens a counterattack against Kenya in response to the entry of Kenyan Army forces into Somalia. //english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/20111017171543493140.html (Al-Jazeera)

2011 Libyan civil war: National Transitional Council forces gain control of Muammar Gaddafi's former stronghold of Bani Walid, after a bloody six-week siege. //www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/17/libyan-rebels-capture-bani-walid ("The Guardian")

Two police officers are killed after their police helicopter is shot down by drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ten drug traffickers were also killed in the violence. //www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5juJkPto0-dv9ljbU9X3KkYwqlggwD9BD4TNG0 (Associated Press) //www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/11320/1/ ("Brazzil Mag") //english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/10/20091017223152228529.html (Al Jazeera)

Czech President Václav Klaus compares the Treaty of Lisbon to an unstoppable speeding train that he is being forced to sign. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8312778.stm (BBC)

Turkey, Austria, Japan, Mexico and Uganda are elected by the United Nations General Assembly to the Security Council. Iran and Iceland fail in their bids. //www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/world/18nations.html ("New York Times")

The Parliament of Germany passes a 500 billion euro ($673.8 billion) bank bailout. //english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2008/10/20081017152115123883.html (Al Jazeera) //www.reuters.com/article/euDealsNews/idUSTRE49G1U820081017 (Reuters)

Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change states that power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe have failed to reach an agreement. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7677379.stm (BBC)

The United Nations General AssemblyelectsTurkey, Austria, Japan, Uganda, and Mexico to two-year terms on the Security Council.

The Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper states that Canada and the European Union support an international summit on the crisis before the end of the year. //ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCATRE49G65L20081017 (Reuters)

The Dalai Lama is awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the United States Congress the decision is defended by George W. Bush.

The United States military in Iraq says a marine and nine soldiers have been killed in Iraq, including four in a roadside bombing near Baghdad.//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6061488.stm (BBC NEWS)

Typhoon Tokage kill 98, injured 552 in western Japan.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono becomes the first directly elected President of Indonesia.

The Ministry of Defence approves the deployment of the Black Watch regiment of the British Army to Baghdad, Iraq, after a request for assistance by the U.S. government.

Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashes in Missouri, killing 13 people and injuring 2.

The Ubuntu operating system is first released.

A team of explorers reaches the bottom of the world's deepest cave, located in Krubera. The depth reached is 2,080 meters (6,824 feet), setting a world record ( //www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0505/feature4/multimedia.html National Geographic).

General Khin Nyunt is replaced by Lieutenant-General Soe Win as Prime Minister of Myanmar.

A referendum in Belarus approves the lifting of constitutional term limits for the presidency.

Bolivia: Carlos Mesa is sworn in as the president of the country, after former president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was forced to resign as protests and strikes escalated in the Bolivian Gas War.

Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada is ousted from office, ending the bolivian gas conflict, and flees to the United States.

A pipeline explosion in Jesse, Nigeria results in 1,082 deaths.

The remains of Che Guevara are laid to rest with full military honours in a specially built mausoleum in the city of Santa Clara, Cuba, where he had won the decisive battle of the Cuban Revolution 39 years before.

French woman Jeanne Calment reaches the confirmed age of 120 years and 238 days, making her the oldest person ever recorded.

Yoshihiro Hattori, a 16-year-old Japanese exchange student, mistakes the address of a party and is shot dead after knocking on the wrong door in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The shooter, Rodney Peairs, is later acquitted, sparking outrage in Japan.

The National Assembly of Hungary votes to restore multiparty democracy.

The Communist leader of East Germany, Erich Honecker, is forced to step down as leader of the country after a series of health problems, and is succeeded by Egon Krenz.

The Wonders of Life pavilion opens at Epcot in Walt Disney World, Florida.

The Guildford Four are freed after 14 years.

The Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, strikes the San Francisco–Oakland region of Northern California, killing 67 people and delaying the 1989 World Series for ten days

The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Baltimore Orioles in Game 7 of the World Series. Willie Stargell is named the Series MVP.

The New York Yankees clinch their 22nd World Series chionship, defeating the Dodgers 7–2 in Los Angeles and winning the Series 4 games to 2.

Reggie Jackson blasts 3 home runs to lead the New York Yankees to a World Series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

18 ndash German Autumn: GSG 9 troopers storm a hijacked Lufthansa passenger plane in Mogadishu, Somalia 3 of the 4 hijackers die.

Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, opens the 3rd session of the 30th Canadian Parliament.

German Autumn: Red Army Faction members Andreas Baader, Jan-Carl Raspe and Gudrun Ensslin commit suicide in Stammheim prison Irmgard Möller fails (their supporters still claim they were murdered). They are buried on October 27.

The Saturday Night Massacre: U.S. President Richard Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to dismiss Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. Richardson refuses and resigns, along with Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus. Solicitor General Robert Bork, third in line at the Department of Justice, then fires Cox. The event raises calls for Nixon's impeachment.

The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction work.

The Arab Oil Embargo against several countries which support Israel triggers the 1973 energy crisis!confirmed here.

Belgian Eddy Merckx sets a new world hour record in cycling in Mexico City.

Elizabeth II visits Yugoslavia.

The first female FBI agents are hired.

The Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series in 7 games against the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates' Roberto Clemente, who turned into a one-man gang in the Series, became the first Latino player to earn World Series MVP honors. Game 4 of the Series was also the first night game ever to be played in the World Series.

Spain demands that the United Kingdom stop military flights to Gibraltar Britain refuses the next day.

Lesotho and Botswana are admitted to the United Nations.

The Aberfan disaster occurs in South Wales, United Kingdom.

British spy George Blake escapes from Wormwood Scrubs prison he is next seen in Moscow.

The AFL-NFL merger is approved by the U.S. Congress.

The NY World's Fair at Flushing Meadows, NY, closes. Due to financial losses, some of the projected site park improvements fail to materialize.

Paris massacre of 1961: French police in Paris attack about 30,000 protesting a curfew applied solely to Algerians. The official death toll is 3, but human rights groups claim 240 dead.

The Game of the Century: 13-year-old Bobby Fischer beats GM Donald Byrne in the NY Rosenwald chess tournament.

Indonesian troops led by General Nasution surround the presidential palace, seeking the dismissal of the People's Representative CouncilSukarno avoids confrontation.

John Bamford, aged 15, rescues victims of a house fire and becomes the youngest person to have been awarded the George Cross.

Alain Bombard begins to sail from the Canary Islands to Barbados in 65 days he reaches them December 23.

CBS' Eye logo premieres on TV.

An airliner flying from Paris to New York crashes in the Azores island of São Miguel. Among the victims are violinist Ginette Neveu and French boxer Marcel Cerdan.

Chinese communist troops take Guangzhou

Chinese communist troops fail to take Quemoy in the Battle of Kuningtou their advance towards Taiwan is halted.

A massive number of people, headed for CGT, gather in the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina to demand Juan Perón's release. This is known to the Peronists as the "Día de la lealtad" (Loyalty Day). It is considered the founding day of Peronism.

WWII: The last commerce raider "hilfskreuzer Michel", was sunk off Japan by United States submarine "Tarpon".

WWII: The last commerce raider\\\'\\\'hilfskreuzer Michel\\\'\\\', was sunk off Japan by United Statessubmarine"Tarpon".

WWII: The destroyer is torpedoed and damaged near Iceland, killing 11 sailors (the first American military casualties of the war).

Albert Einstein arrives in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany he accepts a position at Princeton University.

Krupp engineers Benno Strauss and Eduard Maurer patent austeniticstainless steel.

Guglielmo Marconi initiates commercial transatlantic radio communications between his high power longwave wireless telegraphy stations in Clifden Ireland and Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.

Sunderland Association Football Club formed in the North East Of England.

John A. Macdonald returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.

The Open Chionship, also known as the British Open, is played for the first time at Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland. The event is won by Willie Park Snr.

Henry Bessemer files his patent in the United Kingdom for the Bessemer process of steelmaking.

"The Age" newspaper is founded in Melbourne, Australia.

London Beer Flood: A large vat full of porter (beer) owned by Meux's Brewery of London bursts, demolishing buildings and killing nine.

Emperor Jacques I of Haiti (Jean-Jacques Dessalines) is assassinated at the Pont-Rouge, Haiti, and Alexandre Pétion becomes first President of the Republic of Haiti.

Napoleonic Wars ndash Battle of Ulm: Austrian General Mack von Leiberich is forced to surrender his entire army to Napoleon after being surrounded.

A coup d\'état is staged in the Netherlands (Batavian Republic).

The Treaty of Co Formio ends the War of the First Coalition.

American Revolution ndash Battle of Saratoga: British General John Burgoyne surrenders to the American troops.

The "Pennsylvania Gazette" reports that a Mr. McCullough, the Distributor of Sts for the Royal Colony of North Carolina, has resigned his post in protest at the St Act. A Dr. Huston is appointed to the position.

The Foundling Hospital is created in London by royal charter.

British magistrate Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey is found murdered in Primrose Hill, London. Titus Oates claims it as a proof of his allegations.

Treaty of Żurawno between Ottoman (Turkish) Empire and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

The ten regicides who signed the death warrant of Charles I of England are hanged, drawn and quartered, a process which includes their being disemboweled and their bowels burned before their eyes.

Publication of the Douay-Rheims Bible is completed.

The Manchu tribal leader Nurhaci breaks his relations with the Ming Dynasty of China, then under the aloof and growingly negligent Wanli EmperorNurhaci's line later becomes the emperors of the Qing Dynasty which overthrows the short-lived Shun Dynasty in 1644 and the remnants of the Ming throne in 1662.

Louis XIII of France is crowned.

Winter ndash Dr. Bonham's Case is decided by Edward Coke, chief justice of England's Court of Common Pleas. Coke affirms the supremacy of the common law, which limits the power of Parliament as well as the king.

By this year, the Portuguese colony of Brazil has between 400 mills producing 57,000 tons of sugar a year and 230 mills producing 14,000 tons (estimates vary) The wealth the Portuguese acquire from selling sugar in Europe prompts the English and French to follow suit in this century.

Jacob Boehme experiences another inner vision in which he further understand the unity of the cosmos and that he has received a special vocation from God.

The Orion Nebula is discovered by Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc.

Winter ndash Dr. Bonham\\\\\'s Case is decided by Edward Coke, chief justice of England's Court of Common Pleas. Coke affirms the supremacy of the common law, which limits the power of Parliament as well as the king.

Battle of Sekigahara in Japan, granting Tokugawa Ieyasu nominal control over the whole country.

Diogo Gomes reaches the Geba River in Guinea Bissau and explores the Gambia River.

Emperor Zara Yaqob of Ethiopia founds the city of Debre Berhan.

Muscovy and Novgorod Republic conclude the Treaty of Yazhelbitsy.

Alvise Cadamosto discovers some of the Cape Verde Islands.

Lazar Branković becomes king of Serbia.

The University of Greifswald is established, making it the second oldest university in northern Europe (also for a period the oldest in Sweden and Prussia).

Queens' College, Cambridge is founded by Margaret of Anjou.

The Vatican Library is founded by Pope Nicholas V.

Vlad III the Impaler becomes reigning Prince of Wallachia for two months before being deposed by Vladislav II.

After a long episode of drought, flood, locust infestation, and famine in Ming Dynasty China since the year 1434, these natural afflictions finally wane and agriculture and commerce return to a state of normality.

Battle of Kosovo: Hungarian forces under John Hunyadi are defeated by the Turks due to Ottoman superiority

Pope Innocent VII succeeds Pope Boniface IX as the 204th pope.

Erik Magnusson proclaims himself king of Sweden, in opposition to his father, king Magnus. Thus begins a civil war in Sweden between father and son, which will last until Erik's death in 1359.

OctoberndashNovember ndash Several Mongol towns in the Crimea are cleared of inhabitants by the Black Death.ref name =bpl/

Battle of Neville's Cross: English army defeats the Scots.Kinross, John. "Discovering Battlefields of England and Scotland." Princes Risborough: Shire, 2008. p. 40 ISBN 0-7478-0370-6

Repairs are made in the Hagia Sophia.

The Third Council of Toledo, called by King Reccared of the Visigoths, renounces Arianism and embraces Catholicism.

The Adige River overflows its banks, flooding the church of St. Zeno and damaging the walls of Verona.

The Chen Dynasty ends Jiankang (Nanjing), the last of the Southern dynasties, is completely destroyed China is reunited under the Sui Dynasty.

The plague hits Rome, and its victims included Pope Pelagius II.

The Council of Narbonne is held.

The Chinese scholar-official Yan Zhitui makes the first reference to the use of toilet paper in human history.

Pope Boniface II dies in Rome after a 2-year reign.

Battle of Placentia: Ricimer, supported by Majorian ("comes domesticorum"), defeats near Piacenza (Northern Italy) the usurper Avitus. They compel him to renounce the purple and Avitus is oblige to become bishop of Piacenza.