Unix Timestamp: 1037491200
Sunday, November 17. 2002, 12:00:00 AM UTC

The Polynesian Leaders Group, an eight-member governmental cooperative regional grouping, is formally launched in Apia, Samoa. //www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=readid=64516 (Radio New Zealand International)

The presidents of Kenya, Somalia and Uganda meet in Nairobi to discuss coordinated military operations against the al-Qaeda-linked Somali terrorist group Al-Shabaab. //edition.cnn.com/2011/11/16/world/africa/kenya-somalia-al-shabaab/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 (CNN)

Researchers at CERN trap 38 antihydrogenatoms for a sixth of a second, marking the first time in history that humans have trapped antimatter.

2007 Antofagasta earthquake: Chile is hit by a magnitude 6.0 aftershock 41 miles northwest of Antofagasta. //www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1743040220071117 (Reuters)

November 21 ndash The APEC Summit is held in Santiago, Chile.

People living near remote submarine bases in the West Highlands of Scotland are to be issued with potassium iodate tablets in case of a nuclear accident. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3277007.stm

Tony Blair publicly defends his decision to invite President Bush to the UK on a state visit. //www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1087195,00.html

Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov is level-pegging against X3D Fritz after three games played. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3276979.stm

John Allen Muhammad is unanimously convicted of all four counts in the indictment against him, including two charges of capital murder, committed during the October 2002 sniper shootings in the Washington, DC, metro area. The jury is currently deciding whether Muhammad will be sentenced to death or to life in prison. //www.guardian.co.uk/usguns/Story/0,2763,1087587,00.html

Coca eradication: The White House Drug Policy Office claims the area planted with coca in Peru and Bolivia combined fell by 35 kmsup2/sup in the year up to June, suggesting that the coca eradication program in neighboring Colombia was not driving production over the borders. But the US figures were very different from preliminary estimates in September by the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Colombia, which suggested output in Peru and Bolivia may have risen by as much 21 per cent that year.//www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2730872a12,00.html

Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru.

Catastrophical landslide in Log pod Mangartom, Slovenia, kills seven, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophes in Slovenia in the past 100 years.

In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut.

The first meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation opens in Seattle.

In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution.

November 22 ndash The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) passes the legislative houses in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Savings and loan crisis: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his dealings with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.

In a status referendum, Puerto Rico residents vote with a slim margin to maintain Commonwealth status.

An Avioimpex Yakovlev Yak-42D crashes into Mount Trojani near Ohrid, Macedonia. The aircraft was on a flight from Geneva, Switzerland to Skopje, but had been diverted to Ohrid due to poor weather conditions at the Skopje airport. All 8 crew members and 115 of the 116 passengers are killed.

Soviet Presiden Gorbachev proposes a radical restructuring of the Soviet government, including the creation of a Federal Council to be made up of the heads of the 15 Soviet republics.

November 19–21 ndash Leaders of Canada, the United States, and 32 European nations meet in Paris to formally mark the end of the Cold War.

Super Famicom released in Japan.

Charter of Paris for a New Europe signed.

Cold War ndash Velvet Revolution: A peaceful student demonstration in Prague, Czechoslovakia is severely beaten back by riot police. This sparks a revolution aimed at overthrowing the Communist government (it succeeds on December 29).

A tsunami hits the Gulf of Alaska.

Iran-Contra affair: U.S. Senate and House panels release reports charging President Ronald Reagan with 'ultimate responsibility' for the affair.

The King's Cross fire on the London Underground kills 31.

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded in Mexico.

Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and African American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, to begin the SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.

The United States Senate votes down the Supreme Court nomination of Clement Haynsworth, the first such rejection since 1930.

The first ARPANET link is established (the progenitor of the global Internet).

U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in Washington, D.C. to the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. retains rights to military bases on the island, but they must be nuclear-free.

Richard Oakes returns with 90 followers and offers to buy Alcatraz for $24 (he leaves the island January 1970).

Apollo program: "Apollo 12" astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms), becoming the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.

Soccer great Pelé scores his 1,000th goal.

Vietnam War: "The Plain Dealer" publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

The Heidi game: NBC cuts off the final 1:05 of an Oakland Raiders–New York Jets football game to broadcast the pre-scheduled "Heidi". Fans are unable to see Oakland (which had been trailing 32–29) score 2 late touchdowns to win 43–32 as a result, thousands of outraged football fans flood the NBC switchboards to protest.

In Washington, D.C., U.S. President John F. Kennedy dedicates Dulles International Airport.

Michael Rockefeller, son of New York Governor and later Vice PresidentNelson Rockefeller, disappears in the jungles of New Guinea.

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi divorces his second wife, the former Princess Fawzia of Egypt.

Eight British servicemen are killed in Jerusalem by Jewish nationalists.

Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.

Romanian general election, 1946: The Romanian Communist Party wins 79.86% of the vote through widespread intimidation tactics and electoral fraud.

WWII ndash Attack on Pearl Harbor: Joseph Grew, the United States ambassador to Japan, cables to Washington a warning that Japan may strike suddenly and unexpectedly.

WWII ndash Winter War: Soviet forces attack Finland and reach the Mannerheim Line, starting the war.

WWII: To punish protests against the Nazi occupation of the Czech homeland, the Nazis murder 9 Czech graduate students, send over 1200 to concentration cs, and close all Czech universities.

WWII ndash Sweden declares non-belligerency in the Winter War.

The Boston Garden opens in Boston.

Former Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI leaves for exile in Italy.

The council of the League of Nations accepts the constitution for the Free City of Danzig.

The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party splits into two groups the Bolsheviks (Russian for majority) and Mensheviks (Russian for minority).

French troops occupy Abomey, capital of the kingdom of Dahomey.

The Brazilian Royal Family is forced into exile in France.

The first assassination attempt is made against Umberto I of Italy by anarchist Giovanni Passannante, armed with a dagger. The King survived with a slight wound in one arm. Prime minister Benedetto Cairoli blocked the aggressor, receiving an injury to one of his legs.

From Pest, Buda and Óbuda, Budapest, Hungary's capital, is formed.

The National Rifle Association is granted a charter by the state of New York.

In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony.

November 19 ndash The Hudson's Bay Company surrenders its claim to Rupert's Land in Canada under its letters patent back to the British Crown.ref name=CBH/

American Civil War ndash The Siege of Knoxville begins: Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee under siege (the 2-week-long siege and 1 failed attack are unsuccessful).

Homosexuality legalised in Ottoman Empire.

Feudalism and serfdom in Bulgaria are abolished in the Ottoman Empire (practically in 1880).

William M. Tweed begins his 13-year term as Boss of Tammany Hall.

The city of Denver, Colorado, is founded.

The "haute couture" firm of Worth and Bobergh is established in Paris.

The Miners Association is established in Cornwall, UK.

American Old West: On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.

David Livingstone becomes the first European to see Victoria Falls in what is now present-day Zambia–Zimbabwe.

In Egypt, the Suez Canal company is formed.

Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, "Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio", opens in Milan.

José Miguel Carrera, Chilean founding father, is sworn in as President of the executive Junta of the government of Chile.

Palm oil sales from West Africa to Britain reach 1,000 tons.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe publishes his "Theory of Colours".

4,500 chests of opium are sold in China.

Amadou Lobbo initiates his jihad in present-day Mali.

The first steamboat sails on the Ohio River.

Russia acquires Sukhumi through a treaty with the Abkhazian dukes, and declares a protectorate over the whole of Abkhazia.

Sake Dean Mahomet opens the "Hindoostanee Coffee House", the first Indian restaurant in London.

18,000 Angolans are sold at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Rocky Point Manor is built in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.

A peace treaty in Haiti confirms its division between the northern State of Haiti ruled autocratically by the "gen de couleur" Henri Christophe and the southern Republic ruled by the mulattoAlexandre Pétion.

King George III of the United Kingdom is recognized as insane.

The Saint Petersburgmain military engineering school becomes the first engineering higher learning institution in the Russian Empire, after addition of officers' classes and application of a five-year term of teaching.

Ching Shih and Chang Pao surrender their pirate fleet to the Chinese government.

General Union of Spinners organizes strike action to raise wages in the smaller U.K. cotton centres to the Manchester level.

Anglo-Swedish War (1810–1812): Sweden declares war on the United Kingdom.

Moose become extinct in the Caucasus.

The U.S. Congress holds its first Washington, D.C. session.

French Revolutionary Wars ndash Battle of Arcole: French forces defeat the Austrians in Italy.

December ndash The British government begins work on a 40-acre (162,000 m²) site at Norman Cross for the world's first purpose-built prisoner-of-war c.

The Articles of Confederation are submitted to the states for ratification.

The trade monopoly with Iceland is transferred to the Danish crown.

The North Carolina General Assembly passes an act establishing the town of Martinsborough, named for Royal Governor Josiah Martin, on the land of Richard Evans, which will serve as the county seat of Pitt County.

Construction of the Putuo Zongcheng Temple complex in Chengde, China is completed during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.

Premiere in Milan of the opera "Ascanio in Alba" by Wolfgang Mozart, age 15.

Slovene literature: István Küzmics, the Hungarian Slovene writer and evangelical pastor, publishes (in Halle) the "Nouvi Zákon", a translation of the New Testament into the Prekmurje dialect, with discrete South Slavic artwork.

Society of Civil Engineers first meets (in London), the world's oldest engineering society.

The territory of Baden-Baden is inherited by the Margrave of Baden-Durlach, forming Baden.

The Swedish city of Karlskrona is founded, as the Royal Swedish Navy relocates there.

Whigs organize pope-burning processions in London.

Chambers of Reunion (French courts under Louis XIV) decide on complete annexation of Alsace.

The first Portuguesegovernor is appointed to Macau.

Thirty Years\\' War ndash Gottfried zu Pappenheim, Field Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire, dies from wounds sustained in the Battle of Lützen.

Fasilides succeeds his father Susenyos as Emperor of Ethiopia.

Antigua and Barbuda is first colonized by England.

Yakutsk, Russia is founded.

The Portuguese driven out of Bengal.

KingWładysław IV Vasa of Poland forbids antisemitic books and printings.

A naval battle between the Sicilians and Venetians ends inconclusively.

Sir Walter Ralegh goes on trial for treason in the converted Great Hall of Winchester Castle.ref name=Pocket On This Day/

The "Collegium Melitense" is founded by Bishop Garagallo.

John III is succeeded by his son Sigismund as King of Sweden.

The Confucian shrine of Munmyo is destroyed by fire.

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I of England, is taken seriously ill.

Negotiations begin for the dissolution of the childless marriage of Henry IV of France and Marguerite de Valois.

Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland's oldest university, is founded.

The Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her younger half-sister Elizabeth.

Queen Elizabeth grants rest and refreshment to pilgrims and travellers who pass by the Holy Well Spring, Malvern.

Armies of Charles VIII of France enter Florence.

November 19 ndash St. Elizabeth flood: The coastal area near Dordrecht in the Netherlands is flooded due to the extremely high tide of the North Sea 72 villages are drowned, killing about 10,000 people.

Portuguese sailors sent by Henry the Navigator cross the Cape Non, going as far as the Cape Bojador.

The first patent is issued by the Republic of Florence.Terence, Kealey. "The Economic Laws of Scientific Research." 1996.

John III of Dierre, Marquis of Namur, sells his estates to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.

The Black Death first appears in Scotland.

To pay for the expenses of the revived war with Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa has to subscribe a loan at an interest rate of 10% from an association of creditors known as the "Compera imposita per gerra Venetorum".

Hayam Wuruk becomes ruler of the Majapahit Empire.

The castle of Rapperswil is largely destroyed by Rudolf Brun, mayor of the city of Zürich.

The Vaghela dynasty in Gujarat is subjugated by the DeccanYadava dynasty of Daulatabad.

(Julian calendar) John Balliol is selected by King Edward I of England as King of Scotland from among 13 candidates Edward then treats John as a puppet ruler and Scotland as a vassal state, eventually provoking the Wars of Scottish Independence, commencing in 1296.

King Mangrai the Great of Ngoen Yang conquested and annexed the Mon kingdom of Haripunchai, created a political union in the form of the Lanna kingdom.

The Jandarid dynasty is founded in the Kastamonu Province.

The "Taxatio", compiled in 1291–92, is completed under the order of Pope Nicholas IV.

Mamluk sultan of EgyptKhalil invades the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.

The Mongols land on Java, taking the capital, but it proves impossible to hold.Roberts, J: History of the World.. Penguin, 1994.

A statue of a "Standing Buddha" from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, (during the Gupta period) is made. It is now kept at the Sarnath Museum (India).

Winter ndash Zeno sends an embassy to conclude a peace with king Genseric. He succeeds in an agreement with the Vandals to secure the commercial routes in the Mediterranean.

Leo II dies of an unknown disease (possibly poisoned by his mother Araidne) after a reign of 10 months. Zeno becomes sole emperor of the Eastern Empire.

Emperor Chandragupta II becomes ruler of the Gupta Empire (India). He is the son of Samudragupta the Great and attaines his reign by an aggressive expansionist policy.

Gratian, age 16, takes over the government at "Augusta Treverorum" (modern Trier), but ministers wishing to retain the loyalty of the Illyrian army and fearing a usurper. They proclaim Valentinian's 4-year-old son Valentinian II co-emperor with his mother, Justina, as regent. Gratian reserves for himself the administration of the Gallic provinces, and hands over Italy, Illyrium, Hispania and Africa to his stepmother, who makes "Mediolanum" (Milan) her residence.

The earliest extant books – a school textbook and an account book – with bound wooden leaves, are lost at the Dakhla Oasis in western Egypt. The desert sands preserve them for modern archaeologists.

Saint Jerome retires to the desert of Chalcis (Syria).

In Africa, the dissident Berber prince Firmus is delivered to the Romans by his brother Gildon.

The Maronite Church is founded by Saint Maron in Lebanon.

Gratian, advised by his chief advisor Ambrosius, begins a systematic presecution of the pagans. He confiscates the fortunes of the temples and adds the money to the Imperial Treasury. He procribes Arianism and Donatism.

The Talmud of Babylon is written by Rav Ashi. This commentary on the Mishnah contains approximately 2.5 million words on 5.894 pages.

Emperor Valentinian I concludes an enduring peace with the Alamanni in Germany, then marches into Illyrium to repel an invasion of the Quadi and the Sarmatians on the Danube frontier. While negotiating with the Quadi, Valentinian, age 54, becomes so enraged that he dies in a fit of apoplexy at Brigetio (Hungary). Extreme cruelty has marked his 11-year reign but has founded schools and provided physicians to serve the poor of Constantinople.

The Quadi accept an uneasy peace, Merobaudes ("Magister militum"), gives them land to settle on the Danube.

The first two Korean Buddhist temples are built.