Unix Timestamp: 1043625600
Monday, January 27. 2003, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Steve Jobs unveils the Apple iPad, a tablet PC at a press conference in San Francisco. //www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/the-apple-ipad/ (Engadget)

A special leaders meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, held in Papua New Guinea, sets a deadline of 1 May for Fiji to set a date for elections before the end of the year. Fiji rejects the deadline. //news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/28/content_10728151.htm (Xinhua)

Celebrations are held in Salzburg and around the world, for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Several explosions at a military dump in Lagos, Nigeria kill more than 1,000.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 7,000 for the first time, gaining 60.81 to 7,022.44.

Sandline affair: Australian newspapers publish stories that the government of Papua New Guinea has brought mercenaries onto Bougainville Island.

On their way to Lebanon, 2 Israeli troop-transport helicopters collide, killing 73.

Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter Reynolds investment banks announced a $10 billion merger.

BritishHome SecretaryMichael Howard informs Moors MurdererMyra Hindley that she will never be released from prison. Mr. Howard has made the decision in agreement with a recommendation made by his predecessor David Waddington in 1990.

The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announced the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.

After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections.

It is revealed that French museums had nearly 2,000 pieces of art that had been stolen by Nazis.

The United States Army suspends Gene C. McKinney, Sergeant Major of the Army, its top-ranking enlisted soldier, after hearing allegations of sexual misconduct.

"STS-82": Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope is started by astronauts from "Space Shuttle Discovery".

President Jacques Chirac announces a definitive end to French nuclear testing.

Imia-Kardak crisis: A Greek flag is hoisted on a small rocky island named Imia (Greek) / Kardak (Turkish).

Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane, in a military coup.

Fire destroys La Fenice, Venice's opera house.

The city of Tiraspol in the Moldavian SSR briefly declares independence.

Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) formed.

Michael Jackson is accidentally severely burned at the filming of a Pepsi commercial.

The Garret FitzGerald government of the Republic of Ireland is defeated 82–81 on its budget Fitzgerald announces his resignation.

The Indonesian passenger ship "Tonas 2" catches fire and capsizes in the Java Sea, killing 580.

Canadian caper: Six United Statesdiplomats, posing as Canadians, manage to escape from Tehran, Iran as they board a flight to Zürich, Switzerland.

The United States vetoes a United Nations resolution that calls for an independent Palestinian state.

U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ends with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.

A French submarine sinks in the Mediterranean Sea with 52 men.

The British government promises the U.S. that British troops in Malaysia will stay until more peaceful conditions occur in the region.

The Soviet government changes all place names honoring Molotov, Kaganovich and Georgi Malenkov.

February ndash Convention People's Party wins national elections in Gold Coast (British colony).

February ndash Convention People's Party wins national elections in Gold Coast (British colony).

Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site begins with a 1-kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat, northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Holocaust: The Red Army liberates the Auschwitz and Birkenau death cs.

WWII: The 2-year Siege of Leningrad is lifted.

Marine Corps Women's Reserve (MCWR) created.

WWII: 50 bombers mount the first all American air raid against Germany (Wilhelmshaven is the target).

German police arrest alleged necrophiliacBruno Ludke.

WWII ndash Attack on Pearl Harbor: Joseph C. Grew, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, reports to Washington a rumor overheard at a diplomatic reception concerning a planned surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

WWII: A peace resolution introduced in the Parliament of South Africa is defeated 81–59.

Adolf Hitler orders Plan Z, a 5-year naval expansion programme intended to provide for a huge German fleet capable of crushing the Royal Navy by 1944. The "Kriegsmarine" is given the first priority on the allotment of German economic resources.

Pierre Laval forms a government in France.

February 1 ndash The 1925 serum run to Nome (the Great Race of Mercy) relays diphtheriaantitoxin by dog sled across the U.S. territory of Alaska, to combat an epidemic.

Lenin is buried in Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow's Red Square.

The Finnish Civil War begins.

Military casualties begin arriving at the Hôpital Temporaire d'Arc-en-Barrois, established earlier in the month.

Boxer Rebellion: Foreign diplomats in Peking, China, demand that the Boxer rebels be disciplined.

The first college sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, is established at DePauw University.

February ndash Vrain Denis-Lucas is sentenced to 2 years in prison for multiple forgery in Paris.

The Republic of Ezo is proclaimed on the northern Japanese island of Ezo (which will be renamed Hokkaidō on September 20) by remaining adherents to the Tokugawa shogunate.

February ndash Foreign ministers meeting in Hyōgo are persuaded to recognise the restored Emperor Meiji of Japan with promises that harbours will be open in accordance with international treaties.

31 ndash Battle of Toba-Fushimi: forces of the Tokugawa shogunate and the allied pro-Imperial forces of the Chōshū, Satsuma and Tosa Domains clash near Fushimi, Kyoto, ending in a decisive victory for the Imperial forces (although in the January 28 naval Battle of Awa the Shogunate is victorious against Satsuma).

The Panama Railway becomes the first railroad to connect the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean.

The Fayetteville and Western Plank Road Company is incorporated to build a plank road from Fayetteville, North Carolina to Bethania, North Carolina.//www.historync.org/plankroadslist.htm CommunicationSolutions/ISI, Plank Roads Chartered in North Carolina, "North Carolina Business History", 2006, accessed 1 Feb 2010

The active volcanoMount Erebus in Antarctica is discovered and named by James Clark Ross.Ross, "Voyage to the Southern Seas", "'1"', pp. 216–8.

The University of Georgia is founded.

An angry crowd in America seizes a British customs collector and then tars and feathers him.

The Tugaloo Massacre changes the course of the Yamasee War.

In England, the ship HMS "Royal Sovereign" (formerly "HMS Sovereign of the Seas" 1638) catches fire and burns at Chatham, after 57 years of service.

The first fire engine company in what will become the United States goes into service.

Following the execution of King Charles I, the Commonwealth of England, a republican form of government, replaces the monarchy as the form of government of England and later of Scotland and Ireland. Members of the Long Parliament serve as government.

King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland is found guilty of treason in a public session. He is beheaded three days later, outside the Banqueting Hall in the Palace of Whitehall, London.

Charles, Prince of Wales declares himself King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. At the time, none of the three kingdoms recognize him as ruler.!Charles was not in England so it is doubtful he knew of his fathers death on the 30th

Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators for plotting against Parliament and James I of England begins.

The Republic of Ragusa is the first state in Europe to outlaw slavery.

Pope Clement VI issues his Bull "Unigenitus", defining the doctrine of The Treasury of Merits or The Treasury of the Church as the basis for the issuance of indulgences by the Catholic Church.

Joscius becomes Archbishop of Tyre.

The Byzantine Empire recognizes the independence of Bulgaria and Serbia.

John the Chanter becomes Bishop of Exeter.

Jayavarman VII, the king of Cambodia, founds the temple of Ta Prohm.

Constance of Sicily marries Henry (the future Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor).

After the death of the child-king Baldwin V, his mother succeeds him as Sibylla of Jerusalem and appoints her disfavoured husband Guy de Lusignan king consort. This comes as a shock to Jerusalem's court, who had earlier forced the possible future Queen into promising that should she become so, she would not appoint him the title.

Yazdgird III starts to rule in Persia.

December ndash Abu Bakr defeats Mosailima in the Battle of Akraba.

Ridda Wars begins

Annular eclipse of the sun.//eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEhistory.html NASA Solar Eclipse history

Queen Seondeok is crowned in Korea.

Emperor Marcian dies at Constantinople, possibly of foot gangrene, an infection contracted during a long religious journey. He is buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles, together with his late wife Pulcheria.

Merovech becomes king of the Salian Franks and founder of the Merovingian Dynasty. He settles his Frankish tribe near the Dutch river Merwede, part of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta (Netherlands).//www.badenhausen.net/harz/svava/MerovingsOrLoc.htm Thiidrekssaga Research: Merovingian Origin Location (s)!

Theodosius II sends an embassy to Attila Priscus of Panium, envoy for the Eastern Roman Empire, records one of few eyewitness accounts of Hun kingdom.

The first entry in the "Annales Cambriæ" refers to this year.

Battle of the Utus: Attila defeats the Roman army near the Vit River (Bulgaria). The Huns are forced to abandon the siege of Constantinople. They marched north and plunder the defenseless Balkan provinces (including Thrace, Scythia, Moesia, Dacia and Illyricum).

The Walls of Constantinople mungers severely damaged by an earthquake, destroying large parts of the wall, including 57 towers. The population is threatened by a plaque. Emperor Theodosius II orders Constantine, praetorian prefect of the East, to supervise the repairs. He employs the city's "demoi" (Circus factions) in the work and rebuilt the walls within 60 days.

Vortigern, king of the Britons, receives the Saxon leaders Hengist and Horsa as friends and grants the brothers the Isle of Thanet, most easterly point of Kent (England).

The Huns, led by Attila, cross the bung era Danube and invade the Balkans as far as Thermopylae (Greece). During the invasion Serdica (modern Sofia) is destroyed. For disobeying the terms of the treaty made since 442, Attila triples his demand for tribute to 2,100 pounds (ca. 700 kg) of gold per year and the ransom for each Roman prisoner to 12 "solidi".

The Synod of Toledo (Spain) tries to add the filioque clause to the Nicene Creed. The Greek Orthodox Church refuses to go along with this idea.

Winter ndash Theodosius II chooses a policy to protect Constantinople against the Huns. He removes Aspar and Areobindus ("magister militum") from their military commands.The End of Empire (p. 144). Willis Francios, 2009. ISBN 978-0-393-33849-2

Second visit of Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, to Britain. He spiritually combat the revived Pelagian threat and expells the Irish from Powys (Wales).

Trajan is the first Roman Emperor born in Italica, near Seville. A brilliant soldier and administrator, he enters Rome without ceremony and wins over the public. Continuing the policies of Augustus, Vespasian and Nerva, he restores the Senate to its full status in the government. He has a specific vision of the Empire, and keeps a close watch on finances. Taxes, without any increase, are sufficient during his reign to pay the considerable costs of the budget.

In order to maintain the Port of Alexandria, Trajan reopens the canal between the Nile and the Red Sea.

Tacitus finishes his "Germania" (approximate date).

The silver content of the Roman denarius rises to 93 percent under emperor Trajan, up from 92 percent under Domitian.

The informers used by Domitian to support his tyranny are expelled from Rome.

Carrying out an idea of Nerva's, Trajan begins a form of state welfare aimed at assuring that poor children are fed and taken care of.

Nerva is succeeded by his adopted son Trajan.