Unix Timestamp: 1071360000
Sunday, December 14. 2003, 12:00:00 AM UTC

The governments of the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands protest the start of Japan's whaling season off the coast of Antarctica. //www.news.com.au/breaking-news/australia-joins-4-nation-stand-on-whaling/story-e6frfku0-1226221918553?utm_source=feedburnerutm_medium=feedutm_caign=Feed%3A+newscomaunthamericandm+%28NEWS.com.au+%7C+Nth+America%29 (AFP via News Limited)

Dubai receives a US$10 billion bailout from Abu Dhabi to help fund troubled Dubai World. //gulfnews.com/business/economy/nakheel-bond-to-be-paid-in-full-1.553344 ("Gulf News") //english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/12/2009121454243401178.html (Al Jazeera) //english.cctv.com/program/bizchina/20091214/102922.shtml (CCTV)

A research expedition concludes that the Chinese River Dolphin is now likely extinct, directly due to human action. //www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061213.wdolphin1213/BNStory/Science/home (Globe Mail)

Shakidor Dam fails in Pakistan due to heavy rain.

The world's tallest bridge, the Millau bridge over the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains, France, is opened by PresidentJacques Chirac.

Annular solar eclipse

The full genome sequence of the flowering plant "Arabidopsis thaliana" is published in "Nature".

Because of the quadruple-witching option expiration, volume on the New York Stock Exchange hits 638 million shares, the highest single-day volume since October 20, 1987, when the Dow staged a stunning recovery a day after Black Monday.

The European Court of Justicerules that all EU football players have the right to a free transfer among member states at the end of their contracts.

The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris.

Chile holds its first free election in 16 years, electing Patricio Aylwin as president.

Rutan Voyager, an experimental aircraft designed by Burt Rutan and piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, begins its flight around the world.

Nigeria recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

Bolivia recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

Four people were murdered at Bob\'s Big Boy on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles and four others were injured by two armed robbers, in what was one of the city's most brutal crimes ever.

Four people were murdered at Bob's Big Boy on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles and four others were injured by two armed robbers, in what was one of the city's most brutal crimes ever.

The Commonwealth of Australia ordains equal pay for women.

The United Nations Environment Programme is established as a specialized agency of the United Nations.

Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of Apollo 17. This is the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th Century.

The Portuguese army kills 400 Africans in Tete, Mozambique.

The Constitution of Bangladesh comes into effect.

"Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States" (379 US 241 1964): The U.S. Supreme Court rules that, in accordance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, establishments providing public accommodations must refrain from racial discrimination.

Walt Disney's first live-action Technicolor musical, "Babes in Toyland", a remake of the famous Victor Herbert operetta, is released, but flops at the box office.

King Mahendra of Nepal deposes the democratic government there and he takes direct control himself.

Antoine Gizenga proclaims in Republic of the Congo, that he has taken over as the premier.

New York air disaster: a United AirlinesDC-8 collides in mid-air with a TWALockheed Constellation over Staten Island in New York City. All 128 passengers and crewmembers on the two airliners, and six people on the ground, are killed.

King Baudouin of Belgium marries Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragon.

Secretary of StateChristian Herter announces that the United States will commit five nuclear submarines and eighty Polaris missiles to the defense of the NATO countries by the end of 1963.

The Henney Kilowatt goes on sale in the United States, becoming the first mass-produced electric car in almost three decades.

Pantyhose introduced by Glen Raven Mills.

The Workers World Party is founded by Sam Marcy.

The first known human with HIV dies in the Congo.

Makarios III is selected the first president of Cyprus.

Erving Goffman publishes his seminal study in sociology, "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life".

The Caspian Tiger becomes extinct in Iran.

The current (as of 2006) design of the Japanese 10 yen coin is put into circulation.

The "3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition" becomes the first ever to reach the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility.

The first successful surgical separation of Siamese twins is conducted in Mount Sinai Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio.

Traicho Kostov, ex-vice prime minister of Bulgaria, is sentenced to death.

The International Labour Organization becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations.

WWII ndash Winter War: The League of Nations expels the USSR for attacking Finland.

Friedrich Karl renounces the Finnish throne.

Roald Amundsen's expedition reaches the South Pole.

The first German Imperial Navysubmarine, ''U-1'' (launched on August 4), is commissioned.

The Glasgow Subway, the third-oldest underground metro system in the world, opens.

Wofford and Furman play the first intercollegiate football game in the state of South Carolina.

Serbia restates its previous declaration of war against Turkey.

A professionally led army of draftees crushes a major rebellion by feudal elements protesting the loss of their privileges in Japan.

"Nineteenth Century" magazine is founded.

Leo Tolstoy's novel "Anna Karenina" is published complete in book form.

Kaspar Hauser, a mysterious German youth, is stabbed, dying three days later on December 17.

The dawn of biochemistry: The first enzyme, diastase, is discovered by Anselme Payen.

Greece recaptures the Acropolis.

Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio

Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Madras College, St Andrews

H.R.H. Prince Mongkut of Siam founds the Dhammayut Buddhist reform movement.

Alabama is admitted as the 22nd U.S. state.

The city of Fernandina of Jagua (later Cienfuegos) is founded in Cuba.

The 'Ai Noa Movement takes power in Hawaii.

Serfdom is abolished in Livonia.

A British Arctic expedition under William Edward Parry comprising HMS \\'\\'Hecla\\'\\' and HMS \'\'Griper\'\' reaches longitude 112°51' W in the Northwest Passage, the furthest west which will be attained by any single-season voyage for 150 years."Journal of a Voyage to Discover a North-west Passage". 1821.

A British Arctic expedition under William Edward Parry comprising HMS "Hecla" and HMS "Griper" reaches longitude 112°51' W in the Northwest Passage, the furthest west which will be attained by any single-season voyage for 150 years."Journal of a Voyage to Discover a North-west Passage". 1821.

The 'Ai Noa Movement takes power in Hawaii.

The Nawab (provincial governor) of Oudh in northern India sends to George III of England the Padshah Nama, an official history of the reign of Shah Jahan.

The small town of Tignish, PE, Canada is founded.

Dutch government takes over Dutch East India Company.

12-year-old Conrad John Reed finds what he describes as a heavy yellow rock along Little Meadow Creek in Cabarrus County, North Carolina and makes it a doorstop in his home. Conrad's father John Reed learns that the rock is actually gold in 1802, initiating the first gold rush in the United States.

Eli Whitney, holding a 1798 United States government contract for the manufacture of muskets, is introduced by Oliver Wolcott, Jr. to the French concept of interchangeable parts, an origin of the American system of manufacturing.

William Cockerill begins building cotton-spinning equipment in Belgium.

The Place Royale in Paris is renamed "Place des Vosges" when the Department of Vosges becomes the first to pay new Revolutionary taxes.

The assassination of the 14th Tu'i Kanokupolu, Tukuʻaho, plunges Tonga into half a century of civil war.

George Washington, the first President of the United States, dies in Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Annual British iron production reaches 68,000 tons.

King Charles III of Spain dies and is succeeded by his son Charles IV.

Leopold Mozart publishes his book on his method for learning to play the violin, "Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule".

Frederick II of Prussia forces his country's peasants to grow the unpopular and obscure potato.

he play "Douglas" is performed for the first time in Edinburgh, with overwhelming success, in spite of the opposition of the local church presbytery, who summoned Alexander Carlyle to answer for having attended its representation. However, it fails in its early promise to set up a new Scottish dramatic tradition.

First chocolate-candy factory begins operations in Germany.

The town of Gus-Khrustalny is established in Russia with the setting up of a crystal glass factory.

John Churchill is created duke of Marlborough.

The use of palanquins increases in Europe.

French writer Charles Perrault publishes a collection of favourite fairy tales, including "Red Riding Hood" and "The Sleeping Beauty".

Christopher Polhem starts Sweden's first technical school.

Charles XII of Sweden is crowned king at the age of 15.

The Manchus of the Qing Dynasty conquers Outer Mongolia.

Tayasal, capital of the Itza Maya in the Petén Basin, the last independent Maya polity, is conquered by Spain.

The Royal African Company loses its monopoly on the slave trade.

Sultan Murad, 4th son of Emperor Akbar of the Mughal Empire invades Ahmednagar Sultanate which is bravely defended by Chand Bibi.

Probable first performance of William Shakespeare's plays "Romeo and Juliet" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in London.ref name=CBH

Probable first performance of William Shakespeare's plays "Romeo and Juliet" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in London.ref name=CBH

Queen Mary, Queen of Scots, becomes queen at the age of only one week.

The first contact of Japan with the West occurs when a Portuguese ship, blown off its course to China, lands Fernão Mendes Pinto, Diogo Zeimoto and Cristovão Borralho in Japan.

Pope Paul III establishes the Holy Office with jurisdiction over the Roman Inquisition.

The Altar of St. James at the Cathedral of San Zeno in Pistoia, Italy ndash a masterwork of the silversmithing trade containing nearly a ton of silver ndash is begun it will not be completed for nearly 200 years.

Construction on the Cathedral of Uppsala is begun it will not be completed until 1435.

The Mongol Golden Horde, led by khanTalabuga and Nogai Khan, attacks Poland for the third time. Lublin, Mazovia, Sandomierz and Sieradz are ravaged by the invaders, who are defeated in Kraków.

In the Netherlands, a fringing barrier between the North Sea and a shallow lake collapses, causing the fifth largest flood in recorded history which creates the Zuider Zee inlet and kills over 50,000 people it also gives sea access to Amsterdam, allowing its development as an important port city.

In Aragon, the "Uniones", an aristocratic uprising, forces the Crown to make concessions to the nobility.ref name=JMC

King Edward I of England arrests the heads of Jewish households, and demands their communities pay hefty ransoms for their release.

In England, the city of Winchelsea on Romney Marsh is destroyed nearby Broomhill is also destroyed course of the nearby river Rother diverted to Rye cliff collapses at Hastings, blocking the harbour parts of Norfolk are flooded decline of the port of Dunwich in Suffolk is accelerated.

The Bruntal coat of arms makes its first appearance.

The Italian city of Sienna exacts a forced loan on its taxpayers for the first time. This is a common fixture of medieval public finance.

A huge storm and associated storm tide in the North Sea and English Channel, known as St. Lucia's flood in the Netherlands, kills thousands and reshapes the coastal line of the Netherlands and England.

In the English Fenland through the vehemence of the wind and the violence of the sea, the monastery of Spalding and many churches are overthrown and destroyed All the whole country in the parts of Holland was for the most part turned into a standing pool so that an intolerable multitude of men, women and children were overwhelmed with the water, especially in the town of Boston, a great part thereof was destroyed.ref name=wheeler, ing "Stow's chronicle" of 1287

Pope Adrian IV (also known as Hadrian IV) succeeds Pope Anastasius IV as the 169th pope. Born Nicholas Breakspear, he is the only English pope in history.

Pope John VIII succeeds Pope Adrian II as the 107th pope.

Pope Adrian II (also referred to as Hadrian II) succeeds Pope Nicholas I as the 106th pope.

Ganlu Incident: In the northeast sector of the Chinese capital Chang\\'an, after a failure by the chancellorLi Xun to slaughter the powerful eunuchs, troops under the eunuchs' command slaughter many court officials and Li Xun's associates.