Unix Timestamp: 1073433600
Wednesday, January 7. 2004, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Russia shuts off all gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine. Prime MinisterVladimir Putin publicly endorses the move and urges greater international involvement in the energy dispute.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee told an educational conference in Mumbai: Our scientists are now talking of going to the Moon.

War on Terrorism: British police announced details of the discovery of traces of the toxin ricin in a flat in Wood Green in North London in the wake of the arrest of six terrorist suspects. The timing of this news coincided with a major speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair dealing with the threat of terrorism and Britain's relationship with the U.S.A.

One of the worst blizzards in American history hits the eastern states, killing more than 150 people. Philadelphia, PA receives a record of snowfall, New York City's public schools close for the first time in 18 years and the federal government in Washington, D.C. is closed for days.

The Fourth Republic of Ghana is inaugurated, with Jerry Rawlings as president.

The Yugoslav Air Force downs a helicopter, killing five military observers from the European Community.

In Haiti, an attempted coup by an associate of former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier is thwarted by Loyalist troops.

In Sebokeng, South Africa, gunmen fire on mourners attending the funeral of a leader of the African National Congress, killing 13 people.

United States Secretary of StateJames Baker meets with the Foreign Minister of IraqTariq Aziz, but fails to produce a plan for Iraq to withdraw its troops from Kuwait.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public because of safety concerns.

Hirohito (posthumous name: Emperor Shōwa) died and Akihito became Emperor of Japan.

Victoria Agreement signed.

The United States and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations.

Brunei becomes the 6th member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation approving $1.5 billion in loan guarantees to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.

Vietnam and Vietnam-backed Cambodian insurgents announce the fall of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and the collapse of the Pol Pot regime. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge retreat west to an area along the Thai border.

OPEC agrees to raise crude oil prices by 10%.

U.S. President Gerald Ford appoints Vice President Nelson Rockefeller to head a special commission looking into alleged domestic abuses by the CIA.

Ella Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first female U.S. governor who did not succeed her husband.

Super Bowl VII: The Miami Dolphins defeat the Washington Redskins, 14–7, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, to complete the NFL's first Perfect Season in front of 90,182 fans.

Elvis Presley's concert in Hawaii. The first worldwide telecast by an entertainer watched by more people than watched the Apollo moon landings.

Mark Essex kills 8 people at the Howard Johnson's hotel in downtown New Orleans.

Mark Essex kills 8 people at the Howard Johnson's hotel in downtown New Orleans.

A British firm, the Leyland Motor Corp., announces the sale of 450 buses to the Cuban government, challenging the United States blockade of Cuba.

Following a 4-day conference in Casablanca, 5 African chiefs of state announce plans for a NATO-type African organization to ensure common defense. The Charter of Casablanca involves the Casablanca Group: Morocco, the United Arab Republic, Ghana, Guinea, and Mali.

The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.

Marian Anderson is the first African American singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb.

A fire consumes Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa, killing 39 patients.

The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with 1937 borders, and divide the country into 4 occupation zones.

"Project Diana" bounces radar waves off the Moon, measuring the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and proving that communication is possible between Earth and outer space, effectively opening the space age.

Enver Hoxha declares the People's Republic of Albania, with himself as prime minister.

The first meeting of the United Nations is held in London.

Porfirio Barba-Jacob's ashes go back to Colombia.

British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference at Zonhoven describing his supporting role at the Battle of the Bulge.

WWII: The siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.

Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims.

The first "Flash Gordon" comic strip is published.

The moat at the Tower of London, previously drained in 1843 (and planted with grass), is completely refilled by a tidal wave.

The first transatlantic telephone call is made "via radio" from New York City to London, England.

Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes.

The distress signal "CQD" is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by "SOS".

Fannie Farmer published her first cookbook.

William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film.

Arkansas constitutional convention meets in Little Rock.

In the Swiss CantonTicino, the village of Bedretto is partly destroyed, and 29 killed, by an avalanche.ref name=Resoconto

Ground is broken in Sacramento, California, on the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States.

The Yorkshire County Cricket Club is founded at the Adelphi Hotel in Sheffield, England.

The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating.ref name=Pocket On This Day

anchors off the Chonos Archipelago on the voyage of 1831–1836 with Charles Darwin.

Sir Humphry Davy tests the Davy l for miners at Hebburn Colliery.

The parliament of the Cisalpine Republic adopts the Italian green-white-red tricolour as the official flag (this is considered the birth of the flag of Italy).

1789 United States presidential elections and House of Representatives elections are held.

Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England to Calais, France in a hydrogen gas balloon, becoming the first to cross the English Channel by air.

The first American commercial bank (Bank of North America) opens.

Siculicidium: Hundreds of innocent Székely people are murdered by the Austrians in a massacre at Madéfalva (Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary).

The first recorded full peal is rung, at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in the City of London, marking a new era in change ringing.

Polish-Swedish War: Gustavus II Adolphus defeats a Polish army in the Battle of Wallhof, Latvia.

Galileo Galilei first observes the four Galilean moons of Jupiter: Ganymede, Callisto, Europa and Io, but is unable to distinguish the latter two until the following day.

Fire destroys all the houses in the fort at Jamestown the fort is repaired in March.

January 8 ndash Ensign Thomas Savage arrivies in Jamestown with the First Supply under Christopher Newport.

Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia, following the death of his brother-in-law, Tsar Feodor I the Time of Troubles starts.

Pope Pius V succeeds Pope Pius IV as the 225th pope.

French troops led by Francis, Duke of Guise take Calais, the last continental possession of the Kingdom of England

January 7 ndash Catherine of Aragon, First Queen of Henry VIII of England, dies.

Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg becomes the 28th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order.

Portuguese king Afonso IV sends three men to kill Ines de Castro, beloved of his son prince Pedro ndash Pedro revolts and incites a civil war.

Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal.

Venus occults Jupiter

The Almoravid governor of Zaragoza, Muhàmmad ibn al-Hajj, launches an offensive against the County of Barcelona but is defeated at the Battle of Martorell by Ramon Berenguer III.Gilbert Meynier (2010) "L'Algérie cœur du Maghreb classique. De l'ouverture islamo-arabe au repli (658-1518)". Paris: La Découverte pp.86.

Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, marries Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor.

The Polovtsy attack the Byzantine Empire.

As part of the Norman expansion southward, the count Routrou II of Perche enters the service of the king of Castille, Alfonso the Battler.

Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and his Pisan allies, conquers Ibiza and Mallorca.