Unix Timestamp: 1105747200
Saturday, January 15. 2005, 12:00:00 AM UTC

The longest annular solar eclipse of the 3rd millennium occurs.

Hamas 'in principle' accepts the United Nations' call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. //www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231950847330pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull ("Jerusalem Post")

The Federal Court of Australia orders a Japanese whaling company to stop research whaling within their Exclusive Economic Zone.

Iran's nuclear program: An Iranian official says that Iran is continuing its nuclear program despite being sanctioned by the United Nations. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6262945.stm (BBC) //abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2795496 (Reuters via ABC News)

NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a comet.

A statement, issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and signed by Pope John Paul II, declared that all Roman Catholic politicians must adhere to church teachings, and that they cannot be faithful to the Church if they vote against Church positions on such issues as abortion.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, launches on the Internet.

The "SS American Star" breaks tow in the Atlantic Ocean and is beached at Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands a few days later.

Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM inspectors to use its own aircraft to fly into Iraq, and begins military operations in the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait, and the northern Iraqi no-fly zones. U.S. forces fire approximately 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Baghdad factories linked to Iraq's illegal nuclear weapons program. Iraq then informs UNSCOM that it will be able to resume its flights.

Salvatore Riina, the Mafia boss known as 'The Beast', is arrested in Palermo, Sicily, after 23 years as a fugitive.

IBM announces a $4.97 billion loss for 1992, the largest single-year corporate loss in United States history to date.

Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) signed.

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia begins to break up. Slovenia and Croatia gain independence and international recognition in some Western countries.

Thirty-five European nations, meeting in Vienna, agree to strengthen human rights and strengthen East-West trade.

In Jerusalem, Israeli police and Palestinian protestors clash at the Dome of the Rock several police and at least 70 Palestinians are injured.

Tancredo Neves is elected president of Brazil by the Congress, ending the 21-year military rule.

Kälvesta air disaster: A Swedish airliner crashes into a residential area of Stockholm, killing all 22 on board.

Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life in prison.

Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.

The Aswan High Dam officially opens in Egypt.

After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafran forces under Philip Effiong formally surrender to General Yakubu Gowon.

The Soviet Union launches "Soyuz 5", which docked with Soyuz 4 for a transfer of crew.

An earthquake in Sicily kills 380 and injures around 1,000.//emidius.mi.ingv.it/CPTI99/CPTI_finestre.html

The Nigerian coup is overturned by another faction of the military, leaving a military government in power. This is the beginning of a long period of military rule.

A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping three 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares, and one into the sea, in the 1966 PalomaresB-52 crash.

A bloody military coup is staged in Nigeria, deposing the civilian government.

About 8,000 U.S. soldiers land in South Vietnam U.S. troops now total 190,000.

Carl Brashear, the first African American United States Navy diver, is involved in an accident during the recovery of a lost H-bomb which results in the utation of his leg.

French police announce that Georges Figon has committed suicide, prior to his arrest for the kidnapping of Mehdi Ben Barka.

Portugal abandons the U.N. General Assembly due to the debate over Angola.

Release, in Japan, of the film "Throne of Blood", Akira Kurosawa's reworking of "Macbeth".

Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya.

Georg Dertinger, foreign minister of East Germany, is arrested for spying.

Ilse Koch, The Witch of Buchenwald, wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration c, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a court in West Germany.

Elizabeth Short, an aspiring actress nicknamed the Black Dahlia, is found brutally murdered in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. The case remains unsolved to this day.

John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford E. Berry describe the workings of the Atanasoff–Berry Computer in print.

The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio, for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company.

Political violence causes almost 100 deaths in Spain.

"//www.editions.ehess.fr/revues/annales-histoire-sciences-sociales/ Annales d'histoire économique et sociale" begins publication in France.

Teddy Wakelam gives the first sports commentary on BBC Radio.

Michael Collins becomes Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government.

James Naismith publishes the rules for basketball.

The United Mine Workers of America is founded.

Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.

The Sleeping Beauty (ballet) with music by Tchaikovsky is premiered at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia.

The "Coca-Cola Company", then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is originally incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia.

A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey (A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion by Thomas Nast for "Harper's Weekly").

American Civil War: United States forces capture Fort Fisher.

French intervention in Mexico ndash French forces bombard Veracruz.

Nine men representing various Hebrewcharitable organizations come together to form what will become the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Christian Female College, now Columbia College, receives its charter from the Missouri General Assembly.

The University of Notre Dame receives its charter from Indiana.

Canonsburg Academy (now Washington Jefferson College) is chartered by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

London haberdasherJohn Hetherington wears a silk top hat in public and attracts a large crowd of onlookers. He is later fined £500 for causing a public nuisance.

Henry Cavendish's paper to the Royal Society of London, "Experiments on Air", reveals the composition of water.

Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.

Vermont declares its independence from New York, becoming the Vermont Republic, an independent country, a status it retains until it joins the United States as the 14th state in 1791.

Thomas Paine publishes "Common Sense".

The British Museum opens (after 6 years of development).

After overwintering with the Huron Indians, Samuel de Chlain and Recollect Father Joseph Le Caron visit the Petun and Ottawa Indians of the Great Lakes. This is Chlain's last trip in North America before returning to France. Having secured Canada, he helps create French America, New France, or L'Acadie.

One of the world's first newspapers, "Avisa Relation oder Zeitung", is published in Augsburg, Germany.

Russia cedes Livonia and Southern-Estonia to Poland.

Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey.

Henry II of France and Maurice of Saxony sign the Treaty of Chambord.

Parliament of England passes the "Act Respecting the Oath to the Succession" recognising the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and their children as the legitimate heirs to the throne.ref name=Cassell's Chronology

Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York, aged four, is married to five-year-old Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk.

Peter of Castelnau is killed by a vassal of Raymond VI of Toulouse, who is held responsible and excommunicated by Pope Innocent III.

Nanjing is reconstructed after a long desertion, marking the beginning of contemporary Nanjing City.

The Samanid prince of BukharaAhmad II Samani is murdered. His son, Nasr ibn Ahmad, succeeds him at the age of 8, under the regency of vizir Abu ’Abd-Allah al-Jaihani. The Abbassids try to benefit from the turmoil of the interregnum to reconquer Sistan, in vain.Joel L. Kraemer //books.google.fr/books?id=O9QUAAAAIAAJpg=PA8 "Philosophy in the renaissance of Islam : Abū Sulaymān Al-Sijistānī and his circle" Brill Archive, 1986 ISBN 978-90-04-07258-9

In India, beginning of the rule of Indra III, kingRashtrakuta of Malkhed.//books.google.fr/books?id=XNxiN5tzKOgCpg=PA368 "Ancient India Par R.C. Majumdar" Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1994 ISBN 978-81-208-0436-4

Iberian peninsula: Battle of Abelda: the Asturians defeat the Muslims.

Battle of Saint-Quentin, Aisne: Humfrid defeats Louis the German.

The Russian city of Novgorod is first mentioned in the chronicles.

The University of Al Karaouine is founded in Fes, Morocco (recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest university in the world).

Pope Sisinnius succeeds Pope John VII as the 87th pope.ref name=Byz708/

Marcus Trebellius Maximus, governor of Britannia, is forced the flee to Gaul after a mutiny of Legio XX \'\'Valeria Victrix\'\' at Deva Victrix (Chester).

Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaims himself emperor, and reigns for three months before committing suicide.

Galba and his adopted son Piso are murdered by the Praetorian Guard on the Roman Forum.