Unix Timestamp: 1108598400
Thursday, February 17. 2005, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Thai police search for two more suspects in an attempted terror attack on Israeli diplomats widely blamed on Iran. //hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_THAILAND_TERROR_PLOT?SITE=APSECTION=HOMETEMPLATE=DEFAULT (AP)

Thieves break into the Archaeological Museum of Olympia in Greece. stealing between 60 and 70 artifacts of the ancient Olympic Games. //www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_17/02/2012_428407 ("Ekathimerini")

The JEM rebel group in Darfur, Sudan sign a pact with the Sudanese government, planning a ceasefire within the next three months.//abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=6894843Sudan, Darfur Rebel Group Sign Peace Framework ndash ABC News. Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-07.

No survivors are found after a rescue helicopter discovers the wreckage of Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 just northeast of Mérida, Venezuela. The commercial plane had 46 people on board, including crew.

A general election is held in Pakistan, delayed from January 8 due to riots in the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Opposition parties, including Bhutto's, take more than half of the seats, while PresidentPervez Musharraf's party suffers a huge defeat.

The United States Navy destroys a spy satellite containing toxic fuel, by shooting it down with a missile launched from the "USS Lake Erie" in the Pacific Ocean.

Former building society Northern Rock is the first bank in Europe to be taken into state control, due to the U.S. subprime mortgage financial crisis.

The British government introduces emergency legislation temporarily to nationalize Northern Rock, the 5th largest mortgage bank in the UK, due to the bank's financial crisis.

A total lunar eclipse crosses North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia.

Kosovo formally declares independence from Serbia, with support from some countries but opposition from others.

Fidel Castro announces his resignation as President of Cuba, effective February 24.

A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines the official death toll is set at 1,126.

Same-sex marriage in the United States: San Francisco Superior court Judge James L. Warner postpones any decision to block the city and county of San Francisco, California, from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and to void the 2,464 same-sex marriages that were performed in the city since February 12. This was on the grounds that the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund's order for San Francisco to cease and desist issuing marriage licenses to and/or solemnizing marriages of same-sex couples to show cause before this court ... had an improper semicolon to do both, rather than one or the other, would have exceeded the judge's jurisdiction. //msnbc.msn.com/id/4251510/ (MSNBC)

February 20 ndash A nor'easter blizzard devastates Atlantic Canada, dumping more than 37.4 in. (95 cm.) on some areas.

Bishop Thomas O'Brien, the former head of Arizona's largest Roman Catholic diocese, is convicted of a hit and run making him the first Catholic bishop in the United States to be convicted of a felony. //www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48397-2004Feb17.html (Washington Post)

In Chicago, Illinois, a stede at the E2 south side nightclub kills 21 people.

A ferry sinks in Haiti, killing approximately 1,215 out of 1,500 passengers.

Iraq disarmament crisis: The Executive Chairman of UNSCOM details Iraq's refusal to abide by UN Security Council disarmament resolutions.

The New Hshire primary is won by Paul Tsongas on the Democratic side for the Republicans, Pat Buchanan has a surprisingly strong showing (37%) against incumbent president George H. W. Bush.

A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences serial killerJeffrey Dahmer to life in prison.

The Cape Verdean presidential election, Cape Verde's first multiparty presidential election since 1975, is won by António Mascarenhas Monteiro.

The Single European Act is signed.

People Power Revolution: President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines goes into exile in Hawaii after 20 years of rule Corazon Aquino becomes the first Filipino woman president, first as an interim president. Salvador Laurel becomes her Vice President.

Egyptian military police, protesting against bad salaries, enter 4 luxury hotels near the pyramids, set fire to them and loot them.

The Soviet Union launches the Mirspace station.

After waiting 37 years, the United States Senate approves a treaty outlawing genocide.

The People's Republic of China invades northern Vietnam, launching the Sino-Vietnamese War.

The People\'s Republic of China invades northern Vietnam, launching the Sino-Vietnamese War.

A soccer stede occurs in Cairo, killing 49.

Volkswagen Beetle sales exceed those of the Ford Model T when the 15,007,034th Beetle is produced.

In a Los Angeles, California court, Sirhan Sirhan admits that he killed presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.

"Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District": The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the First Amendment applies to public schools.

In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. (he later retracts his guilty plea).

Apollo program: NASA launches "Apollo 9" (James McDivitt, David Scott, Rusty Schweickart) to test the lunar module.

Soviet and Chinese forces clash at a border outpost on the Ussuri River.

The novel "The Godfather (novel)" by Mario Puzo is published.

The "Mariner 6" Mars probe is launched.

In Toulouse, France the first Concorde test flight is conducted.

Aquanaut Berry L. Cannon dies of carbon dioxide poisoning while attempting to repair the SEALAB III habitat off San Clemente Island, California.

Administrative reforms in Romania divide the country into 39 counties.

Jesús Sosa Blanco, a colonel in the Cuban army of Fulgencio Batista, is executed in Cuba after being convicted of committing 108 murders for Batista.

The United States launches the Vanguard IIweather satellite.

Women in Nepal vote for the first time.

Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare the patron saint of television.

A fire at a home for the elderly in Warrenton, Missouri, kills 72 people.

Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the British colonial government.

The last person to be executed in New Zealand, Walter James Bolton, is hanged at Mount Eden Prison for poisoning his wife.

An explosion at the O'Connor Electro-Plating Company in Los Angeles, California, leaves 17 dead, 100 buildings damaged, and a crater in the ground.

U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Hermes project V-2 rocket "Blossom I" launched into space carrying plant material and fruitflies, the first animals to enter space.

Cold War: The "Voice of America" begins to transmit radio broadcasts into Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

WWII: The Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins it ends in an American victory on February 22.

A woman named Anna Anderson tries to commit suicide in Berlin and is taken to a mental hospital, where she claims she is Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia.

At Fremantle, Western Australia, the R.M.S. "Orizaba" is wrecked, but all 160 passengers and the mail are saved.

El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.

The British Labour Party is formed and Ramsay MacDonald is appointed as its first secretary.

Second Boer War: British military leaders accept the unconditional notice of surrender from Boer GeneralPiet Cronje.

Second Boer War: Battle of Paardeberg: British troops defeat the Boers.

FC Bayern Munich football club is founded.

{dubious|Sinking of the Duburg|date=May 2012}} ndash The British steamship "Duburg" is wrecked in the South China Sea: 400 lives are lost.ref name=The New York Times/

Execution of the Filipino priests: Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez, and Jacinto Zamora in Bagumbayan Fields, Manila, Philippines.

The first ship passes through the Suez Canal.

American Civil War: The tiny Confederatesubmarine "Hunley" torpedoes the "USS Housatonic", becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy ship (the sub and her crew of 8 are also lost).

First meeting of the Committee of the Five in Geneva, Switzerland, regarded as the foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, following the lead of humanitarian businessman Henry Dunant.

The British recognize the independence of the Orange Free State its official independence is declared 6 days later.

The Spanish reconquest of Latin America begins.

The Siege of Zaragoza grinds to a halt as Jose Palafox surrenders. Over 60,000 have been killed on both sides in 41 days of street fighting.

Miami University (Ohio) is established on the township of land required to be set aside for it under the conditions of the Miami Purchase in 1794.

A decision by the Supreme Court of the United States states that the power of the federal government is greater than any individual state.

Henry Christopher is elected first President of the State of Haiti, ruling the northern part of the country.

An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved, when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.

The uninhabited Lord Howe Island is discovered by the brig HMS "Supply", commanded by Lieutenant Ball, who is on his way from Botany Bay to Norfolk Island with convicts to start a penal settlement there.

The uninhabited Lord Howe Island is discovered by the brig HMS \\'\\'Supply\\'\\', commanded by Lieutenant Ball, who is on his way from Botany Bay to Norfolk Island with convicts to start a penal settlement there.

Edward Gibbon publishes the first volume of "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire".

The first partition of Poland is agreed to by Russia and Prussia, later including Austria.

May ndash The Watauga Association is formed in East Tennessee.

Spain signs the Treaty of The Hague, ending the War of the Quadruple Alliance.

Miles Standish is appointed as the first commander of Plymouth Colony.

Giordano Bruno is burned at the stake for heresy in Rome.

Treaty of Adrianople (sometimes called the Peace of Adrianople): The Habsburgs agree to pay tribute to the Ottomans.

Battle of Hemmingstedt: The Danish army fails to conquer the peasants' republic of Dithmarschen.

Second Battle of St Albans, England: The Earl of Warwick's army is defeated by a Lancastrian force under Queen Margaret, who recovers control of her husband.

Rival brothers Ivan Sratsimir and Ivan Shishman become co-Emperors of Bulgaria after the death of their father, Ivan Alexander. Bulgaria is weakened by the split.

Emperor Jovian dies after a reign of eight months. He is found dead in his tent at Tyana (Asia Minor) en route back to Constantinople in suspicious circumstances.