Unix Timestamp: 1708387200
Tuesday, February 20. 2024, 12:00:00 AM UTC

International Atomic Energy Agency nuclear inspectors arrive in Tehran to hold discussions about Iran's nuclear program. //www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15751907,00.html (Deutsche Welle)

The price of oil reaches an eight month high following Iran banning sales to Britain and France on Sunday. //www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17094275 (BBC)

Forty-seven people are injured when a Northwest Airlines flight from the Philippines to Japan experiences severe turbulence. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7900892.stm (BBC)

The Space Shuttle "Atlantis" lands at Kennedy Space Center following the conclusion of the STS-122 assembly mission to the International Space Station. //www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition16/index.html (NASA)

At least 35 people have died and up to 340,000 are affected by flooding after months of heavy rain in Bolivia. The eastern departments of Santa Cruz and Beni are the worst affected. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6380331.stm (BBC)

Linda Schade, spokeswoman for Ralph Nader's presidential exploratory committee, states Nader will appear on NBC's Meet the Press to announce whether he will make another run for the White House. //www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/8000581.htm ("Kansas City Star")

Conservatives win a majority in the Iranian parliament election.

King Norodom Sihanouk, the constitutional monarch of Cambodia, states that he believes his country ought to allow same-sex marriage. He says he decided this upon seeing footage of same-sex couples marrying in San Francisco. He also says that transvestites ought to be well-treated in Cambodia. //advocate.com/new_news.asp?ID=11379sd=02/20/04 (Advocate)

Same-sex marriage:

California Democratic leaders try to withdraw from the divisive political issue of same-sex marriage. A Public Policy Institute of California poll indicates that half of Californians oppose same-sex marriage. Some California Democratic officeholders were discontented over the matter becoming a national political issue. //www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/02/20/MNGSF54RDD1.DTL ("SF Chronicle")

Hubble Space Telescope measurements show that Dark energy is pushing apart the universe this appears to be the constant, repulsive force that Albert Einstein once predicted. Astronomers announce this as evidence that the theory of the cosmological constant proposed, but later discarded, by Einstein may have been right after all. //www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/8003724.htm (Mercury News) //msnbc.msn.com/id/4327735/ (MSNBC) //www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58912-2004Feb20.html ("Washington Post")

Louise Arbour is nominated by Kofi Annan to serve as the next United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Arbour, currently a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, will replace the late Sérgio Vieira de Mello, pending ratification by the General Assembly. //www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/02/20/arbour_UN040219 (CBC) //www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9836Cr=humanCr1=rights (UN)

The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, claims the lives of 100 people.

University of South Florida computer engineering professor Dr. Sami Al-Arian was arrested by the FBI after he and seven others were indicted on 50 terrorism-related charges. United States Attorney General John Ashcroft alleged at a news conference that Al-Arian is the North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The Station nightclub fire: A fire started by pyrotechnics set-off by Great White, a rock band playing a nightclub in West Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island, kills at least 96 and injures nearly 200, with 35 in critical condition. Fatalities from burn injuries are expected to increase.//www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,79161,00.html

In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.

A Spanish-facilitated ceasefire begins in Sri Lanka.

Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.

Robert William Pickton the most prolific serial killer in Canadian history is arrested and charged with the first two (of twenty-seven) counts of first-degree murder.

The 2001 UK foot and mouth crisis begins.

Data sent from the Galileo probe indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice.

Natascha Kusch is abducted by Wolfgang Priklopil (she will remain in his captivity until August 2006).

Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein negotiates a deal with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, allowing weapons inspectors to return to Baghdad, preventing military action by the United States and Britain.

President of Albania Ramiz Alia dismisses the government headed by Prime Minister of Albania Adil Çarçani in an effort to stem prodemocracy protests. Fatos Nano is sworn in as Prime Minister on February 22.

In Canada's Yukon Territory, the ruling New Democrats narrowly maintain control of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, winning 9 seats vs. the Progressive Conservative Party's 7.

A second Unabomber bomb explodes at a Salt Lake City computer store, injuring the owner.

Minolta releases the Maxxum 7000, world's first autofocussingle-lens reflex camera.

While Soviet author and translator Valery Tarsis is abroad, the Soviet Union negates his citizenship.

The Canadian Government cancels the CF-105 Arrow project.

A test rocket explodes at Cape Canaveral.

An explosion kills more than 400 coal miners in West Germany.

The United States takes Eniwetok Island.

The Big Week begins with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.

Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first U.S. Navy WWII flying ace.

Sir Anthony Eden resigns as British Foreign Secretary following major disagreements with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain over the best policy to follow in regards to Italy, and is succeeded by Lord Halifax.

Roberto Ortiz is elected president of Argentina.

California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge.

A hung parliament is produced in Japan after the general election.

Berlin International Green Week in Berlin starts for its first time

An earthquake hits Gori Georgia, killing 114.

March ndash The 1915 locust plague breaks out in Palestine it continues until October.

In San Francisco, CA the Panama-Pacific International Exposition is opened.

March ndash An uprising against Ottoman rule breaks out in Albania.

Boutros Ghali, the first native-born prime minister of Egypt, is assassinated.

Venezuela Crisis of 1895: President Grover Cleveland signs into law a bill resulting from the proposition of House Resolution 252 by William Lindsay Scruggs and Congressman Leonidas Livingston to the third session of the 53rd Congress of the United States of America. The bill recommends Venezuela and Great Britain settle their dispute by arbitration.

Pope Leo XIII succeeds Pope Pius IX as the 256th pope.

The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.

In New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art closes for urban renovation.

Ranavalona II, the Merina Queen of Madagascar, is baptized.

Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, named director of Spain's La Real Academia Española de la Lengua ( Royal Academy of Spanish Language ).

The "Governor Fenner", carrying emigrants to the United States, sinks off Holyhead (Wales) with the loss of 123 lives.

Concepción, Chile, is destroyed by an earthquake.

Battle of Ituzaingo (Passo do Rosário): A force of the Brazilian Imperial Army meets Argentine–Uruguayan troops in combat.

Explorer James Weddell's expedition to Antarctica reaches latitude 74°15' S and longitude 34°16'45 W: the southernmost position any ship had reached before, a record that will hold for more than 80 years.

he Daoguang Emperor succeeds the throne of the Qing Dynasty.

A revolt begins in Santa María Chiquimula, Totonicapándepartment of Guatemala.

Gioachino Rossini\\'s opera "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" premieres at the Teatro Argentina in Rome.

Tyrolean rebel leader Andreas Hofer is executed.

The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.

The "Pennsylvania Gazette" reports that a British sloop outside of Wilmington, North Carolina seized 1 sloop sailing from Philadelphia and 1 sloop sailing from Saint Christopher on the charge of carrying official documents without sts. In response, local residents threaten to burn a Royal Man-of-War attempting to deliver sts to Wilmington, forcing the ship to return to the mouth of the Cape Fear River.

General Braddock lands in Virginia to take command of the British forces against the French in North America.

The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the town of Newton as Wilmington, North Carolina, named for Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, and patron of Royal Governor Gabriel Johnston.

The German composer George Frideric Handel becomes a British subject.ref name=Cassell's Chronology/

The first reported case of white men scalpingNative Americans takes place in New Hshirecolony.

The premiere of "Giulio Cesare", an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London.

The first Treaty of Stockholm is signed.

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, intending to establish a colony near the mouth of the Mississippi River, lands with 200 surviving colonists at Matagorda Bay on the Texas coast, believing the Mississippi near (//www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/LL/fla4.html Texas Handbook).

March ndash Louis XIV of France passes the "Code Noir", allowing the full use of slaves in the French colonies.

Edward VI of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.

The Comet of 1491 comes away from earth, the closest ever recorded.

Publication of Johannes de Sacrobosco's "De sphaera mundi" (written c.1230) in Ferrara, the first printed astronomical book.

Orkney and Shetland are returned by Norway to Scotland, due to a defaulted dowry payment.

Fernão do Po claims the central-African islands Bioko and Annobón for Portugal.

Foundation of the Kingdom of Fez.

Possible discovery of Bacalao (possibly Newfoundland, North America) by João Vaz Corte-Real.

Leonardo da Vinci is listed as a master in Florence's Company of Artists.

An extensive slave trade begins in modern Cameroon, as the Portuguese sail up the Wuori River.

Banca Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena, the world's oldest surviving bank, is founded.

James I of Scotland is stabbed.

Byzantine Empire: August ndash Justinian II and his ally, the Bulgar khan Tervel, by-pass the Byzantine forces under Heraclius awaiting them and reach Constantinople. After three days, Justinian's men enter through the disused Valens Aqueduct. Tiberius III flees the city to his brother's army in Thrace, but when the soldiers begin to desert, he surrenders. Tervel is rewarded by Justinian for his assistance with rich gifts and the title of "Caesar".ref name=Byz705/

China: In a coup d\\\'état, Chinese Chancellor Zhang Jianzhi executes the Zhang brothers and restores Emperor Zhongzong. This marks the end of the short-lived Zhou Dynasty in China.

Umayyad Caliphate: Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan dies and is succeeded by his son al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik.ref name=Byz705/ref name=Treadgold341/

China: In a coup d'état, Chinese Chancellor Zhang Jianzhi executes the Zhang brothers and restores Emperor Zhongzong. This marks the end of the short-lived Zhou Dynasty in China.

Bahrām Chobin and Khosrau confront each other near Ctesiphon.