Unix Timestamp: 1009411200
Thursday, December 27. 2001, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Israel initiates Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip after launching an extensive wave of airstrikes

President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari accepts that non-state actors exist in the country and vows to root out terrorism there. //www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSISL40672920081227?feedType=RSSfeedName=worldNewsrpc=69 (Reuters)

The French Space Agency (CNES) spacecraft COROT was successfully launched in Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 14:28 UTC (GMT+4) to search for extrasolar planets.

Astrophysicists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching near Munich measure the strongest burst from a magnetar. At 21:30:26 UT the earth is hit by a huge wave front of gamma and X-rays. It is the strongest flux of high-energetic gamma radiation measured so far.

Chechen rebels detonate two car bombs at the Grozny headquarters of Chechnya's Russian-backed government in an apparent suicide attack, killing more than 80 people. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2609289.stm

Clonaid, the medical arm of a cult called Raelism, who believe that aliens introduced human life on Earth, claims to have successfully cloned a human being. They claim that aliens taught them how to perform cloning, even though the company has no record of having successfully cloned any previous animal. A spokesperson said an independent agency would prove that the baby, named Eve, is in fact an exact copy of her mother. //apnews.excite.com/article/20021228/D7O6OBAO0.html

A suicide truck-bomb attack destroys the headquarters of Chechnya's Moscow-backed government, killing 72.

Storm Martin caused damage throughout France, Spain, Switzerland and Italy, including an emergency due to flooding at the Blayais Nuclear Power Plant.

Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, leaving Prime MinisterVladimir Putin as the acting President.

The U.S. turns over complete administration of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian Government, as stipulated in the Torrijos-Carter Treaty of 1977.

In Cambodia the Khmer Rouge is officially dissolved some time in December.

Ulster loyalistparamilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland, inside Long Kesh prison.

Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram Air Base, which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul.

A U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcon shoots down an Iraqi MiG-25 Foxbat that violated the Iraqi no-fly zones.

Abortion is legalized in Italy for the first time.

In Seoul, Korea, construction begins on Seoul Subway Line 2.

David Rorvik claims he has participated in a creation of a human clone in his book "In His Image".

Ford initiates a recall for the Pinto because of a public outcry resulting from deaths associated with gas tank explosions

Artificial insulin is invented.

The Constitution of Spain is approved in a referendum, officially ending 40 years of military dictatorship.

The suspected killers of Pierre Laporte, Jacques and Paul Rose and Francis Sunard, are arrested near Montreal.

India's president declares new elections.

Burgos Trial: Three Basques are sentenced to death (3 twice), others sentenced to 12 to 62 years, and one is released.

The British oil platform "Sea Gem" collapses in the North Sea.

The Cleveland Browns defeat the Baltimore Colts in the NFL Chionship Game.

France sets off its third A-bomb test at its nuclear weapons testing range near Reggane, Algeria.

Queen Juliana of the Netherlands grants Indonesia sovereignty.

C. S. Lewis publishes "The Screwtape Letters".

DDT is first used as a pesticide.

The Union of Pioneers of Yugoslavia is founded.

The Valley of Geysers is discovered in Russia.

"Classic Comics" series launched in the United States with a version of "The Three Musketeers".

WWII: British Commandos raid the Norwegian port of Vaagso, causing Hitler to reinforce the garrison and defenses, drawing vital troops away from other areas.

The Indochina Communist party, led by Ho Chi Minh, combines with the Nationalist party to form the Viet Minh.

A logging crew sets off a second forest fire in the Tillamook Burn, which destroys .

CBS Television begins transmission.

The 1939 Erzincan earthquake in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey, kills 30,000.

Kirlian photography is invented by Semyon Kirlian.

Sandia View Academy, a private Adventist school, is founded in Corrales, New Mexico,

General Motors introduces the Hydra-Matic drive, the first mass-produced, fully automatic transmission, as an option in 1940 model year Oldsmobileautomobiles.

A massive avalanche of snow hits a construction worker dormitory site in Kurobe, Japan, killing 87.

Mao Zedong issues the Wayaopao Manifesto, "On Tactics Against Japanese Imperialism", calling for a National United Front against the Japanese Invasion.

Persia becomes Iran.

Kern and Hammerstein's musical play, "Show Boat", based on Edna Ferber's novel, opens on Broadway and then goes on to become the first great classic of the American musical theater.

The crown prince of Japan survives an assassination attempt in Tokyo.

Great Poland Uprising: The Poles in Greater Poland (or Grand Duchy of Poznań) rise up against the Germans.

The stage play "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" premieres in London.

Rangers F.C., Glasgow, Scotland

Siege of Bilbao-Third Carlist War-(27 December 1873 - 2 May 1874)-Caigning in Navarre, Pretender Don Carlos VII and General Joaquín Elío besiege Bilbao, held by General Ignacio del Castillo and 1,200 men. The Carlist force is ten times this number and includes most of the troops from Navarre, Vizcaya and Alava, although a considerable force is left in Guipúzcoa. Despite defeat at nearby Somorrostro, Republic commander Marshal Francisco Serrano, supported by Generals Manuel de la Concha and Arsenio Martínez Cos, brilliantly breaks the siege and Concha then marches on Estella.

Toronto Argonauts, the oldest professional sports team still playing in North America

League of the Three Emperors is created. It links the conservative monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia in an alliance against radical movements.

The United Kingdom declares war against Ghana's King Kofi KariKari, who is involved in the trading of slaves. The war ends by July and the British establish the Gold Coast Colony.

The Woman's Temperance League is organized by Eliza Daniel Stewart.

Clydebank High School, Clydebank, Scotland

Britain puts pressure on Sultan Barghash Sayyid, who closes slave markets in Zanzibar.

Coors Brewing Company begins making beer in Golden, Colorado.

Royal Montreal Club in Montreal, Quebec, the first permanent golf club in North America

Nine Pekin ducks are imported to Long Island (the first in the United States).

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composes "The Tempest".

Liebig\\'s Extract of Meat Company begin producing tinned corned beef, sold under the label Fray Bentos from the town in Uruguay where it is processed.

The Swedish arms company "Bofors" is incorporated.

DDT is first synthesized.

In Mexico, the Veracruz to Mexico City railroad is completed.

The Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition discovers Franz-Josef Land.

American journalist John L. O'Sullivan claims in a newspaper article that the United States have a "Manifest Destiny" to expand their borders. It is the second time he uses the term and will have a huge influence on the American imperialistic movement of the century.

American journalist John L. O'Sullivan claims in a newspaper article that the United States have a "Manifest Destiny" to expand their borders. It is the second time he uses the term and will have a huge influence on the American imperialistic movement of the century.

Anesthesia is used for childbirth for the first time (Dr. Crawford Long in Jefferson, Georgia).

Lewes avalanche: An avalanche at Lewes in Sussex, England, kills eight of fifteen people buried when a row of cottages is engulfed in snow.

Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty, which gives preference to Portuguese wines imported into England.

Thomas Middleton's tragedy "Women Beware Women" is published posthumously.ref name=Cassell's Chronology/

England's first chocolate house is opened in London.

Andreas Gryphius' drama "Katharina von Georgien" is published.

Coffee is introduced to France.

Christiaan Huygens writes the first book to be published on probability theory, "De ratiociniis in ludo aleae" (On Reasoning in Games of Chance).

The Flushing Remonstrance is signed in New Amsterdam at the site of the future (1862) Flushing Town Hall in New York.

The Accademia del Cimento is founded in Florence, Italy.

Second Northern War/the Deluge: Monks at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa are successful in fending off a month-long siege.

The "Bibliotheca Thysiana" is erected, the only surviving 17th century exle in the Netherlands of a building designed as a library.

to fund the military operations in Corsica, the Republic of Genoa had to borrow at 20% from an association of creditors known as the "Compera nuova acquisitionis Corsicæ".ref name=Canale 1864

The Charles University in Prague is founded (this or the next year).

Spring ndash At the Battle of Scalas Veteres in Africa, Byzantine troops under Germanus, defeat a large-scale mutiny. Stotzas, leader of the rebellion, flees with a handful of followers to Mauretania.

Battle of Camlann: King Arthur figths his last battle against the forces of his rebellious son (or nephew) Mordred and is mortally wounded (This according to the 10th-century "Annales Cambriae").

The construction of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (begun in 532) is completed.